Christmas has come and gone, I never quite got around to that list of all-time Christmas favorites, so I guess I’ll save that for next year.
As always, Christmas was very kind to me. Adding a final system to my ever growing list, I now have a red-Mario-edition Nintendo DS Lite. I’ve had the original Nintendo DS since it was released ::does a quick check on Wikipedia:: in 2004. Of course, Nintendo changed it about a year and a half later with the DS Lite version, which was slimmer, had a brighter screen, and a larger stylus. I trudged it out as best I could, but the screen on the original DS was really starting to bug me, especially after the bright display of the PSP. So, this year I asked for an upgrade to the DS Lite, and lo and behold, there it was. 😉
Why the Lite? Why not wait for the DSi next year? Well, because I still play a lot of Game Boy Advance games and I’d like the nice screen for them, too. I’ll still wind up with the DSi someday, you can rest assured. 😉
To go with the nice new handheld, I also received several DS games– first of which is Chrono Trigger, which I’m having a blast replaying (enjoyed it on the SNES and PSX, so far the DS has been just as fun– and I can’t imagine playing it on the darker screen of the original DS. I tell you, the DS Lite is worth it). They’re even able to pull off the anime sequences from the PSX remake at a better clip than the PSX itself did. Nice.
Continuing the Square theme, we’ve also got the Final Fantasy IV 3D remake. I’ve only played a little bit so far, but it seems to have made the jump nicely and still feels like the original. However, as this marks the third version of FF4 I now own and I have yet to beat any of them, I think I’ll opt to go back and finish FF4 for the GBA before I get too deep into this one. (Ironically, in both previous editions of the game I’ve only played up to the same spot– going after the Dark Elf.)
Also received Sonic Chronicles: Dark Brotherhood. It took twelve years for Sonic to follow Mario’s lead into an RPG, but the folks at BioWare have pulled it off nicely. I’d have liked less reliance on the stylus, but it’s still great so far. BioWare can sell me anything. 😉
Finally, Dragon Ball Origins, a nice action/adventure game that takes us through the very beginning of the Dragon Ball saga, when Goku was still a kid and Saiya-jin weren’t even a glint in Toriyama’s eyes. Some of the controls are cumbersome, but overall a decent play.
On the TV console front, I’ve added Lego Batman (Xbox 360 version) to my library. This is a definite step up from this summer’s Lego Indiana Jones and the levels strike the right balance of length and difficulty. Unlike Indy, I actually foresee myself replaying them in Free Play mode. Doesn’t quite beat Lego SW, but it’s close.
The new three-volume Star Wars Encyclopedia is very impressive– and ironic, since it was exactly ten years ago that I received the first edition of it for Christmas– and heavy. A couple of errors noticed, but on the whole one of the most complete references available this side of the Wookieepedia. Also received an awesome one-volume, clothbound, hardcover 800+ page SW comic collection entitled Luke Skywalker: Last Hope for the Galaxy. Reprints several of the best Luke-centered comic stories over the years, from both the Marvel and Dark Horse eras. Not sure when I’ll be able to tackle this beast properly, but I’m anxious to do so.
There’s more, but I’ll leave it at that for now– save one last item.
Those who know me know that I’m a huge Nintendo fan and an even bigger Mario fan. The original Super Mario Bros. is my favorite game of all time and the rest are peppered throughout my top 25. Mario games are video games at their finest.
Well, if anyone was going to know that, it was going to be my sister. She’s always been a fantastic cross-stitcher and this year she decided to put those skills to work and she stitched me the following:
That’s every major Mario transformation from the NES Mario games. The first two hail from Super Mario Bros., the third from Super Mario Bros. 2, and all the rest from Super Mario Bros. 3. It is incredibly awesome up close and they’re near perfect recreations of the character-pixels from the games themselves. (One note– all of the text I added in Photoshop for posting here.) I’ve got an old poster frame sitting around with nothing it in that would be perfect for this thing, so it’s getting framed and hung up as soon as I can manage. My sister is awesome.
To those of you waiting (and bugging me) for my traditional online gift, I’ll say that it is coming. I figure so long as I get it done by New Year’s, it counts. 😉