What Did We Play Yesterday?

As soon as I landed in the splash pool I snagged the glider and camera. Now I can engage in my favorite Zelda activities: exploring caves, collecting clothes, taking pictures of animals, and dropping rocks on koroks's heads.

There is a main plot to this game and it's okay, I guess, if you're into that. For me, the side quests are more interesting. But the main plot is that Zelda is gone! And you have to find her. But wait! There she is! What's going on? What's happening?! Purah points us in the direction of the regional newspaper which is actually not a bad strategy, and it is one of my favorite subplots. There are at least two rogue chefs spelunking in caves, and this also warrants investigation.

It's that time of year! Busting out a new game in TOTK, a game I have terrible opinions on (look forward to that... or don't!). This time, instead of mapping all the areas and then getting utterly confused regarding Where I Have Been, I'm gonna focus on one section at a time. I plowed through the tutorial area as quickly as possible, trying whatever stupid ideas came to me. The stupidest was fusing a bunch of mine carts together trying to bridge a gap in the rails (did not work). The second stupidest was fusing a bunch of trees together so I could climb up to an area I was clearly supposed to reach another way (worked, score!).

I also tried a new-to-me Genesis shmup, Arrow Flash. It's pretty mid and didn't hold my interest.

More fun with Twinkle Tale! Some compare it to Pocky and Rocky. I searched for similar games and fell down a wonderful rabbit hole of abandonware (as one does) but Pocky and Rocky is next on the list.

Well, my save on Dragon Warrior III got messed up and I didn't want to redo the stuff so after bouncing around a bit I played Twinkle Tale instead. It's a run and gun, and I'm terrible at it, but I don't care because witches.

I haven't played a JRPG in a while so I whipped out this bad boy and took a personality test. The game immediately pegged me as vain and idealistic, so we're off to a good start. Also, my dad died in a volcano. We'll see how it goes.

New-to-me untranslated witchy-themed scrolling vertical hybrid shooter Fray: Shugyo Hen is cute but unfortunately not very fun to play. You can shoot magic spells and jump, but movement is sluggish to the point it feels like playing in molasses.

Currently, my go-to vertical shooty witchy thing is Twinkle Tale for Genesis.

The Game Gear binge continues.

Played a bit more Halley Wars, but got bored of the underwhelming level design and boss design (or complete lack of--one level didn't even have a boss).

I was beefing up my Game Gear library when I discovered a shmup I've never played before. Halley Wars, which is a sequel to Halley's Comet, is a fairly utilitarian shmup with a twist. You are protecting Earth and various planets from Lord Halley's army, and any enemy or comet that passes you damages the planet. At 100% planetary damage is game over.

My beef? THE GAME NEVER TELLS YOU THIS. I had to do a search to figure out what the percentage even meant. Sega Retro has scans of the instruction manual, which tells the full story.

Graphically, it's not very compelling, but I enjoy this one for what it is and I'd like to play it more.

I also popped into the Game Gear version of Bubble Bobble. Very enjoyable port! I never play through this game (I beat it once on NES years ago and that was enough for me) but I do like to pop in and bubble a bit from time to time. It's one of those games I always snag a copy of to try on different systems.

I could have sworn one of the Parodius games let you play as Opa-opa, the hero of Fantasy Zone, but I couldn't remember which one (maybe I imagined it?). So I played Parodius Da on PC engine as the little octopus until I died and lost all my upgrades (BOO).

I cannot tell you how many times I rented the Tengen's Fantasy Zone for NES. I was terrible at it, but I didn't care. The lush fantasy world always drew me in. Gameplay wise, base destruction shmups are my least favorite, but Super Fantasy Zone may well be the most beautiful cute 'em up I've played and it's fun to fly around (or land, which is enabled by your ship sprouting legs). This series has an interesting weapons economy where you buy weapons that eventually decay, and the price increases each time you purchase it.

Several times a year I go on a game binge and I dump all the weird and wonderful things I find into my handheld and promptly forget about them, which leads to delightful discoveries later. I had no idea what to expect from Go! Go! Mile Smile. I certainly DID NOT expect a Pac-Man/Snake hybrid maze game.

Mile and Yard (actual names) are "pursing their dreams" when a fairy shows up and asks them to save a beautiful princess who was kidnapped by the demon HECTOR (motive unclear).

The player controls an egg that hatches into a row of chicks with a snake-style body. The "snake" can venture into the maze to collect gems, but to avoid enemies you must retreat to the original hatch point. The play control is a little fussy but the concept and colorful themed levels easily land this one on rotation. If you like Snake-inspired games, check out Gomola Speed.