Grazza

When this sort of thing happens, you can see how hard it'd be for Nintendo to allow the games you've bought to be transferred to all the future Nintendo systems you buy. I still think Nintendo should allow it for 1st-party content, but it'll probably never happen with content they don't own.

I haven't seen a quote from Michael Bay saying they actually are aliens/extra-terrestrials. Didn't realise people were this passionate about the Turtles. I mean, I loved them when I was 10 and the film might well be rubbish, but really.

Thanks to welsh gamer, I was finally able to acquire a copy of this. I downloaded the demo of Cave Story on WiiWare a while ago. Whilst I wasn't instantly grabbed, I could see it was potentially a very good game, albeit one I'd rather play on a handheld. The DSi Ware version never arrived, and so instead we got this retail game on 3DS - a remake using polygons instead of sprites. The first thing I noticed was that the new graphics do affect the game. Personally, I found it hard to tell which objects were on the plane of gameplay, sometimes making it unclear which platforms I could land on and which I couldn't. Furthermore, many of the characters appear extremely small in the frame, which can make it very hard to know how to advance the story when you have to talk to an NPC you can't see! In all honestly, it is surprising this was designed for the 3DS and not an HDTV. But the visuals are not game-ruining - more often than not, they are rich and detailed. More importantly, they garnish a Metroid-type platformer, which is a genre sorely missing on the 3DS. That's not to say this is a copy of Metroid. There is hardly any backtracking and you are highly unlikely to lose your way. All the same, you are able to return to previous areas at many intervals, making this a successful example of "the best of both worlds". Weapons are plentiful and varied. As well as the standard laser beam, there is a missile launcher that (once levelled-up) provides all the explosive catharsis you could want from this type of game. Other weapons like the fireball and sword seem to take inspiration from games like Ghouls & Ghosts as much as Nintendo's classic. Cave Story 3D often feels like a love letter to traditional gaming. Which also means it's hard. Your arsenal of weapons can quickly be levelled-up via crystals... but just as quickly levelled-down. Get hit by a boss with your missile launcher out and you'll soon be scurrying about to power it up again as much as you're trying to avoid the enemy. This is not a game mechanic I am fond of, but it's integral to the experience and a couple of later weapons completely subvert this process. There are also plenty of missables. At first this many seem annoying, but it's actually cleverly designed. You'll probably choose the best items for a beginner on your first playthrough. If you want the superior versions of the Polar Star (the laser) or the best version of the Booster, for example, doing so will make you work for your reward and it's probably better to familiarise yourself with the game first. Personally, I completed it once on Easy (which is medium) and then on Normal (which is hard), only getting the best items and fulfilling the requirements to get into the post-game on the latter playthrough. It's not just the combat that is difficult though. There are some very precarious jumps that will remind you of all those 8-bit games of old, and that does mean frustration often rears its head. Health can be boosted, but whereas an Energy Tank will give Samus 100 extra energy, in this game they will give you +1-5. It does, however, feel well-balanced for the experience it is. All in all, Cave Story 3D is a highly solid platformer. The music, whilst not the best I've heard on the 3DS, stands out as a highlight. There are plenty of boss fights, plenty of secrets and quite a bit of replay value. Incidentally, it's already in my Top 3 most-played 3DS games, so it does deliver many of the things I look for. If you like a challenge and are fond of this genre, you will probably find it valuable to play Cave Story in one of its forms.

Could it simply be that the Mutagen is from outer space, a bit like how they changed where the symbiotic suit was from in the Spider-Man animated series? If so, and it just mutated Earth turtles like in the comic, it might not be too bad.

I didn't realise that was an official creature, Fierce Link. Assumed WayForward had made it up. As for how you're playing it, you might as well carry on as you are, then go through it again losing no Marines! I'm tempted to play it a 3rd time myself!

This is great. I hope they do more things like this, as I don't know how I'm going to get all the pink bits if GAME closes. Including the spectacular, superlative, sublime, Metroid Fusion. Still the best game on the 3DS, in my opinion.

Totally agree. When I bought the 3DS, I had two GAMEs, GameStation and an HMV to get StreetPasses from (and browse, of course!) Soon we probably won't have any! GAME have made a few mis-steps but I'm still more fond of them than any other video games retailer. It's a real mess. Downloadable games will probably mean we'll be able to have all genres again, with no limited print runs... eventually. It's going to be a long, long time before worldwide broadband standards are good enough. 3DS games can be 2GB (just for starters), Wii U will use 25GB discs... far too high to replicate over the internet at the moment. Like I say, I honestly think online shops being the only places to buy games for the forseeable future could mean very limited print runs, or publishers just not releasing something.

I don't think anyone will miss GAME specifically (they've been pretty bad for the past year) and I'm not defending their tactics (buying GameStation was a terrible idea), but what bothers me is the idea of there not being any video games specialist at all on the high street. I was in Tesco today and was surprised not to see any copies of Kid Icarus: Uprising - the big Nintendo release this week. Is this the future of games retail? The UK is the 2nd-biggest games market in the world and, according to IGN in a recent article, the vast majority still buy from bricks & mortar stores. We may buy online, but a large amount of people are not interested enough to. I believe this could affect which games publishers bring to the UK. But hey, there's nothing we can do about it. I just predict gaming will get very stale until downloadable games can take off properly.

This is what bugs me about the games industry nowadays. How come there was a market for something in the PlayStation days, but not now? Supposedly gaming is more popular and more mainstream than ever, but it's meant games have had to conform to the lowest common denominator rather than there being room for everything. I don't want to stop people enjoying games like Call of Duty, but nor want them to influence the entire hobby.

I used to read Joe Madureira's comic, Battle Chasers. Didn't realise it was him who made this game series. Anyway, I watched that video and it was very interesting, especially the bit about genres going in and out of vogue. If I haven't picked up Darksiders II on any other console, I'll probably get the Wii U version.

My take on this is that no one actually thought Twilight Princess was a bad game, it's just that it did have a few backwards steps for the Zelda series. Remember how furious people were with GameSpot's 8.8 score? That's a good score, it's just that people used to expect Zelda games to be outstanding. From my point of view, it's not that I suddenly like Twilight Princess more than I used to, it's just that I think it's better than Skyward Sword. To me, Twilight Princess = 8/10, Skyward Sword = 7/10. A big part of looking back fondly is that you can't guess what the Zelda developers will leave out next time. For example, Twilight Princess had an explorable overworld, traditional dungeon/game structure and a Day & Night cycle (to name three things). It may not have been particularly praised for them, but that's because they were Zelda staples, and quite rightly so. Who'd have thought they'd ever be removed? Agreed, it was timid. Wind Waker felt like Nintendo had an artistic vision and took it to the max. Twilight Princess, though perhaps fanservice, also felt like an idea taken to the max. Skyward Sword felt like they didn't want to alienate either group, and thus (for the most part) was nothing special of its own. Just a quick note about towns. Whereas most of TP's problems were evident with a stroll round Hyrule Castle Town, most of Skyward Sword's strengths were evident in the fantastic Skyloft! But I still think it's worth comparing, Skyloft, Castle Town and my personal favourite, Windfall Island to demonstrate how much of an effect controls and buttons (or lack of them) can have on a game. Castle Town is the worst of the three. Nintendo didn't know whether players were using a GameCube pad or a Wii remote, and thus it has an awful overhead view with no nooks and crannies to explore (as well as significant loading times between sections). You never feel down there with Link. You never feel as though you're in front of the NPCs. Skyloft is much better but Nintendo still knew that no one playing it had a C-stick. The result is that it's very spread out. Now look at Windfall Island. Nintendo knew everyone playing Wind Waker was using the GameCube pad, and so it has a tight, intricate corkscrew design. The town gate was a real feature. Dwellings and abodes were full of secret tunnels and were close together enough that you could climb up the windmill and glide down to some of them with your Deku Leaf. Or, you could find all the vistas and sea views. Just a few reasons why it's the best. It's funny, with all there is to Zelda, what we really like is the towns!

In all honesty, higher resolution trumps everything for me. I'm not saying I'll never buy this on 3DS (I might, because I don't have a PS3 yet), but if I wanted it and I had the options, I'd go for the highest-res version.

Castle of Illusion was one of the very first games I played on the Mega Drive (borrowed the game from a neighbour). I have very fond memories of that indeed.

The more I see, the more I like it. So, the classes are: Swordman Fortress Nightseeker Medic Dancer Sniper Runemaster I'm already planning my team! Front row and back row respectively are going to be... Swordman, Fortress Nightseeker, Medic, Runemaster ...Even though I don't really know what they are! I'm assuming either Nightseeker or Runemaster is a mage. I also need to find a space for whichever class is best at gathering items and getting boss drops.

Yeah, it is well known that bikinis have excellent defence against magic and elemental attacks. You could put some armour on the poor girl but that'd make her more vulnerable.

That's an excellent idea! (Types in...) Shantae 3 Dragon Quest Dragon Quest II Dragon Quest III Metroid: Zero Mission Metroid Dread Ninja Five-O Super Mario World

I've remembered now - Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. Not a game I'm fond of, but you mastered each weapon the more you used it.

I love digital content, especially flipping open my 3DS and having all that content to choose from without swapping cartridges. I'd be quite happy to go all-digital, but there are two things about it that are driving me mad: 1) Permanent rights to content. In other words, if I've paid for a game on Wii, I should also be able to download it on 3DS and Wii U free of charge, and so on... Taking it further, if I pay for a multi-format game, I'd like to be able to download it on both PlayStation and Xbox, and any other console. Basically, I want to move towards buying the content from the owner and move away from content being tied to different services. 2) Streaming. This is the one that really gets me. I don't mind not owning something physically, but I do want to own it. At the moment, games and music are OK, but I don't like the way video is going. If I download a film or television programme, I want to watch it at my leisure, not whenever I happen to have an internet connection.

Hmm, I used to do it only if I really loved the game, but I think my compulsive side has taken over. Then again, if I didn't get into the game, I wouldn't even complete the main part. RPGs in which I've completed the post-game... Dragon Quest VI Dragon Quest VIII Dragon Quest IX Final Fantasy III ...And ones I haven't Dragon Quest IV Dragon Quest V (I defeated the post-game boss, but not in the required amount of turns) Final Fantasy XII Etrian Odyssey (everything apart from the final boss) ...And there are many I gave up on quite early, like The World Ends With You, Baten Kaitos and Xenoblade Chronicles. The odd thing about Dragon Quest Monsters is that I'm still not sure how much I like it (I couldn't score it); I just saw it as a challenge to master the gameplay after finding it very difficult initially. Let's say you're playing a normal RPG, you can tell when you're strong enough to finish the game because you start getting less and less EXP (generally at around level 40-50). With DQM, however, you could spend hours and hours piling on more skills. Where do you stop? It's very addictive! But yes, I don't know when I'm going to be able to give up on the DS. I keep telling myself "This is going to be my last game", but then there's DQM:J 2, and after that maybe I should have a look at Pokemon... I can only conclude that the DS itself is a compulsion!

That reminds me of something else. Are there many other RPGs that use this system?

So, I completed the post-game of DQM:J.

According to Michael Portillo on This Week last night, the law is not being changed to allow gay marriages in church anyway, even if the Church wanted it! Thus, this is actually a tiny change. Gay marriages will be allowed, but only in registry offices.

I'm jealous. Been trying to get this for ages. Some shops say they've got it, but none of them really have any stock.

Change it to Bikini Clock and it's a deal.