Heart.Games.
By GunstarRed 2 Comments
Over the last couple of weeks I have discovered I actually care for other videogames outside of Street Fighter IV , Although I'm pretty certain some of these purchases
may or may not have been decided because of it.
Panzer Dragoon Orta (XBOX)
I have heard many good things about PDO over the years and being one of those PS2-only types I never got to play any of the gamecube and xbox exclusive games, This being one of the few I was interested in because of its gorgeous graphics and my love for intense shooting games.
Made by the Smilebit the same people as the fantastic Jet Set Radio Future the first thing that stood out was the character design, It has a weird fantasy future thing going on, not at all like the Final Fantasy games with giant robots made of bones and weird laserbeam toting dragons ridden by men seemingly made of wood. Anyways, The game (which I have yet to finish because of some issues with it freezing up on levels) which is essentially a rail shooter with some pathway choices which are very well integrated into the flow of the levels. The dragon you ride has three different forms you can switch between like say Super Stardust HD on PSN or to a lesser extent something like the combat in heavenly sword with you having to shift between the three different attack styles such as a machine gun, a big laser beam and lock-on missiles to defeat different types of enemies. the triggers let you shift between the four different sides of the dragon so youre constantly having to keep switching viewpoint (because enemies come at you from all angles), weapon styles, aim as well as dodging oncoming obstacles. Annnnnnnnd if that wasn't enough the game also gives you speed up and slow down buttons as certain enemies and bosses can only be attacked from behind etc... PHEW!
The good thing is that the game does not demand that you kill each and every single enemy on the screen as some of them you only ever get a fleeting glimpse of .
Oh my god! is this game hard, I know its a very short game but it throws everything at you at once and never, lets up, That doesn't make it a bad game at all but some of its design choices feel incredibly old fashioned by todays standards and I'm sure they could have streamlined the form switching so it isn't all attached to the same button so I always have to cycle through the seemingly useless second form (not found a use for it in any of the levels I have played but I'm certain theres a reason for its existance). I like that the game has a really unique style to is, something I remember from the old Saturn game, which I was only ever allowed to watch someone else play (my uncle, what a dick!) and it holds up really well in the looks department for a 3D game, The dragons look awesome and unlike any other dragon I have ever seen. I plan on finishing it over this weekend if I dont spend too long on TB:RB just so I can finally play the original game.... fuck you, uncle Chris!
Street Fighter Anniversary Collection (XBOX)
I bought this game soley for Third Strike which is the only Street fighter I have never played (there may be one of the Alpha games I haven't but i'm not so fussed)... It turns out I absolutely ADORE SF3, I love the animation and how smoothly all of the transitions are and I totally understand why Chun-Li plays the ways she does in IV now after i whined like an idiot for a couple of weeks after release about her inadequacy. I think i prefer the way this game plays to IV but without any real human opponents other than my button mashy friend I can't be 100% certain about that.
Turns out I like ken in Third Strike, he seems to be hugely effective. also What a bunch of freaks, I love the way these characters look but they don't feel at all street fighter...or what I thought was streetfightery up until now. They mosly have their II equivalents but some of them really seem like they just drunkenly stumbled over from the darkstalkers cast... and that Oro.... what the fuck is his purpose????.... anyone?????
Also the really bad image quality transfer of the original SFII movie is on the dvd, It no longer has Chun-Li's boobs in it so therefore I am no longer interested*, and yes That was the first thing I checked, judge me....I dont care.
* Neil does not care for cartoon boobs....really!
Pocket Fighter (PS1)
So as Chibi fighters go, This is surprisingly playable and still looks really, really good despite it's age, I really like the three button combat system and despite zangiefs absolutely overpowered godlike nature theres a lot more depth to the combat than at first glance. And it probably not so surprisingly plays very much like you would expect a street fighter game to play. I don't know why I was so surprised by this, looks are often misleading.
I also love how you can level up the special moves throughout the fight using puzzlefighter gems, Its a nice touch.
Ryu's Shoryuken is also pretty ineffectual believe it or not.
The Beatles: Rock Band (360)
Its The Beatles....In a Rock Band game
and despite some issues with the online score battle player match system "But I don't wan't to play on expert" It all looks and sounds absolutely amazing....
The songs speak for themselves.
I have also played though Batman Arkham Asylum...It's pretty awesome, The combat is indredibly fluid and visceral, The Game is brilliant despite its really short lived nature, even if it is no masterpiece.
It works as a better BATMAN story than The Dark Knight movie that's for certain.
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