3 CASTLEVANIA - LEVEL 3, STAGES 07-09

Dear Readers,

Today I'll talk about the next few stages on the third level. The "Wicked Child" theme plays here.

The hunchbacks appear here and they can be unbelievably troublesome. Like some annoying bugs that won't leave you alone. The pork chop in the second double block I always needed when trying this place. The bone throwing skeletons and birds are very annoying here too.

Upstairs there's a hidden money bag you can find by kneeling on the dead end block under the blocks you have to jump across.

Stage 08 was quite tricky with the Medusa heads and skeletons, especially when I was trying to climb the stairs. There's a spot somewhere above where you can kneel and another secret money bag appears. Near the end of this section the first of those twin dragon skeleton head fireball shooter thingies appears and they aren't too easy to deal with either further along.

Stage 09 I had a lot of trouble with. The birds and those twin heads made it tough enough with my timing and those skeletons I had to take things very slow with in order to jump across the gaps.

The twin mummies boss I had a lot of trouble with and got many game overs to them. The pork shop in the rightmost block I desperately needed every time I faced them. I eventually defeated them though and went to the next level, though I haven't developed a good strategy for facing them.

2 CASTLEVANIA - LEVEL 2, STAGES 04-06

Dear Readers,

Today I'll talk about the next level. The "Stalker" theme plays here. At the right of the top of the first flight of stairs of stage 04 there's a breakable wall that makes a secret crown appear downstairs if you walk into it.

Upstairs I found a II double shot in the left corner of the top platform. The knights here aren't much trouble but they do take a few hits. The bats are annoying though and this is just the beginning!

Even worse are the Medusa heads that appear on stage 05. If you wait on that double block along this path for a moment, a secret treasure appears.

The Medusa heads get very bad when you go up the stairs. They knocked me down the hole several times and I got plenty of game overs here. Further to the right there's a hidden pork chop in the higher double block which I always needed when playing this level.

Because of the way Simon jumps, getting across those moving platforms can be an absolute nightmare. It's not too bad in this stage though.

In stage 06 there's another hidden pork chop in the top left block you descend. Next were these crushing spiked things that kill you in one hit. I got many game overs from these things. Some of them don't go all the way and that can be handy. I couldn't jump on top of them either. I tried.

Further on and up the stairs were more Medusa heads. Along this path there are several arches and if you wait under the fourth one you can make a secret money bag appear.

The main big Medusa head is the boss up ahead and I was able to take care of her handily with the holy water but the stopwatch can also be very handy.

41 FINAL FANTASY EXPLORERS - VS RAMUH, GILGAMESH AND OMEGA ONLINE WITH JOE AND NOVA

Dear Readers,

Short session this evening with Nova and Joe but a nice one.

Quest 1: "Battle With a Sapient Thunderbolt"

I picked this to fill the subquest quota. Joe wanted to encase Ramuh. He had to revive me first but I was able to pull it off!

Quest 2: "Greater Yet than Pride"

Hadn't gone up against Omega in a while. Had to take care of Gilgamesh first and run to where Omega was. Omega was pretty tough but we managed it! I spent a lot of the battle running away in fear. I didn't get KO'd too often...

1 CASTLEVANIA - LEVEL 1, STAGES 01-03

Dear Readers,

I'm playing the original NES Castlevania on the 3DS Virtual Console! It's very hard and also very stressful to play. I also have to take breaks a lot when playing and I like using the Circle Pad Pro for that extra grip.

I've been reading up on it and I learned that you can earn an extra life for the first 30,000 points you earn and another for every subsequent 50,000 points. Grinding for the first 30 will be handy when trying to progress and being a little short on lives. Like say, if you're down to your last life and have 29,000 points, it's worth grinding for that little bit to get an extra life.

Ok! Stage 01! I made my way up to the castle, whipping candles and jumping over the door to make a secret money bag appear. The music that plays is the iconic "Vampire Killer" theme.

Into the castle and here I dealt with zombies and pouncing dog things until I reached the door to the second stage. There's a pork chop in the wall to the right and my first encounter with bats and then mermen when the path went downwards. The platform on the bottom right I could reach by breaking the block above it and dropping down to get another secret money bag. Then it's back up the stairs and on to stage 03.

Like stage 01 it wasn't too tricky. There's an invincibility potion here and in my opinion it doesn't last long enough! It's no Star Man that's for sure! Every little helps further on in the game though. Every time I play this stage I like to collect the axe and the II double shot under the stairs at the boss.

6 CASTLEVANIA: SPECTRAL INTERLUDE - ENTERING DRACULA'S CASTLE

Dear Readers,

We're at Dracula's castle now! Though he hasn't revived. "Dwelling Of Doom" plays here and is another excellent rendition. At the beginning there's a secret room underneath with a health upgrade and a white altar piece. It's nice to have the map point it out.

Dracula's castle is blood red on the outside. I couldn't resist trying to jump on the wall but alas it's not a platform.

I've made my way through a good chunk of the castle and came across the Medusa boss. I haven't defeated her yet though.

11 SONIC DASH - CLASSIC SONIC CHALLENGE TWO THIRDS COMPLETE

Dear Readers,

I've been playing the Classic Sonic challenge for a good bit and already got about 400 of the 623 cartridges needed to unlock him.

Also, the bosses got harder but they're not too hard thankfully. You don't have to line up the circles exactly which is preferable as the game often stutters and lags.

40 FINAL FANTASY EXPLORERS - RETURN OF NOVA, PLAYING ONLINE WITH NOVA AND JOE

Dear Readers,

At this point Nova was EL179 Samurai, Joe was EL323 White Mage and I was EL133 Monk. Welcome back to Nova. It's been a small while!

Quest 1: "Purging the Sins of Humankind"

Aberrant Amaterasu at the World's End. We fought a good battle and I was going to encase her at the end but I got KO'd. Ah well.

Quest 2: "The Hellfire of a Djinn in the Depths"

I failed to encase again! At least I fulfilled a subquest though! Aberrant Ifrit moved away just as I was trying to encase him and the move failed.

Quest 3: "The Twin Queens"

The harder version of this quest, "One Perfect Diamond", I was completely floored for almost the entire battle so I chose this earlier one to fulfill another subquest quota. An encasing finally happened during this quest too! :)

Quest 4: "Gold Glints the Road to Perdition"

Another miss for an encasing! Joe and Nova were KO'd on the ground and I started my encase move but then aberrant Bahamut threw an Ultima at me and KO'd me a split moment away from my attempt from being filled. It would've been beautiful...

Joe encased him at least.

Quest 5: "Battle With a Sapient Thunderbolt"

Aberrant Ramuh in the swamp. We can just fly right to him which is very handy! Joe wanted to encase him but we were all too strong and finished him off before we knew it. Whoops!

Quest 6: "Battle With a Sapient Thunderbolt"

I thought we'd do it again. I may have been trying to fill a subquest quota too I'm not sure. Anyway Nova and Joe managed to encase him this time. Yay!

So yeah that was our session. It was nice to have Nova playing again!

10 SONIC DASH - CLASSIC SONIC EVENT

Dear Readers,

I got a nice surprise when I saw that there was an event to play as Classic Sonic from Sonic Generations and play in Green Hill Zone themed stages along with the music. If you collect Mega Drive Sonic cartridges you can unlock him without having to pay for him. They're labelled "Genesis" cartridges instead of "Mega Drive" ones though. There are Sonic & Knuckles lock on carts to collect among them.

I came back to the game after a while and I couldn't do this event anymore. Classic Sonic is still there but there's a price tag of EUR6.49 to pay for him. I thought I had 8 days to do the event? What's going on?

This free-to-play Android thing is getting more and more annoying :(

Wait... hang on... I just went in and out of the options menu and the event thing seems to have been restored. Baffling!

I'll still hang around and enjoy it.

You have to collect 623 of these cartridges. That's more than it took to unlock other characters, but why 623? At first I thought it had something to do with Japanese goroawase wordplay, but then it came to me: It stands for the 23rd of the 6th, which is Sonic's birthday! Nice reference! :)

9 SONIC DASH - HARDER BOSS UPDATE

Dear Readers,

I recently updated Sonic Dash and I found that it made the bosses harder!

Instead of tapping on the static target to hit them, I have to make two circles line up before making a move. This aspect definitely isn't easy any more.

7 ONE THOUSAND LIES - CLAIRE THE SHY

Dear Readers,

I was hanging out with Ziva who was still talking about the graduation event. She was very preoccupied with it. Later on we went to the classroom at the other school and met Claire. This was the first time I've seen Claire with other people besides just myself and she behaved differently. She's a lot quieter. Ausse couldn't believe she was around the same age as us, given how small and young she looks. He was having an internal dilemma about the type of woman he should be going for compared to that of the forbidden. It was amusing enough to watch.

We also finally met Diniz D'Cruze, an easygoing guy who's also taking part in the organisation of the event.

11 SMURFS EPIC RUN - STADIUM UPDATE AND UNLIMITED ENERGY FOR GEMS DEAL GONE

Dear Readers,

The update for the stadium is certainly interesting but first of all I must say I'm sad that I no longer have the option to buy unlimited energy for gems! That's a shame as I was saving up. It would've taken a very long time but I was saving up. It certainly makes you wonder about your approach for long-term plans in saving and conserving resources.

One blessing about the stadium update is I finally have a use for those tournament cards. Up until now they've been useless to me because I don't use Facebook. They cap at 99 and don't go over that amount unlike energy points, so it's best to use them when I get them.

10 SMURFS EPIC RUN - UNLOCKED SMURFETTE!

Dear Readers,

Today I unlocked Smurfette! Brainy wasn't kidding about her having the most impressive glide ability. She can stay in the air for ages!

Up until now I have mostly been using Poet Smurf because of his handy glide ability. Smurfette has an improved glide plus an extra heart. Other Smurfs like Papa Smurf have the extra heart as well. It reminds me of Rayman Origins as that game has the exact same feature.

9 SMURFS EPIC RUN - UNLOCKED PAPA SMURF!

Dear Readers,

I finally unlocked Papa Smurf! In order to do it I had to play the game every day for 30 days. A prize for consistent participation. I didn't have to pay coins or gems for him once he was unlocked at least. He has a permanent magnet and extra heart abilities.

I also progressed on to the snowy area. It's quite nice here and the Gargamel snowman is pretty funny! Some dash zippers are here too so that's a little bit of a twist to the gameplay anyway.

5 CASTLEVANIA: SPECTRAL INTERLUDE - DOUBLE JUMPING FOR GOODIES, THE PURPLE ALTAR

Dear Readers,

Now that I have the double jump, I can backtrack everywhere I've been and collect goodies that have been teasing me out of reach!

I headed through the forest and into the underground dungeon. It's great to be able to defeat the werewolves in one hit now! They're no longer as intimidating as they were. I got the health upgrade in the dungeon I couldn't reach before.

Then it was back out to the forest again and to climb the platforms above the snakes. On the way up the birds you have to face can be tough. If you don't shake them off in time they pick at you like the mosquitoes in Digger T. Rock. At the top of the platform there's a cyan altar piece out of reach and an entrance to an icy waterfall cave.

In the icy waterfall cave the "Heart Of Fire" theme plays, same as the dungeon beneath the forest. The ice here gives you a slight slide when you stop so that's a nice bit of detail. Underneath there's a green altar piece out of reach across some water. Above there's a white altar piece out of reach. On the next screen there's the final purple altar piece. Beyond that, a nice save point before the purple altar boss. Heart upgrade hidden in the wall to the right too!

The purple altar boss are these two dragon heads that come up out of the water to spit fire at you (icy fire maybe) and they look like Volvagia from Zelda 2. A head only comes out if you have your back to it and the splash it makes when it goes back in makes for a very nice level of detail! This took me a few tries as well but I eventually took advantage of dropping through the platform to whip them when they started shooting fire.

After defeating them I got the ability to turn water into ice. This comes in very handy for freezing waterfalls and other water hazards! In the next room there's a yellow altar piece out of reach and a health upgrade.

Joseph told me I could access Dracula's castle now though he still isn't there himself.

On the way back I froze the waterfall and collected the green altar piece. It's pretty cool freezing waterfalls and then being able to climb them! There's a whip upgrade here too hidden in the left wall.

On the way back to town I was delighted to be able to freeze the water hazards and not be afraid of having enough room to deal with the were wolves! I like this extra bit of confidence!

The confidence continues with being able to freeze the water hazard in town so I can just casually walk right through the lower path without any trouble. Ahh!

I headed back to the cemetery and beyond where I met Joseph to freeze the water and obtain more items: a health upgrade, the second green altar piece and a heart upgrade hidden in the left wall. The yellow altar piece was across some spikes and unreachable right now.

Then I crossed the Mermen's area again to the waterfall cave with the bats. It feels so good to be able to freeze the waterfalls here. I wish the freeze powers could work in the Mermen's area too!

In the waterfall cave I froze the waterfall I could then climb to get the third green altar piece. Then I backtracked to town.

At this point I also had the full map, which revealed secret rooms in the cemetery and the entrance to the waterfall cave.

After upgrading and more weapon purchases and preparations, I headed across the water at the edge of the forest towards Dracula's castle.

There's a nice view of the countryside with the trees and mountains in the background while crossing the water, and that partial blue and magenta sky is really pretty too.

The final green altar piece is on the other side along the path to Dracula's castle.

4 CASTLEVANIA: SPECTRAL INTERLUDE - THE RED ALTAR RUINS

Dear Readers,

Today I'll talk about exploring the area beyond the cemetery, which was a bit difficult to explore last time and also about facing the red altar boss.

I went back to town and continued, past the cemetery to the dangerous water crossing with the Mermen. The shield comes in handy here as they are tough enough.

On the other side I was welcomed by bats and a red altar piece. This makes three of them collected now. I had collected 2 others in the forest.

In this new cave area the "Monster Dance" theme plays and it's another wonderfully faithful rendition. The waterfall area here is quite tricky with all the bats flying at you and I was trying to whip them above a platform so their spoils wouldn't drop into the water.

Through here there's a ruined tower and a purple alter piece out of reach. Must come back for it. On the next screen there's a heart upgrade on the upper path but I had to continue left. There's another new enemy here, these leaping gargoyles who are quite scary as they can jump and avoid your whipping. Very handy save point beyond here and a whip upgrade out of reach.

Now to go back along the upper path and get the heart upgrade and up the stairs through the tower. The bats here are quite troublesome and there are also bone throwing skeletons too.

At this point I have to say I am so thankful for the way stairs work in this Castlevania game! Usually you fall through them but in this game you can land on the stairs and that's amazing! You can treat them like real platforms and it makes life so much easier! Still a challenge to ascend here though.

Game is starting to get very tough now with enemies flying at you. There's the final red altar piece on the upper path teasing me so I had to take the left path and it eventually led me to stairs and another save point when I wasn't constantly dying! I had to take the upper path back along to the last red altar piece. Then I headed back to the save point and beyond to the red altar boss.

It's a giant hunchback! He's tough enough, jumping all over the place and walking along the ceiling and throwing daggers... actually he's a lot like Grant in Castlevania III. I was able to defeat him by standing at the far right of the screen and jump whipping whenever he got too close. After a few tries I defeated him and obtained the double jump! I love this item because it makes those scary pixel perfect jumps so much easier.

Another thing I love about this game, on the same point as the stairs earlier, is the jumping. You can change direction mid-air and this is extremely helpful!

The next screen has a yellow altar piece across some spikes so I'll have to come back here later. Backtracking along, I took the right path this time and got the magenta altar piece and the hidden whip upgrade in the wall. On this path my character walks behind these pillars and it can be tough to see with the bats flying at you so I had to take it slow.

Heading back to the stairs I was so happy I was able to just drop down through the tower without having to bother stepping down! Castlevania III made it so difficult with the stairs...

When I got down I headed left again to the save point, which I really needed in this tough place, and the whip upgrade which I could now reach. Then I made my way out and got the other magenta altar piece I couldn't reach. Then it was back out through the cave, which was even more dangerous now with the extra bats since defeating the boss. The Mermen were still pretty tough to deal with on the way back too.

I headed down to where I first met Joseph and used the double jump to get up to the platform behind him that I couldn't reach before. The third magenta altar piece was beyond. More stuff was here too but I couldn't get to them yet. After this I headed back to town and upgraded my whip again.

3 CASTLEVANIA: SPECTRAL INTERLUDE - THE FOREST AND THE BLUE ALTAR

Dear Readers,

Today I'll talk about going through town, the forest, its underground dungeon and the first boss.

On the way back from where we met Joseph, he says it's dangerous to continue left. He's right. Those... mermen I think they are are a bit tough to deal with at this point. I would at least grab the blue altar piece before heading back through the cemetery. I didn't and had to come back for it!

I've noticed you can't really farm for gold in this game. Not until you beat a boss at least. I've also noticed that if you hang around the edges of the screen, more enemies will sometimes come from the other side.

When I got to the town "The Silence Of Daylight" theme plays and it's a lot like the towns in Simon's Quest, but there's only one water hazard here thank goodness. This version of this music reminds me of music from Donkey Kong Land III for the Game Boy! Something about the synth-y solo build up reminds me of the atmosphere of that game's world and that definitely keeps this game in my good books!

There are a few people to talk to in town. The old ladies aren't very nice and tell me to stop being a nuisance and to get a job. Very true to real life for many people. I didn't have enough money to buy anything but I would recommend getting the map upgrades for finding secret rooms and keeping track of where you're going. Richter my sarcastic dad is here too. Just by the water there's the second blue altar piece.

Continuing right, I went into the forest and an awesome rendition of "Bloody Tears" plays here. I love this song so much! I don't even mind backtracking through here it's so good! I had to take my time here with the werewolves. Heading further right past the stairs I found another altar piece by the river and a whip upgrade. I took it all the way back to town to Marcus, the newly opened blacksmith and got my whip worked on. Some enemies don't take as many hits to defeat now.

I walked back in through the forest again(listening to the awesome theme) and went downstairs into a type of dungeon place. "Heart Of Fire" plays here and it's a very authentic version of the theme which brings a good atmosphere. The floating eyeballs here are kinda like the Medusa heads and they can be dangerous at this point in the game. Dealt with them very slowly. Heading right I came across an armed skeleton protecting a health upgrade. It's a bit scary dealing with an enemy this strong so soon but it was worth it to get stronger.

Further along I dropped down to collect another altar piece and could only turn left. On this lower path it's quite nerve wracking to make the jumps across the spiked pits. The screen scrolls up and back down, all the while you're hoping you'll make it! It adds a bit of tension while also making a throwback to how scrolling worked in older games.

Continuing left the path lead to an area that teased a health upgrade that's out of reach. Below there's a cyan altar piece that's also out of reach. There's a whip upgrade that's within reach though and also a hidden heart upgrade in the wall behind the skeleton. That was a nice discovery!

On the way back, I had to head back upstairs and decided to just go back to town to upgrade the whip again. I saved here as well. There is a need to save frequently in this game!

I headed back to the forest dungeon and continued right until I got to the blue altar and faced the boss, a horned skeleton with sword and shield. It's a fun boss and not too difficult to suss out. I made good use of the middle platforms and swapping now and again, getting hits in its back! It's really satisfying to whip bosses by the way. They flash and this "kshhhh" sound effect plays when you do.

After defeating it, I obtained its shield which comes in very handy during this adventure! Every little helps!

On leaving the boss chamber, we noticed more monsters appearing. The first of this game's many bats was the first one we saw. Joseph explains what's happening for a bit and then we continue trying to get out of here.

8 SONIC DASH - OVER 1 MILLION POINTS!

Dear Readers,

Thanks to doing some upgrades, I've finally exceeded a score of 1 million points! My highest score at the moment is 1,229,320.

2 CASTLEVANIA: SPECTRAL INTERLUDE - SIMON IS BORED

Dear Readers,

Now that we've got the issue of controls settled, let's get into the game! By the way, it's great to be able to play something like this on official hardware :)

A bunch of talented people came together and banded as Rewind to make this game. It's immediately apparent in the graphic design and music and together with the gameplay, it's a very authentic Castlevania experience.

The loading screen is gorgeous, though it doesn't really show on the Vega as loading is instantaneous. It's a wonderful recreation of the NES Castlevania box art. The title itself has the nice crescent 'C' logo that we're familiar with in recent times. I like that the subtitle "Spectral Interlude" uses nearly the whole colour palette of the ZX Spectrum. Nice touch and clever choice of name too!

The "Intro" and "Title" music tracks are nicely done and get you excited for the game. 2015! Bum bum bum bum bum bum! I'm not sure if these two music tracks are from the original series or not.

The opening crawl text is wordy but rewarding enough. The backstory is quite relatable in today's world: A Simon Belmont is living during times of peace, which means he is out of a job. Dracula won't be revived for a few more decades, much like the way the official series is dormant. Hopefully it won't be decades until it comes back!

I began the game in the cemetery and spoke with Boldo, who calls me "Mr Failmont". There's something very "Cranky Kong" about the characters in the game, though I've found that to be the case in many ZX Spectrum games. It's its own kind of tough love cruelty.

"Wicked Child" plays in the cemetery. It has a different tempo to the NES version and it has a harsh but cool synth-y solo. Remember the AVGN montage? You couldn't really pair that up with this as the tempo is different.

After whipping some skeletons I went underground and met Joseph. The encounter with him is kind of strange because he asks you to kill him before he releases the barrier around the cemetery. He becomes the "Navi" for this adventure but he doesn't bother you too much. You get the very most of his exposition from this first encounter with him.

This game is all about exploring and gathering pieces of altars, so that Dracula can be revived. Why? Because Simon is bored!

6 ONE THOUSAND LIES - TO THE PICTURES WITH CLAIRE AND LUCE

Dear Readers,

I was hanging out with Ausse again and told him what I knew about Luce, or at least what I wasn't bound by secrecy to say anyway. There was another mysterious e-mail waiting for me on his phone. Afterwards I went to hang out with Claire again. Before I knew it we were on a date to go shopping at the mall.

This shopping centre has lovely music! It's reminiscent of something you'd find in a Sonic game if you can imagine Sonic going shopping or something. Claire runs around, being a manic pixie and tackles someone she thinks is a thief. We don't see it happening but I try to play it off like it was a public demonstration. After this we went to the cinema.

In here I was addled with nerves about being alone in the dark with a girl. After the movie, Claire ran up some forbidden staircase to the roof. When I joined her she got all philosophical and revealed herself to be the sender of the mysterious e-mails.

Later on I was hanging out with Luce again but this time in our secret hideout, writing and drawing. We talked about writing and drawing for quite some time before we went to the cinema.

Unlike the experience with Claire earlier, Luce just laughed and enjoyed herself, even though it was a horror movie.

39 FINAL FANTASY EXPLORERS - HUNTING 7 STAR EIDOLONS FOR SUBQUESTS ONLINE WITH JOE

Dear Readers,

Joe misplaced his 3DS but not too badly and we still got a nice bit of exploring done!

At this stage, he was EL322 Machinist and I was EL132 Monk. He wanted to try this job out but settled on White Mage for most of our session.

Quest 1: "Hellfire on Ice"

Back to 7 star quests for a while. I wanted to fill subquest quotas too! Twice I tried to encase Ifrit but he hit me the first time and he was too far the second time and I couldn't do it anymore. Ah well. We defeated him anyway.

Quest 2: "Twisted Sister's Soirée"

Another 7 star quest for a subquest quota. You wouldn't expect to get KO'd from ground hazards in this game but this is what actually happened to me at one stage! Didn't heal in time. Again we defeated her.

Quest 3: "Golden King of Dragons"

The scarier looking Bahamut but at a lower 7 star level. Very quick to deal with this time! Lower level quests plus the Stargleamers I crafted at the end of our last session are really helping here.

After this we turned in for the night.

7 SONIC DASH - UNLOCKED AMY

Dear Readers,

I decided to pay red rings to unlock Amy. I doubt I was going to win her in the wheel spin and the mission involving her was just sitting there, so I took the plunge.

Another mission came up about paying rings for upgrades so I started upgrading Sonic. This game has suddenly become about saving rings! Upgrade prices inflate when you buy them. I guess you could say it's like Fantasy Zone in that regard. But yeah, now I'm conscious about saving rings and banking multipliers.

With the upgrades I got I started getting better scores, over 600K at least which is nice!

1 CASTLEVANIA: SPECTRAL INTERLUDE - HOW TO PLAY ON ZX SPECTRUM VEGA

Dear Readers,

I finally got this excellent free fangame from spectralinterlude.com to work on my ZX Spectrum Vega! Today I'll tell you how I did it.

What I was doing wrong was simply trying to load the game from my MicroSD card. The Vega seems to load 48K games by default so it needs a configuration file to run this 128K game. This configuration file will not just be for the model, but also for the controls. Here I'll tell you how to make one.

Here are the steps:

-Download "castlevania_si_en.tap" from spectralinterlude.com
-Put it on the MicroSD card
-Open a new Notepad document
-Save as..
-File name: "castlevania_si_en.zxk"
-Save as Type: "All Files"
-Put it on the MicroSD card in the same directory as "castlevania_si_en.tap"
-Copy and paste the following paragraph into "castlevania_si_en.zxk" and save:

T:Castlevania: Spectral Interlude
F:castlevania_si_en.tap
M:128
K:;Q;A;O;P;0;SP;M;Q;1;2;H
D:;Up, Jump, Enter Door;Kneel, Take, (x2)Drop;Left;Right;Game Map;Whip, Read, Talk;Secondary Weapon;Jump;Previous Weapon;Next Weapon;Skip Text, Exit Game

Explanation:
T: is the title of the game as it'll appear on the ZX Spectrum Vega menu.
F: is the game .tap file to which this configuration file is applied.
M:128 is the model of Spectrum this game uses. This part is vital to get it running.
K: is the key configuration for the Vega's buttons. The above is what I suggest.
D: is what appears on the help screen describing the controls.

I hope this helps! I learned how to make configuration files from this section of the Vega company's website: retrocomputerslimited.com/vega/configuring-a-game/

From there you can download the Keymapping Instructions pdf with more explanations on configurations such as how to do cheat pokes etc.

6 SONIC DASH - WON KNUCKLES!

Dear Readers,

I won Knuckles in the event! It's nice to be able to choose him, though he doesn't smile at all.

One of my missions is to run as Amy but I don't have her unlocked. She's actually a prize in the spin wheel, but I might just end up buying her with the red rings.

38 FINAL FANTASY EXPLORERS - CONFLAGRANT PENNON HUNTING ONLINE WITH JOE

Dear Readers,

Joe very kindly obliged to help me obtain a Conflagrant Pennon from the abberant Phoenix and the very most of this session was all about that! At this point he was EL318 Thief and I was EL129 Monk.

Quest 1: "Eternal Firebird"

Joe brought along Centaurion and Cactuar. I didn't get the Conflagrant Pennon this time.

Quest 2: "Eternal Firebird"

Pennon's another word for wing, so I assumed we had to focus on the wings. Joe brought along his Black Chocobo.

Along the way it was pretty cool that a Flan Princess appeared right at our feet on summoning! It was also kinda scary that the Spectres now have the same black hole move that Diabolos uses.

In the end I got a Conflagrant Torrent but no Conflagrant Pennon.

Quest 3: "Eternal Firebird"

I changed my job for the first time since I was a Freelancer at the start of the game. I changed to Ranger with the idea of being able to shoot up in the air and reach Phoenix's wings. It's kina cool and I can make crystal drones that shoot arrows but I didn't get what I wanted again unfortunately.

Quest 4: "Eternal Firebird"

It's kinda cool, my running animation when I have a bow wielded. It reminds me of Conker's Bad Fur Day when you have the dual machine guns wielded. Lots of quick little steps.

It's difficult enough to keep the target focused on one part of the Phoenix as it sometimes goes off-screen to glide or do a claw attack.

After this I got a Conflagrant Vane and a Conflagrant Torrent but no Conflagrant Pennon. I decided to go back to being a Monk.

Quest 5: "Eternal Firebird"

Thanks again Joe for your patience! I didn't get the Conflagrant Pennon again but Joe did encase Phoenix. He got 2 Conflagrant Pennons! Gah!

After this we took a little break before heading out again.

Quest 6: "Eternal Firebird"

It was a very quick battle with Phoenix. I've started using the Weaponised Palm move and it's pretty good. Still no Conflagrant Pennon though.

Quest 7: "Eternal Firebird"

FINALLY! I got 2 Conflagrant Pennons from beating Phoenix this time! I don't know if it was because I landed the final blow(if I did land the final blow) or not but I'm just so happy I was finally able to make Stargleamers! I guess I didn't need to switch jobs after all!

Quest 8: "The Struggle Against the Battle-God"

Finally a different quest! At least I was able to claim my reward for filling the aberrant Phoenix quota! That's why I chose this quest too, to fill the aberrant Odin quota. Joe tried out the Machinist job and found it wasn't for him, so we gave up to try again.

Quest 9: "The Struggle Against the Battle-God"

Odin got a few severe hits on us but it didn't take us long to defeat him! I encased him on Joe's request. It was the least I could do for dragging him through all those Phoenix quests!

That was our session. I like the glow the Stargleamers add to my fists! I'm noticeably more formidable too.

5 SONIC DASH - KNUCKLES EVENT

Dear Readers,

At the moment I have a chance to win Knuckles if I collect 300 tokens while out on runs. Very nice chance. I recently unlocked Andronic out of curiosity. It's a silly cross between Sonic and the Android mascot. All in good fun though. My highest score at the moment is 588,271. I completed enough missions to unlock the maximum multiplier, which is normally 20.

8 SMURFS EPIC RUN - REPORTER SMURF

Dear Readers,

I got a timed challenge recently that involved collecting hundreds of coins with the magnet. I decided to pay coins for Reporter Smurf, as he has a permanent magnet ability. Completing this challenge was a breeze then!

2 MINECRAFT - WII U EDITION! NO LEGACY CONTROLS :(

Dear Readers,

Minecraft on a physical disc is finally out on Wii U! I wish I had seen it on Wii but alas it's too late now. There aren't even Wii Remote and Nunchuck controls for this version. I was all set after installing 2 day one updates. It controls nicely with the Game Pad, although very clumsy for me as I'm used to GoldenEye legacy controls and the option isn't here sadly.

I played the tutorial and the game plays really smoothly! I think I'm going to like console Minecraft! Of course, despite the non-legacy controls. Someone please update this!

4 SONIC DASH - WON TAILS!

Dear Readers,

I lost Cream and Espio recently when I lost my data but I just won Tails in another promotion where I had to collect 300 tokens. That's something at least! I also got a pretty good score of 460,157, considering I'm only at level 8. Making a comeback of sorts!

Sometimes the game crashes when I've watched an ad to revive, so it can be kind of risky to do that. At this stage I've just kind of accepted it as normal gameplay...

1 TERRARIA - PLAYING THE WII U TUTORIAL

Dear Readers,

It's about time I jumped on board this game! The disc version came out recently so I got that for the Wii U. After the day 1 update installed I was off!

I navigated the menus for a while while playing with the Wii Remote and Nunchuck, but the text was so tiny I couldn't read it properly. The Game Pad screen was blank and I kept messing up my character creation by pressing the wrong button. So I abandoned the Wii Remote, reset the game and played with the Game Pad and its screen instead. At least then I could read the text. The TV wasn't completely useless as it shows a zoomed out portion of the play area. That kinda helps.

I played the tutorial and found it a great way to get started with the game. I learned about navigating menus, crafting, building, fighting and gathering materials. I like using the right analogue stick as a cursor and clicking it to toggle between two different types of cursor movement. I really like that I can also use the d-pad for precise tile selection.

When the tutorial was over it didn't save the world but it left it open and free to do what I wanted. I explored around and experienced what it's like during the night and wow, lots of nasty creatures! Zombie men and women and flying eyeballs all trying to get in! When day came again I went out exploring and met different types of slimes, scorpions and vultures. I went off the side of the island, falling all the way down into the open sea with the odd jellyfish around. No hope for survival so that was it for my tutorial world. I'll look forward to starting a standard save file world soon. Still lots to learn but I know the basics at least.

3 SONIC DASH - LOST EVERYTHING :(

Dear Readers,

Some bad news. I lost all my progress in this game! I ignored a low battery warning while I was playing and the game and tablet lost all power. When I switched on again and went into the game, it was like my first time trying it out. :(

That means I don't have Cream and Espio anymore. All my data in this game was gone.

37 FINAL FANTASY EXPLORERS - ULTIMATE ABERRANT BAHAMUT ONLINE WITH JOE AND NOVA

Dear Readers,

At this stage Joe was EL315 Thief, Nova was EL178 Samurai and I was EL126 Monk.

Quest 1: "Gilgamesh Strikes Back"

Joe and I started with this. I still had the subquest quota to fill and I didn't get KO'd this time! Gilgamesh was about to escape before we defeated him. I never saw him escape before but Joe says he just goes to a different part of the map. Sounds like Master Stalfos from Link's Awakening.

Quest 2: "Sordid Soirée: The Ultimate Feast"

Joe brought his Black Chocobo along. Dryad wasn't too difficult but she did chew me up at one stage.

Quest 3: "The Struggle Against the Battle-God"

Nova joined us at this point. Our solid team back together again! Plus the Centaurion that Joe had along.

Quest 4: "Ultimate Weapon: The Judge's Citadel"

Joe had his Helldiver along. Alexander was more interesting than usual because he moved here and there.

Quest 5: "Gilgamesh Strikes Back"

After this I completed my subquest quota! I had to defeat Gilgamesh 5 times!

Quest 6: "Gold Glints the Road to Perdition"

I was looking for Omnipotent Razors, so we did this one against Bahamut. He was pretty tough! Kinda scary too in his ultimate form with the different colour pattern. His Megaflare move was insane. It pulled me in stronger than other times we faced him and I have no idea how I didn't get KO'd from it. He gave me a fair share of butt-kicking but I did manage to encase him in the end!

Also, I got both Omipotent Razors I needed!

Quest 7: "Eternal Firebird"

All I needed now was a Conflagrant Pennon. Along the way to the summit, we summoned 3 Flan Princesses. I think there should be a special bonus for getting all 3 of them on a route. Nova said there ought to be a giant Flan Princess. Not a bad idea. Kind of like the way Dragon Quest Slimes assemble into a King Slime.

We beat Phoenix but unfortunately I didn't get a Conflagrant Pennon. I may be able to make Stargleamers next time.