VideoGamer.com Plays

The games we've been playing this week.

Neon Kelly, Deputy Editor - Super Meat Boy, XBLA, PC

There were a few moments last weekend, amid the mud and trauma of Glastonbury festival, when I began to wonder why I was there. I was wet, I was dirty, and the very ground I walked upon - well, staggered through - clung to my feet like filthy pizza topping. I had paid for this experience; was I an idiot? (And no, let's not answer that question.)

Later in the week, after returning to civilization, I booted up Super Meat Boy for the first time in a while, and I realised that the game elicits similar emotion. For the past few months I've been stuck on the last Light World confrontation with Dr Fetus, failing time and again as my little blob of gristle plummets to his death, or else runs headfirst into a saw blade. I know it's a case of just practicing and learning how to handle each section, but the whole thing feels so arduous - the reward for progress so slim - that again, I often feel like an idiot for persevering. Shouldn't I just play something else, something less abusive?

Well, the crucial thing about both Glastonbury and Super Meat Boy is that I do keep coming back, regardless of the suffering. In fact, the suffering is an important part of the experience. And lo and behold, on Wednesday night I finally beat Dr Fetus… only to be confronted by the second half of the level, which immediately crushed my spirits. So it goes.

Martin Gaston, Previews Editor - Sonic the Hedgehog, Every Platform Ever

Last week I went out, got smashed, and ended up accidentally buying all of the Sonic the Hedgehog stuff SEGA plonked on sale for the little blue guy's 20th Anniversary. Yes, I even got the DX upgrade for Sonic Adventure - that's how bad it was.

Still, I've taken it as an opportunity to 100% all of the games. This week I started at the beginning, with Sonic the Hedgehog on the Mega Drive. Bosh. Done. Aced. Finito. 200G in the bag. Game is still brilliant, SEGA is still a twat for completing ruining the series, and anyone who thinks Mario is better is still wrong. See you next week when I'll repeat this sentiment entirely after playing through Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

Jamin Smith, Staff Writer – Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, 3DS

It didn't take long for boredom to rear its ugly head with this one. Without some form of context, repeatedly shooting zombies in the face gets dull pretty quick. Sure, it's a score attack game, but you can't actually do anything with that score, like, oh I don't know, compare it with friends. What Capcom should have done, was release this as a XBLA/PSN title, with leaderboards and all that jazz, then people might have found an incentive to play it for more than an hour. I just really don't see the point in it as a 3DS title. Resident Evil: Revelations looks promising, though.

Emily Gera, Staff Writer - I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, PC

I mentioned this on the podcast the other day as a truly ace, if not completely rock-hard, horror game. Literate nerds out there will recognise the name of the game as a reference to the Harlan Ellison book. The book was developed into a point-and-click adventure by a now-defunct developer with the wonderfully ‘90s-sounding studio name The Dreamers Guild. It’s also one of the most depressing games you’ll ever play. Here’s the gist: International super-powers have constructed a series of computers to wage a global war too complex for humans oversee. Naturally it becomes sentient and starts torturing the last five people alive. But also there is a talking dog!