Games I've Been Playing Lately - October '08 Edition

It's weird. Every time I decide to do one of these articles I always have exactly four games I'm playing. If I would've wrote two days ago, I would've broken that trend, as I purchased my fourth game today.

Lately I've been playing a lot of WiiWare. 75% of the titles on this list are download from Nintendo's WiiWare service. The fourth game is a retail, Wii game. So lately I've been all about Wii, no retro games on the Virtual Console, and no Nintendo DS games.

Art Style: Orbient

System: Wii (via WiiWare)
I really dig this new, "Art Style" series. The concepts are simple, a load of fun, and only put you back $6 (but put you forward in so much quality, genuine fun!). Based an a Japan GBA game, Oribital, the Art Style: Orbient is actually pretty simple, but pretty damn hard too. You control a little planet, orbiting and absorbing stars until you can catch the goal star in your orbit. All this with only the A and B buttons. I've been playing this game alongside Mega Man 9 and I seriously don't know which I've gotten more pissed at. Neither in a bad way, just in a extreme kicking my butt way.

Mega Man 9

System: Wii (via WiiWare)

Mega Man 9 most definitely is the "true" sequel to Mega Man 1 & 2. Virtually everything is present from those games in hear, although menus have been updated and polished a bit more (as polished as an 8-bit game can get, of course). Of the two NES Mega Mans (1 and 2) I've played, I've never beaten either one of them. In both of them I've beat the six or eight Robot Masters and then preceded to Dr. Wily's castle where I got my butt kicked. Same thing goes for 9, as currently I'm on the second Dr. Wily stage, and damn it's hard. But the new DLC also gives me something else to mess around on in the game (Proto Man mode and Endless Stage, both which are excellent).

Wario Land: Shake It!

System: Wii
September sure was the month for platformers on the Wii. Wario Land, Mega Man, and de Blob were all released, satisfying that platforming fans. (Too bad I still need to pick up de Blob.) As for Wario Land, it's a lot of fun and I absolutely love the art style. The game's not to long, but I got stuck on a certain boss a couple of days ago and haven't had some free time to tackle that level again. But this weekend I'll finish the main game for sure.

World of Goo

System: Wii (via WiiWare)
Critics are calling World of Goo the best game on WiiWare. Period. And I'm not going to disagree with them. Even though I'm only on the first chapter (well through it, mind you that), I can already tell this game is a gem. The strategy and physics you have to abide by in so intense and plain fun.

That wraps up another episode of "Games I've Been Playing Lately" (dang, I need a catchier title...) What about you? What games have sucked you in as of late?

Games I've Been Playing Lately - Episode 2

To kick off my new schedule of posting will be an article much like you saw back on July 4th. As of late, four games have been controlling my playtime. I just got started playing three of them in the last few days, so think of this as my first impressions of those.

Order Up!

System: Wii
Recently I purchased Order Up! and am surprised at actually how fun it is. So far I've only unlocked the first restaurant, the Gravy Chug, and American restaurant with hamburgers, grilled cheese sandwiches, and macaroni and cheese. Almost all the motion controls work well. I've only had gripes with one, which was peeling lettuce. But other than that the game has me hooked. I haven't played too much, but I can already tell I'll be putting in many hours into this one.

Expect a review up sometime in the coming weeks.

Elite Beat Agents

System: Nintendo DS
My second game that I just started playing. Elite Beat Agents is one of the uniquest experiences I ever had on the DS. To add to that, it's also one of the funniest and overall greatest times I've had on the DS. The developers really nailed the concept on this one. I espeicially love the stories of each song. If you haven't, you really need to check out this game.

As with Order Up!, I'll probably review this game sometime soon.

Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure

System: Wii
I finally picked up Zack & Wiki again, and damn it's still fun. I'm in the later puzzles and it's super challenging. I stuck on one particularly hard level in the haunted house stages. The game really is one of my favorites on the Wii, even if I don't particulary like the art styel.

Mega Man

System: NES (via Virtual Console via Wii)
The original Mega Man was recently released on the Virtual Console a week ago. Capcom decided to put out Mega Man, and later Mega Man 2, to lead up to the release of their 8-bit Mega Man 9. It's still fun as heck and really old-school challenging. I like it and am definitely going to get Mega Man 2 and 9 when they come out on the VC.

And that wraps up my four favorite games of the moment. Like my picks? What games have you been obsessed with lately? Tell me in the comments...

Games I've Been Playing Lately

This is the kind of article I do when my brain's completely dead... Enjoy! Happy 4th to all you Americans out there. And to everyone else, have a good weekend!

As of late, four different games have sucked me in. All of them are entertaining and enjoyable. Two of them I recently purchased, while the other two I've been playing for quite a while.

Mario Kart Wii

System: Wii
Just the other day I finally beat that very annoying Mirror Mode. It really stumps me why they put it in. I mean come on, it's the same courses just left and right are reversed. How original is that? Nonetheless, you may be thinking, well now that he's finished with the Grand Prix, he's done with the game. No way. The online is so addicting. I think my win count is in the 1000's and losses around 800 or so. Right now my rating is 6400 or so. I simply love the online in this game. Like Mario Kart (even just a little)? Want a great online experience? This is a no-brainer. I'll probably keep playing this for months to come.

Full review here.

Boom Blox

System: Wii
I recently bought Boom Blox, and let me tell you: it's fun! And not just the easy, kiddy fun that the visuals suggest, it is extremely difficult too. There's so much to this game. Over 300 challenges (including the story mode), over 100 multiplayer stages, and the level creator. Plus you can go back and edit any stage you've unlocked, how sweet is that? So far I've beaten almost all of Explore Mode (except for those pesky, Jenga style puzzles) and a few of the Adventure Mode challenges. And it says I'm only 20% done! This is one huge and entertaining game.

I'll have a review up sometime next week.

Gyrostarr

System: Wii (via WiiWare)
Besides Boom Blox, I have purchased one other game of late: Gyrostarr. Available through WiiWare, and priced at $7 this is the kind of game you expect to find on WiiWare. It's a simple shooter that has a cool, sci-fi/techno feel to it. It's fun and has some unique concepts as far as shooters go. But overall it's an average game that I'm enjoying. There's supposedly 50 or so levels in it. I've only played a couple of hours of it and I'm only at level 13 or 14.

Full review here.

New Super Mario Bros.

System: Nintendo DS
Don't get me wrong, I beat this game a long time ago. But I decided to pick it back up and play through the game. Not try to beat every level or get every star coin, just play through Worlds 1 to 8, all the way up to that (somewhat) climatic battle with Bowser at the end. I'm on the last couple levels of World 8 as we speak; it's not that long of a game after all. But let me tell you: it's still super fun the second time through. I really hope they announce a sequel at E3 or something of the sort. Because this is one of my favorite DS games and a darn good game overall.

That rounds up the four games I've been playing lately. What do you think of them? Gyrostarr rules? Boom Blox sucks? What games have you guys been playing lately? Tell me in the comments.