New Stuff All Over

New stuff abounds, and it's time for a hit list!

• Event Horizon is turning out even better than I planned for it to, and I'm wrapping up the writing of two new scenes. If final proofing goes as planned, I'll be publishing it in the first week of September.

• I found out about a new concert in our area. One of my old-favorite bands, Saliva, will be playing in the K-Mart parking lot in Defiance Ohio at 5:00pm on Sunday, August 19th. This is a benefit concert; tickets are $12. Bloody sweet. I'm there. Any takers?

• On my calendar, I have added two week-long vacations from Meijer. I'm taking (or planning to take) a week in September off, as well as a full week for my birthday in October. I'm hoping to use this time off for a variety of things, but mostly to begin work on a new fiction project that I'm contemplating.
  

In unrelated news... I've just finished playing through Yoshi's Island DS - time for a review!

Game Review: Yoshi's Island DS

Originally titled "Yoshi's Island 2", Nintendo was smart to change the title at the last minute prior to release. If this were titled "Yoshi's Island 2" the game would have been a huge letdown. Positioning it as a DS-only entry into the series, however, was a saving grace. If nothing else, Yoshi's Island DS could also be called "Yoshi's Island 1.1".

Allow me: The game's over-world structure is identical to the original, level graphics are sometimes identical, and the overall story is almost a one-to-one copy of the original game. Save for all new level designs, a few new enemies, new items, and four new babies, this DS installment plays more like a level pack for the original game than an evolution of the design.

This isn't, however, a bad thing. Yoshi's Island DS plays very, very, very well. Level design is still top-notch; certainly on-par with the original and exceedingly clever in many places. If nothing else, the game is hard, especially throughout all of World 5. As a homage to the original game, this installment plays very well, and although it is overall shorter in length, the new babies (each bringing some unique ability that plays into level design) help to flesh it out as its own game. There are few in-game touch screen elements, much like the New Super Mario Bros.

Nintendo very deliberately created the single best 2D platforming game in the history of the industry back in 1995. To this day, Yoshi's Island stands as such. The DS iteration of the franchise is, in the end, more of the same game - very little new, nothing dramatically changed, and most definitely, not a sequel. It's still one hell of a ride, though, and should be played by any fan of the original game.

Out.