We’re a bit late this time around, but here it is. Read on to find out what games kept us busy in the beautiful month of April, and be sure to chime in and let us know what you’ve been playing, too.

Evan:

The first thing I did this month/end of last month was finally play through No More Heroes, which did little to impress me. Besides that flop, I have been enjoying my DS mostly. I re-bought Golden Sun and I am about halfway through with that. I also purchased Nanostray 2 at the same time, which is an absolutely phenomenal game. Oh! And I finally got Rhythm Tengoku, which I have been trying to get ahold of since I first saw it many years ago.

On the console side of things, I haven’t really been doing anything besides Brawl. I finally got the last secret character (through matches played, not the Subspace), so I am still thoroughly enjoying that. I also bought Double Dragon 2 for the NES and Lufia II. I haven’t been able to play them yet, but I am sure I will when I get home on the 30th (still April!).

Jody:

Okami Wii has been getting a good portion of my playtime the past few days, but most of my gaming time this month has gone to slowly making my way through Super Metroid. I have never played it before, and sweet zombie jesus is it awesome. I’ve already put about 9 hours into it and I don’t think I’m near done yet. I just want to slowly drink in every perfect pixel. Other than that I have been playing Bubble Bobble for NES. Single best game on the NES in my opinion.

June:

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is still going strong. What a great game! As a Link main, it feels so different from its predecessors, since I’m no longer melee but rely on bombs and arrows to succeed. That’s okay; it’s fun learning new moves. I only wish more Link players would Brawl online, so I can watch them and improve my game.

I got a copy of Surf’s Up for the Wii this month. I know, it’s a movie game, and we’ve all had ‘experiences’ with awful movie games… but I saw penguins and caved. (Squee!) The pre-level cutscenes are worth the price of admission. No regrets, it’s a simple budget game.

Okami has drifted into my life, so the Wii’s been getting a bit of a workout lately! By the end of the month, you can add Mario Kart to that list. On the portable front, I’m breeding Pokémon to build a better team, and still making my way through various GBA titles. I’m also sampling a number of NES games, with Ice Climber clocking the most game time. It’s been a busy month!

Mitch:

Remember Peggle? You don’t? Well, I do.

Megashaun:

Since I missed out on last month’s post (too busy playing games) I’ll have to give a nod to Devil May Cry 4. It’s easily one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever played and it has an excellent battle system. Special moves have a lot of weight to them, but sometimes it can feel as if you don’t have that much control over what your character is doing. The game is highly stylized and nothing short of what you’d expect from Hiroyuki Kobayashi, who also produced Resident Evil 4.

Another game I’ve been playing like crazy is Condemned 2: Bloodshot. I’ve never felt so horrible after dying in a game. The combat in Bloodshot is dirty, in-your-face, and visceral. Smacking a methed-up hobo with a pipe wrench never felt so good and yet so wrong. To top it off, the game has a very cool “Am I crazy or not?” vibe going for it with monsters and visual effects that flicker in and out of existence and nightmare sequences that make me wonder what the brainstorming meetings a Monolith must be like. Maybe something like this:

One junior executive might have said “Okay, so there’s this mannequin, and it’s laughing a lot when it’s trying to kill you by throwing exploding charred baby dolls at you!”

“Sounds like a night at my place!” would be the answer from the Art Director. “Let’s do it!”

Games I’ve been poking at with a stick but not giving enough attention to (which will change) this month have been Agatha Christie And Then There Were None for Wii (yeah, seriously!) and the recently-released Fantasy Zone on the ever-growing Virtual Console. Most Sega Master System games haven’t aged gracefully but Fantasy Zone hasn’t aged at all. There’s nothing like being transfixed to a screen of neon pinks, blues, and greens while tinny but oddly catchy music draws you into a trance. You’ll want to look away, but you won’t be able to.

Edgar:

This month I haven’t played much except Lord of the Ring Online, server Vilya for those interested. I’ve also finished Final fantasy Crystal Chronicles on the DS. This game is a masterpiece, not that long though. It took about 12 hours, but there’s some replay value. You can play through the game another time with your characters all leveled up. I recommend FFCC to everyone who’s a fan of action RPGs.

Greg:

I haven’t had much free time lately, but I still managed to get a little bit of gaming in. I’ve been dedicating my time to Condemned 2: Bloodshot and Culdcept Saga on the Xbox 360. Bloodshot is a marvelous game. They took the original and pumped everything up. The melee combat is some of the most intense that I’ve seen in a game. This is one of those games that I have to play at night with the sound turned up. It’s moody, atmospheric, and downright creepy. Culdcept Saga is pretty addictive. It combines Magic: The Gathering with Monopoly. Sounds like a strange combination, but it works pretty well. I’ve also been putting some time into Advanced Wars: Days of Ruin and Patapon. Advanced Wars has me just as hooked as the previous games in the series. Great stuff all around.

Vinnk:

I was pretty busy this month doing things like getting married. But I still had time for a few games. I have been mostly playing Professor Layton since it is so easy to pick up and play when I have a few moments. Soon I will have The World Ends With You I played the Japanese version for a while and was very impressed with it, but I am looking forward to seeing the localization.

A few days ago I started doing Wii Fit daily again which you can read about. I also plan to play through No More Heroes again just because Even didn’t like it. That game is pure unfiltered fun.

I want to play more US games but Amazon and other companies don’t ship to Japan and I am tired of getting my family to send them to me. So rebels, if any of you have any games you are finished with, feel free to send them to me.

GK:

In between sessions of studying and finishing projects for school, my breaks are filled with the smash hit that is Super Smash Brothers Brawl. The friend that I usually play with really really sucked when we started playing, but lately he’s been practicing and he is now better than me. So now, I have to practice up to put the ownage back on him.

Besides Brawl, I spend a little time at the end of each day knocking back a couple of beers (game enhancement juice) and playing Grand Turismo 5 Prologue. I’ve never been into racing games, but this game sure is fun(even though I suck) and it sure is pretty.

Rumas:

April has officially been the busiest month of my life. I’ve been travelling all over the place, and I barely know which way is up and which way is down. But Space Invaders Extreme with the DS Paddle Controller has kept me good company.