[Goshi]

Soinc 3 & Knuckles

Platform: Sega Genesis/Megadrive
Delveloper: SEGA (Not the MZX programmmer!)
Genere: Platformer

Ah yes this is me reviving one of the greatest Sonic games ever, this gameplay is like all Sonic games, complete Acts and defeat Dr. Robotnik to clear the stage, you also have to play a nice bonus game to get Chaos Emeralds. Unlike Sonic 2 and 1 however you have to fight a Mini-Boss on Act 1 and Bonus Games don't appear when you meet certain requirements at the goal/checkpoint, instead there these massive rings hidden throughout the zone. Other feature include Tails who can now fly and Knuckles the newest character who can glide and climb walls, now lets get down to the nitty-gritty.

Graphics: 9/10
The graphics are superb for a Genesis game, however some graphics were reused from Sonic 2 (Notice how the Tails sprite looks the same?) nut others they're good.

Sound & Music: 9/10
The music is very catchy and very well made, and thankfully they removed the annoying Mini-Boss tune from Sonic 3 (Just to make note this game was releasing in teo part so to play this one just lock Sonic 3 to Sonic & Knuckles.) however some songs sound really annoying like the Doomsday Zone for example. The sound is about nearly the same from Sonic 2.

Plot: 6/10
The plot is the Dr. Robotnik was recreating his master piece the Death Egg when he suddenly relised a stronger power source then the Chaos Emeralds known as the Master Emerald, Dr. Robotnik tricks Knuckles into thinking that Sonic & Tails we're going to steal the Master Emerald and Sonic knew of Robotnik's plans, he flew off on the Tornado with Tails to Angel's Island and soon enough Knuckles stops them and steals their Chaos Emeralds, thus that were thr game begins. The plot isn't really that good personally as we know stealing Emeralds to power Death Egg have been used since Sonc 1 & 2 the only real addtion is Knukles's part.

Difficulty: Medium
This game can be slightly easy in some parts but hard in others, in some stages the path is too confusing to work out while in others it very linear. The bosses are often easy espically the Mini-Bosses but sometimes can be very annoying.

Final score: 9/10

[Pyro1588]

Golden Sun
2001 Nintendo/Camelot
Gameboy Advance

This is by far the best 2d RPG ever made (with the possible exception of Chrono Trigger.) It deals with a world called Weyard and the power of Alchemy. It uses several concepts from ancient Greek science, actually. It was the winner of several Nintendo Power awards! Rated Everyone by ESRB for mild violence. Here's the scoring:

Box Art: 10/10
I actually can't think of any better box art I've seen on an Advance game. It won the NP award for best box art. Lots of flashy bright Psynergy things on it, along with the four charecters.

Manual: 9/10
It explained almost everything very clearly. It was kinda big, but had a lot of nice illustrations, etc. It really held my attention.

Title Screen: 4/10
Fairly boring. Nice lense flair, but other than that, it's just a picture of Mount Aleph.

Gameplay: 10/10
The gameplay is stellar. I mean it. Especially compared to most RPGs. For example, you can save wherever you want except cutscenes and battles. You can walk behind stuff, jump gaps, and use your Psynergy outside of battle! There's also tons of extra stuff like extra houses that you can explore, etc.

Graphics: 11/10
This is the best use of the Advance's graphics capability that I've ever seen. Ever. Try summoning Judgement and you'll see what I mean.

Sound: 10/10
It really has fantastic sound. I mean that playing this game with the Advance's measly no-bass speaker should be a crime. You really need decent headphones to fully enjoy the sound.

Battle: 10/10
This is the best RPG battle engine I've ever seen. Not many 2d RPG battle engines have pseudo-3d effects with awesome camera work and sweet backgrounds. Plus there's a huge collection of Psynergy attacks, most with a unique animation. On top of that, there are 28 different Djinn who each have their own animation when they attack. Once they've been unleashed, you can use them to summon one of the sixteen awesome summons.

Plot: 10/10
The game has an amazing plot, a component of which was taken from ancient Greek science. Basic plot: Alchemy has long been sealed away to prevent mankind from destroying itself with its power. But now, two villians are trying to break the seal and unleash the power. Isaac and his friend Garet are caught up in the middle of it and must chase the two villians down and stop them. Along the way, they meet two other Adepts, Ivan and Mia. They also collect a large number of Djinn, whose powers can be used in battle. The plot is engrossing and will keep your attention from beginning to end.

Summary: 10/10
The game is really worth the money you put into it. And don't try and get a rom: even visual boy advance completly fails emulating the graphics. At times, the screen goes off because the emulator can't handle it. Get the game. You won't regret it.

Well, that's all. My first review. Not bad, huh? I'll try to type up one on the sequel: The Lost Age, soon.

[Goshi]

Sonic Advance 2
Developer: SEGA
Platform: Gameboy Advance/Gamboy Advance SP
Genere: Platformer

At first when I heard another releasing of a Sonic Advance game I thought to myself, I wonder if it's gonna be as bad as the first, I thought wrong... it was worse then the first.

Plot: 3/10
Sonic was having a nice break until he hears that Tails and Knuckles have been captured (WTF? How can they be captured!?) by Robotnik and Robotnik is using the Chaos Emeralds to destroy the world. Not a very good plot.

Graphics: 9/10
The graphics are very well made the backgrounds are smooth and clear the terrain is well suited to the enviroment however they reused most the sprites...

Sound and Music: 5/10
Some music was really good but most the songs were reused and the others are just plain boring and not very interesting, the sounds were reused too.

Gameplay: 3/10
The levels are way too long, the boss battles are stupid and boring because all your doing is running and chasing Robotnik >.<. The game is too easy for Cream, the game is too hard for Sonic. And guess what? In the last zone (Not including the secret one) you have to fight all the bosses again, DOESN't THAT SOUND LIKE FUN!?

Diffaculty: Hard
The game is too hard for Sonic and too easy for Cream and the levels are so long sand boring that's you'll find it easy to fall asleep.

Overall Result: 6/10

[weasel]

Metal Slug 4
"MISSION ALL OVER!"

Platform: NeoGeo (arcade), planned to be ported to PS2
Publisher: Playmore, 2002
Developer: Playmore
ESRB: None yet, title reads "PARENTAL ADVISOLY WARNING" in US mode

The fourth (not counting Metal Slug X, because it's a remake of MS2) game in the Metal Slug series. All of these games have been some pretty darned good side-scrolling shooters, with incredible sprite-based graphics to boot. Allow me to elaborate.

Gameplay - Gameplay consists of running across a level, shooting bad things, rescuing POW's and getting neat stuff, and such until you reach the end of the level. The real heart of gameplay here is making things blow up. To do so, you're given various Weapons of Mass Destruction™, such as a Heavy Machine Gun, TWO Heavy Machine Guns, a Shotgun, a Flamethrower, the Iron Lizard (a tiny missile on wheels that hits the ground and speeds to the nearest ground target in the general direction), and a Laser Gun - ALL of which have Super versions (denoted by the letter on the powerup being larger than usual). You also have grenades (limited), Fire Bombs (super Grenades), and of course, the Metal Slug. The Metal Slug is an armored vehicle with a vulcan cannon and a 40mm shell cannon. It comes in several forms, from a traditional tank, to a mech, to an SSM launcher. They all have more health than you (you die in one hit), thus making them incredibly valuable.

The characters are slightly different this time around. In the last few Slug games, you could pick from Marco, Eri, Tarma, and Fio. In this one, Eri and Tarma are given the axe (instead providing transportation between levels) in favor of two newcomers, Trevor and Nadia. The characters have no impact on gameplay - it's all pure aesthetics.

7 of 10 - not quite as long as the last few Slug games, meaning it's over far too soon. Hard as ever, though.

Graphics - Ah, yes! These graphics rule. Pushing the very LIMITS of the NeoGeo GigaPOWER system, the graphics are smoothly animated sprites with a bright, cartoony look to them (although this ain't for kids - things bleed everywhere). There are some funny moments around, including your characters when they are attacked by Yetis (becoming giant snowmen, with similar headgear to their human counterparts). The bosses are HUGE, taking up half the screen, and they make even larger explosions when they are dead. The quality of these is so awesome, I can't even begin to describe it. If you want to see how awesome this is, try and find some graphic rips or screenshots. 10 of 10 - unparalleled in every way!

Sound - Mostly reused resources from older Slug games, except for the new characters' voices and other such new stuff. Playmore must have some awful sound equipment, because their new sounds are noticably lower quality than SNK's. I'll go ahead and give them a 9 of 10 - after all, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. However, the new sounds just aren't of very good quality.

Controls - Responsive controls, very fitting. No problems here. 10 of 10.

Bugs - the most dreaded part of any game. Fortunately, I found no bugs in this game. Total: 0

Overall - Great game, but a little too short compared to the others. Great fun in multiplayer!

FINAL SCORE: 9 of 10

[GentryXaties]

Appendix to Weasel's MSlug4 review:

Bugs - There were a few bugs in the game, but it was merely a repeat of the same one. At the end of a designated screen-scroll (before the little GO! icon appears), there were a few times when it would hang on that screen and not let you go anywhere for a few seconds. Almost like they had reused certain pre-written scripts and forgotten to adjust the delay...

[GamecubeGuy]

[I would put something in the other Review-a-game, but I don't know of any strange games. Me sad .]


Name: Castlevaina: Aria of Sorrow
System: Game Boy Advance
Year: I'm not sure, but I think 2002 or 2003
Import?: No

This is, of course, the latest GBA Castlevaina game. The last to games were supposed to be awesome, but I haven't played HoD yet.

Graphics
The graphics here are awesome! During the talking sequences, they show these well drawn character pictures. Plus, the enemies look sweet, especially the bosses. The backgrounds here are incredibly good. It gives you the right feel for the place. 10/10

Sound
The music is really good. The guys over at Konami know how to put the right feel to everything. As for the sound effects, they put the little GBA speaker to good work (or not, if you use headphones). Great job, Konami! 10/10

Plot
This is one of the best parts of the entire game. The plot is simple looking at the start, but gets really good later on. The story goes as Soma Cruz and Mina (I forgot her last name) are walking up to a shrine to see the solar eclipse. Whenever they go through the shrine gate, however, they get transported to good ol' Dracula's Castle. Now, you can imagine that they wanna get out, but, the castle is in the solar eclipse. You might think that this is just "Go kill Dracula to get out.", but actually (and this is not a spoiler, you get told this early on in the game.) Dracula is completely dead. He can't come back. YAY! But you'll soon find out there's more than that. "In the year 2035, a new master will come to Dracula's castle and recieve ALL of his powers." Now just to let you know, your in the year 2035. So, Soma and friends try to find out who that just said "master" is. Who it actually is is surprising, but I'm not spoiling. 10/10

Gameplay
This is another great part about this game. Unlike other Castlevaina games, your main weapon is not a whip. In fact, the only thing closest to a whip you get is an extendeble sword called a Whip Sword. However, you DO get lots more weapons to choose from, including a Handgun. Other things you can equip are Armor, Acessories, and Souls. Sometimes, when you kill an enemy, you can recieve it's soul. Some are used to attack, others give you HP when you hit something. There are over 110 to collect, so you'll have your hands full getting them all. However, it does add to replayabillity. 10/10

Replayabillity
There are plenty of replayabillity factors here. One is the 100+ souls to collect. Another is the multiple endings, 3 in all. Finnaly, you unlock three new quests once you beat the game with the best ending. The first one is for those who want to play as a Belmont. If you enter Julius as your name when making a new game after beating the game, you can play as Julius Belmont, the guy who put Dracula to eternal rest. Secondly, if you make a new game after beating the game with best ending, you can play hard mode. Hard mode is just that, hard. But it's not that hard. Also, when you finish the game with the best ending, you can play New Game + with that file, like in Chrono Trigger. In New Game +, you start the game normally, but get all your souls(except those that came from these soul holder things) and equipment, plus, all the places you went last time are shown on the map at the start. This is very replayable. 10/10

Difficulty: Medium to Hard
It's actually not that hard, but some bosses, like Death and Julius(oops, oh well) are just too friggen hard. You can reduce the hardness of Hard Mode by playing New Game + on Hard Mode, but then it's too easy. But playing Hard Mode in a fresh file can be frustrating. I've yet to beat Hard Mode in a new file, because I'm stuck on Death. But hey, that's why they call it Hard Mode.

Overall
This game is a very fun game, mainly because of the soul system, and trying to get all souls. However, it's also a very good story for you RPG lovers. I give it 5 smileys: .

[Goshi]

Megaman V


Developer: Capcom
Platform: Gameboy/Gameboy Pocket/Super Gameboy
Genere: Platformer/Action

This is the last Mega Man Gameboy game (Xtreme ones don't count) and this one is the only one with orginal bosses.

Plot:
Mega Man and Roll were walking along the park until this mysterious character named Terra appears claiming that he and his army of Stardroids are planning to conquer earth. Mega Man decides to fight him but he's way too strong for him so Dr. Light builds him the Super Arm and creates Tango the Cat, to help him stop the Stardroids.
Well as far as plots go this one isn't too bad for a Mega Man game but could use alot more detail.
6/10

Graphics:
The backgrounds are nice but are very bland and boring to look at and the sprites are fine. The only thing that needs improving would be the backgrounds.

Sound & Music:
The music is very boring and the sounds have been used before, so as far as sounds go this one needs major improvment
3/10

Gameplay:
The levels are too long and hard, and you'll have to play them again if you missed some stuff. The enemies are often annoying too defeat and the bosses are basically the same.
6/10

Diffaculty: Hard
This is one hard Mega Man game, the game is real diffacult. As i said, the levels, enemies and bosses are hard.

Overall:
I would only recommend this game if you think Gameboy games are way too easy or your a hardcore Mega Man Fan.

Final Score:
6.5/10

[Goshi]

Space Station Silicon Valley

Developer: DMA and Take 2
Platform: Nintendo 64
Genere: Action

I've got this game and it was fun to play but this game does suffer flaws. Read on.

Plot:
Space Station Silicon Valley has just been rediscovered and they tell Dan and Evo Heroes for hire to go search the space station. However Evo breaks apart and you'll need to find his parts and stop the evil master mind who is going to make the Robotic animals take over the world.
Not a very good plot.
5/10

Graphics:
Not too bad, the level texures are pretty bad plus the background is the same on every level, space. The Animal designs however are nice and cartoony.
7/10

Sound & Music:
Not too bad, some tunes are nice (Like the Rat-O-Matic stage) but some are really annoying (Give a Dog a Bonus stage.) and can be a pain to listion. Sound effects aren't too bad.
7/10

Gameplay:
The levels are nice but defeating enemy animals can be a pain often. And you'll probably be hiding into a corner begging for mercy. Some level terrain can be pretty annoying too this espically comes to the jungle stages.
6.5/10

Diffaculty: Hard
Enemies are too hard to defeat. What more can be said?


Final Score:
7/10

[GamecubeGuy]

I think I'll put up another review.

Name: Animal Crossing
System: Gamecube
Year: 2002
Import?: No.


Ah, the endless bliss of Animal Crossing. This is the seqeul to Animal Forest(Japan Only). In this game, you live. "What?" you might ask. Read on.

Graphics
The graphics are pretty good, on both a N64 level and a GC level. Not everything's smooth, but it works, and it's not annoying. 7/10

Sound
The sound isn't all that important, but, like the graphics, they're pretty good. 7/10

Plot
Well, the plot isn't very complicated, but it doesn't have to be. Your a guy who left his parents to live in the world on his own. 9/10

Gameplay
This is Animal Crossing's real gem. You can shop till you drop, fish forever, hunt bugs, collect, learn about fossils, get jiggy with feng shui, remodel your house, talk to your neighbors, make said neighbors real mad, go to an island, create clothes, get stuff for free, run errands, get a part time job, send and recieve letters, save up for stuff, post on message boards, make your house look good, sleep, eat, watch tv, dance, excercise, visit other towns, hit people on the head with bug catching nets, plant trees, cut down trees, dig holes, kick balls, get real rich, celebrate holidays, get stung by bees, AND play video games all on a tiny little Gamecube disc and a memory card. 10/10

Replayabillity
Well, since this never ends, I'll say, YAY! 10/10

Difficulty: Easy
Quite an easy but fun game to play. You really get frustrated looking for bugs or fishing, though. Still, good for little kids.

Overall
This game is fun for everyone, and has plenty to do.

[Goshi]

Super Mario RPG

Developer: Square and Nintendo
Platform: Super Nintendo
Genere: RPG (It is called Super Mario RPG)

One of the greatest Mario games of all time, while it doesn't keep up with the classic jump and stomp style action it is a great game. Read on.

Plot

Bowser kidnaps Princess Toadstool (Again!) and Mario goes off to save her, while Mario was about to free the Princess after foiling Bowser a giant sword comes down and lands in Bowser's Castle. Mario must now find the Princess, find out the purpose of those stars and find out more on the "Smithy Gang". Not the best plot ever but it's better then most Mario games.
7/10

Graphics

The graphics add a nice 3D look, the sprites are very nice and the battle animations are very well done although they do you reuse them quite a bit.
9/10

Sound & Music

The music feild screen music is nice to listion to but the battle music is really annoying, the boss songs are fine. None of the songs are very catchy however. Sound effects are okay although they sometimes sound weird and some enemies when they attack make a awful high pitched noise. (No there's nothing wrong with my sound.)
6/10

Gameplay

Gameplay is very simple, walk aroubd in the feild... opps, I touched an enemy I must now kill it. That sort of thing, and in battle they added a nice Timed Hit system so your not most of the time doing nothing but watching and giving commands.
7/10

Diffaculty: Medium

This game isn't too hard, nor is it too easy. Sometimes enemies can get really nasty.

Overall
7/10

[thewatcher]

BOULDER DASH
(I'm really surprised nobody hit this classic...ya traitors!)

Company: Firststar Software
Platform: Commodore 64, Atari 800, NES, Arcade, PC, various other platforms that the average human could not memorize in one sitting

The gameplay is one of those games that's so simple it could become an additiction. You run around and grab a certain amount of gems, while avoiding falling boulders and spider-like things that explode into gems when you trap them, then get to the exit before time runs out. So simple, there are almost no innovations and mean tricks to be found - just a lot of devilish level design. The level design alone brings this up to a 10/10 - a great concept that stands the test of time./

Graphics - I can't really judge this, because there are so many variants and remakes and ports and suchwise. The original C64 version was pretty decent for the day it was made.

I don't remember at all what the sounds were like. It's been far too long since I played this...

Contyrols - Standard joystick-based. Not one button is used for the game itself. It's all good.

Difficulty - It starts easy like most games, and gets really damn tough later on...pretty good challenge for us puzzle freaks, eh?

Overall: Good game. Try looking for one of the more moden remakes at www.remakes.org if you want a good game that has stood for at least 20 years.

10 OUT OF 10

[Goshi]

Evil Counter Review of Golden Sun. See Pyro's review for details

Plot
A major important part of RPGs is the plot. The plot is the a horrid storms occours and Issac and Garet retreat and soon enough they meet two, mysterious people who defeat them in battle. A few years later Issac, Garet and Jenna walk towards the Sol Sanctrum to uncover a secret that has been help for a long time. They must now stop the two Mysterious people from lighting all the lighthouses or else the world is doomed.
Its just another "Come on save the world" type plot so that lowers its score.
7/10

Graphics
What can I say? One of the best best graphics for the GBA however the battle sprites are very ugly and it's really easy to see the pixels of the sprites.
9/10

Music & Sound
The music isn't too bad nor are the sound effects but the music is not really catchy and sometimes gets annoying to listion.
8/10

Gameplay
Same as most of RPGs, walk around the feild, Oh no a random encounter, I guess I have to beat the monster up, I try to run because he is too strong but he is too fast even though he's just a zombie. Oh and there's puzzles too but there not as good as in any Lufia games. Oh and the battle system will annoy you as if you just try to target the same monster because he is too weak and I'm in a hurry here. One character attacks it and kills it while te others just defend when the monster is dead! That is ridiculous! After all we're in a hurry thorugh battle we don't want to choose which monster every party member wants to fight wisely! Its just a waste of time!
4/10

Diffaculty: Easy
The puzzles are really easy and bosses are easy too and the puzzles are also pretty easy.

Overall Score:
6/10

[Torte]

System Shock 2
Developer: Looking glass technologies
Platform: PC

System shock 2... Where do one begin? The game is great at almost all points, and what's bad isn't that bad, so the good things just cover up for the misses... The graphics, the voices, the horror! Damn, i love this game like crazy! There are only a few games that i enjoy more than this one, and the multiplayer... Co-Operative is something you don't see very often in newer games! Well, i guess i'm swambling, i should get on the review here...

Gameplay:
The gameplay of this game... God, where do i start?
We'll begin with the good things... everything is great, even from the very start. Walking and crawling around in this great ship (sorry i forgot its name :), when suddenly a ghost comes up! Damn, that's scary! Anyways, the game is enjoyable at alomst all points. You never know (unless you read a walkthrough) how much of the game is left to discover, and the different types of enemies and weapons/bullets give you the possibilty of diffrent strategies. The normal bullets work OK against normal enemies, Armor piercing great against robots and the third type of bullets against living creatures.
And, of course, the horror... You never know what'll be there next time... it 's quite scary when you suddenly hear someone moan "run... run" behind your back.

However, not everything is great. Sometimes, when you run out of ammo is truly frustrating and you never know if you have to save many bullets... The game is sometimes a bit unbalanced, but that's almost every flaw i can think of...
23/25

Controls:
Well, what about the controls? They are kinda hard in the beggining, but later it's alright - luckily you can change the controls.
15/15 Points

Graphics:
The graphics are good. They could have spent some more time to the characters, but the enviroment is just great! System shock 2 is truly good when it comes to the enviroments, but the charecters could have been a little more worked, because they seem so... thin!
15/20 Points

Sound/music:
OH HOLY GOD!!! The music is truly great for running around in a ship in the future, and the sound... so freaking good it can't be believed! The voices are just perfect... They seem just like they should, scared...
20/20 Points

Story:
This is one of the best stories ever! You are on the first ship to be able to travel at the speed of light, and your going to be on it's maiden flight. However, something goes REALLY wrong, and you wake up on a ship which is empty of all life... all human life, that is. Suddenly, you get a transmission, telling you to get to her, gradually. That voice will guide you through the whole game.

20/20 Points

Overall:

This is truly a game that you should get... The few flaws will gradually fade away into the better things of the game... Hope you aren't scared easily, though!

93%

[Xeirxes]

Metal Warriors
Developed by LucasArts
For the Super Nintendo Entertainment System

This is a sidescrolling Mech game. Uhhh... read the rest of the review now.

--GAMEPLAY--
I like this game alot because it's not very linear on every mission. Sure, you have to complete a goal, but the way that you do it can vary. One thing that is fun is that you can actually get out of your mech and hop in another, as long as it's unoccupied. The AI of the other mechs isn't all that great, but they are difficult to beat and it turns out to be pretty fun. There are quite a few mechs to try out and it's very fun to see their differences.
The one-player game isn't very long unfortunately. That's where head-to-head comes in.
The head-to-head in this game ROCKS. The levels aren't amazing but they serve their purpose. But what I really love is that for every mech you need a different strategy.
For the Prometheus, it's a big old thing that can't fly, but can build bridges and really whoop someone with it's long range cannon. Well, a good strategy with that is to block off an elevator shaft or something with a bridge so that your opponent can't get up it.
And then there's the Drache. It's weak and it can ONLY fly. Well, I personally think that a big strength is it's ability to shoot in any direction while flying in another. Strafing attacks rock! Also, it's powerdive, if aimed right, can end the fight one way or another.
The Spider is a mech that can cling to ceilings and walls. And it can also web people and become invisible. See it's usefulness?
I haven't covered all the mechs, but you get the idea.
GAMEPLAY FINAL SCORE: 9/10

--CONTROLS--
I like the controls, they are pretty simple to use and I haven't noticed any stickiness in them.
CONTROLS FINAL SCORE: 10/10

--GRAPHICS--
The graphics are good for a game this old. In some spots, such as destroyable walls, they get to be blocky, but for the most part it's ok.
GRAPHICS FINAL SCORE: 7/10

--SOUND AND MUSIC--
I found the music to be repetitive, and the sound is low quality. But it doesn't detereorate from the game quality much.
SOUND FINAL SCORE: 6/10

--STORYLINE--
The storyline is not amazing either. But it gives you a good few missions to test your skills against.
STORYLINE FINAL SCORE: 7/10

--END RESULT--
This game is really fun when you're having fun, but it's really boring when you're not having fun.
Final Score: 7.8/10

[weasel]

SNK Vs Capcom: SVC CHAOS
Developer: Playmore Inc. & Capcom
Platform: Arcade (PS2 version soon to be released)
Genre: Fighter, and a darn good one

Let's face it, ever since I played a Street Fighter game and a King of Fighters game, I was dying to see them put together. All my favorite characters slapped together into one clean chunk, with a few new guys in there for good measure.

Gameplay!!
Wow. Traditional fighter moves, complete with motions that can only be described as QCF+P, or QCF+P,HCB+P,F+P (one of Kyo's combos). It's mostly just traditional fighter affair, with regular, combo, special, super, and the new Exceed specials. I haven't figured them out that much, but from an FAQ I read the Exceed can only be done once per battle (so if you blow it in the first round, it will never be used again), without using gauges and always having the power of a Super. But enough fighter jabber.

The Capcom characters actually adapt well to the four-button scheme of the Neo-Geo controller (five, if you count Start to taunt). There are two button combos availible for throws now, as opposed to being a fifth attack like in the KoF games. Dashing is handled with "dodging" style (like in the early KoF games and the Marvel VS Capcom games), and there are no evasive rolls. Makes the game more interesting, sure, but it's a real pain when you're pinned down by Choi or Earthquake or Hugo or somebody like that that can cheapshot you into oblivion. Pretty fast paced, and the computer puts up a darn good fight too (either that, or i just suck).

TOO MANY characters to count (and a few that I think should have been removed because of their cheap-shot-ness). SNK side boasts the usual posterboys, from Kyo to Terry to Ryo. Also contains Mr. Karate (better known as Takuma Sakazaki, more of a Ryu rip than Ryo is), Earthquake (I'm guessing he's from the Samurai Showdown series, never seen him before), Mai ("You on the other hand, leave too little to the imagination." -Tessa), and Iori Yagami in both Normal and "Riot of the Blood" forms. SNK secret characters include Geese Howard, Athena (couldn't get her code to work, probably because I was playing on the PLUS hacked version), and the alien from Metal Slug.

Capcom side contains all three of the Shotokan clones (Ryu, Ken, Akuma), Bison, Chun-Li ("You're going to make some crack about my legs, aren't you?"), Hugo (accompanied by Poison from Final Fight, and Bao from KoF), Balrog, and Tessa, among others. Secrets include Dan Hibiki (who now mimics Kyokugen more than Shotokan, ie. Gado Sho Ko Ken), Demitri Maximov, and Zero (accompanied in dialog by Ciel, the leader of the rebels from Megaman Zero). Red Arremer is also worth a mention, even though I never got his code to work. For those who don't know, he's one of the bosses from Ghosts & Goblins and also got his own game.

9/10 - Lack of escape rolls makes it difficult to get out of certain situations.

Graphics
This is actually a darn good lookin' game. Half the SNK characters use the same graphics from KoF (with a few differences here and there, ie. Ryo's gloves, Terry grinning in a few frames of his stance), and the Capcoms match the style incredibly well - darn fluid animation on some too (take a look at Ryu's hard kick, or Dan's Hisshou Buraiken and tell me that does NOT rival the anims in MotW). Nifty special effects on some moves, lack of awesomeness in some (ie. blocking any Sho Ko Ken).

Stages look impressive too, especially the "Obsolete Station". I sometimes got distracted looking at the backgrounds.

8/10 - Capcom characters well animated, not much new on the SNK side. Just like Capcom's version of the game.

Sound
Here is where the game really goes smooth, in my opinion. Ultra-high quality sounds (44 KHz I'm guessing, could just be the speakers on the cabinet), great voiceovers (exception being Vega, who just annoys the crap out of me), plenty of satisfying WHUMP sounds when Hugo dives into somebody. Ryu and Akuma use the exact same voiceovers that they had in Capcom VS SNK 2, but otherwise absolutely perfect. Music is darn good too, but I was paying more attention to the battles themselves to avoid being Exceeded by Choi. (Darn you, you midget Freddy Kreuger wannabe.)

10/10!

Controls
Smooth, responsive as ever. Couldn't get Ryu's Shoryuken to respond at some points, but that's more my fault than the controller's.

10/10.

Bugs
None.

Overall
I can't wait for this one to be home-ported! This is just plain freakin' AWESOME!

9.5/10

[weasel]

Halo: Combat Evolved (PC Version)
Platform: PC (also on XBox)
Developer: Bungie, Gearbox
Publisher: Microsoft
ESRB Rating: M - Mild Language, Animated Violence, Animated Blood & Gore

The Legendary HALO. For two years since the original XBox version was released, all I ever heard from XBox owners was "Hey, you played Halo? That is the BEST GAME IN THE WORLD!". I waited patiently for a PC port. I got my wish...almost.

GAMEPLAY
"Combat Evolved" all right. Mission-based first person gameplay, with plenty of weapons and vehicles. If you've played Half-Life or the like, you should be right at home here. Controls are actually relatively simple, and can even be bound to a joystick/gamepad with full DirectInput support (THANK YOU MICROSOFT).

The weapons are really nothing THAT special in terms of originality, but the designs are pretty good, futuristic but not too gaudy. Pistol (with 2x zoom), shotgun, assault rifle, rocket launcher (which reads "SPNKR" on the side, just like the one in Marathon), plasma rifle, sniper rifle, among others. Some new additions for multiplayer including a flamethrower and the Covenant Fuel Rod Cannon (which fires an arcing explosive and runs on batteries). Each weapon can also be used for a melee attack, which can be devastating if applied from behind. You can also carry 4 of each kind of grenade (Frag and Plasma). The Plasma grenades can stick to enemies, effectively turning them into walking bombs.

Vehicles are awesome. The Warthog LRV, which can hold a passenger and a gunner, and has realistic suspension and 4-wheel steering to boot; the Scorpion tank featuring a cannon and machinegun for the driver and space for 4 passengers, Covenant Ghost one-man hovercraft with two plasma guns, and the Banshee aerial combat vehicle with two plasma guns and a fuel rod cannon. Each vehicle is controlled with the movement keys and the mouse - the mouse really only moves the camera, but the vehicle will steer to face it Quake Rally style.

Enemies are quite varied. Plenty of different kinds of Covenant Grunts and Elites, including Swordsmen and cloaked varieties. More come in later in the game, but I shall refrain from describing them for fear of spoiling the incredible plot.

Occasionally you'll meet up with some marines, which will follow you and assist in combat, as well as hop on to any vehicle that you're driving (barring Ghost and Banshee of course). They are quite smart, and will take cover when needed, toss grenades, and they're pretty good shots too. If they're hit by a plasma grenade, they will sometimes rush toward the enemy hoping to take them down with them, or just stand there and panic. And yes, you can kill the marines yourself...and they'll retaliate.

Of course you have your multiplayer options. That's half the fun! (Of course the PC version makes it 3/8 of the fun instead.) You have your deathmatch, team deathmatch, CTF, King of the Hill, Oddball (carry the flag for as long as possible while being hunted by everybody else), and any variation you can come up with yourself. The only problem? They got rid of the freakin' co-op mode! And add to that, you can't play on a LAN without picking up more than one copy of the game, because MS insists that CD key authentication still be enabled for LAN play! *proceeds to flip off MS*

8/10 - WHY IS THAR NO CO-OP?! LAN play sucks.

GRAPHICS
Halo takes advantage of whatever hardware you throw at it. The box claims that the game requires a 750 MHz P3/Athlon, 256 meg of RAM, and a 32 meg graphics card...however, I can barely run it on lowest detail with a 933 MHz, 256 MB RAM, and a 128 meg GF4MX. The graphics look incredible if you have a card that supports pixel shaders (ie. GF3TI and above, or Radeon series). Half of the game's graphics are made of pixel shaders, while the other half is textures and raw polygon power. There's no way to turn down the polygon detail in the models, which might explain why the game runs so crappy even with lowest texture detail and screen res. (If they would have supported lower resolutions like 512x384 and 320x240, I would have a running chance of getting decent frame rates in single player.) Plenty of effects and eye candy - dynamic lighting, dynamic shadows, particle effects (can be turned off, but you can no longer see explosions), among other things. I like the graphics. Not toned down a bit from XBox.

For GF3TI and above: 10/10
For anything below: 7/10

SOUNDS
Wow. Supports EAX 1, 2, and 3, 5.1 surround sound, and just genuine high quality sounds. If you don't have good speakers, splurge and get yourself a nice set of Creative Inspires, Altec Lansings, or Klipsch THXs. The sheer variety of dialog in the Marines makes it difficult to tell what dialog is scripted and what is normal (ie. "Get up so I can kill you AGAIN!"). Gunfire is convincing and quite beefy, everything makes sense on what it's applied to. Explosions RULE! Crank your bass and fire a frag grenade just so you can feel it once. This stuff MUST be heard to be believed!

Music is good too, sometimes soft electronica, sometimes orchestral, and always fits the mood. I'll play through the game with nothing on but music just so I can enjoy it to the fullest.

10/10!

BUGS
Plenty of bugs in multiplayer, involving lag issues, but most have been addressed by now. In SP, I once got a Warthog stuck between a wall and a tall rock, nose down, and was unable to get out.

Buggyness Factor: 5%

OVERALL
PERFECT! This should be the example everybody follows when making an FPS!

9.5/10 (Now if only they'd KEPT the co-op! DARN YOU!)

[duvel]

No one's done this, so...
Kingdom Hearts
Platform: PS2
Cost: $19.99, cause of Greatest Hits
Rating: E
Developer: Square

Good ol' Square siding with Disney!? I thought that at first, but then when I played it, it blew me away.

Plot: Well, I wasn't expecting much, cause of Disney and all, but this is a very deep story that is complete, yet open to improvement(AKA KHII). You are Sora, a 14-year old living on the Destiny Islands. He and his friends, Riku(not the one from FFX) and Kairi are making a raft to explore the world outside of their home, but then, the mean ol' Heartless come and destroy their world. They end up going to different places. Riku goes to wherever the main bad guy(for most of the game), Maleficient, was, while Sora ends going to Traverse Town, where he meets Donald and Goofy, who were looking for King Mickey(you know he had to pop up somewhere, eh?) and the weilder of the Keyblade, who just happens to be Sora. Sora goes off with them in hopes of finding Riku and Kairi. Very well done, but I can't tell anymore or I'd ruin it. 10/10

Gameplay: Remember Secret of Mana? It's a lot like that, but vastly improved. First off, there's the wonderful ability system, where you can use AP to equip certain abilities, which range from special attacks to higher jumps. Then you have the actual fighting. Instead of using one button to attack, and others to do everything else, they have a great system set up where you have a little menu in the bottom right corner where you select what you do using the X button and either the directional pad or the right analog, though it's automatically set on attack, which helps a lot. Speaking of attacking, you can still do things like combos. The enemies usually aren't frustrating, but it's the bosses(especially the optional ones) which are really hard, the hardest being someone I won't mention(hint: remember a certain ancient from FFVII?). 10/10

Graphics and Sound: For a Square game, there aren't that many FMV sequences(the intro and the ending), but they have many cutscenes, and very well done voiceovers provided by Disney. The music and sounds are very excellent as well, with one track ripped straight from FFVII, and many others ripped from the Disney movies. 10/10

Bugs: None! YAY!!

Overall: Buy this game. Now. 10/10

[gofer-chan]

Metroid: Zero Mission
Platform: GBA
Cost: Not sure, but I'll guess $30.
Rating: E
Developer: Nintendo

Jesus Christ. Yes. This game owns. I'd like to call myself a major Metroid fan, but I'm not. The only Metroid games I had played all the way through were Super and Fusion when I picked up Zero Mission (Prime didn't hold my intrest, and the two early games were just too rough around the edges). Basically, Metroid: Zero Mission is a remake of the original Metroid, but it reminded me much more of SM then it did of the little bit of Metroid 1 that I played.

The game begins with Samus Aran, intergalactic bounty hunter, going on her first mission to destroy MOTHAR BRANE. Basically, if you've played any other Metroid games, it's just the same old thing. Except, unlike Fusion, the game doesn't lead you by the hand. There's exploration. There's sequence breaking, which is basically doing things in an order different than you're supposed to (You can fight the second-to-last boss before you even fight the first boss if you know how, and you can skip a few major suit upgrades if you're not careful) which provides shitloads of replay value.

*Spoilarz*

Unlike in the original Metroid that this is a remake of, the game doesn't end once you beat Mother Brain and evacuate the planet. About 30% of the game is completely new content and areas, including the space pirate mothership itself. This helps tie in Zero Mission better with Fusion and Prime, explaining a lot of things that were never exactly clear.

*End spoilarz*

Anyway, this game owns. It has multiple endings, different paths you can take, and HOT SIDESCROLLING EXPLORING ACTION. My only gripe is that it was a bit too easy (at least on normal mode, there's an unlockable hard mode after you beat it), hell, I beat the game within 24 hours of the rom release. But it's great, and I'm definitely going to pick it up once it hits the stores on Febuary 9th.

Rating: 9/10 (which is a fucking high score coming from me, you'd better believe it. you'd better.)

[weasel]

Final Fantasy XI
Developer: Square Enix
Platform: PC, with PS2 version coming in March
ESRB: T for Animated Blood and Violence (warning in game: "Game Experience May Change While Playing Online")
Requirements (estimated): 1 GHz Pentium 3/Athlon equivalent, GeForce 4 MX/GF3TI/Radeon equivalent, 256 MB of RAM, good Internet connection (broadband HIGHLY recommended)

The real mold-breaker of the series. While the rest of the series consists of your standard, run of the mill heroes and "save the world" quests, this one is an epic universe with your character just playing the part of a cookie crumb (figuratively).

GAMEPLAY

In this game, you fight monsters, gain experience, participate in quests, help your kingdom conquer places on the landscape by fighting monsters, plant stuff, even play the stock market (sorta).

The combat system is based on the Job System, seen in FF3j, FF5, FF Tactics, and FFX-2. You can select a Main job (which is the job you gain EXP for when you fight monsters), and later in the game you can pick up a Support job, which enables you to keep one Main job as well as the abilities of your Support job (equal to your Main level cut in half - for example, if you have both Warrior and White Mage at Level 10, selecting either as a Support job will set them to Level 5).

Jobs are all unique, with special abilities, weapon skills, magic, and a unique role when you join a party (ie. Warriors must draw fire from the mages, Monks cause the damage, Mages heal and cause even more damage, Theives can run and pull monsters in for fighting, etc). Monks are good for beginners, while Red Mages are runners-up for their magic and fighting abilities.

Experience doesn't come easy. You're fine solo for the first few levels, but after a while you'll need a good party (limit of 6 characters) to get any decent EXP. This forced teamplay makes things difficult, because often times you'll find yourself in a party that doesn't understand the game, ie. Warriors not drawing the fire with their "Provoke" abilities, mages not healing or casting spells, or drawing monsters that are too tough to fight.

Monsters aren't all bad - some will just leave you alone, while others will be aggressive and attack you if you're too close. Monsters will also run toward others of their kind, and they will team up to kill you. (TIP: Keep the heck away from multiple Goblins or Orcs.)

You can accept several quests and missions for your kingdom, which will occasionally yield a story sequence featuring your country's "heroes" (ie. San d'Oria has Princes Pieuje and Trion), and you in some corner. They'll even acknowledge your existance some times. Makes you feel like you're part of it.

7/10 - Not exactly a winning formula, with forced teamplay. Game is NOT friendly to solo players.

GRAPHICS

Oh, wow. I'm tempted to give this a 10/10...but your system needs some good horsepower to get good framerates with all the stuff enabled. This game supports GeForce bump-mapping, but I haven't noticed it come into play. Trees look kinda silly up close, so that's a half-point docked because there's a lot of trees. You WILL notice the silly trees, trust me. Characters are low-poly, high-quality textured. You can barely make out the polygons unless you put your monitor under a microscope. It's quite easy to distinguish one person from another, and there are several kinds of armor with lots of varying styles (ie. traditional medieval, Japanese, European noble armor, etc). Everybody looks unique.

Environments are well rendered. No comments here...aside from the silly trees.

9.5/10 - THOSE TREES ARE FREAKIN' DEMON TREES!! GET THEM AWAY FROM ME! *cowers behind Exophase*

SOUNDS

Audio is convincing, effective, and varied enough that you won't get sick of it for at least 5 months. Music...no. It's good for the first few listens, but I found myself turning it off because I was so sick of the San d'Oria town theme.

8/10 - That town theme is stuck in my head eternally. I can't even flush it out.

CONTROLS

Forget about your mouse - nearly everything in this game is done with keyboard. Mouse only yields one advantage - being able to click on targets. Everything else is better done with the keyboard, or even a gamepad if you have one (I highly recommend getting a Playstation gamepad adapter and using that, or failing that, a Logitech Wingman Rumblepad). Gamepad configuartion interface is put together quite well.

9/10 - Would have liked a mouse-look interface, a la Anachronox.

BUGS

Some major glitches. There is a bug in certain combat situations where a monster will keep running, and even though you're right next to it, the game says you're out of range. Occasionally, you still can't hit them because of the difference in height (usually a millimeter). Doesn't occur that often though. Camera is somewhat odd too, but there is a Reset key that you can use if it gets stuck.

Total major bugs: 1

OVERALL

8/10 - Judge for yourself. I think it's good, but you might think differently.

[weasel]

Metal Slug 5
Even more disappointing than the fourth.

Developer: SNK Playmore
Publisher: SNK Playmore
Platform: Arcade Neo-Geo

If you'll look above, I reviewed Metal Slug 4, the first MS game to be developed by an outside company. This one's back in the hands of SNK Playmore, and it's actually worse.

GAMEPLAY

Same old Metal Slug shoot 'em up gameplay, with NO new weapons, a few new Metal Slugs (mech, railhog, and car), and even less play time than MS4. It only took 50 minutes to beat, on Difficulty Level 4 with a total of 26 continues. The enemies aren't even that challenging - just frustrating. Nothing really spectacular has been added to the game formula, except a crappy slide function a la Megaman which really has no use. Add to that, the game is WAY too short! Only 5 missions, and the Final Mission that is the standard of Metal Slug only lasted about 10 minutes, as long as the other missions.

6/10 - Nothing new, too short, ending is unfulfilling.

SOUND

They certainly didn't do anything to the game's canned sound effects. Tarma and Eri are back, with their original graphics and sounds from the last few games. Music is remixed, a new rock style...but honestly, I don't really like the music now. It doesn't feel right, compared to the last few games.

6/10 - Nothing new, music is too different of a style to be Metal Slug any more.

GRAPHICS

The only thing they got right. Animations are as smooth as ever, with plenty of new enemy graphics and bosses. Overall though, it looks about the same as the other MS games.

8/10 - At least they didn't try a new style and ruin the whole game.

BUGS

The "script timing" bug from MS4 returns - sometimes even as much as 5 whole seconds before the screen advances.

1 bug.

OVERALL

If you want good old-school platform action, play Metal Slug 3 or X - avoid this one.

5/10

[weasel]

Beavis & Butthead in Virtual Stupidity
"Punishment for stealing is having your nads burned off. Uh huhuhuh...."

Developer/Publisher: Viacom New Media
Platform: PC (Windows)
Genre: Adventure
ESRB: I'd guess T (suggestive themes, animated violence)
Year: 1996

The legendary cult favorite of Beavis & Butthead gets their first really good game (and sadly, the only one). It's an adventure game that rips so heavily from the Lucasarts games that it actually becomes a Lucasarts game itself, minus the style of humor. No, the humor is that traditional stupid humor that makes you laugh. It shouldn't be funny but it is.

GAMEPLAY

A traditional point-and-click adventure game, with some pretty good puzzles interspersed throughout. Sometimes you won't think that the duo would be able to figure them out, but they do. You get three major actions - Look (has both of them look at whatever it is, usually generating a rather hilarious response - like the phone in their house), Use (has either of them use an item, more often Butthead than Beavis), and Talk (which allows you to have either person talk to somebody, or ask them about specific topics like roadkill and nachos). You also get a nice selection of inventory items. There are some very rare occasions where you will have to combine items in your inventory and then use them, but it's logical enough. I really didn't take so much joy in solving the puzzles as looking at things and watching their reactions to them (like Beavis looking into the ice box at the food mart, and Butthead slamming its door on him).

Minigames appear as well. There are three competitive minigames, plus a little music recording suite. There is Hock-A-Loogie, where you get to drive McVicker insane by hitting him with the "Mega-Loogie", as well as hitting several other things passing; Court Chaos, where the duo is armed with a tennis ball pitching machine on a court and must shoot at all the other players; and Bug Justice, in which you must prevent your candy by being stolen by bugs. This is done by frying them with a magnifying glass, or with the "Beavis Stomp". Lastly, there is Air Guitar, where you can record somewhat minimalistic music with either mouth-noise guitars, Butthead belching, or Beavis farting. It's somewhat limited, giving only one octave from C to C.

9/10 - Occasionally confusing what you need to do, but minigames are a good diversion.

GRAPHICS

Of course, Mike Judge himself has say in all of this, so all the staff responsible for the television show was responsible for putting the game together. The sprites used for the two are highly accurate to the show, and occasionally there are movie sequences that are animated the same way as the show. The game itself is low-res, in either a scalable window or full-screen. Animations for the sprite characters are smooth, and always get the point across.

9/10 - High res would have been good, but considering that this was before Windows games could get very powerful...

SOUNDS

EXCELLENT! High quality voices, provided by Mike Judge and a few women here and there, played at 22 KHz. Good ambient sounds, as well as some good "canned" sounds for the other events (cars, doors, etc).

10/10 - Don't get any better than this.

CONTROLS

Very simple mouse interface, with minimal pixel hunting involved - all objects are relatively clear.

Perfect!

OVERALL

It's a shame the other B&B games aren't any good. I want more.

9/10

[duvel]

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
System: GBA
Rating: E(I think, I've got the rom)
Developer: Konami

The second Castlevania game for the GBA, a very large improvement from the first one.

Plot: You are Juste Belmont. Your friend Maxim went out on an expedition with your friend Lydie and comes back saying she got kidnapped and he can't remember anything about the kidnapping. Using the fragments of his memory from the kidnapping, they come across Dracula's Castle. They split up to find Lydie. A bit simplistic, but gets super weird later on. 9/10

Gamplay: The same ol' Action RPG gameplay we all know and love from the new Castlevanias. The magic in this one comes from spellbooks you find around the castle plus the sub-weapons. Basically, lets say you have the Cross, and you equip the Fire Book. You'll get a different attack than if you had used no book. Also returning is the Belmont Whip. You can attach different stones and such to the whip to get different effects, like a charged whip attack ala Megaman. 10/10

Graphics and Sound: Perfect, for the most part, although Juste sounds deeper than he should. 10/10

Bugs: None.

Overall: 10/10 Another very well done Castlevania game.

[joepsycho]

Harry Ptter: Quidditch World Cup
System: Gamecube
Rating: E
Developer: Electronic Arts

Plot: Anyone who is familiar with Harry Potter should know about the game they play. A team of 7 players fly around on brooms in a sort of hockey type gameplay. It starts at Hogwarts and then after you win the Hogwarts Quidditch cup you get to play at the World Tournament. You don't play as the kids from Hogwarts, but you play as different nations around the world. My personal favorite is team Japan.

Gameplay: The controls are rather simple. My 6 year old sister caught on so fast that she actually beat me. It's like hockey, soccer, and football all put together. You tackle your opponent to get the quaffle (the ball) like in foot ball then you pass it to your other teammates like in soccer or hockey, and then then you try to make it through one of the three hoops. It's really fun when you get to play as teh seeker when the golden snitch comes out.

Graphics and music: The graphics are really good, but it's also a Gamecube game so it would have rather clean graphics. The music is also really good, alot of orchestrated stuff.

Bugs: None.

Overall: 8/10 It's fun the first couple of times you play but then it gets repetitive.

[weasel]

The King of Fighters 2003
Finally, team battle the way it was meant to be.

Platform: Arcade NeoGeo
Developer: SNK Playmore

The last game on the Neo Geo. SNK is now moving on to superior hardware, ie. the Sega Atomiswave. Supposedly the next KoF is going to be by Sammy, makers of the Power Instinct games and the upcoming "The Rumblefish".

GAMEPLAY

The gameplay style is vastly different now. The team battle system is now more like the Marvel VS Capcom games - all the action takes place on one round, and you can switch characters at will provided they aren't KO'ed. Three to a team. You can switch normally, which takes about a split second, or you can Switch Attack (QCF+Switch combo) in which your character attacks, and switches to the next character who enters with a flying kick. Special moves are same old, with a few new things on each character (as well as a few things changed, eg. Yuri's Saiha has a longer delay now). A few new characters make up this mix, along with a few oldies coming back finally. The Psycho Soldiers are no more, with Athena now teaming up with sumo girl Hinako and newcomer Malin (who is the worst KoF cheapshot since Mai); Chizuru appears once again as a secret character, and of course, the insane clone known only as KUSANAGI has returned (with a harder code to select too). NESTS is gone, with the only K in existence now being K himself and not his various clones (ie. cheapshot Krizalid). Shingo returns this year (he was absent in the arcade version of 2002), with less Kyo rip-offs and more of his own moves (Burning Shingo is now different, and Shingo Kick can be done in midair).

Overall, the game is actually better than past releases, with battles lasting much shorter and with more opportunities for insane combos (get a big rush with, say, Kyo and then call in Terry to finish off with a Buster Wolf).

9/10 - WAY departed from older KoF's, but just as fun as always.

GRAPHICS

Several characters have been heavily redesigned, most notably the "poster boys" (Kyo and Terry). Terry now dons his Mark of the Wolves outfit, ditching the old Fatal Fury jacket and hat. Kyo now wears a leather jacket with the old Sun icon on the back, and Benimaru has now succeeded in making himself look worse (his usual top is now leopard print).

Backgrounds are well-made as usual, with some lacking the needed life. The machine I played also had some glitches with the backgrounds cutting off or being misaligned in places.

9/10 - Ugh, Benimaru....background glitches also hurt the score.

SOUNDS

All characters are revoiced. The ones that appeared in SVC Chaos use the same voices from there, and all the rest have sounds of the same quality. Playmore is really getting good at this.

Music goes back to the 2001 style, which is disappointing. There IS a remix of Kyo's Esaka theme in here, though, which hasn't been revisited since '98.

8/10 - Screwed up the music again like they did to Metal Slug 5.

CONTROLS

Controls work just the way they should.

BUGS

Background glitch, but nothing else found.

1 bug.

OVERALL

A good edition, but it may be too much of a departure for some die-hard fighters.

9/10

[duvel]

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
System: PS2, GC, X-Box
Rating: T(Blood, Violence, Suggestive Themes)
Developer: Ubisoft

Yay, the new Prince of Persia. The original is an old classic, but the new one is just great!

Plot: You are the Prince of Persia(No, really? ). During a recent raid of India, you and your father got to the Maharaja's treasure hold and aquired, among other things, the Sands of Time and the Daggar of Time. So, to celebrate, you'll have a party at the Sultan's palce where your father gives the hour glass with the Sands of Time to him. Supposedly, you can become immortal by releasing the sands, so you oblige with the Daggar. Then, the palace pretty much goes to hell. You have to find where the Vizier of India, the only survivor besides you and the princess of India(captured during the raid), has the hourglass, then undo all you have done. Add in the required love story and a surprise twist near the end, and voila, a 10/10, mainly for originality.

Gameplay: Think MUCH better Matrix. You can do fancy things like run up/along walls, swing on poles, and jump from wall to wall without any special equipment, but with the Daggar of Time, you can rewind time to make up for mistakes(like jumping at the wrong place). Obviously, the game would be easy with unlimited rewinds, so Ubisoft gives you a limited number of sand tanks(read: times for rewind). Other powers the daggar has are stoping enemies in their tracks(just press the daggar button to hit them and stop them), retrieving more sand for rewinding from defeated enimies, slowing enemies down so you can hit them while they are attacking you, and the all powerful Mega-Freeze, which freezes all enemies in the room so you can do two-hit kills. To do the freezes and the slow-down, you have to use power tanks, which can be obtained from retrieving sand. Unfotunately, you must drag the princess around the palace with you, but she has much better A.I. than most "escort mission" dummies(as in actually attacking, and helping you out a bit). Overall, a 10/10.

Graphics and Sound: Well, the character models are very detailed, and they have some really neat effects on the sand enemies(like a little glowing spot showing where the sand had to patch them up,) and subtle, realistic blood effects. As for sound, it is just as detailed, with one of the best soundtracks I've heard for some time. 10/10

Replayability: Unfotunately, this game suffers from lackus modias, which cuts down on replayability of this game greatly. Still there are two neat extras: the original Prince of Persia(unlocked by finding the room it's in in the game) and the first level of it in 3d(on the PS2, start a new game and don't move, but instead, hold L3 and press X, square, triangle, circle, triangle, X, square, circle). But I still give it an 8/10, just cause it's fun to jump around on walls and stuff.

Overall: Not to shabby, and you technically are buying two games here. 9/10

[duvel]

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
System: Playstation or Saturn(Saturn Version Only in Japan)
Rating: T(Animated Violence, Animated Blood and Gore)
Developer: Konami

Yes, I FINALLY got this game.

Plot: In the year 1792, Richter Belmont vanquished Dracula for another 100 years. However, 4 years later, he vanished. Maria, his sister-in-law, went searching for him. Then, in 1797, the way to Castlevania, Dracula's old castle, opens up, as if to show her the way. Around the same time, Alucard, the son of Dracula who sealed himself away for eternity to end his evil bloodline, awoke, with the knowledge that there is evil work about. He then headed off to his former home in search of the evil so that he could stop it. It is really neat and is deeply involved with Castlevania: Rondo of Blood for the PC Engine/Turbo Grafx 16(or Castlevania: Dracula X for the SNES if you can't get a TG 16). 10/10

Gameplay: This plays alot like Super Metroid and started the whole "go around and explore the castle" thing in recent Castlvanias. Alucard happens to be pretty resourceful and will equip things like swords and sheilds that he finds. You also have spells that can be done in a Street Fighter special move kind of way. Not only that, but Alucard, being a half-vampire, can turn into a bat, a wolf(O.o), and mist to do many things. As far as fighting goes, it isn't insanely deep, but you do have some enemies who attack with certain elements, which you can use Resist potions to help defend against them. Also, if enemies ar throwing out any projectiles, bring up a sheild and it will block them, most of the time. Also, you have the usual shops and bosses found in the recent Castlevanias. Also, the game rewards you for being patient enough to look around the castle for the rest of the endings. In fact, there is a whole half of the game that you uncover by looking around enough. 10/10

Graphics and Sound: This is the best looking 2d game EVER. And as far as music goes, well, it is the best in any one Playstation game(except for maybe the DDRs). 10/10

Replayability: After you beat the game as Alucard, you can play it through as Richter Belmont from Dracula X/Rondo of Blood. Also, if you play the Saturn version, you can play as Maria. add the 4 endings and 2 prettymuch different castles to explore, and voila, a 10/10.

Overall: A must buy if you own a Playstation or a PS2. 10/10

[weasel]

Wario World
"Have a rotten day!"

Platform: Gamecube
ESRB: E (Animated Violence)
Developer: Treasure (it only says this in the credits as far as I know)
Publisher: Nintendo

Many people argue that Treasure has lost their touch from games like Gunstar Heroes, Radiant Silvergun, and Silpheed. I must say that they have not. Their games are still as fun as ever, and they have done Wario a great justice in terms of gameplay.

GAMEPLAY

Wario, renowned (by himself at least) treasure hunter, has gone into a big huge ruin and stolen a Big Black Evil Gem Thingy™. This Horrendously Evil Gem™ is cursed, and by the time Wario gets it back to his castle, it turns all of his hard-earned (yeah right) treasure into monsters. Joy. Now he has to go beat up the monsters and deal with this Evil Anthropomorphic Monster Gem™ once and for all.

You play Wario, naturally enough. Classic platforming action, in a 3D world. To earn back your treasures, you jump around several levels, beating up monsters, hitting switches, dropping into Bonus Hatches, and collecting unique treasures from boxes after solving their associated puzzles (everything from a Gold Tiara, to a tin bucket, to the original NES). After every level, you must beat up a boss. Sounds simple...not quite.

Wario has several moves at his disposal. He can combo-punch (just the ol' one-two), use his patented Dash attack that he's had since Mario Land 3, the Corkscrew Conk (jumping Dash attack), Spinning Piledriver (a la Zangief), and a Mario 64-style spinning toss (like what Mario does to Bowser). These are easy to pull off, usually consisting of only three buttons (A, B, and R).

If you just can't pick up every coin that's spewed in your direction, Wario has a solution. The L button is used for Hyper Suction (an obvious take-off from Kirby, complete with stretchy mouth and wind particle effects). This pulls in any treasure that isn't stationary (ie. anything just hanging in the air in Bonus Hatches).

Boss battles usually involve stunning them, picking them up, and lobbing them off the edge. Other bosses require Piledrivers, or having things thrown at them, or one where you have to make it attack itself.

9/10 - Perfect balance of difficulty, and generally pretty fun to find all the stuff. Game is a bit too short though.
NOTE: There are some GBA connectivity bonuses, but since I don't have a GBA and link cable for it, I did not include these in the review score.

GRAPHICS

Planar lighting, particle effects, 60 frames per second, and top-notch animation. Photo-cartoony style (photo-realistic with some comic exaggerations in the characters). Highly satisfying bursts of light when Wario breaks stuff, and great shadow effects with multiple light sources and the like.

9/10 - Wario's shading is a bit odd.

SOUNDS

Excellent! Wario's lines are varied enough that they don't get annoying, and are voiced by the same person that's always done Wario. He even spews one or two one-line taunts ("Get outta here!"). Music is the typical strange Wario type, especially the pause music (Wario's own remix of "Nyah nyah nya-nyah nyah"). I wish I could find a soundtrack CD for this - it's good enough to listen to on its own.

10/10 - Heck, it even supports Pro Logic II!

CONTROLS

Not in the least bit difficult. Easy to pull off moves.

BUGS

None to speak of.

OVERALL

Worth a look if you want some platform action.

8.5/10

[Goshi]

MEGAMAN X7

GAMEPLAY:
This gameplay plays exactly like the PSOne games except with a few extra features such as 3D based sections and the new lock-on system, it also has the Dual-Hero system from Megaman Xtreme 2, however you cannot choose X at the start (Dang.) also there's a new character introduced named Axl. Otherwise gameply isn't bad although I think it would much better using the lock-on system from Megaman Legends instead of making lock-on to an enemy autmatically and blasting the wrong one. One major complaint I have some of dialogue boxes, whenever you're about to equip a chip she blabs on about something, whenever your about to play a fortress level she blabs, when your about to stage select she blabs... ARGH!

8.5/10

SOUND/MUSIC:
The music is fine, I have no complaints about it, although the songs aren't really catchy. Sound effects are fine. However the voice acting is terrible, if I hear X's voice agian I might scream.

8.5/10

GRAPHICS:
The graphics are nice cel-shaded style, which isn't bad mind you, and the graphics aren't ugly at all, they're pretty good although in some cases it can look a bit bland. Oh and the camera is extremely terrible at most times.

9/10

CONTROLS

Not much changed from the PSOne games, nicely done.

10/10

DIFFICULTY

Medium/Hard

Okay some parts are kinda tricky, but the levels are pretty easy, the bosses however are very difficult at times so becareful.

OVERALL

8.5/10

Not bad, although I hate the voices.

[duvel]

Megaman Battle Chip Challenge
Platform: GBA
ESRB Rating: E

Capcom has once again screwed around with the Megaman formula, and once again has something good.

Story: You are one of 6 people(you choose at the start) that are in the Battle Chip GP, which is a navi-fighting championship(as you can see, this is in the Megaman.EXE games). Basicaly you are trying to win. It has many throwbacks to the previous games, so play them first. 7/10, because half of it involves the first 3 games and you won't understand any of it unless you play them.

Gameplay: Instead of moving around and choosing which chips to use and when to use them and dodging attacks, the game has been RPGified. You put 12 chips into your Program Deck, including a navi chip. The program chip is set up like a pyramid. There are 2 at the top(or in this case, left) of the pyramid, and depending on which chip is randomly chosen out of the two, you get a randomly chosen chip from the 2 availible, and then from there you get another randomly chosen chip. It's hard to explain, but this might help:

[r]------[3]k[6]
[N][1]k[4]k[7]
[N][2]k[5]k[8]
[l]-----------[9]

[l] and [r]= chips used during the fights by L and R
[N]
[N]= Navi chip
[1] - [9]= chips 1-9

Each turn of a fight, the game chooses between 1 and 2, and then if it choose 1, between 3 & 4, if 2 then 4 & 5, if 3 then 6 & 7, and so on. Also, as you take damage and use chips(which are reused, no throwing away), a meter fills up that shows the success rate of using one of the L or R chips. After you've used those chips, your navi then uses his/her regular attack. Now if that was all there was to it, the game would be super easy. But, they have elements that come into play. Different element chips are better when used by a navi of the same type. Also, certain elements damege other element navis more, like fire versus earth. And there are also different types of battle fields, which can actually change by using certain attacks. It's very deep and all, but since the game almost automates it self, most of the time you are pressing the A button over and over. not only that, but you can no longer move around with Lan or whoever. Instead, you have menus. Lots of them. It can get pretty boring, so remember to bring other games on the car trip. 8/10

Graphics and Sound: Most of the graphics are ripped from the other Battle Network games, which is OK, but it would have been nice to see something new. Sound is also OK, but nothing to scream about. 7/10

Replayability: There are 6 characters to play as and 200 something chips, but since getting chips is a random process, this gets a 6/10.

Overall: Not a bad game, but it gets quite boring. 7.2/10

[Val]

Name: Megaman X2
Platform: Snes
Developer: Capcom
Rating: E for everybody

PLOT
Zero having died, X was appointed the new leader of the Maverick hunters, and was to inspect a junkyard for Mavericks. He quickly destoyed any threat there, then headed off to destroy 8 Mavericks attacking the city: Wire Sponge, Overdrive Ostrich, Wheel Gator, Bubble Crab, Flame Stag, Morph Moth, Crystal Snail, and Magna Centipede. He was called back in the middle of his battles to Dr. Cain's lab. A group of robots called the X-Hunters had contacted them and explained that they had all of Zero's body parts, and to come get them if he wanted them. [[Spoiler wipe!]]

Graphics: Can't really say. Pretty damn good for an X game, though.

Sound: Some of the BEST music I've ever heard.

Reliability: Pretty good.

Difficulty: Pretty hard if you'r not used to megaman games.

Overall: This is one great game. Its: cool, fun, competitive. I give this game a 10/10.