just flu in...

Well, sorry for the long delay. I spent the last week in NY visiting family and fighting off a killer flu that descended upon me a few days before I left. I'm finally over it, but man it was not fun. I don't think I've ever coughed so much (and so hard) in my life.

Since I was holed up inside the entire time (thanks, flu), I decided it'd be a good time to finish off Paper Mario, a game I'd been picking away at for the last month. I finally beat it after one of those all-night marathon sessions. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd probably give it a 9. It was really entertaining, and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the 32 hours or so it took me to beat. The characters weren't quite as memorable as in Super Mario RPG (Paper Mario's predecessor), but otherwise, everything about the game was improved, and really well done. If you haven't played it yet, you should.

So what else has been going on... I picked up Z.O.E. and the MGS2 demo, but I sold it a few days later. Don't get me wrong -- the demo was amazing (nevermind the graphics -- I had forgotten how much FUN it is to play MGS), but the whole package is not worth the $60 or so I paid for it. I'll pick up the U.S. version once it's down to $30 or so. I've become somewhat of a budget shopper these days, mainly because there's too much overpriced crap out there flooding the shelves. I mean, how many $50 games have you bought recently that have actually been worth $50? I could rant about this for hours, so I think I'll save it for a rainy day...

I recently finished Zelda: Oracle of Seasons, btw. I started Oracle of Ages, but I'm only up to Level 2. Seasons was fun, but now that it's over I'm not sure what to think. Maybe I'm just being too nostalgic or whatever, but I can't help but feel like I would've been even happier with just a plain old remake of NES Zelda 1, which is what Seasons was originally going to be. I guess I'll wait until Ages is over so I can see how much the two games interact before I pass judgment. I'm looking forward to hunting down the hidden shop that shows up when you play the game on a Game Boy Advance...

...which leads me to my last bit: TWO MORE DAYS 'til GBA, baby! I'm all set. I pre-ordered six systems for myself and various friends and employers and such, and I've put aside about $500 for launch games and peripherals. I've been looking forward to this forever now (come on, it's like Super Famicom 2!), so the expense is worth it, IMO. Keep an eye out for more GBA-related stuff here, when I can find the time, and feel free to drop me a line and let me know what games you're looking forward to. If I get enough mail I may start a little letters section here, just for fun.

Until next time...

Posted by john tv at March 19, 2001 02:43 PM