Kidzworld's Official Blog

So, the September 2009 list of Forbidden and Limited cards for Yu-Gi-Oh came out recently and a lot of cards and decks were hit pretty badly. (You can see my quick summary of the changes by clicking the link above). Personally, I’ve been playing Lightsworn, though poorly, but I’m not a big fan of the milling concept. Lightsworn got by pretty much untouched this time around. In fact, they got a usable card, Green Baboon, but it’s terrible now thanks to a rule change regarding its effect. For a while, I’ve been meaning to try out Synchro Cat, I just needed to get the cards for it. But now, there’s no point since practically every card associated with the archetype has been banned or limited. Poor kitty…

This week I also reviewed Scribblenauts for the DS and DiRT 2 for the Xbox 360. I love the concept behind Scribblenauts. It is a very socialable game and I think that it can be better appreciated as a multi-player game, where there are people around to enjoy those “You had to be there” moments. Unfortunately, I hate the controls and it’s right on the line where it ruins the game for me. Personally, I feel that a lot of the other reviewers are pushing themselves a bit to love the game and look beyond its terrible controls. I think the sequel to Scribblenauts is going to be awesome and all these poor design choices will be fixed. Hopefully, it will be a co-op ish console game or incorporate some kind of group interaction where people must take turns trying to solve a stage without using stuff used by previous players in the group. Demoing the game at PAX, with a crowd behind me laughing and cheering at the weird and wonderful things going on in the game made all the difference in my enjoyment. Playing at home, I can hardly do 5 stages before I want to do something else.

DiRT 2 surprised me a bit, in good and bad ways. I loved the menu, the game is beautiful. However, I simply can’t drive. My inability to handle the curves were really discouraging. At PAX, I demoed Forza Motorsport 3, which features an auto-braking option for people who don’t know how to drive in core racing games. It made a big difference and would no doubt level the learning curve for players like myself.

A boss guide for Mini Ninjas was supposed to be done for this week, but seriously, all you need to do is spam Meteor and you will win. Not a very diverse or exciting guide. Most kids should be able to figure it out without too much difficulty. Alternatively, you could also Ice them or use any other spell. I replaced the boss guide with an article on the banlist instead.

I’m enjoying Mario & Luigi: Bower’s Inside Story right now. I’ve played all the previous Mario & Luigi games and even the original Mario RPG on the SNES, which is where all the timed based attack stuff started. The game is pretty good, but I know it’s going to be a long one. Being a reviewer is tough, sometimes you just need to bog down and grind through a game quickly. I’m also getting some mileage out of Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box right now too. Does the narrator really need to tell me what to do immediately right after Hershel says it? Seriously, I had to wonder aloud if there was an echo in the room.