Reviews

Pick Up Post: Nintendo Wii Fightstick By Hori

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Wii owners with a fighting game itch have very little to scratch it. While Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is awesome and there are no shortage of Street Fighter games on Virtual Console, it still pales in comparison to the plethora of fighting games on the XBOX 360 and Playstation 3. On top of that, joystick options are limited too. All Wii owners have are the Mad Catz SE fightstick packed in with Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, the Hori Wii fightstick and the Intec Combat Arcade Stick, which I don’t trust one bit.

I still want the Mad Catz stick, but in my country I can only get it with Tatsunoko vs. Capcom; a game I already have. Instead, I grabbed the Nintendo Wii Fightstick by Hori. My experience with Hori has been hit and miss, but after putting it through its paces, this one thankfully is in the former category.

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Brothers in Arms 2: Global Front HD Impressions

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For someone who is tired of WWII games, has never played a Brothers in Arms game before and already has too much to play on the iPad, I sure did scoop up Brothers in Arms 2 really quick when it hit $1. I picked it up because it was a brand name, the screen shots were pretty and it was $1.

I haven’t played too much of it, but so far, it’s made a good impression with me.

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Early Impressions on Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night

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As someone with no affinity towards the Castlevania series, picking up Castlevania Encore: Puzzle of the Night seems like a weird move. Up until I played it, I wasn’t even sure if I was going to regret the discounted price I paid for it.

While I haven’t played enough to pass a final judgment on it, I’m really digging this so far.

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Super Monkey Ball 2: Sakura Edition Can Roll Off a Cliff

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The first Super Monkey Ball caught everyone by surprise when it was ported to the Gamecube from the arcade. This evolution of Marble Madness was simple to learn, hard to master and featured a fun to play campaign mode and mini games. Thanks to the success of that first game, Super Monkey Ball has grown into a profitable franchise for Sega. However, the steady flow of sales has not led to a steady improvement in quality. In fact, I would go as far as saying that none of the Monkey Ball games since the original have surpassed the quality of the first. Some of the entries in the series are flat-out bad.

Prior to my impulsive purchase of Sakura Edition on the iPad, I had been burned twice by Super Monkey Ball sequels. I caved on the iPad version because I was still starved for new iPad-specific games and it was on sale for $5. Is this the game that brings the series back into top form?
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Review – BlazBlue: Continuum Shift

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If it weren’t for news of a thorough tutorial mode being included in the sequel to BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, I wouldn’t have picked up Continuum Shift. As much as this may look like a Street Fighter style game, it plays completely different and I couldn’t wrap my head around it.

A year later, it’s back with a few new characters, new stages, balance tweaks and a great tutorial mode, which I’ve already written about in great detail. However, is there enough here for new players and seasoned BlazBlue veterans alike to continue the fight?

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Girlfriend Gaming: Dance on Broadway Review

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Dance on Broadway is a very interesting game. When Ubisoft scored huge with Just Dance, there was no question that they would capitalize on that success. What I didn’t see happening though, was Ubisoft creating a dancing game based on Broadway musicals. I’m not sure if there are enough aspiring Broadway dancers that want to live out their Hairspray dreams through a Wii game to justify this game’s existence.

Even my girlfriend, who just so happens to be a fan of Just Dance and musicals, was reluctant to pick this up. With only 20 songs on the disc, it’s not easy to justify picking this up at regular price. Thanks to a Wal-Mart sale that took 50% off the regular price, she now owns it and we’ve strutted and shimmied our way through a number of show tunes. I haven’t played through every song, but I think I’ve played enough to say if this one deserves a standing ovation or whether it should exit stage left.

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Video Game Reviews and Nerd Rage

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As I often do, I was surfing through the NeoGaf forums when I found the following thread that caught my eye:

Reviews which you NEVER forgave (EGM/Nick Rox – Grrrr)

In this 500+ post thread, users go off on reviews, reviewers and gaming outlets that said something about games that they didn’t agree with. It’s kind of scary reading through some of the hate in these posts. Some of these users seem to be harbouring more ill will over a 15-year old review than I do about ex-girlfriends who cheated on me.

This behaviour isn’t isolated to NeoGaf. These types of angry and hateful comments are apparent on virtually every video game message board and every game review with a comment system. I’ve even heard numerous stories on podcasts where reviewers said they’ve received death threats from people who didn’t agree with their opinions. Tell me, why do people get so mad over video game reviews?

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Early Impressions on the Hori Tekken 6 Stick

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Hori has been known as a top name in the arcade fight stick scene for a while now. Unfortunately, my first experience with Hori products was awful. My Hori EX 2 broke within an hour of owning it, which I fully documented on this very blog.

So it was fair that I was a bit hesitant in picking up this limited edition Tekken 6 bundle that comes with a Hori stick. If I wasn’t able to buy this for 60% off the original price, I probably wouldn’t have given this a shot.

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Risk for iPhone Review

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I’ve been waiting a long time for Risk to hit the iPhone. During my childhood, one of my best friends used to always get board games from garage sales, which we would then play on his picnic table throughout the summer. One of those games was Risk. For weeks, we were generals, battling over control of the world through the strategic placement and movement of troops as well as a few lucky dice rolls.

This latest release may be a bit late on the iPhone, especially for those who have dabbled in other, arguably better, dice-rolling strategy games. I can’t speak to its competitors, as I haven’t tried any of them. However, I have put in a number of hours into Risk since it came out a few days ago, and I’m more than happy to share my thoughts on the game with you.

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Hitting the Road with PGR 4

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For the last few months, PGR 4 has been my go-to “bored game”. When I don’t feel like playing any other video game in my collection, I pop PGR 4 into my 360. Not to say that PGR 4 is a bad game, but racing games aren’t really my scene. I get bored quickly of any arcade racing game that isn’t Mario Kart and realistic racing games such as Gran Turismo and Forza frustrate me to no end due to their demand of precision driving control skills that I just don’t have. The only reason I even have this game is because it came free, along with a chat pad and headset when I bought last year’s subscription to XBOX Live.

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