Games Played 11/22/2008

Assault Heroes 2 - X-Box 360
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts - X-Box 360
Galaga Legions - X-Box 360
Ikaruga - X-Box 360
Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe - X-Box 360
The Last Remnant - X-Box 360
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Arcade Classic - X-Box 360
Samurai Shodown II - X-Box 360

RANDOM GAME OF THE DAY:


Beyond Good & Evil (2003)
Developer: Ubisoft Entertainment
Platform: X-Box
Purchase Date: 01/07/2004


If you have a more recent widescreen TV, you can zoom in to eliminate the black borders.

There is no doubt that this game is very cinematic, especially during the action scenes but what is up with the terrible letterbox presentation? They could easily have given the game a true widescreen option. Despite this minor complaint, this is an engrossing sci-fi action adventure game. I just think that it's a bit overdone - the water vehicle section is just so unnecessary and it takes away from the beautiful character designs. Everything else are tuned to perfection, especially the cool photography aspect of the game. Must play for any video gamer.

LIBRARY STATUS: 5 out of 5

Games Played 11/21/2008

Culdcept Saga - X-Box 360
The Last Remnant - X-Box 360
Lost Odyssey - X-Box 360
Uno - X-Box 360

RANDOM GAME OF THE DAY:


Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil (2001)
Developer: Namco Ltd.
Platform: PlayStation 2
Purchase Date: 07/26/2001


Quite literary, a dreamy platformer.

Why can't newer console Sonic games be like this? Klonoa 2 is a 2D platformer with 3D graphics and it plays like a dream. The gameplay is kept very simple with the usual tricky jumps and a fun grab attack to eliminate enemies. The soundtrack is soothing and catchy and the graphics are colorful for the most part: I don't particularly enjoy the "cave" levels that they have included within almost all the stages. The only other thing that keeps this from being perfect is that it's a bit lengthy. I miss the good old days when games can be completed in an hour or two. I like being able to get the full experience of a game in one sitting and then playing the game over and over again. For fans of epic boss battles, those can be found here as well.

LIBRARY STATUS: 4 out of 5

Games Played 11/20/2008

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia - NDS
Culdcept Saga - X-Box 360
Ikaruga - X-Box 360
A Kingdom for Keflings Demo - X-Box 360*
Lost Odyssey - X-Box 360

*It's an okay game. You get to build a kingdom using the avatar you created from the NXE.

RANDOM GAME OF THE DAY:


Sonic Heroes (2003)
Developer: Sonic Team
Platform: Nintendo GameCube
Purchase Date: 01/07/2004


These days, Sonic Team are half brilliant and half idiotic.

Let's face it, there has not been any good 3D Sonic games. The Sonic games are just never meant to transition to 3D to begin with and you would think that by now Sonic Team have learned their lesson. I have yet to play Sonic Unleashed - just knowing that it is hub-based and contains the werehog levels, I know it would suck - but Sonic Heroes is definitely Sonic's best 3D offering. The game is free of any pretentious hub stages and even though the gameplay is 3D, there are a lot of great stage designs to be found here. This would have been much much better if Sonic Team didn't try to - yet again - over complicate matters by adding the team-based gameplay so that the player can switch between combat-speed-fly form. Sonic's recent history is so bleak that I don't think he will be able to rise from obscurity... Ever!

LIBRARY STATUS: 3 out of 5

BK1200

For two weeks in a row now we are presented with X-Box Live Arcade games that cost 1200 Microsoft Points - that is $15.00 in plain English. After my play-through of the butchered Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, I can conclude that it should have cost only 800 points. This week's release is more offensive though - the hardly updated Banjo-Kazooie, a platformer from the Nintendo64 should have been priced 400 points! Yeah, you get the widescreen and the view distance is improved but 1200 points? That is just ridiculous. I surely hope that this is not Microsoft's way of telling X-Box gamers that this is now the minimum price for all future X-Box Live Arcade releases. I should have pre-ordered Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts because I would have been able to get the original game for free but decided not to after I played the demo. I ended up getting is as a gift and I actually "kinda" enjoyed what I have played so far. It's a shame about the original though. I am going to wait until it fails to make any kind of money because of its nasty price tag.

It's only $15, complete with muddy textures!
And yes, you have played this game before and it has no replay value!

Games Played 11/19/2008

Culdcept Saga - X-Box 360
Ikaruga - X-Box 360

RANDOM GAME OF THE DAY:


Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon (2003)
Developer: Revolution Software Ltd.
Platform: X-Box
Purchase Date: 03/17/2004


Be prepared to resolve your adventuring dilemmas with "creative" solutions.

For a brief period of time, PC developers started porting their adventure games to the consoles. Besides Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon, it was amazing to see games like Syberia and Indigo Prophecy making it to the X-Box. This particular Broken Sword was a highly anticipated sequel to a high profile PC adventure game and it was the 3rd is the series. Despite the transition to 3D, the game is your typical "point and click" adventure. Those unfamiliar with these kind of games would find Broken Sword laborious because of the stilted action and the heavy focus on storytelling. PC adventure games stopped coming to the consoles though after their very brief showings but with the recently implemented ability to install the full game into the hard drive for the X-Box 360, it's a good time to start that trend again.

LIBRARY STATUS: 4 out of 5