(Retro) What have you been playing this week?

[fallenangle]

Been mostly playing a freeware top-down shooter I found called Alien Wars but I picked up PS2 Herdy Gerdy for a ?1 in CEX last week as I remembered it had some good reviews when it first came out. Not my cup of tea at all - kiddy fodder story and script, entry level voice acting, ugly character models with strangely bleached faces, lousy lip sync and dull level design as far as I've got with it. Herding/sheperding creatures gameplay idea might be good if it were a mini-game in something like Fable but here I just can't be bothered. Not a ?1 well spent.

[noobish hat]

I'll take it off your hands. I loved the art style, but I lost it somehow. I think my brother pinched it, along with my Episode 1 Racer N64 set!

[nakamura]

Herdy Gerdy looked lovely until it started moving. The frame rate was dire.

[fallenangle]

If you're serious about wanting Herdy Gerdy PM me your address and I'll send it gratis. As so often with CEX and old PS2 games no instruction manual and the disc itself is in, again, typical CEX micro-scratched condition. I've never had any loading problems on my PS2s but initially this loaded very slowly and at one stage I thought it had frozen. However as far as I've got, a couple of hours In, I had no trouble.

[Colin]

Viewpoint on the AES. I love this game, it's a thing of utter beauty. I also hate this game, it's hard as **** and I don't think i'm ever going to finish it. I've battled most of the NEO shooters to completion, pulstar, last resort etc, but this one just always beats me. Maybe one day!

[Cepp]

Beat some games from my youth this week, Wonder Boy SMS and McDonaldland. I remember seeing Wonder Boy in the arcade as a kid and thinking it looked far too simple/easy and then dieing pretty bloody quickly when I actually played it. The SMS version's pretty forgiving with the infinite continues though. Currently working on Sonic 2 SMS.

[Jay]

Sonic Adventure which I love and hate in equal measure. I've finished the Big the Cat game which is ridiculous, basically wandering about with an annoying glitchy character doing a bit of fishing. The Sonic acton bits are still fun but somewhat buggy. *All* of the Adventure bits are tedious as all hell and I hate that bloody Mystic Ruins music - drives me mad. Despite its many problems, there is still something about this game that puts a big smile on my face so I'll probably see it through to the end with all the characters.

[Zaki]

Super Castlevania IV!! I LOVE THIS GAME! Simon Belmont's theme, the mode 7 effects, whipping in 8 directions. What a stunning Castlevania game!

[Jamie]

Just started playing Final Fantasy X, it's the only FF i haven't really played through, I remember playing it when it came out and getting annoyed with the Blitzball games. Hopefully finish it this time round.

Best thing is playing it through PCSX2 at 1080p on my 50" plasma and with a wireless pad

[nakamura]

Been playing PS1 DooM and it is completely amazing. The best version of the game by miles, mainly down to the epic sound. The levels are massive, the frame rate is solid enough and the game makes you jump.

Better than anything though are the passwords. When I am playing at home I can enjoy in surround but when I am in bed or away I can use the current password and continue playing on my PSP!

[kyo_244]

Just started playing Final Fantasy X, it's the only FF i haven't really played through, I remember playing it when it came out and getting annoyed with the Blitzball games. Hopefully finish it this time round.

Best thing is playing it through PCSX2 at 1080p on my 50" plasma and with a wireless pad

Can we have a picture of that??

[Tetsuo]

This week I finally finished Metal Arms: Glitch In The System for the GameCube after playing it on and off for the past few weeks. It's a smashing little Halo-'em-up from 2003 and I found it thoroughly enjoyable. It's packed with detail and character, and lots of clever touches like being to posses enemy robots, and a nice variety of gameplay modes like driving and shooting. The multiplayer modes look really fun too, but I have no-one to play with to prove it.

Between sessions, I've also been playing Carmen Sandiego: The Secret Of The Stolen Drums, a kid-friendly sneek-em-up also on the GameCube which I picked up in Finland last year. This is a somewhat (to say the least) less impressive game, but offers a nice contrast to hectic blasting of Glitch. The initial pleasure of watching your character's fluid animations as he leaps and crawls around begins to wear thin though when you realise each level is essentially identical, right down to the bizarre appearance of robots and fantasy ogres on every single stage you visit.

[Kit]

Started a new game of Super Mario Bros 3 on the GBA. Going to see how far I can get without using the flute.

[aticatac]

Final Fight 3 (Snes),Golden Axe III (MD) and some Atari St stuff like Paradroid 90,Scramble Spirits,Venus the flytrap,Rotox,Llamatron and St Dragon

[nakamura]

A few things have my attention.


Wolfenstien 3D on the SNES. Yes it isn't the best port but it is bags of fun to play and just reached 3-2 which is the furthest I have ever got.
DooM on PS1 still has me. On level 22 now and swapping between PSP and PS1 which is so handy due to passwords.
Persona 2 Innocent Sin on PSP. 25 hours into this now and enjoying it a lot. Encounter rate is a little high but other than that it has bags of depth. Too easy though.