Day 33 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: The Firemen

The Firemen is an action game with a similar gameplay style to Link to the Past. You play as Pete, a fire fighter faced with an immense blaze that has broken out at a high-tech chemical facility. The object of the game is to work your way through the building and extinguish as much of the inferno as you can while rescuing survivors.

The only weapon you have is your fire hose and a limited supply of water grenades however, you also have the help of a young fireman, Danny, who will clear paths for you with his trusty axe and tried to protect you from incoming fire.

The 'enemies' vary from simple flames to huge robots sent haywire by the inferno. The Firemen can be pretty unforgiving in terms of difficulty as many enemies are quite tricky to defeat and you have a limited number of continues. When the game is finished you get graded on your performance, looking how much of the blaze you tackled and the number of people of rescued.

The Firemen is something of a hidden gem on the SNES and it commands high prices, with complete PAL versions costing at least £300, so unless you've got the cash to spare you'll have to look at emulation or perhaps a reproduction cart. It's certainly worthwhile tracking down however, as the Firemen is a challenging, but rewarding, experience and a game that every SNES enthusiast should play. 

Day 32 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Skies of Arcadia

You're flying through the open air to ransack an enemy battleship, you save a mysterious girl while you're at it and fight a hideous monster before you leave with the loot, and that's just the first 10 minutes of the game.

Skies of Arcadia is a beautiful RPG, and although I've mentioned in a previous blog that I'm not a fan of RPG's, I consider SoA to be one of the greatest games of all time.

The story is set in a Jules Verne inspired universe where you play as Vyse, a young air-pirate looking to make his mark on the world. His dream is to captain his own ship and search for treasure and adventure, something this game has in spades, unfortunately the only thing standing in the way of Vyse and everyone else being happy is the Valuan Empire.

The Valuan Empire are the evil overlords of the world, they're rich, powerful and seem to have the best ships and weapons, but that doesn't seem to be enough for them. It turns out they're hunting for an ancient weapon that could easily destroy their enemies, or anyone else standing in their way, so it's up to Vyse and his crew to sail the skies and find it before the bad guys do.

Arcadia is a beautifully crafted world and inhabited by a massive population of memorable characters, and finding them all is an adventure in itself. There's so much to explore you really are just spoiled, it's fun just to cruise the skies in your airship and look at the vast world ahead of you. There's tons of side-quests, unlockables, items, powers and heaven knows what else to uncover, I spent 48 hours on my first playthrough and I didn't even find everything. It was time well spent.

The Dreamcast version included Pinta's Quest, a VMU mini-game that allowed you to find rare items and weapons that otherwise couldn't be located. The Gamecube version however, had you catching 'moon-fish' hidden throughout the game that you would feed to a strange bird that would cough up items, since the Gamecube didn't have VMU's like the Dreamcast.

If you were to ask me which version I prefer, I couldn't really answer. While the Gamecube version (Skies of Arcadia Legends) has some great extra/alternative content the audio quality was actually of lower quality than the Dreamcast version, apparently a method used to cram Skies of Arcadia onto one Gamecube disk. It's a bit of a shame really, because the soundtrack is nothing short of incredible.

Skies of Arcadia will hold pride of place as not only one of the finest RPG's ever produced, but also one of Sega's greatest triumphs. Hopefully the possibility of Skies of Arcadia HD becomes a reality, because every gamer should at least have the opportunity to play this one.

Day 31 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Bonanza Bros

I first played this Sega arcade classic on the Amiga using a very awkward and unresponsive joystick, but thankfully it's since been ported to every system imaginable. It's a two-player platform/action game where you control burlgars Mobo and Robo; and your job is to ransack mansions, businesses and casino's of their belongings and escape with the loot. The only problem is these places are crawling with security in the form of security guards, riot police, dogs and humorous tubby gentlemen that throw explosives. There was even a bonus stage set during a prison break, where you have to avoid search lights until the time runs out.

Where Bonanza Bros. shines however, is the attention to detail. For example whenever a playe
r hides themselves away from enemies a fly will come to bother them, typical. It's only something small but I love idle animations and no-one could do them as well as Sega. There's also rubbish and items scattered around the levels that can alert enemies to your presence, the rake was one my favourites but also the bungling chefs that would drop plates and dash around in a panic whenever they saw you.

Ultimately this is a classic game and I'm surprised Sega have never considered a sequel, given that the game has been ported to so many systems. If you've never played it before I urge you to give it a try, you won't be disappointed.

Day 30 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Animal Crossing New Leaf

This game should come with a government health warning, something along the lines of...

CAUTION: This game will consume your very mind and soul until you believe you live in a world inhabited by freakishly adorable animals that persist on coming to your house for absolutely no reason.

I was able to break free of my Animal Crossing addiction some time ago but I returned to my town in order to write this blog. If you ever spent a considerable time away from your town in previous Animal Crossing games you would usually return to find the place in ruins, half your neighbours will have moved out and you would have to suffer the emotional trauma of listening to whoever remained cry on about how much they missed you.

Thankfully in Animal Crossing: New Leaf because you're playing the role of Mayor you have your assistant, Isabelle, who takes over the running of the town while your away so it's less hassle when you return. I was also lucky enough to have set the 'Beautiful town' ordinance before I vanished, so the place wasn't besieged by weeds and rubbish, but that still doesn't mean I was able to escape my neighbours.

I had only lost one neighbour (Phoebe), but those who remained wouldn't let me forget that I had deserted them. I had apparently left the game for 7 months, some thought I was a ghost and others tried to make me promise never to leave them again (scary), but that was the least of my problems. Pecan the Squirrel asked me if I could unearth a time-capsule that she made me bury 7 months ago.

Pecan - "Noggin, remember that time capsule I asked you to bury for me. Could you dig it up? You do know where it is, right?"

Me- "Sure, I remember where it is!" (Oh, %&£#, where the hell did I bury it?!!)

I was always unsure whether I liked the Animal Crossing series for certain, because I can't understand the purpose of games that have no ending, and while previous games in the series always felt like they required a lot of dedication, New Leaf is much more relaxing and even allows you time to reflect on certain aspects of your own life.

For instance New Leaf is packed with items to collect, the game is a hoarder's dream, but it's impossible to obtain every item and be able to store it in your home. So eventually you just have to face reality and to prevent yourself from being surrounded by crap; you have to be ruthless with your possessions. At least that's true in my case, I really need to have a clear out.

Now that I find returning to Animal Crossing is much less hassle than I thought it would be, I think I'll play it for a while. I must admit I've missed buying fortune cookies to get rare items, going to see K.K. play a gig on Saturday nights or visit the nearby island to play a bunch of mini-games with my friends.

So do not fear dear citizens, Mayor Noggin has returned.

Day 29 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Fix It Felix Jr.

Wreck It Ralph is naturally one of my most favourite movies of all time. The script was fantastic, the amount of fan service across so many different genres and franchises was astounding and the movie's soundtrack was nothing short of awesome...but what was the tie-in game like?

I saw the game that Activision shoved onto consoles via trailers and Let's Plays, and to be honest I have never again seen such an abysmal pile of crap. It seemed like such a wasted opportunity considering the movie was about video games, but all hope was not lost because in a surprising turn of events the mobile game proves to be the better offering.

The Wreck It Ralph game is actually made up of five titles based on various scenes in the movie and they're all great fun to play, but I'm going to focus on Fix It Felix Jr as this is clearly the centerpiece of the bundle.


Fix It Felix Jr. manages to not only capture the spirit of the movie but also of 1980's arcade games. It's simple, addictive and fun. Your job is to navigate Felix around an apartment building and repair whatever Ralph destroys. The further you progress the more difficult the game becomes with additional obstacles like birds, flower boxes and shutters being thrown into the mix. There is only one power-up in the form of a pie that will grant Felix invincibility for a few seconds, which can be invaluable during later levels.

The gameplay is accompanied by a charming 8-bit soundtrack, along with some great sound effects, and you even get treated to cutscenes of Ralph being thrown from the building into the mud below. I play the game on an iPhone 4 and the controls are very responsive and they don't clutter up the screen too much.

Fix It Felix Jr. is a brilliant mobile-game and proof that movie tie-in games don't always end up being terrible. I certainly hope we haven't seen the last of Felix and Ralph, here's hoping there'll be a worthwhile sequel before too long. ^_^

Day 28 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: EarthBound

When EarthBound was originally released on the SNES it never arrived in Europe. So unless you were prepared to pay £300 and upwards for a NTSC cart, or find a decent emulator, there was no way for us Brits to play the fabled RPG. That was until last year when Nintendo finally released the game on Wii U Virtual Console for the whole world to enjoy, and we finally got to see what all the fuss was about.

It's easy to see why the game has charmed so many with it's adorable characters, excellent Rock & Roll soundtrack, outlandish and occasionally racy humour, all set in a beautifully designed world. There really isn't another RPG like it, but all I knew about the game before the Wii U release was that it had a dedicated cult following and a profanity inducing difficulty level. 

The story follows a boy named Ness who late one night goes out to investigate a meteor that's crashed by his hometown of Onett. He then learns of an alien plot to take over the world and must embark on a grand adventure to save his planet from certain destruction.

I'm about an hour into the game now and although I have struggled with the games difficulty I'm still really enjoying it. Perhaps Nintendo might consider releasing Mother 1 and 3 fully translated for Europe, but if their Robot Chicken segment from E3 is anything to go by we might want to hold off as we risk getting fried by Reggie Fils-Aime. 

Top 3 Football Games

Since the World Cup is in full swing I thought I'd share my top 3 football games. 

1. Mario Strikers Charged Football- What do get if you take the mayhem from Mario Kart and use it in a football game? The answer is Mario Strikers Charged Football; a fantastic game that sees you in five a side football matches against stars from the Mario series.

Each player has their own unique abilities, for example Mario has the ability to grow in size so he stomp on the opposing team and Yoshi can roll around in a giant egg. There's also plenty of weapons on offer; shells, fire flowers and bob-bombs all make an appearance. The levels even have character as I can't imagine many World Cups have been played in a castle surrounded by lava, or on top of a tower against howling winds with cows flying by. 

2. World Cup Striker- I consider this a SNES classic because it plays absolutely beautifully and has a ton of options for you to enjoy. You can play through the World Cup, Friendly matches and Penalty shoot outs. The best feature however, is the five a side indoor matches, some of best multiplayer available and thanks to the smaller pitch the pace is fast and exciting.

3. World Cup 98- I've lost track of the number of hours I've sunk into World Cup 98 but since there's some great multiplayer on offer and tons of content, I really don't mind. The control scheme on the N64 is very well executed and it's easy to impress as most tricks can be pulled off with some simple button combinations. The matches are also fully customisable with different stadiums, weather conditions, referee capability, and lots more.

Day 27 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Weird Games

The reason why hunting for games 'in the wild' is more fun when compared shopping on eBay, is because you never know what you're going to find. One of the things that I enjoy discovering is bootleg or hacked Gameboy titles as they come in all shapes and sizes. I mainly encounter dodgy Pokemon titles when I look around flea markets, but then there's the strange specimen in the photo above.

Super 150 in 1 is just a bunch of popular Gameboy titles crammed onto one cart; it features Super Mario Land, Pac Man, Alleyway, Lock and Chase, and many more. It doesn't actually contain 150 games however, as the programmer has cheekily added the previous titles at different points in the game; for instance if you wanted to start Super Mario Land on the final stage the option is there. What makes this special though is the extraordinary design of this game.

When plugged into a Gameboy it sticks out like a sore thumb, as it's two Gameboy carts stuck together, but the designer was thoughtful enough to include a reset button at the top so you can switch games more easily. 

This is by far the strangest item in my collection, let me know yours in the comments and I'll be back tomorrow with more Happy Gaming Days.  

Day 26 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Sonic the Hedgehog

Today marks Sonic's 23rd anniversary, so let's celebrate with a 100 Happy Gaming Days post.

Sonic the Hedgehog was released in 1991 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, providing Sega with a much needed mascot that could rival Nintendo and Mario.

The story-line for Sonic was pretty simple; the mad scientist Dr Robotnik has turned a bunch of cute animal critters into horrible robots and it's up to Sonic to save them. The game is very well paced with the Green Hill Zone allowing you to get to grips with Sonic's controls and super speed, with later levels introducing new enemies and hazards for you to overcome. 

Sonic the Hedgehog also featured a flawless soundtrack, the Starlight Zone theme being my favourite, setting the standard for all future soundtracks in the Sonic series.      

I remember getting a Mega Drive bundled with Sonic the Hedgehog for my birthday. It took me ages to defeat Dr Robotnik at the end of the Green Hill Zone, it didn't help that I discovered the now-notorious level select cheat, but at least I can now say I can beat Sonic the Hedgehog honestly...sort of.

Some might say the years haven't been kind to gaming's favourite hedgehog, but I think that we can all agree that the first game is a timeless classic that's chock full of memorable moments. Everyone remembers the first time they raced through a loop at breakneck speed, destroyed their first badnik or when they discovered their first Chaos Emerald. Let me know your favourite Sonic memories in the comments section below and I'll be back tomorrow with another Happy Gaming Day.

Happy Birthday Sonic.

Top Ten Games I Still Have to Finish

There's a ton of games on my shelves that I haven't completed, but here's ten of them that top my 'to do' list and the reasons why. CAUTION: There may be spoilers ahead...

1. Cannon Fodder- I wrote about this in my last blog so here's the link if you missed it.

2. Pikmin 2- Captain Olimar returns to the Pikmin planet to gather treasure to save his company from going bankrupt. I was on my way to finishing this but then I bought my Wii U so it kind of got sidelined. I've only got one or two levels to go so I'm going to make sure to get it done before picking up Pikmin 3.

3. James Pond 3- Not many people know about the third instalment to the James Pond series but it was absolutely fantastic. The evil Dr Maybe has taken over the moon to control the galaxy's cheese supply, so James Pond has been called in to sort him out. The only problem is the game is massive with multiple exits in certain levels, meaning I was eventually left going around in circles.

4. Trolls- A brilliant platform game on the Amiga that sees you rescuing baby trolls in a wide variety of levels. Some brilliant animation and fantastic audio in this game, but it's so bloody difficult that after 20 years I still haven't managed to complete it.

5. Chrono Trigger- A journey through time to stop a huge disaster befalling a planet before it's too late. It's a brilliant RPG with characters designed by Dragonball artist Akira Toriyama, but I would get so far and then just drift in and out of playing it. I need to book a week off work and just sit down and play it.

6. Resident Evil: Code Veronica- Another fantastic entry to the Resident Evil series that follows Claire and Chris Redfield as they take on the evil Umbrella Corporation. I would get as far as the cargo catapult boss fight against the Tyrant but end up getting killed repeatedly. Kind of demotivating when I think about it.

7. Paper Mario- A wonderful RPG that finds Mario in a world made of paper, trying to rescue the Princess from the dreaded Bowser once again. I think I got up to a battle with a dragon but I hadn't levelled up enough so I didn't stand a chance. That dragon fried poor Mario till he was extra crispy.

8. Skies of Arcadia- I'm generally not a fan of RPG's, which may explain why there's so many I haven't finished, but Skies of Arcadia is such a brilliant game that everyone should play. Following the adventures of a group of air pirates that sail the skies in search of adventure, defying the odds as they try to stop an evil empire from taking over the world. I have actually finished the main story but I've always been meaning to back and complete it 100%, BUT THERE'S SO MUCH TO DO!!!

9. Super Mario Sunshine- Mario has been framed for vandalising a tropical resort, so he's got to clean up the mess and find out who really trashed the place. In my opinion this is the last great Mario game as it's extremely tough to beat and had huge levels to explore, unlike Mario Galaxy which is incredibly easy and I didn't like the levels broken into small chunks. I have finished the main story in Mario Sunshine but I didn't collect every Shine Sprite, and seeing as my memory card crashed and wiped my save file I won't be getting around to that anytime soon. (; _ ;)

10. Zombies Ate My Neighbours- A wonderful tribute to the horror movies of old where you play as two teenagers armed with water pistols, trying to save their neighbours from an army of terrible monsters. Don't expect the journey to be easy though, I must have played this over 100 times and thanks to zombies, werewolves, giant mutant babies and aliens; I still can't fight my way to the end.

Cannon Fodder

Cannon Fodder is an Action Strategy title that sees you leading a squad of soldiers through 72 levels, accomplishing various missions. This usually involves eliminating every enemy but can also involve destroying their bases while minimising civilian casualties. The game has been on my 'to finish' list for what must be two decades; and I still can't complete it.

The game is presented from a top-down perspective so you can get a view of your surroundings, whilst also having the opportunity to scout for enemies and develop your approach. All of your soldiers carry automatic rifles and in later levels you can pick up grenades and bazookas.

Cannon Fodder is accompanied by one of the finest and most memorable soundtracks of all time, but funnily enough it's only present during the opening title sequence and loading screens. The actual in-game action has no background music, only the sound effects, which in my opinion is one of Cannon Fodders most unique features that allow you to be immersed in the game.

Cannon Fodder also caused controversy when British newspaper, the Daily Star, denounced the game for its slogan 'War has never been so much fun.' and revealing plans to depict a Remembrance Poppy on the box art. The game was heavily criticised by politicians and the British Legion, believing the game was disrespectful and trying to make war seem humorous. The Remembrance Poppy was removed from the box art, although it was still shown in cutscenes, but developers insisted the game was an anti-war statement and there is one (iconic) scene that provides evidence of that.

Before you start any mission you're shown a grass covered hill that is surrounded by a queue of men in civilian clothing. Whenever your mission requires a larger squad, or if you lose any soldiers, whomever is at the front of the queue is taken through a door to join your ranks. The hill later becomes populated with headstones giving a visual representation of how many lives have been lost, and once you get into the later stages of the game the hill can become completely hidden.

When I think back on this scene I don't think I've ever laughed when I've watched the hill slowly disappear. I only ever felt sad as the next recruits were ushered through the doors, while the game's 'Lost in Service' theme plays in the background.

I believe Cannon Fodder did something that no game had ever done before; showing war for the miserable waste of human life and ingenuity it really is. Now we have war games being released by the barrel load every year, and Cannon Fodder paved the way for them, but I don't think Call of Duty or Battlefield will ever make a statement as poignant as Cannon Fodder.  

Note: This was originally going to be a part of my 100 Happy Gaming Days series, and even though Cannon Fodder is a tremendously fun game, I feel including it in the series distorts the message so I'll leave it as a stand alone post.

For Sale: Capcom

One of the most beloved and recognisable gaming developers, Capcom, has lowered the drawbridge as it abandons its stock takeover defenses. This means a third party can swoop in, buy up the company's controlling stock and at the same time come into possession of some of gaming's most famous franchises. I think this short list speaks for itself...

Street Fighter

Resident Evil/Biohazard

Megaman/Rockman

Monster Hunter

Devil May Cry

And that was only scratching the surface. We should now expect to see a brawl over who is going to take over Capcom, but the question is who is it going to be? 

It could be a third party developer like EA, Ubisoft or Activision. It could even be one of the big three console developers wanting to have the Capcom brands exclusively on their console, which for some is a worrying thought. Capcom fans who have already adopted an Xbox One, PS4/Vita or Wii U/3DS, may have to cough up some more cash if a rival takes over.

I've been pretty pro-Nintendo since getting my Wii U, but I'm on the Nintendo bandwagon as Capcom has enjoyed some great success with their Nintendo exclusives (e.g. Ace Attorney, Monster Hunter, Resident Evil Revelations) and it would be fantastic to see that continue.

Then again my birthday is coming up...I wonder if I ask for Capcom would someone get it for me??? 

Nintendo at E3 2014

I spent the majority of yesterday glued to my computer watching the Nintendo Digital Event livestream and I've got to say I was pretty impressed. I don't want to get into the whole 'who won E3' debate, but I want to give you my own thoughts on some of Nintendo's announcements.

Smash Bros- Let's get Smash Bros out of the way as this was clearly the focal point of Nintendo's conference, and rightly so because if this isn't a system seller, nothing is.

We discovered that Mii's will be playable characters and it was pretty much expected. It's allowing you to inject some of your own personality into the game, which is a design ethic that Nintendo has been proudly delivering throughout many of their recent releases.

Pac Man was also revealed to be a playable character, again not very surprising seeing at the game is being developed by Namco Bandai. And after all was said and done we got treated to a stunning anime of Link dueling with Pitt, which then turned out to be another character reveal for...Lady Palutena.

My first impressions were "Really??? This is what they're saving till last." Then I saw the amount of effort they had put into this reveal, as previously mentioned the stunning anime, with the well scripted dialogue reminiscent of Kid Icarus Uprising. Lady Palutena then silenced doubters by showing off one of the most impressive movesets of any member of the Smash Bros roster, leaving enemies obliterated and me appropriately stunned.

I was a little disappointed to find that Smash Bros has been delayed from July until October, but I'd rather that the game was polished and performing at its best. We learned that the 'amiibo' toys are going to be an released alongside the game (more on those in a moment), there's also a gorgeous line of Gamecube controllers being released alongside Smash Bros (I'm going to be so bankrupt), and they've even brought back the digital trophy collection last seen in Smash Bros Melee.

There was little gameplay footage during the Digital Event but there didn't need to be any. The Smash Bros Invitational was going to provide a whopping 2 and a half hours of live footage, I'm watching it now as I type, and suffice to say I can't wait for October to arrive so I can finally join the fight.

Amiibo- Ever since Smash Bros Melee was released on Gamecube fans have dreamed of collecting their own Nintendo figurines. Now the dream has finally been made a reality in the form of Nintendo's line of amiibo toys; wallets ready.

The toys can be used in conjunction with Smash Bros, along with other future Wii U/3DS releases, and they allow the character to leap into the game to beat the living daylights out of your opponents...that's when I became confused.

I thought these figures were going to be similar to Disney Infinity and Skylanders; where introducing the figure will allow you to PLAY as the character and not just watch them on screen. They're almost like a virtual pet as you can train them by introducing them to various games, and customise their movesets and abilities to make them your own. Either way the amiibo look fantastic and it's going to be interesting to see how they fare against the likes of Disney Infinity and Skylanders.

Splatoon- The Wii U finally has a first party shooter...but it's not Metroid. Splatoon is a third person shoot em up where two teams of four try and graffiti a variety of levels with their own colour of ink. The team who has gained the most territory ultimately wins, but covering ground also allows you to transform into a Squid so you can quickly traverse your ink and get to where the action is to fend off your opponents.

It's nice to see Nintendo delivering a new IP and I'm really excited to play this one. The art design has a great sense of attitude, reminiscent of Jet Set Radio, with the gameplay style of one of my own personal favourites; De Blob.

Zelda Wii U- We were treated to a cutscene of the brand new Zelda game for Wii U and it was nothing short of stunning. There wasn't much information provided but we do know it's going to be an open world adventure, it has a similar art direction to Skyward Sword and I don't know about you but the weapon designs look amazing. It's scheduled for release sometime in 2015, it's going to be a long wait...

Hyrule Warriors- ...In the meantime however, we have Hyrule Warriors, which I was quite skeptical about this considering it's a hack 'n' slash title rather than a traditional Zelda adventure. The reveals were very persuasive however, as Nintendo revealed there will be four playable characters (Link, Zelda, Impa and fan favourite; Midna), and there will also be two player co-op. Since Smash Bros has been delayed this is arguably Nintendo's biggest release until then, let's hope it delivers the exciting experience it promises.

There's a ton of other stuff I could go into but this blog is already long enough.

Nintendo have come under a lot of criticism as of late, but whether you love them or hate them, they delivered a fantastic performance at E3 2014. In fact the show's still going on as they're still making new announcements throughout the whole of the convention, but will it be enough to persuade the masses to go out and buy a Wii U? Only time will tell.
      

Day 25 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Nintendo Land

Spent a majority of the night playing this one so this blog is a little late.

This was the free game we chose from the Mario Kart 8 promotion, and if you haven't claimed yours yet what on earth on are you waiting for?! We chose Nintendo Land as we wanted to boost our library of offline multiplayer titles, and the Wii U has plenty, but we were heading over to my parents and thought this had a great selection of mini-games that everyone could enjoy.

You can tell the game has been purely designed to show off the capabilities of the Wii U, something that Nintendo Land does very well however, a lot of the time games like these are fun for five minutes then left to gather to dust. Nintendo have really pushed the boat out in the hope that Nintendo Land has the same level of re-playability as Wii Sports, and while I don't think they've succeeded to that extent, I'm certain this is a game that will always be considered whenever you're playing multiplayer with your friends and family.

I'm going to detail some of the mini-games that we played last night but in total there are 12 games, with 6 supporting simultaneous multiplayer, and the other 6 having alternate multiplayer.

Luigi's Ghost Mansion- A great little ghostbusting game that will have many players shrieking with terror, quite surprising when you consider how adorable this game is. One player controls a ghost via the Gamepad and has to hunt down the 'busters before they can fry him with their torches. The only clue that the 'busters have of a nearby spectre is the chilling rumble of their Wii Remotes, so better be quick with those torches or your ghost busting days are over.

Animal Crossing Sweet Days- There's trouble in the world of Animal Crossing and only the Gamepad controlled police officers can sort things out. Players have to work together to capture a set number of sweeties before the local constabulary can come and throw them in jail. The only problem is pigging out on all those sweets diminishes your ability to run, so consider your diet otherwise the fuzz will put you away.

Mario Chase- This was by far our most favourite game of the night as it's completely bonkers. The player with the Gamepad controls Mario and has to elude a group of Toads until the timer runs out. It's a simple hide 'n' seek affair but Nintendo have applied some great level design to make this one a big hit. There are areas where the Toads can gain higher ground so they can seek out Mario and guide their team to victory, but Mario can use power-ups to evade his mushroom shaped captors, so the Toads have to work together. And best of all when the game is over you get to see a little replay of how close the Toads came to snaring a little Italian plumber.  

Day 24 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Mario Kart 8

You can expect a lot of Nintendo posts from here on out as I now have my Wii U along with Mario Kart 8, which is arguably the most talked about game available at the moment. I'll try and keep spoilers to a minimum but no promises, you have been warned.

I first got to play Mario Kart 8 at Play Expo Manchester in October 2013 and I thought it was absolutely fantastic, still a lot has changed since then. The level they let us race around was Mario Circuit and since Play Expo they've redesigned a lot of that track, thrown in a bunch of new weapons and greatly improved the handling of the vehicles. Mario Kart 8's most distinguishing aspect however, is the newly introduced anti-gravity feature which has literally turned the series upside down.

When your vehicle crosses over a glowing blue strip you'll be able to race across walls and ceilings, offering a whole new dimension to Mario Kart and allowing for some sneaky yet inventive shortcuts. It is truly a sight to behold seeing anti-gravity in action for the first time, I even felt a little travel sick as the scenery twisted before my eyes, but it was still awesome and proved that Nintendo aren't afraid to be creative with their old franchises.

The game has 16 brand new tracks, plus redesigns of 16 retro favourites, and there's some memorable gems in amongst them. Mount Wario finds you and your rivals dropped from a plane and racing down a snow covered mountain, dashing through caves and ski-slopes, it's probably the best constructed track of any in the whole series. The track that caught my attention though, was Bowser's Castle. The castle of the dreaded King of Koopa's was always my treasured theme as a kid, and Nintendo left me in awe of the truly bonkers yet terrifying version that appears in Mario Kart 8. I'm not saying any more on that, I urge you to try it for yourself.

The biggest upset for many fans however, is the Battle mode. This was the main reason why I enjoy Mario Kart games because this is what sets them apart from other racing titles, but the battle mode in Mario Kart 8 feels cheap, lazy and tacked on. There are no dedicated arenas for battling in as Nintendo have simply recycled the tracks from the Grand Prix mode, which are nowhere near as enjoyable as having dedicated arena levels. It feels like a wasted opportunity as the battle mode could have really made use of the anti-gravity feature, a huge sphere-like structure would have been excellent where everyone could have had an apocalyptic green shell duel, but alas it's not there, so hopefully Nintendo will create some appropriate Battle Mode levels in an update.

The multiplayer however, is just as fun as ever with support for up to four players locally and twelve players online. Mario Kart 8 also includes a great tournament mode where you can compete with players across the globe. Caution: tournaments are extremely competitive and not for the faint of heart, unless you're prepared to be ruthless you'll be tasting the bittersweet red shell of defeat.  

There's also the opportunity to share your glories, or failures, with the world using MKTV. At the end of each race you'll be shown a 30 second highlight reel that you can upload to Miiverse, Youtube or both. It's a nice little feature that's proving very popular with fans, you can find my first of many Mario Kart 8 highlights on my Youtube channel.

Mario Kart 8 is certainly a fine entry in the longstanding series, while providing a much needed boost to the Wii U's game catalogue. There's plenty of content available here to keep you and your friends entertained for hours...then again, after a few races and spiked shells you may not be friends for much longer, but it won't stop you from wanting to race just one more time.

Day 23 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Wii U

I thought I'd use this blog to let you know my first impressions of the Wii U, as I know it hasn't been the most successful of Nintendo's systems, but I've been pleasantly surprised at what I've seen so far.

The first thing many people have been quick to criticise is the Gamepad (the funny tablet thingy), but Nintendo have actually used the Gamepad in a number of creative ways; which makes you begin to wonder how you've ever done without one.

The Gamepad has two small speakers that have really let developers get imaginative with their audio design. For instance your TV speakers may play the bass and drum beats of a soundtrack, whilst your Gamepad covers the melody lines, offering a fresh perspective that really immerses the player into a game. A lot of in-game sound FX are also played via the Gamepad speakers, something the original Wii console experimented with using the speakers on the Remotes, but with the enhanced audio quality available on the Gamepad it really does feel like a natural evolution.

The navigation of menus feels a lot more fluent thanks to the Gamepad as well, gone are the days of pointing Remotes at screens, replaced with your trusty stylus and touch screen proving far more reliable. It basically feels like you've got a home-console version of the DS, which is what I feel Nintendo was aiming for with this console, maybe it should have been called Wii DS instead of Wii U...okay, maybe my name isn't any better but whatever.

The Wii U's dashboard is pretty much identical to the 3DS, a smart design choice as it makes things uniformed and everyone will be familiar with it, and it looks better than the panels on my Xbox dashboard. Each menu and application seems to have their own soundtrack as well, so it's fun to explore and discover everything that your Wii U comes bundled with.

I feel the best application has got to be MiiVerse, basically a Nintendo themed Facebook, where users can discuss their favourite Nintendo games with a passionate and positive community. You can also post pictures you've drawn on the Gamepad and share them with the community, also by playing certain games you can unlock stamps you can use if drawing isn't your thing.

I mentioned yesterday that Mario Kart 8 seems to have started a Wii U revival, and rightfully so because Mario Kart 8 is superb, but Nintendo really have to keep the momentum going if they want the Wii U to be the success it should be. With E3 just around the corner hopefully we'll see some big announcements that'll not only attract potential buyers, but also the third party support that the console needs.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I've had a very busy schedule over the last few days, meaning I haven't had a chance to write any blogs, but I thought I'd give you little recap of the gaming side of things and I'll get back to the 100 Happy Gaming Days feature tomorrow. :)

Last weekend I was one of many caught up in the Nintendo UK/Yodel Mario Kart 8 launch fiasco. Yodel was the courier responsible for delivering Mario Kart 8 pre-orders with many being delayed and damaged in the process.

I didn't receive my copy until 31/05/2014 (a day late) and the outer packaging looked as though it had been savaged by Wolverines, whilst the presentation box had suffered a blow and had been squashed, with nothing to protect it other than some inflated contraceptives and a Bullet Bill T-Shirt. The disk however was perfectly fine and the Blue Shell figurine also survived so I'm not complaining too much.

The big problem was I was also waiting for my Wii U to be delivered which I ordered on 30/05/2014 (for next day delivery via Yodel) but it didn't arrive until 02/06/2014, so I got to spend the whole weekend looking at the box for Mario Kart when I could have been playing it.

The wait however, was certainly worth it as Mario Kart 8 is a fantastic game which seems to have turned the Wii U's fortunes around for the time being. And since I ordered the Mario Mega Bundle from Nintendo UK I also have Super Mario 3D World, New Super Mario Bros U + Super Luigi U, an extra controller and a Mario Hat.

I certainly wouldn't discourage anyone from ordering anything from Nintendo UK, as they have a great catalogue of exclusive products, just don't arrange for special delivery as the courier will be Yodel and they're notoriously unreliable.

I've been very impressed with the Wii U so far, especially the Miiverse which gives you the opportunity to discuss your favourite Nintendo games with gamers from all over the world. There's a healthy selection of games available on the Nintendo eShop as well and I'm wondering how long I can hold out before I get Pikmin 3...

Check back tomorrow as 100 Happy Gaming Days continues.