Status: 1 playthrough complete

Total Time:  19hr 1min
Puzzles Solved: 138 
Total Picarats: 5048

Professor Layton and the Last Specter (or Specter’s Flute, depending on your region) it the first in a trilogy of prequels to the best selling puzzle series. Layton receives a letter from his old friend Clark Triton, requesting his help in the town of Misthallery. A mysterious specter comes out at night, destroying homes in various parts of town, and putting the lives of many innocent people in jeopardy. Layton barely has time to meet his new assistant, Emmy, when the two rush off to Misthallery and solve the puzzle that awaits them.

When Professor Layton reaches his friend’s home, he finds Clark shocked to see him. His friend swears he did not send the letter asking for aid. It is after this exchange that the Professor makes an effort to introduce himself to Clark’s son, Luke. Luke is amazed to meet his father’s dearest friend and asks that he join Layton and Emmy on their quest to find out what is really going on in town.

Emmy, Luke and Professor Layton

In true Professor Layton fashion, Last Specter once again offers an intriguing whodunit littered with mind-stretching puzzles around every corner. You never have to go too far to find a resident willing to share a brainteaser. Many of the puzzles you’ll encounter will seem familiar to those solved in the past. They are definitely different puzzles, just very familiar in format: sliding puzzles, math, elimination, etc. If you miss a puzzle here and there, don’t fret! Those unfinished puzzles will head over to Granny Riddleton’s shack or you can keep an eye out for her cat, Keats, around town. He’s minding the shack while Granny heads off on vacation as it is.  Hint coins are all over the place, hiding in windows and bushes to help out when you are positively stumped. Also returning is the Super Hint option first available in Unwound Future.

Once more, there are collectibles and mini-games to acquire during the course of your time in Misthallery. Twenty four odds and ends are hidden in this country town, waiting for you to find them. (Hint: there is one under a table in the cafe.) Tapping certain areas repeatedly with the stylus and clearing the dust will help you find them. As for mini-games, Last Specter contains three. The first are the Toy Train courses. Each course has a different layout, and you must form a track that helps the train (or trains) get from start to finish while visiting every station on the map. Next is the Fish Tank game. In this game, you must help the fish eat all of the coins by using air bubbles to redirect their course. The final game, the Puppet Theatre, requires you to “direct” three different plays and insert the correct action word into the script. All courses and action words are gained by correctly solving certain puzzles throughout the main game.

Separate from the main game but included on the game card is yet a fourth mini-game. London Life is accessed via the main select screen, and here you will create a Layton-esque avatar which you will use to help out your neighbours (all familiar faces from the series). Each day, new quests will open up for you to complete; solving crimes, finding lost items, and taking part time jobs to earn more Wealth, as examples. Doing good deeds for your neighbours will also increase your Happiness. The higher (and maxed out) your Happiness, the more Wealth you will collect. Your Wealth can be spent on clothing, items needed for quests and decorating your bedroom. Red quests have the shortest time frame for completion, yellow ones second, and the green ones are more forgiving for time.

Level-5 has always done amazingly well with the cut scenes and audio work in the Professor Layton series, keeping me in awe of their ability to get the most out of the DS card. As before, I am impressed with the quality of the voice overs, as those British accents are the only voices I can associate with Layton and Luke that ring true to my ears. And as much as I wasn’t too keen on Emmy’s character (she seemed a little too cheery and possessive of Layton for me), her voice did fit her character well. Extremely happy with what Level-5 has put together, as I expected I would.

The Specter of Misthallery

Overall Opinion

My addiction to the Professor Layton series is a well-established fact. As I sit here writing this review with my Layton Revoltech figure on my desk and my DS on a table to my left (which still has the game inside as I intend to finish the last half dozen puzzles I missed), I am already anxious for the next game to be released outside of Japan. So anxious that I plan on watching the Eternal Diva movie at least once a month until that time comes. If you had told me years ago that I would be this in love with a puzzle game, I would have scoffed and told you you were dead wrong. I have Cathy, my old Nintendo rep, to thank for getting me hooked on the series.

I had a great time witnessing the first interactions of Layton and his new apprentice, Luke. And as much as I am not overly fond of Emmy, I want to see how her story with Layton plays out. The London Life mini-game is also entertaining, and after only a couple of hours, I’ve played about 10 “days” in the game.

I suppose the only negative thing I have to say about Last Specter is that the spine of the case does not match the others, making it look dull alongside the other installments on my DS shelf.

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Status:

Puzzle solving is great for your brain, so says Dr. Kawashima, the genius behind all the Brain Age games. And if the doctor tells you to play more puzzle solving games, then you should listen to what he is telling you. While this might not be one of his endorsed games, Puzzle Expedition is definitely going to give your problem solving skills a good workout. Playing as Ana and her guide, Ben, you set off on an adventure through Cambodia, Alaska, Egypt and Atlantis in search of Ana’s missing father. As you clear each area of the map, Ana and Ben come across clues to aid the pair in their search. The story is there as a means to deliver the puzzles, but it’s actually not overly contrived, making you think you are playing some epic story.

Puzzle Expedition features over 90 puzzles spread through 4 main areas as well as a hidden bonus area. Each level requires you to use both Ana and Ben, pushing blocks, flipping levers, and using transportation devices to create paths to each level’s exit. The most important thing to note is blocks can only be pushed and never pulled. Once you push it into a corner, the only way to undo it is to restart the level, something that may cause some frustration if you were 2 moves away from reaching the exit. Using the various types of blocks (normal, exploding, ice, magnetized), lifts, teleporters and other useful gadgets, making sure Ana and Ben both reach the exit is a fun but sometimes very frustrating exercise in patience.

Brrrrr! Alaska is cold!

The adventure purely uses the digital pad and buttons to control and offers no touch screen support, which I am okay with. I’d hate to accidentally brush a spot and have a block move to an undesirable location and ruin the pathway I’ve been working on for the last five minutes. I always seem to forget this and tap my characters to switch who I am using, which makes me move blocks in directions I don’t mean to go in. That’s just because I keep expecting there to be touch elements, even though I’ve been playing this for a while now.

I do wish there was more of a variety in the types of puzzles available in Puzzle Expedition. While each level is completely different, they are somewhat repetitive. You know that you’ll be doing the same kind of thing in each level, and as you progress and come across new types of blocks or items to use, odds are they all end up thrown into each level. It’s great to be offered a challenge and you feel amazing when you finally get both characters to the exit, but sometimes it can be a bit of a turn-off, which is part of the reason it has taken me so long to sit down and write about the game. I’ve been completely stumped and used all three available skip tokens (which can only be regained by clearing a level previously skipped). Thankfully, there are some people who have been nice enough to upload step by step guides to help me get through some of the more difficult puzzles.

Overall Opinion

Puzzle Expedition DS is a great addition to any puzzle lover’s DS collection. You definitely need to put your thinking cap on when you sit down with some of these levels, and if you run out of skip tokens and end up just as stuck as I seem to keep getting, there is this handy step by step guide you can look to for some assistance. It doesn’t replace the Professor Layton games as the best DS puzzlers out there, but it is loads better than some of the others I’ve come across.

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Super Mario Galaxy 2 shares a lot in common with it’s predecessor: your primary objective is to collect the Power Stars needed to fuel the Luma starship, a Mario shaped planetoid, from one galaxy to another. Along the way you will pick up Star Bits, free trapped Lumas, meet inhabitants from a wide array of unique planets, and cross paths with members of the Toad Brigade scattered about, looking for ways to help you rescue the Princess.

Mario travels the universe with a Luma who hides under his plumber’s cap and gives him the ability to perform spins. Some galaxies also feature Yoshi, the lovable green dino with an appetite for almost anything he can grab with his tongue. And of course there are plenty of Bowser’s minions just waiting for you to pounce on. So far, everything sounds like business as usual for Mario.

Each World contains several galaxies with various stars hidden deep within. Progressing to the next World requires a minimum Star count and an encounter with Bowser Jr. There are your normal golden Stars as well as bonus ones waiting to be discovered. As with Super Mario Galaxy, these can be found by clearing a level with a Comet Coin or performing other tasks on certain planets. You can also purchase access to hidden galaxies by feeding Star Bits to Hungry Lumas. Green Stars only become available once you have unlocked Luigi as a playable character, much like the first Wii adventure.

You will also encounter various “Power Ups” which are at Mario’s disposal. New to Super Mario Galaxy 2 are the Rock Mushroom (giving Mario the ability to turn into a giant boulder and smash things), the Cloud Flower (allows you to create clouds for reaching new heights), and the Power Drill (spin-dig your way through the ground to get from one point to another or enter underground caverns). You’ll also have access to the Fire Flower, the Rainbow Star and the Bee, Boo and Spring Suits.

The game gets major points for the beautiful planet levels, even the ones that I completely loathed playing through. Each level is well detailed and bursting with vibrant colour, sometimes so gorgeous you just have to stop and play with the camera, checking out every single angle. Whether swimming, sticking, rolling or flying, Super Mario Galaxy 2 delivers the graphical eye candy gamers have come to expect from the franchise since it moved to three dimensions.

Unfortunately, the game suffers from a horrible range of difficulty. You’ll go from an incredibly easy level with minimal puzzle solving to a level that frustrates you to the point of nearly throwing your Wiimote into the closest wall. Super Mario Galaxy 2 simply lacks proper difficulty progression which is a major turn off to young children and regular gamers alike. Not everyone has the patience to make twenty-plus attempts to clear a level. And with the exception of Yoshi’s new role in the game, so much of the game feels re-hashed. I kept waiting to be wowed by something other than the graphics, only to continually be let down.

As an example, I was playing through a level with fall-away platforms, meaning you do have to be pretty quick on your feet. No problem, as that’s to be expected in Mario titles. However, the fixed camera angle I was forced to suffer with did not help at all and more often than not, a jump which I should have landed made me hit the edge of the platform and fall to my demise. In that same level, there were several occasions in which I attempted to jump over the moving saws and ended up clipping them, causing me to be stunned. Makes sense, but by the time I recovered and was back on my feet, the saw blades would have pushed me off the edge of the platform. It took me over twenty lives to finally get to the Star in that level, and once I did that, I didn’t want to touch the game for at least twenty four hours.

Depending on what galaxy you are on, you may run into the Cosmic Guide who will assist you in reaching your final destination for that area. If you choose to use her, she will not go out of her way to pick up coins or unneeded special items. It will also cost you upon reaching the Power Star. Instead of the normal Gold Star, you will acquire a Bronze Star. It will allow you to move past the galaxy to what lies beyond, but only Gold Stars add to your tally for unlocking new galaxies. You can always go back and retry the galaxy in which you gained a Bronze Star in hopes you can make it through without the Cosmic Guide’s assistance and reach the Gold Star. I have not noticed the Cosmic Guide to be available in all galaxies though, which means you could be replaying a level dozens of times over before you either give up or hand someone else the controller.

If you didn’t take the original Galaxy title for a spin and you are thinking, “Hey! This supports two players. That’ll be perfect for my kids,” think again. As the second player in the game you have the rather boring role of collecting Star Bits and shooting them at enemies. The supporting role in the Super Mario Galaxy games is ridiculous. There is little in the way of team work, and can (and most likely will) cause arguments. While I was working in video game retail, I had many parents trading in or returning Galaxy disappointed with the 2 player feature.

And let’s be honest, Mario chasing off after a kidnapped Princess Peach every year or so has gotten pretty stale. While the story behind each Mario title is more of a backdrop to exploring the Mushroom Kingdom’s nooks and crannies, there is a definite creative rut. We are only a few years away from the big 3-0, so why not freshen things up a little? Maybe Bowser will retire, Mario & Peach can finally start a family and their offspring can battle it out against one another for the next 30 years. The Toads could finally do something other than tell us the obvious. Anything to have the franchise end on a high note instead of running it through the mud. Mario deserves better than that.

Maybe it’s just the rage-quit rage talking, but I just do not find Super Mario Galaxy 2 to be fun. And really, that’s what I want from my video games. There is nothing wrong with throwing in difficult levels or mind-numbing puzzles, as long as at the end of the day I am enjoying the game I’ve chosen to sit down with. Sadly, Super Mario Galaxy 2 does nothing more than infuriate me and make me want to tear out my hair more often than not, and masochist I am not. Sorry, Mario, but this Princess needs to be rescued from you.

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