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Mario Kart DS Unlockables

// July 28th, 2008 // No Comments » // Gaming, Geek, Nintendo DS

Unlockables for DS, because I keep losing the print out

Mario Kart DS Unlockables
Leaf Cup … Achieve gold on Shell Cup and Banana Cup
Lightning Cup … Achieve gold on Leaf Cup
Star Cup … Achieve gold on Mushroom Cup and Flower Cup
Special Cup … Achieve gold on Star Cup
More Kart Choices … Achieve gold on all courses in 100cc, 150cc, or 150cc (mirror) Nitro Grand Prix
150cc Mirror … Achieve gold on 150cc Retro Class (all courses)
Daisy & Dry Bones …Achieve gold on all courses 50cc Nitro Grand Prix
Waluigi … Achieve gold on all courses 100cc Nitro Grand Prix
ROB64 … Achieve gold on all courses 150cc (mirror) Nitro Grand Prix. Alec Ritter maintains beating just the Nitro cups unlocks ROB.
Final Mission … Achieve one ranking on all courses for all missions one through six

Staff Ghosts

 quite well, so beaing able to beat even one (if not all) of the Staff Ghosts is quite a feat. To unlock them you must do so one at a time. Race a course in time trial mode and if you come within about five to seven seconds of the actual Staff Ghost time (times are listed in the chart below) then that particualr ghost is unlocked and you can race against it in Time Trial.

Guitar Hero: On Tour Review

// June 23rd, 2008 // No Comments » // Gaming, Geek, Nintendo DS

 I’ll start out by saying I’m an avid Guitar Hero fan. I adore the series and even own the “Rock of Ages” release which not many people have even heard of. I’ve spent many an hour trying to master ridiculously hard rifts and consider myself fairly knowledgeable of all the releases. Moving on…

 Guitar Hero: On Tour SEVERELY disappointed me. I’m sad because of it, like not just foo-fooing a video game, but disappointed like Obi-Wan was in Anakin. That kind of sad.

 Physics of It All

I must confess, it is not as awkward as I thought it would be. Playing the actual little guitar add on is quite similar, but “strumming” the touch pad feels wrong and can get really mixed up when you’re trying to hammer out some chords. It must’ve happened not once, or twice, but like TWENTY times that I got a message on my screen, “You’ve been rocking too hard, please replace the guitar add on and restart the game.” It’s very easy for the add-on (which slides into the GBA slot on the DS) to come loose, so much so that it is inevitable if you’re playing on medium. It has no snaps or grips, just gravity and the orientation of your hands to hold it in there.

  Aside from everything not seeming too awkward and having to restart a million times for the game pack, my hand went numb by the end of every song. I tried a slew of different positions but there is no relief to holding your hand in that awkward position.

 Game Mechanics

 Reminiscent of the rest of the series. There are special DS additions like blowing or yelling on the microphone to activate star power and blowing on the microphone to put out prop fires. I find this to be awkward. I can’t yell at my DS all the time and to blow on the microphone, I have to pull it close to my face or else it doesn’t register. When pulling it close to my face, I inevitably lose because I cannot see my chords.  Good graphics for the DS. JUST GOOD. Nothing impressive, but nothing offensive either. I expected this considering all the live music.

 Music 

This is where most of my hurt comes from. I can overlook everything else if they got this right. The song choices don’t ring true of the Guitar Hero series, they’re more like Nintendogs. You get what I’m saying. Maroon 5’s “This Love,” Smash Mouth’s “All Star,” No Doubt’s “Spiderwebs,” do not feel like Guitar Hero songs! They’re childish and way too pop-py. This was a lot less than what I’ve grown to expect from the series. Most of the songs ring true to this too-young, bubble-gum pop. The occasional Kiss cover and Nirvana B-Side doesn’t make up for it either.

 Overall

 After mulling it over for a good while, I think the problem is that Guitar Hero went there. They should’ve never left the plastic guitar controller, because surprisingly enough, it takes a lot from the game. I don’t have the “part of the music” feel with On Tour as I did with the other games. This makes me more critical of the other aspects. There was no foot-tapping or lyric-singing as I played around with On Tour. I’d buy it, just to ease boredom at times with something different than Mario and Zelda. However, if I could do it all again, I’d go in with a lot lower expectations. Clunky machinery, bubble-gum songs, and awkward play really hampered my high hopes.

Guitar Hero On Tour

// June 20th, 2008 // No Comments » // Nintendo DS

I purchased Guitar Hero On Tour for DS for my Dad for Father’s Day.  I fully paid the pre-order.  He is actually in Pennsylvania this Sunday so he can’t pick it up.  I’ll be picking it up for him and testing it out en route.  Muahaha.