Well, it’s here and Samurai Shodown has landed on Nintendo’s Switch in fine form. Those who pre-ordered the physical version via online sources or walk in to Best Buy or GameStop to buy the game before March 25, 2020 are getting two nice goodies, a free controller skin (seen below) and a digital copy of Samurai Shodown 2, a port from the Neo Geo Mini.
Digital pre-orders just get the Neo-Geo game because the process of teleportation won’t be figured out until about… (checks year 2100 textbook) the year 2093, but even then it’ll be a highly flawed process and only available through some sort of Amazon Prime Plus Plus Premium service, with a 20% success rate. In English, you might want to go out and get some brief exercise to pick up a copy of the game much sooner. Good cardio if you sort of double-time it there and back, I hear. Well, read this post first, of course – I need the traffic before you go out in it.
That’s going to be a hefty Amazon bill, but shipping might be free, at least if you use Prime.
I’ve yet to play KeokeN Interactive’s fantastic-looking Deliver Us The Moon, but it’s a title I’ve been following since about a year back when I stumbled upon it as a PC game. Now coming to consoles in April (PS4 and Xbox One) and Summer 2020 on Switch courtesy of publisher Wired Productions, this epic adventure game looks like the it’s right up my alley.
Well it’s also the closest I’ll get to leaving the planet anytime soon and going to the Moon, but one would guess at this point that any space travel is going to fall outside of the very, very wealthy or those interested in mostly scientific pursuits, as space isn’t for totally clueless people because of too many variables (such as “Hey! Let’s play in the airlock!”) preventing them from a successful trip there and back.
I’ll tell you, games can get you in trouble if you’re careless. Case in point, SNK’s Samurai Shodown has always caused me trouble because it’s intentionally misspelled the word “Showdown” since its initial installment in arcades in 1993. Which has lead me to ducking fists and feet ever since when I try to correct a fan of the franchise on occasion who spells the word incorrectly outside of the game title. (CHOP!Ow!)
Hey, sorry! My internal spellcheck just goes haywire when I see it. It’s not your fault! Anyway, here’s a peek at few trailers and screens look at some new content for the upcoming Unreal-4 powered Nintendo Switch version, ($49.99) which is coming on February 25, 2020 and looks pretty nice, by the way. Even nicer, players who pre-order the digital or physical version of the game before its release date will get a neat freebie -a port of the Neo Geo Pocket Color game, Samurai Shodown! 2 as a bonus.
Better still, pre-orders for the physical version from GamsStop or Best Buy get a cool bonus controller skin, so hit up one of these retailers if you’re in the US and want one before the game ships.
I still have my old NGPC here, so even though the Switch port will be an exclusive to the console, It’ll bring back memories playing it now on Nintendo’s home and portable wodder system. I actually missed the PS4 version of the game when it was last year (oops), but I think I can still nab a copy from the PlayStation Store when I need to.
Oh, this trailer is a total riot, though, zombie shark and all. If it were a movie, I’d go see it just because it’s about as perfect it gets in terms of the exploitation elements alone. The trailer reminded me of some of those old grindhouse movies whose trailers seemed endless and/or packed in so much mind-blowing content that you HAD to see the final results and nope, you weren’t disappointed at all.
Er, hold on to something – here we go:
Zombie sharks seem to be the least crazy thing here, right?
We’re gonna need another boat to put all of this stuff in…
February 4, 2020 on PC as an Epic Store exclusive, or on consoles for PS4 and Xbox One. Go here if you’re going to pre-order.
Rebellion’s intense and gruesomely gory (and fun as hell) Zombie Army series (a mutated spin on its Sniper Elite series) is getting a fresh take and some icky, fitting enemies (the zombie shark demands attention!) in the Zombie Army 4: Dead War trailer below that’s definitely not for the squeamish. Me, I got a big grin on my face seeing what’s coming and yes, that game engine Rebellion has got me in awe of the zombie carnage on display. Uh, carnage to the zombies, that is. Nope, this game isn’t for the wee ones and sort of needs to be played at night with a good pair of headphones on for best results.
Some early alpha gameplay footage is below the jump, but yeah, it’s not for everyone. I also kind of doubled down and ran Rebellion’s older introduction to the franchise so you can see what to expect with the fourth entry. Hey, I was cleaning out my inbox as I’m almost out of space. I guess it’s a good thing I found that after all.
Oh, boy. Severin Films has a nifty set of three horror-filled films you’ll want and a hell of a lot of ways to order them.
Here you go, in the speediest manner as possible. You get to do all the clicking and buying, I get to be as lazy as hell because it’s been a busy day and my poor wrists are giving out thanks to too much typing. Get ready to pick up some nicely restored vintage sleaze:
So sleazy, but you know that’s how you like it, uh-huh.
Reflex check: “100, Easy right, care rocks inside – don’t cut” Or something like that. You’ll know what to do as that turn comes up.
As a longtime fan of the World Rally Championship series since the PlayStation 2 days when developer Evolution Studios created five of that system’s best rally games, it’s been a series of up and down yumps as the franchise has changed hands over the years. The team at KT Racing (aka Kylotonn ) has held the WRC game license since 2015 and have improved the overall quality with each release, offering rally fans on PC and consoles the opportunity to test their skills on a wide variety of courses with a wide range of world-class rally cars. The upcoming WRC 8, published by Bigben Interactive certainly looks to be the best game in the series to date, as the dev team is looking to reach fans who crave even more realism to the virtual version of the sport.
As impressive as that trailer is, the game’s Career Mode is going the extra mile in terms of delivering the goods on a few fronts. Check out the details in the video below:
Want more? Okay, then – there are a few pre-order incentives below the yump (ha and ha, but yeah, go look at them).
My exact expression when I found out Criterion was making a dream box set of mine come true.
Wow. My wallet just jumped out the window when I saw that Criterion is issuing its 1000th set in glorious style with Godzilla: The Showa Era Films (1954-1975). The funny thing is, last month, all these flicks popped up on a cable channel and I caught most of them while wondering at one point if they were going to be fully remastered and *BOOM* – along comes this news and my wallet taking a dive onto the pavement. *Sigh*… it looks as if it’s time for another DAF game collection fire sale, as this one’s bound to sell out fast on the pre-order front and nope, I’m neither paying some ebay scalper way too much money nor holding out for the cheap knockoffs that will pack that site and fool a few folks thinking they scored a deal from some “clueless” reseller from overseas.
Color me and me inner eight-year old thrilled. Yours too, I’d bet.
Who’da thunk a game made way back in 2004 would be so damn… timely?
Hooooo, boy. Some people at Devolver Digital and very likely famed Japanese developer FromSoftware have quite the wry sense of humor. Metal Wolf Chaos XD is finally arriving for PS4, Xbox One, and PC (via gog.com and STEAM) for $24.99 on August 6, 2019 and I’ll let the more history-oriented types get the eye-pop on that date’s significance. Pre-orders are open now and each version has a nifty little bonus exclusive to them (which will frustrate some completist types, but so it goes).
Nope, this photo is NOT from the future. I didn’t realize the date was incorrect on my camera until I uploaded this pic. Oops.
Anyway, this remastered gem also seems to be a digital-only release, which is a shame for those who prefer physical over digital games. That said, although I still have my original modded Xbox as well as a Japanese Xbox and an import copy of the game, I’ll still be more than happy to jump on this updated version of the 2004 classic, which was (and still is) pretty outrageous as well as so intentionally jingoistic that some players who don’t get the humor on display may not get the joke. Then again, you can’t take at all seriously the premise of a mech-suited President of the United States of America taking on his rogue (and also mech-suited) Vice-President after a coup attempt leaves the country at war. Well a few places at war, actually.
While not without its minor flaws (which can be patched in future updates), Warhammer Chaosbane ($59.99) is a solid and worthy ARPG genre fans should absolutely take for a spin. EKO Studios has cooked up a pretty addictive game that, once you’re hooked into it, delivers exactly what it intends and does it well enough that some if its issues can be overlooked thanks to the core gameplay, which works even better in co-op if you’ve a few friends to play with.
As a solo experience, it’s also quite entertaining, with a sort of Dungeons & Dragons Heroes vibe (as in longish levels and plenty of tough foes to vanquish when you go it alone). Okay, so it’s more or less a Warhammer version of the original Diablo, but this ends up being an excellent thing overall thanks to ten difficulty levels that mean you’ll never get to say this game is too easy if you’re at all serious. With the extra modes (Expedition, Boss Rush, Relic Hunt) and the developer planning more free and paid content in the future including at least one additional chapter expansion pack and a load of bonuses, this one’s going to be an evergreen game for ARPG fans who want more of what it delivers.
I noted Diablo over Diablo III because to me, EKO seems to have wisely went back to the grimmer version of Blizzard’s classic over the more colorful (yet still quite grim) third installment. Despite the repetition in layouts and static level art, there’s a gritty, nasty vibe in the first two chapters that feature either gloomy sewer maps or a ravaged village packed with kill-crazy demons of a few varieties. The third chapter’s outdoor map, a forest area full of deadly creatures, almost looks too clean, but the somewhat linear library maps with their menacing vibe more than make up for that flaw. That said, the fourth chapter knocks it out of the park with what I’ll describe as the world’s richest kid’s brand-spanking *new* dungeon play set, Deluxe Version. in other words, I love this map, folks:
Where the other maps tend to have a static look to them despite a few destructible barrels and such, Here you get a sort of Castle Grayskull maze dungeon on steroids with stone, shiny metal of a few types and gracefully writhing tentacles all vying for attention with the fiercest enemies in the game outside the main bosses. Although the game ends up reusing one re-lit familiar setting for that final push to the end boss, that final fight is set in a wildly ornate (albeit tiny) arena where you’ll need to be fast and determined to take down a pretty dangerous foe (Protip: don’t die!).
Dying during a boss fight allows you to start from the beginning, which is a better alternative that quitting and replaying a map. Interestingly enough, on my first play, the game crashed during the last boss fight after I died twice, but when I fired up the game again, I was surprised that I was able to continue from the beginning of the battle with no penalty. The hilarious thing was I did beat the boss on that last try with a measly 12 HP left. I thought I was a goner as the boss was about to lay down a hit, but it died and I nearly died myself from thinking I’d made it that far only to have to try again.
I’ll tell you, games can get you in trouble if you’re careless. Case in point, SNK’s 
While not without its minor flaws (which can be patched in future updates), 
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 