What a great article!!

So, I’m a huge Game Boy fan. I’d heard about how good Puyo Puyo is, so I got a Japanese copy of Puyo Puyo Tsu. From what I can tell it’s a great port. But I struggled so much getting into it! And then I read your comment…

Puyo Puyo Tsu is hard. It’s really damn hard. I’ve witnessed many new players struggle with even basic 3- and 4-chains, nevermind making the real big chains the game mode demands of you. And unlike Tetris where casual players do not need to know fancy T-Spin setups just to get started and play, you really can’t get far at all in Puyo Puyo Tsu without at least some understanding of chaining fundamentals.

…and I feel justified. 😅 What do you recommend is a good way for a new player to get into the game? Something to read, a video, or something else?

😄 The phone call was just to get some simple bonus tips, nothing really necessary.

What killed me was, to swap items, you hold Select and use the arrow keys. It’s soooo unintuitive!

That was an outstanding write-up!

On the Game Boy Advance, there’s Punch King…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS7vE0Llwkw

…and Wade Hixton’s Counter Punch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP2VkguvyTs

I haven’t played either of them, so no promises that they’re good!

Metroid II is my all-time favorite game in the series. It introduces her ship, introduces her iconic look, and is the last game in the series to not include the “break this with this item” blocks. I just love everything about that game.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motte-and-bailey_fallacy

Today I learned! :)

Justin Bailey Samus >>> Zero Suit Samus 👀

Pokémon: Let’s Go Pikachu

FYI we got this game when we we got our Switch and it sat, untouched, for YEARS, until I finally picked it up a few months ago. Honestly, I REALLY enjoyed it! BUT… the first 30 minutes to an hour are very poorly done, and are soooo boring. After that it hooked me.

As someone who’s favorite game in the series is the original Pokémon Red, I think this remake was quite well done. It looks great (much better than Sword / Shield in my opinion), and really trims out a lot of the fluff and grind of the classic games.

Also if he’s playing, you can use the second controller to join him and casually help him catch and battle Pokémon. It’s cute. :)

Let me know if you want any more in depth review or info.

I honestly don’t really use it, but I am excited about it in the future. :)

I installed it because of OSNews, my favorite tech news website. But the Gemini page seems to be down?

https://www.osnews.com/story/136770/osnews-launches-gemini-capsule/

Yes! I use the Buran app (open source on Android) to browse it. :)

Ohhhhh I thought you meant the phrase was “growing up r*****”. Took me five minutes to figure out what you meant. It’s just the one word, not the whole phrase. 😆

For anyone else confused like me, it’s the pejorative word for a person with a mental disability.

Doom, or, gzdoom! You can use it to play the original Doom 1 and 2 games with modern mouse and keyboard controls on HD displays. And there’s an endless number of fan made level packs to try.

As for open source AND free / open resources, there’s Freedoom 1 and 2. I occasionally play them, they’re fun, but a little lacking in stage design.

Thanks for following up! 🙂

I recently discovered IsabelleChiming and I am in love. They do remakes of classic gaming soundtracks.

https://isabellechiming.bandcamp.com/album/the-legend-of-zelda-remade

https://isabellechiming.bandcamp.com/album/zelda-ii-the-adventure-of-link-remade

…and I wrote the soundtrack to the recent Game Boy Color homebrew game, Dangan GB2, if you’re interested… 👀

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eJduIfPzsk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjBm44oWwsk

I can’t see the name Apogee without hearing the fanfare.

I miss Wacky Wheels.

That’s so cool! Kinda like when proud Americans sing Born in the USA not realizing the actual meaning.

Yes! I’ve played through all of the DLC many times. Here’s some details:

• There’s “only” six new stages… but these stages are MASSIVE. It did not feel short to me.

• When it was first released, the difficulty was insane. But the developers realized this and shortly released a patch to remove or tone down many of the ridiculous parts. For reference, I don’t consider myself a particularly good player (for example, I can’t do the quick swap move between two weapons) but I can beat the DLC on the hardest difficulty, Nightmare Mode.

• The arenas / fights are the reason I play Doom Eternal, and the DLC gave me exactly what I wanted, more fights! Some of the fights feel like “throw more enemies at the player”, which is what I wanted. Some of the fights feel veeeery gimmicky, but even those grew on me. For example, a room where like 20 Pinky Demons spawn in. It’s surprisingly fun, challenging, and a nice change of pace.

• There’s two new boss fights. The first one is VERY HARD, but I enjoy the concept. It’s very video gamey, and provides some clever new challenges. The second, final boss fight… I was dreading it on Nightmare, but not only was it not too challenging for me, I actually kind of enjoyed it! Many people whine about the final boss fight. To me, it seems obvious the developers were going for a “Super Marauder” type of fight. Like, the regular Marauder battles but MORE. I thought it was clever!

• There’s new suit upgrades. I don’t really use them, but they’re fun to collect.

• The one new weapon, the Hammer, is SO MUCH FUN.

• The new enemies… I love to hate them. Once again, they’re pretty gimmicky, but I enjoy the new challenge. My biggest complaint is any enemies that make you wait to attack them. Like, I’ve got these amazing weapons but the game won’t let me use them on this enemy. 😒😒😒

• I love the new music! I love the music in the main game too, but I find myself humming the music from the DLC more.

• THE ENVIRONMENTS. So, I got the DLC on sale for $10 each, and I was worried about wasting my money. UNTIL I STARTED STAGE ONE, took one look (I hadn’t even moved yet) and immediately thought, this was worth it. Love the new stage themes / environments.

…I think that’s everything. Let me know if you have any more questions! Yes, the DLC was well worth it to me, and I still enjoy replaying it.

😄 Seriously, the difficulty settings in Doom Eternal are a masterclass example of how to do it right. And you can pause the game at any time and lower / raise it as needed, and it applies instantly!

Doom Eternal

I played on easy mode, over the course of months slogged my way through over half the game getting wrecked and HATING it. And then one day…

Everything clicked. I got into the Fun Zone or Flow State or whatever it’s called. And I have been obsessed ever since. I play at least a few minutes almost every night for years now. I can now comfortably beat it in the hardest difficulty, including the DLC. And it never stops being so much fun and satisfying!

Arthur Christmas (no, not THAT Arthur)

It’s a computer animated film from Aardman Animations, the studio that makes Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run, etc. I watch it at least once a year, and every time I do I laugh hysterically, I cry, and I get wrapped up in the action. And, the story has four main characters with four really good arcs.