Game Scores: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (SNES)

Yay, we now have a logo for this series!  What of it, I like logos.  I also like Legos.

I used "Lockjaw's Saga" in Wednesday's MIDI Week Singles article and that song got me to thinking thing that 1) I had not posted a Game Scores article in a while (since April of this year) and 2) that I should do a Game Scores article about the music in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest because I love the music from that game.

Let us start off with the music from the opening Rare logo and title music, both of which do great jobs with setting the tone for both the rest of the soundtrack as well as the rest of the first area.

Now that is quintessential pirate music if I have ever heard it before and because of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, everybody has heard piratey music.  Keep in mind though that this game/music/soundtrack came out eight years after this, but the sea chanty in one form or another has been around since the mid-16th century, so let us not go into a "Who did it first" discussion.

Normally, I would have included "Lockjaw's Saga" in this list, but I have already highlighted that song two days ago.  So let us move onto another chanty-esque song with "Jib Jig."

Even though the songs are pretty different, and apologies for drawing on Klaus Bladelt's score for Pirates of the Caribbean again, but this track reminds me a bit of what the cello part plays at the beginning of "Fog Bound," except here, it is a MIDI violin/fiddle.  It is just a great piratey (there's that word again) little diddy (eh!?).  Maybe even a little reminiscent of the Chieftain's score from Treasure Island?  For me, there is also something about the wind sound effect and blowing leaves in the background.  I want it to be October and ready for Halloween.

Speaking of Halloween, "Haunted Chase" is the next song I wanted to showcase.

Yes, "Haunted Chase" uses the theme from "Night on Bald Mountain" by Modest Mussorgsky / Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, but the "Haunted Chase" uses the main theme sparingly but is comprised of specific elements.  Instead of being a direct rip-off, the song takes pieces from such Russian pieces as Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" with it's pounding percussion beats.  What I take from this song is to recall musical triggers that the audience has associated with both danger and the finale from Disney's Fantasia.  Taking all of this into account, the music is played during Haunted Hall, one of the (thankfully few) mine-cart sequences in the game, which I do not find to underscore the amount of danger and stress induced by both the level design and pounding sense of terror.

Lastly, according to David Wise' last.fm page, "Stickerbrush Symphony" is a favorite of his listeners as it is a favorite of mine.

"Stickerbrush Symphony" is just one of those mellow songs that is calming and relaxing to listen to.  The level that the song comes from however, Bramble Scramble, is anything but calm and relaxing.  The song reminds me a lot of the "Aquatic Ambience" from the first Donkey Kong Country.  Coincidentally, both songs have been covered by online acapellist Smooth McGroove as well as other musicians in various styles.  So yes, this song is easily a fan favorite.

Have a happy Friday all.



~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
Engage the Laser Beam

Tetris and More Tetris

(I found this post in the attic, dusted it off, and now I'm sending it back out to you.  Tetris art really is a topic that keeps on giving)

Now that I've taken the lid off of the Tetris-can, I have lots more to cover on Tetris.  I'd like to mention that it was a family-fun-time game.  In that, I remember that we rented it one day, probably from placer, and everybody played it.  Or at least my dad did.  He really loved it, and the next day, he left to return the game, and came home with a newly purchased copy for us to have.  He didn't play a whole lot, (not like a certain Tetris Genius I know)   but it was a pretty sweet gaming experience - very rare. 

Tetris fashion:
Now, I don't know much about fashion.  ... ... or color schemes or anything, but I've always been a big fan of the NES version of tetris and it's various color combinations.  I remember designing a series of izod style shirts with my friend 'Lary, using the tetris shapes and color combinations.  She's an artist, so the fact that she agreed with me on the color combos was all the validation I needed.
If you look at the different levels of NES tetris, it's easy to see like a pants, shirt, tie combination in any of the three-color palletes.  orange, grey, white. level 9 done.  And the black background is like a safety if you need to mellow it all out a bit.

Tetris Dreams:  (The Tetris Effect)
Also - there's probably more to be said on the subject of tetris dreams.  That is, 'the tetris effect' which describes any sort of dream which is like a tetris dream.  I definitely had this while playing Final Fantasy, recently.  And usually when I return to an RPG type game after a long break.  Or any sort of 'build a character' time game.  Sim City did it to me when I really got into it:  I would daydream about building a city, and different approaches I would take.
Tony Hawk was the last 'new innovation' type game that did this.  After playing Tony Hawk, I wanted to grind every edge of every surface I encountered.  This effect was even stronger when riding in a car.
No, wait, scratch that.  Starseed Pilgrim is the last game to give me Tetris Dreams.  

Tetris Art: 
The other thing I want to talk about is Tetris Art.  Jaconian made a comment about a cross-stitch idea, which I think would work fantastically with tetris designs.  And, really, the great thing about cross-stitch is that it's a physical thing, so you get to hold it in your hand, which is awesome.  Below I've listed about a million different examples of art inspired by Tetris, and there are many more out there!

Tetris Art Links:  

http://blog.thegiven.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/tetris-art2.jpg

construction cranes

http://www.walls360.com/v/vspfiles/photos/19441-1.jpg

pretty square

http://dailyinspires.com/tetris-wallpapers/

tetris wallpapers

http://walyou.com/wp-content/uploads//2011/01/Tetris_Gadgets_and_Designs_21.jpg

origami tetris cube

http://setofvectors.com/free-vectors-eps-ai/tetris-patterns-vector/

website for above image

http://www.fodrizzle.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Tetris-World.jpg

world map in tetris

http://www.feeldesain.com/feel/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/feeldesain-tetris-world-map-open.jpg

bigger world map tetris

http://a1.s6img.com/cdn/box_004/post_14/488567_7600214_b.jpg

smb mushroom tetris

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/522276

TuperTarioTros

hooooooooly shit!  Mario/Tetris crossover.  This is the greatest thing ever!!

http://www.firebox.com/product/916/Tetris-3D

Actual tetris game.. like, phsyical game.  I wonder how it works. 

http://maglipid.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Nail-Art-Design-Tetris-500x375.jpg

Tetris finger nail paint

http://cdn.unrealitymag.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/tetris_design_4.jpg

Tetris shoes, I want

http://inhabitat.com/images/TetrisShelvesNEW2.jpg

tetris stacking shelves.  Boy, I want. 

http://bp.uuuploads.com/pumpktris-playable-tetris-game-inside-pumpkin/pumpktris-playable-tetris-game-inside-pumpkin-1.jpg

tetris jackolantern

Wow, what a Vomitous pile of Tetris Art.  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

-D

MIDI Week Singles: Lockjaw's Saga - Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (SNES)

Today's musical selection comes to us from the SNES of 1995.  That year we saw the release of Chrono Trigger, Earthbound and Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness.  1995 also saw the second installment in the Donkey Kong Country franchise headed by Rare and Nintendo.

So now, down to the tune.

"Lockjaw's Saga*" from Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1995).

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest: The Original Soundtrack to Donkey Kong Country 2

Game Developer: Rare

Music Composed by: David Wise

From the first time I heard this music in the "Lockjaw's Locker" (Level 1-4), I fell in love with the song, and for me personally, it is one of the highlights on the entire soundtrack.  The epicness of the music is on a much higher scale that what is actually going on in the level, even with the sounds of water sloshing against the side of wherever this song was recorded. (Yes, I know it's digital music created in computer and not really recorded on a pirate ship overrun by a crew of anamorphic crocodiles).  I do imagine the drums in the song being someone pounding on hollow wooden crates in the bilge of massive schooner in order to create that reverberating sound.

Another thing I love about this track, is that it is named after a minor minion named Lockjaw.  Lockjaw is an orange fish somewhat reminiscent of an Angler Fish and it is not even a single one-off fish, but a type of enemy that appears frequently in underwater stages.  Lockjaw is not even a boss nor is there a larger boss version.  But damn it, Lockjaw has its own saga* apparently and this is the music to said saga*.  Very appropriate I think.

Actually, I love this soundtrack as a whole and will probably do a much needed Game Scores article about it on either Friday or Monday.  God damn this is great music!

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

I'll Say These Final Words My Friend.


*Since this game, song and soundtrack came out 17 years before Candy Crush Saga was a twinkle in the pot, King can take their saga-sueing due to saga-copyright infringe-saga-ment and shove it.

Monthly Update: September 2014

Happy September everyone.  Bloody hell this year is flying by, or maybe it just feels like that for me as I'm getting hitched next month.  Yes, I am looking forward to the wedding and I am very excited for it, so don't go ahead thinking that I am one of those "ball and chain" types.  

On other fronts, the Summer Reading BINGO is progressing nicely.  I am currently trudging through Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian on audiobook and I say "trudging" in the most sincere form of the verb.  I am not 100% sure where the story is going which is understandable for me as I am finding out that unless I am paying full attention to the story, I'll end up tuning out for a bit and come back when I realize I don't know what is happening.  So it's now article writing, game playing, reddit browsing for me while listening to the disparaging tone of Mr. McCarthy's prose, but instead it's sitting quietly awaiting the next description of the happy-g0-lucky times of mid-late 19th century Texas.  But yes, I am enjoying the book.

In paper form, I am reading Robert J. Sawyer's Flashforward which received a season of TV viewers on ABC back in 2009.  If you're not familiar with the story, a mysterious event happens that causes the population of the world to lose consciousness for just over two minutes and during those two minutes, people experience their lives 21 years in the future.  In turn, those who are not alive 21 years in the future experience nothing.  What I'm finding interesting is after the event, the beginning of each chapter (so far) begins with newspaper-type snippets about the worlds reaction to the event and while some are mundane such as reporting on the death of a news anchor or a continued car pileup due to the event, others are more intriguing, "After a record number of applications were filed in the last 24 hours, the United States Patents office has closed until further notice, pending a decision from Congress on the patenting of inventions gleaned from the visions."

Flashforward is not a long book, coming in at only 317 pages and it did not spawn additional books in this world so I feel that by the end, I will still have plenty of questions, such as, "Why don't I own the TV series on DVD yet!?"

Moving into the realms of video games (finally!), I have started again playing The Elder Scrolls: Arena thanks to a link posted by "Roger" in my Daggerfailed article from last year.  The links are to downloadable copies of Arena and Daggerfall but have all of the DOS commands prewritten so all I have to do is open the application and the game starts up without having to type all of the DOS commands that prevented me from being able to play Daggerfall.  In Arena, I also learned how to open up the world map (Shift+M) and fast travel to other locations as travelling from one city to the next closest would take about 3 days (0n average).  Apparently being able to fast travel in a flat world without any form of topography (trees don't count) has made the game infinitely better.  I will most likely put out a Second Impressions in the coming weeks, now if I could only master swinging a sword with the mouse.

So PAX Prime happened this last weekend.  I might have said something about absolutely not missing PAX again, but due to the general lack of funds due to a false criminal identification (#PeopleWithIncrediblyCommonNamesProblems).  The only presentation I was able to catch was a talk that Hironobu Sakaguchi gave about the "Past, Present and Future of RPGs," but it looks like that presentation was not archived/saved on PAX's Twitch channel.  Ah well.  It was, I felt, more of a retrospective on Hironobu Sakaguchi's career at Square(soft/Enix) and a brief look at a mobile game in development (Terra Battle) at his current studio, Mistwalker.

In semi-PAX related video game news, Gauntlet was showcased this last weekend and it seemed like the remake of the 1985 Atari game received some favorable press.  What surprised me the most about the game was that it is rated M.  Personally, I've never viewed Gauntlet as an M-rated franchise.  From the gameplay footage though, it looks like they're taking a Diablo approach to dispatching enemies as well as what happens to their entrails.  I feel like I can be an old fuddy-duddy about this because the decision doesn't affect me either way.  When I was a kid (mid/late 80's) I loved playing Gauntlet, but having the M-rating is going to limit the demographic that will be able to play this game, which essentially is a massive dungeon crawl with an annoying life timer.  I don't feel like the game needed to go for an M-rating, but that's just me.

Oh damn, I almost forgot.  Last week Nintendo unveiled their New 3DS, which coincidentally is the name of the system: "New 3DS" and "New 3DS LL" for the larger version that we've seen with the 3DS XL and DS lite XL; although that might just be a Japanese thing.  There are some much needed improvements to the system such as an added C-button type joystick to the right side of the system, improved 3D effect that causes less blurring, improved battery life, a micro SD card slot and two more shoulder/trigger buttons.  What they need to improve on is the life expectancy of the hinges, but that's just me being paranoid that the hinges on my 3DS are on the verge of breaking as they did with my DS lite.

So, welcome to September!

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

Close Your Eyes and Believe

Monthaly Oopdate: Sptember

Nice classic fantasy styled art for A Feast for Crows by  Stephen Youll

I have had two projects in nerdland this past month.  One was reading the fourth book in the Song of Ice and Fire series - A Feast for Crows.  I started this book because I had a coworker who was reading through them, and in our discussions of events within, I realized how much I had forgotten from this book.  And I also realized that I had skimmed through major parts of both book 4 and 5 in the series.  My reason for doing this is that I had been gripped by the plot of the series, and I wanted to know *what was going to happen*  So, admittedly, I tore through the books at a faster pace than I could read them.
  
Having done that, I took it word by word this time, and tried to enjoy the prose.   Martin has a distinctive writing style, marked most especially by the high level of detail in his fictional world.  These details fill a greater part of A Feast For Crows than the previous books in the series.  There is a growing picture of the last twenty years or so,  slightly fuzzier picture of the last one hundred years, an abstract vision of the last five hundred years, and after that everything seems to be unconfirmed myth;  Stories old Nan tells.

I would love to have a look at whatever timeline Martin works from.  Sometimes he's called the "American Tolkein.' and while at first listen, that description bothers me.  Perhaps just because I'm protective of Tolkein,  maybe because the comparison is too convenient, but I'd like to think it's because their aesthetics are so different that I reject this comparison.  Martin is grittier, with a harsher realism and less fantasy, certainly less whimsy than Tolkein.  However, after re-reading A Feast for Crows, I may have to change my tune.  Martin's painstakingly detailed world is something worthy of that comparison.  Lovers of Tolkien have long praised the richness of Middle Earth lore, even before reading the Silmarillion or Book of Lost Tales, the Middle Earth Mythos creates a sense of history in an entirely fictional world.  George R. R. Martin has also created a similar sense of history in perhaps a more specific way.  I feel that Tolkien paints his world in water colors, whereas Martin paints his world with Legos.  Millions of Legos.  I enjoy it, and I'm well on my way to finishing the next book:  A Dance of Dragons.  

Starseed Pilgrim fan art by Hipster Skeleton on Steam

The other project I've been working on this month is that I've been desperately trying to beat Starseed Pilgrim.  Yes, it's beatable, and I think I know how.  I've gotten close.  So very close.  Love the abstraction in this game.  It's interesting to me that this would be a game set apart from all the other choices I have.  Still, it's a game that is best left to the imagination, so I'd rather not spoil it for you.  Instead, I'll link you to some pages that reference it.  It really is worth playing, just for the first two hours getting to know it, if not the next 98 hours spent trying to beat the thing.

I read a great article on the game called 'The Five Stages of Starseed Pilgrim.'  I think this article does a good job of summing it up.  The writer calls it a 'fightclub game' - a game you're not supposed to talk about.  I hadn't heard that one before, but it more or less sums it up.  One final thing about the game is that there is a new game criticism website inspired by Starseed Pilgrim:  Starseed Observatory.   I just found it, but it certainly looks interesting.  

but then I read this article:  

http://www.polygon.com/2014/8/28/6078391/video-games-awful-week

I think it's important to remember every so often just how completely some people overreact to Feminist Frequency.  It's shocking, and I usually just avoid looking.  It's okay to disagree, but so many people throw their credibility out the window with these tantrums.  I guess they must really be threatened.  Joss Whedon (name drop) weighs in on this one, it's worth checking out if you can stomach the content.  Whatever the case may be, I'm still very hopeful for the future of Video Games as a medium.  The industry on the other hand... is anybody's guess.  

-D

Game Review: Mission Majority (Browser)

I first off would like to say that any criticism I have for this browser based platformer is from the view of someone who loves video games and grew up with the advent of Super Mario Bros.  I would still be criticising this game even if it were released by any political faction where you played as a donkey called Jack, a mellow-go-lucky pot leaf named Mary J. or as the Flying Spaghetti Monster named Bob.

So, Mission Majority, or GIOPI, 2014 Mission Majority if you are one for long titles. This game was developed by. . . someone.  The website mentions that the game was paid for by the NRSC (National Republican Senatorial Committee) and that it is not authorized by any candidate or their respective committee.

Now let us not fool ourselves, this game is designed to be some form of political propaganda although I cannot think of who the target audience would be.  Anyone of legal voting age would not find the level design to be engaging in the same way that the first level of Super Mario Bros. is engaging and entertaining, but we will get to level design later.  Anyone younger than 18 (probably) will not have their own credit card to donate or not understand why you have to use the arrow keys to move and no controller support.  Maybe the humor in the game is supposed to propel the player forward or instill a "so bad it's good" feeling.  I cannot say in anyway.  There is also no statement on the webpage as to whom the game is targeted towards.

When you go to the webpage, you are greeted by Giopi (as in G.O.P.) and given the motivation for playing the game.

Yes, the characterization you see for Giopi is how he/she appears in the game, bugged out eyes and all, but the design for the character would not be so bad if the rest of the level and characters did not look better than this four colored elephant.

The character seems out of place in the world.  Even the enemies (The Taxer) has pupils and eyebrows, but Giopi has toenails and stars on his jersey to go along with his blocky-eyed blank stare.  Prior to Level 1 starting the player is told that "the Taxer, Harry Reid and President Obama sent the job-destroying Taxers to stop you!  You need to avoid them, jumping on them suppresses their high taxes."  The Taxer is essentially a Goomba that only moves forward/backward and can only harm you if you walk into it, or if you do not land correctly on its head.  You are also charged with finding golden keys that "unlock the Senate and help Republicans win the majority this fall.  Each key represents helping Republican campaign get more volunteers."  So that is the players motivation.

Upon completing a level, you are awarded with a victory screen, the option to donate money to the GNSC, buy Giopi merchandise from their online store or join them, which I assume means join their mailing list.  The store contains simple merchandise such at a Giopi sticker, drink/beer coozie, T-shirts, posters and sweatbands all for a nominal fee ($6-$30).  What would have been smart was for the player to earn a certain discount based on how well they have done in the levels up to a certain percentage off, such as 5% for each level completed or after a certain score is reached.

The nitty gritty now.

The game stages are not well designed.  The controls are simple enough (Left Arrow: Move Left/ Right Arrow: Move Right/ Up Arrow or X: Jump), but there always seemed to be a half second lag after pressing the button.  I just chalked this up to being a browser game.  As far as aesthetics,  you are able to notice that the background and the platforms will sometimes not tile correctly, often with glaring breaks in the continuity.  I only noticed this in the second and third levels, which both use the same palette.  The final product comes across to me as being shoddily put together with little care about the people who will be playing this game because they want to, as opposed to people like me who have played this game because we were intrigued and amused by the premise.

There is also a striking disconnect between what the creators and how they want to keep the player alive.  If you notice in the top middle of the screen, the time reads 9861, which means I have 9861 seconds, or  2 hours and 44 minutes to complete this "collect three key" stage.  Even if the numbers do not directly correlate to a full second, that would still translate to almost 25 minutes to beat a stage (if 1= 1/4 second).  Directly under the timer is your life meter, consisting of four hearts.  As to be expected, with the loss of the final heart Giopi dies and you have to start the level over from the beginning and collect all the keys again.  There are no heart drops or items (aside from the keys) t0 be found throughout the level.  I do not understand the disconnect between having a timer that ends up being meaningless paired with a life meter if the game is meant to be an easy browser based platformer with really bad hit detection (more on that in a bit).

That big blue enemy is the attempt at variation to Level 2 and is called the Mudslinger.  "The Democrats' Mudslinger hurls false and empty rhetoric.  You can jump on them to mute their misleading words."  Believe it or not, I was excited by this enemy at first.  I figured that this would be the bad guy who throws blue bits of mud at you like one of the Hammer Bro. or a Venus Fire Trap, but no, the Mudslinger just stands there, not moving.  That is it.  Sure it's taller than the Taxer, but that is not much for enemy variation.  I should also mention that every time you kill an enemy, a short multiple second soundbite from one of a few Democrats during Obama's Presidency plays.  Because you squashed the Democrat, you are awarded with the enemies misleading rhetoric.

Okay, sure, I might be complaining about the game not playing by a traditional set of platforming rules and yes, I know that even in Super Mario Bros., there was no life meter and one hit killed, but there were power up mushrooms and invincibility stars.  The problem I had with only having four hearts that could not be refilled was that the hit detection in the game was atrocious.  To me, it seemed that unless the bulk of my character was landing on the enemy, Giopi would take damage.  Compare that to being able to stand on a platform with just Giopi's toes.

The only redeeming thing to come out of this game is that the music is not half bad.  I cannot place what it reminds me of, but it is a decent mix of NES era 8-bit music and early SNES era something-or-other with a hint of Paperboy thrown in during a certain section, but only because that was what I was reminded of.

If you happen to still be intrigued at this point about Mission Majority, just do a google search and it will pop right up; before the game is taken down.  Before playing you are required to give your name and email address although from what I read on reddit, there is no verification process so you are able to plug in any name and email address and still play the game.  I only made it to Level 3 before deciding that I had experienced enough to write an article about poor game design, but you are able to make your own decisions and conclusions.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

The Smile Has Left Your Eyes

MIDI Week Singles: Woodman - Mega Man 2 (NES)

Today's track is brought to us, originally from the musical minds of Japanese composers Takashi Tateishi and Minami Matsumae, but today is brought to us from Floridians, The NESkimos.  

"Woodman" from Mega Man 2.  Nintendo Entertainment System - 1988.

Mega Man Soundtrack, Vol. 2.

NESkimos Battle - Perfect Selection.

Music composed by Takashi Tateishi & Minami Matsumae

"Woodman" is one of my favorite tracks from Mega Man 2 and the cover that The NESkimos do is a fantastic rendition.  The NESkimos tend to not do straight covers of the music when compared to other video game cover bands such as The Advantage, but often remain true to the original vision of the song.  I love how this cover starts out with the band playing the boss select music followed by the drum intro straight from the 8-bit cartridge then seamlessly goes into the band playing the music from Woodman's stage.  This song translates perfectly, not only into a metal rendition, but also as a listenable song outside of its video game context.  I also love the slow down section (musical knowledge is failing) before repeating the melody for a last time.

In a few weeks I'll be doing a more in depth look at The NESkimos as well as other groups who have done metal covers of video game soundtracks, but in the meantime, feel free to give a listen to what The NESkimos have on file over on their music page.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

I Learned All I Know By The Age Of Nine.

Game Review: Wizorb (PC)

Wizorb is a game that came bundled with Humble Indie Bundle 6 over a year ago and based on it's premise of a conglomeration of Breakout and a Dragon Warrior/Final Fantasy NES era RPG, this game should be right up my alley.

First off, I am not particularly great at Breakout and its many clones.  No, this does not mean that I suck at video games.  As it happens, I apparently do not have the stamina to play multiple levels of Breakout with a limited number of lives.

In Wizorb, you take on the role of Cyrus, a wizard tasked with saving the kingdom, or the world, I am not too sure on that point.  Once the story portion is completed, you are sent out to reclaim what was rightfully, someone elses, I think.  The plot, as far as I can tell, is a pretty generic JRPG plot but instead of playing a strapping young lad kicked out of his respective village, you play as an old man wizard/sorcerer/mage.  Maybe you have to rescue your daughter?  Suffice it to say, I do not expect any significant plot twists to occur.  Maybe the main villain is your son?  We will have to just wait and see.

After the not too long/deep story/exposition part of the game, you are then taken to the level where the Breakout-ness happens.  As you break blocks to clear the stage, you are often awarded with either nothing, gold, gems for store purchases, extra lives, vials that refill your magic meter, and eventually magical bits that can temporarily slow you down or reduce the size of your wand/paddle.  Magic is used to cast spells, the first two being a wind spell that moves your magical projectile (the ball) in the opposite direction and the other spell being a fireball that causes damage just like your blue ball of magical goodness.

So far, the game should not be too difficult, but often completing a stage requires additional support.  Throughout the stages, you can find shops to purchase temporary upgrades to your staff/bar-thing, extra lives or vials to refill your magic meter.  One time I bought a staff upgrade thinking that it would be permanent, but it turned out to only last the length of the stage and my staff was back to its normal size (after four hours) at the beginning of the next stage.  All the other times I have purchased extra lives in the store as I have found them to be much more valuable.  Apparently there is also a magnet of some-sort, but as I have never purchased it, I could not tell you what its application is.  Maybe it does not bounce the ball but just grabs and holds on to it instead?

So keeping all of this in mind, my initial impression was that I did not like the game.  I loved the visual aesthetic and the newish take on Breakout, but I found the level to be comprised of too many stages to be able to progress through to and defeat the level boss.  Being able to make it through I-do-not-know-how-many stages in each level and defeat a boss was too much for me the three or four times I tried out the game.  A few months later I came back and decided to give the game another go.  This time I used a controller and I noticed that if I did not make it to the boss, I did not have to start back at Stage 1 of Level 1, but I started whatever stage I was currently on, but with all of the blocks back in their original starting position.  I believe the game must have updated at some point, for which I am very thankful.  

It is also highly probable that the game has always operated this way and I just did not notice, but which is sad because since finding this game-saving-fact out, I have put in two hours into the game.  I find that I play a lot better with a controller and not playing through out TV set.  Something about the distance away from the screen seems to give me less time to react to where the goody magical blue ball is going to land.

So after as semi-disastrous first impression of Wizorb, I definitely plan on giving the game the time it deserves.  At least until I become so frustrated/aggravated/annoyed with my general lack of skill in the game that I give up entirely.

Happy Monday!



~JWfW/JDub/Jaconain
Igniting the Paralyzed Soil