I remember 7 being a nightmare when I was a kid, but, then when I played through Mario 3 recently-ish I was very surprised to find I didn't have any trouble at all really.
It was one of those memories of it being far worse than the reality type of deals.

The level on World 7 that is a complete pain is the Pirhana Plant level where there are constant enemies and you have to grab the stars constantly and at the perfect time. I don't think it's an 'official' level, but I remember having so many problems on that forsaken level as I would always miss a star and then it would be game over for me...



Out of all the games I have played (1, Lost Levels, 2, 3, World, World 2 & 64), I would have to say World is probably my favorite. I love the variety in that one more along with Yoshi and it didn't seem to be so frustrating. Plus, the ability to save is an absolute lifesaver. I understand 3 and why it is a pinnacle of 8 Bit Gaming, but I just prefer World much better. SMB3 would probably be my second favorite though.

I hated that plant level when I was a kid. I don't think it's too bad now but my god there was some controller throwing when I was younger.

Yeah, Mario World is kick ass too. Way longer than 3, tons of secrets, saves etc. but it doesn't give me the same awesome feeling that Mario 3 does. It's an extremely close seconds in my favorite Mario games but 3 just edges it out... Also Mario World doesn't have giant land. Best land ever.

This reminds me, there's always an argument in my household over which Mario game is better and which one we should play. My girlfriend thinks World's the best and when we get in a mood for Mario she always wants to play it, where I want to play 3. After some fun jabbing at one another over which is better we usually compromise and play 3 first as it only takes a few hours to play through and then World where we try and get everything... doesn't usually happen though as when we get to hidden "special" world she gets frustrated and doesn't want to do it anymore lol.

Just got Batman Arkham City, what a fantastic game!

Almost done with Dead Rising 2, and estimated time of completion for Just Cause 2 is 2047.

Been thinking about picking up Gotham City Impostors but it reminds me of TF2 and something about TF2 I really couldn't get into. Is Gotham City Impostors worth picking up? Does it have more in common with Call of Duty or arcade style FPS?

I beat Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen for the PS1 this afternoon.

The game is a beefed up port of the incredibly hard to find SNES game. With that in mind, you can really tell that you are playing a SNES game. The graphics and sprites look rather tiny and the difficulty is pretty high up there.

There are some interesting and neat ideas. I like building an army with the troops and having them level up like a traditional SRPG. The class tree is pretty huge, so you don't have the same troops in every single group. However, there are some really frustrating elements to the game. In the middle of the game, my reputation began to plummet and there really wasn't much I could do to prevent it from falling. The battles take close to 2 hours to complete, so they begin to wane on you after a while. Also, since I am not the greatest RTS player in the world, having to control 10 troops while trying to stop an invading army can get rather difficult.

It is a really unique idea and I'm impressed they were able to do it on the SNES. If you are a fan of RTS' or SRPG, I'd say give it a go. Just be wary that it can be very frustrating at times, but satisfying in others.

With that game beat, I am now able to play Vandal Hearts II in its place. I really enjoyed the first one as it was a nice 'Fire Emblem' type of game. However, I heard there is a more emphasis on grinding and leveling which is a large plus in my book!

So I was all against the Skyrim bandwagon, since I know it'll take over my free time....

My gf left so I got Skyrim.....fuuuuck!

The first Vandal Hearts was good. Plays a lot like a 3D Shining Force. I keep hearing the sequel was not nearly as good but I haven't had a chance to play it. There wasn't any grinding in the first game, besides some optional trials to unlock the Vandal class, it is a very linear campaign.

Yeah... the game is like crack. Glad I have it right now as I need something to occupy my time for awhile. I'm broke beyond my means at the moment and my spending on gaming and other "fun" stuff has been cut back drastically so a huge game like this with hundreds of quests is perfect. By the time Mass Effect 3 comes out I'll be ready for a break I think.

I'm waiting for the Game of the Year Edition. Also I heard that the PS3 version is bugged up the ass, but I don't know what the latest news or update is on that.

There's so much damn content in this game that I don't even need DLC to enjoy it. I just wonder around, find a cave or a dungeon and crawl my way to more loot. I'm pretty much stepping back from most forms of DLC due to a lack of funds/getting tired of DLC implementation so I don't even really plan to get any when comes out.

I have the 360 version and only had the game bug out on me once, and it was a simple solution of reload the save file from 5 seconds before and it worked fine. I did hear the PS3 version is bugged to shit and no clue if it's been fixed.

Even if I won't ever get around to playing everything, I still would rather have the Game of the Year Edition in my collection, if only to satisfy my obsessive compulsive nature. It's fine, I can wait. In the meantime I'm finishing up Dead Rising 2 and it's fun as hell. I'm also starting Batman Arkham City and so far I like it. There is a lot of gadgets and different things you can do, tons of variety. The only thing is that it gets hard to remember all the cool shit you can do. Also, could they have played up the sex appeal for Harley Quinn and Catwoman any more than they did?

I was contemplating on getting the PC version or 360 version of Skyrim.

But since the 360 version of Skryim is $200 cheaper (seeing that I needed to upgrade my rig to enjoy it fully) I went and got the 360 version.

Skyrim was 35% off on steam last week when they launched the developer tools for mods and shizz.

I was very close to buying it on PC last week, but like I said I have no free money to spend "fun" things especially on a game I already own on 360. meh, I'd rather play it on my 42" tv with surround sound anyways.

@gasline: As much as I'm loving Skyrim at the moment Arkham City is still my GOTY from last year. I completed everything in the single player (minus Game + which I started but let a friend borrow so I can replay it later this summer), completed all of Batman's combat challenges and about half of Catwoman's. Still haven't touched the stealth challenges or the campaigns but I will take care of those. Such an amazing game that makes you feel like Batman... and 10-year-old Mr Black wearing his Batman Halloween costume would have loved this back in the day.

The first one was surprisingly good. It had its frustrating moments, but if you were smart and played your cards right, you could beat almost any fight. From what I've read, the second one is much different. It's kind of like Final Fantasy Tactics in that it has an overworld map with places to grind levels. The interesting aspect of the second one is the fact that it implores this Dual Turn System. When you select your character to move and attack, the computer does as well and they execute at the exact same time. I don't know exactly how the game will be played cause I haven't dove into it yet, but it seems interesting and might streamline battles more than before.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I beat Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist for the Sega Genesis this evening.

As a boy born in the early 80's, I adored the Turtles. Raphael was always my favorite with Donatello being a close second. Of course, they had to start making games on the franchise and they decided to make some really good ones.

The first one is rather hit and miss with its extreme difficulty holding it back from being great. TMNT 2 is an awesome arcade game and a pretty good port. It showed how a great Turtles game can be done and every subsequent game that followed seemed to expand on this formula. The pinnacle had to be Turtles in Time, but the Hyperstone Heist is really an overlooked gem.

It's short as it only has 5 levels, missing a fight with Bebop, and you can't throw Foot Soldiers at the screen, but a run button is a great addition and it plays just like Turtles in Time. It is still a great game and should not be overlooked by everybody. If you love Turtles or the Beat Em Up genre, pick it up and you will not be disappointed!

(For some odd reason, I am on a roll on beating games! This is not like me at all as it usually takes me months/years/decades to beat games...)

Yeah Hyperstone Heist does get overlooked. There are fewer levels but they are much longer in length. It really feels like the missing link between TMNT II and Turtles in Time because it has remixed in Time levels and the ninja house from the NES port with a boss from the TMNT movie.

Thanks for reminding me of my Sega Genesis and all the games I had to sell

Hyperstone Heist was awesome. Not as good as Turtles in Time but still kick ass.

Ten bucks at The Source!

Code Veronica HD was $10 on PSN, so I decided to buy it. It plays like the older games, with a few changes. The first change I noticed after the controls is that the camera follows you rather than being placed in one position, which is a bit disorienting but nothing bad. Another thing I noticed is that you get dual pistols which is really handy, considering the high zombie count (not Resident Evil 3 high, but pretty high). And the story and acting is pretty good, save for Steve's annoying voice.

Also, dogs are a lot harder to kill now because now they hide under things and you can't just easily cap them off. The only thing I wish was that they brought the improvements of RE 3 over, like the weapon mixing system and dodging. I especially wanted dodging because it's kind of hard avoiding enemies considering how they are in tight corners. I stopped at the Ashford mansion and I'm having a great time so far. A lot of people said that Code Veronica was the beginning of the levels of derp in the later portion of the series, but I don't see it so far.



I personally hated what they did to Harley in Arkham Asylum.