Jump Ratchet! Jump Mario & Luigi! JUMP!

On 11/17/2013 at 03:44 PM by KnightDriver

Picked up Ratchet & Clank: into the Nexus on Tuesday and played the first hour or so. Controls work great, jumping around to different platforms in zero-g. I love all the characters. I’ve been singing that Wang Chung song, "Everybody Have Fun Tonight", all week after seeing it humorously placed in one particular cut-scene to great effect. Graphics aren’t as brilliantly sharp and detailed as I expected though. I seem to remember being more wowed by the graphics in Crack in Time when that came out. It could be that, being exposed to next gen graphics recently, I’m already expecting more from games. Still, it’s colorful and the environments really interesting, so I’m not complaining. I'm having fun tonight. I'm having Wang Chung tonight!

(listen to that F'n bass beat. Awesome!)

I think it was Friday when I watched the story trailer here on Pixlbit for Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy. I got so excited about it, I looked up a release date and saw Nov 8 and thought it had been out a week already. So I went to GameStop with a trade-in game and a $10 coupon from Power Up Rewards to get it. All the GameStop employees were bushed from the midnight release of PS4 and grumpily told me the game had been delayed. Well, with a game to trade and a $10 coupon, I looked for another 3DS game to get. I’d gotten everything I wanted for 3DS already this year but one and that was Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (MLDT). GameStop’s idea of “new” is an already opened case which made me worried that the Club Nintendo code was either absent or had been used. I made sure the code was in the box and then tried it on Club Nintendo later and it worked. So I sighed in relief but then noticed a tear in the box cover insert. I think I’ll only buy new at Gamestop on day-one release from now on. I like sealed copies so I don’t have to worry about this kind of thing.

I started playing MLDT (sounds like a sandwich) at a coffee shop later that day, thinking this might be a poor substitute for the Layton game I had wanted so badly. The graphics seemed overly simplistic and not worthy of a 2013 3DS game. But then I got into my first battle, and I remembered why I loved the Mario & Luigi games so much. I LOVE JUMPING ON THINGS! Yes I love the battle system in these games. Everything is centered on jumping, both your attacks and defenses. After that I was in love again and whistled the reworked Super Mario Bros. theme song at work all night long.

What I need now is a divan. You know, a special couch that would be perfect for handheld gaming late at night just before bed. I often play in bed, but it’s really bad for my neck and a divan would be perfect. Gotta make that happen sometime soon.

divan

On a grim note (skip this if you’re squeamish) I was going to play some more Ratchet & Clank at my friend’s place on Saturday, but his neighbor had committed suicide earlier in the week and the place was full of the smell of decay. I almost went over there anyway, because the cleanup crew was there that day, but I just couldn’t bear it having experienced this sort of thing once already. This was the third time in one year! Can you believe it! Each time it was a different neighbor and an accompanying smell of decay. I don’t know how my friend can stand it. Not to make light of it, but maybe we were having so much noisy fun, that some of these lonely people got so jealous, they knocked themselves off. Seriously though, the building is next to several bars and at least one of them was a serious drunk. I think all of them were heavy drinkers and drove themselves to their own demise. Thing is it’s not a bad neighborhood. It’s just bad luck for my friend and depressing to think of the intense despair being felt just a wall away. Makes me wonder if there was anything I could’ve done to help, if only I had only known.

Everyone remember, there are people out there who care so don’t be so quick to exit stage left before you search for a friend. I refer you to this week’s Official Playstation Blogcast where they interview Boogie2988 (aka Francis) of YouTube fame. He says, (I’m paraphrasing) “live as long as you can because like Chuck Noland in Cast Away, you never know what the tide might bring in.”.

Ranger1

11/17/2013 at 04:00 PM

Sounds like your friends building needs a good cleansing, and I don't mean a physical one. Know any Wiccans? They're good at that sort of thing.

Glad to hear Into the Nexus is fun.

KnightDriver

11/17/2013 at 04:41 PM

My room mate is a Wiccan in all but actually calling herself one. She suggested a spiritual cleansing that would make any Wiccan proud. Me, I just deal with the feelings. Nothing more complex than just reaffirming my own will to live and prosper.

Cary Woodham

11/17/2013 at 04:37 PM

I'm looking forward to the Prof. Layton vs. Phoenix Wright game, myself.

I have the 3DS Mario & Luigi game. It's a lot of fun, but a bit bloated (like most of today's RPGs).

Anytime a GameStop hands me a game that's not in the shrink wrap, I don't buy it from them.

11/17/2013 at 04:46 PM

I asked them for a sealed copy but they couldn't find one so I almost rejected it, but I had that coupon and trade-in game, and so I just grinned and beared it.

Joaquim Mira Media Manager

11/17/2013 at 05:30 PM

I've played Dream Team for 30 hours so far. I love the battle mechanics, and how pretty much every enemy has their own quirks to figure out both offensively and quite a bit more defensively. The game can get a bit tedious sometimes when it comes to text, like overstaying its presence, but aside from that it is quite the enjoyable game.

Man do I want to grab Nexus, but I'm still playing Dark Souls, and GTA 5 is left to finish too. Ugh.

11/17/2013 at 09:42 PM

I just put in a few more hours into MLDT. I got the hammers and learned the nose tickling technique and the mustache pulling technique that clearly took its inspiration from Angry Birds. I found that keeping the screen perfectly still while in 3D during a battle is a little tricky. Turn the screen even a little bit and everything goes fuzzy. I'm really loving the game so far.

I should be tackling more of Into the Nexus tommorow at my friend's place.

11/17/2013 at 09:57 PM

I was playing with the 3D off this whole time... 3D doesn't work that well when you have moves that require the tilt sensor to be active. Well I could always move along with the screen too, I'm not worried about weird looks on public transportation, but when you have people sitting besides you, and standing in front of you it ends up being a bit of a nuisance.

11/17/2013 at 10:13 PM

I've haven't gotten to the tilt stuff yet. I was having trouble when you move Mario around defensively in the battle screen. I kept tipping the screen and losing focus. I guess I'll have to turn it off for the tilt stuff. I so love the 3D now. I've gotten quite good at keeping the screen at the right angle.

jgusw

11/18/2013 at 09:12 AM

I play handhelds in bed sometimes. I like to lay on my stomach though, so after a while my arms fall asleep.

11/18/2013 at 12:50 PM

Yea, I do that too. My arms fall asleep and my neck gets all fatigued. i can't help doing it though because it's just the perfect place to play for an hour or so.

11/18/2013 at 05:05 PM

When my arms start to fall asleep I put my chest at the border of the bed while my hands rest on the floor, and I don't have to hold my neck either.

I think a hammock would be perfect, but I can't say that with absolute certainty.

11/18/2013 at 05:18 PM

A hammock would be nice. Maybe even a nice recliner.

daftman

11/18/2013 at 08:49 PM

I really want Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. I've played and loved all the games in that series. Dang money. And A Link Between Worlds comes out this Friday!

I like playing games in bed but I don't do it too often. I get so tired lol. But I usually play something on my iPhone if I do that. Been working my way through Plants vs Zombies 2 lately.

11/19/2013 at 12:40 AM

Aw man! I want to play Plants vs. Zombies 2 so bad. I don't have a good phone for it and my iPod Touch is too old to run anything new.

NSonic79

11/20/2013 at 01:08 PM

I need to read that review of that Nexus game. I really need to try out this series.

oh Gamestop. Still doing that "New" sale when the package is open. thus why I only go their for used goodies.

that divan sounds like a smashing idea. I need to see if I can convice my wife on finding one of those. In a furniture store or a flea market.

What an odd situation. I recall a time back in connecticitia when there was a murder two doors down from where I was living and on one knew about it till weeks later. Didn't notice a death smell though but then again I can't smell anything unless it's really strong. Hope you don't see "dead people".

11/20/2013 at 03:11 PM

There's a Nexus review right here on Pixlbit. I'm going to read it now. Nexus is a good game to start with 'cause it's $30 and a very condensed experience. It's pacing is great: you explore, you solve puzzles, you confront a boss, the story evolves. At no time are you exploring for hours on end and forget where the story is going. I mean, that can be a good thing once your into the RC universe, but Nexus delivers all that is RC in a very direct way in a shorter time span. I kinda dig that.

I almost never buy new at Gamestop unless it is a day-one sale. I was kinda stuck for options in this one instance.

I want a divan so bad. It's going to be my handheld sofa. Maybe I'll put a shelf right next to it so I can reach all my games. Ha! It would make a great photograph too.

I didn't see any of them, but my buddy clued me in to the details of their demise. Should I go there? Ah, what the heck. One hung herself from the shower curtain rod, another had an accendental death (drug related) in a bathtub (imagine cleaning that one up), and the recent one I haven't gotten the skinny on yet. All this morbid stuff this week! Ugh!

PixlBit

Jump Ratchet! Jump Mario & Luigi! JUMP!

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