Grazza

Exactly, it's an utterly crazy thing to start doing in this day and age. Never mind the smell, what about the health effects? I can't see how it's worth it in the slightest.

I can appreciate this isn't meant to be like Prime, but are the controls as good as Zero Mission and Fusion? The reason I'm put off is largely the auto-aim. The GBA games may not have pointer control, but you still had to aim. For example, if an enemy was in front of you, you'd have to get to the right height and fire. If it was at a diagonal, you'd have to press L + up/down and fire. That was part of the fun. I'm very keen to play this, but to be honest it sounds like a "wait 'til it's £20 affair", which may make me feel cheap if I end up loving it, but I've got enough to play at the moment.

Thanks Ike. That's strange about the Water Grottoes, as I've beaten ones of about that level, but not bumped into the right enemies. I've got a Level 72 Grotto to try now.

Sorry to hear this, Sheikah. I love cats so much, I know how upsetting it is to lose one.

Quite. I still haven't unlocked that class. This is what I've done: * Levelled everyone to at least 45 in the first 11 classes * Beaten a Level 60 Grotto (can't get any higher ones yet) * Defeated the first Legacy Boss The most challenging Grotto was the Level 49 one, because it had Darkonium Slimes and Octagoons. Although they didn't wipe me out, that was a steep difficulty curve. Actually, I've got some questions about the Legacy Bosses that I can't find answered in FAQs, so I'd be grateful if someone could help please: 1) If I level the boss up, can I still access the Level 1 version? 2) If I level the boss up, does it give more EXP? I haven't given him any EXP yet because it's an easy way to get Mini Medals and I don't want to make the fights longer just for a higher drop rate. Also, I can beat the Level 1 version in 4 turns, and I want to see if I can reduce that later, but obviously that's not going to happen if I level him up to 99.

No, I know. I didn't mean to imply you believed in zombies - I just meant we're not scared of them because they are purely something out of fiction, whereas thousands of people throughout all human history claim to have seen ghosts. I'm not sure what ghosts are either. Logically, I believe they're more than just recorded images or spirits that "haunt" houses, as they can appear in locations totally unrelated to where a real person might have lived. I'd say they are most likely people on a different frequency or in a different dimension that we very occasionally glimpse. Something along those lines.

That's because zombies don't exist, but you are both quite right not to want to see a ghost. Don't be fooled into thinking they don't exist by all the silly programmes like Most Haunted and Celebrity Ghost Hunting!

Wow! The finished model is amazing - so much fine detail and subtlety.

I thought it was very interesting to see an asteroid hit Jupiter. Got to look out for Jupiter and Uranus at the moment!

No, I don't believe in them as some sort of supernatural, "destined to be with you" person. I put I'd like to meet one in the "What Do You Want...?" thread, but I just meant, for me, it's very, very rare to meet anyone that really has much in common with me.

Well, I hope these adverts work, because I just want someone to play it with!

I want to continue as I am now - to have health, family and enough money. Ideally, I'd like a female soul-mate to share everything with.

Merlin Series 3 (starts Saturday) Future Zeldas and Dragon Quests Future consoles and technology Future roller coasters (no specific ones, but there's always hope)

For me, it's just that it has the best controls, the best graphics, the best overworld, the best camera angles, an unparalleled sense of exploration and the highest technical excellence seen in Zelda so far. Ah well, I don't know about that. Bring on Zelda 3DS, that's what I say! I just think remakes and ports are good launch games because most of the donkey work is already done. Personally, I was excited about Phantom Hourglass, but I find it hard to get excited about games that use a specific engine for the 2nd time, like Spirit Tracks and Majora's Mask, even if they turn out to be excellent.

If you get the Saturn, it's definitely the sprite-based games that are worth checking out. Hero of Time mentioned most of them, but an oft forgotten gem is Story of Thor 2 (Beyond Oasis 2). I wouldn't bother with any retro consoles, personally, as I dislike having more physical items than I need.

Yeah, it goes: Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Islands, Parasol Stars. They all feature Bub and Bob - in dragon form for the first and human form for the others.

TV Alert: The Sky At Night is on tonight on BBC1 at 12:30am. According to the Culture magazine, it's about "the disappearance of Jupiter's southern equatorial belt". I bet aliens took it!

Zack & Wiki is probably the best 3rd-party game I've played on the Wii. The presentation is superb.

Wait a minute... we're merely excited that Nintendo is remaking one of its best games for its great-looking new handheld! It's not Ronnie's "fault" and there's no problem anyway. The people who are creating a problem when there isn't one are the people who are telling us we should be more excited about Skyward Sword. There's no "should" about it. We're excited about Ocarina of Time because it's a great game, full stop. If Nintendo want us to get excited about a console Zelda again, it's down to them to make a top class game and pair it up with powerful hardware, good controls and inspiring trailers. I don't think this is a good enough explanation (no offence) because it underestimates the things Ocarina of Time got so right. Personally, my first was Link to the Past, and I felt they got better and better until my favourite game in the series, Wind Waker. I was no spring chicken when I played that, I can tell you! The Wii and GameCube are only one generation on from the N64. Is it so hard to believe that Ocarina of Time can teach the newer games a thing or two?

If they wanted to make a bridge title out of a Metroid, wouldn't it have been better to make a game that has purely 2D gameplay, like New Super Mario Bros? Even that would have been hard without shoulder buttons on the controller (L is needed for diagonals, R is for missiles), but it might have been better-received than a 2D/3D amalgamation. I bet it would have got 10/10s.

What irks me about Nintendo at the moment is that they're happy to take backwards steps in their games. To me, it would be more logical if they kept pure 2D gameplay to the handhelds and pure 3D gameplay to the consoles. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Of course Metroid needed to move on from Metroid Prime 3, but that will take a new console anyway. Prime 3 was a good game - the obvious way to evolve it would be the ability to switch to 3rd-person perspective at any time... but it should still be kept a pure 3D game, with analogue control.

Let's not underestimate Ocarina of Time here. Seeing the comparisons in the Gametrailers video reminded me of how it was so much better than Twilight Princess. There are subtle things like colours, camera angles and how big Link is in the overall frame that all combine to make OOT the much more immersive game, even if it's a generation older. I'd even say it has better graphics. Nintendo should take a good look at Ocarina of Time and try to understand why it's so good (and that doesn't mean every game has to have Epona, Gorons, Zoras etc). As for Skyward Sword - Twilight Princess character models put through a filter with nicer colours... Looks good. Nothing to get overly excited about yet though. A factor may be that the 3DS is significantly better hardware for a handheld than the Wii is for a console. Perhaps the Wii is just too inherently weak for people to get excited about the games?

Indeed - it is the reason to buy a 3DS! As for Master Quest, my "problem" with that is the dungeons are so badly designed compared to the originals. I don't mind a hard mode with tougher enemies, but I wouldn't have thought the rearranged dungeons of Master Quest were worth the space on the cartridge. It was different on the GameCube, because the disc clearly had room for both, but with the remake on the 3DS, any spare room can be used for improved graphics. Generally, I do not think bonus dungeons are worth it, on account of how much they unbalance the game (that goes for Link's Awakening too).

Thunder Thrust and Hatchet Man. At my level (approx 60), you have to knock off a lot of HP at once because their healing's so good. Plus, my normal attacks usually miss anyway. That's a shame. The main game (not the post-game) is near flawless for a DS RPG, so it's a bit of a bummer if you don't like it. I would recommend concentrating on it a bit more: make a good party and max-out a good weapon each (spears and axes are best, but go for swords whilst your Hero is a still a Minstrel). I can't think of any other tips, really, as I found it so good!

Yeah, it's a classic - definitely a game that made me jealous of my Amiga-owning friends (I had an Amstrad). If there's ever a really good, legal version of MAME, I'm going to buy all this stuff!