Three games I'm attempting to play in the run-up to Halloween

Every year (or nearly every year) I say I'm going to play through a handful of seasonally appropriate games in the run-up to Halloween, and every year I fail to make much of a dent in said wish list.

This year, I decided to make things easier on myself by scaling things back a tad. In fact, all I've committed to playing this month--other than Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Hometown Story (which releases tomorrow, by the way) and Pokémon X, of course--are the following trio of spook-tacular titles:



1. Akumajō Special: Boku Dracula-kun (Famicom)--I've been meaning to give this cute Castlevania spin-off for ages, but for all sorts of dumb reasons I've never gotten around to it. So, I'm going to do my best to do so in the coming weeks. And who knows, maybe if I can get through it quickly enough I'll be able to try its GameBoy-based remake-slash-sequel, which was called Kid Dracula outside Japan, as well.



2. Costume Quest (Xbox 360)--I actually played through a bit of this charming, Double Fine-developed RPG this time last year--and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Sadly, I don't believe I got anywhere near its end credits. So, this year I've decided to try again. Although I doubt I'll stick with it long enough to tackle the extra "Grubbins on Ice" chapter, maybe I'll come back around to it after winter hits the real world, too.



3. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS)--Despite the fact that I pre-ordered Dark Moon far in advance of its release, I didn't even unwrap it until a week or so ago. I've since played it for a few hours, and already I'm satisfied with my purchase. My only issue with this 3DS game so far: it seems to be less of an open-ended affair than its GameCube-based predecessor. Of course, that's also likely to make it a better portable experience in the end, so maybe I shouldn't complain just yet.

Are any of you also playing any Halloween-ish games this month? If so, which ones?

Five more favorites: Famicom/NES platformers that don't involve a fat, Italian-American plumber

Just over a week ago, I published a similarly titled blog post featuring five of my favorite Famicom/NES games that didn't star Nintendo's famously mustachioed plumber.

As I'm sure you can tell from the headline above, this post covers five more such titles. Do I put them on equal ground with the games I mentioned in the last one? Not really. Still, they're all great and well worth playing, especially if you've yet to experience them.

1. Akumajō Special: Boku Dracula-kun--Often called Kid Dracula by North American heathens like myself, this Konami-made title is the platforming equivalent of the company's Parodius series of shoot 'em ups--only in this case, Castlevania, not Gradius, is the game being parodied. Anyway, thanks to its focus on projectile weapons, this one's always felt like a mash-up of Castlevania and Mega Man to me--which of course means it's a winner. Additional reasons to give this one a try: Its jaunty soundtrack and its brilliant, cartoon-ish visuals.

2. Gimmick!--My first thought upon discovering this Sunsoft-published gem a few years back was that it was some sort of Kirby rip-off. Although it definitely shares Kirby's Candy Land aesthetic (to a degree), Gimmick! plays nothing like that HAL Laboratory-developed classic. In fact, Gimmick! plays more like a Mega Man game than Kirby's Adventure, if you ask me, what with the adorable protagonist's projectile weapon (a star that spawns above his head) and propensity to bounce. Gimmick! differs from Kirby's Adventure in another important area, too--that being that it's far more challenging. In fact, it took me more than a few attempts to make it past this game's first stage. Don't let that keep you from giving this cart a try, though; tough as nails or not, this is a top-shelf platformer that should be experienced by everyone who knows their d-pad from their start button.