Wow, so March was pretty slow then. Actually, over the last couple weeks I’ve been getting a lot accomplished. And by “Getting a lot accomplished” I mean “watching DVDs and playing video games”. I spent almost three hours last night playing Super Paper Mario, grinding enemies for coins and items so that I could conjure up enough good healing items to get me through the Flopside Pit of 100 Trials, which is basically the last thing I feel the need to complete in that game (nuts to finishing the various collections). I gave it a go this morning, and got somewhere into the 70’s where I was disgracefully murdered by a Dark Dayzee. For some reason, I’ve also started playing through the Wind Waker again, and I have to say that I’d really like to see a true sequel.
I should mention that I bought three new games today. All cheap, too! First off, they finally put a Mr. Driller game on Xbox Live Arcade, so I totally jumped on that. I’m completely terrible at Mr. Driller, but I cannot resist the bright colours and the promise of online play. After much deliberation, I also picked up Shiren the Wanderer. I have a lot to say about it, but you might as well go ask Parish, because he just won’t shut up about it. I will say that I really love it, because roguelikes are totally awesome, but I do much prefer Izuna (which I have yet to finish).
Lastly, because I apparently never noticed it before, I sawBomberman Land and decided to pick it up on the account of it was only $30 and it would be a good idea to have a Bomberman game for Wii. Then I realized that I have the VC version of Bomberman ’93. Oops. On the upside, despite the fact that the “adventure” mode is just a glorified mini-game collection, I feel that it’s one of the best mini-game collections in the overcrowded genre. It might have something to do with the RPG-esque way the game works, because having a reason to play mini-games other than for the sake of playing mini-games is a nice change of pace. Having a light plot, character interaction/customization, and a sense of progress make it much more bearable than most other efforts. As far as gameplay goes, I’d even place it above Rayman Raving Rabbids. It doesn’t have nearly as much personality, but it’s far more acceptable as a single-player game. The only real complaint is that the graphics are unabashedly crappy. Seriously. It doesn’t look a whole lot better than the top-tier N64 titles. I don’t mind if you didn’t put your whole heart into the graphics department, but the visuals here are almost inexcusably poor.
Obviously, I bought it for multiplayer though, and while the game does try to push the mini-games on you even then, Hudson was smart enough to keep our dearly beloved battle mode intact. It’s the exact same formula we all know and love, so it’s a perfect choice if you’ve got people to play with. They even had the foresight to allow use of the Classic controller and Gamecube pads, which is excellent because I only own one Wiimote. Overall, I recommend it because not only is classic Bomberman some of the best multiplayer gaming you’re ever going to see, but the single-player adventure is entertaining enough to spend a few hours with. Of course, I’d also recommend Shiren and Mr. Driller Online, but those are far more nichey than Bomberman ever was.
Next time on Torrential Equilibrium: waxing about why we need a new entry to another beloved multiplayer franchise, and then a short run down of what movies and TV DVDs have been sapping up the rest of my free time lately.