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Gradius (Switch): COMPLETED!

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And another NES-game-onna-Switch, bus-based game completion. Gradius isn’t something I remember completing before but at the same time none of it seemed new to me. Which is odd because I don’t often play shooters like this.

Anyway, it was hard, especially the bit with the Easter Island heads, and the final boss was a complete walkover for some reason. All you have to do is stay in the right place and keep shooting – no dodging necessary!

The post Gradius (Switch): COMPLETED! appeared first on deKay's Gaming Diary.

Super Mario Bros (Switch): COMPLETED!

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Yesterday, Nintendo finally enabled their online service and with it came a big old pile of NES games for free 1, one of which was – of course – Super Mario Bros.

Like Sonic, it’s a game I have many copies of and of course have played and completed many times. Also like Sonic, I played it again today and completed it again today. Whilst on a bus. It was great.

Notes:

  1. Or at least “free while you have an active subscription” ↩

The post Super Mario Bros (Switch): COMPLETED! appeared first on deKay's Gaming Diary.

Sonic the Hedgehog (Switch): COMPLETED!

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I couldn’t wait one single day for the UK release of the original Sonic on the Switch, so bought it from the Japanese shop. And then completed the entire game with all the Chaos Emeralds. Without dying.

I may have completed this game a few times before, but never on the Switch although it is probably only the second time I’ve completed it on a bus. I also now have something like 25 copies of it. No, you have a problem.

It’s a great version, building on the 3DS version by M2 by adding some new challenge modes and stuff, and of course it’s huge and lovely on the Switch screen.

The post Sonic the Hedgehog (Switch): COMPLETED! appeared first on deKay's Gaming Diary.

ugvm Podcast Episode 14

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Just in time to finish recording immediately before the Nintendo Direct so we couldn’t cover it, here’s Episode 14. Like the secret of comedy, it’s all about timing. Note: there may be no comedy.

In this episode, deKay finds some sailors, Choobs is waiting for a leopard, Luffer is suffering from animal magnetism, and Kendrick talks a lot about some game nobody else has heard of or cares about.

Despite missing the Direct, there’s some predictions and early announcement chat, we mention the Game Maker’s Toolkit Jam, news about the Neo Geo Mini and reimagined Atari VCS, Persona 3 and 5 spinoffs, and all of these games:

  • Judge Eyes/Project Judge
  • Diablo III
  • Civilisation VI
  • Atelier Arland
  • Yakuza Kiwami 2
  • Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise
  • Shenmue
  • No Man’s Sky
  • Hollow Knight
  • Two Point Hospital
  • Turing Test
  • Golf Story
  • Disc Drivin’ 2
  • Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate
  • Divinity: Original Sin II

And wouldn’t you know, some listener questions too. Lovely.

(Direct link here)

Links to things we mentioned:

Game Jam (and the other games from the same jam)

Encased

GameSX

Skies of Arcadia: a difficult start

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I bought Skies of Arcadia for the Dreamcast (for £5 when HMV was clearing its stock).  I bought Skies of Arcadia Legends for the Gamecube (for about the same when Game was clearing its stock).  I have never played either.

But now, with the release of ReDream, a clean and simple Dreamcast emulator, and a few spare hours with my laptop in a Taiwan hotel, I have at least started it.  There are a few graphical effects on the screen which wouldn't be there if I were playing on my Dreamcast, but at the same time I wouldn't have such a clean picture ... and in fact I wouldn't be playing it at all.


The game isn't exactly the quickest to start, with cutscene after cutscene introducing the cast and situation.  The characters are well designed, if not immediately likeable, and there's a good world that feels ready to be explored.


But when the game starts properly, it's just all a bit slow.  You have to traverse long distances (across admittedly beautiful scenery) to find the next checkpoint, and it feels very linear and scripted.  I'm sure that the game will eventually open out, but after an hour I had only just landed the ship, after a few easy battles, and had managed to get stuck in a cupboard.


This is a problem I have with most JRPGs, to be fair, and as I get older and I have less free time it becomes ever more noticeable.  While this is a game I'd like to play more of, I suspect that realistically I can expect to forget about it now and have to replay the first part again in the future.