Finished playing Megaman X5

Finished playing Megaman X5 (2001, Capcom, PS) on 12/7/2016.
My second playthrough.
Hours: 42~

Months after the events of Megaman X4, Sigma is resurrected and challenges the Maverick Hunters X and Zero with the intention of losing to spread a Reploid-infecting virus that turns them into Mavericks. Sigma also employs a Reploid mercenary named Dynamo to collide the space-colony Eurasia with Earth. X and Zero must then use the Enigma laser canon to destroy the space-colony before it collides. But will it work?

7/10 - This game is interesting with its couple of alternate endings. I can't remember what ending I got last time I played but I was lucky to get the best ending on my first try this time around. Yes, lucky, because certain timeline deviations are left up to chance more than the player's actions in this game. Not sure if previous X games implemented that same system or not. It's been a while. The game isn't terribly difficult either aside from maybe one of the last few bosses and the final boss himself.
The soundtrack is alright, nothing to write home about expect for maybe one or two good tracks. The main theme and the track for the level where you fight all eight bosses again were my favorite ones.
I also found the Squid Adler level very interesting and amusingly challenging with the bike section. I also like how you can stock up on 1Ups in that level too. But I never did find out what those V blocks were for. Maybe next time.

I have a hate/love relationship with the Megaman series. Why, because even though I've played every main installment before that preceded this one, I never really understood how to play Megaman games. I had actually given up on the series after I first played X5 a few years ago because I couldn't handle the immense frustrations I always experienced with the games. But I've always loved Zero and his own game installments very much, so I decided to give X another chance, even though I don't really find him very agreeable. So this time around I went in with an open mind. Megaman games are very challenging, but not without reason. These are games you're supposed to play over and over until you learn things like level design and enemy patterns. So with that in mind and without getting upset every time I lost, I pressed on over and over and over again until I was breezing through levels and bosses with flying colors... except for maybe Sigma... and Yellow Devil incarnates... ugh. And I think that's how you're supposed to play Megaman games. So here I go, onto the next one.

Finished playing Ivy the Kiwi

Finished playing Ivy the Kiwi? (2010, Prope, Nintendo DS) on 1/4/2016.
Hours: ~10

Ivy hatches (partially) from her egg but her mother is nowhere to be seen. Because of her red color and her egg fashion the other animals shun her and tease her. Lonely, she sets off to find her mother with the help of vines and a trail of red feathers.

7/10 – Look at this game! It's so cute! The sepia storybook aesthetics are so cozy! And Ivy! Look at that cute lil' girl birdie! The game does have a learning curve with the vines where you have to draw them out for Ivy to walk on or even push her along, but once you learn the ropes and get used to them, you're off on your way to a fun, short little game. The levels are actually pretty easy, and there's no enemies around. But what about those mean looking rats and crows I see on the cover art? Oh! A few levels in, there they are! ...Along with spikes! ...And barricades. ...And one-hit KO water droplets. Y'see where I'm going with this? 25 levels in and sh*t was gettin' real. The last few levels? Forget about it! This wasn't Ivy the Kiwi? anymore, this was the trial of Gods. But I did it, I beat all the levels. Huh? Bonus mode unlocked? ...Fine! I'll take the challenge! I'm not a pansy! .........F*****CK!!!!! That was a mistake! Abort! Abort! All of a sudden I felt like Rooster Teeth's LtMkilla playing the Impossible Game. I was ready to impale my nice Pokémon DSi with its own stylus! After losing much of my sanity for the rest of my life, I was finally able to beat the damn bonus mode. I just don't know when to quit and this game has taught me that more than anything. In conclusion, I love this game for its innovation. For how cute it looks. But I hate how difficult it is. I can't imagine playing the Wii version. Eesh! That would be even more frustrating. But at least it's a short game. Very short. And I'm finally free from the vines that bound me to it.

Finished playing Kirby Super Star Ultra

Finished playing Kirby Super Star Ultra (2008, HAL Laboratory, NDS) on 12/31/2015.
Gameplay Hours: ~35

Kirby tackles multiple new and old adventures and challenges in this remake of SNES' Kirby Super Star. With updated graphics, a new storyline, added content and fully rendered cutscenes it will be hard to put this game down!

8/10 – I read a couple of reviews and opinions on this game and a lot of them mentioned how disappointed they were with how easy this game was. First of all, it's Kirby. It's meant to be easy because it's target audience are beginner-level gamers, right? Second of all, it's not THAT easy. Sure, the first few adventures presented to you are not frustrating or that much challenging, they're easy and fun! But unlock the hidden games and you've got yourself quite a few challenges ahead of you. All I'm gonna say is... True Arena. That sh*t drove me to tears. No regrets though. This game was easy, fun and challenging with lots of content. The only thing that bugged me was the quality of the cutscenes. They were full of "JPEG artifacts".

Finished playing Kirby: Squeak Squad

Finished playing Kirby: Squeak Squad (2006, HAL Laboratory, Flagship, Natsume, Nintendo DS) on 11/7/2015.

Hours: ~15

Kirby is happily about to scarf down a mouth-watering strawberry cheesecake slice when it is suddenly snatched from him by a gang of treasure-hunting mice known as the Squeak Squad. Kirby then chases after his delicious desert only to find himself in another grand adventure with evil lurking in the shadows.

7/10 – This game was short and sweet. The only gripe I have with it is that it mind numbingly easy. I mean, it's a Kirby game, but this is a bit too much for a Kirby game. Specially with the last boss, I expected another, stronger final form out of the thing. But don't get me wrong, it was still fun. What I really enjoy about these last few Kirby games I played is the hidden collectibles, specially the spray cans that allow you to change Kirby's colors. Although most color options are an eyesore (with neon green and cherry being some of the worst), a few are more gentle to the eyes and I found that my favorite one is chocolate Kirby. Oh, I also missed the Smash power from the Amazing Mirror game, but instead I got the Ghost power that allows you to possess most enemies and control them however you please. Another thing I really enjoy are the level backgrounds, some even look like Bob Ross paintings. It's great.

All for a slice of cheesecake. Oh, Kirby...

Finished playing Sonic Advance 3

Finished playing Sonic Advance 3 (2004, Dimps, Sonic Team, Game Boy Advance) on 9/25/2015.

Gameplay Hours: ~20 …maybe?

Doctor Eggman has partnered up with his most powerful robot, Gemerl and divided Earth into seven distinct chunks where he plans to build seven separate empires on each one of them. Of course, this means it’s up to Sonic and friends to stop Eggman in his tracks.

7.5/10 – This game was fun. Not as great as the first one, but a big improvement from SA2. Lemme tell you why:

1. All main playable characters are easily unlocked by just beating certain levels.

2. You can team up any two characters and each combination gives you different abilities and moves. Combining Amy with Sonic for example, gives Sonic his own hammer.

4. Special combinations are even appropriately titled. Sonic & Tails for example shows as "The Unbreakeable Bond". Sonic & Amy, "The Cute Couple".

5. Certain combinations even have their own different sprites. For example, when you pair Sonic and Knuckles, they appear annoyed at eachother.

6. You don't have to defeat every single of Dr. Robotnik's boss machines in a row to get to the final boss. This however, is available as a Time Attack feature after collecting all the Bronze, Silver and Golden Special Rings from every single stage (not a frustrating task).

7. Most importantly, Chaos Emerald collecting isn't as frustrating as SA2 was. You do still have to explore the levels however, hunting for lost Chao critters, but once you find them you don't have to go look for them again. You simply have to search the levels in that Zone for a Special Key, which isn't hard at all to find. That one-use key will allow you access to the Special Zone.

8. The Special Zone is similar to Sonic 2 or SA1 in terms of gameplay but even though the difficulty goes up with each new zone, it's not at all frustrating to get all the Emeralds in your grubby little hedgehog hands.

9. This unlocks the Final Zone where you play as Super Sonic and team up with Dr. Eggdoodles to defeat his little robot invention-gone-berserk. This too, although a bit difficult is not a highly frustrating level.

I enjoyed this game and I'm happy I was able to collect everything it has to offer without losing sleep over it.

Balanced difficulty. Little frustration.