Manic Miner in the Lost Levels (NDS)

Manic Miner in the lost Levels is -beyond any shred of a doubt- the best free (freeware too) game you can download for your beloved Nintendo DS. It actually should be reason enough to buy a DS complete with a homebrew loving memory card. Find out more about the game and how to install it here. Oh, while you are there, do grab yourselves a free copy of the thing.

A GP2X Wiz for GGotG

Well, it should have been obvious ages ago... I wouldn't be able to hold myself for much longer and that's why I'm finally the proud owner of GamePark's latest open source handheld: the brilliant GP2X Wiz I got from Play-Asia. And, yes, it is the best handheld I ever had. Well, ok, second only to the Lynx. Then again it can emulate the Lynx. And the GBA. And the SNES. And even the Amiga and the Neo Geo, as this little console is built for emulators. Modern games too, of course, as it apparently is more powerful than the PSP and offers an incredibly bright touch screen too.

So, expect a rather thorough review soon, though I suggest you don't wait that much. Simply get yourselves a GP2X Wiz via Play-Asia and experience the joys of open source gaming on the go. Oh, and you can find more about it over at its official site.

Zaku for the Atari Lynx

So, it seems the Atari Lynx refuses to actually die, eh? Take that Game Gear! I mean, look at what Super Fighter Team have managed to produce: Zaku, an utterly impressive shmup, properly boxed in a traditional-looking Lynx package complete with full colour manual, and coming on an authentic Lynx cartridge. As for the game itself, it looks and sounds ages ahead of what you thought Atari's handheld was capable of, plays a bit like Air Zonk, and has this rather exciting trailer to let you know what it's all about:


Now, while I'm waiting for my copy and you're waiting (hopefully) for my review of Zaku, why not have a look at the game's official site? You can even order yourselves a copy you know...

Gaming on the Go is back!

After reviving Gnome's Lair and Retro Treasures, and since I've already started my refreshing new Walls of Gaming blog, well, the time has come for me to return to our beloved Gaming on the Go. Not, that my dear comrades Father K and Nebachadnezzar would have ever let it wither away, what with their constant supply of new and excellent portable gaming content, but I really felt I had to come back and once again blog on the joys of handheld gaming.

So, uhm, welcome back me, and do expect constant updates, a slight freshening up of the blog itself and -that's a novelty- coverage for iPhone and iPod games, as well as for those lovely Linux-based handhelds. Oh, yes, and a lot of retro stuff too. Not, that the DS or the PSP are going to be left behind mind...

Fifa 10 DS

My interest in football (soccer for my friends across the pond) games has been sporadic at best. The first football game I played with any regularity was Sega World Wide Soccer '97 on the Saturn. Fast forward to 2004 and I had a big stint playing Sega World Wide Soccer 2000 (Euro Edition) on the Dreamcast. But the playing of the two most popular franchises, Pro-Evolution Soccer or Fifa, (usually against my sons) would result in huge 'hissy fits', controller-throwing and general all round bad sportsmanship on my part.

In 2007, however, I found my footballing nirvana in the unlikely form of Fifa 07 for the DS. No longer did I have to play my sons, no longer did I have to face the humiliation of being out-skilled, out-played and generally shown up as inferior. Now my only opposition was the CPU players, and they soon turned out to be little opposition at all.

I played that particular title to death. I played it as my beloved Manchester City, (a club who in 'real life' have not won a domestic or European title for over thirty years) and took them to unprecedented heights of glory. For five seasons I won everything, the premiership, the FA Cup, the European cup and the Community Shield. The game could also be played in it's entirety without using the stylus or touch screen, which was great because my first generation DS was very poorly at the time!

However, time moves on, and a new DS demanded a new Fifa. Besides, Manchester City have gone through such a major squad shake up since their financial revolution, that there was only Stephen Ireland and Micah Richards from the '07 line up still in the squad in 2009. The kits had changed and... well... damn it! I just wanted an update! Now I did have Fifa 09 for the PSP (it came bundled with my PSP which also had a stick-on Fifa 09 'skin') but I never got into it, preferring instead to stick with my beloved DS '07 game. So buying the new Fifa 10 at full price was a big deal for me.

I was full of anticipation when I put the cartridge into my DS. Sure enough, apart from the inclusion of Richard Dunne, the squad was all present and correct. The new stylish black away kit was there and all looked good! I eagerly looked for the 'career mode' with which I had had such success on Fifa 07, but alas it wasn't there! Instead it had been replaced by a mode called "Be A Pro". Rather than guiding your team to glory, the emphasis was now on the career of one player, who has to succeed at a series of challenges in order to progress through the ranks of the home team and be selected by coaches for international duty.

Unfortunately, this was SO different from the game play of the '07 edition, that I found it almost impossible to play, let alone find any success. I was massively disappointed and about to vent my spleen over here at Gnome's Gaming On The Go. That was before I switched game modes. 'Kick Off' Mode' allows you to play a one off match against any rival of your choice. It also gives you the choice of playing in the "Be A Pro" mode, or "Classic" mode. And it was in "Classic" mode, that I found my salvation.

Although not exactly the same as Fifa '07, it was similar enough for me to play with some degree of success. The 'game settings' allows you to set the game's difficulty level, according to your own skill level. I set the CPU skill at 'amateur' and got rid of the 'offside' rule to allow the game greater flow. The ability to play a variety of tournaments in "Classic" mode means I've already taken Manchester City to the final of the English FA Cup (which I won on penalties). However, this incarnation of the game does not give one the option of taking a mid-table club into Europe... You can only play as one one of the the English Premiership's top four teams - Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea, which is a bit of a bummer!

One of the biggest changes so far is the use of the stylus. During penalty shoot outs, the stylus is employed as a means of shooting (by swiping the stylus towards the goal) and saving (a large pair of gloves appear in the goal which you move with the stylus to save the opposition's shot.) I love this feature! It helped me win the FA cup ha ha!

Now I realise that this is a very subjective review (mine always are...) so I'll provide links to more informative sites... Would I recommend it as a full price purchase? Well, no. You can pick up Fifa 07, 08 and 09 for buttons in second hand gaming emporiums. If it's 'game play' you're after then these titles will more than adequately suffice. If you are anal about having current players and kits then go ahead and splurge your hard earned pennies on Fifa 10. But it's because of people like me that EA are able to squeeze cash from a gullible audience every time they bring out a new football or golf game.

However, if you see Fifa 10 cheap or even with a few quid/euros/dollars knocked off, it's a great game for the handheld gamer, which can be played in short little bursts, as a handheld titles should be.

Father K Rating: 7.5/10!

Fifa 10 DS IGN

Fifa 10 DS Review

FIFA Soccer 10 at IGN.com

GTA China Town Wars DS

First of all, I'll confess that this is not an entirely new article, but instead something I first posted on the frankly under-read Father Krishna's Wiikly Sermons . Oh and I've not been that well either, so I can be excused a bit of lazy recycling, LOL! However, with the Ballad Of Gay Tony on general release, it's time to think once again about the wonderful GTA! This franchise kept me very me busy throughout some turbulent times thanks to the wonderful Grand Theft Auto universe, Rockstar’s fabulous gift to the gaming world. And the game that kick-started my current obsession? Why perhaps the least obviously appealing outing of the franchise so far, GTA China Town Wars for the DS.

Rockstar have already had a good degree of success in it’s transference of the GTA world onto handheld consoles (ignoring the GTA GBA fiasco) with Vice City and Liberty City stories for PSP (and indeed I will come to these games later…)

With the money I accrued for my 42nd birthday, I decided to invest in a DS Lite and GTA CTW. The whole package cost me £80-ish and at last I had a fully functional DS with a responsive touch screen again! (My old ‘original’ DS had been sketchy for ages…)

And so I dipped into the world of Huang Lee, ‘Uncle Kenny’, triads, mafia and ancient stolen katanas. But can the tiny cartridge of the DS really encompass the vast world of Liberty City and do it justice? The short and emphatic answer to that question is “YES!” All but one of the boroughs of Liberty City found in GTA IV are recreated in the world of GTA CTW. You can actually recognise areas and neighbourhoods, despite the top-down “birds eye” view, and when you do, it’s quite a thrill! It’s also a testament to what Rockstar Leeds have managed to cram into a cartridge no bigger than a postage stamp!

Yes, there have been compromises in order to get a fully fledged GTA experience onto the DS. The ‘radio stations’ have been replaced by a variety of set soundtracks of different musical genres (although even these have been lovingly created by current artists such as Deadmaus, mentioned on these hallowed pages just a few weeks ago!)

Cut-scenes are limited to still pictures and captions (think Phoenix Wright) and of course we have the 2.5 D top down view, but once you begin to play the game sucks you straight in and you very quickly forget the differences between this incarnation and those brought out on full-size consoles. It’s pure, unbridled GTA fun. All the elements are there, driving, drive-by shootings, securing safe-houses and encountering a wealth of colourful and intriguing characters (like the cross-dressing Mafioso), all served up with a tinge of irony and a good dash of humour.

Did I mention the drugs? Drug dealing is the backbone of Huang’s existence in Liberty City. It’s how he earns money to buy weapons and builds his empire. You’ve got to know your smack from your crack and your weed from your speed if you’re gonna progress in the game!

The game is just SO much better than either of the PSP titles, which have me struggling and a tad bored. GTA CTW was a joy to play and complete, encouraging me to pick up GTA IV again and finish it, quickly downloading ‘Lost and Damned’ as soon as Niko’s adventures had come to an end. I’ve also downloaded GTA San Andreas, and the Ballad Of Gay Tony so I've got a glut of GTA goodness for the big console under the telly, that I'm still yet to play...

Since writing this post, the cogs of time have turned, and now GTA CTW is not only a 2.5D DS game, but a fully fledged, fleshed out PSP game, with the promise of delivering more than it's DS counterpart, (or indeed the two sub-standard PSP titles previously mentioned... I'm hoping to pick this up soon, but in the meantime I'll give you all a little video-taster!

GTA Chinatown Wars Official Site

GTA Chinatown Wars Wikipedia

GTA Chinatown Wars Video Review

Resident Evil 4 (iPod/iPhone)

I recently got my iPod and was determined to keep it as a repository for my music, a place to download all my Cds, so I could get rid of them, but still retain the music. I was determined that I wouldn't cram it full of games, (as I do with every new phone I get) and I wouldn't buy a load of games for it that I subsequently never played ( as I have with every console I've ever owned!)

The music project is going pretty well, thanks for asking! I'm about a third of the way through my CD collection, and although I'm having to buy an external hard drive to back up the catalogue, I'm pretty happy with it.

However, when I saw that Resident Evil 4 (one of my favourite games of all time) was available for the iPod, I just couldn't resist getting the game as a demo. When you first see Leon S. Kennedy in that village with the Las Plagas shuffling towards him, pitchforks in hand, you can't fail to be impressed. The graphics are just gorgeous, although they do suffer from that all pervasive "brown-ness" that so many of todays games seem to love.

It's only when you start to play the game and try to negotiate it's clumsy touch screen icons which allow you to switch from weapons, to movement, to itinerary, that you realise that this whole beatutiful mess just isn't going to work.

I'm not sure that it's me... it could well be. I find 'tweeting' off my iPod nearly impossible, because my clumsy sausage like fingers find negotiating the tiny keys really tricky. I'd love to hear from more dexterous readers who have found the game as delightful as it was on the Gamecube, The PS2 or the Wii.

If nothing else, it's a very hopeful step in the right direction. Surely the PSP would have been a better vehicle for this game? If the hardware can make such a good job of God Of War, Tekken 5, Soul Calibur and Sega Rally Revo, then perhaps Resi 4 too?

Anyway, the (very short) gaming experience on the iPod has galvanised my resolve to keep it as a music only accessory, so I guess I can be philosophical about my disappointment about RE4!

Sega Rally Revo PSP

Now, from one massive disappointment on the PSP (see previous post), to one major triumph. Sega Rally Revo PSP is not only one of the best driving games I've played on a handheld, but also one of the best driving games I've ever played full stop.

Like Soul Calibur, I've owned every incarnation of Sega Rally since it's debut on the Sega Saturn back in 1995. I've also loved it's only other handheld incarnation, back on the Gameboy Advance, although it was as basic as any driving game could be.

Sega Rally Revo on the 360 and PS3 was met with critical acclaim, but commercial failure. I loved it, but GGOTG's other satellite correspondent, Nebachadnezzar didn't. The handling was very sensitive, but the game's driving physics, particularly the car's correspondence to the break up of the driving surface in successive laps was absolutely spot on.

Now if i'm honest, I only bought the PSP version to be completist in my Sega Rally collection. I wasn't expecting much and I also had both Colin McRae and Toca Racing on the PSP which I hadn't explored at all. But as soon as I started to play, I was sucked in completely.

Like my other driving passion these days (Burnout 3: Takedown), the joy of Sega Rally Revo is in the joy of unlocking new races and new cars. This addictive cycle just keeps me coming back for more and more. The game is not just addictive because of this however, it plays like a dream. Whereas the original Revo for 360/PS3 had a steep learning curve in terms of driving, (putting many off before the party got started,) the PSP version is just easy to play and therefore fun from the off.

This has lead some critics to dismiss it as TOO easy and therefore, well... crap. (The usually reliable Gamespot scored it a meagre 6/10.) I know these creatures, they eat games for breakfast and shit 'em for lunch. Well I don't. I love a game that is easy to pick up and play, and dare I say it complete quickly ready for the next game to fill the gaming gap. If you're looking for a quick driving fix, you could do a lot worse than Sega Rally Revo PSP. I'd give it a very healthy 9/10!

Soul Calibur 'Broken Destiny': PSP

Video Games | Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny | Review

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Hello Peeps! It's been an age since I last posted here, and for that I apologise. And it's not even as if I'm returning on a high. I'm returning here with something of a moan, so here goes. I rushed out to buy SC:BD, as I have every other Soul Calibur release since SC2 on the PS2.

I absolutely LOVE Soul Calibur. I have every incarnation of the game including it's 'prequel' Soul Blade on PS1. It's my favourite fighting game of all time, and I love fighting games. So when I heard there was a handheld version coming out for the PSP, and that the frankly wonderful Kratos, star of PSP classic GOW: Chains Of Olympus was going to be a playable character, I was nearly wetting my pants.

I'd loved Tekken: Dark Resurrection for PSP, with it's single UMD versus mode and resplendent graphics. SC:BD promised to surpass it. So off I skipped to Game and picked up a copy.
Disappointment #1. was the fact that I bought a faulty copy which kept 'freezing' in my PSP. Not a great start...

Onto the second copy. New characters? Check! But the first one was the foppish Dampierre, a top-hatted dandy with a penchant for stabbing himself in the arm. WTF??? Count me unimpressed... Next, Kratos... Brilliant surely? Well, erm, no actually... Would it be the most controversial thing in the world to say I preferred playing as Yoda in SC IV? 'Cos I did!

The games modes are uninspiring to say the least. I've no idea how to play random players online, in fact I've not managed to play versus anyone... The Gauntlet Mode, requiring the player to pull off specific moves, against a variety of opponents, is one of the most frustrating game modes I have ever encountered. I got to a certain point and could just not get past it.

I ended up wanting to throw my PSP against the wall in rage, then I remembered that would be a rubbish idea, LOL! In the end I just took the UMD out and I've not put it back in since. I can't remember a time I was more disappointed by a game.

With GTA: Chinatown Wars, I got one of the best and most satisfying game experiences I can remember, which was coincidentally on a handheld. With SC:BD I got one of the most annoying game experiences I can remember, which just so happened to look amazing and feature one of the most iconic gaming characters of all time. Go figure!

Now very often, when I don't take to a game, it's me and not the game. I wonder of anyone else could confirm or deny which one if at fault? In the interest of fairness, I'll post a video review. Then you can make up your mind!

Golden Sun DS

Thought this place was dead? Well, think again! :D Let's delve back into the hand-helds, shall we?

The near future of the big portable systems (DS and PSP) was unveiled last week at E3, and Nintendo's conference was easily the week of the big three. There were a couple of interesting announcements, but between a new Super Mario Galaxy, a...meh...port of the DS's New Super Mario Bros., and a new "vitality sensor" for the Wii, that let's you feel like you're in the hospital on life-support while you play, the DS's future didn't seem that bright (unless you're into the tween games, in that case prepare to be overwhelmed...). That is...until this beauty was announced!



Golden Sun DS, bitches!!!

Oh, am I excited! The original Golden Sun is only one of my favourite jRPG's of all time! Unfortunately I never played the sequel, The Lost Age, but I guess now's a good time to correct that. Can't wait! :D

BTW, there was another big announcement, but I'll save that to another post ;)