Sega has just heavily discounted a number of their mobile apps, including Sonic 4. Sadly, most of the discounting seems to be iOS-centric, but there are a few Android price cuts as well. Prices are valid from now until the end of the day on 2/14, so get crackin’!

Personally, I can recommend Sonic 4 and Sonic CD, but your mileage my vary on the other titles; mostly due to the oddly designed control schemes. Hit the jump for a full list of titles.

iOS

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 (iPad) – $2.99/£1.99 was $4.99/£2.99

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 (iPhone) – $1.99/£1.49 was $3.99/£2.49

Sonic CD -$2.99/£1.99 was $4.99/£2.99

Streets of Rage 2 -$0.99/£0.69 was $2.99/£1.99

Streets of Rage 3 – $0.99/£0.69 was $2.99/£1.99

Altered Beast -$0.99/£0.69 was $2.99/£1.99

Golden Axe 2 -$0.99/£0.69 was $2.99/£1.99

Golden Axe 3 -$0.99/£0.69 was $2.99/£1.99

Gunstar Hero -$0.99/£0.69 was $2.99/£1.99

Virtua Fighter 2 - $0.99/£0.69 was $1.99/£1.49

Super Monkey Ball- $0.99/£0.69 was $1.99/£1.49

Super Monkey Ball 2 - $0.99/£0.69 was $1.99/£1.49

Super Monkey Ball 2: Sakura Edition - $0.99/£0.69 was $2.99/£2.99

Android

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 – $1.99/£1.28 was $3.99/£2.56

Sonic CD – $2.99/£1.92 was $4.99/£3.20

[Source: Sega]

SoulCalibur has always been a flashy franchise — in more ways than one. When the original came out on the Sega Dreamcast, I was completely awestruck, and wasted hundreds of hours clanging swords and flinging people out of the ring.

By the time SoulCalibur III rolled out, I was a bit disenfranchised, and became more a casual fan — that is, until I came back full circle for SoulCalibur V.

First things first — SoulCalibur V’s engine and mechanics are rock solid. The game looks great, plays great, and the netcode is superb (but more on that later). Considering how much time has passed in the series, nearly every character looks and feels fresh, and even the ones that don’t age look great in V.

Mechanics wise, SCV adds a few new moves and changes to the series. Firstly, there is no Soul Gauge — it has been replaced by a “Super Meter” of sorts, that allow you to execute a number of different special moves, up to and including a Critical Edge attack (which is reminiscent of a Hyper Combo from most Capcom VS games). There’s also a new Just Guard technique, which is executed by quickly pressing and releasing the guard button, that pretty much replaces the less useful Guard Impact.

All these new additions are very fresh, and add a new layer of depth to combat. Critical Edges help newer players gain an advantage in combat if they can learn to combo them in for high amounts of easy damage. On the flipside, Just Guarding is an incredibly hard mechanic to master, meaning Pros will have a lot of fun taking care of scrubs after some practice.

Overall the game has a good balance to it, and manages to mix a number of solid fighting game mechanics together, while retaining that unique weapon combat feel the series has always had. Additionally, Ezio, the game’s guest combatant, could easily be included in future games as a standard character. His fighting style and character design fit the SoulCalibur universe like no other guest star before — Assassin’s Creed and SoulCalibur fans alike are sure to enjoy him.

So for all you single player fans out there, how good is the content? Well, unfortunately, SCV’s story mode is short, and only occasionally sweet. Your enjoyment of the story will most likely entirely hinge on your enjoyment of Patroklos — a character that I personally found very uninteresting. Only a few times will you play as his equally uninteresting sister, Pyrrha, which is kind of like a less fun Sophitia .

As for the actual content, it’s pretty bare-bones this time around. If you’re wiling to skip the game’s cut-scenes (and most of you will due to their fan-fiction quality), you can complete the story mode in thirty minutes. It’s kind of odd, but SoulCalibur V’s story mode is handled by an utterly different developer — CyberConnect2 — which may explain the drop in quality.

Quick battle mode immediately reminded me of Virtua Fighter 4, in that you have the ability to battle over two hundred different unique CPUs, and earn titles/gear through their defeat. In this mode, you’ll be able to sort all the way from beginner to advanced CPUs — 99% of which are unique creations using the game’s creation mode. Quick Battle was fun for a while, but my interest quickly deteriorated in favor of online play.

Instead of a few half-baked single player modes, SCV would have greatly benefited from a “Challenge Tower” Mode that recent fighters have thankfully been offering. It would have given new players a chance to slowly learn all the game’s mechanics, and have fun doing it. Instead, they’re just going to have to tough out Quick Battle and Arcade until they have the guts to go online.

The character creator from Broken Destiny and SCIV is also intact — and it’s extremely expanded in V. You’re allowed to use your created fighter in every mode outside of Story. The only real complaint I have is that Project Soul could have easily added a lot more styles.

To seemingly make way for the story mode’s concise focus on Patroklos’ journey, the arcade mode is extremely bare. Sadly, each character doesn’t have a story driven arcade mode. Instead, you’ll play six rounds against various CPUs — that’s it. After completion, you can share your completion time with your friends via leaderboards. To say this is dissapointing is an understatement.

I doubt very many people will enjoy Patroklos, and as a result, there’s no real extra story to be had with most of the game’s other characters. However, we all know fighting games are mostly about multiplayer, and if Project Soul was willing to make that sacrifice in terms of single player to produce a better game, so be it.

Multiplayer wise, Soul Calibur V is pretty much all you can ask for in a fighting game. It has online lobbies, ranked play with a solid matchmaking system (that allows you to actually only play people of higher skill level if you wish), and a solid netcode that’s basically lag-free. Speaking of the lobbies, they’re easily the best part of the online experience.

Not only do you get to watch full fights in a window in the lobby, but you get to chat with other fighters as well. The ability to text and voice chat really adds to the enjoyment of the game’s all new Global Colosseo, the granddaddy of all online lobbies.

With this bad boy, you’ll be able to go in and play constantly with a gigantic amount of players, and even enter and compete in tournaments online.  Unlike most other fighting games that feature smaller lobbies, you’ll never sit there without a match — you can challenge people pretty much every free second you have. With the Global Colosseo, Project Soul has sucessfully created a way to facilitate community growth in the game itself, which is always a plus for new players looking to get into the tourney scene.

Overall, Soul Calibur V is a great title that will be sure to win back fans of the series. It features a solid mixture of new and old mechanics, as well as an incredibly fun and rewarding online playground.

This review is based on a retail copy of the Xbox 360 game Soul Calibur V.

[Achievements that require no explanation will be branded as such]

A lot of people out there have been having issues obtaining a number of SoulCalibur V’s cryptic achievements, so I decided to share some tips.

There are a number of unlocks that can be obtained simply through completing the game’s single player modes and ranking up online, but a number of them are unlocked through in-game options and through your combat prowess — as well as your general knowledge of SoulCalibur V’s new mechanics.

Hit the jump to figure out how to get every achievement or trophy — if you’re new to the game, you might learn a few things too.

History Repeats

Battle in SOULCALIBUR V for the first time (excluding training and VS battle).

(Self Explanatory)

A Soul Coalesces

Edit a player license.

The easiest way to obtain this is to quickly create a character, then press Start on the main menu and change your license portrait to that character.

Beginning of Destiny

Register 3 rivals.

Every time you play someone online you have a chance to register them as a rival. After completing a match, win or lose, you can register them immediately into one of three slots.

Proof of a Fighter

Win consecutive matches on Xbox LIVE/PSN

Win two matches on Xbox Live/PSN in a row

Mercenary of War

Fight 30 times on Xbox LIVE/PSN

Simply compete in 30 matches on Xbox Live/PSN

Strategist of War

Fight 75 times on Xbox LIVE/PSN

Simply compete in 75 matches on Xbox Live/PSN

Hero Carved in History

Fight 100 times on Xbox LIVE/PSN

Simply complete 100 matches on Xbox Live/PSN

Carry Out Your Beliefs

Win 5 times in one style on Xbox LIVE/PSN

Use one character (or one created character) and win five times. “Style” = character.

Courageous Warrior

Win 20 times on Xbox LIVE/PSN

Simply win 20 times on Xbox Live/PSN

Conqueror of the Arena

Win 50 times on Xbox LIVE/PSN

Simply win 50 times on Xbox Live/PSN

Synchronize DNA

Use Ezio in a player match.

Use Ezio one time in a non-ranked online match

Awakened to Violence

Reach E4 rank in ranked match.

Play enough ranked games to get to rank E4.

Reason to Fight For

Reach E1 rank in ranked match.

Play enough ranked games to get Rank E1.

First Step of a Legend

Reach D1 rank in ranked match.

Play enough ranked games to get Rank D1.

Sings Own Praise

Upload a replay of your win.

This one is tricky. Right after a match, upload a video. Then, go to “replay” in the online play menu (not your player card). Go to the Battle Log section and save one of the uploads. Then, go to the “My Battles” section to complete the requirement.

Notes on Rivals

Play back another player’s replay.

The easiest way to do this is register a rival, press Start and view their player card, then view a replay.

Path to Glory

Quick Battle: defeat 50 warriors.

You must defeat 50 CPUs in the Quick Battle Single player mode. If you’ve already beaten a CPU it will display their name in white. If you haven’t, it will be green. Note that you can sort/flip the quick battle menu with the option at the bottom of the screen. The easiest way to gauge this is to view your “titles earned”, not “wins”.

Road to the Duel

Quick Battle: defeat 150 warriors.

You must defeat 150 CPUs in the Quick Battle Single player mode. If you’ve already beaten a CPU it will display their name in white. If you haven’t, it will be green. Note that you can sort/flip the quick battle menu with the option at the bottom of the screen. The easiest way to gauge this is to view your “titles earned”, not “wins”.

Sudden Temptation

Quick Battle: defeat all warriors.

Quick Battle has 240 total warriors. You must defeat all of them. This is easily the hardest achievement in the game. The easiest way to gauge this is to view your “titles earned”, not “wins”.

Perfect Trainee

Arcade: clear Asia route.

Go to the single player Arcade section. Select the Asia route. You can set this to easy, or if you choose hard, you can get two achievements in one (War Veteran).

Purge of the Holy

Story: clear episode 1.

Self Explanatory – story mode progress. By skipping cutscenes you can complete the story in 30 minutes.

Shields Come Together

Story: clear episode 8.

Self Explanatory – story mode progress. By skipping cutscenes you can complete the story in 30 minutes.

Resurrection of Order

Story: clear episode 16.

Self Explanatory – story mode progress. By skipping cutscenes you can complete the story in 30 minutes.

Home is Faraway

Story: clear final episode.

Self Explanatory – story mode progress. By skipping cutscenes you can complete the story in 30 minutes.

War Veteran

Arcade: clear any route with difficulty set on hard.

Choose any Arcade Mode path and beat it on Hard. All paths offer similar difficult levels.

Mask Another’s Memory

Arcade: clear a leaderboard route with a record better than your rival.

To make this easier on yourself, register all 3 rivals. Go to the Arcade section and select “Leaderboard route”. If your rivals have times, simply beat them to unlock this. If your rivals do not have times, register new ones online — the more rivals that have times, the better. Nightmare and Mitsurugi are particular good CPU bashers.

Usurped True Name

Quick Battle: win against 10 players with titles and use the obtained title on the player license.

Earn this in Quick Battle. After 10 wins, simply switch your title to the last CPU you beat (pay attention to their title). If you go over 10, you can simply switch to the next CPU you defeat’s title.

Pursuit of Obsession 

Quick Battle: defeat Harada TEKKEN.

To find Harada TEKKEN easily, switch the criteria for quick battle search to “Advanced”, “Japan”. Cycle through the list until you find him. He’s fairly hard to beat as he uses cheap tactics. I found Ezio’s crossbow attacks or Yoshimitsu’s spins to be the easiest way to defeat him, as well as constantly attacking low with most characters.

No-hitter 

Ranked Match: win 10 times with Ezio.

Simply win 10 times as Ezio ranked online. Do this sooner than later unless you plan on learning Ezio, because by the time you rank up, everyone else will be more skilled than you.

Skills for Duels 

Legendary Souls: win with brave edge.

After you beat the story, Legendary Souls mode will unlock. It is a boss rush mode. To obtain the achievement, win a match with a brave edge attack (these vary from character to character).

Passionate Artist 

Creation: create a character with full-on coordination (used everything except for height).

Create a throwaway character with every single equipment slot filled. Hats, armor, stickers; everything. To be sure you get it, fill your portrait up entirely and take a snapshot, then save the character. Your creation will look ridiculous, but at least you’ll unlock the requirement.

Colorful Illusion 

Creation: take a thumbnail by manually setting a decoration frame and background.

After creating a character to go the snapshot menu option. Create a full background and both frame options. Take a picture.

Fetal Soul

Player level reaches 5.

“Player Level” is earned through doing everything in the game — not just online ranked play. You can earn points by playing every mode.

Throbbing Soul

Player level reaches 50.

“Player Level” is earned through doing everything in the game — not just online ranked play. You can earn points by playing every mode.

Soul Fulfilled 

Player level reaches maximum.

“Player Level” is earned through doing everything in the game — not just online ranked play. You can earn points by playing every mode.

Stalwart Barbarian 

Perform a wall hit 50 times.

When you knock a player into a wall, whether it’s destructible or not, it’s considered a wall hit. You cannot “cheat” this achievement/trophy by doing it in Versus against a dummy player, but you can boost this in online player matches with a friend.

Adored by Heaven 

Perform 20 grapple breaks.

Press L2 or LT right as a player is going to grab you to break it. Eventually you will easily earn this achievement even by accident. You cannot “cheat” this achievement/trophy by doing it in Versus against a dummy player, but you can boost this in online player matches with a friend.

Like a Flowing Stream 

Successfully perform a just guard 5 times.

Press Guard the moment a player attacks and quickly release it to perform a Just Guard. You cannot “cheat” this achievement/trophy by doing it in Versus against a dummy player, but you can boost this in online player matches with a friend.

Momentary Pleasure 

Successfully perform an impact 100 times.

Impacts have been changed in Soul Calibur V — they are basically obsolete in SCV given how good Just Guarding is. But for the purposes of this achievement, press back or forward, and (A x B x G).

Black Sword of Death 

K.O. with critical edge 30 times.

Simply finish an enemy with a critical edge (super, in other games) 30 times. Press DF, DF A+B+K to execute it with all characters when the enemy has low health.

Hands of the Abyss 

Win by ring out 50 times.

Self Explanatory. You cannot “cheat” this achievement/trophy by doing it in Versus against a dummy player, but you can boost this in online player matches with a friend.

Parrier of Swords

Perfect win 50 times.

Win without taking a hit 50 times. You cannot “cheat” this achievement/trophy by doing it in Versus against a dummy player, but you can boost this in online player matches with a friend.

Wind of Battle 

Reach over 87,600 m in total movement distance in battle.

Self Explanatory. This one could take you a while.  You cannot “cheat” this achievement/trophy by doing it in Versus against a dummy player, but you can boost this in online player matches with a friend.

Alluring Kaleidoscope 

Land a brave edge 100 times.

A Brave Edge differs from character to character, but is executed after certain moves with (A+B+K). Look up your character’s movesets to figure out each Brave Edge. You cannot “cheat” this achievement/trophy by doing it in Versus against a dummy player, but you can boost this in online player matches with a friend.

Gale Forces 

K.O. the opponent 25 times with an attack after a quick move.

Press Up or Down twice to quickly move, then press an attack — KO an enemy 25 times with this ability. You cannot “cheat” this achievement/trophy by doing it in Versus against a dummy player, but you can boost this in online player matches with a friend.

Never Ending Effort 

Land an attack 20,000 times.

Self Explanatory. You cannot “cheat” this achievement/trophy by doing it in Versus against a dummy player, but you can boost this in online player matches with a friend.

Footprints of Soldiers 

Defeat 100 male characters.

Self Explanatory. You cannot “cheat” this achievement/trophy by doing it in Versus against a dummy player, but you can boost this in online player matches with a friend. This is probably easiest attained with defeating all 240 characters in Quick Mode.

Give in to Temptation 

Defeat 100 female characters.

Self Explanatory. You cannot “cheat” this achievement/trophy by doing it in Versus against a dummy player, but you can boost this in online player matches with a friend. This is probably easiest attained with defeating all 240 characters in Quick Mode.

Fancy of a Mad King 

Guard burst 30 times.

When your Life Gauge changes to red, you are suseptible to a guard burst, which means your guard will be broken and you will be stunned for a few seasons. Against turtling opponents, don’t let up when their meter is yellow, and break their guard 30 times to earn this achievement.  You cannot “cheat” this achievement/trophy by doing it in Versus against a dummy player, but you can boost this in online player matches with a friend.

Lively Pub 

Change the BGM in options.

Go to the options menu, and change any stage’s default background music. You can earn this faster than any achievement/trophy in the game.

Revelations has a lot to live up to. It’s the first full Resident Evil game for a Nintendo handheld (barring remakes and mini-games) since Resident Evil Gaiden on the Gameboy Color.

It’s also the most impressive looking bit of software to date, and the first title to utilize the new Circle Pad Pro addition, launching the same day as the game itself. So is Revelations a system seller?

Read on to find out.

Right off the bat Revelations impresses with it’s new MT Framework engine – words really can’t describe how great it looks, and how the 3D effect adds to the presentation. Capcom really did an amazing job here, and for the first time, it really feels like Nintendo has provided us with hardware that can come close to a true console experience — if other developers can harness the power of the 3DS, it’ll really give the Vita a run for it’s money in 2012.

I won’t go into an in-depth review of the Circle Pad Pro (that’s worth a second article), but suffice to say it does it job in terms of offering an additional control scheme to Revelations. Adding the Circle Pad into the mix is extremely easy: you just attach it, and the game automatically calibrates it and switches to that scheme.

The Circle Pad brings two new mechanics to the standard setup: it adds an additional control stick, and it adds extra shoulder buttons that allow you to switch weapons and items easier. It’s by no means required, as the game controls just fine without it via the d-pad and touch screen, but it adds a little bit to the experience: if you’re so inclined to spend the extra $20 (note that a handful of other future games are already confirmed to have Circle Pad Pro support).

You can also walk and shoot, which I’m mostly indifferent to (although that function is not new to the series; a few games have allowed you to do so, such as Outbreak File#2). By holding the L button, you can either walk forwards or backwards while aiming/shooting, or strafe from side to side. Although it makes some combat against slower moving enemies a bit easier by backpedaling, you could simply opt to not do it as a personal handicap, so it’s not that big of a deal.

So what’s Revelations really like once you’re accustomed to the controls, and done ogling at the visuals? Well, at first, the game starts off in an abandoned, eerie cruise-ship that evokes more images of the Spencer Mansion than any other Resident Evil game since Code Veronica. The dark, tight spaces and creepy enemies that are part humanoid but definitely not human create a pretty tense atmosphere. So far so good, right? Unfortunately, Revelations gets increasingly more action oriented as it progresses — to a fault.

While you’ll quickly become enamored at the tight-knit style of the game, before you know it, you’re trekking across open mountain-tops and office buildings shooting wolves and hunters with shotguns and machine-guns. Because of the way the Chapters are split up, you’ll be constantly switching from the Cruise Ship to other areas of the world, in order to piece together the story. The problem is, pretty much every Chapter not set on the ship is uninteresting; as are the characters that are featured outside of series favorites Chris and Jill.

Mechanics wise, the game also makes an increasing effort to hold your hand throughout your time with it. Ammo at first seems dire, but eventually you’ll find so much that you’ll literally have to ditch a bunch of it. You’ll also find a number of weapons and weapon upgrades, and you’ll never be too far from an upgrade/weapon switch station, that will allow you to easily switch weapons and upgrade them to your heart’s content.

Items are also extremely easy to store, eliminating the tactical item management system that’s a staple of the series. While this may seem like a positive thing at first, you’ll quickly realize that the game is very, very easy since it allows you to pick up tons of ammo, plentiful herbs, 5 grenades, 5 distraction explosives, 5 depth charges, and so on, to carry around all at once — this is all addition into carrying around 3 guns at all times. You can pretty much pick up anything whenever you please, and you’re never really without — in fact there was only one time in the entire game where I ran low on ammo, and the room I was in had plenty of explosive canisters and health items to help me clear it.

In addition to your weaponry, you have access to a cumbersome “scanning” gun stolen directly out of Metroid Prime: the Genesis. You can use this scanner to find hidden items (which are mostly inconsequential) and scan enemies. Unfortunately, it’s pretty much never worth using, as the only reward you get for scanning enemies about to claw your face off is an extra health herb.

It feels really pointless to go through all of that effort for one herb, because of the sheer amount of them scattered across the game (like everything else). It would have added a lot more depth to Revelations, if, similar to Bioshock, pictures unlocked additional bonuses; or maybe even concept art. As it stands, scanning is kind of a vanilla mechanic.

In addition to ramping up the action in a jarring manner, Revelations also adds another odd design choice — a forced AI partner for the vast majority of the game. Now, unlike Resident Evil 5, which had an AI partner that could both die and steal your items, Relevation’s AI is invincible — but it feels like Capcom went overboard here.

If your AI partner is invincible, barely has any effect on actual combat, doesn’t have very interesting dialogue, and doesn’t really do any damage; why is he there? It’s almost as if Capcom wanted to apologize to the community for a forced AI partner in Resident Evil 5, so they just stuck it in arbitrarily as a compromise.

Personally, I think the game would have been much more effective if it was just Jill for 90% of the story, with a nostalgic meetup with Chris for the other 10% — as it stands, two’s a crowd. The odd decision to have a partner for most of the game considerably cuts down on the tension; especially when you’re partnered up with the extremely boring new characters.

That’s right, Revelations features side missions with characters who have personalities that are about as interesting as they look; which is to say, abysmal. For instance, there’s a tandem that actually go by the codenames “Jackass” and “Grinder”. One is a lonely computer nerd, and the other one is a smooth ladies man that isn’t afraid to knock on “geeks”.

If you think this sounds like the sitcom from hell — it is — and every session with these two is extremely unfun to play. In fact, a few of these missions are literally “walk down this hall; listen to this story element; kill this new enemy type; cut back to Jill”. Given how interesting the demo was, it almost feels like a bait and switch of Raiden esque proportions — except Raiden was actually an interesting addition to the Metal Gear Solid franchise, and I doubt “Jackass” will be making a memorable appearance anytime soon. It’s a shame, because Revelations looks and controls quite well, and for the most part, Jill’s sections are pretty enjoyable.

Thankfully, once a certain amount of chapters are complete (it took me around 9 hours to beat the game), you can unlock “Raid Mode”, which isn’t quite as expansive as the new staple Mercenaries mode, and feels more like Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3′s extra “rush” modes. Here, you’re tasked with defeating enemies from start to finish in one of forty levels — and you can even do it with one other player, both locally and online.

While it’s not as robust as a full Mercenaries Mode, it should still keep you entertained for quite a bit, as there’s a number of different upgrades and weapons that you can buy through beating stages and earning “BP” — you can even level up your characters the more you play them. I actually enjoyed this more than the real game, as it has some pretty interesting mechanics to it like special status effects for different monsters, such as “tough skinned”, and “quick” modifiers. Enemies also have a health bar on top of them, which adds an extra arcade-y feel.

Additionally, Revelations has it’s own achievement system that unlocks new items and costumes as you complete them, which is a really nice touch. For instance, dodging a certain number of attacks, or completing certain chapters will unlock different rewards, and as you complete the requirements, new ones will unlock. You can even earn new missions through Streetpass with other 3DS owners — and thankfully there’s a New Game+ mode with a higher difficulty.

As a core game, Revelations proves that the 3DS can not only display amazing console quality graphics, but control just fine as a handheld; with or without the optional circle pad add-on. Revelations comes up short in many respects, but ultimately it may be enough to scratch that Resident itch until Raccoon City and RE6 hit later this year.

This review is based on a retail copy of the 3DS game Resident Evil Revelations.

Geralt is finally headed to the 360 – after years of talk about The Witcher coming to consoles in some way shape or form, a date has finally materialized for the series’ second entry: April 17th, 2012.

While I thorougly enjoyed Witcher 1′s unique take on ambiguous morality, I haven’t had a chance to play Witcher 2 yet; but that may change this Spring. No word on whether or not the console version will fill you in on the first game’s events, given how it’s still a PC exclusive. Also, there’s no information on how smooth the porting process is going: given how buggy the second game as at launch, you can probably expect a ton of bugs.

These days, a true platformer is hard to come by – all too often modern developers attempt to combine puzzle elements into the genre, sometimes to the point of convolution.

While there have been some fine innovations to the genre, it’s always nice to get back to our roots every once in a while. Thankfully, Renegade Kid’s Mutant Mudds does just that, blending classic retro greats such as Gargoyle’s Quest, Virtual Boy Wario Land, and Kirby.

Like most retro games, Mutant Mudds goes from the title screen to gameplay in about 10 seconds. The story is pretty simple; a meteor containing evil Mudd creatures crash lands on Earth, and your Grandma immediately sends you off to save the world. Armed with a simple water jetpack/bazooka, it’s your job to carry out your Grandma’s will and defeat the Mudds over 20 unique stages, navigated through a Kirby-esque world map screen.

Similar to Gargoyle’s Quest, our hero will be able to jump, hover for a few seconds, and fire projectiles – that’s about it. Thankfully, despite the simplistic gameplay, Mutant Mudds controls extremely well, and for the most part, deaths are a result of your imperfections – not the game’s.

In addition to collecting 100 potential gems (that allow you to buy up to three upgrades), each stage has a secret entrance that leads you to either a “G” (Gameboy) or “V” (Virtual Boy) world – complete with monochrome and red wire-frame graphics respectively. These stages, honestly, are the meat of the game (and considering how you start at the beginning of a stage after death, they can also be time consuming).

While it only took me an hour and a half to beat all 20 standard levels and collect every gem, beating the secret worlds is another story – depending on your skill level/patience, it could easily take you 3-4 more hours to complete everything. As a general rule I didn’t think the standard game was that difficult, but the bonus stages are very, very challenging (nowhere near Super Meat Boy challenging, but difficult nonetheless).

To re-iterate how important the extras are, one of the best things about Mutant Mudds is how compelling it is to keep playing it. Just like Super Meat Boy, you can’t help but go for all 100 gems and the secret G/V worlds because they’re so accessible.

Stylistically, the 3D effects are well done, to the point where they’re not necessary, but add to the game’s visual appeal. They’re especially noticeable after you jump on an arrow block and move into the foreground and background, just like Virtual Wario. The graphics and soundtrack also fit the game perfectly, and the OST itself could have easily been considered “classic” in the 90s era.

Mudds does have a few shortcomings however, as there are no bosses in the game to break up the action. While this may come as a relief to people who are tired of the “obligatory” boss trope, I think given the gameplay, they could have easily fit into Mutant Mudd’s framework. Additionally, in the front-most plane, the camera zooms up extremely close, and it’s really hard to see the action.

Despite these issues, Mutant Mudds is an immediate purchase for fans of platformers. It offers up hours of entertainment alongside of crisp retro graphics and an amazing soundtrack, among tons of other throwbacks and  homages that are sure to please fans both old and new.

This review is based on a digital copy of the 3DS game Mutant Mudds.

Last years hit platformer Rayman Origins is set to hit Sony’s latest portable this month. While it doesn’t add any significant extra features outside of racing your friend’s ghosts or a zooming feature, it’s still the same great looking smooth playing title that’s featured on major consoles.

I was able to see the Vita version recently in action, and it really feels like one of the first authentic “console experiences” featured on a handheld – it’s that smooth. Origins is also set to hit the PC on March 30th!

Fret not, MMO fans – Guild Wars 2 is still on the way. Details so far about the game have been hazy-at-best, but nonetheless the MMO will have a beta this Spring, with the game to follow in 2012. The beta will be press only at first, but then will switch to a selective public offering (just like TOR).

Considering that by the developer’s own admission Guild Wars 1 was not an MMO (but a heavily instanced CORPG), I’m pretty excited for their second effort, which seems to be more of a complete, non-instanced experience; once again without monthly fees. Will Guild Wars 2 and Mists of Pandaria take a significant chunk out of TOR’s userbase? Tune in sometime this Fall/Winter to find out!

Source: ArenaNet

In case you just woke up, the internet sort of broke. Sort of. This particular scenario was a voluntary action engaged by many well known websites such as Destructoid.com, Reddit, and Wikipedia. But in a few months time, this breakage may not be voluntary: the Government could easily have the authority to shut these sites (and many others) down in violation of a new law titled SOPA (PIPA in the Senate). To read up on this very real, very serious law, visit this landing page by Google, Reddit itself, and others .

It goes without saying that Gamer Limit does not support SOPA – in it’s current form, or any form. Any law that impedes free speech and allows corporations to effectively control the media isn’t something that deserves support; it’s something worth fighting against.

Although we weren’t fast enough to join in on the blackout today, we will be following SOPA’s continued developments, supporting websites who continue to fight the good fight, and one day we will have a blackout of our own. Hopefully, if other big websites such as Facebook and Twitter join the war against SOPA, officials will realize exactly what it is the bill stands for. As of now, we can only hope to raise public awareness, so that one day we don’t have to explain to our posterity why the internet is such a barren place.

[These impressions are written from the perspective of a level 41 character (out of a possible level 50), with experience in Warzones, World PVP, Questing and Flashpoints - basically everything but Operations. A full scored review will not follow until we have explored and experienced the entire game. All screenshots are in-game.]

The Old Republic has a lot to live up to. After all the hype and all the budgeting, a game that is now known as “the most expensive MMO ever made”  is going up against a number of market leading MMOs, including the up and coming Guild Wars 2.

So is this “story driven MMO” worth $15 a month, or does it take the “Massive” out of MMO? Read on to find out.

Without hesitation, I have to state that TOR gets it’s hooks in you pretty deep pretty quickly. Almost every class has an incredibly intriguing setup, to the point where each intro could easily be the next Knights of the Old Republic game in their own right.

The Republic Trooper will find his transport ship shot down in the middle of a warzone, right at the beginning of the game; the slave-born Imperial Inquisitor will find himself vying for an apprenticeship against overwhelming odds – whatever your personal style is, there’s something here for everyone. Accompanying these gripping stories is a major selling point: full voice acting.

When I say “full”, I really mean “full” – even meaningless quests from lowly officers and beggars are voiced by a diverse array of individuals, and the acting itself is top shelf material (drawing from industry greats such as David Hayter and Nolan North as player characters).

The starting/early areas such as Hutta and Coruscant are sure to delight, and it’ll feel like you’re blazing through planets at 88 miles per hour. By the time you next check the clock, and realize you’re a human being again, you’ll be somewhere around level 15.

However, after that initial honeymoon, the big budget sheen starts to become just that; a sheen After you progress past the few first planets, the game starts to become more and more like a typical MMO. Quests will start to blend together into kill/fetch variations, and the worlds will become more barren/typical fare.

Initially, you were blazing through planets at what felt like a breakneck pace – now, you’re spending 4-5 levels per planet – and those levels are much harder to earn (incurring some grinding). Of course, you have the option to grind through Space Missions or PVP in addition to PVE content, but both of those aren’t exactly the most exciting options after doing them for the 50th time.

Space Missions will invoke some memories back of old on-rails Star Wars action; but keep in mind the key word here is “some”. These missions are completely guided, and feature your own personal ship, armed with missiles, lasers, and a few special abilities/weapons. At first, these missions were pretty enjoyable, and enough of them kept springing up to the point where the time spent playing them was worth the experience obtained.

Eventually, I realized that none of these missions are varied – they’re the same exact thing every time, down to the last enemy starship appearance. It had gotten to the point where I had memorized every nuance of enemy patterns and the ship’s heading and course – unless it was absolutely necessary, I avoided these missions after level 30. Hopefully, Bioware can patch in an AI system for these missions to keep things varied a bit.

Warzones are also similarly boring after repeated play. At the current moment, there are only 3 missions: Huttball (basketball/soccer), a Hoth-centric Capture the Point/Domination, and a Bombing Run variant set in a hangar. In my opinion, Huttball is a lost cause, as most players ignore the ball in favor of killing each other in the middle.

The Bombing Run is also not the most exciting gametype, as it’s incredibly easy to defend a door (any damage will stop an attacker from arming a bomb), and you need to bomb/hack 5 entry points to win the match. So, that leaves Hoth as the only fun PVP map, and even then, you have a 1/3 chance of getting it when you queue up. Because of this lack of ability to choose your gametype, I hardly play PVP anymore.

At level 41 (you get your “fast” mount at 40), I’ve only encountered World PVP a grand total of ten times, even on a High[ly] populated server – if you’re looking for a heavy world PVP game style like Aion or Dark Age of Camelot, I’d look elsewhere.

Diversions aside, at level 30, the game completes it’s transformation into a run-of-the-mill MMO. You’ll trek across planets slowly with your 90% speed increase mount you get at level 25, find flight paths, do typical quests, and hearth/take those flight paths to turn those quests in. Although you could find solace in Flashpoint based instance distractions, you’re going to want to do the bulk of your leveling through questing or PVP, and your mileage may vary on either account. Stories continue past level 30 (into a second Act), but they’re  not nearly as exciting as the first half, mainly because of all the grinding involved at later levels, and how sparse the actual story content is.

For the most part, I solo quested all the way to 41 – I only stopped a few times to do “heroic” missions (quests suggesting 2-4 players). The reason I only stopped a few times wasn’t out of boredom, however, as the XP rewards are pretty decent for heroics; but availability.

Simply put, in my experience, you have to spam general chat or keep your eye on general for heroic advertisements. At any given time, there are only around 30-50 people on my current planet, making it hard to find groups often, and showing a disadvantage of the fragmented “planet” system, and not one cohesive world, a la most MMOs. Another issue is if you’re in the hub section (The Fleet), getting someone to come to your planet and help with a quest is more of a pain than running over to your friend’s real life house across town.

You have to enter at least 4-5 different load screens before you can exit the Fleet, get to your ship, select the planet, leave the airlock, enter the planet, and get to the actual quest. Most MMOs have it figured out by now (ie portals in WoW’s hub worlds) – unfortunately for TOR, it further fragments the game.

However, despite my issues with it, I’d personally recommend that everyone give The Old Republic a chance. I truly think it’s as close as we’re going to get to KOTOR 3, and I’d go so far as to say that each individual story (all eight!) rivals the epic scale of KOTOR 1. At the very least, you’re going to want to pay the ~$50 to take the plunge for your trial month, and then decide from there; because end-game wise, there really isn’t a whole lot to get your feet wet with.

At the current moment, there are two Operations (raids), three total Warzones, and a level 50 PVP planet (Ilum). That’s about it. On my server (and many others), Guilds have already cleared out all of the Operation’s Hard Modes for days, and are hungry for more.

The true test of survival for TOR will be if they can pump out new Operations and Warzones at a faster rate than they bleed subscribers. From what I’ve seen on a personal level, a lot of people are already going back to World of Warcraft, or are planning to play Guild Wars 2 if TOR doesn’t get more updates.

Personally, I don’t think I’m going to do much with my main after I become 50, but that won’t stop me from making at least two to three more characters and experiencing their stories. As long as the prospect of a mostly solo journey doesn’t bum you out, I’d suggest doing the same.

Rayman Origins is getting the 3D treatment, and is all set to feature Streetpass support, which will allow you to trade and share information like leaderboard times and scores with your friends.

With the Vita realease in just over a month, Origins is set to release on just about every platform imaginable – which is always a good thing, given how under-looked this amazing platformer really is.

VVVVVV is a PC game that goes by many names. V6, V, “Spikes”; whatever you call it, odds are you’ll replace it’s moniker with a host of obscenities by the time you’re ten minutes in. Make no mistake: V is a hard game, despite the fact that it’s possible to beat in under thirty minutes – it’s also one of the best platformers I’ve ever played.

But is the 3DS version enough to warrant a double-dip? Read on to find out.

V stars a humble hero named Captain Viridian, and is kind of a cross between Mega Man and Metroid, in that it plays like a twitch platformer, but has a decent amount of exploration elements built into it. Except in V, there is only really one button, outside of left and right movement – “flip”. Pressing nearly any button on the 3DS will flip our courageous Captain up and down: and it’s pretty amazing how many concepts can be extrapolated from this one simple action. Levels will be filled with spikes (enough to make Dr. Wily proud), enemies, polarity lines, warps, and enough bullets to make a shmup sweat.

The object of the game is to locate your loyal crew members who are scattered across a mysterious world. Surprisingly, despite the minimalistic look, V offers up a pretty interesting story – while you’re rescuing your friends and comrades, they’ll comment both on their relationship with you, but also their relationship with each other. While it may not be enough to make anyone re-evaluate their lives, it’s still pretty engaging.

Thankfully, there are checkpoints in-between pretty much every screen, allowing you to instantly restart as soon as you fall, flip, or fling to your untimely death.  If you’re looking for something to do in addition to finding your five crew mates and completing the final challenge, you can also seek out the twenty secret medallions scattered across the game’s sprawling map to unlock an extra ending.

3D wise, V doesn’t really take advantage of the hardware. While I have absolutely no issue with the endearing Commodore 64 era graphical style, the game doesn’t really make use of any worthwhile 3D effects. Similar to 3D Classics: Kirby’s Dreamland, all of the effects are extremely subtle – so if you’re expecting a drastic jump from the PC game, prepare to be disappointed. While the visuals don’t necessarily look better on a bigger screen (for example a PC monitor), it is a bit jarring at times to play some sections on the tiny 3DS.

Thankfully, the one addition to the 3DS version is the utilization of the bottom screen to view your current progress, and the world map. Visuals aside, the Souleye developed score remains delightfully old school and one of the best “retro” soundtracks of all time. In fact, the soundtrack is so good, that I’d recommend purchasing it even if you’ve never played the game.

After all is said in done with the main game (which could take you anywhere from thirty minutes to two hours), there are eighteen extra levels designed specifically for the 3DS version, including one by Minecraft overlord Notch. Most of these levels are extremely well done, and some are so long that they rival the main game’s length – a few even have their own little story to them.

Additionally, there’s a “No Death” Mode, a “Time Trial” mode, and a “Flip Mode” (that seems to be pretty buggy at the moment). Note that there’s no level editor, so it’s not the definitive version of the game, but the 3D version of V has enough content to justify double dipping for some people – for others, stick with the $5 (or less) PC version.

This review is based on a digital copy of the 3DS game VVVVVV.