Metal Slug 3

By some the best Metal Slug-game, I'm not one of them.

Why they choose to release Metal Slug 3 as the first game in the series for Switch I don't know. The first one would have been logical, but for the whole scope of the game I might guess why. It's really the biggest of the games with different paths to take and an ending chapter goes on for very long. It's an awesome end game for sure, but it goes on forever, starting with a fly attack upon the base, which leads to a retake of the ending battle of the first game, but follows up with a space ride, an attack on an alien mothership and then escape. There's planes, submarines, a mammoth and much more to travel in compared to the first game. What's not to like? It's a cheap shot game. Damn bosses takes way to much life, certain routes like the underwater route of the first stage is hard as hell.

Story is that some years after defeating the alien threat of the second game you set out to cleanup the rebel bases of general Morden who is presumed dead. Meanwhile you discover that the aliens are still around. You round both up but discover that general Morden is still alive so you make one final attack, but it turns out it is a alien. That kidnaps your character as well. So you get one of the other characters and  joins up with the rebel forces and follows into space were you save both Morden and your first character and escapes the alien mothership by falling to the sky in a Metal Slug. But like in Wild ARMS you get attacked by a big monster that apparently is the leader of the aliens that you have to defeat. Awesome.

I don't really know why, but I prefer the first two games in series more and it might be that it always was more fun fighting the humans compared to aliens. The humans had more expressions and a bit of humour  added or just the over the top death animations. The aliens? Just gross looking for the most part. I mean, the first game had enemies flying toward the screen or looking surprised as you arrive and so on. Aliens just shoot and then dies. No, I hope that the second game comes around soon, and I mean 2 and not X. But I'm weird.

Mario Kart 8: Deluxe

It's Mario Kart 8... again!

The first "remake" for the system and it's Mario Kart 8. I already wrote about it and there isn't much more to add. It's really the same game, but all the dlc packed in from the start. And what do you know, it is more fun with more people. Me and two of my sisters played the game and it was the most fun I had with this game. Especially fun that 3-players could play the cup since back in the Nintendo 64 day it was 2-players. This means I had to get another set of controllers and you guessed it, I got the grey one. A bit expensive aren't they?

So this time around we played the Battle mode and I recall that the original only used the same courses you played normally, but now they actually created 8 specific battle arenas. A fun time overall. Still a hassle to constantly get more coins to unlock different kart parts and then customise a ride when before it was choose the character you like and is divided into three classes. Easy and I don't have to know the stats for each wheel or glider. The only other new thing I can think of is the King Boo character... and maybe the inklings? Can't really check it at the moment. Pity we started to think about Diddy Kong Racing, I never actually finished that game. I'm getting sidetracked aren't I?

Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy

I got it, the final game in the series!

So I finally got around to it and got the last game in the series. And what a ride. It starts with the Professor, Luke and Emmy being taken to the town of Froenburg where an archeologist professor Sycamore have found a living mummy and needs the help of the professor. They find the professor near an cryogeneticfrozen girl hidden behind a wall appearing to be ice, but is actually glass. And as soon I see Sycamore I know the twist of the story... he's freaking Descole. A bit tipped off by his butler that I recall from the end of the last game. But as that ending set up, Descole isn't anyone to care about during the game since instead we have the military organisation Targent looking for the remnants of the Azran, a prehistoric civilisation that created futuristic technology but somehow disappeared from the face of the earth, the Atlantis myth pretty much. And that is something I really like. I liked it in Golden Sun, I liked it in Mysterious Cities of Gold and I like it here. It's a staple of fantasy, especially since Tolkien and the Akallabeth.

Professor Sycamore I assume

So they release the girl that don't have any memory so Targent arrives and kidnapps the girl and Layton and Sycamore chase after on "Sycamores" flying machine... this scene and music is amazing. And it's the beginning of the game. Well, Layton and Luke boards Targents ship and rescue the girl as they fall near a town with Azran connections that opens up a chart on where to find five eggs that will lead to the Azran legacy. So your on a world tour. And like in Mysterious Cities of Gold they find ancient artefacts of the Azran and showcases this ancient civilisation. I don't know why, but I really like it. So they find the five eggs, but for some reason one of them have been switched by Targent so they infiltrate Targent's main base. As you climb the tower... like any Layton climatic ending, you confront Bronev, the leader of Targent that tries to pursued Layton to join, but Layton resist because he's Layton and then... Sycamore appears to be Descole and steals the key that was formed by the five eggs... oh no, didn't see that *sarcasm*. They escape and travels to Froenburg and enters the hidden chamber again and there Targent, Descole and Layton have a standoff until... Emmy betrays Layton for her Uncle Bronev... That took me by surprise. No really, that was an interesting twist. Especially since they established her for 3 games and a movie. But that doesn't stop there. Emmy uses Luke as a bargain tool and goes with Bronev which leaves Layton and Descole as the only ones to stop Bronev as they figured out that the Azran Legacy can potentially destroy the world. The rivals find Luke after crossing a chasm and enters a maze with stone guardians. Descole breaks most of them, but one get ready to fire on Luke, but Descole jumps in between and yet another twist is revealed. Descole and Layton are brothers. And Descole is the real Hershel Layton as their parents were kidnapped by Targent and the older brother gave his name to his younger brother as he was adopted by his foster family that was introduced in the other 3DS game.

Best scene in the game, the attack of the flying machines

And that is not all. Apparently Bronev is their real father that went insane due to losing his wife and somehow climbed to the top of Targent. Layton and Luke continues and confront Bronev and Emmy at the top of the tower, but are unable to stop Bronev to put the girl in a sacrificial machine and, even if he hesitates for a moment, stabs a dagger in her heart. This actives the girls real function as the last created Golem of the Azran civilisation that went under due to giving the Golem sentient and still treat them as slaves so they revolted and crushed the Azran civilisation that in their final act locked the Golems away with the safeguards Layton traveled around to find. This is pretty much like the first season of the Mysterious Cities of Gold. Of course what they need to do is stop the machines heart by blocking the light it emits to some crystals. Layton, Emmy and Luke steps up to the task and even Descole appears again. But there is five lights and the girl can't enter the light due to being a golem so Bronev atones for his sin as all he believed in has proven false so he enters the light and stops the machine. The girl dissolves as she has fulfilled her purpose and Grosky apprehends Bronev as he have been chasing Targent all over the game. Meanwhile Chelmey was on a honeymoon toghether with his wife. A clever way to have him in the game while not interacting with Layton who he doesn't meet until Pandora's Box. The game ends with pretty much Emmy saying her farewell as she need to get away and the ending sequence is Layton and Luke travelling to a little town to solve an inheritance dispute which is the start of the very first game, the Mysterious Village. A really fun way to end the series and tie it together with all the games. Of course one point I thought that the game hinted toward the spider machine in the Unbound Future episode, but maybe it was mentioning the Spectre's Call. I was a bit disappointed in that it was rather short on the puzzle side. Really, apparently only 150 puzzles and they weren't that hard to find either. It says I got 149, but I don't know if it doesn't count the final game ending puzzle or not. Well, can't wait until Lady Layton releases.

Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap

So where is Wonderboy/girl?

When the original came for the Wii Virtual Console I thought about giving this series a chance, especially after Monster World IV that arrived for the first time to Europe through the digital downloads, but I never got around to it since there was the point of choosing which version to get, which was a blessing in disguise since I got to get the enhanced remake instead. And it is beautiful. I really dig the art style, but if you more into the retro look, just push a button and it goes into the 8-bit original. It's always fun when you do that and can see the artist "real" intention compared to the limitations of the systems of the time. Story is that Wonderboy (or Wondergirl which I guess is a new addition for this version) is about to end the mechadragon, the final enemy of the last game and battles their way to the end of the castle and confront the dragon. After an intense battle the dragon is defeated, but defeating it unleashes a curse upon our hero that turns him/her unto a lizard. You escape the collapsing castle and later have to set out on a new adventure to free yourself from the curse.

There they all are!

Simple premise. You use the lizard to find another dragon that turns you into a mouse that can walk on walls and ceilings. Find yet another dragon to turn into a pirahna-man that can swim. Defeat the next dragon and turn into a lion-man. Repeat the dragon slaying and turn into a hawk-man that allows you to fly into the castle in the sky and fight the last dragon that turns you into a human again and then... the game ends. A bit anticlimactic I gotta say. Overall the game have its highs and lows. It was really enjoyable at times figuring out where to go and find the hidden doors or areas to get another heart or gold to buy new equipment. But some things really irritated me. The character is slippy, it feels like I'm gliding around when jumping or running and that gets me when certain areas really need precision jumping, doesn't help by throwing in certain characters gimmicks like the mouse climbing. Also, the enemies are a pain to hit with certain characters and not until the lion-man did I feel comfortable fighting against them. And don't get me started with the damn weapons and special armours that doesn't explain what they do so I have to guess what the Tsumarusa blade or what's it called actually does. Or that the lucky sword increase the amount of gold I get from defeating enemies when that is equipped.

Is that... is that the mouse transformation? How can you tell that it is a mouse?

Also the music... it isn't much of it. You can change from the remake music or the retro feeling by pressing down  the control stick. Is it like 4-5 tracks on the whole game? The dungeons all seems to have the same music? Also, I got lost once, mostly because I forgot that I hadn't searched the sea with the piranha-man and actually had to replay the game to get that I missed it... on easy as a girl... not because girl must be an easy mode, but since I played the boy on normal I wanted to see what the girl was like and I choose easy and actually finished the game with her. Funny enough each time I died the game told me to go see the pig fortune teller and all he did was to refer me to different animal transformations so I don't get what that was about. Overall a fun game and I'm rather excited for the new game Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom.