That's just what I found.  Your results may vary.  I was just having a fantastic time with the game up until the last 2 worlds.  Then again, it might just be because I'm cynical.

Once you finish the game, let me know what you think.  You might have enjoyed it.  The last level almost threw me into paroxysms of rage.

See, I am a little compulsive that way, but after a while I said "Screw it," and just ran through the levels.  Some of them I got, like, a 26 and was happy to be out of there.

Also, I was a big fan of the first game, and I really wanted to like this game.  I loved how it kept nodding at the original for the first few levels, and it seemed like they had some cool ideas, like the mirror boss.  But as it went along, they just ran out.  You'll see once you get further in, or not.  YMMV.  I just found it more dissapointing the further I went.

When I played this game, I had a ton of fun for the first three levels.  Then I powered through the rest of the game, and let me tell you, that's where you can tell that this is not an A-Team product from Nintendo.

In difficult levels, that's when level design really sticks out at you.  Making things hard without being frustrating is a challenge that snares many a dev, and Yoshi's Island DS fails miserably at that.  Plus, the fact that you can only use Wario and Bowser in limited areas (even after you've beaten the game) made me really mad.

The original game had some of the most inventive bosses ever.  My personal favorite was King Froggy, the one where you had to throw eggs at his uvula.  In this game, though, the bosses become extremely unimaginative.  The final battle is taken almost verbatim from the first game, minus the cool music and sense of foreboding.  It's not even difficult.

It was hard for me to tell who this game was aimed at.  On the one hand, the art style and music would appeal to children.  On the other hand, the game is too difficult for children.  It was almost too difficult for me, and I'm an old Yoshi's Island hand.

I would give the first half of the game an A.  The second half rated a D, in my opinion, for an average of B-/C+.

YGPM!!!

I love the majority of the fights from Call of Duty 2, especially where you have to take a certain position.  Moving from cover to cover, making an insane dash to the position...good stuff.

Drillcat

I love this thread.

Actually, he was totally cleared of that stuff, which is weird.  They don't usually back down like that.

Edit:  I own "The Who Sell Out."  It's all right.  It reminds me of proto-Britpop, which, depending on your taste, isn't always a good thing.

BARK AT THE MOON IS FREAKING HARD

Just thought I'd share.

Well, I'm enjoying GH1 quite a bit, and will probably move on to GH2 only when I'm done with all the songs from GH1.  So you have that.

I think my favorite song has to be "Heart Full Of Black."  I accidentally used my Star Power on that song, because I got so into it that I yanked the guitar up involuntarily.

My wife even played it (she's terrible at video games, and has never played an instrument) and, while she was bad at it, said she liked it.

If I had a Wii in my bedroom, I'd be making sweet, sweet love to it. 

Dante Rising, indeed.

For some reason, Zelda: Link's Awakening always sticks out in my mind.  It was the first game I ever beat, and the first I played that actually had a story.  Can't put my finger on it, but it was good.

Also, Final Fantasy Adventure's ending was a poignant one for me, for some reason.

8-bit handheld FTW!!

Plus, I heard that the solos are more insane in GH2.  You should see my eyes bug out trying to play Crossroads on Normal.  I don't think I could handle much more.

I keep looking at it and wishing I could like it cuz of all the good crap said about it, but knowing I never listen to music at home, at work, or in my car makes me leary of any game centered around music.  Plus, a 50 year old sitting around wacking on a fake plastic guitar I think would cause my wife to think I have truly gone off the deep end with all this gaming stuff.  My father-in-law already thinks I am an immature idiot for playing any of these games, so... 

You know, most of these songs, I haven't really heard of.  But, have you ever, at any point in your life, played air guitar, even once momentarily?  If you have, you should like Guitar Hero.

Alright I'll say it - I don't like Guitar Hero.

gellar

You're dead to me.

I can see why some people wouldn't like it.  I can also see that those people are commie bastards.

I kid, I kid.  Kind of.

So, I just got Guitar Hero (Thanks, Devil!), and I have that same look of wonder that I had with Katamari Damacy.  Honestly, this is what games need:  Easy to learn, hard to master, solid gameplay, not too frustrating, and it makes you FEEL like you're playing the guitar, even though you're just getting Cheeto stains all over the frets.

I just played "Cochise" for the first time.  Just...wow.  What a great game, all the way around.

Devil +1!!!

I started playing FFT, but got bogged down quickly.  My problem with tactics games is you're never sure if you're doing the right thing.  I always have this horrible feeling that I'm screwing everything up in the early going.

FFTA was fun, and then the judges started freaking out with law after law.  Okay, so there's anti-laws, but still.  Why do that?  It just makes the game more irritating.

How come the third one sucked?  I almost bought it recently.

It just felt "off" compared to the previous one. The energy wasn't there as I played through it and the funny was in equally short supply. Not to mention the weapons were no where near as inventive as they are in parts two and four. But I was a huge fan of the next installment, "Deadlocked," so I think they came back firing on all cylinders.

I thought Deadlocked was pretty much multiplayer-only?

I thought so too.

How come the third one sucked?  I almost bought it recently.

I second Katamari Damacy.  Strangely compelling game.

Also, Dark Cloud and Dark Cloud 2 are great games.  DC2's only drawback is that there's SO much to do you feel like you're whipping through the game world so fast you're not seeing everything.  For instance, I played it for 40 hours, haven't finished it, and still feel like I've missed a TON of gameplay.  However, oddly enough, Dark Cloud 1 is far more compelling to me.  I really can't figure out why.

YGPM

Actually, if anyone wants to demo for Rogue Galaxy, PM me.  I'm done with it (it's really short).

So, I tried putting 6 episodes of The Office on a DVD.  I used Nero (which may have been my first mistake) to encode the DVD video and audio and burned it on a Lite-On DVD burner drive, which has done a servicable job thus far.

Everything appeared to go fine, and when I put the DVD in the player, it played great for the first half of the first episode.  Then, all of a sudden, the audio and video unsynchronized, with the audio continuing as normal, and the video going at a slightly slower speed.

How do I fix this for the next one I want to make?  Is this a hardware issue, or a software issue?  Is there a better DVD encoding software I can use?

Sweet!  I'll give those a try.

Now to find the time to play...

As long as you realize that these games are... repetative, just get the latest one. They always "improve" on the last one.

See, I don't mind repetitive.  Is it repetitive like Diablo 2, or repetitive like this:

Hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi.

I don't mind Diablo 2 repetitive.

I laughed so hard at the sign language one, I hurt myself.

Those ones below it are just...weird.  Who does this stuff?

AWESOME PICTURE

Three things:

1) Luminescent Pubes is the best username ever.
2) That cat picture is absolutely awesome.
3) What the hell happened in that picture?  How does something like that happen in real life?

I'm looking for a good hack n' slash game, and Dynasty Warriors has me intrigued.  So, which of the series is the best?

Rub it out.

I got it at a Gamestop.  I asked for it and they gave it to me.  It's not much, but it's still cool.

Have you played the demo?  It looks and plays fantastic.

Yeah, I know.  I don't think it's available anymore.

I don't believe it's available anymore.  Check with Sam.

What am I looking for?  Guitar Hero 1 for PS2.  Make me an offer I can't refuse.

That's awesome.

Done!  Thanks, everyone!

You got PM

Bump for stuff changed.

[UPDATED BELOW]

UPDATED BELOW

Well, I swung a trade for a Slim PS2, but now I have a leftover copy of Yoshi's Island DS.  If you want it, I'll trade it for PS2 games (make me an offer I can't refuse) or sell it for $25.

I'm interested in Megaman X7.  I'll PM you.