Sorry for the lack of updates, I wanted to stop spending time writing about what I was playing and just play…but…now that I’m done…

Another game taking 7 days (New Super Mario Bros. took 7 days too).

Notes:

• Finished with 100/100 Skulltula tokens, 36/36 heart pieces, and all the upgrades.
• Water Temple was the first dungeon where I missed something or had to go back or had to look in a walkthrough for what I missed…it took quite a while. Also, it was epicly annoying swapping boots, something I’ve heard will be fixed in the 3DS version
• Bottom of the Well was scary…the ReDead scare the crap outta me…they’re like, these skinny naked dudes that move when you stay still….and when you get close, they unexpectedly and quickly latch on to you…Q_Q /dislike!
• Shadow Temple, specifically Bongos Bongos was interesting. I wrote this whole, 400 word post right after the fight because it was so epic but I don’t feel like writing/posting it. To summarize, I went into the boss fight with full life and 3 fairies (used one during the actual temple). I couldn’t figure out how to beat him…until using all 3 fairies (with my full life at the start of the battle, I effectively went though 3 full lives before figuring the fight out). I finally knew what to do in my last life, but it was still pretty difficult because I was out/low on arrows. Eventually, I beat him with 1/4 of a heart left…it was uber close and I was on such a high after beating him…if there’s any fight I’d like to do again, it’d be this one, now that I know what to do. I wish I fraps’d that…I’d love to have re-watched it.
• Spent a good chunk of time getting the 50 arrow quiver upgrade (riding Epona and shooting the targets). I saved right before playing it, played through 500 rupees, and then just reset and started again (so I had the experience, w/o technically spending the money). Even when I realized you could hit the bottles (effectively giving you an easy 700/1500 points), it was still tough. Eventually, I posted a post-it note on my TV for where the arrow would hit. Once I did that, my accuracy improved from an average 1000-1100 points to 1300-1450…but it took quite a while to break 1500. It was pretty fun though
• After doing the Spirit Tower and just before Ganon’s tower, I noticed I only had 19 hearts instead of the 20 I should have had. I had all the heart pieces (I’d been keeping track), the only way to miss one would be the boss fights. So I returned to a child, went through the Deku Tree, Dodongo’s Cavern and Jabu-Jabu’s Belly looking for the heart I missed (fortunately, it’s pretty easy to get to the boss rooms from the beginning). I was scared though, none of those 3 dungeons had the heart and I specifically remember getting the hearts from the Water Temple and on…I went to the Fire Temple (before the Forest Temple) out of convenience and it wasn’t there either. Seriously, if the heart had disappeared, I would honestly restart the game because I could never finish the game with 19/20 hearts…Anyways, lucky enough, it was still in the Forest Temple boss room. I was ecstatic when I found it :D soooo relieved.
• *Spoiler Alert* from this point on
  When Ganon first “died” I was like “WTF, so easy!” and then when we were escaping the castle (which I found uber annoying as Zelda had to be really close to you to proceed….you couldn’t even go ahead of her), I started to think there was more. And then the ReDead caught me and freaked me out :'( And finally, at the end, Ganondorf finally turned into the Pig/Boar Ganon, which was what I was expecting the whole time, given my knowledge of Ganon. I found it quite interesting that throughout the game, he’s known as Ganondorf, but occasionally, they’ll call him Ganon (like, <10 times). The only thing I didn't like is that you finish Ganon with your sword. Ganon is SUPPOSED to be killed with the Silver/Light Arrow. That's how it is in Zelda, Zelda: A Link to the Past, and the Zelda comic in Nintendo Power (based off A Link to the Past). Anyways, I was expecting to finish Ganon with the arrow but disappointingly, Link just slice and dices his head.
• I thought the ending was interesting…the fact that Link went back in time was…the right thing to do but I wanted Link and Zelda to have more..moments. I guess it’s always their destiny, to be so close when they’re physically so far apart and to be apart when they can be together. Anyways, if Link goes back, and Ganon’s defeated, doesn’t that void most of the game? Stupid time travel and paradoxes! I’m guessing, based on what I read, this is how Majora’s Mask is. The other world/alternate reality. I found the END end to be interesting, when small Link greets small Zelda. Was that a moment from the past, when Link first met Zelda? Or is it current time, Link seeing Zelda. Or…I dunno. I’ll read up on it…I didn’t want the game to end though :( Story was great but I wanted more…
  *Spoiler Alert END*
• I found getting the 51-100 Skulltula tokens pretty worthless. By the time you get all of them, you’re pretty much finished the game. If you got all the mini-game upgrades ahead of time, then what do you have to spend money on? Also, with the light arrows netting you 50 rupees with any guy killed, you pretty much have infinite money that way too. I think that was the most disappointing part of the work I did.
• Can’t wait for the Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3DS game. I found the story, music, puzzles, and gameplay to be great but the graphics were a bit outdated/pixelated. I noticed at first, but as you play more, you get used to it and don’t mind anymore. But every once in a while, you’ll see something that looks a bit too pixelated and it took me out of the story. I’m a bit too late to get Pokemon Black and White as they seem sold out in many places, but if I were to get a 3DS, I’d like to have purchased those Pokemon games. Granted, I’ve only beat red, blue, yellow (and maybe green, I don’t remember)…and I missed any games with 152+ pokemon, I still like the concept/wouldn’t mind. Those games were worth it, despite not getting all 150 Pokemon (due to the game I played being emulated and thus, trades were impossible).
• What next? I dislike the idea of playing Zelda as a kid again (Majora’s Mask)…so obnoxious! Can’t deflect with a proper shield, the shield you can deflect with sets on fire and disappears (HATED THAT). Sword is so tiny and weak. I also dislike the idea of a time limit cuz I play slowly -_-; Not that Ocarina of Time took close to 72 hours…but still. Not sure what I’ll do just yet…play Metal Gear Solid? Study some web stuff?

I’m really happy that I got around to, finally played, and beat the game. It’s been on my to do list for soooo long, it’s great to cross that off :) Major accomplishment here! Didn’t even take very long…can’t wait to play it on the 3DS, for the better visuals, the Master Quest version, better and more usable UI, and to revisit and redo fights now that I know them.

Fin.

I started playing Super Mario Bros. Wii, by myself and seriously, on Saturday March 5. I started from the beginning and went through all the levels, but most importantly, getting all the 3 special coins per level. Some were pretty tricky. Anyways, originally I was only going to play a little by little…but I kept making such good progress, I figure why stagger myself. Rather get it completed and move on to something else (Zelda). Anyways, here’s a run down of what I accomplished each day:

Sunday: Worlds 1 & 2
Monday: World 3
Tuesday: World 4
Wednesday: World 5
Thursday: World 6
Friday: None
Saturday: World 7, 8, and 9

All in all, it’s a pretty easy game. Easier, imo, than Super Mario World (SNES) in terms of getting everything. For example, in Super Mario World, getting everything would be doing all x96 levels. Just the same, in this game, there are 9 worlds that must be completed but to get everything, you need the 3 special coins per level. But the levels are easier. I still think Super Mario World’s Tubular and Super Mario World’s Awesome are still harder almost than every level in Super Mario Bros. Wii….with the possible exception of 9-7, in which I literally spent more than an hour on (for 1 level!!! >:( ). I could have finished World 1 in the time it took me to do 9-7. Even then, to get all 3 special coins, I had to use 2 players to kind of hack the last coin. Oh well, after an hour, I just wanted to get it done (as I was 4-special coins away from having all of them). In terms of actual levels, Mario 3 was probably harder than this….

I can’t say much about Mario 64 or the GameCube Marios (like Mario: Water Gun Fun Time). Though Mario 64 would compare more to Mario Galaxy than Super Mario Bros Wii.

Anyways, this is what the final game looked like.

5 Stars = Everything.
I had accumulated around 99 lives at the beginning of World 3 and never dipped below 90 from that point on. Though to be fair, after I beat World 8 and unlocked World 9 (and could save at any time), if I’d ever lose too many lives, I’d just restart the game w/o saving, restoring me to a good save.

Playing Super Mario Bros. Wii was a lot like the (spectacular!) iPhone game: Cut the Rope, in which….it was easy to pass the level…but to really beat everything, you needed 3 stars to each level. Occasionally with Cut the Rope, I’d skip a level that was hard, only to come back to it. With Mario though, I never went to the next level without getting 3-coins…mostly just for organizational and course familiarity purposes.

Anyways, that game is DONE. I don’t plan on touching it again! It’s nice to complete a game :D In such a short time too.

Now – Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I noticed that they will be releasing a Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo 3DS. I may purchase the 3DS for that game…so I can see how it will play with better visuals and possibly better sound/music. Also, it’s quite frustrating playing Zelda: OoT on a Wii Classic controller, knowing that it’s meant for the N64. It’ll be nice to play the game on 3DS and play it on a console/handheld that it was meant to be played on. I’m interested to see how they handle swapping weapons and using them.

But yeah, my goal now is to finish Zelda: OoT on the Wii BEFORE the 3DS version comes out. So now, I’ve given myself a bit of a hard due date. I doubt it’s needed though…I’m playing the Wii a lot lately so it’s not just collecting dust anymore. I just need to keep that up :D