Grazza

I actually preferred Final Fantasy XII to Xenoblade Chronicles, although I could see why some find the latter more engaging. Whereas in Xenoblade Chronicles you have to be on top of what special moves each character is performing, FF XII's Gambit system is more about setting up what each character will tend to do in any given situation. It's sort of like setting up simple A.I. for your team - quite ambitious really. I'm looking forward to replaying FF XII, because I played it so badly the first time around. Unlike Xenoblade Chronicles, I did complete it, but I trained everyone in the same weapon and never even developed any elemental magic!

The "Psycho Santa" bit is way more annoying (and dodgy) than I remember! I used to be good at the Mega Drive version and could reliably complete it with the credits it gave you, but I'm not sure how I'd do the same with the coin-op. Perhaps the home conversion was just better, gameplay-wise?

In the early 1990s I was reading a section of Sega Pro previewing upcoming Mega Drive games. One of them - Two Crude Dudes - caught my attention straight away. Just from the brilliant name and one colourful screenshot, I knew I was going to love it. I ranted to my classmates about how good this game looked, and one of them told me a local seaside arcade had it. Sure enough, in that concrete palace on the sand, was Crude Buster (the Japanese name for the coin-op). I inserted one credit, was overwhelmed and amused by the humour, and went home to await the Mega Drive release. So excited was I for this game, it's the only cartridge I had that was Genesis rather than Mega Drive. I'd bought it from a mail order company and they'd sent me the US import. I remember thinking the PAL release seemed to take ages to appear after that. The home version had remarkably good graphics and featured a number of tweaks that were actually an improvement on the coin-op. There was music over the intro screens, if I recall correctly, and gone were the "Pick Up!!" signs that I'd found a little bit... crude in the arcade! The cola machine had also been turned into a mini-game, rather than just a comical graphic between levels. This release is a port of the US coin-op, Two Crude. I actually think it loses a lot by not having the word "Dudes", because that was all part of the joie de vivre. Even so, I'm such an arcade snob that I'd rather have the coin-op every time, and it's nice to have all the speech that was cut out of the MD version ("Catch!") Like all the other Johnny Turbo's Arcade titles, it does lack some presentation options - personally, I'm hoping they get updated with a "perfect pixel match" mode sometime, like Capcom's Beat 'Em Up Bundle did (some of the older Data East games are more square than 4:3). Nonetheless, it's still one of the best ways to revisit this classic. Two Crude Dudes builds upon Bad Dudes with not just jump and attack, but also a throw button, and that's what it's really about. After all these years, there's something that still puts a massive smile on my face about throwing a car or tank at a giant mutant enemy! Nothing says "1990" more than Crude Buster. The jokey machismo, I believe, represents something deep within us. And not that it's necessarily a good thing, but I don't even think there are any female characters! I love playing these old games because I feel they were made with more human instinct than the carefully targeted products of today. Either way, Two Crude is a great laugh. Data East's coin-ops may not have aged as well as Capcom's, for example, but they were as much a part of the gaming landscape at the time. Bad Dudes... Caveman Ninja... When I play these, I ask myself if the difficulty is fair. Can they really be mastered? In this regard I don't think they gave aged very well (although I might just be rusty with this particular one). However, I do believe with the awesome sprite work, likeable humour and general enjoyment factor, Two Crude Dudes stands up the best of the lot. "What a day...!"

Some of the Dragon Quest games - I think you can do it in most of them, but certainly VIII - are good for beginners because you can set the A.I. to control your party. You just have to choose your move for the main character, and (if you want), the computer does the rest. It's a good way of showing you tactics you might not have thought of too.

I'm afraid to say, the fact it looked like WayForward's Thor tie-in set off alarm bells for me - great sprites, but bosses with ridiculously high HP that take ages to defeat. From Nintendolife's review, it sounds exactly the same principle.

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. To me this sort of feels like the GameCube era, but if it had been more popular. Back then I was the one most into Nintendo at work, but now I hear others mentioning the company far more than me. When I overheard two workmates discussing the latest Smash Bros, I knew times had changed. As for the hybrid aspect, I honestly always thought it was a good idea. Not having to divide resources between console and handheld must be a huge benefit, and to me, having the "handheld" Zelda being the same full, 3D adventure you play on the TV is an amazing thing.

Yes, thank you very much. I have Two Crude Dudes pre-loaded on my Switch, waiting for Thursday! Caveman Ninja has given me a great laugh. It's funny to think that something so unremarkable and uncontroversial at the time is actually very un-PC now. From the "kidnapping the cave babes" beginning to the three alternative endings, it actually seems risqué now! The "Benny Hill" ending is harmless enough, but the other two could cause offence. I must admit, all three gave me a huge laugh, because it comes from an admirable enough place. It's nice to play something where the humour was put above any politics.

I'm definitely in favour of unbreakable weapons - I'd like to get back that feeling from Wind Waker, when every so often you knew you'd strengthened your sword. I'd also like augmentations for your tunic. For example, a fire gem that meant you could now resist heat, and the equivalent for cold etc. Occasionally adding on gems would be better than brewing up potions or changing outfits, in my opinion.

If you want a genuine arcade game, you can't go wrong with Aero Fighters 2. I also like Alpha Mission II, but struggle to fully recommend it due to its complicated power-up system. It's harder for me to recommend a horizontal one, as my personal preference is for vertical. The real gem, in my opinion, is Sky Force Reloaded. As long as you don't have an objection to grinding, this one plays like a dream.

I don't agree it should have been 60%, but I do agree 52-48 is not definitive and (in my opinion) points to a soft Brexit. There were always passionate Leavers and ardent Remainers, but I suspect they were a relative minority and the referendum was swayed by a huge number of people who could have been persuaded either way. As a patriot, I just want the country to come together and try to see each other's point of view. Remainers should respect that a huge number of Brits are not ready to submit their nation to a European superstate. We voted to enter a Common Market, but there has undoubtedly been a political price, with subsequent treaties forcing ever-closer union. The EU is a very clever power grab - arguably benign, but sneaky all the same. We just do not know where it will go, or whether we'll be able to get out of it. Leavers, for their part, should acknowledge that at least 48% of the population (and actually far, far more) are not willing to bankrupt the country for this. Or lower food standards, for that matter, which would happen with the wrong people in government (I fear it would be a race to the bottom in many regards, with only the richest benefitting). Brexit is putting more of a strain on the country than anything outside wartime, which is arguably unjustified. The UK enjoys a comfortable position outside the Euro and outside Schengen. Why rock the boat? In my opinion it would be wise to plan for a hard Brexit in case we're ever forced in a direction we don't want to go, but there's a strong argument that it's just not worth it at the moment. This is why I favour Norway Plus out of all the options, which is also being called Common Market 2.0. Remain would be something of a submission, but I wouldn't be annoyed if that's what people genuinely want now, whereas a hard Brexit would be damaging for the reasons above. My most preferred option of all is actually an AV referendum. It's the only way of finding out which type of Brexit people actually want, or whether any one form of Brexit is more popular than Remain. As bizarre as it sounds, even in 2016 with the exact same demographic and voting intentions, Remain may have been more popular than any specific form of Brexit. The referendum would include (but not be limited to): Canada (or variation of) Norway (or variation of) Remain It would take time to organise, no doubt, but we need to find out once and for all what the country really thinks.

Oh yeah, I agree Article 50 will have to be extended or revoked. A time limit is not helpful when you don't have a plan! It seems to me Theresa May has engineered a situation where MPs feel pressured to accept her deal. To paraphrase Michael Portillo on the last edition of This Week, when she threatened "My deal, no deal or no Brexit at all", half the people thought "I prefer No Deal" and the other half thought "I prefer no Brexit"! By the way, to refer to what @Jonnas was saying, there's a fair amount of evidence that the two former Brexit secretaries were not allowed much autonomy at all, the implication being that it was all organised by London's and Brussels' civil servants, with the blessing of the PM - not really a "negotiation" at all. The enduring mystery is whether Theresa May really wants this deal or it's an elaborate conspiracy to stop Brexit. For what it's worth, I don't think there's much chance of No Deal at all. If it came to that, too many Conservatives would put their country and belief in the EU ahead of their party and wrestle control away from the Prime Minister. They could sway the balance, whereas Hard Brexiteers are too small a minority (I do acknowledge your point about it happening accidentally, but think there are too many plans to stop that happening). Article 50 can still be revoked at the last minute. The past week has also convinced me that Remainers are much more in control of the situation than Theresa May. In my opinion, Remainers' worst outcome is Theresa May's deal actually being voted through on Tuesday. Assuming it won't be, I genuinely think we'll be conditioned to accept Norway Plus, and once we've come round to that idea, probably persuaded to accept Remain.

I watched Infinity War again last night, funnily enough. True, but it wasn't the full-powered Hulk. He was more like his "Contest of Champions" self and expected beating Thanos to be easy. Plus, although Thanos only had the Power Stone at that point, that was still the one that would have affected his strength. When Captain America temporarily stopped Thanos, I think it was because he underestimated Cap's strength and resolve, and subsequently adjusted how much power he was using himself. I'm sure we'll see the really angry Hulk in the next film. I just hope they don't try to make Captain Marvel more physically powerful than him. Yeah, Vision does seem to have been tamed a bit too much. I actually didn't like their films until Infinity War. I thought they were portrayed much better in it, which made me go back and enjoy their own films more. Rocket and Quill were funny, and Zoe Saldana was fantastic as Gamora. I started to think this with Iron Man 3 - how the suits could attach themselves to him (and be shredded) in a split-second. As the films have become more fantastical in general, however, I've found it easier to suspend my disbelief. They probably will. The Russos are geniuses and haven't put a foot wrong so far.

Apart from staying in the Single Market and the Customs Union (Norway Plus), which is the way I think it's going to have to be. It'd avoid any division between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Also, we wouldn't have to worry about lowering our food standards with chlorinated chicken etc. From the Bank of England's forecasts for each option, if I recall correctly, it was by far the least damaging (apart from Remain) - we'd hardly be financially any worse off at all under Norway/EFTA. It'd basically be paying a small amount of money to regain some sovereignty, which I believe is enough to sway those in the middle, and theoretically be exempt from ever-closer union, which, rightly or wrongly, I believe is people's main concern. A hard Brexit or Theresa May's deal would just upset too much of the country, and there's no real proof the voters actually want that (or ever did). I personally think, assuming Theresa May's deal is voted down, we're going to see a move towards EFTA, with either MPs putting that through, or a 2nd referendum which would ask voters Norway Plus or Remain.

I agree. Plenty of long games have held my attention - Dragon Quest IX, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, to name two. It's just something about the open world ethos, which has probably only been about since Wii/PS3/Xbox 360, seems excessive. A game with an addictive gameplay loop holds my attention too, but I always find open world games revolve around not particularly "designed" maps, with way too much choice of direction, and an enormous array of side quests which really amounts to a list of materials to collect.

Can Hero use spears this time? Or does any weapon have the equivalent of Thunder Thrust/Lightning Thrust? It'd be odd for me to have the main character without the Metal King Spear.

This is my instinct too. Not that I can prove anyone has been overworked on any one project, but games seem to have got out of hand. With open world games, they often feel too immense to even play, and I can only imagine how hard they were to make. Yes, I do very much agree with this part.

Out of interest, which weapons can the Hero use? Can you access Greatswords from the beginning, or do you have to go a certain way up a skill tree?

Well, that looks great. If it has only small graphical adjustments like that, I don't know why the Switch version was ever in doubt. I'm really grateful they're bringing it to Nintendo's console.

I'm another one who was taught buffs and debuffs by Dragon Quest. To be quite honest, I think I had VIII set up so that the computer controlled most of my team the first time. I saw them casting Kabuff and Accelerate and gradually learnt the value of it.

Yes, I'm afraid I'm not grabbed so far either. I think there would be more excitement about the Sega Ages series if it focused on arcade games - System 16, System 32, Model 1, Model 2, Model 3 etc... With Arcade Archives, ACA Neo Geo, Capcom Classics Collection and their like, there seems to be a real appetite to download the coin-ops we could never own at the time.

Well, you can overdo it, to be honest. As fun as I-VI are, the formula really came together for VIII, and it sounds like XI lives up to that standard. Dragon Quest IX was an epic though, that's for sure.

"We're going to need a bigger shelf."

Well, there's a 3DS roguelike I hate to love called Alchemic Dungeons (also on iOS, I believe). Incredibly hard and equally addictive. I've deleted it and re-downloaded it several times! I definitely recommend it for a skilled gamer, because unlike a lot of other roguelikes it doesn't overcomplicate matters. A Switch version where you could permanently build up the armour sets would be very welcome. Looking forward to playing Monster Boy myself. I really loved Owl Boy, up to the point where I hit a brick wall. It's a nice game though so I do hope to get past that point. Yep, looking forward to playing Mega Drive myself. As for SNK, do you have King of Fighters '98? Hope you enjoy it. As I say, I do find it a bit small on handheld, but of course you can still play it on the TV. Anyway, nice haul, H-o-T. Personally, I've re-downloaded Renegade and am trying to master that!

The film doesn't look all that action-packed so far. Perhaps they're going for an Oscar!

That's my thinking too - something like "Avengers: Regeneration" or "Return". I don't think it'll spoil Captain Marvel because we're bound to find out the Avengers title before that launches anyway.