What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[Age of Kings]

Pokemon Black, Impossible Creatures, Dragon Quest IX, Disgaea DS. A strange combination of three RPGs with turn based combat systems and one RTS. I also have an itching to play Age of Empires II w/ The Conquerors again...

[RNGmaster]

Just found my old copy of FF Tactics Advance. I am going to have very little free time, considering this and STGT practice.

[R-Gray 1]

Well, Im almost new on Ps3 ( I played just 3 times ps3) but yesterday i was playing with friends:

Super Street fighter IV....very nice playing without ultras or special SSFIV techniques because im new on this game.
Mortal Kombat II .....very fun I won many battles xD
Tekken 6....desception,,,,i just played few fights and I can say is the same of tekken 5, and I don´t like too much that game ( i preffer Tekken tag), but well I had saw in youtube the Tekken 6 gameplay, so that didn´t impress me.

[RNGmaster]

Mrs. Splosion Man was just released. I'm in heaven. Going to take a break from shmupping before StellaVanity trial and STGT.

[BIL]

Replaying Castlevania Chronicles (X68K PS1 port), original mode... man, I'd forgotten how tough it is in places. Tower of Gears is really nasty. It kicked my ass for a solid hour before I managed to get by that damn werewolf.

Does anyone else find this a game of two halves, where the quality of the level design is concerned? The first four stages are aesthetically dull and low on interesting challenges - feels like a cheap imitation of Castlevania. Then Tower of Gears hits and suddenly it's top-flight oldschool CV with relentless, high-precision action/platforming. The bits that deliberately recall other CVs (Stage 6's CV4 reference) are actually up to par with those games, not shamed by them (like dull Stage 4, which remembered CV1/ST2's crushers but forgot the awesome pits).

Still enjoyable early on, but nothing as gripping as the second half (or any good oldschool CV). I wish it just went from the obligatory CV1 entryway redux to stage 5.

[drauch]

Chronicles is awesome, but yeah, it's damned brutal. Some of the jumps in that game are so damn precise. Not as bad as Castlevania Adventure on Gameboy, though...

[ST Dragon]

Command & Conquer 4!
Yeah and despite the lack of base building the action & strategy are quite intense and the music is awesome & epic!

[Horacechin]

Mega man battle network on GBA

[louisg]

Alien Crush on PC Engine (in between games of Zero Gunner 2)

[BrianC]

Been playing some 2600 Adventure and a bit of Basketball on the Atari 800.

[Treasurance]

Big Bang Age.
Freaking amazing.

[saucykobold]

Replaying Castlevania Chronicles (X68K PS1 port), original mode... man, I'd forgotten how tough it is in places. Tower of Gears is really nasty. It kicked my ass for a solid hour before I managed to get by that damn werewolf.

Does anyone else find this a game of two halves, where the quality of the level design is concerned?

I definitely agree that the second half of the game is head and shoulders above the first. Stage 5 is a joy to play and does a better job of capturing the feel of a haunted clock tower than any other level in the series. Stage 8 is a perfect finale: challenging, fairly lengthy, one engaging sequence after another.

The first four levels aren't nearly as good, but I think they have enough merits to be worth playing. There are several interesting sights--stage 3's archers and 4's bleeding statue and stained glass man come to mind. I also think these levels have some involving sections. For example, stage 2's opening spiked pit area can be rather tense in later loops--plenty of lurking bats that want to knock you to your death.

[JJXB]

Marvel vs Capcom 3.
not bad so far. and i've only played offline and online with one friend that i know well enough that i can spar with and not have any trouble. but if you're up for a game or two, GT is up in the XBL Gamertags, PSN ID, Wii/3DS/GameCenter/OpenFeint/etc. IDs thread.
Oh, and i had some fun playing Red Dead Redemption online with a friend in co-op and free roam.

[BIL]

"Thanks to the hero, Simon Belmondo!" Always makes me smile, that.

For example, stage 2's opening spiked pit area can be rather tense in later loops--plenty of lurking bats that want to knock you to your death.

Having just made it into the second loop with its turbo-propelled bats, I think I see what you mean! I'm going to try to clear at least this loop... this game is so much better in Original mode. The more punishing damage scale emphasises its real strength, methodical CV3-style challenge.

I think it's mainly stage 3's flat layout that disappoints me in the game's first half, since CV1's more vertical and perilous version is a favourite of mine. But the action itself is great. It helps that the whip feels pretty powerful in this game. Nice "WHAP" sound effect and greater speed/range than other oldschool CVs.

It's also a lot better-looking without the obvious Simon sprite edit. Stage 7 is wonderfully gruesome - ah, the old days when Dracula was just one evil sonofabitch. I'd forgotten other neat touches like the Doppleganger vomiting a torrent of shattered glass upon dying, and that walled-off altar in the last stage.

edit: Just checked your YT channel, saucy - there's a set eight loops? I'd assumed it was endless, this is way more interesting. I'll be playing this for the next while!

[CMoon]

I'm still playing Dragon Age Origins. Even with the summer off, this is taking a long while. Just wanted to vent about the Circle of Mages quest. Seriously, I've been in love with this game up until this point. Was even contemplating whether it was good enough for a replay with a different build....until I got to this: seriously, the laziest part of the game. I don't remember at what point I said I wanted to ditch my whole party, not be able to use some of my skills and play some goddamn shape-shifting mini-game for hours on end where if I get it wrong I have to reload (which, on the PS3 takes longer than downloading porn.) I'd really love to know who thought of this idea so I could e-mail them a big 'fuck you!'. I mean, maybe have it so I can regain a party member at each stage and have the difficulty scale accordingly. Wait, I've got a good analogy here...

You're playing dodonpachi, only the next to the last level is a goddamn mahjong level.

No, even better, like in Bayonetta where the game forgets what the fuck it is and just turns into a space harrier simulator for 10 minutes. Only, make it 5 hours and keep the PS3 Bayonetta loading times. Seriously, fuck you!!!

Wait, no, the best analogy ever. Playing Snake for 15 minutes, only to realize the whole rest of the game is fucking Raiden. Oh, no wait, that's actually worse, sorry.

Whew! OK guys, it was either vent here or throw my controller at the wall.

[rapoon]

EDF: Insect.

Ordered Deadly Premonition off Amazon.
Waiting on Catherine and El Shaddia. Was so excited
about El Shaddai after playing the demo; I think its awesome. hardly any QTE's, high difficulty.
fucking release date pushed back.

[mrsmiley381]

I've been trying to play through Dead Rising. It is more often incredibly frustrating than it is actually fun. Saving survivors is pretty terrible.

[sjewkestheloon]

I'm still playing Dragon Age Origins. Even with the summer off, this is taking a long while. Just wanted to vent about the Circle of Mages quest. Seriously, I've been in love with this game up until this point. Was even contemplating whether it was good enough for a replay with a different build....until I got to this: seriously, the laziest part of the game. I don't remember at what point I said I wanted to ditch my whole party, not be able to use some of my skills and play some goddamn shape-shifting mini-game for hours on end where if I get it wrong I have to reload (which, on the PS3 takes longer than downloading porn.) I'd really love to know who thought of this idea so I could e-mail them a big 'fuck you!'. I mean, maybe have it so I can regain a party member at each stage and have the difficulty scale accordingly. Wait, I've got a good analogy here...

You're playing dodonpachi, only the next to the last level is a goddamn mahjong level.

No, even better, like in Bayonetta where the game forgets what the fuck it is and just turns into a space harrier simulator for 10 minutes. Only, make it 5 hours and keep the PS3 Bayonetta loading times. Seriously, fuck you!!!

Wait, no, the best analogy ever. Playing Snake for 15 minutes, only to realize the whole rest of the game is fucking Raiden. Oh, no wait, that's actually worse, sorry.

Whew! OK guys, it was either vent here or throw my controller at the wall.

Yep that part is kind of sucky but it becomes better on later playthroughs as you can easily learn where everything is and blast the Fade part in lless than an hour. As painful as it may be, you should explore thoroughly and get all of the stat boosting trigger points as they help a lot.

I actually got 1000/1000 achievements in DA:Os last night and then moved on to Awakening which I plan to max out now.

[saucykobold]

I'd assumed it was endless, this is way more interesting.

It keeps going for 255ish loops, actually =D. If I remember correctly, the difficulty maxes out at loop 6.

Some of the changes are very cool. I love how the giant bats in the last level will eventually become relentless pursuers. Even the simple addition of baddies is generally quite effective (Tower of Gears + more malfunctioning machinery = good fun).

[BIL]

I should've known it'd be something like 255, being a Konami game. Ah well, eight or so's a good target to shoot for. Interesting to hear about the giant bats in stage 8 - I was surprised at how easily they could be taken out in Loop 1, compared to the NES original (I always just run past them in CV1).

[ratlhead]

Just finished Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands on Wii. Not on par with SoT, T2T or my personal favorite, PoP 2008, but definitely much better than half-assed 360/PS3/PC versions.

[null1024]

Super Mario Galaxy 2 and New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
Having loads of fun with Galaxy, not so much with NSMB Wii [it's still enjoyable though].

[ChainsawGuitarSP]

this game is so much better in Original mode. The more punishing damage scale emphasises its real strength, methodical CV3-style challenge.

IIRC, arrange mode's hard difficulty is pretty close to the original. I personally prefer the aesthetic. Don't understand how removing whip upgrades between stages is supposed to add challenge though. I should really give this game another go.

[mouser]

Transformers: War for Cybertron on 360.

Quite a hidden gem for me. Besides having great gameplay (kind of plays like Gears of War), has nothing to do with those Michael Bay movies, but more like a prequel to G1 Transformers. Only thing it lacks IMO is splitscreen co-op.

[TransatlanticFoe]

Super Mario Galaxy 2 and New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
Having loads of fun with Galaxy, not so much with NSMB Wii [it's still enjoyable though].

Because they're not dropping in price (as opposed to nearly every other Wii game which nosedives to about £10-15 in a few months) and I have a bit of a backlog, I've not picked up either Galaxy yet. Or Zelda.

New Super Mario Bros. (xmas present) is mostly brilliant though I thought. It's not up there with Mario 3 but it's level with Mario World for me - only the needless "shake to fly" helicopter thing gets on my nerves. It's too easy to get extra lives though, so although there are some devious levels later on it is quite easy... but then if the made it hard, Lost Levels style, it'd put off a large portion of players off.

[BIL]

IIRC, arrange mode's hard difficulty is pretty close to the original. I personally prefer the aesthetic.

I'll say one thing for Arrange mode - the arranged version of "Moon Fight" (Stage 6 1st BGM) is a knockout. The exuberant vibe is straight out of the super-catchy Dracula X: Rondo (PCE) OST.

Actually, I feel about the Arrange soundtrack much like the level design... first half is pretty blah trancey stuff, second is a massive quality boost with its killer rock and orchestral arrangements.

[ChainsawGuitarSP]

Shame you only get to hear like, 1/3 of the song in-game unless you dick around for a bit. The only thing arrange mode is missing is the Load BGM. I can't deny that tune is pretty funky.

[BIL]

Hey, you were right about Arrange on Hard, and then some. Not only does it use the Original damage scale, but also Loop 2-ish enemy behaviour and frequency. It doesn't seem to loop at all though (playing the Japanese version - not sure about the others, but this one didn't reset the whip/subweapons between stages). Just cleared it and got booted back to the title screen with Time Attack + Ranking unlocked.

[Daigohji]

I finished Shadows of the Damned yesterday and was pretty disappointed. It's not a bad game, by any measure. The problem is that you expect the combination of Shinji Mikami, Suda51, and Akira Yamaoka to result in something new and exciting. Instead it plays like a reheat of what those three have been doing for the last seven years, minus the most inspired moments. There's nothing to match the atmosphere of Resident Evil 4's opening hours. There's nothing to match the visceral insanity of Killer7. The only parts of Yamaoka's score that are remarkable are the bits ripped directly from Silent Hill.

Combat is solid, but nothing we haven't seen a hundred times before. There's a measly three weapons that get periodic upgrades. There's only a handful of different enemy types. The locations are bland from start to finish, with the only vaguely memorable section being an Evil Dead homage in a cabin. The banter between Garcia and Johnson is reasonable in a juvenile sort of way, but nothing special. The story is the typical "the princess is in another castle" affair with a minor twist that's telegraphed halfway through. The darkness mechanic adds a little tension to the gameplay, but not much.

On the whole it's the archetype of the 7/10 game: good, but not memorable. There are worse games to spend eight hours on, but I don't feel I got my £40 worth.

[Hagane]

Super Street Fighter II Turbo, just finished playing like 200 matches in a row with a friend.

I'm also playing Star Ocean 2 again, not as good as I remembered it to be but still much more enjoyable than most of the games in the genre. Currently at Cave of Trials with Chisato / Precis / Celine / Rena. Hearing ROCKETTO PANCHI!!! (undub version) over and over can drive anyone insane lol.