Post — Page 87

Midnight Resistance (MD): COMPLETED!

Posted on 12/03/2016 Written by deKay

I was expecting more from this, I’m afraid. I’m not actually sure what I was expecting, as these are the facts I know about Midnight Resistance: 1) There’s a Spectrum version that was featured quite heavily in Your Sinclair, 2) There was a Fishnight Resistance joke, also in Your Sinclair, and 3) There is a games website and podcast called Midnight Resistance. Aside from that, I know you control a man with a gun. And perhaps it was a bit like Green Beret? Maybe.

In fact, Midnight Resistance is this: A short clone of Contra, only with a clever weapon upgrade system. This weapon system works by means of keys which baddies drop. Collect up to six of them, and at the end of a level you enter a room where you can unlock display units containing power-ups and new guns. Each unit requires a number of keys. It’s great, aside from that you’re left with a weedy shooter if you have to continue, and have to make it through a whole level (and collect keys) to unlock upgrades. A little infuriating, to say the least, as were a couple of the bosses – the electricity man in particular, which would have been impossible without my three-way shot, I’m sure.

Click to view slideshow.

That said, it wasn’t really a bad game at all. Frustrating and with some cheap almost unavoidable deaths, but with some awesome music and fun power-ups. It’s just not as good as Contra, and to be honest, I’m not really a fan of Contra either. Frankly, I’ve no idea what possessed me to play Midnight Resistance at all to be honest, let alone complete it. Which is what I did.

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ToeJam and Earl (MD): COMPLETED!

Posted on 10/03/2016 Written by deKay

I have completed ToeJam and Earl before, many times, with the last time almost a decade ago on the Wii’s Virtual Console. This time, it was on RetroPie. I think this may be the only time I’ve completed it on Random World though – I normally rely upon knowing exactly where certain presents are in order to know what’s in them.

I played through as ToeJam, obviously, because he is best. I didn’t have many problems until I got to around level 18 or so and then lost three lives in very quick succession to the Bogeyman. Thankfully, I found a life in a present and gained another for a promotion, and that saw me through until the end. In fact, I used very few presents overall at all – mainly through constant fear I’d get a Total Bummer or the randomiser.

ToeJam and Earl is certainly one of the most memorable Mega Drive games, and it hasn’t aged a bit. I wonder how the Kickstartered new version is getting on? I hope it turns out more like this original version than the sequel or Xbox one.

Click to view slideshow.

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Disney Infinity 3.0 (PS4): COMPLETED!

Posted on 06/03/2016 Written by deKay

How, you are undoubtably asking, has he managed to completed Disney Infinity 3.0? Well, I’ll tell you how: my copy came with the Twilight of the Republic playset, and it’s that (along with all the main actions you can do in the main Disney Infinity hub outside of that) which I have completed. In co-op with my daughter, actually.

It was rubbish.

I suppose, if I were a Disney and/or a Star Wars fan, I’d have enjoyed it more, but then I loved the Lego Star Wars games so perhaps that doesn’t hold true. The Disney Infinity version of the Clone Wars universe is very much like that in Lego Star Wars, and is filled with sections that made me think, ah yes, they did this bit better in Lego Star Wars.

The fighting is boring. The camera is broken when you’re up near a wall. The side quests are all utterly tedious skill-free fetch quests. Even the big set pieces – boss fights, the pod racing, space battles – are all better handled in Lego Star Wars. I simply didn’t enjoy it very much, and what fun I did have was from kicking people off cliffs (which is never not hilarious) and playing co-op (although in numerous places having to revive 2P or not accidentally fight her because the camera has spun round again was not great).

I poked around in the level editor side, which was clumsy, and tried a few highly rated player made levels which were ALL dire. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from the game, but what I actually found was I disliked it even more. The bugs, including a flickering screen and sometimes falling through floors and platforms, were just some sort of crap icing on a terrible cake. And JarJar Binks. Oh god just make him die.

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Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush (Wii U): COMPLETED!

Posted on 05/03/2016 Written by deKay

After seeing the MechaKirby 3DS game on this week’s Nintendo Direct, I was reminded that I hadn’t finished Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush yet. I think, as is often the case, something else came along instead. Maybe Super Mario Maker? Or Lego Jurassic World. I can’t remember. Anyway!

In one sitting, with my daughter on Waddle-Dee duty, I completed the rest of the game. Which was all of worlds 3 to 7, as it turned out. Like pretty much all Kirby games, it was easy. A couple of tricky forced scroll levels caused a few deaths, but picking up extra lives was such a frequent occurrence that I had about 40 spare by the time I reached the end.

Along the way, as is so often the case with Nintendo platformers in particular, there was so much inventiveness to find. In a few stages, Kirby rides a gondola, with your rainbow rope acting as a “track” for it to hang from. In another, you have to escape from a gunship you’ve just triggered the auto-destruct on, and you’re given a map on which to draw your intended exit route. Near the end there’s a section where Kirby is split into two Kirbys, at first separate from each other (so you have to guide both to switches and out of danger), and then together, where you can hit one with the other to cause it to fire off at speed, ricocheting off everything and smashing through blocks. As soon as you’re used to one new mechanic in the game, it throws another at you, or combines two or three earlier ones. It definitely doesn’t let you get bored.

It’s odd, then, that the bosses are repeated with only minor differences. There are only eight in total, and three are used twice. They don’t even get harder. It’s only a small negative point, but for such a varied title it’s a bit out of place. Another niggle I have only happens when you’re playing co-op: periodically, a fight with a detatched hand will trigger. Kirby can’t defeat it as it tries to grab him and drag him off-screen (to his death), so Waddle-Dee has to do it. All I could do as Kirby was try to keep him away from the hand, and when invariably snatched, provide rainbow ropes for Waddle-Dee to reach the hand (if necessary) and smack it.

That aside, it’s a fun, gorgeous looking (everything is made from clay!) and inventive platformer. Exactly what you’d expect from Nintendo, really. It’s quite short, although collecting all the hidden treasure chests in each level and completing all the unlockable challenges will provide a great deal of extra length, but Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush clever and varied. And so, so pretty.

Click to view slideshow.

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Assassin’s Creed Unity (PS4)

Posted on 03/03/2016 Written by deKay

A mission for the Theatre (I am still not sure why I’m involved with the theatre, actually – I know it sits on top of the hive of villainy that is The Assassin Brotherhood headquarters, but surely bringing more people in isn’t what you’d want?) involved finding someone called Rose, and then finding three sets of costumes dotted around Paris. Why. It wasn’t a bad mission, but like a lot of the game so far, why am I doing it. Not me, I mean, but Arno.

His dad was killed by a Templar, sure. That would mean he has a thing against them, and I can understand why he want to join the Assassins with that history. However, the man who brought him up and the person whose murder Arno is blamed for, was also a Templar – and Arno seems to want to find out why he was killed and exact his revenge there. I’m not really sure the story is making sense nor is it going anywhere. Still, hunty-stabby is always good, so meh to the plot.

To that end, I was set to take down the King of Beggars, who was hiding in the sewer. There’s a bit beforehand where you need to find one of his underlings, and then you can also block up some sewer chimneys (there are sewer chimneys?) to aid with the mission underground. The King of Beggars himself was in a large circular room protected by some guards, and it was pretty tricky to reach him – if he spots you, you’re killed very quickly as he has a powerful gun of some kind. Managed it after a few attempts, and then escaped through the thick smoke which I’d caused earlier but magically only affected the bad guys and not me.

Had a chat then with the Marquis de Sade, who is an interesting fellow. He seems to live like a prince in the slums of the city, having orgies. Those wacky French. He’s sort of helping me, but doesn’t seem to be an assassin, so I’m not really sure why.

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