It should be a pretty known fact that when it comes to videogames, I have ZERO will power. Once I make up my mind that I want a certain game, I get it. So, when I wrote last week that I was really leaning towards getting a DS, but that I would be waiting a bit to get it, it was pretty much set in stone that I was getting one sooner rather than later.
So, on my way home from work on Friday, I stop by Best Buy and walk out with a DS. That's just the way I roll.
Along with the DS, I had shiny new copies of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Professor Layton and the Curious Village, and Tecmo Bowl (TB was on sale for $9.99, it would have been stupid of me NOT to buy it!).
I was initially planning on grabbing Zelda and New Super Mario Bros., but for some reason they didn't have any copies of SMB. (more on this later . . . like I said, once I set my mind on something . . .).
I ended up getting the DS Lite instead of a DSi for a few reasons. First, I want to be able to play GBA games. There are many GBA titltes that I always wanted to play. Second, my iPhone can basically do all the things the DSi can do, only better. Third, DS Lite is cheaper. Easy choice.
As I mentioned in my Batman: Arkym Asylum impressions post, I was at Gamestop on Saturday. What could I have been doing there? Well, getting New Super Mario Bros. of course! Why wouldn't I go completely crazy and pick up my 4th DS title?
I've spent a few days with the DS now. I have only played Zelda and SMB at this point. Probably won't start Professor Layton until I beat one of these. Thoughts? Do I have buyer's remorse? Was this impulse buy because I am in a gaming funk going to backfire?
Doesn't look like it. I freakin' LOVE this thing!
New Super Mario Bros. is just that, a new Super Mario Bros. game. I haven't played a side-scrolling SMB game since Super Mario World on the SNES. This game does not use much of the DS's touch screen capabilities, but it doesn't really have it. You still only need to use two buttons. And it works perfectly. Having a lot of fun with this one.
And then there is Zelda. Zelda is the opposite of SMB. You basically ONLY use the touch screen to control this game. No d-pad. No face buttons. You only use the left shoulder button and the stylus. And you don't have to use the shoulder button if you don't want to, there is a touch-screen version of that too. Controlling the entire game with the stylus had me worried at first, but it works wonderfully. Almost no learning curve too, it just works.
As to the game itself, I don't know what it is about Zelda games. They are all very similar. You start off with no weapons. You find your sword and your shield. You eventually find a bomb bag and a boomerang. You enter dungeons where you acquire a new item and then have to defeat that dungeon's boss with the item you just found. You can then return to previous areas in the game with your new items and find new secrets or locations. But this formula works so well, it doesn't seem to ever get old.
I am totally loving The Phantom Hourglass. It is the most fun I have had playing a game all year. Maybe all I needed to get out of my boredom was just a little Nintendo. No fancy graphics, no blood and guts, no shooting, just good, classic, fantastic gameplay . . .
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