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A Tale of Swords and Souls, Retold.
I spent a lot of time playing SoulCalibur II on the GameCube during that era. It looked pretty, played well, and featured guest characters that were appealing – especially Link. SoulCalibur II HD Online pays a nice homage to its original port, and it stands up quite well. The fighting remains tight, and the game remains visually pleasing. Unfortunately, the slim online offering makes this one a tough sell especially if you still own the original.
Throwing punches like a boneless girl.
Sometimes in the sea of dazzling high profile games and personally expressive indie hits, we forget that 99% of everything is crap. Luckily, there are titles like Vivid Games’ Real Boxing, for the Vita, to remind us of the larger ocean of mediocrity. While it’s a cheap, downloadable experience rather than a full retail game – and should be judged as such – overall it’s not very fun after the initial novelty becomes an unpleasant chore.
To where no one has gone before.
The space action adventure you couldn't pronounce -- until now!
Now and then, game developers like to mix it up a little and create a game that pitches together several genres into one. Xexyz (pronounced “zeks-zees”) on the NES is one such game. It's a rare attempt to blend elements from the platformer and shoot 'em up genres, with just a pinch of RPG thrown in there for extra measure. Released by Hudson Soft in 1990, Xexyz proved that fusing three genres can work quite well.
Hey Kickstarter people with too much money on your hands: how about trying to fix Social Security?
If you were given 13 grand, would you use it to make a sequel to an Atari Lynx puzzle game? I can't say that would be my first choice, and I bet it wouldn't be yours either, but could nearly 400 Kickstarter backers go wrong? (I can see Takedown: Red Sabre players are reaching for pitchforks; easy, folks, this is nothing like that. Stand down.) Another adventure in crowdfunding has resurrected one man's decades-long dream, and after playing the final product via Desura, I consider my brain partially teased, moderately amused.
An Origin that doesn't disappoint.
Batman: Arkham Origins is a great game. Over the eight to nine hours I spent with the game, I went on a roller coaster full of action, stealth and narrative high points. Arkham Origins provides some of the best character moments in the series, along with some interesting new twists to the gameplay. Unfortunately, game bugs and various gameplay oddities keep the game from reaching the heights of the previous entries.
Mr. Zurkon found a lady-friend and got busy!
As of late it seems that Ratchet & Clank has been something of a test bed for Insomniac Games. With All 4 One, the team shoehorned New Super Mario Bros Wii-style cooperative gameplay into the Ratchet & Clank formula, while Full Frontal Assault saw the duo attempting Tower Defense. Although these experiments were certainly interesting, they’re no substitute for the tried-and-true gameplay of the franchise. Thankfully, the newest entry in the series, Into the Nexus proves that Insomniac is still devoted to producing new entries in the series’ classic style. Though on the shorter side, this highly engaging romp is a great send-off for the now last gen PlayStation 3.
A series, reignited.
I stood in line for an unnecessarily long time to pick up my copy of Pokémon X from Nintendo World in New York, but it was worth it. Most would have left the line and picked it up at a more comfortable or convenient location. For myself and many others, the reason why we stayed, braving the cold morning air along the streets of Manhattan, was the sense of community—the very heart of the Pokémon series since its inception. That community is one of the reasons why my time with Pokémon X has been so amazing, but it's much more than that. It's also about the way the the right improvements have been made in all the right spots, the new features, and the nostalgia. X is the best Pokémon game in a long time.
