ben is on the inter.net

I buy tons of video games. I also play some of them! Everytime I buy five games, I’ll post mini-reviews of them. My reviews are even more simple than those on actionbutton; I give a game either a Yes or a No. I might change the wording slightly if I really like or really hate something. Simple!

Pokemon Diamond & Pearl (Nintendo DS)

Score: YES!

I’m currently 10 hours into the new Pokemon (no I will not add the accent) game and it’s as fantastic as ever. Seriously, I bought my first Pokemon game while I was in college as a joke (if you read this site, you will soon learn that this is a somewhat large classification of my game purchases), and after my first 10 hours I knew that this was one of the finest crafted gaming formulas around. The game is broad but not deep, and the mechanics encourage thoughtful extended play. At least 4 guys that I work with have picked this up and are playing through it at roughly the same pace as I am, and it’s encouraging to see how much fun we’re all having. This new one feels like the PSOne sequel to the original games that we never would have seen if there wasn’t a Nintendo DS. The graphics are simple 3D and are extremely charming, and some of the music is legendary.

Guitar Hero II (Xbox 360)

Score: Yes.

As I’ve mentioned, they somehow tricked me again. I really enjoy it, and I’m trying to play through it on Hard and Expert this time, which is really making me much better at… Guitar Hero. Still, the 360 version has Killer Queen resurrected from the first game (if you’re willing to spend $6 to download it), and that song alone is worth playing again. Anyway, it’s quite good, even a third time! I hope they put up some classier music for download soon. I mean, their audience is mostly nerds… why not a 3-pack of Freezepop tracks?

Game and Watch Gallery - Volumes 1, 2, and 4 (Gameboy*)

Score: Yes.

These remakes for the Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Gameboy Advance are fantastic diversions that really remind your hands and eyes what gaming is. There are things blinking somewhere, and you need to re-act. Delightful! Technically, while this was a collective purchase of 3 separate game cartridges, they’re all basically the same idea and I spent less than $10 total so I’m clumping them together. I’m actually in the process of writing an article about the Game and Watch so I’ll save some insight for that.

Puzzle Quest (Nintendo DS)

Score: Yes.

It’s Bejeweled… RPG? This was actually my second copy of the game (the first copy was absorbed by my wife). The game has some pacing issues and it has some terrible music but… well… it’s Bejeweled RPG. You level up your character, learn spells that make your Bejewel battles more effective, and you button mash through story sequences until you accidentally skip over the text that tells you where to go next. It’s really great!

Super Mario Land (Gameboy)

Score: YES.

Beautiful, beautiful, inexplicable, beautiful. Gameplay, level design, story, music.

Recap

Average Score: Yes.

I just noticed that most of this batch of games were hand held. I guess this is because I haven’t been home much lately, or maybe I just really wanted to play games in strange settings again. Either way, here’s some of the next five (I might have to post their reviews tomorrow, unless I somehow avoid buying a fifth game): Umihara Kawase (PSOne), Monster World Complete Collection (PS2), The Zombie vs. Ambulance (PS2), and and old favorite: Vib Ribbon (PS1). Hey, those are all in Japanese!