ugvm

the site of uk.games.video.misc

  • Home
  • Podcast
  • Articles
  • Platforms
    • Xbox 360
    • Playstation 3
    • wii u
    • 3ds
    • psp
    • iOS
    • PC
    • Mac
    • Wii
    • xbox
    • SNES
    • Mega Drive
  • Gamercodes
    • Xbox Live
    • Wii U NNIDs
    • Wii
    • PSN
    • 3DS
    • Steam
    • Apple Game Center
    • Battle.net
    • Elite Dangerous
  • Gallery
  • Back Issues
  • Other Groups
  • About Us
    • A brief history of ugv*
    • Posting Traditions
    • Join in
    • ugvm Charter

Sonic Dash: offputting microtransactions

Posted on 12/05/2014 Written by Xexyz

Sonic Dash may be the best Sonic game for years - in that it's not trying to be anything other than a fast run through scenery.  It's an endless runner, with controls which match Sonic's standard abilities - jumping in a ball, rolling in a ball, and running fast.  You have to jump over, roll under or dodge obstacles, and roll into enemies to kill them.  From time to time there's an easy boss battle.


There's a bit of added complexity which sits behind the main game.  By completing missions, which vary from simple things like "collect 200 rings in a game" to difficult things like "avoid rings for 1000m", you can build up the multiplier applied to your score.  You can also double the multiplier by filling up the dash meter (the bar in the bottom-right, filled by collecting rings) and not activating it.  By doing this I now have an X38 multiplier, and my high score is 997,000 (compared to the next highest on my friends list of 67,000).

One thing to note that I couldn't find elsewhere on the Internet - one of the missions is to "use 5 revives in one run" which I assumed meant that you had to revive Sonic five times; since the number of tokens required doubles each time I assumed this meant I'd need 31 tokens.  Instead, the mission completed when I revived for the third time, which was annoying after I'd been saving up revive tokens for two weeks.

There are other bits to the game as well.  Over Easter there was a special event whereby collecting eggs randomly placed throughout the levels let you earn additional unlockables.  I managed to collect about 220 eggs over the period, which meant that I unlocked Cream the Rabbit.  Yes, real name.


So, all rosy.  The downside to the game is that it's full of microtransaction rubbish, where you spend rings to get new characters or upgrades, and collecting the rings in-game takes ages so you feel like spending real money to get more rings.  And it's not as if it's really hidden.


It's odd, I would happily have paid a few pounds for this game given how well it works and its production values, but I won't spend 69p on virtual currency in the game even though I got the whole game for free.  They're making significantly less money from me.

Filed Under: Gaming Diary Tagged With: iPad, iPhone

Earth Defense Force 2017 Portable: they’re spitting acid!

Posted on 30/04/2014 Written by Xexyz

It's just like the 360 game.  That's great.  I've played the first ten levels on normal, and am now trying them on harder difficulties just to try and find better weapons.  I'm dying a lot.


Filed Under: Gaming Diary Tagged With: PS Vita

Pikmin 2: a veritable army by day 18

Posted on 28/04/2014 Written by Xexyz

After finding the yellow pikmin, I spent a couple of in-game days building up the numbers to around 150, before exploring the Awakening Wood and finding electrified gates that I could now break down.  Some of these led me to the blue pikmin, meaning that I now have some of each type.  I've also ventured back into the White Flower Garden, so I have 15 white pikmin and 18 purple pikmin in the rockets - but the white pikmin came at a cost, since I lost around 30 reds in the fight at the end of the cave.


The blue pikmin are extremely useful in gaining access to new areas.  Annoyingly, I've rolled out a few bridges over water which other pikmin don't seem to be too keen on keeping to - I've lost a fair few yellows and reds (and a couple of purples) when they've decided that walking on the bridge was far too sensible and they wanted to skirt around the outside into the river instead.  Survival of the fittest.

Filed Under: Gaming Diary Tagged With: Wii

Pikmin 2: slow progress until day 7

Posted on 25/04/2014 Written by Xexyz

Without the overall time deadline of the first game, there's less incentive to rush around the levels, having multiple groups of pikmin on multiple tasks simultaneously.  Instead, I spent a couple of days just exploring Awakening Wood, building up my red pikmin numbers before entering the second cave.



Down in this cave I found white pikmin, adding to the purple pikmin I had from before.  The white pikmin are resistant to poison, which should come in handy, but only because the game has introduced poisonous enemies and obstacles.  It's a bit more complicated than the first game, and there are new 'sprays' which I know I'll never get around to using since they're a disposable item.


I find it pretty limiting that the white and purple pikmin can only be gained by going into the caves - and the caves are all a bit dark and miserable.  As a result I've got very few white pikmin left, particularly after half of them died in the final battle in the white flower cave.



Still, with poison-resistant pikmin in my party, I was able to break through to new areas, and I've found the yellow pikmin as well.  With the lack of time limit, I feel that my next task will be to build up numbers again ...

Filed Under: Gaming Diary Tagged With: Wii

Euro Truck Simulator 2: get out of the way

Posted on 23/04/2014 Written by Xexyz

My word, this is amusing.  I'm hopeless at it though - reversing into the spaces is just hilariously bad.  Cars seem to have a habit of driving into my side as well, meaning that each trip is earning me not much money.


On my first trip I made the mistake of discovering Birmingham.


Unfortunately I didn't blow it up.




My second delivery was to Swansea.  There were some horrifically narrow roads on the way there.


And some stupidly slow drivers.



I was glad to work out the key to flash my lights at everyone.

Filed Under: Gaming Diary Tagged With: PC

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • …
  • 76
  • Next Page »
  • E-mail
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Latest Podcast Listenbox

97: I’m Feeling A Bit Squiffy
byugvm

G’morrow beautiful friends! Here to waft away the damp, darkened skies of the season (or maybe make them damper and darker), it’s Episode 97 of the ugvm Podcast. The podcast you love to subscribe to but hit skip when it comes up on the playlist. Yeah, we know. It’s OK. We don’t get paid either way.

In this episode, deKay, Kendrick and Toby “entertain” you with fun game related news and chat, which this time round includes speculation on Valve’s new hardware triple combo, a show report from the Valorant Champions event in that there Paris (France, not Texas), and one of the team became A Magnificent Man in a Flying Machine. Oh, and Kendrick has bought a new VR headset. Yes, Hell has finally frozen over. Not only that! We have gaaaaaaaaames!

97: I’m Feeling A Bit Squiffy
Episode play icon
97: I’m Feeling A Bit Squiffy
Episode Description
Episode play icon
96: Magic Beans
Episode Description
Episode play icon
95: Bother Me Anatomically
Episode Description
Search Results placeholder

Tags

3ds ACNL animal crossing Arcade assassin's creed Batman completed Destiny Diary Emulation evercade Game Diary games iOS iPhone lego Mac mario Master System Mega Drive minecraft PC picross Playstation 3 Playstation 4 Playstation 5 pokemon Post ps+ ps3 PS4 ps5 psn PS Vita retro sonic the hedgehog Steam steam deck switch Vita Wii wii u Xbox 360 Xbox One zelda

Contributors

  • Diary – deKay's Lofi Gaming
  • Game Diary – The Temple of Bague
  • gospvg
  • Lufferov’s Gaming Diary
  • Tim's Gaming Diary

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

RSS Feed RSS – Posts

Copyright © 2025 · Outreach Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in