‘Twas Brillig*

I like Mario Kart Wii, but have found it a bit of a disappointment - not because I find it easier than previous versions, I don’t (maybe because I only use the wheel for control?), but because there is no mission mode.

I really enjoyed chasing the triple stars in mission mode on the DS and until today I didn’t think there was an equivalent, but the second online tournament is straight out of mission mode (“Clear the gates in order in GBA Battle Course 3. Look at the map carefully and clear the gates quickly”) and I’m pretty good at it (not in the top 10, but definitely the right end of the the bell curve.

Unfortunately I was slap bang in the middle of the curve for the first online tournament.

Hmmm, I’d better post something before we’re overrun by del.icio.us posts.

I’ve been putting in lots of overtime, and as a result not been playing much. I need to finish Galaxy, but the remaining levels are going to need a lot of practice - mainly the long jump which I seem to always mistime. In Puzzle Quest I’ve headed up to an area populated by minotaurs, #1 has also started playing (the game allows two saves) so I may eventually get him hooked on RPGs.

These are my links for April 9th from 08:12 to 10:14:

• TwitterTools plug-in for WordPress -
• Super Mario in 14kb Javascript - Not complete, but still amazing

The second frustrating game of last night. I had a go at the purple coins in freeze flame galaxy, I got to 98 coins easily enough (now that I know how to get the summit), but unfortunately I think the last two coins can only be reached by a well timed long jump and I’m absolutely useless at them.

I completed Sea Slide Galaxy by getting the Purple coin star. Getting this star was a bit tedious really; lots of flying in a bee suit from purple coin to purple coin, none of which were hidden away.

Hidden star in freeze flame, turns out this requires me to go exactly the same path I’ve been struggling with on the purple meteor. The only real difficulty is getting ice mario to jump high enough fairly near the start.

3 more stars: speed run (simple although my arm was left aching from all the spin attacks) and the hidden star (although “hidden” is overstretching) in dreadnought, and a purple coin star in melty molten galaxy (fairly straightforward). The hardest star was definitely the hidden star, just because the time limit was fairly tight (30 seconds) - if I’d been given 5 seconds more I’d have completed it fifteen minutes earlier.

Over in the corner sits another Mario game feeling all unloved (Super Paper Mario since you asked), since Super Mario Galaxy has taken over my gaming life. In one sense I’ve completed the game, Mario has rescued Princess Peach, but in another more real sense I’m not yet there. So far I have 106 stars, all that is left is a handful of hidden stars (two of which I’m completely unsure of) and several meteor stars (including the purple coin star in a toy galaxy and I swear it is impossible). So far I’ve avoided the lure of gamefaqs and I’m hoping that’s the way things will remain.

I don’t really need it, but it had to be bought