The Rumble Pack

Wii owners, live it up while you can! This week, you get first dibs on Mega Man 10, another NES throwback that should bring in big bucks for Capcom. You also get a legitimately old (good) game in the form of Fatal Fury Special. DSi owners are less fortunate. However, I am curious about EA’s tween-focused Flips series, which appears to be  the DSi’s first batch of visual novels. The “genre” has an audience in Japan, but not so much in the states.

Special thanks to Nick for the Fatal Fury Special assessment.

Mega Man 10
WiiWare/Capcom
1,000 Points

Mega Man 10 doesn’t need a cheerleader, but I’ll still give it the full Justin endorsement. Whether it’s a worthy successor to the ninth installment remains to be seen, but it’s definitely fun…if your idea of fun is falling into bottomless pits and spike traps, that is. You can expect a full review in the next week or two once I’ve bested the game’s robot masters - which are not as goofy as they could have been - but this is a pretty safe investment. I also don’t think it’s quite as slapdash as the 1up review would lead you to believe. Read more

Will Sega ever have what Nintendon’t? Not if they keep adding asterisks and footnotes to nearly every good piece of gaming news they give us. Take today, for example, when longtime fans and Japanophiles alike were made aware that Yakuza 3, the much sought-after PS3 beat-’em-up RPG finally arriving on Western shores after nearly a year of localization requests, would finally be coming…with missing content.

What content, you ask? According to a Sega representative (talking to IGN.com): “…parts that we felt wouldn’t make sense (like a Japanese history quiz game) or wouldn’t resonate as much (such as the concept of a hostess club).” Given how much underground buzz and cult popularity this Shenmue successor has received, how vocal fans have been in requesting a localization and how apt Sega has been to make very crucial mistakes over the past few years, I think I speak for the majority of gamers out there when I give an emphatic “sigh” to this situation. What a mess.

Don’t even try to apologize.

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A long time ago, in a galaxy not so far away, BioWare, the legendary creators of Dragon Age and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, gave gamers their first epic, multi-pathed Xbox 360 RPG with Mass Effect. Released to much fan-fare, the heralded action-rpg hybrid allowed players to guide their own customized main character (Commander Shepard) and his recruitable, multi-species crew through a sci-fi journey of galactic proportions - literally. Fast forward to present-day Earth - while the masses are once again waiting to be affected by the sequel, a select few of us that missed out on the first portion of the story (or simply want our in-game decisions to carry over to the successor) have decided to go back and try to save the original galaxy again before the day of second impact. Fortunately, while some of the creaks and cracks of yesteryear have fissured into eye sores since its original release, the old girl has still largely “got it where it counts.”

Let’s start with the probably the best reason to play through the original game again: the highly shapeable story and the dialogue system on which it rests. Although BioWare fans will recognize this as the company’s MO, nearly every conversation and decision within  Mass Effect allows the player to select responses that lead to major and minor consequences. Depending on whether you react to a situation with a cool-headed and diplomatic “Paragon” response or a hot-headed and likely more risky “Renegade” option (or anything in between), NPCs will come to either respect you or hate your guts, open up to you or shut you out, or ultimately be allowed to live or suffer a gruesome death. Although not every detail of Commander Shepard’s adventures will be changed via this system - you’ll still fight the same bosses, still be able to access the same shops and still have the same amount of selectable missions - it’s these major choices that the player is forced to make that have become Mass Effect’s true legacy. I won’t sugarcoat the situation - some of the decisions can be quite difficult, but that only reinforces the success that BioWare has had in helping players establish meaningful connections to their in-game crew and support characters. Their fate is quite literally in your controller-greased hands.

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A man tears apart slaves, sews a cross into his chest and dives head-first into hell – not exactly what you might think of if I were to say “inspired by classical literature.” But although it’s the newest IP developed by EA’s Visceral Games studio (creators of Dead Space and The Godfather) it’s a bit misleading to call Dante’s Inferno ”original.” Both in concept and execution, it’s difficult to describe the title to gamers and non-gamers alike without immediately calling to mind the game’s 14th-century inspiration or other titles with near-identical gameplay. And while I’ve enjoyed the majority of fresh releases that EA has put forth over the past two years, I’m left with very mixed feelings after completing the Dante’s Inferno demo, which is now available on the PS3 and Xbox 360. In a rare stroke of irony, although several games last year seemed to have suffered from a great-concept, poor-execution syndrome, EA’s first 2010 effort seems be exhibiting exactly the opposite problem - great execution, awful premise.

 Look into my eyes…

The premise, for the uninitiated, is equal parts familiar and confusing.  Based loosely on Dante Alighieri’s “The Divine Comedy”, the original poem detailed the journey of main character Dante being led by the Roman poet Virgil through a walking tour of the medieval concept of Hell. Symbolism abound, it’s an incredibly lyrical and fascinating piece that’s had a very long-lasting impact on religion and society in general. EA’s Inferno, on the other hand, finds a relentless crusader Dante slashing his way through the nine circles of hell (with Death’s scythe, no less) to free the soul of his late wife whom Satan seems to have claimed. It’s a classic “rescue the girl” plot - albeit a very graphic one - that has more in common with God of War than it does with Mario or classical literature.

And by “more in common”, I mean to say that Dante’s Inferno could easily be mistaken for a God of War spin off - and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The game plays like a very well-constructed third person action title - Dante darts back and forth between waves of enemies, effortlessly swinging his gargantuan scythe and ripping apart legions of demons with simple yet upgradeable combos, all to a silky-smooth 60 frames per second. “Light” and “Strong” attack buttons are mapped to the square and triangle buttons respectively, while x allows for a jump, and circle shoots forth a white “cross” projectile, handy for defeating winged baddies or for dousing flamed-enemies that wouldn’t normally be touchable. Add to the concoction a handful of magic-infused attacks, a few quick-time event bosses, and the ability to either “absolve” or “punish” enemies for their sins (the former of which grants you more experience points for upgrades but leaves you helpless for a few seconds), and you have the closest cousin to Kratos to ever fight outside of Greece. The controls are responsive, each hit has a nice sense of impact and combat mechanics genuinely feel good.

But if there’s one thing to set Dante’s Inferno apart from other action titles arriving early this year, it’s undoubtedly the eerie, disturbing and unabashedly Christian symbol-infused environments. Each of the nine stages is said to contain landscapes and enemies that represent one particular circle of hell, and from what I’ve witnessed thus far, there’s very little being held back in favor of not pushing the envelope. (If you haven’t heard of the demon-hatching breasts from the boss of the lust stage, well, that’s just the beginning.) And although I can imagine it would be quite difficult to create a game centered on the concept of hell without Christian imagery, I was still shocked at the amount of religious symbols flashing across the screen throughout the course of the fifteen minute demo. To say it felt a little awkward would be an understatement - am I rooting for God if I kick the devil’s ass?

A thinking man’s game…

Indeed, from what I’ve been able to experience thus far, although Dante’s Inferno looks and feels quite good, my concerns lie more with its underlying concept than anything else it tries to achieve. It’s not very often that a piece of classic literature becomes the basis for a video game, and while Dante’s seems to be shaping up to be a fine third-person action title, the idea of taking the rich, symbolic commentary presented in the original poem and shoehorning it into a hack’n’slash just seems to be missing the mark. Hopefully the full release will offer either a few thought-provoking moments or bits of self-referential humor – for a title that will surely involve ridiculous settings, enemies and attacks, taking itself too seriously could prove to be a major obstacle to creating something special. Alternatively, the game could offer environments so unique and haunting that I would be able to recommend it to my literature-major friends as a fresh take on the classic inspiration and not as a shallow, violent depiction of the original work.

It remains to be seen whether the game will find success upon release amidst the likes of other action juggernauts like God of War III, but if the final release is nearly as bold and brazen as the demo I’ve played, I’m sure it will leave its mark among one crowd or another. Although they’ve proven themselves as being capable of creating great atmospheres in prior titles, we’ll just have to wait and see if Visceral and EA are able to craft an experience with Dante’s Inferno that more than absolves it of its sinfully unoriginal nature. Here’s praying.

After a month in theaters, “Avatar” is still just as relevant ever. With over a $1 billion worldwide box office gross so far, James Cameron’s dream project may ultimately become the most financially successful film of all time (if you ignore inflation adjustment, of course). But will the movie have long-term effects for gamers? And will the 3D technology used here trickle down to your living room anytime soon? In this new column, Justin and Nick discuss the potential cultural impact of “Avatar” on our favorite pastime.

Justin: I watched a 3D screening of “Avatar” a couple weeks ago, and I’ll admit that I’m a little sick of the coverage this movie has received, a huge box-office take be damned. While I found much to like about the film, which is why Nick and I are dual-blogging here, I found the plot and thinly drawn characters to be utterly forgettable. I think if you take even a not-so-close look at the logistics of the Avatar program and the supposed diplomatic mission to Pandora, it makes little sense, and there are a bunch of other nagging issues that bug the hell out of me. Not trying to be a downer, but I want to make it clear that I have a lot of issues that I’m ignoring for the sake of this conversation before we proceed.

That said, I love those glowing helicopter lizards. And the hair-tentacle fusion stuff between the Na’vi and Pandoran wildlife. And the bioluminescent fauna that lights up when Jake walks by at night. Throughout the entire 2+ hour experience, I kept thinking about how much the planet reminded me of the Panzer Dragoon series, most notably Orta, and I was unsurprised when Nick mentioned that he picked up a similar video game vibe during his viewing. The movie, both thematically and visually, seems reminiscent of many recent gaming favorites, and I thought it would be fun to explore the symbiotic relationship between Hollywood and our industry that’s cropped up in recent years. So Nick, I was hoping you could touch a bit upon the “virtual world” theme that you were talking about last night… Read more

Perhaps it’s the string of amazing fall games to have hit consoles recently. Maybe it’s the lofty and often outspoken ambition of recent developers such as Quantum Dream’s David Cage or Lionhead’s Peter Molyneux to raise the bar in terms of thought-provoking, interactive entertainment. Or perhaps it’s a sign that my personal tastes are changing. Any way you look at it, I’m not too excited for Dante’s Inferno.

After playing the PS3 demo last weekend, it’s clear to me that EA has put a fair share of effort into their Q1-release brawler. First unveiled during last year’s VGAs, it’s hard to describe the graphics and play mechanics of DI as anything less than a God of War clone. Make no mistake - I mean that in the most complimentary way possible. It doesn’t hurt that the constant bone-crunching, blood-gushing action is aided by a silky smooth 60 fps. If you squint really hard, you’ll swear that Kratos has leaped his way into another fighting epic to take on as many demons as will quench his blood-lust. However, in a rare stroke of irony, although several games this year have suffered from a great-concept, poor-execution syndrome, EA’s first 2010 effort seems be exhibiting exactly the opposite problem - great execution, awful premise.

Look into my eyes…

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So with fond memories of my formative Dreamcast years dancing in my head and a lifestyle that has become more increasingly suited to portable games (read: busy), I was first in line to pick up my preorder of Phantasy Star Ø when it hit the US in early November. And it was bizarre.

If, like me, you tend to check game reviews before putting down your cash, you would have been pretty confused to find Phantasy Star Ø sitting on store shelves last month with barely a mumbled “meh” from the critical community. IGN, 1up, Gamespot, Giant Bomb - no one had anything to say about the supposed “heir to PSO’s legacy” until around the end of the month. In retrospect, perhaps it’s the most telling sign of how much relevancy the franchise has bled over the past few years - no one’s willing to stop shooting terrorists or stomp on Goombas to pay a Rappy a second look now a days.

A Rag Rappy - like a Chocobo, but much more fun to hit.

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My good friends and listeners to the show will know that I have a soft-spot in my heart for the Phantasy Star series. As a Japanese-friendly gamer who owned a Genesis long before a SNES, it’s not hard to see how Sega’s flagship RPG series has made a favorable impression on me over the years. Of particular note were Sega’s first internet-capable (or should I say internet-primed) entries, Phantasy Star Online, and Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II.

Truly phantastic games. Read more

Between all of the TGS news, 2010 delays and podcast alterations happening in my gaming life recently (we’ll miss you Garnett), I’ve found myself struggling over one large issue in reference to the traditionally strong fall lineup of games set for release: Rocktober.

Decapitaaaaaatiiiion!

Is it just me, or does anyone else get the vibe that October has become the new golden month for holiday gaming? Out with the family vacations “stuffed” with new titles, in with ignored trick-or-treaters, doorbells drowned out to the riffs of the newest Activision “exploitation” or gunshots of the latest Halo “sequel.” Read more

As a very passionate fan of Neo-Geo and SNK fighting game franchises, what more can I say to get my point across except that the King of Fighters XII, the super-hyped, HD-gilded entry of SNK’s legendary fighting series, is very, very disappointing.

From the moment eyes were granted glimpses of KOF XII, expectations have been high. For the first time in the series history, The King of Fighters was going high definition — super-detailed sprites and gorgeously animated backgrounds had both die-hard series fans and newcomers alike salivating at each new screenshot released. It comes with utter shock then, that in this resurgence of quality fighting games, what could have been (what should have been) the shot in the arm that KOF needed to regain a bit of the fighting-game spotlight, has turned out to be not only the most bare-bones 2D fighting game entry in recent years (across any console), but has managed to defy almost every fan-adored convention that the series has ever known at the same time.

At its heart, KOF has always been a team-based, 3-on-3 fighter with plenty of unique characters, a plethora of special moves, and an endless amount of variety. The amalgamation of characters from other Neo-Geo franchises as well as the fresh new fighters found in every new yearly installment have combined to create what can be argued as the most competitive runner-up that the Street Fighter series has ever known. If you’ve ever even heard of KOF before, you’d understand why XII has left me scratching my head: there’s the smallest character roster in franchise history, a shortened special move list for every fighter, and nothing resembling any kind of teams.

KOF 2002 Ultimate Match Roster

KOF XII Roster. Nowhere close. Read more