Recent gaming

I've been at the bongos every now and then, seeking those gold crests and the very elusive platinum ones. Jungle Beat is simply a good ame, even if it does get to your stamina very quickly. I hope the bosses don't get much harder than Karate Kong. My arms were cramping from the desperate clapping.

Ikaruga is still not completed. I can get to the last boss on "easy", though, and most of it doesn't feel so difficult anymore. I'm tempted to move on to "normal" once I can clear the game, but maybe it would be a better idea to hone my skills until I can complete it with just one credit on "easy".

Yesterday I played some Metroid Prime after a long while. I'd been stuck in the game for the first time. Turns out I just hadn't thought of clearing the ice in a tunnel in the Phendrana Drifts with missiles... I got the Wave beam, which should open up quite a few doors all over the play area. I remain puzzled about my completion rate, which is merely 19%, while I think I've seen quite a bit more of the game up to now. I believe there are some items I haven't noticed, just waiting to be grabbed up (Spiderball, where art thou). The game remains one of the best designed ones in my library, and one of the best-looking.

Once again I thank Gamefaqs.com. The game would've likely been abandoned at this point without a FAQ to consult.

Then there's been PBEM (play by email) Space Empires IV (yes, a PC game). We're playing SEIV among four friends and a bunch of computer-controlled empires. It's one of those games where you're certain that you're making huge mistakes all the time, but you won't know it until a challenger comes kicking in your door, probably two months down the line in real-time.