Too cool to Cool Board?

The fiancée and I hit up her PS1 games collection this past weekend, enjoying some time with Wheel of Fortune and Cool Boarders 4. I’m not ready to talk about the emotional roller-coaster that is Vanna White plus categories called IN THE KITCHEN…so let’s have a laugh at Cool Boarders 4.

This is a snowboarding game sequel to a snowboarding game sequel to a snowboarding game sequel to the original that started it all back in 1996. In this one, you are trying to solve the mystery of the Origami Killer snowboard. You can go downhill or back and forth in a half-pipe. Or, if you’re feeling very skilled, attempt to grab some big air (and tricks) and land safely at the bottom. We even dabbled in split-screen action. Warning: don’t ever play Cool Boarders via split-screen.

Graphically, it’s seen better days, but the game is a barrel of laughs. It’s not funny like the Terry Pratchett book I’m reading currently is (Making Money), but you’ll still find yourself chuckling, maybe even to the point of near-tears. Tara and I first took turns doing trick runs, but I kept falling head first into broken tree limbs, and she loved punching the sky repeatedly. The more we did our respective actions, the funnier they got.

Also, you can create a character, and so I decked my dude out in all purple attire, gave him so much girth his ass stuck out, and named him Killer P, but alas, it was not meant to be and the disc froze. All my hard work was lost to Father Time. Or the snow gods. Whoever it is you worship in this Cool Boarding world.

So yeah, fun for thirty minutes. I’m sure we got more out of it than those that really care about snowboarding games and landing 180 indie flips…

Hello, I’m a Millionaire Extraordinaire

…but it’s only in Hexic HD points, not money. I know, what a sham!

Anyways, I had some time to kill this morning before heading off to work–I woke up annoyingly extra early, showered, made breakfast, and found myself staring at the clock in disgust to be more specific–so I switched on the Xbox 360 and loaded up some Hexic HD. This is a free puzzle game that I like to play from time to time; it’s not at all calming or soothing, what with its hodgepodge soundtrack, but it wears its addictive values proudly, and I enjoy playing it. Want proof? Well, I unlocked this Achievement after a couple of clearing combos:

Millionaire Extraordinaire (25G): 1,000,000 Total Points

That’s one million points…collectively. Not in just one game. That’d be nigh impossible, but this total amount makes perfect sense considering how much I’ve played Hexic HD since I got the system. So that’s cool. Two other Achievements I’m actively going after Hexic Addict (Complete 100 Games) and Oyster-meister (Surround one piece with six starflower pieces), but those will most likely take some time. I’ve been close a few times on getting a black oyster puzzle piece. Frustratingly close. How anyone eventually ends up getting six of them and then surrounding another piece with all of them is beyond me…