2012 Game Review Haiku, #13 – Find Mii 2

Royal fam is gone
Hire cats and tag friends to
Save them at MoCCA

–

For all the games I complete in 2012, instead of wasting time writing a review made up of points and thoughts I’ve probably already expressed here in various posts at Grinding Down, I’m instead just going to write a haiku about it. So there.

The chase is on in Super Mario 3D Land

In the beginning of my Nintendo 3DS days, I kept the thing on and in my pocket as much as possible, both to earn as many Play Coins as possible and in hopes of connecting with another person’s system. That dedication eventually waned, but every now and then–like when Tara and I head out to the mall area or go grocery shopping–I remember to flip it on and bring it with me. I mean, a year and change later, the chances of StreetPassing someone else is at least a smidgen greater. And with luck, I have connected with a few people in Target and Weis and the surrounding area, and a few of them have been kind enough to give me Question Mark levels in Super Mario 3D Land. That’s-a-nice.

The problem though is that I haven’t played any more Super Mario 3D Land since I beat it, as I needed a break from 3D platforming and wasn’t ready to tackle yet another eight worlds full of coins, flying Goombas, and tricky jumps. The cartridge has since been in my travel case while I whittle away at Professor Layton’s London Life. But I noticed the other day that I had two out of an allotted three Question Mark levels and wanted to clear out my backlog in preparation for MoCCA Festival this weekend. So I popped the cartridge back in, completed the two bonus levels super fast–winning both coins, of course–and decided to see what some of the Special World levels were like.

Special World 1-1 is par for the course, but does introduce the silver-colored Tanooki Suit, which finally allows the player to turn into a statue. Not that I ever really do, but I think I need the ability to hit certain triggers so I’ll keep an eye out. But it’s Special World 1-2 that gets this blog post’s glory. In it, Mario is chased all the way to the flagpole by a Cosmic Clone. And when I say chased, I mean chased. This isn’t no Boo slowly trailing after you; it’s a hot-blooded pursuit, and it’s pretty much the most tense Mario level ever. The crazy remixed Mario tunes don’t help either, and I totally missed all three stars as my only goal was getting the bleep away from this crazy, yellow-eyed demonic doppelgänger and reaching safety.

After that stressful level, I went back to earlier levels to find more Star Coins, as I will constantly need more to unlock the castles in the Special Worlds. And those levels are much simpler and easier on my fingers. I know there are a few more containing Cosmic Clones, and I am not looking forward to them. Maybe if I get enough Star Coins I can skip right by them, kind of like how I got enough Gold medals in the skill games for Trials Evolution to avoid perfecting the really hard and/or extreme tracks. Yeah, that’s the key: avoidance.

So, if you’re in New York City this weekend, swing by MoCCA Festival and StreetPass me some Question Block levels so I don’t have to be chased ever again. My heart and legs thank you in advance.

My first StreetPass tag notification in all its glory

I got my first StreetPass tag almost a week exactly after I purchased my Nintendo 3DS. Like, I bought my system two Sundays ago around 5:00 P.M., and this last Sunday I passed someone else with their system on around 4:00 P.M.-ish. How freaking weird is that? I had almost given up hope of ever tagging anybody, too.

Anyways, his name is Dominic, and he was definitely at the Rockaway Mall on April 3, 2011, doing some spring shopping. His birthday was pretty recent on March 2, and his dream is “…to master an art!” Sadly, his favorite game title is, um, activity log. I immediately used him to spice up the two minigames within the Mii Plaza: Puzzle Swap and Find Mii. Sadly, he didn’t have a puzzle piece to share, but I did have him take some sword swings at ghosts. He’s now hanging out in my Mii Plaza, looking lonely, looking bored. I guess that’s all these Mii tags are good for–a one-time use.

I’m very curious to see if my system gets any more love while I’m in New York City over the weekend. I’ll be selling Supertown comics at MoCCA 2011, as well as walking around the city a wee bit. If I really come back completely StreetPass-empty, I’m gonna give up on the function entirely. I can earn my 10 Play Coins easily enough by the lunch hour, and after that then there’s no reason to be constantly carrying it with me.

Have you gotten your first StreetPass tag yet?