Christmas

Me again ^_^ Just felt like popping in and saying I haven't actually died. No, I've been busy with Christmas (like everyone else) That and university which is the biggest mistake of my life, no exaggeration, oh and I've been feeling ill. Wow, what an awesome December lol. No, christmas for me was awesome ^_^

However I sort of got me thinking about stuff, stuff being video games. And I guess I got all nostalgic. See it was Christmas when i got my first ever gaming console in the form of the PS1. I have a lot of love for that console. I was 12 at the time and had never been that interested in video games or computers (partially because when I was growing up we had neither) But suddenly, rather out of the blue as I hadn't actually asked for it or anything even similar to it. However I unwrapped the Playstation and was suddenly really happy at this odd gift. I honestly think several parents had got together over this as a friend at school got one and a girl on my street did all for the same christmas.

The first game I played on my shiny new PS1 was Croc: Legend of the Gobbo's (a review coming shortly) But initially that lasted about half an hour as I couldn't get him to run striaght so I turned my attention to Theme Park.

And there I was, Christmas day, in my room playing video games with my family downstairs, and not much has changed lol. Although then I did abide by the 1 hour rule whereby I only played on it for an hour before having a break. The 12 hours I clocked on Final Fantasy XIII with just a break for tea show that eventually that rule went out of the window lol.

But you see, I was completely hooked on games back then. I think there was a far higher calibre of games out for the PS1 and the N64 than we have now on the Xbox360 and PS3. I loved gettign the Playstaion magazine, playign the demo discs and reading the reviews, now it's all FPS's and sports games that I really don't give a shit about. Yes the graphics are good, but I really have no desire to feel like I'm actually blowing a guy up. I'd much rather be leaping from platform to platform trying to find the next little furball I needed to rescue.

Anywho, my little trip down memory lane is over. Thanks for joining me on that lol. Another review should be coming shortly but right now I have a princess to rescue on my NDS.
Till next time
Archer

Bouncing Beach Balls?

A game where the only character is a bouncing ball and it bounces around of square platforms, dodging spikes and lasers while collecting pieces of fruit to enter the worlds trippiest levels ever seen in a game, it does make me wonder what publisher heard that pitch and went, 'Y’know what...that sounds like a winner'. The game I am of course referring to is the epicness that is Kula World.

The reason for the review is that I have just found it on the Playstation network and quickly gave that a download. Honestly though, while the concept sounds like the creators were smoking something trippy while at a beach, its a design that works and it works well. Any game that can have you hooked for hours on end has to be a winner, especially when, once you've bested all ten levels, you go back to one just to start the whole painful process again.

So what happens in it? Well read the first sentence of this blog again and you've pretty much got it. You take the form of a bouncing ball who has no greater objective in life than to reach a large 'X' floating over an exit. To do it you bounce over platforms, collecting keys to enable you to use the exit. Which is actually a lot harder than it sounds. Every level is a puzzle that you must solve to successfully move on. This involves collecting the keys you need, sometimes one, sometimes up to four, collecting coins and fruit while avoiding the things that can cause you to pop. These include spikes, lasers, crumbling platforms and weird little star things that apparently 'capture' you. Oh and lets not forget the drugs. That's right, drugs. Scattered around levels, looking quite odd are small yellow and red pills that, should you pick one up, the world starts to distort for a short period of time, you movements become sluggish and time, if you're unlucky enough to have a timer, starts to move faster.

Well if we're being honest, the graphics are nothing overly special, but then again, how special do they need to be? This is a game relying solely on the game play it has on offer, not on any special effects. Same with the sound, just some generic background music that you sort of zone out listening to, until you hear this dreaded clicking noise and realise, to your dismay, that you've taken too long and suddenly have a timer that is rather close to zero. However it is the game play of this game that causes me to be rather fond of it.

The levels are downright tricky and you can waste more than a few lives trying to navigate some of the harder ones. Level eight is one that will always stick in my mind as I believe that is the one where lasers are introduced and you must navigate moving platforms to turn buttons on and off in order to reach your goal. But the difficulty is the joy of it. There’s a real sense of achievement when you finally finish. Especially if you managed to access most of the bonus levels. Of course the difficulty means that, despite it's bright colours and using a ball as the main (and only) character, this game is probably not for children. Heck I got more than a little frustrated at times, I can already see small children pulling their hair out as they try, and fail, to get across the ice platforms without sliding off the end.

It was awesome when it was on the Playstation 1 and I would highly, highly recommend it to anyone as the download on the Playstation network. For the £2.99 or however much it is worth, it'll keep you occupied for hours lol. Trust me on that.