Ramune

We had a rough day at work, so we decided to treat ourselves with a trip to Hi-You Oriental Food Emporium!

In amongst the sweets and cake that made up most of the shopping, we picked up some bottles of Ramune; a type of fizzy drink usually found in Japan.

The 'original' flavour tastes similar to lemonade, (the drink I'm holding in the photo is peach flavoured), but you can apparently find a wide range of flavours; for instance cola, cherry, bubble-gum and even teriyaki!

The best part however, is the unusual bottles. To open them you remove the lid, press out the middle of the lid and then use this to force a little marble down into the bottle. 

It's a tasty, refreshing beverage and just what I need to wash down all the sweets we've bought. :P

Mario and Luigi Sofubi Figures

I don't think I've posted pictures of these Mario & Luigi Sofubi figures before; my wife got them for me for Christmas a few years ago. 

From what I can gather, Sofubi is a kind of soft vinyl toy produced in Japan. I've kept them in their packaging, as I don't have anywhere to stand them, so they're hung up on the shelves next to the SNES games.

Day 44 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Import Games

Thanks to the internet and international shopping websites like eBay and Amazon, it's never been easier to pick up games you may have missed out on in the past. You might not have heard of certain games at the time they were released, if they were even released in your home country at all, and sometimes it's fun to discover variations on games you already own. And it's those variations that I want to look at in this post.

The PAL version (or European version) of Sonic the Hedgehog for example came with a bland pink and white cover and the booklet was printed in greyscale, which could be considered criminal in comparison to what I'm going to show you in a moment.

Sonic the Hedgehog (PAL Version)

Now here's the NTSC-J version (or Japanese version) and look at the difference!

Sonic the Hedgehog (NTSC-J Version)

The cover is so much more vibrant than the PAL release and the booklet is even crammed with hand drawn images of Sonic, Robotnik and other characters from the game. Sega of Europe possibly changed the design because they didn't think the NTSC-J design would appeal to European gamers, a real shame as the Japanese offering is fantastic.

I also discovered that NTSC-J Mega Drive/Genesis cartridges are shaped differently to PAL cartridges so they won't play on European systems. The curved plastic bumpers on either side of the cartridge prevent it from fitting in the cartridge slot.

PAL Cartridge (left) and NTSC-J Cartridge (Right)

I could make this post go on for a lot longer but I think I'll save more import related gaming for a future post or perhaps even a YouTube video. (^_-) If you know of any more fun import gaming related quirks drop me a comment as I'd be happy to hear about it. ^_^

Day 37 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon S

Okay, I swear my wife picked this game, but surprisingly it turned out to be a pretty solid beat em up and a great multiplayer title. Please keep in mind my knowledge of Sailor Moon is fairly limited, so if anything that I write here turns out to be incorrect please let me know in the comments (like I'm sure my wife is going to do).

Sailor Moon S is a blatant Street Fighter 2 clone, and while it's certainly not in the same league as SF2, it's a very good beat em up. The controls are responsive and special moves are simple to execute, but there's also some big finishing moves that require a little more effort. The effort is certainly rewarded however, as not only do you deal immense damage to your opponent, but Sailor Moon S is superbly animated and worthy of the franchise.

There are 9 characters to choose from but they're all Sailor Scouts, so no Tuxedo Mask or any antagonists from the series (apparently Sailor Saturn is also missing). It feels like a wasted opportunity with the amount of characters being very limited and I must brush up on my Japanese, as I'm wondering what on earth happens to make 9 protagonists beat the hell out of each other.



There's also a unique attribute customisation screen that allows you tweak certain aspects of your chosen character, for example increasing the amount of health you will start with. This has some drawbacks because opponents can become more difficult to defeat, meaning most fights will end on a 'Time Out' depriving you of that satisfying KO finish. I also felt the levels could be a bit more dynamic, a majority of them are just still images of locations from the show, it would be better if there was some breakable objects or animated backgrounds.

Sailor Moon S may have it's faults, but it has enough fan service to satisfy the most ardent Sailor Moon fan (hearing the theme song on the SNES is awesome). The game is also bloody difficult as I've been playing for about an hour and had my arse handed to me. Plus my wife is also taking great pleasure at defeating me, so I think I'll put on some Silent Hill before we go to bed. ^_^

Day 22 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Chibi Robo Let's Go Photo UK Release

Yesterday it was announced that Chibi Robo: Let's Go Photo for 3DS will finally be making its way to UK shores on 3rd July 2014. I'm a huge fan of the series starring the adorable little robot so let's see what he has in store for us this time around.

Chibi Robo is now working for a museum but unfortunately it's lacking any exhibits. The Curator has given you the task of finding objects (referred to as NostalJunk) to fill up his museum, it sounds simple enough but you'll have to use your 3DS camera to do it.

You will be given a specific shape and it's your mission to go out into the real world and take a photo of something identical to that shape. It will then be rendered into the game so Chibi Robo can cart it off to the museum and put it on display. Here's a video to show you the process in action.

When you're not snapping photos of the weird and wonderful there's a number of side-quests and tasks to keep you occupied. Chibi Robo will have to make sure the museum stays clean and tidy, while also helping the games cast of eccentric characters with their problems.

In Japan Nintendo were apparently running NostalJunk contests where you have to submit your best in-game photographs for a chance to win fabulous prizes. Hopefully we'll get the same thing here.

This could be one of the best community based games since Animal Crossing: New Leaf, so make sure to mark 3rd July 2014 on your calendar.

Day 14 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: God Eater Burst

I said I would try to find something unusual and I think God Eater: Burst for PSP fits that description, along with freaking awesome!

God Eater: Burst takes the Monster Hunter formula and mixes in anime cutscenes, a kick ass soundtrack, engrossing story-line, the option of having AI controlled characters fight alongside you (something I would have really liked in MH) and best of all, your own customisable character that wields a buster sword/cannon capable of devouring enemies to steal their abilities.

The game is set in a world that has been overrun and destroyed by the hideous aragami (big nasty monsters) and it's up to you to get out there and exterminate them. Like MH you have a specific monster to aim for in order to complete the mission and you can craft new armour and weapons from your fallen enemies, some of it looking especially cool. Some of the missions can be tackled on your own, or with AI controlled allies, but the game is best played with a friend so you can add some strategy and more cohesive teamwork to your game.

The weapon you carry is capable of devouring cells from monsters so you can steal their abilities. For example having your weapon take a bite out of a giant snow monkey will give the power to use ice based attacks. Keep in mind that enemies do not surrender their powers easily, so you'll have to be cunning if you want to wield new abilities without getting clobbered in the process.

God Eater: Burst is a fantastic game and every PSP owner owes it to themselves to seek it out. Whether it's for the great story-line (which I refuse to spoil), engaging multiplayer, addictive gameplay or just because you can find it for less than £10, it doesn't matter. It's awesome, play it.

Day Nine: Play Expo

I've been going to Play Expo for the last two years and I've recently picked up my tickets for this years event in October. It's held at Manchester's Event City venue, which is a stones throw away from the Trafford Centre, and for a whole weekend it's crammed with games as far as the eye can see.

Last year Nintendo were there to show off Zelda: A Link Between Worlds about a month before it's official release in the UK, along with Sonic Lost Worlds and a playable demo of the upcoming Mario Kart 8! I imagine Nintendo will be back this year and seeing as Super Smash Bros Wii U has a planned Winter release they'll hopefully be bringing it along.

Ubisoft were there last year with Assassins Creed 4 demoing on PS4, also about a month before the PS4 was on sale, so as you can imagine there was queue that rivaled the Great Wall of China. The same can also be said for the Oculus Rift which was attracting a lot of attention, hopefully they'll be back this year as I wasn't prepared to wait in the queue last time around, and Namco also made an appearance to torment gamers with Dark Souls 2.

Then of course there's the retro games with several hundred machines on offer from the Atari 2600 to the PS2; so I was certainly spoiled for choice. This was accompanied by a huge selection of arcade cabinets and pinball machines, ensuring that everyone who attends goes home happy. There's also little hubs set up for people to play tournaments on Super Mario Kart, Doom and plenty other titles so if you want to have a little competition you're covered.

There's also a large number of stalls selling games for pretty much every platform imaginable, along with some great gaming merchandise and handycrafts as well, I picked up this Blastoise T-Shirt last year.

Cosplayers are also welcomed with a load of people turning up in fantastic outfits and there's usually talks with various designers sharing their cosplaying tips.

This year is already shaping up to be something special as they've just announced the screen.play feature, which is promising meet and greets with Hollywood movie stars, photo opportunities, film props and movie cars. 

The thing that I'm looking forward to most though is the Classic Gaming Championships, and the final is going to be held at Play Expo. I'm going to enter the heats at NERG in July so wish me luck, I'm probably going to need it. 

Day Six: We Love Katamari

We Love Katamari is so bonkers it's brilliant.

The idea is simple, roll a ball into various objects and try and make the ball grow as big as you can, but why would anyone find that fun? Well, the game starts off in a very modest way as you pick up small objects like sweets and paperclips...eventually you'll be rolling up planets and universes. 

You can also add to the fun by playing the whole game in co-op mode with a friend, which really adds to the challenge as you have to be in sync with one another to perform the various moves required to progress through the game. Myself and my wife spent many hours playing We Love Katamari and even though the concept of the game is very simple it never gets old.

The game also has a ton of characters to unlock, the only thing that differs about them is their appearance, but it's still fun seeking out where the characters are hiding in each level. You can also unlock outfits and accessories for your characters by completing various challenges, for instance rolling up a certain number of objects in the fastest time possible, which adds to the replay value as you try to break your previous record.

The last thing I feel I need to mention is the soundtrack. It is possibly the most eccentric soundtrack I've ever found in a video game because you find a mixture of everything. J-Pop, J-Rock, Disco, Orchestral Music, Scat Singing and Beat Boxing, the tunes are seriously catchy and you'll be singing them for months on end. To be honest if you weren't interested in the game I would strongly advise you to pick up the soundtrack, it's that good.

Day Five: Strawberry Cheesecake Mochi

For day 5 of 100 Happy Days I thought I'd mix things up a little and show you one of my favourite desserts, Strawberry Cheesecake Mochi.

You can pick these put at Yo Sushi for £4.10 a plate and they're absolutely delicious.

Warning: They are very addictive, a friend of mine nearly bankrupted himself on these.