The beginning was tough because, like in the first game, Zero starts out with practically nothing. I managed to beat the first stages this time from returning to the intro area and grinding up the levels on my weapons; the first couple bosses were still tough, but doable. From there I've been collecting cyber-elves to increase my power and health, and after using a few of those it's been gravy, at least compared to before.

The forms haven't impressed me. You earn them based on filling certain criteria in the stage you finish, and the forms will enhance or endow attributes depending on those criteria, e.g. using the saber a lot gets you a form with a new saber move. That's what I got after the first stage I finished, and so far I haven't bothered with anything else. I've barely earned anything else, either - the form-earning system is pretty majorly flawed, but it's no big deal because most of them are pretty inconsequential.

So, most of the game isn't as impossible as the first stage or two, but it's still challenging enough to be a Mega Man Zero game. Like I said; more or less, same story, new box.

Progress: Finished 5 stages

I've had MMZ2 for quite a long time, but have never gotten farther than the end of the intro stage - this game is damn hard, I would say moreso than the original which was already a little masochistic. Tonight I finally buckled down and polished off two of the first four bosses.

In true Capcom style the sequel additions are fairly scant: a grappling hook and some "forms" that I haven't made much sense of yet. Otherwise thus far it's pretty much the same old story in a new box.

Progress: Finished 2 stages

As I make more progress SoM is rekindling a great feeling of SNES nostalgia. For the uninitiated: the party-based action-RPG engine is basically identical to Secret of Evermore's, but the execution and presentation here are much better if you ask me.

There was a point where the direction of the game stumbled somewhat - I had to go to an underground dwarf town to forge my sword, but then I was blindsided by a girl who needs my help, but when I go to the haunted forest she needs to investigate, we run into an obstacle which can only be overcome with the help of the dwarves, but if I go to the dwarf town first she refuses to go - it was a bit frustrating, and wandering around the map trying to figure out what to do ended up inflating my levels a bit. But after I solved that conundrum, I started going through content at a much more exciting pace.

Battle isn't too hard in general; I set the AI of my party members to very aggressive, and they tend to fend for themselves quite well. But I just got my first magic spells, which will probably complicate matters significantly. The healing spell will be a big help, because thus far the boss fights have been annoyingly difficult due to an extremely low cap on the number of recovery items I can carry (maximum of four of an item, and there are only two healing items).

One of the coolest aspects of Secret of Mana is the sprawling world map. Progress through the game is scripted such that most of the areas you need to get to aren't too great a hassle, but if you get tired of hoofing it there are cannon stations you can find which will fire you to particularly helpful areas of interest. At the same time, all the areas of the game are interconnected, in a manner that really reminds me of Link to the Past, and makes navigation surprisingly fun even without a map.

Progress: Got Undine's Power

When I quit last fall, I told my guildmates I might look into WoW again in the summer, when I had free time again. Since that time period is now imminent - and I was bored the other evening - I decided to check into what's happening in the new and expanded Azeroth. That may have been a mistake, because now the sci-fi undertones of the newly added geography and the augmented engineering craft list have really tickled my fancy.

There is a 10-day free trial deal going on at the moment, which I'll probably plunge into after finals. After that... I may not be able to resist. Gunpei help me.

Craving a real Star Fox fix after the travesty that was Star Fox Adventures, I was looking forward to Command before it came out. Then I learned about the weird tactical scenario planning that you do in campaign missions - a bit unusual. Still, I thought it would be worth looking into for some good space-shooting action. Then recently I played some wireless multiplayer with some friends, and the touch-controls are just awful. Who thought it was a good idea to use the same input method for aiming and for maneuvering gestures? Trying to boost makes me pitch up. Fantastic.

I still haven't seen much of the single-player, but now that I've sampled the control scheme, I think I'll pass on this one.

Progress: Gave Up -- Played a few rounds of multiplayer

I haven't played Secret of Mana since I was like eight, which doesn't even really count; all I remember is something about a big cannon and pink trees. So recently I decided it was time to get back to basics and brush up on the 16-bit classic. Thus far I haven't gotten very far (at least I don't think I have), and I'm currently experiencing some manner of frustration with the controls, but this may have more to do with my aged equipment than with the game itself. I will say that the music is splendid and surprisingly vibrant for its time.

Progress: Pandora

Inane questions and near-duplicates (hot or cold? heat or ... cold?) are starting to get to me. Honestly I think the channel is limited by its own design, e.g. short question, two (really) short options. There's not much you can do with that. The scope should have been broadened, and a dedicated polling staff should have been brought on to keep good questions going - the fact that you can submit your own shows that Nintendo is not doing much work itself on this.

Anyway, a cool concept but ultimately unsatisfying. If these questions keep up I'm going to stop turning on my Wii every few days to check up on it.

Progress: 283 points

Lunar Knights has grown on me, what with its diversity of weapons, and occasionally challenging combat scenarios; to be sure, slashing up elemental dogs and firing sun-grenades at fat pigs can be pretty fun. But there are still many situations where the engine shows its age and lack of finesse - especially in the final dungeon, which seems to go on forever with largely unremarkable level design. The new stuff (weather changing, space shooting) is cool at first but the novelty wears into tedium quickly.

A fun game on the whole, and with a ton of replay if you're willing to put the work in for it, but I still think they could have done better.

Progress: Finished Normal mode

This entry made from the freshly updated Wii Internet channel.

Glog appears to work super-good. This is the best embedded browser ever.

Progress: Won the Internet

As I attempted to meet the herculean crest requirements to unlock the final kingdoms of the game, I found my skill increasing alongside the rising challenge. The scoring system is deep and involved for those who enjoy competing for a high score - combo multipliers from certain sequential actions, beat bonuses for clap-collecting. Getting more difficult crests requires becoming accustomed to flowing through levels and collecting beats exponentially, which was fun, but difficult enough that I probably won't bother going back to earn the crests I missed. Trouncing the final-final-boss is satisfying enough.

At the end of the day Jungle Beat is a unique and fun game wholly deserving of at least a try.

Progress: 54 crests, beat Ghastly King