Monday, April 16, 2001
Long time since the last update. I've been very busy with my dad visiting, so I haven't had too much time. I have some time now so I'll squeeze something out...
I got my birthday present early--a Game Boy Advance. It's the new Game Boy, and it's much, much better than the old ones. The screen is the first thing that strikes you about the machine, because it is huge... and yet the unit is the same size as the Game Boy Color, only turned on its side. It also plays all old Game Boy games, but it's the new games that are the exciting part. I got Mario Advance and F-Zero Advance with my machine, and both are easily above the Super Famicom in terms of graphical quality. F-Zero is also a lot of fun and very challenging (feels just like old times, I tell you they don't make games like they used to!). Mario though pains me. See, I love Mario games. I grew up playing Mario games. If I gave you a list of my favourite games of all time, 90% of those games would be Mario games. So why don't I like Mario Advance? Because it's a remake of the American Mario 2. For those who don't know, here's a quick history. Most of you probably remember what the original Super Mario Bros was like--you know, Mario running around, jumping in pipes, jumping on enemies, etc. In Japan, the sequel to that was more of the same, but much harder. Nintendo thought it would be too hard for Americans, so instead of that they took an obscure Japanese platformer, added Mario characters and elements, and released it as Mario 2. It didn't play anything like Mario. It did involve running and jumping, yes... but there were weird enemies and vegetables you had to pick up and throw at enemies. In fact, there's a lot of picking up and throwing in this game. And... I don't seem to "get" it. Nothing in it is fun to me. I don't see the point of all the pots scattered around. Or any of it, really. It's rather depressing to say it, but this Mario game sucks.
There's a lot of sport going on in the next couple of weeks too, and a lot of it is live on TV. For once, I'm happy with English TV coverage of it. Saturday saw my usual fix of Match of the Day (football highlights), Sunday was the San Marino Grand Prix (F1) followed by Football Italia, Monday sees another Match of the Day, Tuesday is Champions League highlights (football again), Wednesday is Bayern Munich vs Manchester United LIVE, Thursday is Liverpool vs Barcelona live... and then alongside the usual Match of the Day and Football Italia on the weekend is Lennox Lewis' latest fight live (boxing for the savages that don't know). Great, great stuff.
Speaking of those sports, anyone catch the Grand Prix? David Coulthard is THE MAN. He might have finished second, but he's been very consistent thus far this season and is the joint leader of the championship. I really do think he can win it all this season--watch out Schumacher.
And my obligatory football bit now. Liverpool are doing it again, and are blowing their chance to get into the Champions League by losing games and playing badly at the wrong damn time. Liverpool do this to me all the time. They play so well for most of the season, come up with big wins against big teams (4-0 against Arsenal? 1-0 and 2-0 against Man United?), promise so much, look so good, and then when you just start to dream of glory it gets snatched away as Liverpool suddenly lapse into "utterly hopeless" mode. This week will prove our biggest test yet. On Monday we play old rivals Everton, who always seem to beat us no matter how bad they are. If we lose that, we can kiss the Champions League goodbye. Then on Thursday it's Barcelona. If Barcelona so much as score a single goal, I have the feeling we'll crash out. Quick explanation--this is the second leg of a semi final. The first leg finished 0-0 in Barcelona, and now they're playing in Liverpool. If the game is a tie, the team who scored the most goals away from home wins. Given that we scored none when we went away to their home, it's not looking too great. Especially since they've drawn both their last two games 4-4. They are very, very capable of scoring, and although I'd suggest a Liverpool team on good form could take them... I fear for the downright crap Liverpool I've been watching over the last two weeks. A quick mention of Man United's game against Bayern Munich (United lost the first leg at home 1-0, so they're in some trouble). I've said it many times already, including before the first leg, and I'll say it again--Bayern are a very, very good team, and their manager Hitzfeld is a genius who has tactically outsmarted United on 4 seperate occasions in the last five years. In fact, I believe Bayern Munich and Ottmar Hitzfeld are the only team and manager that United and their manager truly fear.
Alright, almost out of time, but before I go, I need some help. This journal is way too serious. I need something on this site to balance things out and make it more fun. I need some sort of funny, original section to put a smile on faces and generally lighten the mood. Any ideas? Use the "Discuss" button or email me, because I don't have the slightest clue. I really want to revamp a few things soon anyway--maybe change the graphics, add links to the Archive section (did you know I had an archive? I didn't), and add SOMETHING FUN AND FUNNY!
Currently in my...
Consoles: Winning Eleven 5 (PS2), F-Zero Advance (GBA)
DVD Player: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Toilet: World Soccer, EGM
Posted at 12:51 PM
