Pikmin 3 – Distant Tundra

It had been a while since I played Pikmin 3, so I decided to continue my adventure tonight. Just to be clear though, don’t mistake my long gaps without playing to mean that the game isn’t good; in fact, it’s great so far. Anyway, it was Day 6 for me, and I headed off to the Distant Tundra area. As our ship descended, we hit a rock and Brittany fell out of the ship. So once again, Alph and Brittany were separated. It felt like a cheap plot device, but it allows Brittany to discover the yellow Pikmin. Yellow Pikmin are lighter and can be thrown farther, but they can also conduct electricity.

p3-ypBrittany begins the level in a cave. The first main goal of the level is to reunite Alph and Brittany. Both of them must find pieces of a bridge and have their respective Pikmin build their half of the bridge. But the Distant Tundra is a large level, and each character’s bridge pieces are scattered in different locations. There is a spot where the river that separates them isn’t very wide, and the characters are able to toss Pikmin across to the other.

p3-tossOf course there are enemies to fight, and you need to keep recovering fruit as well. But I didn’t reunite the two explorers until my third day in the tundra. But once I had the bridge built, it was much easier to navigate around the level.

p3-bridgeI’m having a blast just exploring and finding new areas.  I’m also really liking the map on the Wii U gamepad. You can scroll the map to see where you need to go, and it automatically pauses the action when you do. You can direct a group to go to a certain area automatically, and it’s very helpful when you’re multitasking with two different groups. I’m already looking forward to the next time I play it.

Castlevania (NES)

Lately, I’ve been thinking about replaying the original Castlevania for NES. I’ve played the game years ago, eventually reaching the final boss, but I never beat the game. So I decided to pick up the game today and give it another try. It was like a trip down memory lane, seeing familiar levels and familiar enemies. And of course, I remembered to check the walls for hidden items and food. It’s a good thing that whoever built this castle remembered to hide food in the walls! Hey! It’s still warm!

cv-2It isn’t long into the game when the challenge picks up. I’ll get reacquainted with a certain type of enemy and I’ll think “Oh, I remember them…I hate them!”  Whether it’s those pesky bats with the irregular flight patterns, those evil jumping hunchbacks, or the notoriously heinous Medusa heads, they make certain parts of the game frustrating.

cv-8The worst part is when you have to jump from tiny platforms while avoiding flying enemies at the same time.

cv-10But despite some initially frustrating areas, I was able to make pretty good progress. Even though Castlevania doesn’t have a save/password feature, it does have unlimited continues. So it’s easy to keep giving it another go.

cv-11I made it up to level 15 or so. But after several tries, my game froze up. I had no choice but to turn the game off and lose my progress. I had a good time playing the game though. It may be old, but the gameplay still stands up well and it’s quite fun to play. I didn’t beat the game today, but I’m going to give it another try soon. Once I do, I’ll be sure to write up a review.

Update: My game continued to crash on level 15, and I eventually had to buy a replacement cartridge. It worked better, and I beat the game in February 2014. My review is here.

Pikmin 3 – Armored Mawdad

It’s actually been a while since I last played Pikmin 3, but I picked it back up tonight. I tested out the Tropical Winds level, which is a huge area with lots of enemies. I explored some, but ultimately I decided not to save my game. Instead, I returned to the Garden of Hope with Alph and Brittany, as I continued my search for the captain. After throwing some Pikmin across a river, building a bridge, and tearing down a wall, I found a data file left behind by Captain Olimar! Very interesting.

p3-olimarI then stumbled into the nest of this huge creature, called an armored mawdad!

p3-crystalbossIt was covered in crystal armor, so I had to throw rock Pikmin at it to break the crystal before I could do any damage to it. Once I (eventually) defeated it, it coughed up an old cell phone. Can you hear me now?

p3-cellApparently the signal I thought was coming from the captain was actually coming from this phone. So I still don’t know where the captain is. But the phone did expand my ship’s range (somehow), so I can now travel to a new area called the Distant Tundra. I wrapped up my game for tonight, but I’ll return to the world of Pikmin 3 sometime soon!