Trine 2 is a platform puzzle game, which feels quite traditional in terms of how it plays and controls. Combat is a bit hit and miss, jumping isn't overly precise, the controls just feel a bit awkward.

But my, it's pretty.


It made me feel a little disappointed to start with, because the backstory references the first game a lot - which I've not played.  I don't even know which platforms it's for, but I shall investigate.  You're initially given control of a wizard, who controls with a bit too much momentum until you get used to anticipating needing to stop in advance.  He meets up with a knight and a thief, and from that point on you have to choose which character to control in order to get past obstacles.

The enemies are a bit generic, but provide a suitable challenge, and there have been many a time when I've had to run back to a checkpoint to revive a fallen team member.  Given this, the temple entrance was just a bit ominous.


A great boss fight inside, though.  I couldn't damage the snake directly, so had to jump onto the roof supports and then dodge his attacks, so that he brought the building crashing down on top of himself.

Simply progressing is easy enough, but there's an additional game hidden within, where you can try to get as many green orb things as possible.  Getting to some of them is very tricky, requiring good timing with the right character.  In the middle of the swamp, I found some pieces of pipe which could be put together to direct hot air into the water, which then formed bubbles I could stand on.  Doing so was tricky in itself, but the timing needed to jump from these to platforms was just overly fiddly.


I believe this is a pretty short game, so hopefully I'll get around to completing it at some point ...

Wii Sports was a fantastic game - back at the launch of the Wii, we played it more than anything else, and it continued to occupy me for some time afterwards.  Its inclusive nature means that it still gets brought out very often for social occasions (but less often since Nintendo Land came onto the scene), the most memorable time being when I beat Ken.

It's now been updated - or at least part of it has - with better visuals, online modes, and an extortionate price tag.  Luckily, of the five games included in the original Wii Sports, the two best are out already and there's no need to buy the other three.

I've spent a bit of time on both Tennis and Bowling - to the extent that my shoulders are aching.  Tennis sees the most obvious improvements, with motionplus giving much better control over the player, and online meaning that you can find a decent set of opponents to play against.


I've been starting with the offline mode to get into the swing of things, and amusingly the third game had me paired up against a couple of OAPs.  I beat them, just.

I've spent more time bowling, where the online leaderboards add a lot to the game.  Oddly, deKay posted a score of 214 to Miiverse, but the leaderboard showed him with a lower score.  I was incredibly annoyed when I scored three points less than his claimed score.


A couple of games later, though, I got the hang of the controls, and managed to get five strikes in a row, at the end of the game.


This meant that I ended up with a pretty good score.


The online modes for bowling are a little odd; you watch everyone else taking their turn and can send pre-programmed phrases offering encouragement, congratulations or commiserations.  As with tennis, any games you play are racked up in your 'club' score, and you define which club you wish to be a member of, theoretically by stating where you live.
I'm helping England South East here.