bully
Spent some time bullying people around since I’ve got nothing to do

Quick thoughts due to the lack of a 360…

So I’ve been spending the most of my time playing Retro Game Challenge on the DS, and it’s pretty fun. I’ve finally unlocked the RPG, so I’m looking forward to playing through that. The nice thing about the challenges in each individual game (which you need to finish to unlock new games) is the fact that very few of them involve completing the game, so the process doesn’t get tedious. I’ve played through six of the games, and since I don’t have too much to write about, I figured I’d write my thoughts on each one. Check them out plus some thoughts on Bully for Wii after the jump.

Retro Game Challenge (DS)
Cosmic Gate – This game is basically like Galaga, but with different animations. There are over 60 levels in all; I managed to get through 50-something before dying. I want to try to beat this entire game without continues or cheats when I’m done with all the challenges. It’s amazing how such tried and true gameplay still can be so fun, everything is so simple yet addicting.

Robot Ninja Haggleman – This platformer is a mashup of Super Mario Bros. and Ninja Gaiden. You are a robot ninja who can jump on enemies’ heads to kill them and stun them with ninja stars. In each level you need to kill all the enemies and then you get to fight the boss. The game can actually get pretty hectic when there are a lot of enemies on screen, and you need to time jumps perfectly or suffer the consequences.

Rally King – Probably my least favorite of the games, Rally King is a top down racer. The mechanics are pretty good and it reminds me of Outrun, but I was never the hugest fan of Outrun, so it’s kind of whatever.

Star Prince – The sequel to Cosmic Gate, Star Prince is a top down scrolling space shooter, and it really is a lot of fun. It is reminiscent of 1942 but in space, complete with power-ups, hidden warps, and a lot of other fun things.

Rally King SP & Robot Ninja Haggleman 2 – Sequels to their respective predecessors with updated gameplay, higher difficulty and a few new features.

Guadia Quest – The RPG, which I only just started. Watching the intro really takes me back though, the graphics look like Dragon Quest but the intro reminded me of Final Fantasy. Looking forward to it.

OK, enough Retro Game Challenge.

Bully: Scholarship Edition (Wii)
I got my Wii back from my fiancee and picked up Bully, a game I’ve always been kind of interested in. One of the podcasts I listen to is playing it in their Game Club so I figured I might as well play along since I’ve got nothing else to do right now.

I’m only about an hour in, and it kind of feels like a toned down version of GTA in a prep school (it is Rockstar, I guess). What frustrates me the most is the Wii controls, I don’t know if it’s because I play at an angle but they seem pretty finicky. I re-angled my sensor bar so hopefully that will help. Also, the graphics look terrible. Yet the Wii continues to dominate NPDs. It never ceases to amaze me (though I totally understand why).

On a side note, I saw a Wii Music display/presentation at the mall. Kids and parents were flocking to that thing like the Pied Piper was in town. What a phenomenon.

Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure
Tried to get it at my local Gamestop, but their two copies or whatever were sold already. Guess that’s a good thing! Anyway, I’ll probably order it from Amazon or something before my next plane ride, which is in less than a month. Gametrailers had a nice review.

360 Repair Update
My box is officially in Microsoft’s hands, and I got this e-mail this morning!

“We are happy to let you know that your request to have your console repaired is now complete and we are preparing to ship your console back to you. You will receive another e-mail message from us when we ship your console. That message will contain tracking information that you can use to check the shipment status of your console.”

Yay!

Update: 5 minutes later, I got this message! “We are happy to let you know that we have shipped your console back to you!”