PixlBit

Does Treasure's beat 'em up still have its edge?

When the 32 bit wars began, I was firmly entrenched in the Sony PlayStation camp. I believed then, as I do now, that the overall library of games on the PSX was far superior to that of the Sega Saturn. That shouldn’t imply, however, that there weren’t games on the Saturn that could make even the staunchest PlayStation supporter green with envy. The Saturn was capable of pumping out impressive sets of 2D sprites, and in this the PlayStation was a distant second. Games like Astal, X-Men vs. Street Fighter, and Albert Odyssey made me desperately want the beefy Sega console, and as soon as I was able to, I plunked down my hard-earned cash for a Saturn. The main reason for this purchase was, of course, Guardian Heroes. I had missed out on many of Treasure’s other games, since I had also sided against Sega in the 16 bit days. Even so, I knew just what kinds of incredible things the quirky Japanese developer was doing with animation and sprite work, and for me, Guardian Heroes was a system seller. Now, 15 years later, Guardian Heroes returns for XBLA with an HD upgrade. Does the game hold up after all these years, and is it worth the 800 MS point asking price? Read on, brave warriors, read on.

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Control the fearsome General RAAM in this flashback mission.

Gears of War 3 has been out for a little less than a month now, and for a huge, multiplayer-focused game such as this, it’s about time for some details to come forth about that all-important DLC. There has already been one piece of major DLC announced, called “Horde Command”. Now you can add “RAAM’s Shadow” to the list.

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Notch celebrates via Twitter.

This past August, it was reported that Mojang, the company behind indie smash sensation Minecraft, was being sued by Zenimax, the parent company of Bethesda. The lawsuit was filed over the name of Mojang’s upcoming game, titled “Scrolls”, which Zenimax claims is too close to their trademark for The Elder Scrolls series. Normally, any story where a huge company sues a much smaller one ends in the case being thrown out or the smaller company simply caving in under mounting legal fees, but this time, it looks as if the little guy has won, at least for now.

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When it comes to re-releasing older content, he is still but a padawan.

Recently, the complete Star Wars collection of films was released on blu-ray. It was something that fans of the venerable movie franchise had been clamoring for, but what they got wasn’t exactly what they wanted. George Lucas, now known more for tinkering with his previous works than as a creative force, once again made some baffling changes to his original trilogy. Fans were angry, as fans often are. While it should have come as no surprise that Lucas would be tweaking his movies yet again, this time the changes were a little more head-scratching than Greedo shooting first.

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Ratchet and Clank are back...again!

Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal was the third Ratchet game that Insomniac released in three years. The company had been on a roll, with three successful Spyro the Dragon games under their belt on the PlayStation, and a wildly popular follow-up franchise in Ratchet & Clank. Does Up Your Arsenal continue this grand tradition, and does it hold up today?

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