The Rumble Pack

Long before we became the discerning gamers of today, we were kids unwrapping video games and Nerf guns under our Christmas/Nondenominational trees. For me, there were some real holiday stinkers, like NES Ghostbusters 2 and Pictionary. But for all the licensed junk, there was usually a Mega Man cartridge nearby. I know that popular opinion dictates that I should dislike parts four through infinity, but they were always my video game comfort food. I guess it’s through this nostalgic lens that I can fully embrace Mega Man 10, a solid but not stellar entry in the series.

Of course, MM10 has the unfortunate distinction of following 2008’s Mega Man 9, one of the best games in the series and a wonderful digital throwback. MM9 was just the back-to-basics shot in the arm that the Blue Bomber needed. Almost all of the bloat was cut out, leaving gamers with a lean action-platformer that was actually fun to play, even when it was kicking their behinds. MM10 also leaves out the superfluous stuff - don’t bother trying to charge your Mega Buster here - but it doesn’t add much either. Read more

The following is a review inspired by the game’s brilliant loading screen poetry…

Winterbottom has been a long time in the making,
But this indie adventure is surely worth taking.

As the titular thief, delicious pies are the treasure,
And traversing his world is always a pleasure. Read more

I adore the Street Fighter series, and the fourth installment was no exception, but when was the last time a Capcom game really surprised me? Though the company is renowned for its coin-op fighters, it’s also infamous for recycled sprites and low-res presentations. After the Fighting Evolution nadir, Street Fighter IV was a return to form, but I was still a little disappointed by how familiar it felt. 3D or not, we’ve thrown enough hadoukens over the years; SFIV is excellent but very safe. Tatsunoko vs. Capcom on the Wii is anything but. Capcom’s taking a huge gamble on Nintendo’s family-friendly box here. I don’t know if it will pay off financially, but it’s a welcome change from the usual World Warriors.

When TvC first hit Japanese Wiis, I think it was assumed by many that the game would never reach our shores. While the Tatsunoko licensing was pretty straightforward over there, their distribution rights were held by several different companies stateside. It didn’t help matters that characters like Tekkaman and Casshan don’t have the built-in fanbase that Wolverine and Spider-man enjoy. It would have been heartbreaking to see the next entry in a beloved fighting series stuck in Japan, but Capcom decided to place its bets on the quality of the fighting engine. Hooray for us! Read more

It is times like this that make me wish I had a better memory.  Now, when 2011 rears its ugly head, I’m going to have to think all the way back to Jan 26 when I contemplate the games that defined 2010. Thank you, Mass Effect 2.

As I sat down to type this review the first time, I found myself trying to go down a bullet list of pros and cons of ME2.  I found myself able to list out a disturbing number of cons that I could easily put into words. The pros, however, weren’t so easily wrangled. As we’ve mentioned numerous times on the podcast, BioWare games have a knack for making you think about the whole, rather than discrete parts.

I’ve never played a game that is so clearly disjointed. Shooting, dialogue, cut scenes - each segment is completely isolated from the rest. You’re never caught off-guard by the action, unlike in Uncharted 2, where you sometimes don’t realize when the cut-scene is done and it’s your turn to play. In ME2, the game jerks from dialogue  to third-person action.  The game is very clear here: now is the time to start killing things. The talkie bits are done. Read more

Every year or two, Insomniac drops another Ratchet & Clank upon us, and every time, I tell myself that I’m done with the series. Platformers have always captured my imagination more than any other genre, and it’s not as if the series’ trademark funky guns/double jumping formula doesn’t work. But with the first two Future games - Tools of Destruction and Quest for Booty - something felt off. They were well-made and came close to the idealized Pixar visual standard, but the action itself hadn’t evolved much since the PS2 days. You can only strafe around so many aliens before you begin to long for something more. And with A Crack in Time, we finally got just enough new content to justify picking up the OmniWrench once again.

However, this isn’t immediately apparent when the game starts up. Despite amassing a half-dozen incredible arsenals over the years, Ratchet begins with yet another pea-shooter and bomb glove, while Clank has his own segments that seem far-removed from the rest of the adventure. The latter sections hint at some time-bending puzzles to come, but the extent of this new style doesn’t become apparent until a few hours of play. Read more

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.

Read more

Can Link do anything right these days? For all of the critical praise that the ongoing Legend of Zelda saga has received in recent years, the online backlash towards the past few entries has been harsh. While Twilight Princess and Phantom Hourglass introduced new wrinkles to the series, the dungeon-trekking foundation that’s been in place since the original - or at least Link to the Past - is starting to feel creaky. Spirit Tracks, the latest Zelda and Nintendo’s big handheld title from last fall, suggested that cartoony locomotives might be the solution, but unfortunately riding the rails is the worst part of an otherwise wonderful adventure.

Phantom Hourglass was unusual in that it followed the events of 2003’s The Wind Waker, instead of just hitting the traditional Hyrule reset button. If you’ve seen any cel-shaded Spirit Tracks screens, then you’ve probably realized that this game is another direct sequel. Unlike PH, this game takes place 100 years after Tetra, the King of Red Lions and all of that time-consuming sailing. It’s clear that this is the same world though, with plenty of references to the old toon games sprinkled throughout. Read more

The PS3’s LittleBigPlanet was a game about unbridled creativity. Anything was possible, so long as you had the patience to glue it all together. LBP’s younger brother for the PSP shares its title but is too often about compromise. While the charm, intricate level design and adorable Sackboys have survived the transition, much of what made the original special has been sent to the scrapheap.

LBP is a classic case of “can we/should we.” From a technical standpoint, the game is a marvel. Just in case you’re not up to speed on the PS3 predecessor - something you need to rectify immediately - LBP is a sidescrolling platformer that allows users to create their own levels from scratch and upload them online. Everything is customizable, from motion-sensing switches to lighting effects to enemy movement patterns. The PSP edition retains this exhaustive level editor and bustling online community. You can download user-made levels on the go, and for that alone, the guys at Studio Cambridge should be patted on the back. I just wish these new worlds had some texture. Read more

For the first few hours of Assassin’s Creed II, Ezio Auditore da Firenze shares much in common with his fearless ancestor from the first game, Altaïr. Both hide retractable blades under their sleeves and scale incredibly steep architecture in order to track down their targets. Like Altaïr, Ezio becomes hellbent on revenge, taking down an ever-growing conspiracy in order to avenge his family and restore order to the world. But while the shrouded assassin from the Holy Land was a bit of a loner, his Italian cousin has charisma and wit to spare. And like Ezio, the second installment of Assassin’s Creed is more dynamic and exciting than the first.

Even within the first few missions of ACII, we get to really know Ezio - not the cunning swordsman or the stealthy assassin, but the loyal son and the carefree playboy. In other words, we’re introduced to the man under the hood long before he begins to wield his sword. Though much of the protagonist’s motivation is well-trodden territory, spending time with Ezio is much more enjoyable. He’s a swashbuckler that feels much more in line with the Sands of Time Prince of Persia. Read more

PixelJunk Shooter’s name does not do the game justice. I’m sure that Q-Games wanted to keep it short and sweet, as they did with Monsters and Eden before it, but this new moniker seemingly lumps the game in with the glut of other dual-stick…shooters currently crowding the PSN. Space spelunkers who have already downloaded this treasure know that this label couldn’t be further from the truth.

Of course Shooter takes its time working up to brilliance. The first few stages require players to navigate a ship through tight caverns to rescue stranded scientists. A few waterfalls may provide some pretty scenery and a quick way to cool down your missile launcher, but it isn’t until you discover your first lava-spewing volcano that the game really picks up steam. Suddenly, the impressive fluid physics aren’t just for show, as the lava and water combine to form a soft, destructible crust. Read more