At Long Last!!

It has been quite a while since I updated this blog. A few reasons to why, I have been ill recently due to Dengue Fever, thankfully it did not get any worse than bad fever, nausea and loss of appetite. Anyway, back to the main topic, the title I have specifically chosen as to refer to you, reader of my blog, whoever you may be, as you have a new post to read, and to the fact that I have finally come up with the funds to buy myself a dedicated handheld console, the Nintendo 3DS XL!! (while you imagine me, however way you may imagine me that is, holding the 3DS up in my hand while the background flashes with lights and fireworks!) You might think that was unnecessary, but I am very happy with it as the newly announced Pokemon X and Y is about to be released in a months time.

Back to the main topic. Now, I have actually bought this console quite some time ago, last month to be exact, but due to the reasons I have stated earlier, only now have I come with the time to actually post about it on my blog, Muahahahah!! And also, its mainly because I wanted to make sure I played both 3DS games I own thoroughly to actually talk about it a bit.

(Above) The console, looks very nice! The main reason I wanted to buy the XL instead of a regular 3DS was because I have large hands, and having played the 3DS a lot (1 was given as a present to me and my bros) it became uncomfortable for me as it was small (the size of a DS Lite if you're not sure about how big it actually is). And also as you can see in the first picture above, I have the 3DS game Super Mario 3D Land, which I will explain more later. I have always liked the DS's design in general, played with the original DS a lot (the most time spent on it being during Pokemon Diamond, posted about that a long time ago) but I love the design of the 3DS XL the most compared to the others, one of the main reasons are because of the matte colours and blacks of the XL as compared to the glassy/glossy look of the 3DS. Fingerprints are the main problem, and glassy/glossy attracts them... so, so well...

The 2 games I own, Super Mario 3D Land (as mentioned above) and Mario Kart 7! (if you own the game, you can say it the way Mario says it when you start up the game~) 

Now for the first game, the one that came pre-installed in the 3DS I purchased. I spent almost 3 days to complete the first section of the game, being the 8 worlds before you save Princess Peach (the story doesn't change much for Mario... so its pretty much what you'd expect and come to remember in the previous games) and then the later 8 special worlds to save Luigi (your bro in the game!) and then later, Princess Peach again...

To be clear about this before I continue, I have no screenshots or in game footage to show you, as it is on the 3DS and apparently there is no way to capture screenshots using the 3DS, unless you purchase 1 that can. And yes, I could a video of me playing, but its pretty hard as I don't have a decent camera with me, the one I have doesn't really do a good job of capturing videos of LEDs being turned off and on... Back to the game, now the first 8 worlds are extremely fun, but quite easy compared to the standard set by the previous 2D platformer for the original DS, New Super Mario Bros.

(As shown above)

The reasons for this might be because they want to introduce newer players to the game, and also because the new games these few generations are making it easy for players, with autosaves and check points and all that kind of stuff. The Super Mario 3D Land, if your character dies too many times, they start giving you the new power up, the Tanooki Leaf (or Super Leaf based on the main website) which also renders you invulnerable to enemies (basically like how you would be if you got a star), now this does make you think that the game becomes too easy, and it does, dealing with Bowser becomes a breeze, but in the other section, or the 8 special worlds, you get no special treatment (and those worlds are some of the hardest, nail-bitting, almost-throwing-your-3DS-XL-hard and leg-slapping (I almost slap my leg whenever I lose a life) type of platformer you might expect from this franchise, which is also more in line with the above game, New Super Mario Bros.

(Above) Video of the extremely catchy tune you will be playing to~ Just let it play while you read this post~

For, power ups you have the standard Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, above-mentioned Super Leaf, Boomerang Flower (which I like a lot) and Propeller Box (which is also cool). Note that I also smiled like a weird person as I played some of the stages with the Propeller Box, cause its so much fun!! 

Now, to the second game, Mario Kart 7, is just like how I imagined it to be with a few changes, other than the main changes being the Air and Underwater areas in each circuit you will run through in the game. The most, well, for me disappointing change would be to the Drifting Mechanics of the game. They made it harder to perform the Power Drift or Turbo Drift. In the older Mario Kart DS, you could perform it by simply, pressing left, then right and repeat it about 2 times, and you get the orange sparks you all know and love. But in Mario Kart 7, you only get the orange sparks after holding the drift or turning to the direction of the drift for a few moments.

(Above) Mario Kart DS!! (duh...)

The changes I like, were of course the cleaner look (graphical changes, people love them regardless), though I have mixed feelings on the kart customisation options, I like them. The added characters though are a bit of a let down for me, I liked that they added Koopa, Princess Rosalina (from Super Mario Galaxy) and Metal Mario (as a cooler and different sounding Mario) but the other characters like Lakitu (which I think should stay on being the guy who picks you up) and Wriggler (I think I spelled that right). I miss Waluigi and Dry Bones. But this is a game they continually patch and update due to it having online multiplayer, which I also like very much as to giving competitive players a challenge and also keeping the game from getting old, so I hope, although the chance of it is very low, that they add more characters, especially with the launch of Mario Kart 8 (next year I think).

So that's pretty much it for this post, I have a lot more planned to post on this blog, let's just hope procrastination and laziness don't get in the way.

Farid