Speaking of mega man has anyone seen that video of mega mans 1-3/4 being played simultaneously with one controller input? Genius if you get to see it.

Oh God, I still remember Yoshi's Story intro music theme.
The intro screen looks like the artist overdosed on LSD while playing Yoshi's Island.

Hmmmm....just found out that if you can find a white shy guy (one hidden in every level) and complete the level (he tags along behind like an egg) you can restore one of your lost lives. Cool.

Mischief Makers was rather good once you got into it. Would be good to play it again.

In Yoshi's Story there seems to be something more to coin collecting. A few times I have gathered a bunch of coins and all of a sudden a letter made of up them appears - I suspect there's a message spelt out with these - might unlock something - might not - sometimes Nintendo just stick little messages like that into a game for fun.

My eldest was playing after watching me fail and she managed to find the black Yoshi.

Some levels have a little mini-game and the quicker you complete it the more cantaloupes (the high scoring melons) get dropped on you. They are just slight variations on the main game and quite often are built into the level - they start with a straight start-to-finish flag race but later you are tasked with balancing a stack of melons while doing it for example - there's also a flutter jump course to complete.

Stand on the vases and press down - sometimes they are just warp you to the next part of the level, other times you just go to a mini game.

Turns out I had more than enough Wii points, so I'm just waiting for the system to auto manage the stuff on my SD card so it can launch from the system memory.

This process has also reminded me I never completed MotoHeroz or Hydroventure, both of which deserved far more than the 90 mins each I gave them.

Up to page 5 on this.  If I were to design a platform game, it would be full of more perils and pitfalls than this tbh, although I'm gradually succumbing to its charms and already like it more than Kirby's Epic Yarn.  There's clearly more to it than meets the eye initially, hence some lazy reviews in 1997. 

Nintendo succeeds at pulling off charm better than anyone else.  Ilomilo is a good example - I couldn't put my finger on what it did wrong, and I did like the game, but the 'you've found a cuckoo clock made of blancmange, and now you're going to wear it as a hat.  Don't you look fetching?' stuff felt a little forced, whereas 'the page turned, and the Yoshi's grew happier' manages to make me rather happy as well.  Perhaps I just give Nintendo a free pass when it comes to the twee stuff, but they've earned it over the years.

I think there were two boxes available to me on page 4, but I'm not 100% sure.  I'll finish this tomorrow (credits after six levels, right?) and start thinking about learning more of its intricacies.  The controls don't seem as precise as YI, although that could be down to the classic controller analogue stick.

Played another 45mins of this on Friday with Retroking (on his Wii U so starting from the beginning again), but choosing a different starting level to when I played last week.  I'm starting to really like it. 

I tend to have a problem getting to grips with aspects of games that are optional rather than compulsory, which is why, depsite the two Galaxy games being amongst my favourite gaming experiences, I put both to one side once I had enough stars to attack Bowser.  I've never got full achievements on any game, for example - I'm happy to move on to the next game as soon as I can, and I've only occasionally (once?  Twice maybe?) replayed anything with a 'campaign' from the 32-bit era and beyond.  I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have got my money's worth from Yoshi's Story in 1997, partly because it's a rather basic and unremarkable platformer until the penny drops, and also because like most other gamers I was all over the 3D revolution at the time.  I doubt I'll spend much more time on it, although I may do the final two levels of my save file this evening, but I think I'm au fait with its depth and charms, and would probably rate it somewhere in the mid-to-high 80s.  It really is rather good.

Perhaps I misjudged Kirby's Epic Yarn too, because I only played for the credits on that and I've read there's more to it, but I thought this was far better even as a quick fix.

There's supposed to be a card game on the GBA that's very good, but it's one of the few highly rated titles that I didn't pick up during my GBA spree as I've never enjoyed those types of game in videogame form.

Edit: http://www.gamerankings.com/gba/921703-ultimate-card-games/index.html

I think this ones meant to be pretty good too:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clubhouse_Games

retroking1981 wrote:

I think this ones meant to be pretty good too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clubhouse_Games

As an aside - if anyone thinks that Backgammon is over reliant on luck they should give GNU Backgammon a try - the AI is based on neural network tech and is brutal. I know it is easy to be suspicious about a game were the computer rolls the dice but you have the option to roll them yourself and enter the result - it makes not a jot of difference to the outcome. It is totally demoralising over a series of games.

Outside poker, Black jack and Video Poker are the two games that given the right set of house rules (which vary) have strategies that can at least make your money last longer - and with a little bit of luck (and a lot of skill and practice) - return a small margin.

Counters will be refused entry as the betting patterns are easy to spot by those who know what they are doing. I have no allusions of being that good - nor have I had the time and inclination to practice. The DC game does offer an advanced coach that keeps simple & complex counts for you but I'm playing basic strategy at present (and somewhat imperfectly too). The amount of variables such as deck size and house rules about splitting etc. means you need to be at it full time I suspect.

There is a basic strategy that doesn't require counting (indeed it is the same method that is enhanced by counting) that can give you a fighting chance of making your money last while playing.

Picking the right set of conditions (allowing surrender, 3:2 for blackjack or picking a 9/6 Video Poker payout machine) will help a great deal. Unfortunately these conditions are getting harder to find by all accounts.

I only expect to be able to make my money last a bit longer than just guessing and hunch play , and have a bit of craic in the meantime.

Budget management is the thing. With Video Poker you can set your own pace which is good - re Blackjack I'd be interested in finding data on how many hands an hour a dealer typically gets through - picking a busy table is probably a good way of stretching the money out too.

I have zero interest in poker as a table game - I had a bad experience years ago playing and almost lost a really good friend over it - so it has tainted it for me - which is a shame.

The NES is the one console I'm still yet to bother with at all. Except the Mario games. I suppose I should get an emulator for it at some point and try a few things out.

Actraiser after this, yesss!!! I better play it.