I just picked up Golden Sun from Gamestop, so I'll be diving into that pretty heavily today. I didn't get the chance to play Golden Sun 2 on the GBA, but I'll definitely grab it in December.
The overall lack of games for DS and Wii in December is pretty disappointing, but then again there are plenty of November games that will hold me over. The problem is, I don't know what they'll be holding me over for or for how long. Nintendo has been very quiet out 2011. Oh, well. My relationship with Nintendo has for many years been based upon faith. I'll survive on that until the 3DS comes out.
Speaking of which, there was a rumor that Gamestop was taking preorders on it, but mine is not. I would love to not have to wait outside all night to secure a preorder, but it may come to that again. It's a small price to pay.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Gotta Train 'Em All Part 2 - Gym 7
My bouts with Team Rocket are never very difficult because even lackluster teams (such as this one) are several levels higher than their mostly-poison type pokemon.
Just a few quick notes about this section:
Quagsire learned Yawn at lv 31
Electrode learned Swift at lv 35, which is a good move for him
Dugtrio learned Mud Bomb at lv 33, which is a solid move, but his low Sp Atk continues to be a problem for his moveset.
I didn't have many options in the way of type alignment against Bryce and his trainers. Electrode was a good option against Seels and Dewgongs, but the dual Ice and Ground types Swinub and Piloswine were a little problematic. The strategy I use with Stantler (Hypnosis, Calm Mind, Shadow Ball) ultimately proved the most useful against the leader himself.
Just a few quick notes about this section:
Quagsire learned Yawn at lv 31
Electrode learned Swift at lv 35, which is a good move for him
Dugtrio learned Mud Bomb at lv 33, which is a solid move, but his low Sp Atk continues to be a problem for his moveset.
I didn't have many options in the way of type alignment against Bryce and his trainers. Electrode was a good option against Seels and Dewgongs, but the dual Ice and Ground types Swinub and Piloswine were a little problematic. The strategy I use with Stantler (Hypnosis, Calm Mind, Shadow Ball) ultimately proved the most useful against the leader himself.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Gotta Train 'Em All Part 2 - Gym 5 + 6
Gyms 5 and 6 are pretty much back to back and I didn't have to do much grinding this time around.
Before heading out, I taught Surf to Quagsire. On the way to Olivine, Diglett evolved into Dugtrio and learned Earth Power at lv 26. Stantler learned Calm Mind at lv 27. I dropped Confuse Ray for Calm Mind. It seemed silly to know both Confuse Ray and Hypnosis, and putting the enemy to sleep then increasing my Sp Atk and Sp Def with Calm Mind so that Shadow Ball dominates all opponents seems like a better strategy than relying on a confused pokemon to hurt itself.
After the Lighthouse, surfing down to Cinnawood, Bayleef evolved into Meganium and learned Petal Dance at lv 32. All his stats increased by 13 or 14 points, but the balance of his stats did not shift at all. Maganium is still a defensive pokemon, but not a heavily defensive pokemon. Voltorb also evolved into Electrode on the way to Cinnawood at lv 30. Its HP, Atk and Def increased by 12 points, Sp Atk and Sp defense by 15 points, and Speed by 24 points.
Fearow handedled Chuck's junior trainers and Chuck's Primape pretty easily, but Poliwarth's Hypnosis/Focus Punch combo took Fearow out. Electrode finished the job easily.
I was expecting Dugtrio to take out Jasmine pretty easily, but he failed to deliver against Steelix. Quagsire preformed better against Steelix and her last Magnemite.
Before heading out, I taught Surf to Quagsire. On the way to Olivine, Diglett evolved into Dugtrio and learned Earth Power at lv 26. Stantler learned Calm Mind at lv 27. I dropped Confuse Ray for Calm Mind. It seemed silly to know both Confuse Ray and Hypnosis, and putting the enemy to sleep then increasing my Sp Atk and Sp Def with Calm Mind so that Shadow Ball dominates all opponents seems like a better strategy than relying on a confused pokemon to hurt itself.
After the Lighthouse, surfing down to Cinnawood, Bayleef evolved into Meganium and learned Petal Dance at lv 32. All his stats increased by 13 or 14 points, but the balance of his stats did not shift at all. Maganium is still a defensive pokemon, but not a heavily defensive pokemon. Voltorb also evolved into Electrode on the way to Cinnawood at lv 30. Its HP, Atk and Def increased by 12 points, Sp Atk and Sp defense by 15 points, and Speed by 24 points.
Fearow handedled Chuck's junior trainers and Chuck's Primape pretty easily, but Poliwarth's Hypnosis/Focus Punch combo took Fearow out. Electrode finished the job easily.
I was expecting Dugtrio to take out Jasmine pretty easily, but he failed to deliver against Steelix. Quagsire preformed better against Steelix and her last Magnemite.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Gotta Train 'Em All Part 2 - Gym 4
Bayleef learned Magic Leaf at lv 22, but his Def keeps growing faster this his other stats.
Fearow learned Mirror Move at lv 23, but has yet to be useful so far. Her high Atk and Speed have been very useful though and her secondary Normal Type paired with Pursuit were the only reasons I beat Morty's lv 25 Gengar.
Diglett learned Sucker Punch at lv 23, which was useful against Morty's Ghost types. His stats and HP are garbage except for his Speed.
Stantler learned Take Down at lv 21 and Confuse Ray at lv 23. Both are very useful moves. I taught him Shadow Ball as well after defeating Morty. His Sp Atk is slightly higher than his Atk, so it seemd like the right thing to do.
Voltorb's and Quagsire's stats are not growing by more that 1 or 2 points every point, sometimes +1 in each category, which is discouraging. I can give a pass to Voltorb since he'll evolve and gain more points then, but Quagsire needs to get his act together. He also needs to learn some physical Atk moves, since his Sp Atk is terrible.
Fearow learned Mirror Move at lv 23, but has yet to be useful so far. Her high Atk and Speed have been very useful though and her secondary Normal Type paired with Pursuit were the only reasons I beat Morty's lv 25 Gengar.
Diglett learned Sucker Punch at lv 23, which was useful against Morty's Ghost types. His stats and HP are garbage except for his Speed.
Stantler learned Take Down at lv 21 and Confuse Ray at lv 23. Both are very useful moves. I taught him Shadow Ball as well after defeating Morty. His Sp Atk is slightly higher than his Atk, so it seemd like the right thing to do.
Voltorb's and Quagsire's stats are not growing by more that 1 or 2 points every point, sometimes +1 in each category, which is discouraging. I can give a pass to Voltorb since he'll evolve and gain more points then, but Quagsire needs to get his act together. He also needs to learn some physical Atk moves, since his Sp Atk is terrible.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Gotta Train 'Em All Part 2 - Gym 3
In the Ilex Forrest, I taught Headbutt to Stantler, and he also tried to pick up Sand Attack at lv 16. Diglett learned Mud Slap at lv 15 and Dig at 18.
On the road to Goldenrod, Wooper learned Mud Bomb at 19 and evolved at 20. Her lack of Sp Atk renders most of her attacks (except Slam) useless. Her stats got a nice boost (10+ points) when she evolved into Quagsire, but her Sp Atk/Def and Speed are still garbage.
Speaking for problematic pokemon, Diglett's HP is terrible. Less than 40 whereas everyone else's is in the high 50's or above. That added to his low Def and Sp Def is a serious issue.
I am pretty pleased with Spearow so far. She has good Atk and Speed, both of which improved 10+ points when she evolved into Fearow at lv 20.
Whitney's Miltank was a tough cookie as usual, but I eventually powered through.
On the road to Goldenrod, Wooper learned Mud Bomb at 19 and evolved at 20. Her lack of Sp Atk renders most of her attacks (except Slam) useless. Her stats got a nice boost (10+ points) when she evolved into Quagsire, but her Sp Atk/Def and Speed are still garbage.
Speaking for problematic pokemon, Diglett's HP is terrible. Less than 40 whereas everyone else's is in the high 50's or above. That added to his low Def and Sp Def is a serious issue.
I am pretty pleased with Spearow so far. She has good Atk and Speed, both of which improved 10+ points when she evolved into Fearow at lv 20.
Whitney's Miltank was a tough cookie as usual, but I eventually powered through.
Gotta Train 'Em All Part 2 - Gym 2
Chikorita learned Synthesis at lv 12 and evolved into Bayleaf at lv 16 on the way down to Union Cave. I found and taught Bullet Seed to him as well. His stats all grew by only 5 or 6 points and the balance of the stats remained intact: strong Def and Sp Def.
Wooper handed the cave itself fairly well. He learned Slam at lv 15, but his Sp Atk is really lagging, which makes his other moves uneffective on types other than Rock, Ground and Fire. It needs to pick up or I'll have to find some physical Water and Ground type moves.
Stanlter learned Stomp at lv 13, which is a descent move for him.
Spearow fought almost all the opponents in Bugsy's gym with little help. Scyther was a little problematic, but Spearow eventually downed him. She also learned Pursuit at lv 15.
Spearow's Pursuit was the only reason I got by my rival's Ghastly. Bayleaf took out his Crockinaw with little resistance. Stantler beat his Zubat.
Wooper handed the cave itself fairly well. He learned Slam at lv 15, but his Sp Atk is really lagging, which makes his other moves uneffective on types other than Rock, Ground and Fire. It needs to pick up or I'll have to find some physical Water and Ground type moves.
Stanlter learned Stomp at lv 13, which is a descent move for him.
Spearow fought almost all the opponents in Bugsy's gym with little help. Scyther was a little problematic, but Spearow eventually downed him. She also learned Pursuit at lv 15.
Spearow's Pursuit was the only reason I got by my rival's Ghastly. Bayleaf took out his Crockinaw with little resistance. Stantler beat his Zubat.
Mini Land Mayhem
I beat Mario vs Donkey Kong yesterday, unlocking the second (and much more difficult) run-through. It's amazing how many levels they've packed in besides just the main missions. There's a lot to be played in this game. The final fight vs DK was a pain in the ass to meet the goal score on, but I got it and now I can rub it in his stupid monkey face forever.
I'm trying to pick Goldeneye back up before DKC Returns comes out in a few days, but I'm not sure if I'll have the time or focus for it. I'm incredibly close to 100% completion in Kirby's Epic Yarn so that will probably keep me occupied until Donkey Kong.
The lack of Wii and DS games in December will give me plenty of time to get back into Goldeneye and finish the Agent and 007 modes, but nevertheless, I want to try to get in a few more missions before then. December and January will be a good time to finish off my back catalog, including Muramasa Demon Blade, Punch Out!! and Silent Hill Shattered Memories. I can probably find them pretty cheap on Amazon and the 3 of those would make a great gift of me from my loving wife.
I'm trying to pick Goldeneye back up before DKC Returns comes out in a few days, but I'm not sure if I'll have the time or focus for it. I'm incredibly close to 100% completion in Kirby's Epic Yarn so that will probably keep me occupied until Donkey Kong.
The lack of Wii and DS games in December will give me plenty of time to get back into Goldeneye and finish the Agent and 007 modes, but nevertheless, I want to try to get in a few more missions before then. December and January will be a good time to finish off my back catalog, including Muramasa Demon Blade, Punch Out!! and Silent Hill Shattered Memories. I can probably find them pretty cheap on Amazon and the 3 of those would make a great gift of me from my loving wife.
Gotta Train 'Em All Part 2 - Gym 1
The new team is Chikorita, Wooper, Voltorb, Spearow, Diglett and Stantler.
I sent the whole team over at lv 1, except for Voltorb who cannot be bread. I sent him at lv 17.
Stantler picked up Astonish at lv 7 and Hypnosis at lv 10. His stats are (so far) well balanced, with very slight edge on his Atk and Sp Atk. Diglett has only learned Astonish to go along with Scratch, Sand Attack and Growl. He has very high Speed, nothing else special. Wooper has a good move set so far, knowing Water Gun out of the box and picking up Mud Shot at lv 9. His Atk and Def are his best stats, but they're not leaps and bounds over his other stats. Chikorita's stat growth is unexpected (and a little disappointing). His Def and Sp Def are growing the fastest, hopefully that changes when he evolves. He did learn Razor Leaf at lv 6 and Poisonpowder at lv 9, so his move set is strong so far. Spearow's Atk and Speed are her best stats, and as a result of breeding, she knows Aerial Ace.
Falkner wasn't easy with this team and, in the end, I had to rely on Voltorb, which I would have had to do if he was at lv 10 instead of 17. I taught Roost to Spearow after the battle.
I sent the whole team over at lv 1, except for Voltorb who cannot be bread. I sent him at lv 17.
Stantler picked up Astonish at lv 7 and Hypnosis at lv 10. His stats are (so far) well balanced, with very slight edge on his Atk and Sp Atk. Diglett has only learned Astonish to go along with Scratch, Sand Attack and Growl. He has very high Speed, nothing else special. Wooper has a good move set so far, knowing Water Gun out of the box and picking up Mud Shot at lv 9. His Atk and Def are his best stats, but they're not leaps and bounds over his other stats. Chikorita's stat growth is unexpected (and a little disappointing). His Def and Sp Def are growing the fastest, hopefully that changes when he evolves. He did learn Razor Leaf at lv 6 and Poisonpowder at lv 9, so his move set is strong so far. Spearow's Atk and Speed are her best stats, and as a result of breeding, she knows Aerial Ace.
Falkner wasn't easy with this team and, in the end, I had to rely on Voltorb, which I would have had to do if he was at lv 10 instead of 17. I taught Roost to Spearow after the battle.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Gotta Train 'Em All Part 1 - Elite 4
A few hours ago, I Shuckled my way right by Lance, and my rag tag team have been registered as Hall of Fame Pokemon.
I'll spare you the grizzly details of how I blasted by all the members of the most powerful trainers in Johto, but I'll give you some of my final reflections on the team.
Golduck - became my favorite member of the group; high Sp Atk; solid stats all around
Magcargo - great Def and Sp Atk; a bit on the slow side, abysmal Atk; double weak to water
Jumpluff - started out great, but lost usefulness over time; only good against water/ground/rock
types; high Speed, Def and Sp Def
Hypno - pretty much all Sp Def; other stats lacked quite a bit; still OK as a Psychic type
Arbok - poison type made him tough to use against a lot of trainers; best Atk of any team
member; did not learn much to exploit high Atk; teach it Earthquake
Shuckle - the man. Def and Sp Def well over 250 at lv 45; Toxic and Swagger to wear out the
target, Withdraw to compensate for raising opponent's Atk, Bug Bite to steal berry
There it is. Looking back, I'd definitely use Golduck, Magcargo and Shuckle again, given the ability to teach Shuckle Toxic.
For our next team, Wes and I will use Chikorita, Wooper, Voltorb, Spearow, Stantler and Diglet. Should be fun. Watch for that in December. There's too many games coming out for us to keep this going this month.
Speaking for which, I'm picking up Mario vs Donkey Kong tomorrow. Watch for the review.
I'll spare you the grizzly details of how I blasted by all the members of the most powerful trainers in Johto, but I'll give you some of my final reflections on the team.
Golduck - became my favorite member of the group; high Sp Atk; solid stats all around
Magcargo - great Def and Sp Atk; a bit on the slow side, abysmal Atk; double weak to water
Jumpluff - started out great, but lost usefulness over time; only good against water/ground/rock
types; high Speed, Def and Sp Def
Hypno - pretty much all Sp Def; other stats lacked quite a bit; still OK as a Psychic type
Arbok - poison type made him tough to use against a lot of trainers; best Atk of any team
member; did not learn much to exploit high Atk; teach it Earthquake
Shuckle - the man. Def and Sp Def well over 250 at lv 45; Toxic and Swagger to wear out the
target, Withdraw to compensate for raising opponent's Atk, Bug Bite to steal berry
There it is. Looking back, I'd definitely use Golduck, Magcargo and Shuckle again, given the ability to teach Shuckle Toxic.
For our next team, Wes and I will use Chikorita, Wooper, Voltorb, Spearow, Stantler and Diglet. Should be fun. Watch for that in December. There's too many games coming out for us to keep this going this month.
Speaking for which, I'm picking up Mario vs Donkey Kong tomorrow. Watch for the review.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Still Training
The newest Nickel Film Podcast is now on iTunes and the site. I decided to stop posting them here now that I have a better idea about what I want this blog to be and a more clear distinction between the blog and the site.
My team in Pokemon is nearly ready to take on the Elite 4. It's going to take a little more grinding than with some of my previous (and more capable) teams, but I actually like the way most of these guys turned out. Wes will disagree with me. He's ready to move on to the next team and he's barely past the 4th gym. We won't move on till next month, so he'll have some time to kill. I may assign him the all-Eevee team while I plow through Mario vs Donkey Kong and Golden Sun to keep him busy.
Wes is also working on his review for Call of Duty on Wii. I already expect him to give it a negative review, but he's just mad that he sucks at it. I've played a couple of levels and I like certain aspects of it more than Goldeneye. It controls really well but lacks the stealth options of 007. Expect his review by the weekend as well as my final thoughts on the Pokemon team. Tomorrow, I'm hoping to post review for Due Date and Megamind. The latter wasn't half bad. The former was.
My team in Pokemon is nearly ready to take on the Elite 4. It's going to take a little more grinding than with some of my previous (and more capable) teams, but I actually like the way most of these guys turned out. Wes will disagree with me. He's ready to move on to the next team and he's barely past the 4th gym. We won't move on till next month, so he'll have some time to kill. I may assign him the all-Eevee team while I plow through Mario vs Donkey Kong and Golden Sun to keep him busy.
Wes is also working on his review for Call of Duty on Wii. I already expect him to give it a negative review, but he's just mad that he sucks at it. I've played a couple of levels and I like certain aspects of it more than Goldeneye. It controls really well but lacks the stealth options of 007. Expect his review by the weekend as well as my final thoughts on the Pokemon team. Tomorrow, I'm hoping to post review for Due Date and Megamind. The latter wasn't half bad. The former was.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Gotta Train 'Em All Part 1 - Gym 8
GOLDENROD RADIO TOWER - GYM 8
The major section after beating Bryce is taking out Team Rocket for good. They occupy a couple of buildings in Goldenrod, and they're weren't too tough since Hypno can take out many of their Poison types in a single hit.
After beating the Team Rocket Boss, I took Route 44 to the Ice Path. None of the trainers or wild Pokemon put up much of a fight here.
Clair was a bit of a bitch though. Shuckle slowly killed off Gyarados and took a chunk out of Kingdra. I burned though quite a few super and hyper potions since Gyarados insisted on using Dragon Rage over and over. Shuckle only died because Kingdra landed a critical hit with Hydro Pump. I grinded out the last 2 matches vs her Dragonairs and the 8th badge was mine (well, sort of).
The major section after beating Bryce is taking out Team Rocket for good. They occupy a couple of buildings in Goldenrod, and they're weren't too tough since Hypno can take out many of their Poison types in a single hit.
After beating the Team Rocket Boss, I took Route 44 to the Ice Path. None of the trainers or wild Pokemon put up much of a fight here.
Clair was a bit of a bitch though. Shuckle slowly killed off Gyarados and took a chunk out of Kingdra. I burned though quite a few super and hyper potions since Gyarados insisted on using Dragon Rage over and over. Shuckle only died because Kingdra landed a critical hit with Hydro Pump. I grinded out the last 2 matches vs her Dragonairs and the 8th badge was mine (well, sort of).
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Gotta Train 'Em All Part 1 - Gym 7
ROUTE 39 - GYM 7
The road to Mahogony was pretty simple. Magcargo was several levels higher than the rest of the team, so I had to shelve him for a while.
I decided to not explore too much of Mt Mortar just yet. I think I'll dive more into that cave after picking up the 7th badge.
The path to the Lake of Rage was easy enough. At this point, it's no problem using type alignments or just powering my way through. Shuckle took care of the red Gyarados for me.
Team Rocket didn't put up too much trouble. They mostly use Poison and Psychic types, so Hypno and Arbok cleaned up.
Fighting Bryce and his Junior Trainers were taken out by the Skiploom and Shuckle show. Bryce, mostly Shuckle. That make him MVP of 6 out of 7 gym leader matches so far.
The road to Mahogony was pretty simple. Magcargo was several levels higher than the rest of the team, so I had to shelve him for a while.
I decided to not explore too much of Mt Mortar just yet. I think I'll dive more into that cave after picking up the 7th badge.
The path to the Lake of Rage was easy enough. At this point, it's no problem using type alignments or just powering my way through. Shuckle took care of the red Gyarados for me.
Team Rocket didn't put up too much trouble. They mostly use Poison and Psychic types, so Hypno and Arbok cleaned up.
Fighting Bryce and his Junior Trainers were taken out by the Skiploom and Shuckle show. Bryce, mostly Shuckle. That make him MVP of 6 out of 7 gym leader matches so far.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Gotta Train 'Em All Part 1 - Gym 6
So, for the 6th Gym Badge, I pretty much just had to surf back to Olivine and deliver the medicine to the Lighthouse. Jasmine beat the shit out of my lv 30 Slugma though, and my Shuckle strategy won't work on Steel types.
For the first time, I had to grind. I got Slugma to lv 38 and he evolved into Magcargo and learned Lava Plume. Then Jasmine didn't stand a chance. 3 Pokemon up, 3 down in one hit each. Magcargo's stats all shot up about 15 points, except for his Def, which increased by 60+. Psyduck also evolved into a Golduck while I was grinding. All his stats grew by about 20 points.
For the first time, I had to grind. I got Slugma to lv 38 and he evolved into Magcargo and learned Lava Plume. Then Jasmine didn't stand a chance. 3 Pokemon up, 3 down in one hit each. Magcargo's stats all shot up about 15 points, except for his Def, which increased by 60+. Psyduck also evolved into a Golduck while I was grinding. All his stats grew by about 20 points.
Jon and Carlos Show Episode 10
Our latest episode is the all NES show, in honor of the 25h Anniversary of the NES. And there's plenty of great games to talk about and we make our staple gay and jizz jokes.
I have in my possession a copy of Goldeneye for Wii. My wife and I have babysitting duty today, but that should be over in about an hour, so after we drop them off I should be able to really dive in. I may be in for an all-nighter. I'll post some thoughts up here when I get some play time in. Full review tomorrow.
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