Currently loaded : Advance Wars : Dual Strike (DS slot) and A Link To The Past (GBA slot).
Nutshells (DS):
Mario Kart DS : I hated Mario Kart for the SNES for the simple fact it wasn't another F-Zero... but I eventually grew to enjoy it. MKDS is more of the same - 3d instead of sprites for most things - and is great fun in multiplayer. The single player is a bit frustrating for me, as my reflexes and patience have never been great for twitch games. Rating : A
New Super Mario Bros. : While Super Mario Land is still my favorite in the series, this one ties for second with Super Mario Bros. 3. Oldschool hardcore platform action that makes novel use of the DS screens. My only gripe is that you can't Save Anytime until you've beaten the game - until you do, you have to amass coins to activate a save, which hinders portability somewhat. Rating : A- (A overall, - due to the portability issue)
Children Of Mana : Oof. Gorgeous graphics and cinematics. Beautiful sprites, great sound. The gem framework is a really nice addition to Manaverse gameplay, and something I'd like to explore further under different circumstances. Where this game falls down - and falls down HARD - is that the play mechanics are dirt simple, the dungeons are grossly repetitive, and the whole game boils down to toiling through a small handful of boards whacking baddies with your four weapons. Over, and over, and over, and over again. I could have handled the limited weaponry if there'd been more variety in the dungeons, but there isn't - the dungeons are easily the least imaginative, most repetitive levels I've ever encountered in any video game I've ever played. The play mechanic of "kill all baddies or all of a certain baddie to get the Gleam Drop to exit the level, repeat 2-12 more times" just plain sucks. Saving's a pain in the ass as well - your options are either evacuate a dungeon with your magic rope to save in the village, or complete four levels of a dungeon - after which you can re-equip, re-string your gem framework, and save: a method that makes more sense for a console than a portable title. Rating : A+ for graphics and sound, D- for gameplay.
Advance Wars : Dual Strike : One of the first games I got for the DS. I tried it out, couldn't get into it, and shelved it until after I'd beaten Final Fantasy 3. The second time around I found it to be much more enjoyable - as I've gained an understanding of the gameplay and CO mechanics, AWDS has become quite addictive... and quite a pain in the ass, as I suck at breaking in new levels. Rating : B+ leaning towards an eventual A+, as I'm still playing it.
Nutshells (GBA):
Sword Of Mana : See link. Still haven't played through it beyond the first village. Rating: F Mostly for bad, bad hair and overly clunky, unfinished everything else. A+ for the original Final Fantasy Adventure.
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance : Crack. Beautiful, beautiful crack. The first RPG/tactical/whatever I've sunk over 100 hours into. Gorgeous. Best instance of the FF Job System to date. Extremely portable, though waiting for your turn in battle so you can save and get off the bus can be a nailbiter. Rating : A-
Final Fantasy IV Advance : It's still Final Fantasy {II|IV}. Just with a really shitty Mode 7 implementation for the airships, some bazaar timing issues that make Kain and Yang almost useless, and a Supar Bonus Dungeon that's probably the most fun of all the FF Advance rereleases. To date, anyway. It's still the most linear Final Fantasy, and it's still a real pain in the ass to levelgrind, and it's still probably the shortest FF I've played since the first. Rating : B
The Legend Of Zelda : A Link To The Past / Four Swords : How Capcom got involved with this is anybody's guess. Snagged for 20$ at Target, LTTP was worth every penny. It's still LTTP, with a couple of tweaks to make it a better portable experience, and it's amazing how much of it I remember from my SNES days. The only source of annoyance with the game is the menu system and over-emphasis on Four Swords, which is unplayable without at least two cable-linked GBAs. The menu systems goes like this: Choose A File -> select LTTP or FS -> LTTP title screen -> LTTP load menu. While I'm sure the Four Swords sword moves are fun, the only people I know - or rather, care about - with DS and/or GBA hardware are Not In Pittsburgh. That aside, it's Zelda. Specifically, my second favorite zelda of the four I've played (in order of preference : The Legend Of Zelda, A Link To The Past, Zelda II, Link's Awakening). Rating : A
Games I Intend To Write More About Later:
Final Fantasy III : Oldschool, hardcore RPG action with a gorgeous 3d treatment that has me lusting for an FF7 DS port. FF3 is fun overall, though the job system has some quirks and drawbacks not present in later FFs with the Job System. I intend to eventually explain this in a writeup. Rating : A
Final Fantasy I & II : Dawn Of Souls : See here for my bigass writeup on power leveling in the first Final Fantasy. I still have a lot to say about FF2 as a whole - not just power leveling, but the battle system as well - easily one of my favorites in the series. Both games are immensely playable, though FF1 is really only of interest to those who played it Back In The Day, and FF2 can be extremely frustrating without a walkthrough. Rating : A+ (A overall, + for grindability)
Final Fantasy V Advance : The story is probably the most mature instance of the SAVE TEH CRISTULZ theme. Job Leveling is incredibly tedious - bordering on frustrating - in the first third of the game, though one of the Advance version job classes makes endgame level grinding go a lot quicker than it would otherwise. FF5 will eventually get a Power Leveling post, though it'll be shorter than the writeup I have in mind for FFs 2 and 3. Of all of the Advance bonus dungeons I've played to date, this one is by far the most annoying - I dropped FF5 for Zelda 3 as soon as I realized what a total pain in the ass said dungeon was shaping up to be. Rating : B |
