PixlBit

Quite a lot has happened gaming wise for me in the last two weeks. I finished up with Twin-Stick and Isometric shooters and discovered several new franchises and another racing game I love. So here goes it. 

Finishing Twin-Stick Shooter Month: 

I branched out into isometric shooters as well and finished Alien Breed 3. Good game but it seemed darker and had passageways so deep that I had to rotate the camera around a lot to see where I was going. Turrets were everywhere and very annoying as it took me a little bit to get the hang of how to throw grenades without being in their line-of-sight. Good game though. 

Mopping up on Xbox 360, I sampled Shoot Many Robots, Heavy Weapon and Renegade Ops. I had to search my download history to redownload Renegade Ops. I'm just glad that feature still works. Shoot Many Robots is quite good. A 2D run-and-gun shooter with a lot of humor and challenging enemy robots. Heavy Weapon is an old PopCap classic. Renegade Ops is a vehicle-based multidirectional shooter that I like a lot. I still haven't finished it though. 

New Game Discoveries: 

I played an old favorite on Xbox 360, Culdcept Saga. I love this board and card fantasy game even with its heavy AI cheating. I love the card art a lot, much like Magic the Gathering cards, and the board game mechanics which feel a lot like Monopoly with magic. You take over lands and defend them with monsters, items and magic, charging rent from other players who can't win against the guardians. I still haven't beaten this game, which has a story in between battles. Matches are long and get progressively more difficult. It's a blast playing with friends though. The game isn't backwards compatible, so you can only play it on Xbox 360 or Dreamcast as Culdcept II. Too bad because it deserves a remaster or at least be put on back compat. 

Then I set up my Switch and poked around until I landed on Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Squad as part of the GBA subscription service. I fell head over heels for this game. You become a Pokemon yourself and with a helper Pokemon go rescue and then recruit Pokemon in randomly generated dungeons. I was so hooked I ran around trying to get physical copies for my systems. I got Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon for 3DS (I played a few hours of it already) and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time for DS. I'm closely eyeing the remake of Rescue Squad for Switch, but I may pick up Blue Mystery Squad for DS because I'm told it's basically exactly like Red for GBA, which I haven't been able to find (and it's $20). 

Then I set up my Wii and tried out Fishing Master, which I picked up for $5. It's pretty good, if a little low on features (I wish it had an aquarium), but the controls for fishing are fun and you can fish all over Japan. I just picked up its sequel, Fishing Master World Tour, and hope to give that a spin too. 

While on Wii, I pulled out a few other games in my collection I wanted to try. One was Wario Land Shake It. What a fantastic platformer with exploration, the exact type of game I'm going to play in April! The graphics are gorgeous and the music is divine. Gameplay is creative as heck. I just love shakin' the garlic out of enemies and chucking them into switches. What a brilliant game! It can be difficult though. The secret maps I found were levels that really tested me. But I'll return to it for sure. 

Another one on Wii, an old favorite, was Dawn of Discovery. This is part of the Anno series, specifically a special version of Anno 1404 for the Wii. Its simplicity of controls and gentle ramping up of complexity is exactly what I need from world building/management strategy games that usually tend to burry me in menu screens and options. I'm still not a huge fan of the Wii's controllers, but I can still play this for hours on end. 

And finally! With the soon to be released Sonic Racing Crossworlds, I thought of Sonic & Sega All-Star Racing Transformed that I love so much and realized there was a previous game in the series called just Sonic & Sega All-Star Racing. I quickly found copies for my 360 and PS3 and played the 360 version the whole of my Sunday (which is Thursday for me). Fantastic game! It has amazing track designs, powerups, and music. I just need a box and manual for my 360 copy (my PS3 copy is complete). I was even able to race with my Xbox Avatar with its own special move where your friends' avatars carry your vehicle. I beat the Championship and am now buying everything (characters, tracks and music) and playing all the challenge missions, time trials and single races. The music is fantastic! Only, I'm still trying to find this one song that begins one of the first races (the one with the whale). It's just a short bit of hair metal, but it's the best track in the game. I hope I can find it or get the soundtrack. 

And that's the month. Next month is Slash 'em Up month, roughly console Gen 3. Really it's about Hack 'n' Slash games which are a subgenre of Beat 'em Ups. I read the phrase "Slash 'em Ups" on wiki and chose that as my favorite way to identify these games. I have a list, and am gathering the games right now.