http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/article.aspx?x=mtg/tcg/darkascension/cig#

The link above will take you to Wizards of the Coast’s image spoiler page for the white cards in ascension.  Go ahead, take a quick glance.

Done yet?  Alright, I’ll give another second.

So now that you have looked over all the white cards, let me tell you what I think.  Of all the rares, and even mythics, only one really stands out: Thalia, Guardian of Thraben.  And not even for standard play.  I think she’ll be a fantastic addition to the arsenal that any Death and Taxes deck brings to the table.  Really, nothing else stands out.  Honest.  It’s like that person in your high school that thought she was so hot and smart, and still works at Wal-mart.  Yeah, she made manager.  But it’s still Wal-mart.

There are some rays of hope, though.  For instance, Lingering Souls shows some definite promise, especially with some of the other cards in the set (but I’ll get to those later).

It’s a slower midnight haunting, but doesn’t  require another $30 card to play it again.

I also do like Nibilis of the Urn; it has a chance of seeing constructed play as well, as it has some synergy with other cards in the set (yet again, I’ll get to that later).

But, you didn’t think this would all be about constructed play, did you?  Good, because now I’m going to explain what I think about the cards for limited (for those of you who don’t know the lingo too well, limited is draft or sealed play).  Thalia I’m afraid won’t be too great for limited, but I wouldn’t regret seeing her in my card pool; first strike is always welcome on a cheap creature.  Lingering Souls will definitely be fantastic for limited, as getting more creatures off of one card is great, and playing it twice is even better.  To top it all off, they fly.  What could be better?

How about getting five creatures for one card?  Yeah, you heard me right.  Increasing Devotion and Gather the Townsfolk I think have a great chance of being quite good in limited.  It’s always good to have more creatures than your opponent, and considering there weren’t too many board wipes in Innistrad, I really don’t think you have to worry about walking into a pyroclasm.  Increasing Devotion’s cost is a bit hefty, but great for having chump blockers around.  And, you can play it the turn before your bomb.

Which, in white’s case, is Requiem Angel.  Yup, you heard me.  Constructed crap is almost always Limited gold.  A 5/5 flyer for six?  Ends the game in four turns if your opponent can’t answer it with his own flyer, and will almost always be bigger than his.  Oh wait, it actually has an ability?  That’s even better.  Oh, you mean whenever one of my other non-spirit creatures dies (like some of those human tokens I just put into play last turn?), I get a 1/1 white spirit flyer to replace it?  Sounds like a definite bomb to me.

And the honorable mention goes to: Thraben Doomsayer.

It’s all going to end!  Well, actually, just this article, but not quite yet.  A 2/2 for three isn’t great, but when you toss in the fact that he’s a token generator, that helps.  Oh wait, if the game hasn’t been going well for you, he pumps all other creatures you control by +2/+2.  Hmm…that seems great.  More than great, it could mean the end of the game for your opponent, specially in combination with those other tokens you seem to have there.

And, with that, I’ll leave you to ‘ponder’ the other possibilities that white has to offer in Dark Ascension.

Asura’s Wrath is an upcoming title from CyberConnect2, the studio most notable for their work on the .Hack series. My feelings about the demo are mixed. What intrigues me is that I can’t seem to label this game. It feels like equal parts God of War hack-’n-slash adventure and fast-paced side-scrolling shooter with a heaping portion of quazi-cutscenes (think Indigo Prophecy) thrown in for good measure.

The main question is whether the heavily QTE (Quick-Time Event)-oriented gameplay is going to stand up to the criticism and general disdain the community seems to have for it. The problem with QTEs is that in most cases they’re indicative of lazy design. Is your game bogged down with pointless cutscenes? Throw in some quick button-mashing to keep people from falling asleep between point A and point B.

Fortunately that doesn’t really seem to be the case with Asura’s Wrath. In this case it feels a lot more like an aesthetic choice. The developers seem to be trying to convey the feeling of being a god by attaching overblown and over-the-top actions to simple button presses. I’ve taken to calling it the Kratos Effect. The player feels untouchable if he gets to punch Poseidon’s face in just by pressing “B.”

But even if QTE was deliberately chosen as the game’s main vehicle of interaction, it’s still got to be lame and boring, right? I can’t say as I felt that way. Sure, Asura’s Wrath doesn’t feel as involved as some adventure games, but the experience certainly wasn’t terrible. Personally, I’m intrigued by it. Like looking at abstract art, I can’t tell if this is some bold new form of expression or just some smears on a canvas. In other words, it’s either genius or immense stupidity. The difference is going to present itself in the parts of the game that aren’t boss battles, and in how well those sections carry you from one QTE-heavy event into the next.

I’m cautiously optimistic that this game will be really cool.

As the name implies I’m picking up where I left off in the last article, with an introduction to some of the basic strategies used in LoL. The first and easily most important is the concept of last hitting. In short this means hitting something and killing it. This is important because each time you kill something you get gold. Just hitting it isn’t enough, your shot has to actually end it to get paid. It’s a different story with killing champions though. Even if you don ‘t get the kill you get gold for assisting, which is one of the ways tanks and supports get gold.

Legitimate business being the other...

Adding on that, if you’re supporting or tanking, let your carry get the kills on both minion and champion. Carries need the gold and the faster they get it, the faster your team wins. If you’re worried about not getting enough gold by doing things the right way, grab a “gp/5”item. There are a few items that give you 5 gold every 10 seconds. These are great for supports because they give you gold and an added benefit. For instance “philosophers stone” gives mana and health regen along with 5 gold every ten seconds. It’s win/win.

Speaking of strategically purchasing items, let’s talk about wards. These beauties are going to be overlooked by everyone until summoner level 15-20 on up. New players just don’t use them…But once you see how useful they are you’ll never want to go without them again.

Here’s a hypothetical. Say you and a buddy are in the top lane trying to take a tower when suddenly enemies come around the corner and sandwich you between themselves and a tower. Death soon follows. However if you had tossed a ward near the corner you could have saved yourself. This is why wards are invaluable. They allow you to see in bushes they’re placed in and the area around it. Learn to pay attention to the mini-map and you shouldn’t have to worry about ganks with proper ward coverage. Even if you don’t know where else to put it, that little bush to the side of either top or bottom lane is a great early and mid -game place.

These bastards right here...

Another great place to toss them are dragon and baron. Dragon is the dragon, and Baron is the purple worm looking dude. Toss a ward in front of them when they’re up and you can tell when the enemy is going to grab them. If all goes well you can take the kill from them and off a few of them in the process. Speaking of dragon and baron, they’re pretty important. Dragon gives your entire team gold and baron gives a huge damage buff to your whole team. Kill dragon whenever you get the chance. Just take three or so dudes and try to make quick work of it. The money/exp will add up over time. Baron is a little more tricky on when to do. You don’t want  to get started only to have the opponents rush in and kill you all/steal the kill. Basically wait untill a few or all of them are dead and just run the entire team into it. Keep in mind, he gets stronger as the game goes on so be wary when doing it. If it’s still confusing when to do it, and trust me that’s completely understandable, just try to look around at some of the videos of people doing it. Either way it’ll come with time, so no worries.

All in all I hope this has helped anyone who may be new to the game or looking to get into it and in the process got a laugh or two. What can I say, I aim low. Still, to you all I say good luck and have fun.

This Monkey is a Metaphor for Addiction

But even then, even from day one of my MMO experience, even as I stood in Azeroth before the gates of Ironforge and marveled at the sheer scope of the game laid out before me, a small part of me couldn’t help but nitpick. “This is cool,” the rogue enemy of my satisfaction whispered from deep in my subconscious, “but it’d be cooler if it were Star Wars.”

So as you must understand, the desire to play The Old Republic was beyond desire. It was necessity. It was breath. At a time when my minimum wage job was looking precariously insufficient to handle my college loan repayment, I dropped a grand on a new laptop just to ensure I’d have the processing power to play this game the way it was meant to be played. In a very real way, I jeopardized my future for the chance to be Sith.

I told you that to tell you this: I’m not the least bit disappointed or regretful about my decision. Honestly, I think that’s the boldest endorsement I can give. Also, it’s going to be really hard to give any completely unbiased assessment here, so instead of a classic “review” I’m just going to give you my impressions from the game so far.

So let’s move on to the question I know you diehard MMO’ers are probably asking yourselves: How does a story-driven MMO work? I know it was my biggest question, and the linchpin of the game’s potential success or failure, in my estimation.

As it turns out, it works exceptionally well. Using a complex system of “phases” to keep game areas separate and specific to one group/character/class’s experience in those areas, Bioware has managed to allow hundreds of thousands of intricate stories to play out in impressively large environs, and the seams rarely show through. The only real weakness in this system is that sometimes your decisions don’t carry the weight they should. They effect your character’s philosophical leanings (light side or dark side) which in turn affects what sort of gear you have access to, but this doesn’t seem to have much of a profound effect on the game.

Story shines through the most in Flashpoints, The Old Republic equivalent to “Instances” or “Dungeons.” They utilize a previously unheard of mechanic called a “multiplayer conversation,” which is exactly what it sounds like. You pick a conversation option, and then the game randomly chooses a number for you. The player with the highest number gets to “say” what they’ve chosen, and everyone in the party earns social points for the interaction. Social points add up to ranks, which in turn unlock gear and items from specialized vendors. But the fun part is feeling for once like you’re actually working through a crisis with your adventuring party, rather than just mindlessly killing things and getting loot.

Although the urge to kill mindlessly MAY present itself...

So, if you’re willing to get absorbed in the lore, the story is engrossing enough that the dreaded “grind” to max level is actually incredibly fun. Never once while leveling have I remarked, to myself or anyone else, that I wish things were moving faster so I could get to “x” part of the game. I’m perfectly happy watching my story unfold. In addition to your class story quests, every planet has at least one overarching storyline you can plummet into as fully or as sparingly as you wish. To keep pace with the level requirements of the progressive planets, I’d recommend at least toying around with non-class quests everywhere you go. There’s also Heroics, or group quests that offer better experience and item rewards and can be repeated each day. Comments have been made that the AI companions you accumulate throughout the game are prohibitive to the MMO game-style, replacing the need for player interaction. In fact, these companions just make it feasible for players to get their standard quests done without any help, and for tank and healer classes to quest without having to revert back to a more damage-oriented specialization. Heroics are nearly impossible to complete without a full group, so you’ll still have to fish around for some extra players if you want to get the full benefit out of each planet you visit.

So the bottom line is that questing in ToR is dope. Let’s talk about something that’s been catching a lot of flack since release…PvP. Honestly, I don’t know what everyone’s problem is with this. It seems pretty ingenious to me, and it corrects a lot of the things I’ve always hated about World of Warcraft PvP that I assumed it just wasn’t possible to fix. For one thing, Warzones are open from about level 10 onward, and the game employs a system whereby the stats of lower-level players are boosted in Warzones to keep competition even. This, rather elegantly in my opinion, eliminates the need for level brackets in battlegrounds, allowing the PvP system to be limited to server-local without outrageous queue times.

The Warzones themselves are intriguing in their simplicity. My major complaint with WoW Battlegrounds has always been that focus has always shifted toward objective completion and away from actually besting the opponents in combat. Warzones solve this problem by utilizing smaller maps and more carnage-oriented objectives. For example, Huttball, ToR’s equivalent of the standard Capture The Flag scenario, uses only one “flag” with a neutral spawn point and a small arena full of environmental hazards like acid pits and flame jets to evoke an air of mayhem and battle. Compare this to WoW’s equivalent: Warsong Gulch, where the separate flag spawns and comparatively HUGE map make any excess fighting prohibitive to goal completion.

I’ve really got to stress the importance of map size, here. The other Warzone varieties include a 3-point domination map and a 3-stage assault map, so there’s nothing too new or unique here in terms of strategy, but all the maps are shrunk down considerably from their counterparts in other games. Shove enemies together and they’ll have to slug it out, regardless of the objective, and the games become all that more interesting.

On top of all that, Warzones award experience, valor (provides titles and unlocks PvP gear), commendations (used to purchase PvP gear) and even credits (the standard in-game currency), so they’re useful at any level of the game.

From a nuts and bolts perspective, the game is engaging and beautiful. The Star Wars aesthetic is captured magnificently in the art, the characters are expressive, the voices are wonderful, and the gameplay is just a few degrees above standard. For the most part it’s classic MMO button mashing, but the way the characters interact, particularly in melee combat, makes fighting interesting to watch. Rather than blindly hacking and slashing, your character will actually duel opponents when fighting with a lightsaber. Dodged attacks will be dodged, parries will be parried, so on and so forth.

There are some quirks that still need to be worked out. Mob packs tend to wander obscene distances while maintaining cohesive aggro, meaning that pulling a seemingly isolated mob may result in grabbing his buddies even across great distances. Also, the movement in mob clusters is occasionally a little unnatural. It’s hard to put my finger on exactly how, but sometimes it’s like you’re fighting synchronized marionettes rather than actual enemies.

The bottom line is that as an actual fan of roleplaying, from the pen and paper school, this is what I’ve always hoped, what I’ve always known, an MMO could be. You can really let yourself get lost in it, and while there may be some growing pains, I’m excited to see where the first few content patches take things.

I’ll be keeping up with ToR as things progress, offering you more in-depth reports on the World PvP, endgame content and content patches as they’re released. Stay tuned for all that, and make sure if there’s anything specific you want to see/know about, leave me a comment or drop me a line by email and I’ll be sure to look into it.

Until next time, peace, gamers!

It’s Holiday Hangover week here on The Community, where we’ll throw you articles from games we got from over the holidays as well as our Games of the Year, impressions, reviews and many others all here at The Community.

So as my last week of break winds up and I prepare to head back to campus, I realize more and more that only my new 3DS and my iPod will get any respectable gaming action as class work reappears. I suppose I should finish discussing the apps I own.

Ultra Deep

So I sort of downloaded this one since I had grown bored of everything else, and I must say, this is one I’m glad I found. It plays simply: you fall down what seems to be a bottomless pit, and along the way you collect diamonds, get launched from cannons (who put them there?) and avoiding spikes and flaming rocks. As you collect diamonds, you raise a bar that gives you a super form that makes you impervious for a time. There are other temporary power ups you can find as you travel down. You can use diamonds to increase the power ups’ time limit, and you should when you can. This would probably be one of my favorite apps, and one I think is easy enough, yet challenging for many.

Yeah, the robot turns into a rocket

Price: 0.99

Android: A knockoff (Hey, it’s free!)

Recommended: You can play as a robot, what do you think?

Gravity Guy

I get the feeling that app makers like having a game go fast, because it might be easier to make, but that isn’t really a bad thing…sometimes. In this one, you play as an escaped convict (I think?) who is trying to escape the most dedicated police officer (he even follows you if you fall) and to escape you must flip the gravity so you have somewhere to run to get free. This game can be tough. You get the chance to slow down time, but it is a limited supply without buying more. You have to be spot on with your timing or you’ll be restarting the level. It can be infuriating, but it’s rewarding once you master it. This seems like one that people who complain games aren’t tough enough should get.

That block in front of you? You will get shot if you wait too long

Price: 0.99

Android: Yes

Recommended: For those who want a challenge

Pixel Ninja

So we’re gonna go 8 bit for a little, and the first is “Pixel Ninja,” which puts you in as a ninja who has been assigned to infiltrate various locations and retrieve stolen treasure. To do this, you have an arsenal available: your sword, shuriken, a bomb, two bones, and a rice ball. Using these, you must defeat all your enemies and recover the treasure. In ninja fashion, you want to avoid being seen, so you must be careful not to fall into the enemies’ field of vision, then often sneak up behind them and get rid of them with your sword. The other weapons can be used, the rice ball to regain health, and the bones to occupy the dogs; often your sword is your best bet, because it is an instant kill. The game is a bit challenging, making sure you time attacks well and presenting different enemies over time, but nothing the average person couldn’t handle.

A blue rectangle has never been more irritating

Price: 1.99

Android: No

Recommended: if it drops to 99 cents, yes

League of Evil

This one is good. It seems like it almost could have been on the NES or maybe an old computer game, but it’s found a home. LoE has you as what seems to be a random military guy with cyborg parts who must fight through levels, beating up various mad scientists to stop them from taking over the world. This is your main objective, with your second being to retrieve a briefcase that is in each level. You have two moves: jump and hit. How you use them is the challenge. You can easily fall into the line of enemy fire or a pit of spikes. Though you won’t find a lot of anger in it. It has such great response, you’ll know it’s on you. This game is lots of fun and a great throwback to classic games.

That briefcase is mocking you...

Price: 1.99

Android: No

Recommend: You haven’t bought it yet?!

Jump Out

So, have you had enough of Angry Birds but still have the urge to toss around tiny animals? Well that is a weird hobby…but now you can get “Jump Out” instead! You help a collection of bugs escape their trappings (cardboard boxes, a computer) and the perils that await them within. Mostly you aim for the hole that gets the bugs out of one box and into another. It can be a bit of challenge, but there’s one major issue I have. Should you miss, and don’t get the bug in, they just slowly close their eyes….and don’t move. Yes, I know, it’s a bug, but that is unsettling on so many levels. At least the Angry Birds go “poof!”

See those big eyes? Now imagine them closing...because you failed them.

Price:  0.99

Android: No

Recommend: If you want Angry Birds, that isn’t Angry Birds…or like seeing life slowly fade…

Robo Rush

Now this one…well there’s no avoiding it: It’s a Mario clone. Yeah, the difference here is that it has a darker background and robots. But otherwise it pretty much plays the same. You’re a tiny robot that needs to run and jump through various, similar looking levels and occasionally defeat a boss by jumping on them. You get power ups, you grow taller, then another lets you toss bombs. Now I don’t have a problem with this game — I actually enjoyed it — but it’s short, and I guess you could replay it, but there’s no real reason to.

See anything that reminds you of Mario?

Price: 1.99

Android: No

Recommended: If it goes free.

Hard Lines

Our final game is Hard Lines. One that is simple but pretty interesting. You play as a yellow line (relatable!) in a series of different games; there’s survival, where you fight other lines, and you have unique powers you can unlock (one makes you invisible, one makes the other lines stupid, one shrinks the lines, and the last slows them down). There’s also a game that gives you 3 minutes to do what you can, one to eat  glowing things to live longer, one lets you attack other lines and consume their remains (yes, it’s called piñata), battle where you see how long you can live, a snake game, and a daily challenge. This provides lots of fun; there are all sorts of ways to play for whatever you want to do. And it’s done well. There are different control options I’ll let you learn about (they are really confusing to explain) but this is a pretty original game.

This makes a lot more sense in play.

Price: Free on apple, 2.99 on Android

Android: Yeah

Recommend: Definitely! But check for a sale on Android

So that’s all my game apps! Now, I realize that most of these actually do cost money, but they didn’t for me so I would have to say get an app called “Free App a Day” which gives you daily listings of apps that are free for the day, and it can definitely save you some cash and show you some apps you might not know of.  Hope you find something you like, and that I can write again soon!

 See?  This is why I can’t take you to nice places…you always have the upper hand…get it?

Viktor, the Machine Herald.  Where to begin, where to begin…he’s an interesting champ, he really is.  I love the aesthetic design, and the voice actor is phenomenal.  I can always picture him saying ‘This is the Russian Space station!’  You know, from Armageddon?  You people are horrible, you know that?  Anyways…I guess I should really get to what you all want to read.  So, let the review begin!
His passive ability is called Evolving Technology, which is actually an item he gets in game, called Hex Core.  It grants him +3 ability power per level, and for 1200g (one time only), he can upgrade it to one of three upgrades, which grant additional stats and extra abilities to one of his three non-ult abilities.  It’s not too shabby.  I like it, though I don’t see why anyone would grab anything except the damage increase one, but I’ll get to that, later.

His Q is Power Transfer, which is a targeted burst, and hits for 80/125/170/215/260, plus 65% of his ability power as magic damage, and returns 40% of the damage dealt as a shield.  Mana cost 45/50/55/60/65, range 600, cooldown 8/7/6/5/4.  Cheap, low cooldown in all the levels, can hit pretty hard, and shields you.  Perfect.

His W is a pretty neat form of cc.  Called Gravity Field, Viktor lays a circular device on the ground, and all enemies in it are slowed by 28/32/36/40/44% and stacks every .5 seconds.  At three stacks, the target(s) will be stunned for 1.5 seconds.  Mana cost 65, range 625, cooldown 17/16/15/14/13.

No, fool.  I expect you to walk into my trap, and then get stunned as you sit there contemplating what you’ve done!  HAHA!

Like I said before, really cool idea for cc, and has the possibility of REALLY turning a team fight around.

His E is what got everyone’s attention.  Viktor’s Death Ray fires a beam with targeting identical to Rumble’s ultimate, and deals 70/115/160/205/250, plus 70% of his ability power, as magic damage to everything in it’s path.  Mana cost 70/80/90/100/110, range 530, cooldown 13/12/11/10/9.

For those of you who have never played Rumble, this is how you aim the Death Ray.  See how it can go outside of it’s range?

For those of you who just like to watch hot and fiery death come from lasers.  

This is a pretty decent nuke if you can learn to hit with it, and the augmented ability just makes this better.

Viktor’s ultimate is called Chaos Storm, and at first glance reading over it, I was not impressed.  Then I started messing around with it in games.  And realized it hits for a lot harder than I thought it did, lol.  On use/impact, it deals 150/250/350 (plus 55% of ability power) and silences everyone in the area for .5 seconds.  As it goes on, though, it deals an additional 40/60/80 (plus 20% of ability power) every seconds for 7 more seconds.  Mana cost 125/175/225, range 700.

BOOONNNNEESTTTOORRRMMMMM…oh wait, wrong game.  Dammit.

At level six, with zero ability power enhancements (aside from his passive item), it hits for 160 damage on impact, and then another 305 damage over seven seconds, so 465 damage in total.  That’s not too bad, considering it also comes with cc, and a bunch of other abilities with it.

With that set of abilities, I’m afraid I’m going to have to rank viktor as a ‘meh’ AP carry.  He’s neat, and has a couple of solid gimmicks, but aside from that, your team will benefit better with a brand or an Annie.  His passive can be upgraded to one of three things, but I’m only going to discuss one, because I don’t feel that the other two really compare.  Augment: Death Ray is a great way to increase your damage output and be useful to your team.  It makes your passive item grant an additional 45 ability power, straight up, and gives your Death Ray (E) a DoT effect, making it hit for an additional 30% over 4 seconds.  Even as a support, you’ll want to take this, because your usefulness in team fights goes up significantly.  And, because you’ll only have room for five items, you’ll want this to count for something, and augment: death ray will give you 117 ability power at level 18.  That’s not too bad for 1200 gold.

Skill order, for me at least, would be to prioritize in this order: R > Q > E > W, with a point in ‘W’ at level three so you’ll have a form of cc against ganks, and/or if you need that cc in a fight/duel.  I’ve seen some people say E over Q, but frankly, power transfer hits just as hard, and costs so much less, and is spammable.  Yes, it only hits one target, but it also makes you much harder to kill one on one.

For runes, I just go with my typical caster rune page (magic pen marks, clarity seals, cooldown reduction/level glyphs, and either flat AP quints or magic pen quints), maybe even skipping out on AP runes because of Viktor’s Hex Core, though probably not.  My mastery page is pretty typical of a caster as well, taking everything AP related in the offense tree to 21, and then going into utility for the extra mana per level and mana regen.

As for a build, well, see my Ahri build, to be completely honest.  Get a couple Doran’s rings, and boots, and rush a rabadons if you truly want damage.  You can get a rod of ages first if you desire, though, considering your passive item does take up a spot, and will provide you with that extra little AP you’ll need to keep up with other casters.  To be annoying, definitely grab a rylais at some point.  You’ll become a walking cc engine.

Sorry for the short post, but I’m just not feeling this champ.  Like I said at the very beginning, he’s a really cool champ; I love the skill set and what they were trying to do with it, and I love the design and the voice work, but overall, he just seems to be ‘meeeehhhhh’.  But, maybe following this guide/review, you can prove me wrong.  CAN YOU?
Oh, also, Micky Rourke from Iron Man 2!  Yes!  This also reminds me of him!….still nothing?  I can’t get through to you people somedays….oiy.

1. Metroid Fusion
2. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
3. Wario Land 4
4. WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$
5. Mario vs. Donkey Kong,
6. Mario Kart: Super Circuit
7. Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario Advance 3
8. Kirby & The Amazing Mirror
9. F-Zero: Maximum Velocity
10. Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

Same rules as last time. Four bucks a game. So let’s just dive right into the GBA Ambassador Games and see whether or not they’re worth my 40 dollars.

Ahh, Memories.

Metroid Fusion
- Man, Metroid Fusion…I had so many great memories with this one. It was one of the first Metroid games I’d ever played. I pretty much loved everything about Samus’s adventure of visiting the stray spaceship in order to reclaim her suit, from the development of Samus to the ending boss and of course the collecting. This game earns my $4. Next game.

Damn Hat won't Shut Up!

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
- Now this one, believe it or not, is new to me. I’ve always heard of the Minish Cap but I was never able to get down to it. It’s developed by Nintendo and Capcom and I’ve gotta tell ya, I enjoy it. It’s right before Skyward Sword on the Zelda Timeline, and it just makes so much sense. This is the story of where the new Link got his “Legendary” hat from and saved the new Zelda…Okay it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense but still, it’s an enjoyable game and believe it or not, I love top down perspective Zelda games. So yeah, it gets my $4’s.

Money...Fucking Birds...

Wario Land 4
- This is pretty much middle of the road for me. You may know if you’ve read my reviews that I just love platforming, but this doesn’t do much for me. Don’t get me wrong; it’s a great game. But it just doesn’t really do anything for me. Now, that being said, if I’m on the crapper and there’s a game on my 3DS I can play, for some reason, I always go for Wario Land 4. So I’d say it’s somehow worth my $4 dollars … just don’t drop ‘em in the toilet.

QuickTime Events...All Game...

WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$
- Ahh, Now THIS is a Wario game I can get behind. Wario was always known for being the evil twin of Mario, until this game changed that idea. They gave Wario his own setting, his own cool world, and his own zany characters to be around. Not only that but the game is just full of mini-games. I hear all of the doors shutting, but hear me out. They’re a test of speed and skill as well as memorization, and it’s just very interesting to me. There are some weird games like “pick the nose” or “put the thread in the needle,” but it’s finally Wario’s own style. Four dollars ahoy!

Remake? You wish!

Mario Vs. Donkey Kong
- Somehow, I feel like a kid playing Donkey Kong on Gameboy again. Mario Vs. Donkey Kong is literally Donkey Kong from back on the Gameboy era. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing but I just don’t really know what I think about it. The platforming is fun, the problem solving is creative and it’s sort of a throwback from a time when DK wasn’t really in any spectacular titles. Four dollars.

Super Circuit...More like...oh forget it.

Mario Kart: Super Circuit
- I don’t know what it is, but I am a sucker for Mario Kart. I loathe people that talk about cars 24/7 and I hate NASCAR, but somehow Mario Kart reaches its way into my heart and just lives there all snug. Of the games on this list, I’ve played Mario Kart: Super Circuit the 2nd most out of all these games. It’s just a damned good game and well worth the four bucks.

Platforming in God Form.

Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario Advance 3
- Finally. It had been forever since I’d played Yoshi’s Island, and I don’t have it in my collection because someone stole it from me! Sorry about that aside; I’m still stinging. Anyway, if Wario Land 4 is middle of the road, then this is one of the crowning fucking achievements of Platforming. Yoshi’s Island has given me so many memories. Not only that, but it’s one of the finest platformers to ever grace any console. So yes, it’s worth my $4. Hell, it’s worth my $40. I would pay you any amount of money to be able to just play this game for the rest of my life.

Right Back Atcha!

Kirby and the Amazing Mirror
- I have a confession to make…I didn’t play many Kirby games, and by many I mean almost all of them. So when I played Kirby and the Amazing Mirror I somehow felt an overabundance of joy. I never played Kirby except in Smash Bros. games and it wasn’t anything against Kirby, but he was just a pink ball of joy. P.S. My favorite weapon is the Cutter. It’s worth my $4, so next game.

F-Zero...Hard Racing thats...Hard...

F-Zero Maximum Velocity
- We need more F-Zero in our lives. I hope everyone understands this: If Mario Kart is supposed to be fun, F-Zero is supposed to kick you across the room and throw you out of the house. Make no mistake, ladies and gentleman, F-Zero Maximum Velocity is hard as shit, but it’s also damned fun. The game takes a lot of focus and control, and I’m willing to give F-Zero my attention. I’m also willing to give it my $4. SEGUE!

Chess RPG...Booyah

Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
- Fire Emblem reminds me of an original RPG, sort of like Dungeons and Dragons. This was my first impression of a Fire Emblem game, and I definitely enjoyed it. I am eager to finish this bad boy and give it my $4.

I don’t know what it is about fourth quarter comebacks and Nintendo but they somehow managed to pull it out this year. Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and Kirby: Return to Dream Land somehow managed to pull the 3DS and Wii out from the dark. Just as I was ready to be disappointed with the Game Boy Advance games given to me, I ended up enjoying all of them. Nintendo somehow has made it their mission to please their fans, it just takes a bit of time. Thankfully, they were great.

Thanks for reading everyone, and get ready, because next week is Holiday Hangover, when we’re going to be hitting you Monday through Friday with new content from us here at The Community.