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Reviews
The Next Space and Chopper I

Chopper I.

Am I really this bad at video games?

What will my son say when he reviews Uncharted 3 as a Naughty Dog Mini in 20 years?

Those are just some of the thoughts that were running through my head as I played Chopper I and The Next Space, the latest PlayStation Minis from SNK Playmore. As some of you may know, SNK was responsible for introducing the Neo Geo system in the early 1990s; and before that, the modular video game cabinets that housed a small buffet of games all at once. In their heyday, these two things were considered the pinnacle of gaming excellence. Those ups, some downs, an acquisition, a lawsuit and a brief history lesson later*, and we find ourselves here today with the introduction of another set of “PlayStation Minis” available for consumption on your choice of PSP, PS Vita or PS3.

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Posted in Byte-Size Reviews, PlayStation 3, PSP, Vita | No Comments »

Reviews
Ikari III: The Rescue

Looking for a great 80′s-style beat-em-up arcade game with military overtones? Are you lacking a working time machine so that you can actually play one of those titles? Look no further than the Playstation Network, good people! SNK Playmore USA has brought the goodness of the Ikari Warriors franchise to your PS3/PSP with Ikari III: The Rescue.

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Posted in PlayStation 3, PSP, Reviews | No Comments »

Review
Stick Man Rescue

Years ago, I stumbled upon an internet animation series called Xiao Xiao (also known as Stick Fighter); it was a neat little animation about stick people fighting in a grand martial arts battle. While not really the same, TikGames’ Stick Man Rescue brought a smile to my lips and reminded me that a game does not need to be graphics intensive to be fun*.

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Posted in Byte-Size Reviews, PlayStation 3, PSP | No Comments »

Review
Dante’s Inferno

Dante’s Inferno is an utterly baffling game to write about. On one hand it is a completely derivative, by-the-numbers large budget action game – a shameless, wholesale rip-off of Sony’s God of War series. The monsters are one-note, your wife is a sexualized damsel-in-distress, and your final enemy is Lucifer – a familiar asshole of an antagonist who you fight to the end in an apocalyptic arena. You wade through tiny enemies and later fight bigger enemies who you finish off with brutal quick-time events. On the surface it’s a smorgasbord of been-there, eviscerated-that.

On the other hand, it’s an adaptation of the Italian poet Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, a seminal work of literature from the 14th century. It is an historical source that, unlike several Greek epics, has not been plundered for popular culture’s sake with great frequency. In its portrayal of the Underworld, developer Visceral Games pays a startling amount of respect towards the original material; so much so, in fact, that dismissing the title entirely because of its derivative game-play would do gamers a grave disservice.

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Posted in PlayStation 3, PSP, Reviews, Xbox 360 | No Comments »

Fashionably Late Review
Patapon 3

The Patapon series for the Playstation Portable is easily at the top of the list of my favourite handheld titles. With addictive game-play, simple-yet-effective visuals, a great “score” and an unapologetic view of level-grinding (and loot collecting) – what’s not to love? Part rhythm game and part RPG, Patapon 3 is no different from its predecessors in how it makes the player feel, even if a good deal of the game has changed.

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Posted in PSP, Reviews | No Comments »

Review
LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean

Sometimes I think that the LEGO franchise has a license to print money; any video game adaptation (that bears the LEGO name) of a film will always do well. The formula is essentially the same for each game: stick to the major plot, ensure that the character design reflects that of the movie and capture the charm. Though it seems like this system could become repetitive, each game manages to be entertaining. The latest in the LEGO lineup, LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean (developed by Traveller’s Tales and published by Disney Interactive Studios), is just as addictive and fun as the games that came before (and certainly far more engaging than the middle two films).

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Posted in DS, PlayStation 3, PSP, Reviews, Wii, Xbox 360 | No Comments »

Review
Tron: Evolution

Disney Interactive’s Tron: Evolution, developed by Propaganda Games, is a third-person action-adventure game in which you enter the electronic world of the cult-classic-turned-modern-awesomeness. With a great single-player campaign and an awesome multi-player offering, Evolution is both a fantastic game as well as a constructive way to prepare for Tron: Legacy, the film.

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Posted in PC, PlayStation 3, PSP, Reviews, Xbox 360 | No Comments »