Game Review: DC Universe Online (PS3, PC)
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Posted on February 5th, 2011 by
Who doesn’t want to be a superhero? From the earliest days of role playing games, options for playing a superhero began to crop up. Once hit fantasy-themed online role playing games appeared, it was only a matter of time before the superheroes arrived as well. First was City of Heroes, which was followed a few years later by Champions (which licensed the Champions name and background from my favorite pencil and paper RPG). The newest game on the block is DC Universe Online, which is the first Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) to boast a license from one of the superhero comic giants. Yes, you can play in the same sandbox as Superman, the Flash, Wonder Woman, Lex Luthor, and others all on your PC or PS3. I suspect catering to the PS3 resulted in fairly simple button-smashing styles of combat and a somewhat underwhelming ability to customize a character’s powers. While some games have issues at launch I found the PS3 version to be nearly unplayable, and can only recommend the PC version for superhero fans looking for a lighter-weight experience or simply have to be able to fight alongside Superman while saving the world.
Game Review: Kingdom Hearts: Re:coded (DS)
Posted on February 4th, 2011 by
The popular Kingdom Hearts game series combines Square-Enix’s beloved game characters and style mixed with timeless Disney characters and worlds. Re:coded takes place after Sora’s adventures with Donald and Goofy from Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2. Jiminy Cricket is thumbing through the journals he wrote during their adventures, and notices a strange message that he didn’t write! King Mickey decides to digitize the journal into a computer and see if they can analyze how that message got there! But all of a sudden, strange bugs and blocks fill the screen, and they don’t look friendly. King Mickey sends a digital version of Kingdom Hearts hero Sora into the virtual journal to see if he can figure out what’s going on. Now it’s up to Data Sora to stop the bugs and solve the mystery of the secret messages!
Game Review: Mario vs Donkey Kong Mini-Land Mayhem (DS)
Posted on February 3rd, 2011 by
Mario just keeps on trucking with more titles under his toolbelt. One of my favorite franchises goes back to his roots of jumping and climbing after Donkey Kong. In the Mario vs Donkey Kong series on Nintendo handhelds, Mario (and his assistants) scamper up scaffolding and other obstacles to reach his nemesis. What I like best about the series is its puzzle-like aspect. Players are rewarded more for careful thought rather than their trigger finger. In recent years, the series has gone in for a bit of Lemmings flavor by using little toy Marios (and other toy Nintendo icons) to achieve the goals and pursue Donkey Kong to save the day. The latest incarnation, Mario vs Donkey Kong Mini-Land Mayhem continues a long trend of excellent action/puzzle gaming and serves both as a nice continuation of the series for fans, as well as a great introduction to the series for newcomers.
Game Review: PokePark Wii – Pikachu’s Adventure (Wii)
Posted on February 1st, 2011 by
If any game franchise just exudes cuteness, it has to be Pokemon. Cute little animal friends that just want to hang out with you and beat the snot out of any other critters you come across in your travels. The newest Pokemon themed game is PokePark Wii: Pikachu’s Adventure. Pikachu and his friends fall down a hole and into an adventure through a Pokemon theme park. As Pikachu, explore five different zones and challenge Pokemon you meet in order to make friends and restore the park to is former glory. In a mix of exploration and minigames, PokePark makes a fun little title for younger gamers who have comfortable reading skills.
Game Review: EA Sports Active: NFL Training Camp (Wii)
Posted on January 28th, 2011 by
Football fans are gearing up for the upcoming Super Bowl Sunday. Now you can tackle extra weight gain from all those yummy Big Game snacks with some extra exercise thanks to EA Sports Active NFL Training Camp. It’s a Wii motion-based fitness game with an extra emphasis and focus on football related activities.
Remember Breakeroids?
Posted on January 26th, 2011 by
Hey all you former coin-op junkies, remember the fun you had pumping quarter after quarter into games like Arkanoid, Breakeroids and Asteroids? All right, enough cutesy poo, first of all welcome back. Oh, welcome me back? yeah, I have been quiet haven’t I? I’ve been here, reading Cary’s stuff but things tend to consume me and my time was taken by my struggle against writer’s block. I’m here to talk about Breakeroids because it is a real title, it does belong in the same breath as Asteroids, Arkanoid, Break-out, Gorf and more. It’s that good. Classic good.
Game Review: Silly Bandz (DS)
Posted on January 25th, 2011 by
Fads come and go, but sometimes they become video games along the way. One fad that is popular with kids nowadays are these little rubber band toys called “Silly Bandz” (and various off-brand knock-offs). They are rubber bands that fit around your wrist and can snap back into a silhouette shape. They’re collectable, tradable, and inexpensive, and that’s why they’re so popular. So how on earth did they make a video game out of this? You’ll just have to read on to find out.
Game Review: Dairojo Samurai Defenders (DSiWare)
Posted on January 17th, 2011 by
Dairojo Samurai Defenders is a downloadable tower defense style game for DSi. The game is set in Japan’s Edo historic period, and enemy troops are marching along the path to destroy your castle. Strategically place your own troops along the road to defeat the waves of invaders to protect your castle. If enough of the enemy reaches your castle, it’s Game Over.
Game Review: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (DS)
Posted on January 14th, 2011 by
In this game, you’re already dead at the start. As a ghost, you don’t remember who you were or why you died. And your only lead is a lady who gets killed soon after you did. You quickly learn that you have special powers as a ghost. You can possess and manipulate nearby objects, and even rewind time four minutes after someone other than yourself had died. Now it’s up to you to use your ghost powers to save lives and unravel the mystery of your death!
Game Review: Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! (PSP)
Posted on January 11th, 2011 by
I’ve never played a Disgaea game before, as strategy RPGs just aren’t my cup of tea. But thanks to my friends who do enjoy NIS’ signature series, I am pretty familiar with the characters. One of their more popular stars are the hapless Prinnnies. They’re little demons who look like penguins, and in the Disgaea games they act as expendable pawns, ready to explode at a moment’s notice. And they say “Dood” a lot. A while back, Prinnies got their own game: a quirky yet tough as nails 2-D platformer on the PSP. And now they’re ready to follow up with a sequel available on UMD or downloadable on PSN.
