I can't quite put my finger on it, Link, but there's something different about you these days!

Oh, wait, I know what it is! It's the facial hair, right? Yeah, that must be it...

Anyway, I can't say I'd like to play a version of The Legend of Zelda that features such a sinewy Link, but I don't have any qualms with looking at fan art that depicts the Hyrulian legend in such a fashion.

To see more of Chilean artist Gonzalo Ordóñez Arias' work, check out his deviantART gallery at your earliest convenience.

The Great Gaymathon Review #32: Engacho! (PlayStation)

Game: Engacho!

Genre: Puzzle

Developer: NAC Geographic Products Inc.

Publisher: NAC Geographic Products Inc.

System: PlayStation

Release date: 1999

Looking at its cover--which features a quartet of slimy, smelly and even snotty grotesqueries--I'm quite honestly shocked NAC Geographic Products' Engacho! never made its way to the States. Then again, this Japanese import, released in 1999, is a devilishly difficult puzzler and not a dark and dreary FPS, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised by its lack of localization.

Anyway, enough about that--you're probably curious as to what makes this game so challenging. Would it be rude of me to suggest checking out this post, which explains the game's premise more fully than I could here?

If that description makes the game sound something less than devilishly difficult, maybe this will do the trick: so far, I've only successfully traversed the first 10 of this turn-based puzzler's stages. I believe there are between 50 and 100 stages in the game, but I can't say that with any certainty since I'm hopelessly stuck on the tenth and there doesn't seem to be a way to skip troublesome stages.

That's my only real quibble with Engacho!, to tell you the truth. It isn't cheap (it's your fault when you fail to complete a stage), it controls well, its sprite-based graphics are colorful and nicely drawn and its soundtrack is surprisingly catchy. (I especially like the theme song, which recalls Rhythm Heaven's "DJ School.") And then there's that cover art. Sure, it's gross, but it's also funny and more than a bit intriguing--or at least it is to me.

See also: Previous 'Great Gaymathon' posts

Well, I guess I know what I'll be playing this weekend (and probably next) ...

There are two reasons I've been wanting to play the import-only-until-now GameBoy title, Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru (aka For the Frog the Bell Tolls), for some time: 1) Its protagonist, the Prince of Sable, is tasked with rescuing someone named Princess Tiramisu (she lives in Mille-Feuille Kingdom, by the way) and 2) Its engine was later used to make The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.

Well, it seems I can stop wanting and start playing, as someone calling himself RyanBGSTL (catchy name, I know) has just completed an English translation of this Intelligent Systems-developed title. (Download RyanBGSTL's patch at romhacking.net.)

In case you'd like to know a little more about the game before giving it a go, here's a video of its first nine minutes:



(Via tinycartridge.com)

More steamy shots of the Super Studly Mario Bros.

Do you remember this post about the upcoming issue of MUTO Manifesto magazine that will feature on its cover two rather attractive men dressed in form-fitting Mario Bros. drag? Of course you do. (If you don't, re-acquaint yourself with it by clicking on the link embedded in the previous sentence.)

Well, that issue, the online magazine's second, is now available (here) for your reading and viewing pleasure. The photo above is just one of 16 included in the cover story, titled "Kiss & Tell," by the way. (Full disclosure: Most of the others probably wouldn't be considered safe for work.)

(Via videogamesmademegay.tumblr.com)

Five more commercials for Rhythm Heaven Wii

My first thought upon watching the five commercials--for Minna no Rhythm Tengoku (aka Everyone's Rhythm Heaven, aka Rhythm Heaven Wii)--included in the video below: Man, that monkey game looks fun!

My second thought: The lady playing the monkey game looks like a Japanese version of my aunt Joanne!



My third and final thought: This game is going to sell a ton of copies (in its homeland, at least) thanks in large part to these commercials, isn't it?

Minna no Rhythm Tengoku hits the streets in Japan on July 21, by the way, while it'll hit the streets elsewhere in the world ... sometime later this year? Early next? Sigh.

(Via gonintendo.com)