Webnesday - Canabalt

In my usual "last one to the party" fashion, I decided to take on a game I hadn't played before but is so well-known that it's what the genre is usually named after. In this case, it's a game simple enough that one button is all you need but difficult enough that you'll be trying and cussing over and over again until you're no longer invited to the neighbor's place for dinner. That game is Canabalt from Semi Secret Software.

Recent Developments - Fun Infused Games

Since I'm no longer writing anywhere else right now, I've been fumbling a few ideas around for a Tuesday column. This such idea, Recent Developments, is merely me talking about what a developer is up to. Are they working on a specific game? Polishing and patching what's been released? Or maybe they decided to shoot the breeze with me and answer some of my nagging questions, like what they've been playing, how the newest game is coming along, and why Iron Maiden is arguably the greatest band ever. Time will tell. For this installment of (a possibly ill-fated) Recent Developments, I decided to go check out what Fun Infused Games is up to.

Retro Monday - Chip 'n' Dale's Rescue Rangers

Earlier today while wondering what memories I'd write dealing with Chip 'n' Dale's Rescue Rangers, I thought to myself, "Had I beaten any game before I'd beaten Rescue Rangers?" True that, by 1990, I'd played a hundred or so games across the 2600 and the NES we had in the household. But had I actually finished any title before I foiled Fat Cat and rescued every boy's first furry crush, Gadget?

Four Quarter Friday - AvaGlide

Before my 360 decided to hotbox itself to death, I was able to try out a game by the name of AvaGlide (no lube jokes, please). Normally I'm weary of any avatar games on the indie marketplace simply because...well, they usually suck. However, the demo gave me just enough of a taste of the game that I felt compelled to plunk down my 80 MSP and give the full version a whirl. And, despite a few shortcomings, AvaGlide turned out to be the best avatar game yet this year.

Thursday Thoughts - The Red Ring and Board/Card Games

The morning after my late night emo post last week, I found out that the Super SF4 connection issues weren't connection issues at all; rather, they were death knells. My XBox 360 of nearly three years had seen its first Red Ring of Death. Considering how much I rely on the 360 for both my gaming and my movie entertainment, I wasn't entirely sure what I'd be doing for the next three weeks (let alone what I'd type on here). Thankfully, the geek is strong in this one, and I turned from the world of downloadable games to a much older past-time: board games.

Webnesday - Super Laser Racer

About a month or so ago, Steam had easily one of the best digital sales I've seen this year with over two hundred items getting slashed anywhere from 25% to, in the case of a couple games, 90%. One game, Super Laser Racer, saw a 75% price cut and, considering it was originally $4.99 and had an interesting demo, I saw no reason not to spend a whopping buck and a quarter on it. In doing so I've found the best top-down single-player Mario Kart style racer in the history of PC gaming. And I'm not just saying that.

Retro Monday - Chrono Trigger

Most gamers out there have played at least one JRPG at some point in time. Usually mentioning an RPG gets an immediate "OMG FINAL FANTASY VII IS TEH BESTEST" response and that usually results in my ears bleeding while I have a knee-jerk reaction of imbedding my foot in someone's rectum. These things happen. Regardless of which older JRPGs you've played, most of the time it's the same thing in every playthrough no matter what you do outside of getting a character's ultimate weapon or finding a picture of the main characters in swimsuits (oops, I spoiled Lunar 2's ONLY side-quest). One retro RPG, however, dared to give you nearly a dozen different endings, lots of extra quests, mess with time, and even go on to complete the game without your main character. That game, of course, is none other than the legendary Chrono Trigger.