Golden Axe (Sega Forever): Short Review

     As a long time fan of Sega, from their great system Genesis to their amazing game series' like Streets of Rage, I was truly excited to see they were doing what I complained Nintendo should've done years ago- port their games to the mobile market via iOS and Android.  So far, Sega's ports have brought us classic games such as Altered Beast, Ristar, Kid Chameleon, and Phantasy Star 2, and now, they've brought the fantasy arcade turned Genesis beat 'em up Golden Axe to the Sega Forever lineup.
     Players can once again take on the role of a Dwarf, Barbarian, or Amazon Warrior to battle the dreaded Death Adder for the legendary Golden Axe to restore peace to the land of Yuria.  Slay enemies, ride beasts, and cast spells all along the journey to take back the ravaged kingdom!

     Starting with the good, the Sega Forever titles get some upgrades from the old version.  There's a choice in graphics, either the original or new smooth versions, there's also a slightly easier mode, leaderboards, and a new duel mode where players can face off wave after wave of enemies.  They've also stated that there is a, "Multiplayer experience coming soon."

     Now, sadly, the bad part.  As with all the other Sega Forever games (the exception being Phantasy Star 2- it doesn't require the quick responses of the other games), Golden Axe is another great old school gaming experience once again marred by awful controls.  I noticed numerous times where my character wouldn't respond to inputs, or the controls were off just enough to be frustrating- like trying to make a jump across a gap and instead falling to your death, and I'm not fully positive on this, but I believe some enemy hit boxes were altered, because there's a bunch of times where I'd swing directly through enemies and they'd remain untouched.
     It's also unbelievably irritating to get caught in stun-locked to death sandwiched between enemies because the controls lag or unresponsive d-pad inputs leave you standing still.  The game was originally designed as a quarter-muncher arcade meant to siphon peoples' pockets of coins to make money, and the irksome unfairness of the arcade difficulty is greatly exacerbated by the d-pad input problems.
      In reality, a small patch could easily fix this.  It's the biggest issue with the wonderful games they've been putting out, and if Sega wants to start making money off of these they need to specifically fix the controls.  They've begun a trend that retro gamers want, and have started down the right path, they just need to hone it in and really make these games shine.

     Despite its flaws, Golden Axe is still a good addition to the growing Sega Forever library with its extras and the promise of an online co-op on the way we can hopefully look forward to fixes yet to come.  I honestly hope they do fix the consistent control problems, because Sega has a monstrous library of tremendous games worth replaying, or bringing to a completely new audience, and this is the singular stumbling block in the way.

     Golden Axe via the App Store and Google Play.  It's free to play with adds, but has a $1.99 IAP that removes adds and allows for an

SEGA Forever: Streets of Rage has Arrived!

     Sega has been slowly porting some of their greatest games to the mobile markets as free-to-play titles under the SEGA Forever moniker, and they are getting better with each new addition.  We've already received an entire library of classics such as Altered Beast, Ristar, Sonic the Hedgehog, Kid Chameleon, Beyond Oasis, The Revenge of Shinobi, Golden Axe, and Phantasy Star 2- but today marks the release of the beat 'em up Streets of Rage.

     Following the 1980's tradition of cops taking to the streets to clean up their city:

     Three cops, a city on the edge, and a crime lord known only as Mr. X – welcome to one of the all-time SEGA greats. Arm yourself with knives, bottles, and drainpipes and battle through eight thug-infested urban environments to bring order to the city. Relentless, explosive, and addictive as hell – Streets of Rage is the grand-daddy of beat-‘em-ups!

     As with all the Sega Forever titles the game is a free-to-play with ads and an IAP to make ads disappear.  The game features both HID & MFi compatible controller support, local Wi-Fi multiplayer capability, and the standard competitive leaderboards. 

     In my replay and review of I said:

     I've read that this was supposed to be a Final Fight killer, and while they didn't do that, they created one hell of a game.  All around decent and entertaining.  And after replaying there are two things I never noticed back then- the first is that there is actually a time limit for each level's individual section of enemies, and multiple endings.  There are two different endings depending on if there are 2 players and one or both agree to "join" Mr. X.
     What we've got here is great music, good graphics, and tight controls in a city in turmoil.  When boiled down Streets of Rage's best feature is that it spawned sequels, one of which stands as one of the greatest beat-'em-ups in history.  If you like the series it's a fun play, if not- try Streets of Rage 2- it's a lasting gem that has few rivals.

     Overall the Sega Forever games have been fairly great ports with one glaring issue across the board with their touchscreen input controls being clunky and troublesome.  Other than that they are all just as fun as ever.  In Streets of Rage's case, we can hope they've either remedied the situation, or will be, on the way to bringing us its sequel somewhere down the line- as I've said many times before Streets of Rage 2 is simply one of the greatest games ever created.

     Streets of Rage on [ Google Play ] [ iOS ]

     SEGA's Mobile Games on [ Google Play ] [ iOS ]

     Related posts [ Sega ]

Beyond Oasis has Come to Mobile from SEGA Forever

     Thanks to the SEGA Forever program, the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive classic, action-adventure RPG Beyond Oasis, known as The Story of Thor: A Successor of the Light in Europe, is now available on mobile devices.

     SEGA Forever has been expanding their library of classic games, ported as free-to-play mobile titles, and Beyond Oasis is another tremendous installment being brought to the modern gaming market.  Beyond Oasis is the story of Prince Ali stumbling upon a sentient gold amulet attempting to save Oasis from a villainous enemy in possession of the silver amulet.  It's kind of like a wonderful combination of Prince of Persia and the Legend of Zelda- a huge open world filled with a variety of weapons, magic, secrets to uncover, and a wealth of enemies to slay.

     One neat new feature of this version is the "Rewind" button, which was recently added to Golden Axe, which helps alleviate some of the problems I had in my Golden Axe Sega Forever review.  It's a small clock in the upper left corner, that rewinds the game 15 seconds- oddly fitting for Beyond Oasis making it feel a bit more like a Prince of Persia game by coincidence.  It should be noted that there is an abuse-prevention measure in the form of a cooldown timer (or at the cost of watching an ad, if you didn't purchase the single IAP to remove ads), so you can't just rewind time over and over.
     In addition, like all the rest of the SEGA Forever lineup, the game comes with cloud saving, leaderboards, and controller support. I'm hoping they've cleaned up the controller support as it's been relatively loose and has been unresponsive on previous titles.  Beyond Oasis is a game with a 6 button set up, doubling the usual 3 button standard of the last bunch of games, meaning it'll need a much better handling of the control scheme.

     I'm looking forward to giving this title a go, as it was a an amazing title- ranking up there with games like Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Alundra, and Landstalker- all around great action-adventure RPG games.

     Beyond Oasis on [ Google Play ] and iOS
          To eliminate ads, there's a one-time IAP of $1.99/ €2.29 / £1.99.

Aladdin: Sega Genesis: Replay & Review (RE)2

Genie of the Lamp

     Starting right away, we get amazing graphics with the Genie shooting in the air at the Sega logo and Iago falling past.  The sprites are clean and fluid- absolutely stunning animation work.  They look like they were ripped right out of the film.  The looks are perfectly paired with highly responsive controls.  Only the music is lacking, but I would chalk that up to Sega's sound capabilities being less than optimal.

     The story is the simple rags-to-riches-with-the-help-of-a-magical-bring tale of Aladdin we all know from the Disney movie.  There are a few deviations to make the game playable without confusion on its own.
     And this game has one of the most brilliant set of instructions (back when instruction booklets were commonplace) I have encountered.  One screen with all you need to know in one place.  It's so simple and effective, why more games don't do this is beyond me.

A Magic Carpet Ride

     Being a typical 2D platformer, they have you running and jumping, slicing up bad guys with a sword, or throwing apples for a long range attack.  The levels are littered with collectibles (hearts, apples, emeralds) and if you find the vendor you can buy more lives and continues.  There's also a couple of mini games by collecting the Genie and Abu tokens.  The Genie's minigame is a slot machine and for Abu's mini game you get to actually play as Abu... with a sword.

     I really enjoyed games like this, with enough production value, that if left alone Aladdin will toss himself an apple.  There are also plenty of Disney related Easter Eggs to be found- like positioning Aladdin under items on a clothesline will give you an extra life by giving you Mickey Mouse ears, and another adventurer in the dungeon level is a skeleton with the Mickey Mouse ears.  There's also some familiar looking statues in the desert.  It's in the subtle details that this game shines.  It's in the face of a camel when jumped on, it's in the way an apple splits in half when an enemy's sword cleaves it, it's in the 3 outhouses (men, women, genie)- all those little things really add up.

    The level design itself is amazing as well.  There is an absurd amount of effort put into the levels.  They aren't just go left to right, plenty of them are so creative and open new avenues of play.  One level if you collect a certain amount of flutes, it'll unlock various lying ropes that bring you to different ares in the level.  If you search there are tons of hidden jokes, and secret areas to explore.  A huge variety of things to see that fill them up like statues, flamingos and a dog with a key in its mouth.  Some are even interactive, like the camels.  You can jump on them and they'll spit which damages enemies, a very useful tactic in the early stages.
     The Genie makes frequent appearances to guide and assist you on the path.  He's a balloon, the moon, a referee, and even the doorway out in one level, where you need to scale steps that are made out of his tongue.  That is creepy and gross, but hilarious.

Wishes

     I do have to be honest the enemy variations are a slim.  Only a handful of repetitive enemies does get a little old over the course of the game.  But the bosses are distinct enough to make it great.  Although Jafar himself seems to be too difficult in comparison with the rest of the game.  The challenge skyrockets for that one boss, but is fairly moderate for the rest.

     In the end nothing in Aladdin is too bad.  The negatives are so small they are easily tolerable.  The difficulty isn't too bad, but an option for saving or continues could've done wonders for this game, as some levels drag on pretty long, and the intensity gradually gets higher toward the end- not too tough, nor too easy, it rides a delicate balance through most of the game.
     Maybe a few more stages (there's only 10) would've been nice as well.

A Diamond in the Rough 

     Aladdin stands as one of the best 16-bit platformers ever, and will forever remind me of why I loved the Sega Genesis system so much.  Aladdin displays such an undeniable use of creativity in every aspect of the game, it's fun and loaded with personality.  This is what licensed games should strive for, becoming a classic.  There's just so much here, it makes replaying it a joy just to stop and see what little touches they put into the background.  When it comes down to it, Sega's Aladdin game is every bit as much a masterpiece as the Disney film was, and won't soon be forgotten by those that play it.

     Draft from 01.12.2014

Jurassic Park in 3D and the Sega Games

     With the re-release of Jurassic Park (now in 3D!) I have made some Jurassic Park meme's but I forgot my jump drive at home- so they will have to wait until at least 6pm tonight to be posted. 
     So in the mean time, I'll be putting up some Jurassic Park memories such as the old video games and a small bit about my experience seeing the film for the first time.


Best game of "fetch" EVER!!!

      The Movie:  When the movie was first released in theaters, I was visiting family in Georgia and was in down town Atlanta.  Since I had no idea about the weather there, I got caught out in the rain.  In a mere 5 minutes the rain down poured in the streets until it was past my ankles.  Then it just stopped.  Quite odd- for someone from the north.  A massive amount of rain, then back to full sunshine in a matter of 10 minutes. 

     It was so horribly humid out, so we went to seek refuge in the heavily air conditioned theater.  Being soaking wet and now freezing is how I recall the movie.  It was good enough to keep my mind off the disgusting feeling of soggy cold.

     The Game Sega:  Not long after the film, my siblings and I got the Sega Genesis version of Jurassic Park.  Personally I loved it.  Great soundtrack, wonderful graphics, and I could use a rocket launcher to explode a chicken sized Compsognathus.  Which I spent most of the game time doing. 

     I also loved stun grenading the Triceratops*.

     The Game Sega CD:  This first person point-and-click game was kind of terrible.  Enjoyable, but horrible.  The phone recording of a person being eaten on one of the desks was a nice addition to add atmosphere.

*STUN GRENADES!!!

Lawsuit: Aliens Colonial Marines "False Advertisement"

It's all just a demo...

    It seems to be official, Sega and Gearbox are in legal trouble due to the demo's highly misleading advertising fiasco.  A class action suit, to be specific.  When I hear about this I laugh.  In my head I hear Bruce from Family Guy saying, "No Wa-a-a-a--a-y!"  Really, it was only a matter of time that this would happen.
     I was one of the many that preordered and got burned by a horrendous game.  It wouldn't be so bad if they patched and fixed it for those of us that stuck it out.  Something to show that Gearbox and Sega are working to repair the damage done to all of their faithful consumers.

  "We think the video game industry is no different than any other that deals with consumers: if companies like Sega and Gearbox promise their customers one thing but deliver something else, then they should be held accountable for that decision."

-Ben Thomassen (Edelson LLC)

     I fully understand the fact that there may be discrepancies between early forms of the game and the later changes that occur just before we actually receive the product, but this particular case is undeniably wrong.  Does anyone else remember the early Borderlands game VGA trailer? (Check it out here if you can't recall- http://youtu.be/WSvTqfmv3DE)  They definitely made some massive changes to the ENTIRE visual style.  BUT!  As previews kept coming, they REFLECTED those changes.  Aliens: Col. Marines did not.  They continually advertised the enhanced graphics and gameplay.
     I am curious to see how this plays out.  There is a part of me that hopes they are held accountable for such deceptions, but then again-  I sincerely hope the gaming industry isn't opening the door to petty and frivolous legal actions to come.  What kinds of marketing issues are we to look forward to now?

     Here's my previous Aliens: Col. Marines post with a better picture: A disclaimer- SUCKERS!

Source: Polygon

Golden Axe: Replay & Review- (RE)2

     Back in the side scrolling beat-'em-up arcade days, around the time of the fantasy barbarian sword & sorcery movie explosion, we managed to receive a grand original arcade game that combined the two- and Golden Axe was born.

     Golden Axe is the hack-n-slash story of a trio coming together to defeat the evil Death Adder, who has taken control of the king's castle and laid waste to the land of Yuria- threatening to kill the rulers if he is refused the throne by the peasants.  Not much in the way of story telling depth, but for the time it fit just fine.  I find it a bit odd that Death Adder abducted the King and Princess.  Where's the Queen?  All the other castle dwellers presumably killed, I suppose.
     All three of these mighty warriors are on quests of scantily-clad vengeance for deaths caused by Death Adder:

     First up is Ax Battler, whose name doesn't really fit as he is a broadsword wielding, stone magic using barbarian seeking vengeance for a murdered mother.  Medium in strength, speed and magic. 

     Next comes Tyris Flare.  A fire magic Amazonian armed with a longsword, looking to enact vengeance upon the killer of her parents.  Weakest in strength, but fastest and most powerful with magic. 

     Last, but not least, the Dwarf Gilius Thunderhead, whose slain twin brother will be avenged with the titular large Golden Axe and the magic of lightning.  By far the strongest, but also easily the slowest and weakest magic user.

     The Sega Genesis port of the arcade was quite amazing in it's time.  This game was filled with tons of variety.  There were plenty of different attack animations, a variety of special magic potions that increase in power with number of potions, and a constant stream of enemies to battle along the path towards Death Adder himself.  In addition they had beasts you could ride upon, and a mini-game of sorts at the campfire levels where you could replenish health and magic potions by beating up the looting gnomes that spawn.  They felt far in advance of their time.
     Though the coin-op itself had better graphics and a few less levels, it felt longer.  The Genesis port was also missing the 4th wall breaking ending as well if I recall correctly.

     Even playing with my rose-colored glasses- the game is fun despite the flaws.  Yes, there are plenty of frustrating moments because this Golden Axe was designed as a quarter-muncher coin-operated arcade.  They purposely made arcades to be difficult and unfair to keep you pumping quarters in for more play.

     Enemies are considerably faster, have way longer reach, and have much smaller hit-boxes than the player.  It does hamper the return enjoyment, but not enough for me to stop playing.  It is a lazy way to arbitrarily add challenge- but since there are infinite continues it isn't too bad.  It also helps that the game is very short- roughly an hour long.  (A block button certainly would've been nice.)

     While Golden Axe doesn't hold up nearly as well as the Streets of Rage games- it is still a decent game.  Honestly, I relished returning to the roots of hack-n-slash fantasy gaming.  It's tough to judge this game as it is a classic, and there really isn't much for the fans of today- so due to the age of this fantasy brawler, I can only truly recommend it to fans of the series.

     Note:  The Sega Genesis Ultimate Collection has all 3 Golden Axe games and I unlockable game that plays like The Legend of Zelda.  Sega also released an Arcade Classic version that I believe had online co-op, challenge modes, and a few extras such as "Duel Mode."  These versions have a few added features that give incentive to new players, and might be worth looking into.

X-Men: Sega Genesis: Reset the Computer

     This is one gaming moment I recall with vivid frustration.  Almost as terrible as my experiences with E.T. for the Atari.  The game itself wasn't so much the problem as a later level in the game.  Anyone that was lucky enough to play this gem will likely have the same story of hitting a brick wall in the Mojo level.

     In the second to last level after the Mojo boss fight, one finds a computer screen to destroy.  Then you are told to: "Reset the Computer."  My friends and brothers spent an entire summer looking for a button.  We scoured the level in the game to press and continue.  The solution to this puzzle is quite the astonishment.

     Now years after attempting, failing and just moving on to other games, I happened to find the answer.  This was years ago, by the way.  To reset the computer- the player had to press reset on the Sega Genesis console.  Yes.  I was taken aback.  It felt like a slap in the face.  Not only was the player supposed to think outside the game cartridge, but they were supposed to do something NO gamer in their right mind would ever think of doing for fear of losing progress in the game.
     And to top it off- if you pressed it for even a fraction of a second to long, the game would do exactly that- reset the system and you'd lose your progress.  So gamers were supposed to tap the reset button which brought up a screen full of numbers and then moved you on to the next level.

     Absolutely brilliant for breaking the 4th wall for gamers, as well as being a horrible dilemma for kids that would never think of risking their gameplay by pressing the damn reset button.  Are there ANY gamers out there that genuinely discovered the answer to this puzzle?  Any brave kids that ventured to press the button that was typically off-limits to even think about touching?

     Anyway, while this game was an average game to play, I always wondered why they didn't just port the X-men 6-player arcade game that was released a year earlier.  Either way the next X-men game to arrive on the Sega Genesis, X-men: The Clone Wars, was a vast improvement.  Better gameplay, better animation, better story.  It even gave players unlimited mutant powers!

Jurassic World Evolution: Trailer & Thoughts

     I heard there was a new Jurassic Park game on the way and I got immediately excited, unfortunately that excitement was swiftly quashed when I found out it was just another world builder game.

     According to the developer's official press release:

     "Jurassic World Evolution evolves players’ relationship with the Jurassic World film franchise, placing them in control of operations on the legendary island of Isla Nublar and the surrounding islands of the Muertes Archipelago. 

     Players will build their own Jurassic World as they bioengineer new dinosaur breeds and construct attractions, containment and research facilities. Every choice leads to a different path and spectacular challenges arise when ‘life finds a way.’"

     I'm not going to lie, though the developer has over a decade of world/city building, management, and simulation games experience, I just feel they could've done better for the Jurassic Park legacy than this genre of game.  The old Sega Genesis game was a great platformer, the Sega CD version was a point-and-click mystery (as was the far superior, and much more recent Telltale version), and this honestly feels like an upscaled version of Ludia's mobile tie-in Jurassic World: The Game.  The mobile game was a good time-waster, overloaded with IAPs and the like with an interesting dinosaur evolving and battling sub-game- but it was also a mobile game, and not a full console game.  While I don't like this type of game, I'm sure it'll have a bunch of people hyped.

     All I'd like to see, and have wanted to see for decades, is a 3rd person action-adventure game like Uncharted 4 or Rise of the Tomb Raider that takes place in the Jurassic Park universe.  If they could get a company like Naughty Dog or Crystal Dynamics/Eidos Montreal to make it, the game would top the charts instantly.  The closest we got to it is the LEGO Jurassic World game, it wasn't the best, but it was still pretty damned fun despite the flaws (that plague all the LEGO games).

     Jurassic World Evolution will arrive on PC, PS4, and XBox One in Summer 2018, in time for the theatrical release of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom on June 22, 2018.

     SOURCE [ Frontier ]

Alien: Isolation- Sega's Official Announcement Trailer

     Sega has officially released the trailer for Creative Assembly's Alien: Isolation, and it looks good.  Really good, in fact.



     The trailer definitely evokes the feelings of isolation and horror hearkening back to Ridley Scott's original Alien film.  Inspiration drawn straight out of it.  Darkened hallways, moving shadows, and a dangerous predator hunting you on a space station.  The atmosphere of fear is pervading.
     Seeing what has become of your crewmates doesn't help, and being unarmed will necessitate a lot of hiding and planning to escape this foe.  This looks to be a real return to survival horror many Aliens fans have been waiting for- a deadly and ominous game of hide-and-seek.

     Isolation takes place 15 years after Alien, on a large, decommissioned trading station called Sevastopol where someone has recovered a Nostromo flight recording.  As Weyland-Yutani engineer Amanda Ripley (pictured above), seeking to know what happened to the Nostromo, sets out to find the ship's Black Box.  She's trying to find answers to how her mother disappeared.  I am very curious how well this story fits in the Alien franchise.  As it is, this game looks much better than Colonial Marines.

     Here's a couple of hopeful quotes from Joystiq:

     "The thing we're always focused on is that first film," Lead Game Designer Gary Napper told Joystiq at a recent press event. "It's making the game as much like that original experience of being focused on a single alien in a single environment, and not being prepared to shoot it. It's that really close-up, personal, and connected experience with the Alien. That's what we've always focused on and wanted to do."

     "We wanted you guys to see the Alien in its raw form," Napper explained, "Because we've built this entire game around that set of core mechanics, that kind of base behavior of the Alien, hunting and searching for you and you having nothing to defend yourself."

     I, for one, am quite eager to experience the terror and desperation this game looks to provide in a first ever "real" Alien experience.

     Alien: Isolation will be released in late 2014 for PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC.

     Source [ Alien: Isolation Official Site ]

Aliens: Colonial Marines: DISCLAIMER!

In space, no one can hear you complain.

     Here's a bit of an interesting item concerning the travesty known as Aliens: Colonial Marines.  It has been widely known that the game we were delivered had been NOTHING like what was advertised.  The demo and trailers showed things far exceeding the graphics and play that gamers received, despite the fact we were led to believe we'd receive after the hype.

     A redditor actually did something about it.  Reddit user Subpardave sent a complaint to the Advertising Standards Agency (UK)- http://redd.it/1bjtot 

     ...and he actually got a reply.  A very disappointing one, but something at least.  Sadly, that reply is only the fact that a disclaimer will be added to the footage stating things we now already know to be true:

  "They agreed to add a disclaimer, both on their website and in all relevant YouTube videos, which explains that the trailers depict footage of the demo versions of the game. The disclaimer will be visible when each online trailer is played."

     ...uuhhh...


     ... so after almost 2 months after the game released, Sega Europe will put a disclaimer on something we all already know to be EXTREMELY MISLEADING on their official videos.  Not all of Sega (or other developer names attached to the game), but one part of a company will be acknowledging this train wreck.
     Aren't demos usually parts of games that are currently in production, parts of a product we will be getting?  Disturbing that we can't get more out of this.

     One small step I suppose.

A NEW Mutant League Football Could be on the Way

     Yes, you read that CORRECTLY.  Michael Mendheim, the creator of the original games has opened a Kickstarter for a new Mutant League Football.  The funding for the project is open until October 16th, 2013.  I also just noticed it's switched to Mutant Football League. 

     As a generally disinterested-in-sports person, I did love the Mutant League games.  Granted I was also a fan of the NBA Jam games and the various Boxing games out there, but the Mutant League games opened up an interest in sports.  Not much, but at least a little. 
     The old Sega Genesis version was a violent, yet hilarious parody of American Football.  I recall getting penalties for booger picking and throwing peoples torn off heads.  I would personally like a new version of Mutant League Hockey, but this is a start. 

     So far it's only planned for iOS, Android, and X Box Live.  I may support it if they port to Playstation or Vita.  And I'd definitely support it if they announce a new Mutant League Hockey.  Hell, if they could make an immense retro 16 bit version of the game, tons of fans would donate just for nostalgic glory.

Streets of Rage 4 Has Been Officially Revealed!!!

     It's been a long time since the 1994 release of the last new installment in Sega's iconic beat 'em up Streets of Rage series, and today Dotemu, Lizardcube, and Guard Crush Games have announced Streets of Rage 4!

     According to the official site:

After many years, Axel and Blaze are finally picking up the fight where they left. 

Streets of Rage 4 builds upon the classic trilogy’s gameplay with new mechanics, a fresh story and a gauntlet of dangerous stages with a serious crime problem. Streets of Rage 4 recalls classic gameplay but it stands as an entirely original arcade-style romp thanks to the expertise of Guard Crush Games and Dotemu. 

Whether players gang up with a friend or clean up the city solo, Streets of Rage 4 is a skull-bashing, chicken-chomping delight all set to a thumping soundtrack sure to get your blood pumping.

     The reveal trailer shows us some glorious gameplay featuring an older and more grizzled Axel Stone along with long-time bare knuckle companion Blaze Fielding taking on some familiar old enemies in a truly amazing new visual style.  No word yet if other old friends will be playable characters as well like Adam or Eddie "Skate" Hunter, Max Thunder, or possibly even former-enemy-boss-turned-friendly-combatant Shiva.
     I'm also hoping they nail the music for the game, as it played a massive part in setting the tone of the first and second games.

     I've said numerous times before, that Streets of Rage 2 stands as one of the greatest games ever made, and we can only hope this game turns out to not only live up to, but actually improve on that legacy.

     No release date or platforms have been announced yet.

     For more information check out the official site [ Streets4Rage ]

     Source [ Dotemu twitter ]

Game Boy Advance: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1 & 2 (Battle Nexus) Double Pack Review

     Since the most recent wave of TMNT mania, I've been constantly digging out plenty of my old nostalgia fueled memorabilia, and in this post it's about the GBA TMNT 1 and 2 (Battle Nexus) 2 pack video game.  I figured while I'm on what appears to be a never-ending wait for TMNT: Out of the Shadows to be released on PS3, I might as well re-play some of the older Turtles games.
     This Game Boy Advance 2 Pack follows the story of the 2nd Ninja Turtles television series in 2003.

     Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 

     After doing a bit of searching, it had been 10 years since the last real TMNT game released, which was TMNT: Tournament Fighters on the NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis.  Note, I am not counting TMNT: Dimension X Assault or Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation LCD handheld games in this, as they are barely games at all, even if my inner 8 year old says otherwise.

     In this game they took an ingenious route- each turtle gets their own set of 5 levels.  Based on various episodes from the show, one tale for each Turtle.  Granted, I'm taking into consideration that this is a simple, single player side-scrolling platformer, with a touch of beat-'em-up, lacking the best part of all previous TMNT games- CO-OP teaming up!  In fact, of the 5 unique levels for each, one level per turtle is a "vehicle" level, such as Michelangelo getting to skateboard through the sewers and Donatello hang gliding.  In addition there is one extra bonus level if you manage to collect all the hidden crystals in all the other levels.

     There are 4 distinct sets of moves, allowing each turtle to be a bit different instead of being just a palette-swap.  They all have a special ability as well, Donatello can leap gaps, Raphael can climb walls, etc.  So while all four Turtles feel different, they sadly, somehow still feel the same.  And despite having charge attacks and a health-eating special attack, it's much faster, easier, and more effective to mash the attack button for small combos.
      Unfortunately this is due to the fact that enemies, including bosses, are mostly push overs.  Normally I don't complain about this as a problem, but I really think it would've been beneficial to either make more enemies to fight or make them slightly smarter.  It isn't very fun when you just walk up to a goon and they just look at you menacingly while you wail on them.
     I don't even think I used any of the Turtles' charge attacks at all, just the button mash combos to get through the entire game.

     The backgrounds are adequate, with very few little touches to make anything noteworthy.  As for the sounds?  They are ok at best, nothing special at all.  Decent music and a couple phrases and grunts here and there.

     Really, the game's biggest loss is in play time.  The game took me maybe an hour to beat.  And to be fair, a decent amount of that hour was skimming through the lengthy cut scenes.  A small amount of fun that ends much too soon.
     Seriously, the best part of the game was in Raph's stages- you get to fight fan-favorite Casey Jones as a boss, and then in a later level, fight side by side with him.


     TMNT 2: BATTLE NEXUS

     It always amazes me when a company somehow manages to take a fair start, the TMNT 1 for GBA, and make a far inferior game for a sequel.  Of course, if you read the above review, you know that it wasn't the best game, but it wasn't awful either.  I'm not joking here, Battle Nexus is a significant step backwards from the first game.  While the game looks and sounds much better, the introduction of stealth is awful.  Why the creators chose to implement stealth in Battle Nexus is quite the baffling thought.  One would guess there would be a lot more, you know, battling.

     At the beginning of EVERY level, you have to sneak past all the guards and cameras to find your lost weapon(s).  Which wouldn't be too bad of an idea, but for some reason the NINJA Turtles can't use any ninjitsu- they get throwing stars that do a laughable amount of damage to enemies.  Tickling them would be much more effective.
     The "stealth" here is terrible.  If you are spotted, you can just hop into an alcove, even with enemies watching you, and shortly they'll forget about you and go back to their sentry circuits like nothing happened.  It is a frustratingly useless mechanic in a game that has Battle in the title.
     Once you finally obtain the weapon for your chosen Turtle, you generally have to backtrack to collect crystals to unlock later worlds.  And speaking of backtracking, most levels must be played through with multiple Turtles to collect all the crystals, as each of their individual skills leaves some to be unobtainable by the other 3.  Forced repetition is not appreciated in this instance.  Every time you replay a level to collect a few more crystals you have to begin anew, sans weapon and forced to sneak by enemies again.
     Every.  Single.  Time.

     Battle Nexus should've probably been called Boring Tedium.  Yes, I used those synonyms together here for a very good reason.  It needs to be stressed how annoying the repetition is.  Because it becomes a slog during the first world's missions, leaving one with a difficult choice- to finish or move on to better games?

     Outside of the general disappointment of not having beat-'em-up action, this game does offer a bit more.  There are also Race and Battle Modes.  The Race Mode is simply a bunch of hover-boarding levels from the main story quests in their own section, while the inappropriately named Battle Mode isn't actually about battling at all.  Instead you have to collect a bunch of crystals in a set amount of time.

     Lastly- apparently, there was a tie in to the console version that gave codes to open a slew of hidden levels in the GBA.  Not much, but a nice addition if you are willing to tough it out and put in the extra game time for any version of Battle Nexus.

     The Double Pack as a Whole

     Honestly, as a lifelong TMNT die-hard, this was a maximum of 3 hours of total play, and not really great play at that.  The short gameplay and long cutscenes really hampered the potential of this these 2 games.
     The hour or so it took to beat the first game was an enjoyable sitting, but Battle Nexus was a large step back and not worth the time to play.  That being said, it really feels like they skipped over all the great arcade beat-'em-ups previously made and went all the way back the the original NES Turtles game for inspiration- a grave mistake in this case.  I would only recommend this to fans or younger children, as there are many other TMNT games that are worth the time to play.


     For more of my Turtles posts click here-> [ TMNT ]

Also check out:

     [ The TMNT Collectionary ]

     [ TMNT Block Yardsellr on Facebook ]

     They always have a plethora of TMNT goodness to peruse.

Fungus-Focused Platformer Mushroom 11 Infests Mobile Devices March 9th

Over a year after developer Untame's ingenious "anti-platformer" Mushroom 11 hit Steam, the game's spores will be landing on Android devices.

Mushroom 11 takes the platforming genre to entirely new levels with a genuinely unique innovation in the way it handles level traversal.  The game requires the player to destroy parts of the strange amorphous being they control to encourage it to grow and spread in other directions.  The closest thing to this game I've ever played was The Ooze for the Sega Genesis, which was very similar in concept, but Mushroom 11 certainly looks to be a huge improvement over that.

Squirm through tiny tubes, shear parts off yourself, and dissolve enemies to solve puzzles and make your way through a post apocalyptic world in Mushroom 11 on March 9th.

Little Ghostbusters: Tiny Mobile Game Review (Android)

     I came across this small gem looking for some good Ghostbusters games for my phone.  Little Ghostbusters is a kind of reduced version of the old Sega Genesis Ghostbusters action-platformer game- shrinking it down to a fixed-shooter for the mobile

     Players choose one of the 3 original film Ghostbusters (Venkman, Stantz, and Spengler- but oddly no Zeddemore which is quite disappointing), each with their own type of blaster.  Sadly, the Proton Packs and Neutrino Wand streams are missing.  Each level is in a single room with ghosts flying across the screen.  Players must simply zap as many ghosts as they can while avoiding falling obstacles.  At the same time power ups, rare and valuable hearts, and money (score bonuses) drop to assist in your ghost capturing quest.  That is really the whole extent of the game.

     It is really a very basic game like Galaga or Space Invaders, but it doesn't need much more.  Really, outside of adding Zeddemore as a character, the only additional thing I'd change is to add a continue feature.  Each player only gets 3 hits and dies (slimed!) and you have to start completely over.  It gets very frustrating in the later parts of the game when the screen is pure bombardment and there's no way to avoid getting hit.  Otherwise it's a nice pocket-sized fixed-shooter game.

     Little Ghostbusters has solid graphics, smooth animations and gameplay, good sounds, and a nice synthesized version of the theme music, so it isn't much, but it's still a fun time waster for either fans of the franchise or fixed-shooters.

     Check it out free on Google Play [ Little Ghostbusters ]

Alien: Isolation - Ripley's Daughter's Game

     It looks as if Sega has more plans for the Aliens franchise.  After the almost universally terrible reviews of that space turd called Aliens: Colonial Marines (by Gearbox and TimeGate), they are taking some of that critically negative advice to heart.

Is this the face of a badass?  Possibly.

     The new Alien game for current and next gen consoles is called Alien: Isolation (being developed by the Creative Assembly) and is starring Ellen Ripley's daughter(mentioned in an Aliens deleted scene).  An odd choice of character to plunder.  I'm sure they want to retain the ultimate badass Ripley namesake while getting a bit of freedom in the storytelling department.  Presumably, it'll take place after the first movie, but before Ellen Ripley was awoken from her 57 years of hypersleep.  Although due to the inclusion of "hypersleep technology" one can't really tell.

"According to our source, the protagonist of Alien: Isolation is Amanda Ripley, daughter of Ellen Ripley, the character that made Sigourney Weaver famous and kicked off the ubiquitous sci-fi franchise over 30 years ago. Amanda, who is mentioned in the special edition of Aliens as having died while Ellen was frozen in space, has not yet been the focus of any books, movies, or games in the Alien extended universe.

You, as Amanda, spend most if not all of the game on a single space station, according to our source. There's only one alien for "most" of the game, our source said; you'll mostly be shooting through "clones and soldiers." Vents, lockers, and melee weapons are a big part of Isolation, our source said, and the game is heavily inspired by the first Alien movie."

     It's said to be a first person shooter combining stealth and horror.  They're aren't many details other than that, but at least they are listening to the fans about the horrible way the Aliens franchise has been handled in the past.

     What I'm wondering is if Burke lied to Ripley (Amanda died at age 66), which is something he would definitely do, what are the odds that her daughter would encounter something this similar?  Why not make a stand alone tale about some nobody in that time period?  Draw reference from games like Dead Space, and create an atmosphere of fear and desperation in space.  This should be survival horror, not a clone shoot-em-up.

Source [ Kotaku ]

Aliens: Colonial Marines

     Even after reading the horrendous reviews, I kept my preorder with hopes that maybe I would be thoroughly enjoying this game.  It's happened with other games- Warriors: Legends of Troy, Green Lantern, and Thor for example.  They aren't good games, by any means, but I enjoyed them anyway. 
     Gearbox's Aliens is only half meeting that expectation.  I've only made it through a couple levels, but the frustration is already setting in.  I'll continue to play through the whole game, and then try out the multiplayer.  I don't think I'll be as cruel as the reviewers, and have actually found myself enjoying a couple parts.  The sound for instance- the Pulse Rifle firing and the Motion Trackers are SPOT ON and I absolutely love that.

     Within the last few months of Gearbox's Borderlands 2 DLC's being only decent, seriously lacking in length and quality- I've been consistently losing faith in this company.  Sure, the Borderlands stuff is decent- I love Torgue's Campaign of Carnage, but Scarlett's Pirate's Booty and Hammerlock's Hunt are both lacking.  No REALLY new weapons and shields, short quest lines, and all right stories. 
     Really, what's going on with them.  Where's the Borderlands 1 Gearbox team quality gone to???
     Here's a decent link to a Jim Sterling article that may shed a bit of light: http://www.destructoid.com/developer-gearbox-lied-to-sega-2k-over-colonial-marines-245986.phtml

     I'm only moderately liking this game so far.  It's playable, but as ALL the reviewers have noted there are numerous problems with it.  Too linear, bland writing, clunky character movements (both marines and alien NPCs) and blatantly ignoring previously canon story in the "Aliens" franchise.  Really, I can see ignoring Alien 3 and beyond, as well as that beautiful mess of a film Prometheus, but what the EFF Gearbox?!?  There are a bazillion fans that can be put to use as proofreaders.  Hello beta testers...  how much of this game could've been prevented with proper acknowledgement of fans?
     And just as many others have said, I feel lied to.  I feel cheated.  The game is nothing like the demo.  There seems very little about the game we got that is actually like what was advertised.  With Borderlands 2 we were promised a bunch of stuff still hasn't been provided- a worry free bank size, when will we get that?  How about that Armory of General Knoxx sized DLC?  Still nowhere in sight.  For Aliens, we are lacking both the wonderful atmosphere and feel of being in that world. 

     When it comes down to it, a whole game cannot be patched, and soon we consumers will find out if Gearbox can "patch" their credibility.  I'm eagerly waiting to hear what Mr. Randy Pitchford will be saying about this Aliens controversy, as I'm still hopeful something good may come out of it.  Then again, maybe not. 

May the 4th Be With You: A Small Post About My Lifelong Star Wars Fandom

     I grew up fairly poor and escaped that life through a wonderful galaxy that existed a long time ago and far, far away.  My earliest recollection of an obsession with Star Wars began with seeing the Return of the Jedi in the theaters, it's one of my earliest memories of anything really.  I recall it being just amazing.  Then years later, I'd walk up to gas stations to read the comic books they stocked.

     Once I got a job I collected the comics, the books, the video games, the toys, and even joined the fan club.  I even still have my Star Wars Insider Official Jedi Knight card and Member number from 1997!   I absorbed everything I could because it was an unbelievably vast and diverse universe.  It was a place for everyone and everything.

"This is probably not the blog post you are looking for..."

     In the years since, I've maintained that full fandom.  Despite my distaste for a lot of the "mistakes" the Prequels made, they still had a lot of great stuff in them.  There's still plenty of material to appreciate in them.  The movies stand as a whole, one of the greatest cinematic achievements ever made.  A huge part of me is extremely excited for the new wave of films on the way.
     On the small screen, I've been a long time fan of The Clone Wars series, and much more recently, the Rebels show is also tremendously well put together.  I hope we get some shows for a little older of an audience, with some slightly darker tones  But for now Rebels is satisfying my urges.

     I've been thoroughly impressed by some of the video games, such as The Force Unleashed, as well as quite disappointed with a few as well, like Star Wars: Obi-Wan, which ruined a game prospect for one of my favorite characters or Sega CD's Rebel Assault- it was just plain awful.  With the future of Disney Infinity holding a massive potential video game gold mines, I am super stoked for this.

     For the books, I'd recommend most any they have available.  And with that thought- I'd also highly suggest anyone that can to get them in audiobook format.  The audio versions are full of sound effects that really enhance the reading/listening experience.  Maul was great, Kenobi was decent, Scoundrels was an amazing heist story, and even the odd zombie story like Death Troopers or Red Harvest was wonderful.  As long as they keep up the good work, I'll keep buying them.  The Expanded Universe, now not really canon, still offered a nice look into the rest of the universe of George Lucas' amazing creation and I would still advise people to give Shadows of the Empire a read.
     In the comics there were, and still are, many great things.  There's so much material that it is kind of hard to really call some up.  A Free Comic Book Day issue featuring Anakin Skywalker called "A Jedi's Weapon" was a tight and well done story.  Darth Maul's fate in Star Wars Tales is worthy reading that is also quite well-handled in The Clone Wars television series.
     The "what if" Star Wars: Infinities series is a tremendous take on what might have been under varying circumstances, like Yoda dying before Luke's training.  Then there's one of my all-time personal favorites- the Tag & Bink issues are required reading for fans because it takes place sort of "between the scenes" of the main films.  The duo of Tag & Bink are essentially two bumbling idiots that stumble their way to victory- incidentally influencing the outcomes of some famous scenes.  Almost as if the Force was working through the two most inept people in the galaxy.
   
     When it comes to the toys, I've collected, literally thousands of action figures.  Many of which I've since donated unopened to a lot of my friends' children- to pass on the joys of Star Wars.  Of course I've kept a bunch for myself.  Most are just ones I've always liked like the various Obi-Wan Kenobi's and my all time favorite- Leia in the Boushh disquise.  I must have like 25 variations of the Boushh toys ranging from the Lego toy to the 12" version with the light up Han in Carbonite.

     With this resurgence of popularity I'll be holding back on much of the collecting.  Not all of it of course, but I'll still be purchasing the video games- most likely ALL of the Disney Infinity 3.0 stuff (while there's been no "official" announcement, everyone already knows), a few toys (obviously the new Obi-Wan's and Boushh's), and pretty much 90% of the audio books.

     I may be posting some better written and more well thought out stuff later on.  I know I've got a decent draft about Obi-Wan, an all-right draft about lightsabers, and roughly 25 partially written Star Wars video game reviews on deck.  So there'll be plenty more to come while we wait for the official new stuff to come.

     If any of you readers are still here, I think any true fan would realize "May the 4th Be With You," clearly followed by the "Revenge of the 5th," isn't really Star Wars Day, which is actually be May 25th.  For reasons long time fans should be able to put together.

     For my older posts [ Star Wars ]