Keepers is a weekly segment in which I discuss games I’ve played that I’ve seen fit to keep after playing. I generally sell a game that I’ve finished, so the only reason I keep one is because I plan to replay the game some day. Classifying a game as a “keeper” is generally a badge of merit.

Mario Kart. You’ll notice that I left off a version here, because I really think that probably every version of this game is a keeper. I always hear a lot about Mario Kart 64, which I’ve never played, but I have played a couple other versions. The first one I got was Mario Kart DS, which was one of two games I bought with my very first DS: The DS Lite, on its launch day. Great game, and it’s one I’ll always be able to go back to. It’s tons of fun to sit on the couch and race against people from Shelton, Sheboygan, and Shebuya. The maps give me a good variety of maps in previous Kart games I’ve never played, and learning new shortcuts is always fun. Also, plenty to unlock. I actually think it took me over a year to fully unlock everything, playing as casually as I do.

Mario Kart Wii is also a lot of fun, in large part because my wife really enjoys playing it with me. The “Wii Wheel” is her method of choice for steering, although I much prefer the accuracy afforded me by the nunchuck. Online ranked races are great, and Linda and I can play together against people from all over the country. We take note of other couples playing and tend to root for them. It’s also very cool to see peoples’ Miis, and for other players to be able to see your Mii sitting in the Kart.

The Kart games aren’t ones that I’ll play regularly, but I’ll always enjoy going back to them.

How interesting is it that “Tower Defense” has become a game genre? Currently, I’m playing three separate games in that genre. That’s a lotta tower defensing.

Firstly, Popcap’s Plants versus Zombies. When I initially heard about the game, I wrote it off. I was never a huge fan of Peggle or Diner Dash, and despite the fact that I really liked Word Worm Adventures and Zuma, hearing that Popcap had a new game out generally hasn’t been as exciting to me as hearing that Blizzard or Bioware has a new game out. But once I tried the demo, I’d finished playing it and then bought and downloaded the game before that evening was over. Plants vs Zombies is a crazy addictive game. The things that really make the game fun are the differing stages (daytime, night, the pool in the backyard, foggy nights, zombies on the rooftop) the differing zombies (pole vaulter zombies, tunneller zombies, Master Blaster zombies out of Thunderdome) and the huge number of plants available and their abilities. Just when you get used to what’s going on, the game has something new for you. Lots of fun.

I finished “Adventure Mode” on Plants vs Zombies last night, but there’s still endurance mode and lots of minigames to play. I may actually try to get all the Steam achievements on this one. What’s moustache mode?

Secondly, Defense Grid: The Awakening. The game seemed to have gotten good reviews, and was inexpensive enough that I’ve given it a try. Steam achievements are a plus too. But the game has totally failed to suck me in like Plants vs Zombies has. Maybe when I play it more, it will grow on me, but my initial impression isn’t a good one.

Finally, Desktop Tower Defense for the Nintendo DS. When I first played the free online version of this game, it totally sucked me in, and I couldn’t help but think what an excellent game this would be for the Nintendo DS. I haven’t yet played the DS version enough to give it anything approaching a review, but it turns out that they’ve also added achievements and the ability to create your own towers and creeps. It can be difficult sometimes to tell which towers are which on such a low-resolution screen, but overall it’s the same as the online flash version, and I’m really enjoying it. It does seem a bit easier, so perhaps I’ll try playing on hard mode, which I was never quite able to beat in the online version.

This is the third part in a series I’m writing on games that I played so long ago that I’d almost forgotten them.

Back in the early nineties, the big to-do about “The 7th Guest” was its 3D graphics and FMV. Since it was one of the first games to be released on CD-ROM only, the developers could use much larger files. By today’s standards, the game looks like crap. But what I really remember most about it was the puzzles.

While many of the puzzles were not unlike those you’d see in Professor Layton and the Curious Village, the game was decidedly more mature in nature, and the puzzles more diverse. Although I never actually completed the game, I distinctly remember a puzzle where you have to cut an oddly-shaped cake into pieces of equal size, one where you need to rearrange canned goods into a specific order, one where you need to draw over every line of a spider web without retracing a line, and a terribly frustrating 3D maze where you’re taunted each time you hit a dead end by a voice that says “Feeling lonely?”

Those who remember The 7th Guest will likely know what I mean when I say that the game holds a warm place in my heart.

• Malaria’s most prominent symptom is sudden-onset dizziness and blurred vision which disappears almost instantly when you take a malaria pill. Still, if it hits when you’re just about to cross a bridge, expect to smash through the guardrail and face a watery death.
• In Africa, guns rust in a matter of hours.
• As long as you have a friend willing to rescue you, you cannot die.
• Injections of magical healing fluid can instantly heal any wound. Why doesn’t someone build a continuous-drip IV of this stuff and become like Wolverine?
• Repairs to African vehicles are easy. When a car crashes or is hit by gunfire, you need only open the hood and tighten the large bolt at the front to repair any and all damage. Of course, there is a large notice on the engine block that reads “Warning: You will be killed or hurt.”
• Despite the fact that every vehicle ever built in Africa has a GPS navigation system with a built-in diamond detector, there are hundreds of unlocked briefcases full of diamonds scattered throughout the country, and nobody has found them.

I don’t play Team Fortress 2 anymore, largely because everyone else has gotten so good that me playing becomes a kind of joke. But it really is a good game, and I’ve followed all the “Meet the…” movies. This is the best one.

Okay, so maybe I’m a year late to the party on You Have to Burn the Rope, but there’s a story behind that. The first time I tried it, despite it being perhaps the easiest game ever written, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t figure out how to play. I later figured out that this was because of some bug that skipped the game and caused it to go directly to the end credits. So essentially, I was watching the end credits that were congratulating me for beating the game which I hadn’t played. I was confused.

Anyway, it’s a quick game. If you haven’t played You Have to Burn the Rope, give it a quick try. Read the walkthrough if you need to. It is Friday, after all.

Play You Have to Burn the Rope

Keepers is a weekly segment in which I discuss games I’ve played that I’ve seen fit to keep after playing. I generally sell a game that I’ve finished, so the only reason I keep one is because I plan to replay the game some day. Classifying a game as a “keeper” is generally a badge of merit.

This is the first Playstation 1 game I’ve included as part of “Keepers”, but I do still have my good old PS1 here, and I do have my dance pads ready to go. It’s been years since I’ve seriously gotten into DDR, but at one time, I was pretty damn good at it. I could burn through “Smoke on the Water” at maniac difficulty, and fly through Afronova and Drop the Bomb without breaking a sweat. Okay, maybe I did break a sweat. But still.

There aren’t many good exercise games, and I’ll take DDR over Wii Fit any day. Some of the editions had some very odd J-pop, but the original DDR USA had a lot of really good stuff. I guess there’s only so much I can write about the game, but rest assured that it holds a special place in my heart, and that I won’t be getting rid of those dance pads anytime soon.

This is just too good. A bit more Parkour-y than I’d have expected, but despite my indifference for Assassins’ Creed, this looks great. My most anticipated game, period.

This is the second part in a series I’m writing on games that I played so long ago that I’d almost forgotten them. This week, I’ll be talking about an old Dungeons & Dragons title that pre-dates Baldur’s Gate.

“Dark Sun: Shattered Lands” was good for many of the same reasons as Baldur’s Gate. It was turn-based rather than using Baldur’s Gate’s pause-based gameplay. While it was considered one of the “Gold Box games”, following such gems as Pool of Radiance and Azure Bonds, it bore much more of a resemblance to Baldur’s Gate.

It used Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition rules, just as Baldur’s Gate did, and allowed for the same kind of strategic combat that Baldur’s Gate did.

While it was released in 1993, I got a copy much later as part of some kind of multi-game value pack. As such, I may have played Baldur’s Gate before Dark Sun. In addition to all the standard spells, Dark Sun used psionics, and a number of other special rules specific to AD&D’s Dark Sun setting. While there were no dwarves or elves, you could play as a half-giant or Thri-kreen. Weird.

You began the game as a slave gladiator, a la Conan. By the end, I remember my party battling an army. There must have been dozens of troops, as well as wizards summoning Djinni to attack me, and clerics healing the troops I wounded. That was a fun game.

This one seems to qualify as abandonware too, so if you’re into DOSBOX, you might want to visit this page and check it out.

This is the fourth part of my series of Braid hints. It’s not a walkthrough, because simply giving the puzzles’ answers would ruin the game. But I got so frustrated at the game that I gave in to temptation and looked online to find answers to a puzzle in both world 2 and world 3, so I’m now providing the spoiler-free hints I wish I’d had access to.

The official walkthrough says…

Some of the puzzles will be hard. But when you manage to solve those hard puzzles, you will feel very good about it. The game will feel very rewarding. Don’t rob yourself of that feeling by reading a walkthrough!

I urge you to only read the hints on levels where you’re completely stuck. Once you read a spoiler, you can never un-read it.

World 6: Hesitance

World 6 introduces the ring. The ring that slows time. And creates all kinds of freaking difficult puzzles…

The Pit?
There’s actually no puzzle piece here.

There and Back Again
1. (very easy)
No hint.

Phase?
1. (easy)
It might take a bit longer than you like to get there, but two steps forward one step back is still progress.

2. (medium)
Take note that you can climb all the way to the top.

Cascade
1. (medium) – this is the one at the upper left
You’ll need to use the ring, and you’ll need to have some pretty good timing. Thank goodness for the rewind button.

2. (very hard) – this is the one just above the door
There are many many steps involved here, as you’ll notice if you’re manage to get the key. Put the ring in a hard-to-get-to place.

3. (easy)
You’ll need to use the ring here too.

Impassible Foliage
1. (hard)
There are two challenges in getting this puzzle piece. Firstly, getting past the plant. You need to find a way to use the ring to slow it without slowing yourself. Secondly, actually getting to the puzzle piece. If you’re having trouble with this, just enter the level, stand still, and watch what’s going on. You might have to kill a couple monsters while watching, but just watch.

2. (very hard)
To me, this is one of the hardest puzzles in the game. Obviously, bouncing off of one monster doesn’t get you up there. You’ll likely spend a lot of time in trial and error to get two through. It’s tedious. Experiment with different positions for the ring. It’s helpful to remember that you can jump up through certain portions of floor.

Elevator Action
1. (medium)
This is one of my favorite puzzles in the game. The solution is so elegant. I’m really hesitant to give even a hint, since finding the answer is so fun. Getting past the cannons is pretty easy, it’s getting out that’s the trick. I urge you not to read this hint: How can you slow down not just one or two, but all the cannons?

2. (very hard)
This was the last puzzle piece in the game that I ever got. The thing I wish I’d known was that one of those two moving platforms is actually blocking the other one. Knowing this by no means makes the whole thing easy, but it sure helps.

3. (medium)
The trick here is to realize that once you’re on either of the glowing platforms, you’re immune to both rewinding and to the ring’s time-slowing.

In Another Castle
1. (hard)
It’s all about the glowing section of floor to the left of the lever.