A couple of things on my mind that I decided to condense into a tidy post for you to ponder over the weekend.
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-First of all, the biggest piece of gaming news on videolamer for 2008 – I bought Zak and Wiki. For $20 new! I know taking a risk and waiting for a price drop was suicide with this game, but everyone gets lucky sometimes. Now I am part of the club, and can smoke with all the cool kids in the bathroom.
I’ll be honest with you – I think part of the reason I did not jump for the game immediately was my own inability to read more on the subject. I had no idea the game used crazy wii-motions to help solve puzzles. That makes it a little more exciting! I’m also thinking there is something to be said that this tiny little game has a color manual (albeit wafer thin), whereas games that will sell millions still opt for the three page black and white pamphlet.
– Something that I’ve been itching to post about is Capcom VS Tatsunoko, the surprising(ly awesome) announcement from Capcom. While it is rendered in 3d, its cel shaded style actually looks quite different than what they are doing in Street Fighter IV, and the pairing of Capcom with some of anime’s legendary old school characters is a fantastic idea in my book.
Sadly not everyone agrees. I know this is becoming a banner year for fighting games, but after many years of drought and crappy ports, I am still in the frame of mind that any new Capcom fighter should be welcomed, not condemned. In particular, I am bothered at the folks who deride it because this is not the particular crossover they want to see. So I am going to lay it down on the line for you all:
We don’t deserve Capcom VS SNK 3. There are many SNK fighters that could be added to the roster, and a few non SF Capcom characters, but crossover games like Smash Bros continue to remind me that most fans’ ideas for a solid roster are retarded. Until gamers can all prove to me that their dream CVS3 roster doesn’t include the Okami Wolf and the entire cast of Phoenix Wright, we don’t deserve it (because you would complain about who Capcom put in instead). Anyway, hoping this comes stateside.
i really need to get back to zak and wiki. have you started playing it yet christian? any quick impressions?
I played three boards.
I like it, but I wonder how long the puzzles will remain strong. Thinking this will be a game I don’t get 100% on in order to preserve the fun.
I think the puzzles remain very strong throughout the game. The only problem imo is that towards the end they get very long. It can take upwards of an hour to complete 1. And if you screw up at the end of a lengthy board it could be a drag.
I spent a couple hours this weekend with Z&W (see how cool I am for abbreviating it like that?) and even nearing the end it’s still a lot of fun.
I was also getting frustrated by the length of the puzzles towards the end, until I finally caved and started using their resurrection system (“silver tickets” I think). I had enough money saved up by that point to buy them liberally, and being able to avoid re-hashing the same 90% of the puzzle over and over makes things far more fun towards the end.