Playing Zelda Outlands (Part 3)

I beat the first quest! There were loads of walls to walk through and often times an enemy would get stuck in the wall so I couldn't proceed which was highly annoying. It was also weird and kind of scary seeing those old blue guys with fire swirling around them. I also came across these things that looked like bags or something and picked them up but I have absolutely no idea what they do.

The showdown with the Thunderbird was thrilling and scary. Well, it is but it's there instead of Ganon so it's certainly not as terrifying and hard as it was in Zelda 2.

So now I've completed the first quest! I immediately tried out the new one and saw tiny bits of several dungeons so far but no sign of me getting the sword! I wouldn't dream that I'd have the meat and the boomerang beforehand. That's all I've played for now. I'll just have to see what happens next!

Strategies you may develop if you play Kokopolo

After playing Kokopolo for a while you may feel the need to know what the levels are like before you go chasing around. You want to be somewhat ready to jump over spikes for example so it's good to take a little wander around to see what it's all like. The enemies usually stick to their own little patterns in their own little corners so feel free to do a little reconnaissance.

Let's say then that you get involved in a chase. You may not be fully aware of where you're going which can be dangerous so take advantage of the way the paths in the levels form roundabouts. The enemies that chase you form a sort of conga line so it's a good way of keeping the chase going while you glance at the map on the bottom screen for a way out or to get ready to deal with an obstacle. The 3DS' slide pad feels great doing this actually.

Hmmm... this is all making me think of Pac-Mania, which is one of my favourite Pac-Man games. Imagine an isometric Kokopolo? A Kokopolo-Mania as it were!

NGamer Issue 65

Remember that voting thing a few months ago where everyone was to vote on an alternative cover for Xenoblade? Well this image was the ugliest option and for some reason it's the cover of this month's issue. There were three free gifts including Xenoblade decals for the Wii and two Wiimotes (one of which also has the ugly artwork), Xenoblade posters (again one of them is the ugly artwork but the other one's nice) and a 3DS tips book.

This issue has the now slightly infamous article about the Project Rainfall people who got a little bit too excited. At this stage, anyone who would boycott Skyward Sword out of support for Pandora's Tower doesn't just need to get over themself — they need a smack.

There's a feature about Xenoblade where I learn about the game's sensible save system, a Skyward Sword preview that is very very detailed and a Fortune Street one in the form of a highly amusing exchange between one of the magazine staff and the E3 booth attendant(well worth reading). The Kirby ones were most interesting to me (it's quite funny the way they awarded the DS and Wii ones best and worst Kirby games at E3 respectively). Their glowing preview on "Go Vacation" has made me very curious about the game. I'll have to look it up.

Other interesting features were in the retro section: one about Nintendo coin-ops and a nice big one about Terranigma. That's another game I'd say a lot of fans want released in the U.S.

Kirby Right Back At Ya! — Episode 18

While Kirby and his buddies are shopping for a picnic King Dedede abruptly shows up outside the supermarket and throws out a Noddy. When Kirby eats it he goes into a deep sleep that could last decades.

Tuff and his pride are featured in a big way in this episode as he feels responsible so he leads an expedition to an exotic plant that is said to be able to wake Kirby up. Tiff and Meta Knight follow at a distance to make sure he's safe.

With the NME monsters we see the return of Noddy but we don't see Kirby transform and get a cap when he eats him — I think it would've been funny to have that dramatic transformation sequence only for Kirby to fall asleep! I'm pretty sure the plant is from NME as well; Kirby gets the cool Needle ability from it and changes yellow, making him look like one of Lakitu's Spinies from the Mario games. I like the way he's able to control the direction of the needles he shoots. He couldn't do that in Kirby's Adventure!

I completed Shantae Risky's Revenge!

Great game this! I played the first Shantae recently too so I can compare them.

Generally the sequel has a lot of technical improvements over the GBC version in almost every way except for the save system. In the GBC game you could continue with your status when you got a game over where as with this one you have to restart back at the last save point with all progress lost since you last saved. This forces you to save more often.

The music is amazing. Most are remixed tracks from the GBC game but there's a few outstanding ones like the Scuttle Town music. It's very impressive and you really feel like you're in a busy Arabian Nights themed town.

I don't care much for the dialogue or about the fact that Shantae is a half genie. Wonder Boy never spoke — I see Shantae as being like Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap — but at least you can skip the dialogue.

This sequel isn't as long or as difficult as the first game but it still achieves the high fun factor, which is the most important thing.

One nitpicky thing but it's something that really irks me and that is one of her expressions during the cutscenes, namely the sarky 'tudey raised eyebrow one. It's yucky and it's nothing like her other cute vivacious expressions. It's like some bored Garfield expression. She has an expression like this in the last game but she wears it with a bit of sass and banter and... well it's like I was saying, more vivacious!

Xenoblade gets an official "Let's Play" on its official YouTube channel.

http://www.youtube.com/user/XenobladeWii
Have a look at this site. This should get a nice bit of hyping up going. It'll certainly get me hyped up for it since I haven't been thinking about the game itself much; I'm just thinking about its release date because I am planning on buying it.

I don't know if the stuff here is spoiler free since I haven't watched any of it yet but I like to think there's plenty of landscape running!

Kirby Right Back At Ya! - Episode 17

Sir Ebrum loses the ring he was going to give Lady Like on their wedding anniversary. King Dedede, always the nosy busybody, overhears Tiff talking about a special day and is determined to find out everything that's going on. When he learns that the ring is missing and that it's some kind of ancient Cappy treasure he sets out to gather every bit of such treasure in the kingdom.

The NME monster this time is a creature with a gigantic nose that can find and suck up treasure. No Kirby ability this time. No key earned this time either. Lady Like gets some screen time which is always nice! She even says "cuckoo" in a funny way.

This episode has one of those chase sequences where the good guys and the bad guys are chasing a precious gem that gets kicked around by the crowd just before one of them grabs it. My favourite of this kind appears in "Flintstones: On the Rocks" (brilliant movie).