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Finally got a cheap copy of Samba de Amigo Ver.2000 today, and now feel like I've spent most of the afternoon rowing. "More of the same" has never been a more accurate description. There are a couple of alterations to how it plays - you now have to wave the maracas about as well as shake them and strike poses - but other than that it's simply a more difficlut version of the original, with a greater number of songs.
There's a volleyball minigame in there, in which you have to strike the ball with the maracas, which is the first time I've realised just what a fantastic piece of kit they are. All the previous Samba minigames (and the main game) only register the height of the maracas at three points - high, medium, low - but in the volleyball game you can see that they're actually registering every single, slight move you make. It makes sense - I've always known that they're compatible with Cool Cool Toon, but that game's already seriously difficult playing - as it's meant to be played - with the pad, so I never bothered even plugging them in for it.
I feel really sorry for all the people who have to play Samba without the maracas. It's criminal that the release of the full kit was so limited.
Anyway, so I've been playing that today. I appear to have reached a personal peak on Psyvariar now - still trying, but my scores are only creeping up slightly - but that's not stopping me from trying.
Restarted Paper Mario on the N64 the other day, as I got near to completing it a couple of years ago, then forgot all about it and can't remember what I'm supposed to be doing at the point where I saved it. The Gamecube sequel should be a thing of joy - the promotional images certainly suggest as much. All in the exact same style as previously - flat, 2D, cut-out characters in a bright 3D Lego brick world - but more colourful, higher res and absolutely full of activity.
But what I'm really waiting for, what's really got me ever so slightly damp in my down below, is the PAL release of Disgaea. Everybody who's played it claims it as the best strategy RPG ever made. It's supposedly got depth and longevity unmatched by anything else around. And the character design is wonderful. For those of you who've never played a Japanese strat RPG, the closest comparison I can think of in terms of game mechanics is probably XCOM - seriously in-depth grid-based battles. There's no real official UK site yet, so here's the US one. As soon as I can afford to, this gets preordered. |
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