Review: Street Fighter IV (PS3, 360)

Street Fighter is back and better than ever.  Capcom's outrageously popular Street fighter series has accomplished "the impossible" in its latest title: reinvent while maintaining the roots of the game.  I know it almost sounds like an oxymoron, but I assure you it is not.  While all new 3D rendered graphics and beautiful art styling take the series to a whole new level appearance wise, the main gameplay mechanics stay intact.  The fighter is still true to the Street fighter II roots in that it is strictly 2D.

A few new characters have been added to the series (Seth, Rufus, and Abel to name a few) but most of the lineup is compiled from you favorites like Ryu, Ken, Guile, and Chun-Li.  The gameplay remains solid as a rock while the story remains shallow and lame.  There is a new last boss named Seth... and he is the worst part about the game.  He is quite possibly the cheapest character in fighting game history.  I'm not exaggerating either, I've lowered the final score of the game because it is THAT bad.  Also, if you think you can alleviate the situation by lowering the difficulty, you're in for a rude awakening.  Seth fights exactly the same in every difficulty so unlocking characters (especially Akuma and Gouken) is not so much fun. (see image below for Seth)
Aside from the gorgeous graphics and solid gameplay, there are several gameplay modes to tickle your fancy.  From training mode to challenge mode, this game has a lot to do.  Let's not forget the online battle mode either!  There really is no difference between the PS3 version and 360 version other than the fact that if you want to use the d-pad for movement, you'll want to go with the PS3 version because the 360 d-pad is just awful.  The analog sticks on both consoles are a little sloppy but practice makes perfect.  As a side note, I thought I would also share the sexual exploitation in the game.  All of the girls in the game have unrealistically bouncy (almost like they float) breasts, and Cammy... well, I'll just show you a picture...  The left is the first thing it show when you start a fight with her and the right is her while fighting.  I'm not complaining by any means (I love it), but I thought I'd inform :)

On that note, Street Fighter IV scores a 9 out of 10.

9/10

-CA

Review: Noby Noby Boy (PSN-PS3)

Before I get into this review, I have to address an issue I've found with the Playstation Network.  Hardly any of thier games have demos, whereas if you went on, say, Xbox Live... Every XBL game has a demo.  Playstation needs to hop on that train... ANYWHO!

From the creators of the strange yet entertaining Katamari Damacy comes this... strange yet entertaining game.  Noby Noby Boy!  The game's premise is pretty straightforward, you control a character called BOY and you stretch him out and eat things to make him grow.  When BOY grows larger, GIRL also becomes larger as well, but that isn't all there is to it.  The game has you connected to the PSN and when anyone's BOY grows, it makes GIRL grow (there is only 1 GIRL).  Now, GIRL is far larger than boy, and when she grows, she grows outward from Earth to reach other planets.  So everyone that owns the game is working together to reach other planets.  So far, GIRL has reached the moon and is heading towards Mars.  Each planet is a level of the game, so everyone is working together to reach the next level.  Pretty unique concept if you ask me.

To those who enjoy more straightforward and/or linear game such as the Halo series, you may not enjoy this game as you will probably start playing and say, "So all I do is run around and eat stuff?  This is dumb..."  Whereas the more imaginative gamer would think otherwise as there are many things to do as you run around and eat things.  In the end, the game is a mere $5 so even if you do not like it, you didn't lose much dough in the process.  On the other hand if you do like it, that's a good game for 5 bucks!  

Noby does include trophies however there are only a few and there is no platinum trophy.  All trophies are attainable without getting to any planets that have not yet been unlocked.  There is no word yet though on whether or not they will add trophies as more planets come available or whether the game will continue on past pluto.  I give Noby Noby Boy a 7 out of 10.  The unique concept and gameplay won me over, but it definitely isn't a game for everyone.  The $5 price point helps though!

7/10

-CA

Upcoming games to look out for

Like most years, 2009 has started out slow with in terms of big games being released.  But, alas, January is over and the games are about to flow.  Tomorrow, the sci-fi horror shooter F.E.A.R. 2, which has received mass praise after its demo was released, ships out for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.  While I didn't write an article about it on here, I was thoroughly impressed with the F.E.A.R. 2 demo and can't wait to get my hands on it.  For those who only have a Wii and still want a fun and gory experience, do not worry.  Sega has you covered with the all new House of the Dead: Overkill.  We only hope that they have improved the voice overs from the past games.  That's not all to expect from Sega this week though, for you fans of classics, Sega has created the Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for the Xbox 360 and PS3.  This is not another Sonic compilation game!  This game includes 40 (THAT'S NO TYPO, FORTY!) classic Genesis games, oh, and did I mention it's only $30?  You want a list?  You got it: 

• Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
• Alien Storm
• Altered Beast
• Beyond Oasis
• Bonanza Bros.
• Columns
• Comix Zone
• Decap Attack starring Chuck D. Head
• Dr. Robotnik's MBM
• Dynamite Headdy
• Ecco the Dolphin
• Ecco II: The Tides of Time
• E-SWAT
• Fatal Labyrinth
• Flicky
• Gain Ground
• Golden Axe I
• Golden Axe II
• Golden Axe III
• Kid Chameleon
• Phantasy Star II
• Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom
• Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
• Ristar
• Shining in the Darkness
• Shining Force
• Shining Force 2
• Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
• Sonic 3D Blast
• Sonic and Knuckles
• Sonic Spinball
• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2
• Sonic the Hedgehog 3
• Streets of Rage
• Streets of Rage 2
• Streets of Rage 3
• Super Thunder Blade
• Vectorman
• Vectorman 2

There are more games than this that will be unlockable as well.  Finally a classic game collection with good games!  But this week isn't the end of it!  Oh no, in two and a half weeks (Feb 27th) Killzone 2 ships out!  Based off the demo (whether you preordered it or downloaded it from the European PSN store), this is going to be a system seller.  The PS3 has had a hard time getting a legitimate system seller like Microsoft's Halo series.  Metal Gear Solid 4 is probably considered its strongest "system seller" at the moment, but a lot more people would go for an fps then a stealth third person action/shooter.  Killzone 2 is a solid shooter with insane graphics (best looking game yet? maybe...) and great action.  If the new multiplayer scheme is a winner, Killzone 2 will be a system seller for sure.  

If that wasn't enough, psp owners will finally get to dust off their fancy little portables come March 3rd when Sega releases Phantasy Star Portable.  The Phantasy Star series has a pretty strong following and his title will hopefully bring some life back into the psp.  It is basically a new and updated version of Phantasy Star Universe with a nice wireless multiplayer feature.  Does Sega stop there?  Nope!  They recently announced Phantasy Star Zero for the Nintendo DS which is a prequel to the hit title Phantasy Star Online that was released years ago for Sega's Dreamcast, then eventually Xbox, Gamecube, and the PC.  No date has been released for that game yet though.  Wii fans not happy with the gory'ness of House of the Dead, well Capcom has you covered with Dead Rising: Chop til you Drop which is coming February 24th.  Also, for you fans of fighters, Feb 17th marks the day of Street Fighter IV for Xbox 360 and PS3.

Also on March 3rd, Halo Wars for Xbox 360.  Microsoft's hit fps goes rts with this prequel to the hit Halo series.  A demo is currently available on XBL.  March 13th brings Capcom's survival horror series Resident Evil back to life with Resident Evil 5.  The demo for that is already out on PSN and XBL for download offering a look at two different levels.  If none of the games mentioned in this article appeal to you, then there's something wrong with you.  In the next month, there's something for everyone coming out.

-CA

Killzone 2 Demo Downloadable in the US

Yes, its true, boys and girls. It is possible to download the Killzone 2 demo here in the states. Through a surprisingly easy and deviant process (and legal for the suits out there), you'll be dropping Helghast in no time. To do this, simply hop online to www.playstation.com and create a European account (prefferably a UK account), follow the login process, and your on your way. You do, however have to create a new user on your Playstation 3 console, but that only takes a total of 3 seconds. You might also want to make a new gmail account and tell them that you're in the UK as well. My Playstation 3 is downloading the demo as you are reading this, lets hope it was worth the trouble.

Killzone 2 is slated to release stateside on February 27th, 2009

Thanks to Kotaku.com for the heads up!

-JD