DS Lite

[vesicular]

Picked up a DS Lite today at Target with my $5 off coupon. I really like it so far. The screen is basically the same as the new GBA one in brightness and saturation. The buttons and D-pad are much nicer as well, as is the new stylus. Love the iPod-ish form factor and styling too. My hands still cramp up when playing it, but that's mostly because of the size. Not many ways to get around that.

I picked up New Super Mario Bros recently as well (I should say Annette picked it up for me). I'm half way through World 5 right now. The game is pretty easy so far, not that I'm complaining. It's Mario Bros, but it just feels like it's missing something. Really it feels like a Mario Bros made by HAL instead of a main Nintendo team. Perhaps it's just the Mario Party-esque overworld that makes me think that, but it's also the way it's designed. There's good stuff here, but it just doesn't do the "oh wow!" that SMB 3 did. Thankfully though, no Yoshi.

I also started playing FF IX recently. It's been sitting on my shelf since it came out, and I figured it was about time to sit down and try it out. Well, I *kinda* tried it out. The graphics don't really bother me, but I've put two hours into it so far and have just gotten to the first real battles in the game. If you ask me that's just too long. I kinda like to be thrown into battle right away in my RPG's and let things hash themselves out as it goes. Most likely I'll be taking that one slow. I'm hoping there's a bit more action coming my way.

Comments

[ferricide.livejournal.com]

i just don't see the appeal of FFIX... someone else on my friends list played through it recently and made it sound totally unspecial from a gameplay standpoint, and i've never heard any unmitigated praise for it. i guess it's more 'retro' than 7 or 8, but i don't hate 7 or 8 like many, so i don't have this desire to go backwards in time. plus i really think the character designs range from awful (eiko, quina, steiner) to merely mediocre (zidane, vivi, garnet.) anyway, i've never really seen the appeal. if it were an excellent game, sure, but its reputation doesn't suggest such.

[vesicular.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine way back when thought it was awesome, but admited he liked it because it was a throwback to the older games. Given that my first FF playthrough was with VII (I was always a Phantasy Star kid), I have no such nostalgia.

I'm going to give it a shot, especially since I feel like I'm finally at the "begining" of the game now, but so far it's not really hooking me. I suppose two hours of cut scenes will do that to a guy.

One thing I've realized now having played a bit of IX and going back to play a tad of VII when Advent Children came out, is that Square, at least in the PSX days, had a horrible UI for thier games. Perhaps all games were like that back then and I forgot, but I certainly hope they've worked that out this past gen (haven't played any FF's this gen), cuz it's pretty non-intuitive.

[ferricide.livejournal.com]

i don't really think it has much in common with the classic FFs in style. i think that was sort of what they were attempting, but it has a hideous uniqueness all its own.

[222b.livejournal.com]

I think I agree on NSMB. The HAL comment is apt. I played up to world... 6 or 7 and haven't felt like going back yet. Maybe when I get a Lite...

[ferricide.livejournal.com]

i don't agree. i played the whole thing of course, which lends it a little more perspective, but i think the level design gets really quite good and mario-esque as it moves forward. i do agree that the overworld maps look terrible, though.

[sheep-herder.livejournal.com]

It's Mario Bros, but it just feels like it's missing something.
Those were my thoughts exactly...at first. When I beat it and started going after the Star Coins, then I got a better appreciation for the game.