A Zelda Halloween

I've been working on some costumes recently... and here are a couple of pics of them. They aren't completely done yet, but close enough for now.

My husband as 'Link'. Picture is a bit tilted due to having to hold the camera back a ways from where I was standing. I sewed a LOT that day... the gloves, hat, tunic (the brown pieces are sewn onto the tunic itself), tunic detailing in the corners (I guess you can't really see that) and I even made boots (which aren't in the pic). Turned out ok. Don't have ears yet, or the sword or shield. That is something I'll have to make eventually.

Here is our little Zelda family. My daughter is Epona (a purchased costume... whew). I'm Zelda of course. The 'armor' pieces didn't quite get finished. I have to find a way to keep them together other than tape, and I wish to actually buy a wig to attach the headpiece on permanently instead of having it on my own head and hair. I need to finish the base of the dress and detailing on the gloves as well. And I want some larger pieces of foam so I can make the shoulder pieces more like the belt/headpiece/neckpiece and three dimentional instead of painted cardstock. It would also be a LOT more comfortable. My fave piece is the front panel. I sewed it myself, and using yarn and glue, I attached all the decorative accents. It looks quite good! And my first attempt at sewing any type of clothing can be seen in the vest. I did the whole thing from scratch, even making my own pattern. It needs a bit of reworking, but on the whole, I'm very proud of it.

So, there you have it. What I've been up to this last week (instead of video games... although haven't done as much of that as I'd like either... sigh).

NiGHTS: A mini review

So, a month ago I picked up a couple of new games for the Wii... NiGHTS was one of them. When I first loaded the game, I was astonished at the graphics and the video that was playing on my screen. It was beautiful. The music was wonderful, and I couldn't wait to see how the game play was.

Please note, I never played the original. My view on this game will be on this game as a lone piece, not as a sequel.

After the movie sequences were over and I finally got to play the character (I picked Helen first), I was a bit disappointed in the quality of the graphics at Dream Gate. They weren't terrible, but after seeing such a beautiful movie sequence, they left much to be desired. Then hearing the voices for the characters... I was less than impressed. I found the dialogue cheesy and annoying, and the Owl... sometimes I just wanted him to shut up. It wasn't terrible, but definitely a bit of a let down.

Anyway, on to the game play. I entered the first world, having no idea what it was I was supposed to do. Some of it made little to no sense (you have to save NiGHTS, but the second you do, you escape the 'prison' and then have to chase birds for keys to the prison you are no longer in... I wasn't sure what the point of it was). However, flying around was so fun! Really! I enjoyed it immensely. The flying on rails still allowing you so much freedom (like and unlike the old Sonic games), I kept going back to those levels to try to capture things in my circles, and just enjoy the ride. The worlds are so colorful and gorgeous. I got a bit frustrated at first with the first boss I had to defeat (a giant fish... I had NO clue what to do and that Owl made no sense). I got him the first time out of sheer luck, and had to find out what I did by looking online. Once I realized I had actually grabbed the thing's head and bashed him, well, that made everything so much easier. The bosses were actually a LOT of fun in this game, as were the chases.

This game has a lot of extras that will bring a bit more game play time to it. Mainly, there is a Dream World where things you capture in your 'circle' (I cannot remember what it is called, but when you fly in a circle and 'grab' everything that was inside it) end up. It is fun to see what it turns into as you play the game. Also, trying to get a better score to end up with at LEAST a 'C' rating on ALL your levels (this allows you to get the last white Ideya and see an alternate ending). Then there are the Dream Drops to collect which will allow you to play as the original characters in the old game instead of Will and Helen... if you collect them all.

Oh, and my little girl (who is a year old) absolutely LOVED watching me play. The music and graphics grabbed her attention for a LONG time.

In all, this is a fun time waster, with enjoyable worlds and music. The main drawback is the cheesy voice acting. A great game for kids... but perhaps too easy for those of us who want a bit of a challenge. If you can pick it up for cheap (I got it for $10 at Best Buy), go for it.

Elebits

I see it has been an age since I last posted. Oops. In that time I got a new game. Elebits. Ok, so it's a new game for me, but a relatively old one for the Wii already. I managed to nab it for $15... sweet!

I really like this game. The story is cheesy, and the voices are even cheesier, but the game play makes up for it! Basically, you are given a variety of missions (20+) in which you have to meet the objectives of catching a certain number of watts of elebits within the time period following the restrictions (some are 'don't break more than _# items', or 'don't make loud noise', things like that). There are a variety of elebits, new ones appear as you move through the challenges (my favorite are the little yellow guys that suck up elebits around them to turn into big guys that you have to 'smash' to turn into the regular sized elebits again before collecting them). They have varying amounts of watts to each type of elebit, and each one has a characteristic that is different from the others. Really though, just smashing things and sucking things up is a lot of fun... but it won't get you through the game. Some of the levels are quite challenging.

The pink elebits are kinda fun. If you can catch all three, you will get the 'unlimited time' mode for that mission (one unlocks the challenge mode as well). You have to find the first two to get the third one though, and you have to complete the mission with a certain prerequisite to get that third one to appear in front of you. They hide again real quick too. And they don't carry any watts.

There is also an edit mode, where you can 'create' your own room to send over wifi to someone else to play. I haven't really played with this or figured it out yet, however. You can unlock items to place in your edited rooms as you play the game

There are also charged elebits. These guys come from various appliances/toys that you turn on with the wattage you've collected. Collect them to increase the power of your capture gun so you can lift bigger objects. They also don't have any watts. If you collect enough, you will be able to lift things like houses in later missions... nothing more satisfying than chucking a house over your shoulder! Move over, Superman!

Anyway, that is my brief blurb on Elebits. If you can nab this one for $15-$20, it is worth it!

Pikmin

I just completed the 30 days in Pikmin. I only managed to collect 29 of the parts as the last part you can get is only available after the 29 other parts were collected. I only had one day left when I landed in the new area, and I couldn't defeat the creature in time. SO yeah, one part short.

This is a VERY addicting game. I like the Wii controls, they work nicely. I never played with the Gamecube, so I have no idea which is better. For $30, it's a great game. I got it for $20 on sale, so even better.

Really, this is one addicting game. You control Olimar, a cute round headed guy who crash landed on Earth. He controls little Pikmin, plant like creatures that have varied characteristics. Red ones are fire-proof, yellow ones fly higher and can plant bombs, and blue ones can swim (others drown). You really want flower pikmin vs leaf ones as the flower ones will 'seed' when they die in battle and leave more pikmin there the next day. They are also much faster.

Basically, you use the pikmin to try to find your various ship parts. Collecting pellets of similar color to turn into more pikming seeds along the way. Defeated enemy's will produce many pikmin as well.

The worlds are bright and colorful, the music is just right, and it's quite the relaxing game to get into. You will soon be making sure you never leave a pikmin behind to be eaten overnight, you'll be building your army up in the best way you can, and collecting parts to your ship as you go.

A note... when you exit an area and go to another, all the enemies from the previous area will be back. If you don't want to have to deal with slaying enemies all the time, try to collect as many of the ship parts as you can from one area over consecutive days before you move to another.

All in all, a great game! Now I want to replay it and see how many days I can collect all the parts in.

Create Your Own

For those of you who like having Nintendo or game parties, guess what? You can make your own small rubber stamps at www.vistaprint.ca, and if you like, use a picture to make them! I've made one for you to use below... it's 300dpi and a perfect fit for the small stamper. Fun, huh?


Now to make iron-ons for t-shirts...

Animal Crossing: City Folk

So, here is my mini review on the Animal Crossing: City Folk for the Wii.

It's Animal Crossing... nuff said.

Ok, ok. There are a few differences with this game from the other two, AC for GC and ACWW. They kept many of the same features from both games and put them together, adding a few new elements as well.

Similarities to ACWW:
1. We still have the flowers browning and needing to be watered, but I've noticed that if you don't water them the day they go brown, that doesn't mean they'll be dead the next day... which is nice. Means you can maybe go a couple of days without playing and not worry about half your flowers being dead... like in acww.
2. The Town Hall is back, and very much the same as in ACWW, except now there is a ABD machine for your house payments and savings. You can also donate money to your own town... and I'm told that by doing so you can get another bridge (you choose the location), a town well (yippee! I loved the well in acgc), and eventually your choice of a lighthouse or windmill (which shows up by the ocean).
3. The scrolling is similar to acww. Which is good.
4. You still get points from Nooks shop... not tickets that need to be stored. Nice. And now they added visitor points, so if you visit his shop daily, even if you buy nothing, you can still get some points! I'm really happy about this. Apparently, I've heard that you can turn in some of these points later on for rare items... note the two point balances when you ask for your balance... more on this later (when I discover more of course).
5. August has fireworks week (this time on Sundays)
6. The flea market still happens (now on the fourth Sunday of the month)
7. The museum is the same. You still have Brewster and Celeste! And this is where you'll find K.K. as well.
8. You can save by going to sleep in your attic... the phone is there too. However, there is another save option by clicking in the top right corner of your screen... no matter WHERE you are!
9. The balloons still float above, and you need the slingshot to get them. Oh, and the timer is still around too.
10. Katie is back

Similarities to ACGC
1. Jingle is back! As are Jack and Franklin.
2. You can get the fountain if you pay enough to the town fund.
3. Each person gets their own house... only this time they are located in various places around the town.
4. Town is bigger! There are cliffs again!
5. The house upgrades are the same... main floor can get real big, and then you get an upstairs and a basement... unfortunately no side/back rooms.
6. Nook's no longer has Harriet's Salon in the back.
7. Remember collecting mushrooms? They're back!
8. Remember Don? He's back too, but only at the Roost.

Old
1. Wendal and Sahara still come... but Sahara is into carpets or wallpaper (a bit different from both games... you'll see what I mean) and Wendal still does the patterns.
2. You still upgrade Nook's the same ways.
3. Turnips are back, and Joan still visits Sunday afternoons.
4. KK is still singing his tunes on Saturday evenings... now at The Roost
5. Fishing Tourney's are back, same with Bug-Offs... but now I've heard Tortimer isn't hosting... instead look for some other character...
6. Pascal is back, but now he waits on your bridges and you need to give him a scallop to get an item with his words of wisdom.
7. You still fish, hunt bugs, dig fossils, fill the museum, decorate your home, create patterns, make snowmen, and so on.
8. Resetti... whenever you reset.

New!
1. The city... the most obvious of course. Most of your special guests are there... including the old gyroid that used to be outside the acgc houses. He's in charge of the auction house.
2. Harriet's offers you to have a Mii makeover.
3. You now need an invitation before you can enter Redd's shop... no more passwords. There are still fake paintings though. And you can visit him at the city too.
4. Silver tools...
5. I've heard a rumor that you can store a collection of your gyroids with a certain pigeon...
6. Sometimes a townie will lose a key... unfortunately I haven't seen the ball from acgc... sigh.
7. Wisp is back... but now he needs his lamp.
8. There are a variety of new celebrations and holidays... and each region has some specific to their region! (now is the time to visit your friends!)
9. Now you can play hide and seek with your townies!
10. As usual (but still new) there are more furniture collections for you to seek out.
11. You can now take pics and send them to friends... either by mail, or to their phones, email, or wii message board. You can save them to an SD card as well.
12. One button pressing to switch between tools. And you can push the 'up' arrow to view the sky. The Aurora Borealis is nice this time of year...

One new feature that many a person is complaining about is called "animal tracks". Wherever you walk, you will eventually wear away at the grass/snow. The problem is that it doesn't regenerate the grass fast enough, leaving the towns looking much like a desert... especially for people with multiple players and those that have many visitors. They say it's only supposed to happen if you run, but people who don't run at all have noticed their grass disappearing... at an alarming rate.

This aside, the game is great fun! I will continue to 'add' to these lists as I remember more... right now I feel they are long enough. Post a comment if you feel I missed something.

2D, or not 2D

Ok ok... corny title.

In case you haven't guessed (not sure if you could), I've started playing Super Paper Mario Wii. The story in the beginning is a bit long (but I love a good story, so I'm not complaining), and the graphic idea is strange at first (but now I'm used to it... after only 1/2 hour), and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the idea of swapping 2D into 3D and back! Who came up with this?!? It's AWESOME!

Ok, so I just barely started playing, so I don't have a whole lot to say about this game yet, but I do like that there is no longer the turn based fighting system of the Paper Mario RPG's of the past, and more similar to the old games in fighting style. It still has attack power, and you can level up, which is awesome. In my opinion, it's great!

I hope to defeat this game and then maybe eventually start writing guides on some of the games that I have. Maybe not complete guides, but something.

Oh, I've also been into Animal Crossing City Folk... more on that later.

Keep Playin!

How 'Fit' Are You?

So... yeah, still on the Wii Fit... still losing pounds (although I'm at the right BMI now), and still discovering new things, even though I've unlocked everything there is to unlock... even the 'platinum' piggy bank.

I wonder what happens when you log 50 hours of credits?

Anyway, I noticed something new in the jogging sections of the game. I knew that with the short run you could follow the dog sometime in the middle of the jog... when you hear the dog bark, just start running faster and you'll be told to follow the dog instead. I didn't know you could do this with the others... I discovered the long run doggie a couple of weeks ago. It was great... you even jump off a wall chasing this dog! The dog shows up right near the beginning of the run, so you have to start out fast. You'll hear him shortly after you cross the start line. The island lap also has a dog near the beginning. Then you can go to a second dog who is moving faster later on, while in some caves. You take a completely different path while following the dogs, and it means a more interesting run, especially if youve been doing the running a lot. Also, look for more of those little Mario stickers along the path... hint, there's a star in a tree, Mario on some buildings, and I saw Luigi on a fountain...

I think I want to map out all those things yet... something to keep it interesting as I've already logged almost 40 hours! Maybe I'll put in those last 11 minutes today... (wink wink).

Keep on playin!