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Handheld goodness and big strategy

Obligatory non-movie content every now and then... I got two games as Christmas presents, and both were really good, but in a quite different ways.

Every gaming device lives and dies depending of the game selection. Even one very good game can be enough. That has been the case with me and Nintendo DS. The game is, of course, Zoo Keeper, which is quite clearly one of the best action puzzle games ever. Tetris is comparable, but I don't think anything else is.

So, despite owning Project Rub (nice, but not very interesting) and Polarium (innovative, but too difficult too soon), Nintendo DS has been a Zoo Keeper machine for me. Now that has changed.

Johanna bought me a copy of Mario Kart DS and I've already clocked few hours playing the game. It wasn't a surprise that it was so good, as I've already enjoyed Mario Kart: Double Dash!! on Cube. The DS version is just as good, if not better.

I guess it just works, just like a kart game should. It's easy to learn, plays smooth and has a great fun factor. The gripes are same as with Double Dash: it's a bit too easy and too short - it's so much fun you'd wish it last longer. However, even though I've opened all the cups, I'll still keep going back to play more.

The other game is on the completely different side of the spectrum. Civilization IV is the latest version of this really epic strategy game. I like it - it's clearly the best version I've played (lots of Civ 1, some Civ 2, few games of Civ 3).

I had some problems with it: the game requires Win2000 or Win XP, and I'm still running Win 98 SE. Fortunately I had a second computer on loan which I could use. I've played three quick games now and have a pretty good understanding of the new features.

It's all great, believe me. Culture is now even more important, as it defines the borders of your nation. Borders are important, because enemy units must stop at the borders; to get in, it's either war or agreement on open borders.

Religion is another new aspect. There are interesting benefits on having a state religion. If you found a religion, you can build a shrine in the Holy City of that religion; shrine produces one money for each city in the faith (and there are missionaries to spread the faith, of course) and gives intelligence information.

So, I've been quite happy with Civilization IV, so far. It has more detail in good places, but they've also figured out how to remove useless detail that's less important. Instead of building on top of the previous version, they've started from scratch and relaly thought about it. That's the way to do it!

9.01.2006 klo 08:37 | Be the first to comment | TrackBack (0)

Latest Harry Potter

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the latest in the series of Potter movies. It's based on one of the best books in the series and as the movies are very faithful to the books, the movie was quite good. I mean, it tells all the necessary events, the special effects are nice, it was a bit scary, slightly romantic and somewhat awkward, just like it should.

Well, it was a bit long, but then again, I'm not sure if the studio's original idea to make it two movies (according to IMDB) would've been a better idea. Maybe next book, as they get bigger and bigger... This time it was ok, just a bit too long.

So, it's definitely worth seeing if you've watched the earlier movies, and even though the story takes a slightly darker turn this time, this is no reason to start watching the movies if you already haven't.

7.01.2006 klo 10:04 | Be the first to comment | TrackBack (0)

New Year movies

We saw Skeleton Key, which was better than we expected. Movielens, which is usually quite accurate, rated Skeleton Key for me as three stars, I gave it four.

In this case the trailer felt like it spoiled the movie. After seeing the movie you see it's not quite true, but that's how it felt back then. That's a bad trailer, if you ask me - trailer shouldn't discourage you from seeing the movie!

Anyway, Skeleton Key was pretty good. It had good music, nice atmosphere, groovy Hoodoo magic and a pretty clever twist in the end.

Cat Returns, also known as Neko no ongaeshi, was the last movie we saw last year. The English title is a torso; it should be something like Cat Returns a Favour to make sense. Finnish version is called Kingdom of Cats, which is better.

It's not a Hayao Miyazaki movie, but it's a Studio Ghibli movie. That means quality. It's not one of their very best movies, but it was a friendly family movie and we enjoyed it. The story was nice and cats are always lovely. Cat lovers looking for a good family movie might want to check it out.

First movie this year was The Yes Men, a funny documentary of the pranksters and culture jammers, who have made fun of WTO. Their most familiar effort in Finland must be the phallic smart suit presented here at Tampere.

The movie could be better, but the pranks the Yes Men pulled were good. Thus the result was quite entertaining enough. If you're into culture jamming, this movie is highly recommended.

2.01.2006 klo 18:18