Justice for All

Since upgrading my Nintendo DS to 3DS XL, I felt the need to clear the backlog of unfinished games on the old DS especially an ongoing series such as Capcom's Ace Attorney. So I spent the last month resuming my save game of Apollo Justice which I probably first started more than a year ago and finished the last two remaining cases over the weekend.

Now Apollo Justice was the first real installment of the Ace Attorney series made for the Nintendo DS as the previously 3 games were originally Gameboy Advance games that never made it out of Japan until they were ported to the Nintendo DS. If you never knew this, you wouldn't be able to tell after playing all four games as Apollo Justice doesn't look very different aesthetic wise from the earlier games. The interface remains the same, sprites of old characters like Phoenix Wright looks identical in the flashback sequence (he has aged in the present story you see) and there isn't much changes introduced apart from new characters.

Capcom bundled the first 3 games and ported them to the 3DS, so it's a port of  what was already a port. 

The real draw of the Ace Attorney game is the story and in that sense, the fourth game does the series justice in the final case where events from 7 years ago all come together to explain Phoenix Wright's involvement in this one. It's hard to remember why I took this long to finish Apollo Justice, I guess the fatigue of playing all four games in a relative short amount of time on the same system eventually wears you out. Like remember when Capcom ported all of the previous RE games to the Gamecube after doing a full blown remake of the first? Same thing with the Ace Attorney games and eventually you get underwhelmed with game's dated graphics running on more powerful hardware, no matter how good the games were back in the day.

Easter Hunting

I was doing my own Easter hunting this last weekend only it wasn't Easter eggs i was hunting for but video games. I was with a friend combing over all the game stores in singapore, big or small in search for bargains and rare games. Though i did managed to amass a nice haul of games this time, i could have gone for broke and grab the rare copy of Ace Attorney: Trials & Tribulations which i have a feeling i will regret later. I didn't prepare a list or have anything particular in mind this time around so i really wasn't expecting much especially since i have another haul of games arriving later this month.

The Metroid Trilogy is undoubtedly the highlight i wasn't interested in this collector's edition a while back having failed to be impressed with metroid prime hunters but after my friend started gushing about how great the series is (bar hunter) and even showing me his copy of the CE, i just knew i had to have it. I found the only copy in HMV City Link but still wasn't prepared to shell out full bucks, having just got Dead Rising and Uncharted during Gamescore Wii promotion earlier that day. As it turns out, i managed to snagged the Metroid Trilogy at stock clearance price the next day where i would least expect to find it but i supposed it all makes sense as most wouldn't go there to buy games. Notice the Uncharted happens to be the original black label packaging? Another nice find at Gamescore as these 're-packaged' Greatest Hits are a collector's dream come true, original black labels at Greatest Hits price though i was actually planning to get Uncharted 2 but prices for those were still too expensive. Despite all this new stuff, i still have more coming my way later this month which you should keep your eyes peeled for.

We Can Remember It for You Wholesale

Whenever a long weekend is around the corner, everyone starts thinking about a vacation be it a long or a short one. Well i don't really need a vacation but i have been meaning to go down to Singapore to do some major game-hunting for quite some time now.
You see, since i got the new console i haven't really got the chance to go shopping for games especially early generation games which i might have missed, or even some old PS2 gems since i got a BC unit. I'm the sort of guy who likes having a stack (a small one, preferably) of games by my side just waiting for me to play and I have compiled a list of games which i have been meaning to make a trip down to Singapore to look for.

1. Zack & Wiki
Yes, i haven't given up on looking for this title and i'm fairly confident i should be able to find it there. i've seen it selling in several stores and since most asian wii users don't normally buy original games there's a good chance it might still be there.

2. Ace Attorney 3
The final episode in the Phoenix Wright is just golden, it was never released in Europe and and came out shortly before Apollo Justice so i suspected it had a pretty low print run. Of course, there is always the Japanese import version available but since i owned the US version of both the earlier two episodes i would really like to keep it consistent in completing the trilogy.

3. Stranglehold
I have been following this game all the way from development to release and still haven't played it yet! The collector's edition would be perfect as i don't think i want the regular edition anymore after missing out on getting it for less than USD 20. I always make it a point to only get games that i would play more than once and this one fits the bill perfectly. On top of it, i'm a real big fan of John Woo and Chow Yun-fat.

4. God Hand
A bit of a odd one, i made a pact with Andy to pick this up the last time as it was selling cheap and was on offer if you buy more than one. I don't remember the details but i never got around to buying it then, i still want this one for the sake of completion because i also happened to be a big fan of shinji mikami and despite what the reviews said, i liked this game.