Tag Archives: beat em’ up

XBLA Review: X-Men (1992 Arcade)

5
Posted by Rob on December 17, 2010 – 3:09 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Anyone who knows me as a gamer knows I’m a sucker for beat ‘em ups. I think I own most of them that are available digitally on PSN or XBLA like Castle Crashers, Final Fight, TMNT, Scott Pilgrim, and probably some others as well. Heck, I even pop in the ol’ Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection from time to time to play some Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, and others. So when X-Men, an awesome arcade game I used to play growing up, came out last week, I bought it first thing when I woke up. I was a bit tossed up on whether to buy it on PSN or XBLA, but in the end I felt that I needed some more 360 games, so I went with the XBLA version. Also, I had some free MS points thanks to Bing rewards!

The game is pretty much a direct port of the arcade version. Unlike Turtles In Time Reshelled, the graphics are the same as they were when you were popping quarters into the dual-screen, six-player cabinet. And yes, the game does support up to six players, with drop-in/drop-out co-op, and you can choose from classic X-Men Wolverine, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Storm, and Dazzler. This is a great feature since it makes it easier for you to join in a game, and others can join or leave your game at their leisure without affecting the flow of your game. The other thing that remains unchanged is the ridiculously horrible/corny dialogue. Pyro will still threaten to turn you to toast, nothing will still be able to move the Blob, and Magneto will still proclaim “welcome to die” and call you an “X-chicken.”

Read More »

PSN Review: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

4
Posted by Rob on September 26, 2010 – 1:16 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I was pretty unfamiliar with the whole concept of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. I had never heard of the graphic novel, and was not really interested when I heard about the movie. When I first heard about the game, I ignored it thinking it would be another cheesy movie/game tie-in. But then I started hearing good things about the game…it was a multi-player beat em’ up with  retro-esque graphics and soundtrack. The more I heard about it, the more interested I got, and after playing the demo it wasn’t long before I made the full purchase. I can’t say much about the graphic novels or the movie, but I can say that Scott Pilgrim vs. the World makes for one hell of a great downloadable video game!

The game does follow the basic storyline of the graphic novel and (I’m guessing) the movie: Scott Pilgrim is a kid in a band who meets and falls for a girl named Ramona. However, in order to date her, he must defeat her seven evil ex-boyfriends. Thus, you take control of Scott, Ramona, or two other friends who are in Scott’s band, and you take to the streets of Toronto to track down and defeat the ex’s. Right off the bat, from the main menu, the display, music, and sound effects all take you back to the hayday of the NES and Sega Master System. In fact, the game feels like you are playing River City Ransom, as you walk through town, beating up bad guys with your fists or weapons, and walking into shops to purchase health and stat upgrades. The main world map is extremely reminiscent of that of Super Mario Bros. 3.  Each level ends with you taking on the boss of the stage, who is one of the seven ex-boyfriends, and each one has some kind of unique power/ability that makes each fight a little different.

Read More »

My First 24 Hours of 360 Goodness: The Games

2
Posted by Rob on August 7, 2010 – 9:42 am
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

So I previously went over my first impressions of the system itself, and what it offers. Now I’m going to spend some time talking about the great games I have gotten to play, and there are some great ones indeed!

Castle Crashers:

This is one of the games that had me drooling for a 360, especially since first getting to actually play it at PAX. It’s still in the works for a PS3 release, but it took so dang long so this was one of the first games I snagged. Castle Crashers is a beautiful, colorful, BLOODY beat em’ up, straight out of the old school days. Up to four players (locally or online, which is awesome) can team up with a character of their choice and lay the smackdown on dozens of minions and giant bosses. The leveling system is great, where if you die on a level you maintain all the gold, weapons, creatures, and XP you earned, and it all adds in to the awesome replay value of the game. This is the game I was waiting for, and now that I have it, I see that it’s everything I thought it would be and more. If you have a 360 and don’t have this game, then you’re a fool!

castle-crashers-2-small

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 1989 Classic Arcade

This game is straight out of the old school arcade we all know and love. The graphics and gameplay are all down right as they were…no lame “revival” like Turtles in Time Re-Shelled was. There is really little to say about the awesomeness of this game: old school arcade beat em’ up! The only thing they did was make it so that you have unlimited continues, so no worries about losing your last quarter by being turned into a little turtle by Shredder!!!

tmntarcade-small

Mass Effect:

After playing the crud out of Dragon Age: Origins through four different play-throughs, I was extremely jealous of Biowares sci-fi RPG Mass Effect. I didn’t think it was a game to own, so I rented this one from Gamefly so I could play through it and then send it back for Mass Effect 2. I am about an hour or two into the game, and so far it is a great combination of RPG goodness in a sci-fi environment. It has everything that Dragon Age had: several backgrounds and classes to choose from, a ton of weapons and equipment to keep checking on, and special abilities for you and your party to make short work of your enemies. I can’t say too much more since I’m still in the beginnings of the game, but I’m impressed by what I’ve seen so far.

masseffect-small

Crackdown 2:

Crackdown 2 is an interesting third-person shooter that takes place in a city overrun by zombie-ish creatures (referred to simply as “freaks”.) Your mission is to help clear them out of the city by running or driving around and fulfilling various missions. I have not personally played online yet, but when you do your friends can come and join in your world to help you on your missions. I haven’t put much time into the game yet, so I don’t have too much to say about it yet, but when I do a full review will be forth-coming.

Left 4 Dead:

This is hands-down one of the definitive games for the 360. Left 4 Dead is a FPS that sticks you smack dab in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. You and three allies (either actual players or AI) must race through the level and try to survive to the end, where rescue awaits. The typical weapons of pistols, rifles, shotguns, and machine guns are what stands between you and hordes of various zombies, all of which move extremely quickly (no shambling here.) I played through two levels (each level contains five stages) with some people online last night and had a true blast. This is a game that I can’t see ever getting old, and was definitely something I was missing on the PS3.

left-4-dead_02_360_012809-small

PSN Quick Review: Revenge of the Wounded Dragon

0
Posted by Rob on December 16, 2009 – 8:03 am
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

dgn_revenge_of_the_wounded_dragon_screen_03

When this was announced on PSN, I was excited. Revenge of the Wounded Dragon was described as being a classic side-scrolling beat em’ up which could be played alongside a buddy locally or online. When it was released last week, I quickly snagged it up and played through the first two levels.

One of my biggest complaints is, sadly, the visual. The characters on screen (player and enemies) are extremely tiny, which makes it difficult to see. Also, since they are small, there is little detail given to them. I would have preferred to have the characters a little bigger and more crisp, but its not so bad as to totally ruin the entire game.

As for the game itself, you play as a karate dude who’s sister (or girlfriend) is kidnapped by some gangsters, and you have to punch and kick your way through swarms of enemies across multiple levels  to save her. The game has some very basic controls, relying on punch, kick, and jump. While this is all well and fine, I would have liked to see some variation. For example, maybe hitting the up directional and the kick button would result in a high kick, etc. However, the game does offer some changes to combat by allowing the player to pick up random items (like sacks of flour) and weapons (like guns, nunchucks, and sticks of dynamite) to take on your foes. There are also a variety of collectibles to snag through each level for points and trophies.

Two levels in, the game seems decent. I am waiting for Steve to come up tomorrow, and then we will blast through the entire game in co-op and see how that goes. So after that, I will write up a nice big review on the game, and let you know if the gameplay and co-op can save this visually unappealing game.

Wii- Spider-Man Friend or Foe Review

0
Posted by Rob on August 31, 2008 – 9:17 am
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,

This game is awesome, especially if you’re a Spidey fan. The game play is a basic button masher, and the controls translate smoothly to the Wii. You go through levels, collecting experience points to increase the skills and powers of Spidey and his “allies”. As the game progresses, you can recruit other characters, and select one to accompany Spidey in each level. You can get good guys, like Silver Sable and Black Cat, or villains like Doc Oc. The best part is that a buddy can jump in and you can go at it co-op, which is one of this games best features.

The graphics and sound were great. My only complaint is that it is kind of short. I look forward to the sequel (which is hinted at at the end of the game).

This game is awesome, and a must-have for Spidey fans.