Gamesugar

May 13, 2010

Review – 3D Dot Game Heroes

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 9:21 am

3D Dot Game Heroes
The Kingdom of Dotnia was once a tourist magnet, a place where visitors flocked to following the heroics of one brave and mythical figure who overcame evil in the classical tradition society is structured by. Unfortunately for Dotnia, the tourism industry began to suffer as people became less interested in 2D heroics, forcing the King to issue a decree that would push the Kingdom into the 3D frontier.

That decision provides the space for 3D Dot Game Heroes to unleash its block based world of nostalgia on gamers, but also severely depresses the hell out of me.

Rather than a 2D game that attempts to bring audiences back to a realm abandoned by the industry more than gamers, 3D Dot Game Heroes replicates one of the most cherished 2D legends in 3D. It’s one of those ideas you’d have in the shower and chuckle about for awhile after – and then as you realized there was little else to bring to the table you’d probably drop the idea.

Bits of Dragon Warrior drip in at times, but traveling across the overworld of Dotnia to locate dungeons, defeat the boss monsters, and collect the orbs needed to prevent evil from returning is the order of the day for this blocky link to the past.

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May 10, 2010

Persona 3 Portable Is Streamlined

Filed under: Features — Tags: , , , , — Jamie Love @ 9:21 pm

Persona 3 Portable
As far as Persona 3 Portable is concerned, the word of the day is definitely streamlined, and legitimately so because the game moves from screen to screen swiftly, even without the optional install.

I got the chance to view a demo of the title today when Atlus harnessed the power of the Internet to give an overview of the game’s most notable new feature, the ability to play as either gender.

The trade off is that “anime” cut-scenes have been replaced with more character portrait interactions, and that players now navigate the world with an icon rather than running around loose in it – well except for the dungeons of course.

Pressing square brings up a quick menu that allows players to jump to different locations now, admittedly making P3P a more ideal game on the go. Whether or not that’s a huge loss is debatable. One could lament that loss of immersion, but at the same time locations are freshened with a new 2D art perspective, keeping the game focused on character interchanges and battling with Persona.

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April 27, 2010

Gamesugar Spotted in Dotnia!

Filed under: News Feed — Tags: , , , , — Jamie Love @ 5:27 pm

Gamesugar in Dotnia
From the images I’ve just received it’s clear that someone around here is playing games without me, and possibly needs more practice with the 3D Dot Game Heroes’ character editor.

More images of our heroic sugar cube after the break.

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March 28, 2010

Lazy Sunday – Katsup

Filed under: Editorial Rants — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 8:51 am

Vanquish
It seems I missed a lazy Sunday post or two. I’m half certain that isn’t a very big deal because I don’t know why anyone would read them, but rather than self-loathing over that fact, the absence owes simply to the fact that we’ve happened to be busy with weekend events this month.

Luckily I found time to scowl at a few things while drinking my coffee this morning, and we can now return to our regularly scheduled programming – wherein my first question of the day is “What’s the deal with Vanquish?”

If a picture is worth a thousand words, I’d like to think a screenshot could merit at least half that many – but when it comes to images for Vanquish lately, I’ve tried my best and only come up with seven.

I really, really want to believe that this isn’t a generic “me too cause we can do it better but probably won’t” kinda thing – I’ll be sincerely shocked if that’s what releases in the end, but Platinum, you gotta give me more to work with here.

And yet there are games of more immediate concern.

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March 16, 2010

Review – Metal Slug Double X

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 3:06 pm

Metal Slug Double X
Metal Slug is a series that always gets plenty of my attention. I’ve devoted a ridiculous amount of love to the franchise during my stay on Starship Earth, even going so far as to attempt playing it on a Neo Geo Pocket Color – which requires the player to sit directly beneath the sun in order to see the screen clearly.

Even after all this time, I’ll still put money into a Neo Geo cab when one turns up at a gaming event, and still lament the fact that I couldn’t afford any of the fancy Japanese hardware that allowed the game to be played at home when I was younger. In many ways, Metal Slug is why the dinosaurs had to die – so we could use the oil from their corpses to fuel the boats that would one day bring this franchise to North America. The animation of characters and actions grabs me every time I see it, that melodramatic Looney Tunes mix of over-action that separates Metal Slug’s cartoonish hyper-violent-bullet-coaster-ride from any other title.

With this in mind, it’s easy-peasy for me to fall into this PSP enhanced port of the DS release (Metal Slug 7), finding my groove and slugging a path through more enemies in a single level than exist in the entirety of other run and gun titles. And yet, like an indecisive Emperor, there’s enough weight on either end of the judgment scale to keep my thumb from turning up or down over this release, creating an unfortunate zone of indifference.

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January 11, 2010

Refresh Rate – Kartia: The Word of Fate

Filed under: Archives — Tags: , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 4:14 pm

Kartia The Word of Fate
Reviewing and playing a year’s worth of RPG releases in various styles from numerous companies has left me feeling that the genre is a tired dog looking for a place to die – or at least I wish this was the case. Aside from a few titles that sought deviations in control and narrative development, there were and continue to be plenty that cram “me too” titles onto consoles, believing that narrative aspirations and a few modest features can sell to a sedated audience.

At best we get something immediately rooting into safer choices to furnish a series, and even if this provides a few pleasures to be found along the way, we’re living on the long end of a beast’s tail that took the fullest shape on the original PlayStation.

This might begin sounding like the typical “they don’t make them like they used to” ploy. I assure you that can’t be the case, because the problem is that they do make them like they used to quite a bit, with far less success for the trouble.

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January 10, 2010

Review – Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 3:59 pm

Kenka Bancho Badass Rumble
Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble wears its intentions in the title, which works well since its sleeves are busy flapping in the wind from the force of the blows it works to put in the player’s face. Like a few other games this year, it aims to be the Bancho of power fantasy gaming, but unlike so many other contenders it also comes with a balance of humor, sub-culture, and pacing that gives it the upper-hand for an uppercut.

It’s a game I very much want to enjoy as much as the previous paragraph suggests I should. But against the enthusiasm of friends and other editors, there are fundamental flaws that make any long term affection difficult even while elements of the experience demand attention.

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