Review: Batman Arkham City: Armored Edition

Arkham City WiiPlatform: Nintendo Wii U 

Developer: WB Games Montreal

Publisher: WB Games 

# of Players: 1 

ESRB Rating: T (Teen) 

Official Site 

Score: A (95%) 

Nintendo-only console owners have most likely been hearing about how stellar Batman: Arkham City was on the PS3 and Xbox 360 for long enough that I’ve heard of some of the more hardcore fans of the Dark Knight plunking down the money for a competing
console and a copy of the game. For the rest of you who waited it out, you’re getting the definitive version of Arkham City that not only features every bit of DLC (on the retail disc (not as some download you need to buy or add before you play), but great new GamePad exclusive functions and some nice new costumes that make the experience even better than before. I’m console agnostic myself, so as soon as I heard this was coming out, it made it to the top of the list of “ports” that had to be played. While perfection comes thanks to the wealth of content old and new, some minor technical issues break the illusion from time to time. Nevertheless, WB Games Montreal has done some amazing work in bringing Rocksteady Studios’ smash onto a new console in such fine order.
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Review: Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two

Platform: Nintendo Wii

Developer: Junction Point Studios

Publisher: Disney Interactive

# of Players 1 – 2 (Co-op)

ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Official Site

Score: Single Player D+ 6.5/Co-op: B+ 8.5

Like the piles of scattered Disney memorabilia you traverse through between maps, Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two is a beautiful mess. As in beautiful when it works and a mess when it doesn’t. Of course, that’s both a good and bad thing, but we’ll get to the constructive criticism below the jump. As a co-op experience, the game in a great deal of fun as Mickey Mouse and Oswald The Lucky Rabbit team up to battle enemies solve puzzles and track down a seemingly endless supply of collectibles as they tackle the task of repairing an earthquake-ravaged Wasteland. There’s less darkness here and a much richer color palette, making this one of the better-looking Wii titles this year. But both single player and co-op have a few technical and gameplay hurdles that can sap the fun down a bit. While the PS3 and Xbox 360 (and presumably Wii U) versions can probably be patched up to a more stellar experience, I’m gathering Wii owners will be stuck with a flawed game that could have been greater than it is as it currently stands.

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Review: Skylanders Giants (PS3)

Platform: PS3

Developer: Toys for Bob

Publisher: Activision

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: E 10+ (Everyone 10+)
Official Site

Score: B+ (85%)

 

As a sequel to the last year’s hugely successful Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure, Skylanders Giants does exactly what it should and well enough that the kids it’s aimed squarely at won’t even notice its handful of mostly minor flaws. The goal of the game is to get kids to bug the heck out of their parental units to buy more Skylanders figures to use on that now USB-connected Portal of Power and the gameplay is fun enough to get you to plunk down those hard-earned dollars even if you don’t have kids and happen to be interested in trying this one out just for fun. Despite the still sluggish economy in some sectors, Activision and Toys for Bob have more of a cash calf to the original’s cash cow status that’s well worth a play.

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Review: Jewel Master: Cradle of Egypt 2

Platform: Nintendo DS (also on Nintendo 3DS)

Developer: Cerasus Media

Publisher: Rising Star Games

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Official Site

Score: B (80%)

Match-3 puzzle games have a certain healthy reliability to them and while it adds a few new twists to the formula, Jewel Master: Cradle of Egypt 2 is a pretty solid budget game for entry level to veteran genre fans. While it’s not packing fancy HD visuals or flashy special effects, there’s a nicely addictive feel to the gameplay that makes for a game worth replaying multiple times. Featuring three game modes, 100 levels and an interesting resource gathering mechanic that really needs to be expanded on in any future games in this series, CoE2 makes foe a rather cool gift for puzzle fans of any age.

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Batman: Arkam City Armored Edition Drops Into Retailers

 

For my money, it’s looks as if the Wii U has one of the more impressive launch.launch window lineups for a new console this generation (er, next generation? whatever – there are some strong titles coming between now and the end of the year).  Yeah, yeah, yeah – your jaded self has already played this on the PS3, Xbox 360 or PC (or all three if you’re that obsessed), but given that this (and every other Wii U) game is made first and foremost for Nintendo-only fans who may have never laid a pinky on any previous version AND Rocksteady has gone above and beyond the call in not shoving a straightforward quick port out the door, this may be the definitive version of the game.  Anyway, I say shut up and play it – if it’s good, it’ll silence the critics – if it’s bad, it’ll get them babbling doom stories about the systems like those overpaid analysts who don’t play games at all but spend too much time comparing everything to Apple’s success or claiming consoles are dead because too many people are playing mobile games or whatever.

On the other hand, if it’s BETTER than any of the previous versions, well… I say apologies are in order from the naysayers directly to WB, the developer and any gamers who were falling for the hate hype. Fair is indeed fair after all…

Got A Legend of Zelda Fan on Your Holiday Gift List? STL Ocarinas Will Get Them Grinning…

Whether you’re a gamer or not you probably know someone who’s a Legend of Zelda fan. Trust me, even if you don’t THINK you do, all you need to do is ask around and in under five minutes, it’s like Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon (And yeah, I have a weird connection to Mr. B as well – live in NYC long enough and that sort of thing happens). Anyway, if that person or person just so happens to be someone you like enough to want to gently drop a holiday or other occasion day present into their hot little hands, one (or more) STL Ocarinas should make them smile for years to come and then some…

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EA & BioWare Keep The Mass Effect Flames Burning…

Nice. Not only is there going to be a collected set the trilogy coming for consoles and PC soon, the Wii U is getting what’s looking like a superb enhanced version of Mass Effect 3 with a new character, included DLC and a bunch of other cool features. Having played the series already, I’m still planning on looking into the Nintendo version thanks to the Gamepad functionality and being curious about how BioWare pulls off telling the story of the other two games in the series.

As always… we shall see…

WB Games Brings Midway Arcade Origins To PS3 & 360 (On A DISC!)

Well, alright! Folks like me who prefer physical product (hey, I hug my games every day!) can now add a really sweet mix of games to our collections without losing much shelf space. WB Games and Backbone Entertainment have released Midway Arcade Origins for the PS3 and Xbox 360 as noted above in the header, on an actual game DISC. Yeah, that’s right. You can boogie on down to your favorite game emporium, whip out that wallet (you know, the one embroidered with BAD MOTHERF*CKER on it), whip out some cash money and tip on out with that new set of oldies in an actual plastic bag. Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about!  Anyway, no matter which system you own (er, well, if it’s one of the two mentioned, that is, er hey, WHY isn’t this on the Wii U as a launch title OR on the Vita for the holidays?), get this collection, grab some friends and prepare to get schooled by some really awesome arcade hits, I say!

Portal 2 In Motion On PSN: Definitely NOT The Same “Old” Game WIth Move….

 

As the kids say, “Now THAT’S what I’m talkin’ about!” – or something like that. While this super new update to Valve’s stellar first-person physics puzzler may LOOK the same at first, the changes made to get the game PlayStation Move compatible will add new challenges to the familiar while also proving how well motion control can be done when you have a team that can do it correctly. Sixense just may have a lot of people who’ve played this one to death doing it all over again. I’d be one of those people if this wasn’t DLC only, but I guess I’ll have to hold out hope that Sony’s console gets an Orange Box version of Portal (or even better ALL the Left 4 Dead games!) that has this on it. Ah well… PSN users will be pleased, that’s for sure.

Review: Ragnarok Odyssey

Platform: PlayStation Vita

Developer: Game Arts

Publisher: Xseed Games

# of Players: 1 (online 1 – 4)

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Official Site

Score: A- (90%)

Another key Vita game hitting stores and PSN at a prime point in a pretty busy year, Ragnarok Odyssey is one of the better JRPGs on the handheld thanks to addictive, fast-paced gameplay, plenty of tough enemies in offline single and online multiplayer modes and lots of lovely visuals and sound to groove on as you play. The game clicks in just about every area and fans of Ragnarok Online and the under-appreciated Ragnarok DS will be pleased to know that the game has enough familiar elements that it feels like a natural extension of those games that can be enjoyed on its own merits. The game is so good that the only major flaws here are some lock-on issues and the lack of a PlayStation 3 version or the ability for Cross Play functionality. The PS3 could use a decent new MMO/Action RPG experience and this would have been superb had GungHo Online and developer Game Arts seen fit to bring the game to that console.

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