Washed

 Just when the humidity dropped and I could breathe again, a leaking ceiling almost flooded my bathroom.  Again.  While waiting for my super to fix everything--again--I'll run down the games I've been playing to beat the heat.

Tetris 99 (Switch)

I've played quite a bit of this lately, to take advantage of a special event in which you can buy more background themes with less in-game currency.  Now they're offering a new theme based on Nintendo's newest Switch 2 title Splatoon Raiders.  Basically an expansion of the Salmon Run minigame from Splatoon 3.  Round up 100 points, and the theme's yours.

Capcom Arcade Stadium (Switch)

Next, I was in the mood for some classic Street Fighter.  Having literally a dozen ways to play it (even the Game Boy ports on cartridge),  my Switch was just within reach.  After going a few rounds with Vega (which is actually just restarting from my last save state after losing every other round), I moved on to . . .

Capcom Fighting Collection: Vol. 1 (Switch)

Since playing thorough the Playstation ports of the original Darkstalkers on the Vita, I've been meaning to pick 'em up again.  And what better way than to download another port onto another console at a bargain, only to leave it idle for months on end.  Originally using Morrigan the succubus--a clone of Street Fighter's Ryu--as my main, Dimitri the vampire proved more my speed in my fight against ghouls and ghosts.  And a super-cheap mummy that keeps turning me into a bat.

Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (Game Boy)

Starting with my completing Wario Land 2 and trying out every other Wario game for a minute, I tried to remedy that by playing through the first game in the Wario franchise.  I guess my reason for not following through is that by comparison, playing Wario 2 on an actual cartridge, on an actual Game Boy, limits me to just that game unless I have another cart handy.  Whereas playing Wario 1 on Switch Online, I can 'switch' to dozens of other games at any time and that's distracting.  Which would explain why so many gravitate towards retro and physical media.

Earthworm Jim (Game Boy)

With the re-release of a decades-old port for ModRetro's Chromatic, I tried it out on my R36S to see if it's worth owning the cart.  So far, I don't think it is.  While it plays as close to the original 16-bit version as possible with 2 face buttons and a D-pad, it's still a port of the 16-version played with 2 face buttons and a D-pad.  Plus I keep getting bounced back in place while walking on all those tires in Level 1.

Pokemon Crystal Version (Game Boy Color)

Another game buried in my backlog, I'm finally playing Crystal after hearing that Pokemon Bank will shut down next year.  My second exposure to the Gen 2 games after Pokemon Gold, I usually choose just one game from each generation, preferably the optimal 2nd/3rd version.  But I made an exception with Crystal when it released some time after Gold/Silver on Nintendo's Virtual Console.  I'm really just trying to catch whatever Johto Pokees I may not already have in the Pokemon Home app.  But with very Pokemon ever popping up in later generations, it's hard not to catch 'em all.  Eventually.

I'll stop here.  Join me again as I catch Pokemon and the anime fighter bug on my way to the Top of the Heap.  See you next time.