Currently Playing #15

Wario Land: Shake It! (Wii)

This is another one of those games I've had for some time. I started playing it about a week ago. I've always been fond of the WarioWare series but the Wario platform games are also quite enjoyable. The last one I played was Wario Land 4 back in 2002 so needless to say, I've been away from the series for a very long while.

As the subtitle implies, there's a good deal of shaking going on in Shake It! Wario is in the Shake Dimension looking to fatten up his wallet. He's also there to help rescue some of the world's inhabitants but we all know he could care less about helping anyone but if it helps him get rich, he's game. There are lots of money bags to shake to unleash coins. Seems simple enough and it is, but I found that you really have to be careful just where you're shaking that bag of cash. It's easy to lose coins to a lava pit or have them get shaken to where they fly out of your reach. These coins don't stick around for too long either so you gotta be quick about collecting your reward.

The game also has other motion control use. The Wii Remote can be swung back and forth to help Wario swing on vines. A quick flick of the remote makes Wario slam the ground to cause an earthquake and you even control Wario's aim with the Wii Remote. The most taking use of motion controls I've come across so far is shaking for coins and even then, it isn't that bad.

I just reach Area 3 (yeah, I'm moving at a slug's pace) and the best implementation of motion controls I've seen thus far was the boss of Area 2. Wario's gunning for some speed demon in a convertible who chucks wheels and monkey wrenches at him. Wario's only means of fighting back is using a mounted boxing glove on his car to bounce the projectiles back at his opponent. This is of course done by means of tilting the Wii Remote to aim up or down. I got a bit frustrated on this boss but that mainly due to trying to rush things. It's a pretty cool boss battle.

Each level has three treasures for you to find and like Wario Land 4 you have to escape each stage before time runs out or you won't get to keep any of the cash or treasures you've collected. A lot of these treasures aren't in plain view and I've already repeated levels numerous times trying to find each treasure. This game was made by Good Feel, the same developer of Kirby's Epic Yarn, a game I needed little to no help finding each stage's three items. You'd think it'd be much easier to find these treasures but no, you really gotta work for 'em here. But then, Epic Yarn was Kirby game, so things are supposed to be a lot easier. There are also extra goals you can meet in every level like making it back to the start of the level at a set time, finishing a stage without getting hit and so on. I'm not sure if these extras count as 100% completion but if they are, getting 100% in Shake It! won't be easy.

Still Playing...

Punch-Out!! (Wii) 

I started a new game because I actually lost to Great Tiger. Great Tiger! Granted, he's a lot tougher in this Punch-Out!! but still! I did learn one thing when I started over: I have a terrible tendancy to always dodge left and because of this, I was getting hit by a lot of punches. I'm not sure why I always go left when dodging but I found myself doing it so much that it was like a reflex reaction. Once I started mixing up how I dodged, I was taking less hits.

I'm also still adjusting to how each boxer works. With a guy like Glass Joe, you have all the time in the world to dodge his punches so if you dodge too soon, you can still dodge again and be fine. Do this on a guy like Disco Kid and you're screwed. In a lot of ways, it feels like a have to learn how to play Punch-Out!! again even though I played the NES version and Super Punch-Out!! to death eons ago.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy (3DS)

For the record, I have not stopped playing this game since I started playing it a little over two months ago. I've gotten Terra, Cloud, and Warrior of Light up to level 99 and Cecil is almost there with them. My current party consists of Cecil, Lightning, Bartz and Vaan. I've gotten an all critical on The Sunleth Waterscape (Final Fantasy XIII) on Expert mode and a lot of Expert mode level songs aren't as tricky as I thought they'd be. Though some require good eyes and lots of timely taps and swipes. I think this is the first 3DS game I've invested nearly 50 hours into.