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.

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 21 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Resident Evil 4

Resident Evil 4 completely revitalised the franchise, shifting focus from tank controlled characters and static cameras to an over the shoulder perspective, getting the player closer to the action than ever before. This however, altered the kind of terror on offer; unnerving atmospheres were replaced with heart pounding, white knuckled excitement that kept you on the edge of your seat. 

The game stars Leon S Kennedy, the rookie cop from Resident Evil 2, who is now working for the US Government and has been given the task of finding Ashley, the President's abducted daughter. Capcom set the tone for the game in brilliant fashion, within the first ten minutes you're barricading yourself in a house surrounded by an entire village of lunatics, including one fellow wielding a chainsaw. I lost count of the number of times I had my head brutally removed in this first scene.

 You later discover that the entire community has been infected with a parasite capable of taking over the hosts body and turning them into mindless puppets. This allowed Resident Evil to move away from the signature zombie masses to a more intelligent enemy, one that would evade your attacks and use weapons and strategy to defeat you.

A considerable portion of the game sees you escorting Ashley to safety, a task that many players found frustrating as she's very slow to move and little more than baggage. Many a time I've been surrounded by enemies only to quick turn and end up shooting her in the face, it was kind of funny the first time but gets old pretty quickly. Thankfully Ashley gets recaptured at certain points of the game, usually when you have to defeat a boss, so there's sufficient breathing space that allows you to have a bit of fun without having to worry keeping her from harm.

There's plenty of replay value on offer thanks to the various unlockables and side quests that are worthwhile devoting your time to. Completing the game will unlock the Mercenaries mode, allowing you to pick from a number of characters and fight waves of enemies until you die or the timer expires.

Resident Evil 4 was a risky endeavor for Capcom as they had completely changed the series formula, but the gamble paid off as there's no denying how good this game is. If you like your horror games exciting, terrifying and a roller-coaster ride to the very end then this game is just what you're looking for. So what'll it be, stranger?  

Day 20 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Halo: Combat Evolved

At a time when the majority of my friends had their Playstation 2's, I was getting acquainted with Microsoft's new Xbox console and it's launch title Halo: Combat Evolved. In a market that's now over-saturated with first person shooters it may be difficult for some to find something special about Halo, but at the time this was considered a masterpiece of gaming that made people believe Xbox was a true contender in the 'console wars'.

Halo begins with a massive starship, crewed by human space marines, coming across a mysterious ring world after being chased across the galaxy by the alien Covenant. When the Covenant send in their boarding party the humans decide to abandon ship and flee to Halo, but before they leave they revive the last of their race of super soldiers; Spartan 117, otherwise known as Master Chief. 

Accompanied by his digital sidekick, Cortana, Master Chief had to fight his way through 10 brilliantly designed levels that saw you uncovering the secrets of this fascinating place. The levels would see you venture across snow covered mountains, tropical islands, dense swamps and alien cruisers, with the variety and attention to detail being phenomenal in every sense of the word.

Halo had a graphic quality that really demonstrated what the Xbox was capable of, sunlight would slip between the leaves of trees, while plasma shots would burn brightly across the battlefield; sometimes leaving you so stunned that you'd be shot to pieces before you realised what was happening. Audio was also impeccable as grenades would give a satisfying explosion; followed by the trickle of falling debris, the Covenant's plasma weapons had their own distinct sounds and not to mention one of the most wonderful gaming soundtracks of the era.

AI was also very well presented, not just from the enemy standpoint, but also your allies as they would provide suppressive fire and other tactical manoeuvers to help you secure victory. The Covenant however are also just as clever, especially in the Legendary difficulty mode where they seem almost unbeatable, flanking around you and using stealth to make you feel helpless. You can always get your own back though in the easier settings, with Grunts retreating when their Elite leaders are killed by a well placed plasma grenade.

Halo had some great multiplayer support as well, no Xbox Live, but there was support for up to 16 players via system link. You could customise maps how you wanted, deciding which weapons to include, alongside vehicles and power ups to add tons of variety. You could even tackle the story in co-op mode, which was great for when you needed a helping hand beating the game on Legendary, and you could even partake in Warthog jumping (something that you can't do now as the Warthog's are destructible).

Halo: Combat Evolved was everything a launch title should be. It demonstrated the power of the system, delivered excellent gameplay and set the standard for all those to come, while making owners of rival consoles green with envy. 

Day 19 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Sunset Riders

Sunset Riders is my favourite western game, after Red Dead Redemption of course.

This western-style arcade game from Konami was ported over to the SNES and Mega Drive/Genesis. It was a side-scrolling run-and-gun shooter where players would have to blast their way through wild west themed levels and defeat a boss to collect a bounty. The console version has two playable characters; a young gunslinger named Billy and a shotgun wielding Mexican named Cormano, other than the weapons there wasn't really any difference depending on who you played as. The game also featured a two player co-op mode so you could tackle the game together with a friend.

The SNES version of the game has some slight differences due to Nintendo's family friendly policies. The Mega Drive version featured female enemies that threw dynamite at you, but these have been replaced with male bandits in the SNES version, probably Nintendo not wanting to glorify violence towards women. Also the Native American themed boss in the Mega Drive version, known as Chief Scalpem, was renamed Chief Wigam in the SNES version.

Sunset Riders is perfect if you want something simple to just pick up and play, so grab a buddy a wreak some havoc through the west. Yee-hah! 

Day 18 out of 100 Happy Gaming Days: World of Illusion

I'm a bit late with this one. I was extremely busy yesterday and to be honest writing a blog a day was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, but that just means there's going to be a double post today!

World of Illusion was one of the greatest Disney platformer's of the 16 bit era. It featured some beautiful graphics for the time based on Disney's animation style, with levels taking inspiration from classic Disney movies and cartoons such as The Little Mermaid, Mickey and the Beanstalk and Alice in Wonderland.

The story begins with Mickey and Donald rehearsing their act for a big magic show, and while they're rehearsing they discover an unusual wooden box carved to look like a face with a velvet curtain across its mouth. All of a sudden they both fall into the box and are transported to the World of Magic, where an evil Sorceror explains he will show them the way home, as long as they can find him and defeat him in a magic duel.


The game is pretty easy to complete, however there is a lot of replay value as you can play as Mickey or Donald, and in co-op mode with a friend. Depending on which character you've chosen you'll encounter different routes and levels, for instance with Donald having a bigger backside than Mickey he can't squeeze the through smaller spaces like Mickey can, so he needs to find an alternative route to proceed.

The co-op mode was also very inventive with players being encouraged to help one another, otherwise they stood no chance of completing the game. Some sections involved giving each other a boost to higher ledges and then throwing a rope down for the person left behind, or jumping in sequence to move a rail cart across a level.

There's a lot of great Disney games for the Mega Drive but World of Illusion stands out for it's great design and multiplayer, and with Castle of Illusion recently getting an HD remake some are expecting World of Illusion to get the same treatment. If they keep the same design values that encourage true cooperative gameplay, I'll be happy... and maybe some bonus content too! :P

Day 17 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: The Silent Hill Collection

Never has a game series been so terrifyingly disturbing, and with 3 games in one box you better make sure you're not wearing your best underwear before you play this.

This collection is comprised of the second, third and fourth games, and while there are some that I prefer over others this is still a great collection.

Silent Hill 2 tells the story of widow James Sutherland who has journeyed to Silent Hill after receiving a letter signed by his deceased wife. The letter beckons him to meet her Silent Hill, the town holding great meaning for the couple, so James wanders over to the cursed town to see what's going on. He arrives to find the town shrouded in fog and seemingly deserted, save for the horrific monsters crawling the streets and stalking your every move. Can James discover the truth before it's too late?

Silent Hill 3 follows the story of Heather, a teenage girl who is being pursued by the cult of Silent Hill. After she finds her father bludgeoned to death by a monster controlled by the cult, Heather goes to Silent Hill to seek revenge. I'll be honest I really didn't enjoy this one, I found Heather to be really annoying and the story was nowhere near as gripping as Silent Hill 2. Some still consider it a great game but I just never saw the appeal.

Silent Hill 4 sees poor Henry Townshend of Room 302 wake up one morning to find the door of his apartment sealed from the inside. As if things couldn't get any worse a huge portal appears in his bathroom wall leading Henry to various locations, and eventually to Silent Hill, where he tries to unravel the mystery of just what on earth is going on. Some feel this is the lower point in series as Silent Hill 4 was never intended to be a main Silent Hill game, and although the gameplay here does deviate from the previous games, the story will keep you playing until the very end.

All-in-all a great collection that every survival-horror fan should own, try it if you dare.

Day 16 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Super Mario Kart

With only 7 days remaining until the release of Mario Kart 8 (I've got my pre-order), I thought it would be a good idea to look at the game that started it all; Super Mario Kart for SNES.

Super Mario Kart set the standard for the future of the series introducing imaginative track design, multiplayer fun and showing what Nintendo's Seal of Quality really meant. The game had a total of 8 playable characters; Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool/Peach, Yoshi, Toad, Koopa Trooper, Bowser and Donkey Kong Jr. There are a total of 20 tracks on offer from all over the Mario universe; Donut Plains, Bowsers Castle, Choco Island and the now notorious Rainbow Road.

Players could compete for various cups in the Mario Kart GP mode racing solely against the computer across 5 tracks in each competition, or they could have a friend join in too. There were two difficulty options available, 50cc and 100cc, and if you managed to earn gold in the first three tournaments you'll gain access to the Special Cup with the remaining 5 tracks. If you reached the top spot in a tournament you would see a wonderful animation showing your character with their trophy, with a different animation depending on the character you chose.

You could also race one-on-one against your friends or compete in a Time Trial across any of the 20 tracks, but my favourite has always been the Battle Mode. In Battle Mode you and a friend could fight it out across 4 arena-type stages, firing weapons at your opponent to burst the 3 balloons attached to their kart. Unfortunately you're unable to get any AI controlled opponents to fight in Battle Mode, but the arenas were just the right size for 2 players.

Super Mario Kart, as previously mentioned, also had a selection of weapons available. Thankfully the Blue Shell was yet to make an appearance, but banana skins, green/red shells, mushrooms and many more were there to make or break your race. The computer also had their own weapons to use against you, for instance Yoshi is able to leave Eggs around the track for you to crash into, but as far as I'm aware a player controlled racer is unable to access these exclusive weapons (which was a bit strange but it kept things interesting as you didn't know what was going to attack you next).

Super Mario Kart was a fantastic game and the hype for Mario Kart 8 has built to ridiculous levels, and with an amazing series behind it it certainly has a lot to live up to.
         

Day 15 out of 100 Happy Gaming Days: LSDJ

Little Sound DJ is a music workstation intended for use with the original Nintendo Gameboy. The software was developed by Johan Kotlinski and is designed to make full use of the audio capabilities of the Gameboy and is used by many chiptune artists.

There is a slight learning curve due to the whole piece of software being controlled by the Gameboy's 4 buttons and a D-Pad, but if you persevere for a few hours you should be able program a piece of classical music with relative ease. Included is an in-depth sequencer, arpeggiator, a nice selection of samples from various drum kits samples from machines such as the TR-808 and the ability to sync two Gameboys via link cable for added polyphony. 

Obtaining the software isn't too difficult, just wander over to the LSDJ website and pay for a license to use LSDJ. This however, only gets you the file as Johan no longer flashes the ROM onto Game Paks, so you'll need to find someone offering this service unless you know how to do this yourself. I used kitsch-bent and they were awesome, got the cartridge over to me very quickly for a reasonable fee.

Alternatively you can use plugins like the Magical 8bit Plug from YMCK, that can be used with most popular DAW's, or Rhythm Core Alpha 2 on Nintendo eShop for 3DS which is pretty much based on LSDJ and is a great title to have installed on your console for when you're feeling creative. 

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 13 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Nintendo Playing Cards

Long before Nintendo became a video games company they manufactured playing cards, and since we had over 3000 points on Club Nintendo, we decided to choose these Premium Mario Playing Cards to see what all the fuss was about.  

The first thing you notice when you open the pack is that they're not even made of card, they're a strange reflective plastic, and the second thing you notice is the care and attention to detail that's gone into making these things. Each suit has a different image of Mario (King), Peach (Queen), Luigi (Jack), while Bowser takes his place on the Joker cards. The numbered cards and Ace cards have pictures of Mushrooms and Coins on them, and I love the way they printed the design so only part of the reflective surface is visible. I'm also glad they decided to use the Super Nintendo-era designs, rather than the more modern designs, as the bolder outlines and colours really make them stand out. 

We're thinking of taking them out of the pack and fitting them into a big frame to go up on the wall, which is going to look pretty amazing with the light reflecting from them. And since Nintendo has been the main focus of the last couple of days I'll if I can find something a little more unusual for tomorrow's blog. :)

Day 12 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Nintendo 'Cool Stuff'

Nintendo have revealed their 'cool stuff' page on the UK website today and to be honest I'm quite impressed. A lot of the Nintendo merchandise I find when I'm out and about can be quite poor, and while some of that is also present on the cool stuff page, there's also some great exclusive items to purchase as well.

This Ganondorf statue will set you back a whopping £281.99, but the attention to detail is phenomenal. The statue is 23 inches tall and cast in high-quality polystone, which has been hand crafted and hand painted. What I really like is hand tailored fabric cape, and the fact it looks so bloody sinister. Awesome.

Another item I feel I should draw your attention to is this Tanooki Mario Figurine with a Leaf power-up.  The price is £150, which I think is hideously over-priced, but it's still a very nice piece all the same. It's 15 inches tall and is made from high quality polystone resin, there's also another version without the Leaf Block for £130.

The cool stuff page stocks everything by character and you can find hats, bags, phone covers and other knick-knacks to show your love for Nintendo. The only problem is, like Club Nintendo, a lot of these exclusive items are selling out faster than a red shell rebounding off a drain pipe. So if you want something, be sure to get it quick.

Day 11 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Megaman Zero Collection

I found this last week at a pawn shop and I have to say this was a pretty lucky find. The Megaman series is kind of difficult to get into when you're from the UK, this is one of only a handful that I've picked up in the wild, and the games usually demand high prices. 

This contains all four games in the brilliant Megaman Zero series originally released for the Gameboy Advance. The gameplay is your traditional Megaman adventure, a hardcore 2D run-and-gun fest with superb level and character design. Then again if you simply want to enjoy the story this collection comes with a 'Easy Scenario Mode' which lowers the amount you take from enemies.

There's also a number of collectables to keep you entertained if four games in one isn't enough for you. Clearing the Easy mode will unlock character cards, whereas playing through the games on their usual difficulty will unlock mod cards which apparently alter content in Megaman Zero 3. And there's wallpapers to be unlocked throughout the game as well, certainly worth the effort as the artwork is nothing short of amazing.

Day Ten: Toejam and Earl

Is there a game that's funkier than Toejam and Earl? ...probably not.

Toejam and Earl have crashed their spaceship on a hostile and deranged planet, otherwise known as Earth, and they've got to find all of the scattered pieces to put their ship back together. It's a great top-down adventure game best played in co-op mode with a friend; that way you can cover more ground when exploring the map while also sharing items and health as well.

The game has a fantastic soundtrack with some of the most recognisable melodies of all time, perfect funk rhythms to match your casual strolls across the Earth. The only thing that keeps the game from being a walk in the park is the eccentric earthlings that attack TJ & E wherever they go. There's Boogie Men holding pitchforks, cackling dentists with drills and even a platoon of chickens armed with tomato launching mortars.

TJ & E aren't entirely helpless however, as there are presents scattered throughout the world that contain a wide variety of power ups. For instance Super Hi-Tops that allow for sprinting, Icarus Wings for flying and Boom boxes to distract enemies with a funky groove.

Sega have released Toejam and Earl on every platform imaginable now so there's no excuse for you not to have played this classic game. So grab a friend and give these two aliens a hand putting their spaceship back together.

Top 5 Nintendo 64 Games

Retro Gamer posted a message on their forums asking members to submit their Top 5 Nintendo 64 games, with the possibility of your response being quoted in their magazine. I might be a bit late for that but I thought I'd share my top 5 with you all the same, enjoy...


1. Lylatwars/Starfox 64- A brilliant on-rails shooter that improves upon the SNES original in every way. There's a ton of replay value thanks to the varying pathways to take throughout the game, the alternate endings and simply playing to achieve the highest score. Not to mention the task of winning medals on each level to unlock the hard mode. There's also a great cast of memorable characters and multiplayer fun to be had as a bonus.
2. Super Mario 64- The game that set the standard for 3D platform games for generations to come. The level design is fantastic in that it's simply fun just to explore each level down it's last detail, and there's so many memorable moments to be discovered e.g. defeating Bowser in 3D for the first time. Mario himself was equipped with a wide variety of new skills to traverse his terrain and battle his enemies, along with some new power ups such as the Metal and Pixel caps. I feel I should also mention that Super Mario 64 has one of the best soundtracks of all time, my own personal favourite being the Dire Dire Docks theme.

3. WWF No Mercy- I think I played this none stop for about a year when it was first released thanks to the wealth of content that's available. There's a number of story modes based on the various titles that were around at the time, a survival mode where you have to eliminate as many wrestlers as you can and the exhibition mode where you can customise matches as you want. The create-a-wrestler feature was quite in-depth; setting a template for future titles in the series, and this alongside the wide selection of wrestlers from WWF/WWE's attitude era you really were spoiled for choice.

4. Goldeneye 007- Another title I couldn't stop playing once I got my hands on it. The single player mode follows the movie in great detail, with graphics that were quite brilliant for the time, and a soundtrack that kept you immersed in the James Bond universe from start to finish. The wealth of replay value is enormous thanks to the 'cheats' that you can unlock by finishing a level in a certain time, along with the another two hidden levels based on previous Bond movies. And if all this wasn't enough you had what was arguably the greatest multiplayer experience on the Nintendo 64.

5. Conker's Bad Fur Day- It was rude, crude, even violent, but still the funniest game on the system. After getting drunk at his local one night Conker the Squirrel wakes up in a field next to a scarecrow, and your job is to guide him back home while making some cash along the way. The game takes on a variety of genres and does them all surprisingly well, even making fun of other games and movies such as Resident Evil, Saving Private Ryan and the Matrix. The hilarious cast of characters will make you want to keep playing through the story until the very end, with Rareware thoughtfully including a menu so you can jump to a certain chapter whenever you want to revisit your favourite moments. The multiplayer is also superb with a seven different modes to choose from (I like Raptor the most), and support for four players plus AI controlled enemies.

Day Eight: GTA V Selfies and Mental State Update

GTA V is arguably one of the best games, if not the best game, of the last console generation.

The city of Los Santos is filled to the brim with things to do, places to see and a huge cast of impressionable characters (like Franklin and Graham the Zombie). So luckily for us we have a camera so we can share our exploits on Rockstar's social club and elsewhere.

I thought I'd also take the opportunity to talk about the latest update to GTA Online; the High Life update. As usual this update includes some new vehicles, one new weapon, also a number of new apartments to rent along with the ability to rent multiple properties, but most importantly the Mental State feature.

The Mental State feature monitors a player's behaviour throughout a Free Roam session in GTA Online. The more damage a player does to NPC's, or other players, causes their character's mental state to become more psychotic and they'll be shown as a threat to other players on the map. If you bring down a psychopathic player you'll earn extra experience points, however your character will also start to become more mentally unstable as a result of that.

The presentation of this new feature is a little confusing as mentally unstable players are marked on the map with red blips, which was previously how players with bounties on their heads were represented, but now I think these have been replaced with red skulls. Either way, if you see red, shoot it and you'll earn some extra cash/XP. It's certainly revitalised the Free Roam sessions which were often very tame with not a lot happening, and now since there's some incentive to causing mayhem you're not safe anywhere in Los Santos.

Hopefully in the next update we'll finally get the long awaited heist missions added to GTA Online, and maybe I'll finally earn enough cash to buy a Z Type or a Rhino Tank.




 

Day Four: Bioshock

One of the most influential and groundbreaking first person shooters of the last generation; Bioshock.

I have to admit when I first played Bioshock I didn't get the appeal, it didn't seem to be anything more than your typical shooter in a 1950's-1960's steampunk setting which was very popular at the time of it's release. When I gave it a second chance however, I found one of the most rewarding experiences available on the Xbox 360; thanks to its excellent gameplay, outstanding narrative and a cast of unforgettable characters.

I'll try and keep spoilers to a minimum...

You play as Jack who survives a plane crash into the ocean and winds up in the underwater city of Rapture, a once brilliant utopia created by businessman Andrew Ryan. Unfortunately Rapture has descended into chaos as it is now home to psychopathic drug addicts (known as Splicers), brainwashed/genetically altered children (Little Sisters), and violent robots who protect the children (Big Daddy's).

Your task? Somehow escape Rapture alive with the help of Atlas, an activist who attempted to overthrow Andrew Ryan, and of course Plasmids! A highly addictive substance that's turned almost everyone into a homicidal maniac, but it does give you incredible superpowers like the ability to shoot bolts of lightning from your fingertips.

One of things that makes the game so unique is that each character has their own story to tell that makes up the world of Bioshock. The Splicer's insane monologuing is both chilling and fascinating as they unwittingly reveal dark secrets from their past as a result of their addiction to Plasmids. Rapture's history is told to you through audio recordings left scattered throughout the city, which are great fun to collect, and not forgetting the weird and terrifyingly wonderful characters that can't wait to meet you.