Status: Main game completed, varying difficulties

When I spot games that are under $10 I instinctively want to add them to my game library (much to the chagrin of my husband). Hence why I’m rarely allowed to peruse the game section at Fry’s when we stop in there. For the most part I’ve scored big, finding titles that I’d either forgotten I wanted or oddities that seemed to fly under everyone’s radar.

I really only picked up Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 because 1) it was cheap, and 2) I wanted to see just how well this surgical game played. I’d heard about the ridiculousness of having to disarm a bomb using medical supplies in a previous installment, probably what had originally caused me to avoid the franchise.

Truth be told, I didn’t care too much about the story of Under the Knife 2. Sure, I glanced it over as I mashed my way through to start the operations and I caught a bit of it. Some super virus that the Trauma Center team believed they’d previously put a stop to has resurfaced and they are dealing with a new medical group who will stop at nothing to get their names on the map. Or something like that. I don’t normally skim story like this but all I wanted from Trauma Center was the surgical experience.

(Also, the “voice acting” in Trauma Center is awful. Random short clips of speaking come up every once in a while, more often than not clashing with the actual text. I’ll take no voice over the over exaggerated bits. It just amazes me that the Professor Layton series can do so well with including and incorporating audio on a DS cart while so many others can’t get the formula right.)

Anyway, back to the important part – the gameplay.

Left: Reassembling the ribcage | Right: Draining blood & removing the shattered bones

You won’t be able to waltz into a hospital with the skills to perform heart surgery but you will improve your hand-eye coordination after spending hours upon hours digitally operating on patients. Starting out with simpler tasks like removing benign tumors and suturing wounds, you’ll get a handle on the basic tools of Derek Stiles’ trade. Then the story starts throwing crazy stuff at you. GUILT, a creation of bio-terrorists and c0-star of the previous installment, rears its ugly head with various new strains and mutations for you to deal with. Things get more complicated, requiring the use of every surgical implement at your disposal as well as Derek’s super power: Healing Touch.

Derek’s Healing Touch is activated by drawing a star over the patient, slowing the timer so you can add a few precious seconds to the clock. Generally, Healing Touch may only be used once per operation so making sure you use it at the right time (if you need it at all) is imperative. Every surgery has a time limit noted at the top of the screen with other pertinent information about the procedure you are undertaking and your attending nurse will give you status updates should the patient’s health drop or they notice anything significant happening. When Healing Touch was available to me I did my best to save it for use near the end of my procedures, just in case I need a few extra seconds to stitch, disinfect and bandage my charges.

At the start of each operation you can select from three difficulties. I’ve only been able to run through a couple at the beginning on Hard, with most of them finished on Normal or Easy modes. This was a game I was checking out for the experience, so I wasn’t going to beat myself up for coasting through on Easy. Besides, even on Easy some of those surgeries prove challenging.

I’d been very impressed as I found myself nearing ever closer to the end of the game that my time had been spent treating those in need and not doing the impossible. Then I found myself using a scalpel to open a locked door. Because this is a scenario doctors would find themselves in. Even more ridiculous was that for part of this event I had to use the Healing Touch on part of the lock so I could slice through some cables.

Unrealistic situations aside, the surgeries themselves can get pretty intense. So much so that at one point I was gripping the DS so tightly with my left hand during a scenario which took three attempts for me to save a patient that I managed to pull a muscle in my arm. My husband bugged me about it relentlessly after I told him about it, joking that I would make a horrible doctor. I also had to switch from my larger stylus (a Lost in Blue preorder bonus) to the thin stylus so that using the scalpel felt more natural; I was making clumsy incisions using the other.

Hope I didn't lose anything in there, like a watch or a sandwich

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 was a nice change of pace from my usual gaming habits. Being able to play doctor for a fraction of what medical school would cost with the added bonus of not throwing up at the thought of really cutting open a body gave me a sense of accomplishment, granted one that didn’t come with a fancy piece of paper or a paying job.

Overall Opinion

While I had a great time trying out a genre that was never in my go to bag, I can’t say that my time with Derek and team will continue. Trauma Center was an experience I felt I needed to enhance my overall gaming comprehension. If you want to be a well rounded gamer, you should leave your comfort zone and give new ideas a try every so often. Even with the outlandish story and below sub-par voice acting, there is a style of gameplay that I had never attempted before and proved a pleasant discovery for me. That in itself trumped my issues with the other aspects of this game and I believe I am a better gamer for it.

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 can be purchased via Amazon

Status: Unlocked a good chunk of gardenables, only a few seeds left for my collection

As a fan of the first two Cooking Mama titles, I was excited to try the first franchise off-shoot, Gardening Mama. Mama and I had gotten along pretty well in those first two games and the prospect of moving to a new environment was inviting. By the end of Cooking Mama 2 things were getting a bit too repetitive for my liking and I needed a break from the kitchen.

Unfortunately, not a lot had really changed from Cooking Mama to Gardening Mama.

In single player mode (or Let’s Get Growing), the garden is broken up into sections: flowers, roses, fruit, and vegetables. Like any garden, you can only do so much at once with any particular plant, so more often than not you’ll be dividing your attentions amongst the various gardens tending to weeds, pests, and sprouts. And that makes sense as that’s typically how a garden operates. Once you’ve unlocked some more seeds and gardens, you’ll instinctively want to plant more items but the game has other plans.

Watering the sprouts

After finishing a task on one plant, you start getting notifications that other plants need tending to. Sure you can push them off, but if you do the plants won’t last for long and die off, forcing you to start from scratch and take a failing grade. So you are forced into a nearly unending cycle of rushing from one wilting plant to the next time after time, leaving you very little opportunity to start something new. When this turned into a regular occurrence, my desire to keep playing dropped substantially.

The controls for Gardening Mama have not gotten any better. If anything, Mama has become more vague with her directions and I felt like I had no real freedom to do as much as I wanted to. Most of the directions were the same as before: drawing shapes on the screen, pouring water, blowing into the mic. However some instructions come simply with a vague description and no visual aid to assist you. I have yet to successfully bend a sapling’s trunk to tie down onto a trellis because I can’t seem to find the right spot on the thing to bend it and always run out of time or somehow snap it in half. If Mama didn’t want to get angry with me every time it happens, you’d think she’d give better directions to her students.

But I don't want Mama to fix it!

Once a plant has completed a full life cycle, you receive your overall score and see what sort of butterfly you’ve attracted. The one I’ve seen most often is the white cabbage butterfly. If you’ve unlocked any new seeds or a special item, that will pop up for you as well. Exactly like every Mama game I’ve played before it and every other game I refuse to touch.

Gardening Mama also features a multiplayer mode where you can link up with other players to exchange items or compete in mini-games. I skipped this feature but did mess around with customizing my garden accessories and dressing up Mama. It’s always nice to be able to change things up a bit, I only it had helped keep me interested in playing the game more.

Overall Opinion

Usually I go for 100% unlocks in a game, especially in genres such as this one, however I just can’t bring myself to put this cartridge back into my DSi XL. Even if a game is based on chores, it shouldn’t feel like a chore to play it. Gardening Mama has confirmed for me that I am finished with the Mama franchise. There will be no Crafting, Camping, or Babysitting Mama in my future and it saddens me to say that I now wish this series would just go away. It started off with promise and has turned into another Babiez/Horsez/Dogz-esque pile of mediocre and uninspiring code that should join the Atari 2600 E.T. game in a pit.

You can purchase Gardening Mama via Amazon

Plants grow happy with rainbow water time

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.

Purchase Professor Layton and the Last Specter on Amazon

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.

Purchase Puzzle Expedition DS from Amazon

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.

Purchase Super Mario Galaxy 2 from Amazon