What do you get when you add more game modes, multiplayer, and even more of a challenge to an already great game? An instant classic. That is what Geometry Wars Evolved 2 is, an instant classic. The multiplayer is fun and addictive. The new game modes are challenging and interesting. The graphics are great. The game feels really polished. You just can’t help but enjoy this game. It’s really awesome. Really Really Really awesome.

Ok, this one doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, but it seems to be true. Apparently, even though the game is only two years old, Nintendo is no longer selling Tetris DS. I find this very hard to believe since, well they used the game to launch their DS WiFi service and the previous Tetris games pretty much made the Game Boy platform a success. Even going to places like Gamestop.com, you can’t buy Tetris. So, if you want to pick up Tetris DS, you just have to try eBay. I find that to be incredibly bizarre, but perhaps Tetris DS disn’t sell well. Or, perhaps Nintendo doesn’t like making money. I can never be sure, but here we are. No Tetris DS to be found. Lame.

So, this weekend I got to spend some quality time with Ninja Gaiden 2, and after being about five chapters in to the game, I can safely say that it truly lives up to the series high pedigree of action/puzzle/platforming. The improvements are subtle, yet significant. The graphics are improved, and the whole thing just feels like Ninja Gaiden should.

The subtleties of the changes really stand out to me since I just finished the original game. Enemies losing their limbs, but still trying to kill you complicates things(in a good way). Being able to charge your attacks fully without needing to absorb essence is another small, but important improvement.

This time around you spend more time fighting demons and a rival ninja clan than you do fighting marines which is nice because taking down helicopters and super soldiers felt a little weird in the previous game. The bosses are huge, dangerous, and quite fun. For anyone playing through this game, I recommend getting the dragon sword to lvl 3 and don’t even worry about the other weapon upgrades until you do that. It makes the boss battles much, much easier.

Big news across the internet today. Today Square-Enix confirmed that Chrono Trigger is coming to the DS. It will not be a 3-d remake like the Final Fantasy DS series has taken, but rather it will maintain the beautiful art style of Akira Toriama. Also, the game should hit stores by the end of the year. Talk about a dream come true! Now, if only they can remake Final Fantasy VII on the PS3. Perhaps they’ll finally annouce that at e3 this year. Who knows right? I for one am going to be there on day one to plunk down the $40 that Square will probably charge for Chrono Trigger DS on day one. The greatest game ever on the greatest handheld ever? Sounds like a license to print money to me.

So, I’ve been plodding through Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox a lot lately and it’s nearly complete. I didn’t realize how short the game was after you beat Alma the first time in chapter 6. Seriously, the rest of the game isn’t a huge challenge after that. Sure, there are a couple sections that kind of suck, but they aren’t what I would call “hard”. Of course, the cool thing is that Ninja Gaiden really keeps the fun level incredibly high. I can’t stop playing this game. It is just fantastic. Only two chapters left. I should finish this game shortly. It will be good to be done with it finally. After NG is done, it will be the last two major missions of Mass Effect to be done with that one. More on that soon. Peace Out!

I’m a big throwback gamer. I have a huge backlog of awesome games that I just haven’t gone back to play, so I’m kind of on a crusade to finish the next one since I’ve pwned Project Gotham 3 this week…finally. My next mission is to finally complete Ninja Gaiden. After a series of Xbox failures, saved game corruptions, and apathy, I must finish Ninja Gaiden before Ninja Gaiden 2 can be acquired. Failure is not an option. I’m no ninja dog. The demons must die.

Do you remember PGR 3? C’mon it wasn’t even that long ago! It’s a quality game. It has lots of cars, it has decent tracks, and it’s pretty fun. The kudos system works pretty well. This past weekend I spent some quality time with PGR 3 and it brought back the good and bad memories of the series for me.

Obviously the big thing about the Project Gotham series was that it oozed fun with the kudos system. Instead of taking turns perfectly, it encouraged style and flair. It also made you want to take risks which was all the better. Being a fan of the series, I’ve played all of them up to PGR 3. Sorry, PGR4, I haven’t made it that far yet.

My big gripe with the game is its bizarrely steep challenge curve. The easy mode is perhaps a bit too easy, normal is what it should be, but beyond that, the game goes into a strange brew of luck and skill to determine if you pass a race. I’m all for skill in racing games, but some of those top difficulty level runs are just plain ridiculous. Seriously.

Online play works well, but it’s too bad that you can’t take guests online. That would have made it even more fun. For a game that came out so early in the Xbox 360’s lifecycle, PGR 3 still holds up very well and is a ton of fun to play. I only wish there was a bit more variety toward the end of the game. The career mode tends to devolve into elimination or street races, which is fine, but the kudos challenges were always the most fun(and frustrating) in the previous games. d

Hey all, we’ve wandered off topic from time to time here on The Mole, but just wanted to let you know that we’re going to be focusing a lot more on gaming. Heck, we might even do a site design refresh at some point soon. Anyhow, back to fun!

Guild Wars was one of those on again, off again guilty pleasures for me. It’s a very very solid game that can be a lot of fun, but it’s also easy to forget about. World of Warcraft clearly has the heart of most MMO players and I’ve spent a fair share of time in that game as well. However, I could never quite shake the feeling that WoW was more of a job and less of a game. I can’t quite explain, but rarely did I feel like I was “playing” WoW and more often I was “grinding” WoW for lewt or what have you. Now, a lot of that has to do with my play style, but who cares it gets old after a while. I’m not terribly social. Guild Wars seems to fit the more Diablo 2 style that is more my personality. It’s free to keep playing. It’s fun. It’s more of a pick up and put down kind of game which I love.

Anyhow, there’s a great preview of that game available on Massively.com.

Guess what, the new iPhone is only $199! Awesome, cool, rah rah rah! Wait, hold on a tic… The 3g service is $30 a month instead of $20? So, by cutting price by $200, they actually jacked the total price up by $240. Greeeaaaat. Well played Apple. Well played At&T. Let’s not even mention that 3g isn’t available in most areas that aren’t major metropolitan areas. Oh well. At least it’s still a relatively cheap way to get into an iPhone. Relatively. Still, if you want to save money, buy an iPod touch and duct tape a RAZR to it. It’s a win win win that way.