NEOGEO Battle Coliseum

NEOGEO Battle Coliseum brings together fighters from the various NEOGEO franchise games, pitting them against each other in a tournament to bring down a corporate empire known as WAREZ. The concept of this title is very much like the Capcom Vs. series games or even The King of Fighters (although the latter title is incorporated into this game). Characters making appearances span across a number of series including King of Fighters, Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, World Heroes, King of Monsters 2, Metal Slug, Samurai Shodown, The Last Blade,  and Aggressors of Dark Kombat.

Like most other fighters on the market, this there isn't really a whole lot of depth behind the plot. But lets be realistic for a second, most of us don't pick up these kinds of games for the story. The real interest factor lies in the ability to pick up a controller and lay into other players without having to remember where you left off last.

The graphics are very retro relative to many other fighters on the market. While this is a PS2 and XBox 360 Arcade title, the graphics are very noticeably behind what you would expect to see in a series such as Tekken or Street Fighter. With that being said, I don't see the graphics as being a bad thing. Having the old NEOGEO, SNES, Dreamcast, PSX, character sprites brings nostalgia to the gameplay and a much more simplified features for a fighter.

While there aren't a great deal of unlockable features/characters in this game, it is still a great title nonetheless. The potential to really enjoy this game really lies in playing with friends. Being a huge King of Fighters fan and having a younger brother who is all about Street Fighter, NEOGEO Battle Coliseum was a title that we could really get into when looking for variety when playing fighters.

Voltron: Defender of the Universe

Surprisingly this classic series doesn't have many game adaptations. In fact there are only a few. With all of the remakes of classic games from our favourite consoles being adapted to the next gen systems, it is only appropriate that we see a reboot of some classic anime series on these systems as well.

Voltron: Defender of the Universe can be picked up on the Playstation Store or XBox Market. The game sports 12 levels that players can shoot their way through using any one of the five lions that make up Voltron. Each lion boasts different stats, allowing players to choose to their strengths. The 12 stages are broken up into 3 areas of 4 stages. The fourth stage of each area is a Robeast battle that allows players to assemble Voltron in an turn-based battle system. The remainder of the levels require players to explore the map, completing objectives and shooting or pouncing on enemies.

The controls in this game are relatively simplistic. While I did end up playing this on the PS3, I suspect that the XBox version has more or less the same features for gameplay. Players use the left and right analog sticks to move and shoot (very much like many of the other PSN download shooters such as Super Stardust HD) and the L & R top buttons to pounce or use special attacks.

While this game is short, the replay factor is in the online co-op mode and the trophies or achievements (depending on your platform). While there aren't many achievements to be had in the online shop game, it is still entertaining and worth the $9.99 price tag. For those who aren't fans of the series, there may be less forgiveness in the short gameplay and small trophy/achievement set, however, for those who are Voltron fans, this is a worthwhile game to add to your collection.

Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3

After months of waiting, last week marked the release of Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3. When I first heard about this title, I felt more anxious for the release than a kid at Christmas. Of course I had to pick up a copy on release day immediately after work. Needless to say, I have managed to put a number of hours in on this title in the 6 days I have had it, and found myself more and more amazed with the quality of the gameplay relative to the previous two releases.

The developers at KOEI have really gone all out when putting this title together. The first major improvement for me is the animation style used. The entire game is done in cell animation rather than the standard CGI graphics that we see DWG2. When I first saw the screens for the cell animation I was a little turned off. After playing the game though, the cell animation is a very welcomed feature. Another great feature is the integration between the characters and missions. One element that made DWG2 very long was the repetitiveness of the missions. I constantly found myself having to replay the same mission with every character, which can get boring after a while. Having everything integrated makes the gameplay feel more manageable without feeling short.

In speaking about shortening things up, the levels don't take nearly as long to complete. While I do like the concept of playing a level for 20-40 mins in DWG2, having shorter levels in DWG3 keeps the gameplay more interesting. Having a partner assist system is also a very cool feature.

The relationship model between characters has also been improved. I was happy to see that you don't end up having a hard time getting through the game for getting into fights with enemy characters. There are a total of 120 characters and mobile suits to choose from, including many pilots from the C.E. series like Gundam X, Wing, and Unicorn. A final new feature that is a much welcomed addition is the concept of development plans and gold. Mobile Suits can be upgraded and created using money. Character skills can also purchased now rather than obtained through mobile suit experience.

Overall, Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3 was well worth the wait and I highly recommend it for fans of the franchise and fans of beat em' up games. The objectives of the game are much  more manageable and it is a lot less repetitive than previous versions. Hopefully with this franchise, KOEI and Bandai will look at making more improvements and release a fourth installment.

Bakugan: Battle Brawlers

I have to open this post by saying that I picked this game up for a steal price. While walking through my local Wal-Mart this weekend I saw in the PS3 section that Bakugan Battle Brawlers on PS3 was sitting in the case with a $1 price tag on it. I know, I thought it was a typo too. I was expecting it to ring in for $10 and figured something went wrong with the printing. Turns out though that it scanned in for $1!!!!!!

Now that I have gotten that part out of my system.....I have had the chance to spend a couple of days playing this game now. My first reactions to it as someone who has not had the time to watch the series yet, great game! There is not too complicated of a learning curve when playing Bakugan Batte Brawlers. In terms of complexity, it is very much reminiscent to Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories on PSX.

Essentially the objective of the game is to win Bakugan battles by throwing your Bakugan into the arena and trying to get it to land on cards placed face down known as Gate Cards. The person who collects three Gate Cards through the battle wins. Gate Cards can be won in one of two ways, either you land two of your Bakugan Cores on the same card, or you and one of your opponents throw a Bakugan Core onto the same card and then the monsters inside the core battle.

An interesting element to this game is the need to use power up cards in order to increase G-Power for battles. This adds a large strategy element to the game and doesn't always play into the favor Bakugan who have higher G-Power base stats. G-Power can be obtained through small mini-game challenges before the battle giving weaker Bakugan an advantage. Mini-games are randomly selected (unless specific game cards are used) between 1) Controller shaking challenge; 2)Timing challenge; and 3) Shooting challenge.

Something that I found helped to keep the game interesting was the ability to have 1 on 1; 2 on 2; and battle royal style battles in this game. This obviously creates the opportunity to play this game with 4 players. When playing these modes with the computer, I dind't find the AI to be ridiculously easy or too hard, although I imaging that once I have had some more time to become better acquainted with this game the AI will start to bore me.

The shop aspect of the game gives some incentive for replay of matches. By winning points your world ranking increases, as does your cash flow. Having more cash allows you to buy Bakugan and cards, increasing the customization options for your deck. Each elemental property has the same Bakugan to choose from. A big part of what makes the game interesting is how you choose to employ elemental combinations. Your character is also customizable in appearance creating another element of personal connectedness to the game for some.

My overall verdict of this game is that for $1 is was definitely worth it. I would have been willing to pay the $18 that it was listed for previously. Bakugan Battle Brawlers has peaked my interest to the anime series as well as to the newer Bakugan Defenders of the Core game.

Fist of The North Star Ken's Rage

I have to say that it is about time. There have been many Fist of the North Star (Hokuto No Ken) games across the various consoles over the years. The original Manga was released in 1983. Having watched the Fist of the North Star Movie about 5 years ago, I was very interested in pursuing the series and the manga. It ended up becoming one of those things that I never really got around to though.

I was extremely excited when I saw the release title for Fist of the North Star Ken's Rage on PS3 a while back. I was even more excited when I KOEI's logo on the box art. Ken's Rage is your standard beat-em-up style KOEI Warriors series game. Although this particular title is not part of the Warriors series, it does play very much the same.

The premise behind the game is to begin with Kenshiro (Ken) and follow through the 10 chapters of his story, which are loosely based off of the manga. As you progress through the story, new characters are acquired to play through the various modes. The game is made up of Legend Mode and Dream Mode. Basically Legend Mode follows the manga while Dream Mode takes more of an approach like Warriors Orochi in allowing you to select characters in a fictitious storyline.

The gameplay in Ken's Rage does require more thought process than just mashing buttons like in Dynasty Warriors. The timing on combos is slower and a little more realistic. More powerful moves have a longer execution time, but do not require the character to stand by idly and get assaulted while charging. The musou system is also customizable, allowing the player to choose from various learned skills to equip as specials.

Characters acquire experience through the level called Karma. When a character levels up the player acquires skill points that can be allocated to purchase active and passive skills. Active skills can be equipped in limited numbers and have the ability to improve stats under certain conditions. Passive skills improve attack, defense, health, and musou stats (or core stats).

The gameplay in this title is phenomenal. The levels are very interactive and require concentration to determine where to go in order to achieve the side missions. The entire map is not visible from the outset and grows as the character explores the various regions in the level.

The graphics are amazing when played in HighDef. There is immense detail and the lines are so clean. Another interesting element is the fact that characters clothes get torn and damaged as the character gets damaged in fights. There is also an option to make the violence extreme (with blood) or mild (without blood). I did not experience any lag when playing the game whatsoever. The music soundtrack is nothing to write home about. It is your typical KOEI heavy guitar, aggressive music that makes you want to kill something (in the game of course). I do like the voice dialog. The characters voices do suit the designs and personalities.

As a whole, this game is amazing. I was so impressed and feel it was worth every penny spent on it. I do highly recommend this game to fans of Fist of the North Star (Hokuto No Ken) and/or fans of the KOEI Warriors franchise as well.

Pure

So for the last couple of weeks I've moved into one of my car moods. As a result of this mood, I have been seething to play a new racing game. I typically tend to find myself going for the Gran Turismo style games, but this time I just wasn't feeling it. I needed to try something new.

After buying my XBox 360 Elite last fall and getting the Lego Batman/Pure combo pack as the bundled game, I decided I should at least try this game rather than let it sit on my shelf for a whole year untouched. Normally I'm not into the off-road dirtbike and ATV style games, but I haven't played one in a long time so I thought "what the hell". Needless to say I find myself 3 hours later sitting at my computer writing about it.

I had no real expectations when I walked into this one. Overall I was impressed. I was expecting to sit here and say that if you've played Wave Race, Jet Moto, 1080 Snowboarding, Cool Boarders, Tony Hawk, (you get my point right?) then you've pretty much played them all. The premise in PURE is the same in that you have to optimize combining tricking with racing. Although I have no patience to remember all of the button combinations an unheard of names for tricks, PURE was prety simple to pick up.

After getting my ass handed to me on a silver platter in my first couple of races, I was able to go from zero to hero in about 30 minutes. This is always a plus factor in my books. If I get beat out of the gates for too long by the AI I tend to lose interest pretty quick.

I would have to say that the most favourable part of this games was the ability to customize every last part on your ATV. I have yet to play a game that provided so much comprehensive customization options. Everything from selecting the frame and engine to painting the handlebars. It was also good that as new parts get acquired through the game you can add them to your ATV without having to exit to the main screen (my time is valuable to me, so also another plus factor).

The levels for the most part are pretty well done, having the ability to cross from route to route as you race keeps you awake. I did find it a little difficult to keep control of the ATV after some landings because the damn thing would land facing sideways but somehow manage to correct itself in an instant and go straight. I tended to find myself trying to correct steering that was correcting itself. The controls just take time to get use to more than anything. The way that rankings are also determined in races can get a little confusing while trying to focus on everything else going on. You an jump from 8th to 1st in an instant without seeing yourself pass anyone. A lot of the time this is due to other players failing tricks and falling.

The background music in the levels gets a little annoying. After about a half hour I started to forget it was playing, but its a lot of heavy rock and metal which I'm not exaclty a huge fan of.

On a whole, PURE is a pretty decent game that is great for passing time with. I wouldn't personally go out and spend more than about $20 on this one, but I still think it is worthwhile to add to your collection if its a good price.

Samurai Warriors 2

For those of you who have played any games in the Warriors Series, it should be obvious that there haven't been significant changes in each release beginning with Dynasty Warriors 2. With the huge success of the Dynasty Warriors series, which were based around the Three Kingdoms era in China, KOEI released a similar series based on feudal Japan called.......Samurai Warriors.

Samurai Warriors 2 boasts the same atttributes as the first in the series which is essentially the same hack-n-slash, button mashing gameplay that we can expect from the Warriors games. The only real changes between this game and the first is that they have added some new characters and changed a few of the levels. There is also shop function in the game, which allows players to collect gold through the game to use for upgrading weapons, items, and characters. This has added an element of strategy to the game, since it now allows players to have some more control over their characters attributes and weapons. Previous games in the series caused players to have to repeat levels an endless number of times in order to acquire stronger weapons.

With each new release of the warriors games, there tends to be small improvements. I can personally say that I haven't picked one up yet that has not been an improvement, even minor, than its predecessor. KOEI has found a real calling with this series, and as they have demonstrated in newer releases such as Dynasty Warriors Strike Force, they are seeking new ways to add innovation to the simple hack-n-slash genre.

Zoids Assault

I've always had an obsession for mech based games. I just recently picked up an XBOX 360 and found this little gem in the discount bin at a local Wal-Mart. I dind't know what to expect when I found this game, but I thought for $10 I couldn't go wrong. I have to say that I am glad I decided to play this game before reading the reviews. To say the least this game got terrible reviews. I find tactics based games very enjoyable and this game was no exception. After the first level I was hooked. Although there are some limitations with this game that I wish had been expanded upon, the overall experience is pretty good. I like the battle cut scenes, it makes the levels more enjoyable than the typical single slash from a sword that we see in games like Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth, or even Final Fantasy Tactics. One of the features that makes this a little more challenging is the support character attack system. Instead of the typical I shoot you then you shoot me style of war games, the battle sequences are based on weapon range and character locations. This tends to make you think twice before emptying a clip into your opponent.

One thing that is a little aggravating about this game though is the randomness of the AI. I like the fact that I can't read the opponents every move, but sometimes it makes clearing missions a headache. I also like the fact that I do get killed in some levels and have to replay them. Let's be realistic here, if we beat every level without any losses, is the game really worth the money we paid. Its not as though I suck at games because I die every so often, but this factor is needed in order to improve the overall quality of the gameplay. The achievement points for the 360 are nothing to brag about. Basically just get through a certain percent of the game and they flood you with points. There are also only 8 achievements, so the weighting point wise for each is high.

I don't think I would go so far as to pay more than $20 for this game. As much as I love to collect anime based games, the gameplay is not good enough to pull this title out of the discount bin; at least for me. I do recommend picking this title up if you can find it for a cheap price. If you are a fan of Zoids, or mech based strategy in general, then you should find some fun in this title. One thing I did learn from this game though was that reviews are often deceiving and not the greatest representation of a games quality. I also think that some of the next gen games we have spoil us and cause us to be a little too critical many of the lesser known games available to us.

Warriors Series

I addressed part of the warriors series in a previous post (Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2). In this post I will look at the other parts of the series (Dynasty, Samurai, Orochi). Pretty much all three of the sagas in the series follow the same pattern of hack and slash hundreds of peons on a fixed map. Although I do love killing as many things on a screen as I can, I have tended to find the gameplay of this series fairly linear. From each version (Dynasty Warriors 3-6, Samurai Warriors 1-2, Warriors Orochi 1-2) of the series, KOEI tends to find that adding a few new characters constitutes and new release title. The gameplay itself does not vary a whole lot. Although the large selection of characters seems to keep us coming back for more. The gameplay can be a little tedious at times, especially since some levels can take up to 45 minutes to complete depending on which objectives you are trying to fulfill.

With each new release in the Dynasty and Samurai series, we usually find and Xtreme legends disc following shorty afterwards to provide us with a few remixed levels, new armor, and often a character or two. For the most part, this series has tended to be quite successful despite its repetitive gameplay. The one thing that was pretty cool though was the crossover in the Warriors Orochi series. Although the story line sucked to all hell, the fact that there were 77 characters to chose from in the first one was enough to keep me wanting to play.

KOEI also switched things up by adding in a 3 person team system with tactics encompassing speed, technique, and power. This allowed for players to rotate their characters during gameplay to recharge musou (special) and health gauges.

I would imaging that KOEI will continue to launch these titles as more and more games are releasing for the next gen consoles. I would venture to guess that I will probably be dead before the series as during my funeral Dynasty Warriors 100 will be coming out (I'm joking).

For the most part, if you are a fan of hack and slash games with minimal brain work then this series is definitely what you want to look at.

Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2

This is easily my favorite game on the PS3. I know that many of the reviews out there describe the Dynasty Warriors series as a repetitive hack-n-slash game. I will be the first to admit that there is an element of repetitiveness in this game, along with pretty much all the other Dynasty Warriors/Warriors game. What appeals the most to be about this series and Dynasty Warriors Gundam/DW Gundam 2 is the patience needed to beat the game in its entirety. Of course any individual could pick up the controller, and button mash the square until they have gone through all 6 missions. Where I think this game shines for true gamers is the ability to sit and repeat levels, using some of the crappiest suits and achieve high scores along with the level 4 ranked parts. Also the ability to customize your parts allows for some pretty interesting co-op play and versus matches as players can develop their mobile suits to suit their strengths.

Essentially in this game you have the ability to explore a series of maps where you will take out enemy commanders and conquer different fields to gain advantage in your battle. The new thing that has been added to this game that is really nice is the friendship system. Basically when you kill certain pilots or even encounter them as enemies, your relationship with them changes. As you build different relationships with characters new levels and suits become unlocked. This makes beating the game a little more challenging as you cannot unlock all of the levels with just one character from the outset.

Now my opinion of this game may be a little biased. Gundam is my favorite anime series and I do tend to look past many of the flaws in the games that others would be quick to point out. The reality is that regardless of the game, you will have people who hate it and people who love it. I tend to find that ratings of games are not always the greatest representation of my enjoyment factor when playing a games. I have played games with a 10 out of 10 and hated them and played games that are a 2 out of 10 and loved them. The whole thing comes down to your own style of games and where you emphasize as your areas for enjoyment.

Street Fighter IV

So I recently purchased Street Fighter IV a week ago (I know I'm late). I was a little hesitant when the game released since I remember the classic Street Fighter II series being such an outstanding one. With many new releases of classic games, I sometimes tend to find that they can get watered down in terms of gameplay in order to provide better graphics. To say the least this was not the case with SF4. The gameplay was quite good and the graphics are outstanding. The character expressions, movement delays based on physique, and detail in costumes and dialog kept me wanting to play this game more and more.

The battle system has been significantly improved so that characters have a recovery time after heavier hitting moves. Also the ability to do follow up moves after launching special attacks enhances the quality of fights that can be had.

I was really drawn to the fact that you can have online battles throughout the Arcade mode circuit. The method of matching people on on the PS3 network was not too bad. The ability to change your title and icon and collect new ones for fulfilling certain conditions gives players little things to work towards as they play.

The only downside in this game (at least in my opinion) is the final boss fight (Seth) in Arcade mode. I tend to find that regardless of the difficulty this character is retardedly cheap to fight. It seems that no matter what attack you launch, he can counter, or unleash some crazy combo that is almost impossible to avoid. I tended to find this a little frustrating at times and often it would draw my attention away from playing arcade mode.

Overall this game was well worth the money and I do recommend it to fans of the classic 2D fighter.