I confess that I’m a sucker for any JRPG with an affinity for middle English (if you’re reading this, Square, a new Vagrant Story would be swell—I don’t care what system it’s on) but it isn’t often you see the word “tragedy” associated with role-playing games.
When Capcom released Dead Rising for the Xbox 360 back in 2007, zombie enthusiasts and horror game fans went nuts. The game was a showstopper. Thanks to Capcom’s use of the Havok engine, just about anything you could think of was a useable weapon against the untold hordes of zombies in the Willamette mall, which often filled the screen.
When Sony and Guerilla Games gave the public its first look at Killzone 2 back at 2005’s E3 conference, the footage of the game, depicting a number of aerial landers getting shot down into the middle of a gritty urban warzone, sparked widespread confusion among gamers.
Well now, here’s a switch. X-Blades is a clearly anime-inspired hack and slasher, sporting surprisingly high production values for a game that no one’s ever heard of.
The first thing that stands out about Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection is its sheer value, whether monetarily or via the halcyon channels of nostalgia. For starters, you get 49 SEGA games (nine of which are from the SEGA Master System and must be unlocked before you can play them) for $30.
A funny thing happened to me in Tokyo last summer. While perusing one of the many multi-level arcades found all over the city, I noticed a single Street Fighter IV arcade cabinet obscured by a small gathering of people.
Keeping with this week’s evident theme (that’d be zombies) comes another game that oozes B-movie charm, albeit one that’s presented in a completely different cultural context.
Hot damn, kiddies—now this is how you pull off a revival.
With the myriad advancements the industry is seeing these days, video games have long since set off down the slick, pricey road toward Hollywood blockbuster-status, evolving beyond the simplistic bleep-bloop fests of their infancy.
Fact: gamers love classic NES games. For many of us, Nintendo’s first console served as a gateway into the wonderful world of video games, and remains steeped in nostalgia even today.
Out of the sepulchral remains of last generation game design comes Rygar: The Battle of Argus, Tecmo’s revival of the nearly seven-year-old PS2 game Rygar: The Legendary Adventure.