What Game Are You Playing Right Now?

[SGR]

More Monkey.

More ball.

They recently released a sort of remake/remaster of the stages (and minigames) from the first two games in blisteringly beautiful high definition. I very much enjoyed it - and then remembered how friggin hard the games can get haha.

Stay away from Super Monkey Ball Adventure though - even as a kid, I was glad that I only rented it.

[Hope]

They recently released a sort of remake/remaster of the stages (and minigames) from the first two games in blisteringly beautiful high definition. I very much enjoyed it - and then remembered how friggin hard the games can get haha.

Stay away from Super Monkey Ball Adventure though - even as a kid, I was glad that I only rented it.

I bought Monkey Ball Step'n Roll (I think it's called) for the Wii. You use the balance board from Wii Fit and you are the monkey, but man... it was terrible. I couldn't get my center of balance set right and I had to lean too far forward for any of it to be fun or comfortable.

The concept was great, the execution not so much.

[SGR]

I bought Monkey Ball Step'n Roll (I think it's called) for the Wii. You use the balance board from Wii Fit and you are the monkey, but man... it was terrible. I couldn't get my center of balance set right and I had to lean too far forward for any of it to be fun or comfortable.

The concept was great, the execution not so much.

I vaguely remember that game - never played it. But I did play Banana Blitz, where you'd have to control it through the Wii remote's motion controls - and even that was excruciatingly frustrating, much less trying to control it with the friggin Wii Fit balanace board.

[Guybrush]

Monkeys, balls and bananas. These games are probably great, but my god do they sound thematically boring.

Where are the extraplanar Lovecraft monsters?

[SGR]

Monkeys, balls and bananas. These games are probably great, but my god do they sound thematically boring.

Where are the extraplanar Lovecraft monsters?

I don't know how keyed into modern gaming you are, but believe me, there's beauty in simplicity these days where half the games feel compelled to adopt an open world format, with repetitive tasks, practically endless dialogue and cutscenes, and endless MacGuffins you need to collect. I just want gameplay. As an adult, my attention span isn't what it used to be for games when I was a kid, so I basically never pick up JRPGs any more. Something like Monkey Ball, which is purely a test of your reflexes, timing, and mastery of the controls is refreshing - with a premise so simple that anyone could understand and pick up and play - you're a monkey in a ball, get the monkey to the goal without falling. Sometimes though, it becomes a lot harder than it sounds.

If you want Lovecraftian monsters, Bloodborne might be up your alley.

[Guybrush]

I probably complete one, two or three AAA games a year, so Elden Ring was something I did this year. I might play the remake of Dead Space too and possibly Jedi Survivor. Most likely, if I get them, it'll be after I pick those up during a Christmas sale. I'm patient, very selective and a little frugal 😄

My favorite games are typically smaller indie titles of which there's a fair bunch of on my gamepass subscription. I still haven't finished loop Hero, but maybe I will soon.

[Queen Boo]

Still playing Tears of the Kingdom, I already beat it but there's still SO MUCH left to do, exploring the depths, caves, wells, searching for hidden shrines and treasure, I gotta have all those armor sets and there's still plenty to find.

I've also been playing a lot of retro games on my Twitch stream, especially NES games which I play every Wednesday and it's been a lot of fun even though I'm terrible at NES games, like, all of them. Punch Out!! is one I keep revisiting, it's so fun and every time I revisit it I get a little better at it, will I ever beat it? Maybe. Tune into my stream to find out.

[SGR]

Still playing Tears of the Kingdom, I already beat it but there's still SO MUCH left to do, exploring the depths, caves, wells, searching for hidden shrines and treasure, I gotta have all those armor sets and there's still plenty to find.

I've also been playing a lot of retro games on my Twitch stream, especially NES games which I play every Wednesday and it's been a lot of fun even though I'm terrible at NES games, like, all of them. Punch Out!! is one I keep revisiting, it's so fun and every time I revisit it I get a little better at it, will I ever beat it? Maybe. Tune into my stream to find out.

You ever played the sequel, Super Punch Out on the SNES? I grew up with the game, probably started playing it age 4 or 5. I didn't end up actually finishing the damn thing until I was in high school. Great game though!

[DJChameleon]

You ever played the sequel, Super Punch Out on the SNES? I grew up with the game, probably started playing it age 4 or 5. I didn't end up actually finishing the damn thing until I was in high school. Great game though!

I played Super Punch Out way more than the NES original. Even though I played both.

Same thing goes for Zelda. I hated the two Zelda games on NES but on SNES, I played A Link to the Past over and over again.

[Guybrush]

I played Super Punch Out way more than the NES original. Even though I played both.

Same thing goes for Zelda. I hated the two Zelda games on NES but on SNES, I played A Link to the Past over and over again.

Yes, I've not finished either of the first two Zelda games for the NES.. But A Link to the Past, I finished over and over again. It's my favorite SNES game of all time ❤️

[DJChameleon]

Yes, I've not finished either of the first two Zelda games for the NES.. But A Link to the Past, I finished over and over again. It's my favorite SNES game of all time ❤️

Those first two Zelda games on NES are madness. I might look to see if anyone has gameplay on Youtube of the ending. I have never gotten far in either of those games.

[SGR]

Hot take but Breath of the Wild is massively overrated and represents more things I don't want in a Zelda game than things that I do. Part of my disdain for open world games is well represented by BotW. Nothing against those that do enjoy it though, more power to ya

[Guybrush]

I've started playing Starfield and it's fun enough that I'm starting to get hooked.

It's an RPG by Bethesda that feels like a mixture of various things. It's a bit of Fallout, a bit of Skyrim and a bit of No Man's Sky all put together.

The things that are a bit like No Man's Sky is the various planets, systems and exploring them. No Man's Sky does this way better. If that's why you wanna play Starfield, just play NMS instead. It's got more to do in terms of exploration and the worlds in NMS seem more vibrant and alive too. NMS also has seamless gameplay from flying around in space to flying down to the surface of planets to docking on space stations or huge ships, etc. Starfield doesn't - which feels like a step back - instead replacing these transitions with loading screens. On the other hand, getting around in Starfield is very quick due to its emphasis on fast travel. However, you do lose some of that sense that this is a seamless world as it's clearly not. The illusion is further shattered by weird things like how zones are connected. Like someplace seems far away if you travel by A, but very close to if you travel by B. How can a zone be both close to and far away? Sloppy.

BUT raiding abandoned industrial facilities on far-off worlds and killing all the space pirates that hang out there is fun. There's a lot of stuff to loot, as is usual in these Bethesda games. It's got some of those familiar gameplay tropes that many of us have become fond of over the years.

It's far from the classic that Skyrim was and not quite as engaging as Fallout 3 or 4, but I'm still having fun.

[Queen Boo]

You ever played the sequel, Super Punch Out on the SNES? I grew up with the game, probably started playing it age 4 or 5. I didn't end up actually finishing the damn thing until I was in high school. Great game though!

I played this on my Twitch stream last night, it's a lot of fun.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1924162881

[Meatwad]

Ive been playing Rainbow Islands a bit recently having discovered the retrogames.cc site. Also getting back into chess.