Playing This Week: Bomberman Live, The Bigs, WTF, Gauntlet, Transformers, Mega Man Powered Up, Blitz: The League

Wow. I have no excuse for missing a week's worth of blogs. I'll definitely try to fix that, don't you worry. I tried out Blitz: The League and was underwhelmed. It felt like one of those games that deserved more of my time - but The Bigs just kept sucking me back in. So, I sent Blitz back and am at the World Series of the The Bigs.

I also tried WTF (Work Time Fun) on my PSP. Again, this was an interesting game; however, not a game I could see myself owning or playing half as much as my other PSP games. After twenty minutes that found its way to the mailbox too.

Transformers showed up a few days back and I surprisingly enjoyed it. The environments are almost completely destructible and the narration is cool. My only issue so far (and I'm only one hour in) is the mission structure. The missions are video game cliches: race missions, protect missions, and fighting. That's cool for kids and quick playing but not likely to provide that great of an experience.

I finally defeated Mega Man Powered Up and was satisfied with that experience. I really hope that Capcom makes a sequel or takes this version to XBLA. Look for more Transformers commentary this weekend!

Playing Today: DDR Universe, Sonic the Hedgehog, Pac-Man Championship Edition, Mega Man Powered Up, Gears of War, Burnout Revenge

Sorry about the delay in blogging. Vacation took away from my overall gaming but I was still able to play some new (to me) games. I played DDR Universe and Sonic the Hedgehog (next gen). DDR was surprisingly fun. I didn't expect to hate it completely and that's what I got. It plays like Guitar Hero (duh) and the music was better than expected. I might invest more than 20 minutes in the future but only in the privacy of my home.

My time spent with Sonic the Hedgehog was less worthwhile. I played for about 5 minutes and quickly sent it back. I didn't like the excessive cut scene at the beginning (despite how beautiful it looked) and had no interest in 3D Sonic. Not sure why I even tried this.

I'm still playing Mega Man but I seem to have hit a wall on the final boss battle. The smaller bosses were all fun to battle and I quite enjoy the game's save point system. However, if I can't progress much in the next few weeks, I guess I'll retire it.

Playing Today: Mega Man Powered Up, Spider-Man 3

First impressions go a long way with me. Mega Man Powered Up left quite a first impression, filling the portable void that Loco Roco had claimed for several weeks. This game is really fun, playful, silly, and still very much Mega Man. Instead of grinding away at the same bosses over and over until I beat them, the difficulty system lets me explore the game without suffering from frustration I remember. The voicework is great for a portable title and the art style is way above average. I can see this stuck in my PSP for weeks to come.

Spider-Man 3 is still an exercise in frustration. The camera is still broken and the gameplay is not remotely entertaining. I can imagine that most gamers would have returned this by now...