What I’m Playing: Spellsword
Spellsword. Run around, use cards, and gather rupees. Old school fun at its best. Verdict: Get it.
I’ve been playing this game for a couple of days and couldn’t get enough. My character is now at level 55 and I think I’m half way done. The main draw to this game is the use of cards. Every time you touch a card, it activates various attacks and powers (such as fire, ice, earth, air, etc.). If you activate multiple cards, everything turns into sweet-sweet chaos.
Rupees (that in-game money) can be exchanged the for gear and card-attack upgrades. If you play games with RPG elements, you’ll feel right at home.
The controls are sharp. Although due to the lack of haptic feedback on these touch screens, sometimes I inadvertently jump on enemies and obstacles resulting in death, but that can’t be helped. The controls on Leagues of Evil series are still slightly better.
I just unlocked the last set of 20 levels. Hopefully the developers, Everplay, will continue supporting this game with updates.
*Update: As of August 1, I’m still playing thus game and I just found out that you can customize the placement of the virtual buttons on the screen. I copied the angles of the buttons on the old gameboys. Perfection.
in review: animo and the new mario!
Animo Run
Two official 5k runs in the bag! I ran in the 7th Animo Run at MOA last Sunday but unlike the “race for life,” this event was full of flaws. I just want to mention some of the stuff that kinda ticked me off:
- There were participants that cut the race short (or didn’t even run) but still lined up for an official time at finish line. These were the ones who looked like they were forced to participate by some professor for additional credit.
- There were more “walkers” than runners. This caused a lot of bottlenecks, which in turn, caused me to exert more effort weaving in and out of these moving obstacles.
- For 10k runners, water stations disappeared by the second lap. My bro-in-law was the one who experienced this. He probably almost passed out when he discovered this lapse in judgment.
- People that finished the race at 40 minutes had to line up for 5+ minutes to have an official time logged. I’m not really sure how the race organizers will come up with an accurate time for this race.
Overall, I still had a great run because I spent some quality time with my family and the queen; and I improved my lap time by 2+ minutes (finished at 33 mins by my watch). However! I would definitely think twice about joining this event next year.
Special thanks: To the Queen for the pics below; and to the Animo Band for providing a festive atmosphere throughout the event.
Animo Band and flying girl
Starting Line
DS: New Mario and Luigi RPG
I got a new DS to replace my stolen one (a side note to the gamer hoodlums: die you burglars! and may your brain be melted by the simple puzzles in Scribblenauts; also the the adapter you stole is 110v, so be careful not to burn your house down). Anyhoo, yep, I’m back to my usual handheld gaming mode and I’ve got the game to help me forget my recent misfortunes — the latest plumber RPG, Mario and Luigi – Bowser’s Inside Story. It’s pure genius.
The game starts out with the plumber duo getting stuck inside Bowser, aka “King Koopa”. Obviously you’ll have to find a way to get them out but this time you’ll also have to control Bowser. Controls switch bottom screen (Mario and Luigi) to the top screen (Bowser) flawlessly. At some points of the game you have to strategize your attacks using all three of them to kill an enemy.
The gameplay is a fusion of traditional turn-based console RPG and a 2D platformer. This allows you to dodge and counterattack while in battle mode. It’s a must have for any DS owner or Mario fan.
Bowser!
Mario and Luigi