I love Zelda games.  They are just the most immersive games Nintendo makes.  Mario is just a fun game moving from random stage to random stage.  It doesn’t really even need a storyline, just fun stuff to do.  Metroid is one giant world, it’s almost Zelda without a storyline.  Both franchises have very little interaction with people.  It’s mostly a you against the world game, with the emphasis on gameplay not story.  There is almost a feeling of loneliness when you play Mario or Metroid.
Zelda is different though.  You talk to people in Zelda, you gather information, you follow the storyline, and watch how it changes.  You get the sense of adventure and a true mission.  I know the plot is sort of the same as Mario (”save the princess, save the world”), but the process between start and finish is drastic.  In Zelda games, you follow the storyline the whole way through.  The story changes as you progress, with twists and turns and secrets revealed.  It’s good times.

The latest incarnation of Zelda is great.  That’s sort of all I wanted to say, and I hadn’t posted in a while.

I love Tetris. The simplicity of lining up 4-piece blocks in various configurations just brings me to a pleasant state of mind. It’s quite addictive to see those blocks fall and form perfect lines.

I spent most of this weekend playing rounds of Tetris between various activities, and it was as enjoyable as ever. There was a time where Tetris got a little too crazy and started coming out with whacky versions like Hatris (like Tetris, but with hats??) and Tetris Sphere, but the best changes were simple changes:

-Allowing you to hold a piece is supremely useful, and makes getting that coveted tetris so much easier.
-Being able to see 5 pieces ahead is nice, so you can see how long you have to wait before getting the piece you need.
-My favorite change to Tetris gameplay was sadly only in one game, the New Tetris for N64. It allowed you to create 4×4 cubes which would count as more lines when you cleared them. It added a whole new element to actual piece placement, making you think about how to arrange the pieces, not just trying to clear lines. Sadly it has yet to make a reappearance.

I guess the point of all this discussion is to say this: I dominate at Tetris. I never really realized how good I was until I started playing against lots of people. But really, nobody can touch me when it comes to Tetris.

Some might say that bragging about being good at a video game is silly. Too bad, that’s what a blog is for.