Reviews

Street Fighter X Tekken Review

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The fighting game genre has no shortage of odd pairings. From Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe to Sonic the Hedgehog in Smash Bros, it seems like we’d seen it all. Then in 2011, Capcom shocked the fighting game world by announcing a crossover between the top 2D fighting game franchise and the top 3D fighting game franchise. Having seen how poorly 2D fighting games and 3D fighting games have mixed in the past, people had a lot of questions about how a Street Fighter and Tekken mash-up could possibly work. Is Street Fighter X Tekken the best of both worlds? A failure like past attempts to mix the genres? Or did it turn into it’s own thing?

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Early Thoughts on The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

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Despite the series success over the years, critics of the Zelda series have knocked it for being too formulaic. I don’t play enough Zelda games to feel that way, but I understand the point. With that said, I loved Twilight Princess and still believe that Ocarina of Time is one of the greatest video games of all-time.

Going into Skyward Sword, I was super-excited to jump back into the land of Hyrule to save the princess and save the world. As of writing, I’m at the front steps of the second dungeon, and my excitement has cooled off considerably.

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Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Review

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Going into Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, I had little to no interest in the series or the type of fiction this game is based on. I was bored by the Lord of the Rings movies, have no interest in playing anything like Dungeons & Dragons, and outside of Fire Emblem, never cared to play any video games based on fantasy. Prior to my brother and I’s purchase of Skyrim, we finally decided to play our copy of Oblivion, which has been sealed and sitting on our shelf for a year. While I could appreciate the ambition behind the game, the start of that game didn’t win me over. The start of that story wasn’t interesting, the race and class system was far too confusing for my tastes and the use of ‘ye olde English’ font irritated me from a readability and overall design perspective.

All things considered, I shouldn’t like Skyrim. The only reason I even bought it in the first place was because I think I’d be missing out on the gaming zeitgeist if I didn’t play this game. However, instead of shrugging it off like Oblivion, Skyrim has won me over in a big way.

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SoulCalibur for iPhone/iPad Review

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Following in the foot steps of Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat and King of Fighters, SoulCalibur has made its way onto iOS. Unlike Street Fighter and King of Fighters, this SoulCalibur release is mostly a port of the 1999 original. 13 years later, does it still hold up? Does the experience get compromised by having to control it with a touch screen device? Most importantly, is SoulCalibur for iPhone and iPad worth the $15 regular price when its closest competition is roughly half of that?

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Super Mario 3D Land Review

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Do you have a preferred style of Mario game? Do you prefer the classic 2D Mario games, where you run left to right until you jump onto the flagpole? Or do you prefer the 3D Mario games like Mario 64 and Galaxy, where the primary objective is to collect stars? Ever since the release of Super Mario 64, the 2D and 3D styles of Mario platformers have diverged into their own entities. I’m not saying that people can’t be fans of both, but I think most people prefer one style over the other. With all due respect to the Galaxy series of games and Super Mario 64, which is one of my all-time favourite games, I generally prefer the classic 2D style of Mario games.

Super Mario 3D Land is the first Super Mario game that tries to marry the 2D style and 3D style into one game. Is this game able to please both crowds? Or does it just leave everyone underwhelmed?

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Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure Review

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Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure, at first glance, is not a game I should like for a number of reasons:

1) I was never a fan of any Spyro games
2) I’m close to 20 years older than the target audience this game was created for and marketed to
3) I’ve grown weary of video game peripherals and add-on purchases, which the entirety of this game is built around
4) I’m generally not a fan of the “Gauntlet-style” of game.
5) I don’t like the thought of going into a Toys R Us to buy myself action figures for my kiddie video game

As curious as I’ve been to play it, I’ve put up all sorts of mental barriers to stop myself from playing this game at all. Then I got it for Christmas and I played the heck out of it. I made up all the excuses in the world to not play it, but it ended up winning me over in a big way.

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Early Impressions of Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

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Watching franchise fatigue set into a franchise you love can be heartbreaking. Sometimes, this process can happen in a very short amount of time; should a publisher try and cash-in on a franchise as fast as they can while it’s still hot without keeping the formula fresh. The most obvious examples of franchise fatigue from this generation are Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk.

If my early impressions of Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (the third main-line Assassin’s Creed game in three years) are to be used as a gauge, then franchise fatigue is clearly starting to seep in.

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Uncharted 3 Single Player Review

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Back in 2009, Uncharted 2 was a groundbreaking game. When I think about that game in retrospect, I think fondly about the great characters, the great story and those incredible setpieces. I still get the chills thinking about playing through that moment in the collapsing building and the train sequence. It wasn’t a perfect game, but it was definitely ahead of it’s time. Even in 2011, there isn’t really another game out there like it.

Well, there wasn’t anything like it until the release of Uncharted 3 a few weeks ago. For better or worse, Uncharted 3 is essentially more Uncharted 2 and not much beyond that. That can’t be a bad thing, can it?

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Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Review

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It’s (Ultimate) Marvel baby!

Having been in the market for a mere 9 months, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has died an (arguably) premature death. In its place is Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, which is a stand-alone, disc-only and $40 release that aims to expand and refine the original formula. While the hardcore Marvel vs. Capcom 3 community have been chomping at the bit to get this more fully-realized version of the original vision, does this game appeal to the majority of the fighting game playing populous, especially if you just bought its predecessor 9 months ago?

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To Review or Not Review Video Games…

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…that is the question.

I like to think to myself that I write this blog for me first. I turn to this blog whenever I have a gaming thought I think is worth writing down and I make it happen. It’s a very therapeutic process for me. However, I also love to look at my analytics to see what does well and what doesn’t. Posts about fightsticks? Money in the bank. Posts about sexy video game characters? They never go out of style. Video game reviews? The numbers aren’t pretty.

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