Neal closes out his time with Galaxy 2 while beginning anew with Rayman and Skylanders.
Current Backlog Size: 11 Wii games, 2 GameCube games, 2 Virtual Console games
Goal: Play (but not necessarily beat) them all by the Wii U launch
Progress Since Last Update: Super Mario Galaxy 2, Playing Rayman Origins/Skylanders
I feel like I should get a free pass on the early stages of this. When my backlog saga began, I was just about to go away from nearly two weeks, so for about two-thirds of my opening days, I was across the country from my Wii. I still managed to play some Wii with Zach in Alaska, though, as we rocked some Brawl.
I do like putting up walls for my progress, though. After my 4-year-old niece saw Donkey Kong Country Returns on a Target demo kiosk, I loaned my copy to my brother. So I don't even have access to one of my backlog games.
The one game I can safely remove, though, is Super Mario Galaxy 2. I went back to it, and screwed around in the various worlds, scouring for the last 15 stars I needed for 120. I just have a hard time getting back into that game, so it's coming off the list. I don't feel much remorse for not making it to 120, especially since the post-game content didn't seem like something I wanted to do at all.
I felt like I had to make forward motion on one game on the rest of the list, though. So, I popped in Rayman Origins and worked my way through the first world. My stance on it hasn't changed much since I first played it (lost save data to Wii death earlier in the year): It's fun, but I'm not in love with the physics. Jumping feels floaty, but I think it might have something to do with how running makes you feel. I'm used to the platformer precision of Mario and Meat Boy, though, which allow me to run like hell and still feel like I have control. Origins feels too slippery. Still, even on the ol' non-HD Wii, this game looks beautiful.
I also finally buckled down and played some more Skylanders, not as I'm ever so close to the full set of 32 figures. I used a bunch of new ones and continued my quest to 100% the game before Skylanders Giants comes out. Skylanders is my Diablo.
Some quick hits regarding the new characters I played as:
- Double Trouble (Magic): He's probably better as a support character, but it's still fun because he has a beam that homes in on opponents and also has the ability to spawn exploding duplicates.
- Slam Bam (Water): Slam Bam is everything I wanted out of a four-armed yeti. I love how, when he travels on water, he rides a freaking surfboard.
- Eruptor (Fire): This character just basically vomits fire. It's pretty cool.
- Lightning Rod (Air): This Zeus-looking dude looks awesome, but his lightning powers seem kind of one note. Maybe when you upgrade him they get better, but right now he has two attacks that are very similar.
- Camo (Life): Camo is a plant dragon who shoots out balls of sun. Holy hell I love this game.