Yes, as I continue to eradicate my gaming backlog like Robert Mugabe eradicates opposition, I come to the realisation that the month of February has merely hours left to live. Whilst it's bleeding out, let me talk you through the games I clocked off.

King Oddball : A Case for Monarchy

Its a title that originally began on mobile platforms but has since spread like butter mixed with smallpox to every gaming device under the sun. Initially I picked it up for review purposes so, if you're interested in how that went, click the link. This now means I've skillfully avoided the need to talk about the game's quality in this blog in the hope of drumming up a tiny spike in traffic for the site. Wink.

Playing this inevitably gets me thinking about what games belong where. When I first started reviewing, I was initially dismissive of traditional mobile ports as they just don't feel right on a home console. Play sessions are longer and so the bang for your buck is short and some of these games just don't carry their available content any distance so I've always wondered why they've been bought home to this audience. I've since lessened my stance.

Yep, these games are often derivatives of one another and the time spent playing somewhat dwarfs in comparison to other downloadable titles but, y'know, they're still fun to play for a few hours and they can definitely hold my attention. I was playing through King Oddball because I had to and because I wanted to, which is a nice compliment to give it. What does annoy me is the disparity of pricing between platforms. Its free on Android but ad-supported, super cheap on iOS (I believe its sub £2) and, before it rightfully went on sale the versions housed under the Playstation Network were in the region of £4. Its obviously a problem with dealing with multiple platforms staggered release dates and licensing issues but it's a real shame that the same content can't be uniformly priced.

Metroid Prime: Mind Your Own Business

Seriously. Samus is supposed to be a Bounty Hunter but she goes around the universe answering distress calls in her custom-made ship like she's an emergency service. Less of that, please. I've got a guy in Minnesota who's missed payments on his Ford pick-up. Take care of it.

Pretty good game, this. I'd tried to finish it a few times previously but only got as far as the Phazon Mines before putting it aside. Part of me wishes I'd got this done sooner but, if there's one thing this game does exceptionally well, it's making you feel like you're learning and getting better. As I replayed from scratch I was encountering bosses that I'd seen before and, with that prior knowledge I was able to take things easier. Thardus went down in the first attempt who was a boss I previously struggled with. That was the point where I realised this game was going to be finished and off my list of shame.

Retro definitely took the Metroid blueprint and established it incredibly well in a first-person perspective but it still feels like an homage. Almost like its not their creation. The main areas of the game feel like quarantined, distinct zones rather than parts of a complete world. I was thinking today about how it felt like the TV show The Crystal Maze. The game more or less starts and ends with the Impact Crater and you move through the game's zones grabbing items to help you progress. All that's really missing is a time limit and Richard O'Brien playing harmonica.

And as you near the conclusion the game gives you a trio of horrible bosses. I beat Omega Pirate after many hours of trying. He doesn't honestly have many attacks but the arena you fight him in gives you environmental hazards which you can only really take note of with your helmet's HUD and he spawns minions in between rounds. I go so far as to say this is one of the rare moments where the game feels cheap. I had definite moments where I thought I was never going to take him down but eventually I did succeed. The pay-off being that you get the final suit of the game and get to explore the map for the last remaining artifacts. The downtime felt like a genuine relief after all the grief that boss had given me so I figured the game could throw nothing more at me.

Ridley begs to differ but that battle feels a lot better designed. There's distinct, avoidable attacks to Meta Ridley and the only thing that really changes between forms is the timing. He still took me several cracks of the whip but he was down with four tanks to spare. Its a great exercise is making the player better when you put them through the ringer like that. There's no tricks to it, just memory and timing. Its all on you. I almost wished the game picked that moment to conclude, really.

Actually, I want to go back to Pirates. Space Pirates are treated as a genuine race in the Metroid universe and, according to the lore there's Pirate scientists, researchers and a whole heap of the Pirate society we never get to see. Samus seems to think it's her duty to extinguish them. We've already established she thinks she's Batman but now she's developed a sinister edge. Have cuddly Nintendo inadvertently brought cartoon bigotry and genocide to our industry? Shameful. Play this game but do so whilst shaking your head disapprovingly. Space Pirates will overcome. Presumably with the help of rudimentary experiments with radioactive materials.

What the hell is March?

Yeah, annoyingly that was kinda it for this month. Those Prime boss battles took a fair bit of time which is still at a premium for me. I was hoping to get Velocity 2X beat this month but I need to grind some experience points out to unlock the last ten levels. Hopefully it'll be done in March although, don't hold your breath. I've got a week off work in that month which I may use to concentrate on Dark Souls, seeing as Bloodborne is weeks away. I've also made a start on Metroid Prime 2 and made a complete hash of starting Dishonoured. Yes, there should be a 'u' in there. This is the main thing about me when I finish games. Sometimes I can't settle on the next one to conquer.

Cheerio.