Music Flux
Music games aren’t in short supply on the App Store. Tap Tap Revenge has staked its claim as the best Guitar Hero knock off, while synthPod and Aero Synth exist to satisfy minuscule music creation needs, but there’s always room for more. Enter the music/puzzle game Music Flux, a hopeful departure from the traditional rhythm-matching mechanics that seem blanket the genre. Life Could be ...[Read More]
MotorStorm: Arctic Edge
While I personally love it from a design standpoint, MotorStorm’s success as a franchise has always seemed integral to the presentation allowed by its hardware. Yes, mashing together a diverse selection of vehicles and throwing them all into an arcade flavored racer was certainly fun and, despite some interface issues, competently constructed, but MotorStorm’s hook has always lived wit...[Read More]
Mr. Driller
I have been drilling holes in the earth for thirty years. And I have never, *never* missed a depth that I have aimed for. And by God, I am not gonna miss this one. I will make 800 feet.
Gran Turismo
Before last June’s E3, Gran Turismo Mobile, the veritable unicorn of the PSP’s release list, had been something of a running joke in internet forum culture. Announced way back in 2005, it looked to join Devil May Cry as a killer-app turned vaporware; Sony wouldn’t say it was canceled, but there hadn’t been so much as a peep about the project in over three years. Usually that sort...[Read More]
Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days
In 2003, the original Disgaea: Hour of Darkness was something of a shot in the arm for the then-static strategy RPG genre. Nippon Ichi’s first real North American release blended a solid SPRG backbone with a few new quirks, piled on an systematically insane and positively Japanese story, and somehow scored a hit with strategy-starved American audiences. A couple years later, the original Dis...[Read More]
Preview: Obscure: The Aftermath
ObsCure, a survival/horror game ala Silent Hill, was one of those games that I vaguely remembered existing, but any thought or proacive decision to play it was quickly extinguished by the deluge of other games in 2005. I suppose the same could be said of Obscure: The Aftermath, 2008’s reasonably priced and critically positive sequel. A year later, the second Obscure game has made its way to ...[Read More]
Preview: MotorStorm: Arctic Edge
MotorStorm was one of the first legitimate “next gen” titles of the current console cycle. Playstation 3’s launch lineup wasn’t terrible, and a wealth of fine 360 titles had come out over the past year, but Evolution Studio’s heavily anticipated racer was at the top of many new PS3’s owner’s lists. I bought it day one the following February and was absolut...[Read More]
Dissidia: Final Fantasy
Square(Enix)’s attempts to branch outside their RPG pedigree typically range from peculiar to questionably necessary. Einhänder was an exception, but the rule has been defined by titles like Driving Emotion Type S, The Bouncer, and Dirge of Cerberus. Not bad games, per say, but definitely not up to the impressive legacy left by their flagship Final Fantasy franchise. So when Dissidia was ann...[Read More]
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona
I was a little late to the Persona party. Persona 3 and 4 were arguably my favorite games in 2007 and 2008, and Atlus’ other MegaTen titles, Nocturne and Digital Devil Saga, weren’t too shabby either. Rarely do I take the time to invest myself in a 60+ hour RPG, but I never had little trouble dropping endless hours into completing a MegaTen game. Still, from Nocturne to Persona 4, I ha...[Read More]
‘Splosion Man
Everybody Loves Donuts.
Heracles Chariot Racing
Based on the title alone, I really had no idea what to expect out of Heracles Chariot Racing. The first idea I conceived was a weird hybridization of Final Furlong and Daytona USA all under the guise of Greek mythology. I didn’t really know if horse-drawn carriages would translate into an engaging interactive experience, but what Heracles Chariot Racing actually is has nothing to do with wha...[Read More]
Madballs in Babo: Invasion
I almost went the entire rest of my life without remembering that, at a certain point, I was completely infatuated with Madballs. I couldn’t tell you where I got them, who I tricked into getting them for me, or what the hell ever happened to them, but I retain fond memories of always having a couple rolling around in my pocket. As with all things that weren’t Transformers, the momentar...[Read More]