Rummy

Yeah I must admit I've only played a few times through since I was a kid (where everything was somehow infinitely harder/I was infinitely more stupid), and I can see the easy arguments. The challenge of the game really comes from the 100%ing(tho the unlock bonuses can also make it easier) - especially trying to tackle a boss without losing stars or then frantically trying to red shell recover if you do for the 100%. I think the killer thing for me was whenever I forgot to top my stars up before hitting the pre-boss middle ring! Some boss battles that stick out in my mind were Raphael the Raven, the Naval Piranha(tho as a child I somehow didn't learn the egg water skim trick despite the dungeons obvious tutorialing, you'd laugh so hard at how I actually wasted time defeating him), and strangely that Tap-Tap the Red Nose. I think for some reason my real ultimate favourite boss as a kid was Hookbill the Koopa! I digress anyhow. I still definitely appreciate the opinions of people playing these old games again today even if they're not favourable - and whilst I personally love Yoshi's Island I can see how it might not be everybody's cup of tea. It was a somewhat new and fresh mixup to the standard mario mechanic, the simple introduction of the egg throwing and various power-ups at stages did, for me, give it quite a Mario-but-not-Mario kinda feeling.

Things might change, though I'm quite acutely aware of age gaps right now. I say just enjoy it for whatever it is and see how it goes. If it works, it works. If it turns into something more at some point, it turns into something more. Ofc, it's much easier for me to say that than put it into practise. I'm trying my damned hardest not to get besotted right now. And the problem is....?

Do you just use anti-virus or anti-malware stuff as well? I find something like MBAM(the software, not our Buttons!) picks up some of the little adwarey shit that doesn't neccessarily get pulled as viruses. Having said that - I haven't worked with or troubleshooted windows for a while and no idea what sort of state current software versions are in and if they're still useful.

Any PS4 owners for this? Frag convinced myself and Marcamillian to get it for the tenner in the sale. Tried for the first time last night - doesn't do much explaining and whilst our first job(a jewellery store) was really quite a shambles we still managed to finish it ok with a decent amount of monies. Took many more attempts at our next few jobs though - Payday is HARD! Interesting idea though and seems kinda fun so far - mostly just for the fact you're just given the objectives and have to figure your way out(and avoid shooting your gun on a stealth mission, or falling off the stairs and breaking your legs, if you're Marc).

You're really killing some of my great faves in this thread, lostmario! I can think of a few moments that did stand out for me - some of the boss battles are really great in it and the total mixup for the final battle with Bowser makes it feel fresh and impending too, imo. I think it does spike difficulty wise at World 5. For sure as I kid I recall that being the world I struggled to 100% the most. However I did actually really enjoy the 100%ing of the game, I think the optional/hidden collectables are a really fun option; and whilst they can be slightly frustrating on some levels at first I don't think they are all that difficult, moreoften just requiring some patience(barring like...maybe 3 hidden things). I think the items option can obvs help a lot with some of them, as well as if you know how to get yourself stocked up on them easily *nudge nudge wink wink* but yeah. I'm rambling. Really enjoyed seeing you (re?)play through some of these old titles again now with a fresh and honest perspective, even if it doesn't sit with my view through the retrospecs. Look forward to hearing about your SM64 adventures....and what possible gripes you could have there :p*! (*actually a few very fair but small gripes to possibly be had with SM64)

So who here's going for this? There's still some 4 day passes and some other day tix left - I'm getting mildly tempted by a potential excursion to Brum for a day ticket. What's usually the best/worst days to go?

May have to count me out for the foreseeable future, I honestly don't think I've got much time to spare in the next week or two.

For me SMB2 was, understandably, a very unique title in the Mario series. However for me it had many of the expected hallmarks of one - great exploration, choices/options, and of course secrets! When I was an older kid on replays in All-Stars I'd use warps to cheat my way through to world 7 etc and mostly only play that world(which I used to struggle epicly with, apparently). However there's been a few times I've run through the game mostly in sequence(taking occasional level shortcuts) and there is some cracking design in there. I think as you mention the boss battles feel somewhat fairly unique, and the whole grabbing/throwing mechanic added another dimension to Mario for me there. Wart is such a great final boss battle, even if it is rather challenging. I must say I'm getting quite tempted to replay both SMB2 and SMB3 without warps sometime soon! You...are a strange lad.

Partial solution to my dilemma. Decided to be a bit brazen and suggest visiting her last night(never been there before etc), but it seems our combined subtle hints and complete fucking idiocy means that neither of us were actually all that sure if there was something there or not, and she didn't seem to want to bring it up, so I didn't bring it up, but then eventually I managed to bring it up and we wondered why we'd spent so much of the eve having nice polite discussions(tho they were good chattings) rather than talking about it all. She's gonna talk to her cousin(my mate) about the idea of us being anything before we do anything for now.

(no offense meant in detracting from the occasion! Happy St Patrick's day to all our irish fellows!)

I played one of the BoF(presume we're talking Breath of Fire here right?) on the GBA that, actually, didn't feel too terribly grindy to me. I think I then sought out the other on the SNES and played that version - found it exceptionally grindy! I can't recall which was which, and I've no idea if they made the GBA remake(s?) any easier, but yeah...I had nothing to say on the actual podcast front except that I felt whichever BoF I played second felt like a super grind! I don't JRPG tons mostly because I don't like the grind, though I def played a fair few of those old school ones back in the day, and I was so pleasantly surprised with the BoF I played first that I sought out the other.

Oops, I should have said I meant more an indication of how things are for XBone now - I think this is going to be great for them moving forward. Re: the IDs, what if someone has my PSN gamertag on XboxLive, and then it means that two of us essentially share the same ID for a game? I'm just wondering how they'd work around that(though I imagine, for a large majority of people, they actually have the same tags across systems). Ahh, I was not aware of that! Can't say I'm particularly surprised to hear it though, Sony have moved leaps and bounds in the last few years imo.

Was just Was just curious - I remember we skipped a few as kids, but the notable one was the World 8 fortress. Was years before I actually ever beat it properly, and I'm sure when I got Marcamillian to play through he actually thought it might be impossible :p

Had seen this pop up somewhere but didn't read any/much of the deets. On the surface I think it's a.) a great step forward generally and b.)a terrible sign of defeat for Microsoft/XBone? But then I thought - Are Sony on board? What happens if Sony don't get on board? It's basically gonna fuel a lot of PS4 vs XBone, and would need to be developed from the outset of things I'd imagine plus some sort of crossover systems put in place for it due to the idea of unique IDs surely? Will this end up with us making new IDs for each game we play, and a potential devolution of matchmaking/friends options etc? The PC gaming side of it's interesting and relevant enough but I've basically ignored it because I don't PC game, basically don't use Windows much, and my real main focus for anything gaming online these days would be my PS4. I look forward to a future of actually being able to cross play from PS4 to XBone or something like it though.

Is there anything particularly good on at the moment? I feel like making use of my cinema card as I haven't been since Deadpool, but the only thing I want to see atm is probably Grimsby. Nothing's been taking my fancy in adverts anywhere; not even sure what the next 'big film' due out is.

Well, nothing's really happened between us either, though that was quite possibly due to me making the decision to be sensible on Saturday despite myself I saw her last night though, as part of a tabletop thing we do, we were pretty close and comfortable but I didn't really get any chance to particularly talk privately, and her cousin either didn't want me to or is just obliviously tactless to the fact so couldn't on the way home either :p It's weird as it's really something and nothing at the same time; so I think I'm just gonna ride it out for now and see what happens. Will likely see her in company again next week, I'll just leave it til then. Got enough going on anyway. Weirdest thing though - whilst I'm not feeling rested I'm pretty sure I had the most tranquil night's sleep I've had in a very long time. Don't think I've woken up feeling so at ease in forever. Of course such delightful feeling is slowly disappearing as life and work creeps on me today -.-

Ahhh, my editing was not quite Ninja enough! Tbh I wondered if it might have been the case, and hence was thinking to suggest SMB2 before SMW. I love all of them for their different aspects, but I think SMW still holds the closest place to my heart of those from around that time. Though sticking on the Mario and seeing you've played through a number of the GBA remake versions recently - how do you feel they compare? They made some little changes iirc(some making the games easier too) but I generally enjoyed them despite that. The collectables aspect added to SMB2 definitely gave me a bit of extra value for it too though.

Blind leading the blind? :p Can't say I've played much of their stuff, I recall trying Toki Tori from some place I got it on Steam, but got bored pretty quick. Pretty refreshing and honest words for a statement about their position though.

I've done a few SMB3 runs in the last 10 years or so, and it's a game I don't think I appreciated enough as a kid(playing it for the first time in All-Stars, which we had after SMW and in which I preferred SMB2 at the time) but I think as I've gotten older I've really appreciated it more. Def agree with the difficulty jump - I struggled a lot with W5 as a kid, and felt 6 was trickyish, but 7 was just the worst. I'm better now I'm older but still hate the idea of even going through world 7! Out of curiosity were there any stages you found un-completable, that you ended up Jugem's Clouding them? Aaaas for what next. Hmm. SMW is great(tried to marathon it in a day with mates last year...it became grindy and less fun than I planned though we did get to like world 5/6). However I'd say go for SMB2 next, then go for SMW after. Save the best til last EDIT: Nvm! See you went for SMW! Didn't see the last page of the thread properly.

Take it to another thread guys, we're here to discuss buying games!

Ahhh, the much preferred half your age minus 7 rule. It's served me and ReZ well. But on the proper note it's like...9/10 difference? Hmm. Maybe I'm just thinking how young it is and in some ways how young *I* was then. Tbh I keep forgetting how young they are and how old I am :p But I guess I agree with you and Raining. I mean, I'm certainly progressing somewhat in life but I can't say I feel terribly old or settley downy or anything, really I'm probably more like the oldie who won't stop partying, even though I know I really should :p It's also somewhat the fact I know her family of sorts, as the reason I know her is they're related to some friends of mine that I've known for a long time. I think maybe the whole implication of knowing that family well(ish) is also bothering me, but meh. I'm feeling a little less silly about it than I was most of the day, and I think I'll have a chance to see her in the next few days anyhow. Who knows, could be making mountains out of molehills and she just had a bit too much to drink.

I'm probs gonna play Rocket League or read soon, so we'd end up out of balance pretty quick. Maybe 2 or 3 more for me.

Me and Pestneb are just casual TWing @Kounan, I'll be in for another half hour or so if not more I imagine. When's the next map rotation? 10 or 11? edit: forgetting to press the bloody a button!

Yep had to lose you cos I left to change, then I think you were doing same. I didn't even change to the right thing! Managed to do a super speedy duck out and get back to you in the lobby tho!

I did presume you weren't just admiring the beautiful Splatoon skies :p