Monkey Paw Games | "DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!"

COH2_covers Monkey Paw Games and Gaijinworks’ upcoming Kickstarter-funded PSP sequel to Acquire’s pretty cool Wizardry-inspired RPG (say that ten times fast!) is indeed coming soon to PSN as well as selected retail outlets to be announced (I’m guessing directly through Gaijinworks to cut out the middleman expenses). But that actual concrete release date will be announced shortly by the companies. Here’s a look at the nice cover art that’s being coin-flipped by fans to decide which one goes for Kickstarter backers and which goes to those who pre-order the physical/digital combo pack. You want gameplay with that cover? OK, look up! Look down! Not too fast, as I don’t want you to hurt anything…

(*snap!* *crackle!* *POP!*)

Too late? Oops… Well, it won’t hurt for too long, as the game should be out shortly and it’s Vita compatible so you don’t have to poke around in the closet for that “old” PSP…

I sold off my mint Tomba! and Tomba 2: The Evil Swine Return sometime last year for a nice chunk of change (I was surprised at how much they went for), but of course, I miss them terribly now, as they both were fun to play and pretty hilarious to boot. Anyway, thanks to the fine folks over at Monkey Paw Games, I can at least play the first game again, as it’s gotten a PSOne Classics reissue. Yeah, yeah, I’d prefer it on a disc with a bunch of other PSOne games, but that’s not going to happen, so this is the next best thing. Like Klonoa and before it, Pandemonium!, Tomba uses a “2.5D” perspective that combines traditional side-scrolling gameplay with occasional plane shifts into different parts of the 3D environment. It’s also got some light RPG elements (but isn’t a RPG a tall) and is one of those games that will keep a smile on your face from the moment you fire it up. I’d actually LOVE to see Monkey Paw get more PSOne games out (including a ton of the imports I have here), but I guess I should go bug them about it on their site, right?