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 Firstly, there is no Soul Gauge — it has been replaced by a “Super Meter” of sorts, that allow you to execute a number of different special moves, up to and including a Critical Edge attack (which is reminiscent of a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.

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.

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.

Over the past few years Nintendo’s online shop has developed a bit of a reputation. WiiWare once was looked at as a platform for indie developers and small studios to showcase their work. However, in reality, it’s something more akin to a dumping ground for sloppy, poorly made games that no-one really wants.

Despite that negative distinction, the service has accumulated a number of outstanding titles that clearly stand apart from cashgrabs and shovelware. Unfortunately for Wii owners searching for the next diamond in the rough, Zombii Attack just isn’t one of them.

Still interested? Well then, read on after the break for the full breakdown of the latest gem to join the Wii’s library.

If it’s one thing that makes Zombii Attack an interesting game it’s that it puts a new spin on an incredibly tired concept. Rather than beating back hoards of the walking dead with a baseball bat or blasting off heads with shotgun shells, players must use a giant slingshot to fire miscellaneous objects at the oncoming zombie hordes.

This makes for a somewhat amusing mechanic, watching how red playground balls, anvils, and what have you slow the oncoming deluge. Unfortunately, a being bizarre only go so far to compensate for what is otherwise one of the worst games I’ve played in a long time. 

Players gwill find themselves in the employ of a scientist that is experimenting on the undead. Throughout Zombii Attack‘s 18 levels he’ll ask you to collect an assortment of different colored zombies. The slingshot doubles as a tractor beam, which will let you catch and hurl test subjects into a helicopter hovering in the skies above. It’s a diversion that helps to relieve the tedium of chucking rocks at brain munchers, but, like the rest of the game, the concept falls apart in practice.

Occasionally collecting specimens offers enjoyable moments where the final zombie appears as the tide of walking corpses breaks through the barricades, allowing the player to escape with just fractions of a second to spare. Unfortunately the exhilarating feeling that this provides the exception to the rule. More often players will find themselves busy fending off sporadic waves of enemies while waiting for the right color combination to appear.

At times this can take a very, very long while. I once waited for what seemed like an eternity for a single green zombie that never came. In the meantime hundreds, perhaps thousands, of zombies of every other color soaked up each and every piece of ammunition I’d purchased over the course of the game. It was a long, slow, frustrating defeat that was only made worse by having to start over from the beginning.

The troubled gameplay is paired with controls that sporadically cease to function. Imagine waiting for several minutes for a particular zombie only to have the reticule disregard your input and send that precious specimen flying in the opposite direction from the helicopter. It’s moments like these that make me glad the Wii remote has a wrist strap to prevent me from throwing the remote through the television screen.

The visuals don’t fare any better. On a system filled to the brim with games that have less than stellar graphics, Gamers Digital managed to scrape the bottom of that barrel. It’s actually something of an achievement that this game looks the way it does. Zombii Attack makes even the ugliest N64 title look like a work of art.

It’s not all bad though. Aside from being a tad repetitive, the soundtrack is actually pretty decent and quite fitting for the subject matter. My favorite aspect of the game were the Rad Racer-esque bonus levels. Players drive from one location to another and get points for running over zombies. Unfortunately they were pretty infrequent and it’s somewhat telling about the product as a whole if bonus stages that resemble an NES game is the best part.

I’d be somewhat shocked that Nintendo gave this the green light if it weren’t for the poor quality of the vast majority of titles that populate their digital distribution platforms. And while I’ve played my fair share of sub-par WiiWare games, this one takes the cake.

Faulty controls, terrible graphics, and uninspired gameplay are what players can expect from this one. Even for five dollars Zombii Attack is an insulting waste of time and money.

This review is based on a digital copy of the Wii game Zombii Attack.

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.

Officer Wagon has a big problem – a gang of sexy criminals have busted out of jail, and it’s up to her and her alone to put them behind bars again. Over sixteen levels, Wagon will sprint, leap, and blast her way through various obstacles and enemies to capture five fleety jailbirds per level.

Although she does have a gun, the game is primarily puzzle based (like Mighty Flip Champs) – but is it exciting enough to warrant a $5.99 price tag?

Like most puzzles games, each level has pretty much the same concept – capture five criminals, then find the exit. Gameplay itself is quite frenetic, as the main “switch” mechanic can be activated at will.

Like the recent puzzle/platformer Outland, you’ll find yourself switching blocks in mid-jump quite frequently, which will put your reflexes to the test. Eventually, you’ll encounter spring blocks that will launch you in various directions (a la Donkey Kong Country), and other such contraptions that help keep each stage varied.

MSF’s gameplay is fairly basic (buttons for jumping, shooting, and switching blocks), but the game does you no favors in explaining anything, unless you read the virtual manual on the 3DS’s home screen (which most people don’t even know exists), and even then, it only really tells you the buttons.

While some people may have issues with the lack of tutorial (which is usually pretty standard these days), I actually found it refreshing, and it reminded me of the olden days of cracking into an NES game completely blind. Pretty much every level introduces a new concept or block, which will basically force you to replay multiple times to get the par time – or at least until you understand how they work.

One of the biggest issues with Mighty Switch Force is it’s length – with only 16 levels in the game’s entirety, it feels much, much shorter than WayForward’s previous puzzle game Mighty Flip Champs, which basically has twice as many levels available.

Levels range from 30 seconds to around 3 minutes maximum to complete (par time), so if you put two and two together, there isn’t a whole lot of single playthrough value here. Additionally, it’s a bit jarring to have the par time immediately given to you on your first attempt at a level. Instead of simply completing the level at your own pace for fun, you might feel inclined to continually quit the stage to obtain the par time.

Also, the par time is just one flat time – you either make it, or you don’t. The game would have easily benefited from a Bronze, Silver, and Gold ranking system, so at least people feel some sense of accomplishment. Lastly, even if you do push forward and obtain these par times, there’s no way to share them, because there is zero support for leaderboards and streetpass transfers. To add to the frustration, there’s no option to restart the level – you have to quit out and re-select it each time.

Despite these shortcomings with the length of the game and it’s replayability, Mighty Switch Force looks superb. In fact, it looks so good that it could easily be converted into a Saturday morning cartoon, and the colorful cast of characters (including the strangely adorable Ugly Checkpoint Dog) really shine, as does the soundtrack.

The 3D effects aren’t anything to write home about, but they are very good for a simple downloadable game. In short, I really hope that more developers follow suit and actually decide to make 3D games for the 3DS eShop – the world needs more companies like WayForward.

WayForward is certainly pushing Nintendo portables…well…forward! All four of their downloadable DSi/3DS titles are must haves, and some of the best on the platform. Although they’ve been making licensed games for quite some time now, it feels like they’ve finally found their original IP cartoony groove, and I really hope they stick to it.

This review is based on a digital copy of the 3DS game Mighty Switch Force.

The rhythm genre, for the most part, has been over-saturated these past few years. After the sucess of titles like Gitaroo Man, PaRappa the Rapper, and DDR, the market started to flood with Guitar Hero after Guitar Hero iteration, until finally, it imploded, with basically only Harmonix Music Systems remaining. Thankfully, Harmonix kept things fresh with the much needed keyboard instrument, and of course, the Dance Central franchise, which took the country by storm.

But is Dance Central 2 in danger of flooding the market once again? Read on to find out.

Just like Dance Central 1, your objective is to well – dance to victory. You’ll accomplish this over a number of new and old[er] songs, which, for the most part, would actually be played in a club, and should cater to just about every age group. Using the Kinect sensor, various “move” cards will scroll across the screen, and the more accurately you nail the moves, the more points you get – just like Rock Band and Guitar Hero, you can earn anywhere from 1-5 stars per song for your efforts.

This time around, Dance Central 2 expands the “crew” aspect of the game, with an aesthetic similar to the Jet Set Radio series – the cities are overrun with gangs, and it’s your job to represent your crew through dance – or something. So the story doesn’t really matter – what matters is that the game is fun, and has a ton of different modes to tackle.

You might look like an idiot learning to play Dance Central, but you’ll have a ton of fun doing it. The game caters to your lack of coordination if you let it, with the improved Break It Down training mode, which allows you to practice each and every step, until you get it down pat.

Personally, I was having a lot of problems with the “Butt Bump” during Baby Got Back, so I have Harmonix to thank for improving this much needed feature. The Kinect’s voice capabilities have also been added to this feature, which allows you to easily navigate between different moves you wish to practice, in addition to enabling slow motion, which is a really nice addition that elevates the game’s Kinect functionality.

The game also contains an expanded Workout Mode. While the game isn’t 100% accurate (as it doesn’t ask for your gender or weight specifications), calories are roughly tracked from every mode, and you can get at least some idea of how hard you worked in that particular instance. In addition to the calorie counter, there are also timed workout sessions that you can engage in. Just like the home versions of DDR, this is a really nice inclusion, as it can get you motivated to start really losing weight with a more rigorous external workout routine, using the game as a complement.

If learning and workouts aren’t your thing, you can jump right into the game’s free mode, or challenge mode, and start earning badges. Just like Rock Band’s tour mode, you can choose from a number of songs, and after fulfilling a certain requirement, you’ll move onto the next level.

Multiplayer also adds what was probably the most requested feature of Dance Central: simultaneous multiplayer play. With this new iteration, you can finally share the dance floor with your significant other, sibling, or friend, and settle once and for all who is the best dancer, head to head.

Or, you could always play nice and tackle a song together to earn the coveted 5 star rating. The game also supports drop-in/drop-out play, which is really nice for seamless dancing without interruption. There is a caveat however – just like a crowded club, be prepared to bump each other on occasion, depending on the song number/moveset. There were a few occasions where I had to re-position my Kinect, even though it was working just fine with another title.

Dance Central 2 also caters to the completionists out there, with unlockable content such as new characters and venues, depending on how badly you want to re-do songs for higher scores. Thankfully, as is the norm with rhythm games these days, all of the game’s songs are unlocked from the start – meaning you can unwrap the game, pop it in, and jam with your friends without any issues.

If you’re yearning for more songs, you can import all of the tracks from the original for just $5 (as long as you have your code). Additionally, the store is more clean this time around, and new copies of the game come with enough Microsoft Points to buy one extra song.

While Dance Central 2 hasn’t done anything vastly different to move the genre forward, it is still a solid entry, and has solidified itself as a solid franchise. As long as you don’t mind looking a little goofy in front of friends, you really can’t go wrong popping this in at a party to liven the mood a bit.

This review is based on a retail copy of the Xbox 360 game Dance Central 2.

There’s no denying the popularity of the Call of Duty series. In fact, COD is in the same conversation as Mario when it comes to the most sucessful gaming series of all time – ever since Infinity Ward’s smash hit COD4, the series has taken off and never looked back. Fans tout the series’ ability to put you into a five hour action movie without fail, and provide a competitive multiplayer element that thousands of people will still be playing years later.

So is Modern Warfare 3 the same old song? Read on to find out.

For starters, the game offers three facets – a single player story, competitive multiplayer, and an auxillary Special Ops mode. Story wise, the gist is that Makarov is back to his old tricks, seeking to agitate World War 3 even more than he already has. The campaign will take you through the streets of New York, Paris, and other major world-wide settings. To be blunt, despite the grand setup, story mode is a mixed bag.

The game switches from dynamic Soap/Price stealth missions fans know and love, to standard “run and gun” foot soldier missions featuring Sandman and his team. The dichtomy between these two stories is pretty significant – simply put, the Price missions are extremely diverse, and provide you with a ton of tools and weapons to meet your goal. The stealth nature of these missions also mix things up from the run and gun style you’re going to be experiencing for hundreds of hours in multiplayer.

Unfortunately, the Sandman missions are pretty dull. In fact, quite frequently while playing them, I forgot what game I was playing – they really just don’t have anything to them while you’re running from linear tunnel to tunnel completing inane objectives. While the Soap/Price missions at least have smoke and mirrors to make you feel like you’re on a grand Special Ops assignment, it isn’t quite the same with the other mission types.

Additionally, the story is a bit more shallow than past iterations, and the philosophical undertones are dialed down a bit in favor of Hollywood style action. Personally, I’m not too upset about the change, but if you’re expecting a jaw-dropping Modern Warfare style “Nuke” moment, prepare for a letdown.

But despite some of the shortcomings of the campaign, ss with most Call of Duty games, the bread and butter is in competitive multiplayer – thankfully, Modern Warfare 3 is no different. Much to my excitement, there are a few extra innovations that make the series much more enticing for new and casual players. Firstly, the “Kill Streak” system has been completely overhauled. Previously, players had to kill others without dying to secure special abilities such as a Predator drone and a Chopper Gunner – there was no other way to earn streaks. Now, in addition to the killstreak system,  MW3 provides both support and  perk packages.

With the support package, your streak not only carries over into death, but you also earn points by shooting down helicopters, or taking objectives – personally, I find this to be the most fun option of the lot. With this package, gone are the days of never earning fun rewards – even if you’re a moderately skilled player, you can still earn an exciting reward towards the end of the match. The trade-off is that the rewards are not as effective, but it’s still an option that will no doubt benefit your team. The perk package is similar to the Kill Streak system, but each kill earns you a new perk – if you die, you lose it all. The risk-reward system will no doubt appeal to pro players, and again, is just another fun option for players to experiment with.

The other innovation MW3 offers is the Prestige Shop. After leveling up past 80, players can choose to Prestige, and go back to level 1- just as you’ve always had the option to do – but this time, you’ll earn tokens to spend on various perks. For instance, you can spend one token to unlock a specific ability/weapon to use in future Prestige levels – gone are the days where your favorite gun is off limits – you can play the way you want to again and again. While most pros will continue to Prestige for bragging rights, from this point on, more casual players will at least have a little fun starting from zero.

Gameplay wise, multiplayer is just as fun as it ever was. While the game’s maps aren’t up to par compared to pretty much every iteration outside of COD4, the perk system and weapon loadouts are pretty balanced this time around, and fans will be able to enjoy pretty much every mode they could want – in addition to the new “Kill Confirmed” mode, which requires you to grab a kill’s dogtags before the point is counted.

In addition to the Story and competitive multiplayer, Modern Warfare 2′s Special Ops mode is back with a vengeance. This time, the game’s standard stand-alone missions are joined by a Nazi Zombies-esque survival mode, complete with explosive dogs and juggernaut bosses. While Survival isn’t as engaging as Treyarch’s hit zombie series, it’s still a very fun diversion, and at least worth trying for an afternoon. Sadly, it’s limited to only two players – something I hope can be fixed with a later patch.

With Modern Warfare 3 also comes the launch of the new social network/DLC season pass Call of Duty Elite. Gamer Limit will cover Elite at a later date, but keep in mind that it only seeks to augment the Call of Duty experience and takes nothing away from the total package. Additionally, you can sign up for basic services for free.

Ultimately, Modern Warfare 3 feels similar to it’s brethren, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a great game. The single player element is still exciting, and multiplayer has more options than ever – if you’re a fan of Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 3 is a no brainer.

This review is based on a retail copy of the Xbox 360 game Modern Warfare 3.

The 3DS has been hit with more criticism than pretty much any system in recent memory. A lack of launch games along with the lack of enthusiasm for the third dimension has made it hard for the Big N to push units.

Thankfully for them, Mario has come along to save the day. Make no mistake – 3D Land is a system seller.

Like most Mario games, 3D Land has absolutely no story – in fact, once the intro starts, you’re basically in action within thirty seconds – and that’s perfectly ok with me. The gist is that Bowser has once again captured Peach, and in the process, disturbed a racoon leaf tree, allowing many enemies in the game the ability to hover, a la Mario 3.

3D Land hosts a world map screen similar to Mario Galaxy 2, with a linear path connecting all eight worlds with 5 or more levels in each set. Although it’s a bit dishevelled at times (lush, green, happy levels in World 8?), Mario 3D Land provides some of the best level designs in the business.

There were a ton of stages that gave me flashbacks to older classics such as Jumping Flash, which is in part due to the emphasis on 3D. There’s even one level where the camera is panned in such a way that it feels like you’re looking down into a 3D shadowbox: it’s easily a proof of concept for a remake of the original Zelda. This level diversity persists basically for the entire game – to the point where you’re left wanting more.

At the end of each world, you’ll either face Bowser’s castle, or one of his many airships – complete with confrontations with Bowser himself, or the underutilized Boom Boom – the mini-boss from Mario 3′s castle levels. Both encounters are reminiscent of old titles, but have plenty of their own unique spins to them. In fact, I think the final encounter with Bowser is probably my favorite out of the entire franchise – there’s something about running from an invincible Bowser that gets your blood pumping!

After the game’s complete, you’ll have access to 8 more secret worlds, consisting of both harder remakes of older levels, and all new content. Although these extra levels aren’t neccesarily that much harder than the main game, they are still tons of fun, and extra content never hurt anyone. Additionally, completionists will have a ball finding the three golden coins hidden in each and every level.

For those who are interested, there are extra “Mystery Box” levels that can be completed once per playthrough, and more can be unlocked via Streetpass. While these boxes are literally only 10 second distractions, it’s still a nice little addition for Streetpass fans.

Graphically, 3D Land is one of the best looking games I’ve ever seen. To be perfectly blunt, it looks better than most Wii games, and really does a good job showing off the power of the 3DS – hopefully more developers than just Nintendo will be able to take advantage of this horsepower in the future.

Like Ocarina of Time 3D, the 3D effects themselves are second to none, and really augment the graphical style. If you’re not a fan of 3D, the game can be completed without it, but you may have trouble every so often with some deliberately 3D puzzle rooms.

Words cannot stress how great Mario 3D Land really is. Although I would have liked to have seen a handful of concepts expanded, 3D Land does pretty much everything right: if you’re looking for a new Mario game, this is it.

It’s been a very exciting few years for Kirby fans.  Last year brought us the charming and innovative Kirby’s Epic Yarn, and just recently the equally inventive Kirby Mass Attack landed on the DS.  It would be inaccurate to call the more traditional Kirby’s Return to Dreamland a ‘return’ to its roots, since the game went through a very tumultuous development after initially being proposed once Kirby 64 was released.  Kirby’s Return to Dreamland nonetheless demonstrates that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to bring out the qualities that makes Kirby so endearing.

Return to Dreamland feels like entering a time capsule.  The game channels the spirit of the older 2D Kirby platformers, most notably the excellent Kirby Super Star.  No yarn, no Kirby clones.  This is straight Kirby classic: Inhaling enemies, developing copy abilities, and using them to both navigate through differently themed worlds and access special areas.  The fittingly simplistic story chronicles Kirby as he teams up with Waddle Dee, Metaknight, and Dedede to assist a stranded alien named Magolor, who has crash landed on Popstar and whose ship components have flown across the world.

The first world of the game risks feeling too much like a visually-enhanced Dreamland 3, but once you defeat Will O’ Wisps and enter the second world the game gets much more imaginative with the situations it puts you in.  The differently themed worlds are bright and beautifully presented, but more importantly you encounter different set pieces and gameplay elements.  Sometimes you’ll be navigating through moving blocks underwater, other times you’ll be navigating Kirby through spikes as massive gusts of wind carry him down hallways.  It’s the sane fun, simplistic 2D platforming that has long characterized Kirby.

Return to Dreamland also makes a solid effort to give players more replay value.  The overall Kirby formula has understandably never been characterized by brutal difficulty, but each level has several mechanical gears from Magolor’s ship.  Finding these actually starts to get very tricky in the third world and requires you to carefully look for hidden nooks and crannies.  In some cases you’ll have to drag keys to doors to unlock them, and other times you’ll need to use precise timing to get into a room containing a gear.  Gear-finding actually became challenging to a point where I missed several gears and had to backtrack or retry levels to get all of them.  It’s a fine balancing act between the casual nature of Kirby and doing something to appeal to older gamers.

One of the best benefits of gear collecting is unlocking special challenge modes where you race through a course based around a specific copy ability.  You need to use whatever copy ability the course is based off of to collect coins, maximize your score, and get to a finish line before time runs out.  As you collect gears you also gain access to two entertaining mini-games that are the only instance of taking advantage of the Wii motion controls.  Additional perks are access to your copy abilities directly in Magolor’s ship as well as sound and video galleries.

Kirby veterans will recognize many of the diverse copy abilities, which retain their multiple skills.  The flame-dash of Fire, the blade beam from Sword, the charging static shield of Plasma, and the slick techniques of Ninja have always stood out as personal favorites.  Sadly some other favorites like Wheel have been phased out, but the new copy skills more than make up for it.  The memorable Water skill lets you ride waves of water through stages, while the Whip technique gives Kirby an adorable Indiana Jones hat and whip.  Some new abilities are repurposed, like the Hi-Jump ability, which feels like a modified Jet copy ability but is fun to use nonetheless.

As entertaining and fun as Return to Dreamland is, the copy techniques could have been more imaginative.  Return to Dreamland has a similar problem as New Super Mario Bros. Wii where it’s just not as ambitious as the game it heavily emulates, in this case Kirby Super Star. While Super Star had a huge variety of new copy abilities and introduced the concept of multiple ability skills, about 80% of the Return to Dreamland copy skills are recycled.  The new techniques like Water and Leaf are so fun because half of the enjoyment in side scrolling Kirby games comes from discovering new copy skills and how we can put them to use.  It would have been nice to see more variation, especially because the new copy skills that we did get were imaginative.

The Super Abilities are symbolic of how the game is solid but doesn’t follow through on what it could do.  Super Abilities are special technique you get when Kirby inhales a unique enemy.  The Super Sword, for examples, cuts a massive swath across the entire screen and devastates enemies and environmental obstacles alike.  It’s a lot of fun, but these are used in very specific situations where the primary goal is to unlock a mirror-world where you find two gears in a level.

When you get to the end of these parallel worlds you fight a boss.  It would be imaginative if you didn’t fight the same copy pasted boss in every single parallel world.  As much as I enjoyed using super moves to devastate enemies rip environments apart, I found myself wondering why the developers didn’t put the Super Abilities to more diverse use or why bosses weren’t more creative.

Return to Dreamland also demonstrates Nintendo’s commitment to sharing your experience with friends because there’s offline co-op.  In keeping with the atmosphere of Kirby it’s very casual: Three other players can easily drop in and out and play as Waddle Dee, Metaknight, and Dedede.  Each character has their own abilities but you still play on the same levels.  It’s simple, fun, and mandates good teamwork because you all share the same lives.

Kirby’s Return to Dreamland channels the classic spirit of Kirby into modern times and it’s a resounding success.  It’s not as ambitious or remarkable for the formula as some of the games it tries to emulate from the 16-bit era, but it definitely represents the best of Kirby.  The colorful art, the creative copy skills, and the inherent cuteness of Kirby all make Return to Dreamland a solid, traditional platformer.

An army of penguins under the leadership of evil dictator Putzi is taking over Albatropolis and there’s only so much an underground resistance of Cardinals can do to stem the tide of Antarctic invaders. But from the sky soars a jetpack-wearing, shotgun-shooting, action-hero of a chicken, ready to rain death upon the ruthless aggressors invading his homeland.

Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken recently made its way to the PlayStation Network, but is this puzzle-platforming shooter worth your dollar in this crowded holiday season? Read on after the break to find out.

Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken is a game with several strong suits. Its art style and writing would make most animated shows jealous. With crisp visuals and a story that is serious one moment, and incredibly facetious and juvenile the next. Then there’s a brilliant soundtrack that manages to pull the game’s best qualities together and make an enjoyable experience even better.

Unfortunately, the aesthetic and narrative prowess doesn’t quite carry over into the gameplay department. In this regard, Hardboiled Chicken is an average game at best. While the title blends the sidescrolling-shooter and puzzle-platforming genres, mechanically, nothing is done terribly well — leading to a final product that feels much more stylish than it does substantial.

The controls are competent – if a little awkward.  For a game that has a large focus on shooting that aspect of the game is incredibly limited. While grenades can be lobbed at an angle of your choosing, other weapons can only be fired straight ahead. So while there’s a variety of guns to choose from,  it’s more about finding a weapon that suits your play-style than strategy. Oh, and don’t bother trying to jump and shoot. It doesn’t work.

The stiff controls and slow animations can make the game more of a chore than it needs to be. Because of this combat situations can be needlessly frustrating. Rather than flowing from one action to another, movement feels choppy and slow to respond to user input.  These awkward movements are most troublesome in combat, but can grind on nerves during the puzzle-platforming sections as well.

There are also a few aerial combat portions that help break up the monotony. Shooting down attack helicopters and zeppelins for a few minutes is a nice diversion before heading back to the meat of the game. Unfortunately, these sections also suffer from control issues that take a little getting used to.

Luckily, pretty much everything else is working in Hardboiled Chicken’ favor. The writing is great, and genuinely funny. Serious moments are often undermined by irreverent humor. Fortunately, Ratloop Asia is deft enough to use jokes sparingly enough to never become ham-fisted – despite the juvenile lows to which it regularly sinks – yet often enough to ensure that the game is more frequently hilarious than it is dark.

The story is told largely through cutscenes. However, voice acting is almost non-existent. Music provided by New World Revolution is largely left to convey the story. The lyrics line up with the plot perfectly and this blending of music, narrative, and visuals is easily my favorite part of the game. Even if you’re not entirely sold on the game, give N.W.R. a listen.

There’s an option for multiplayer, but I didn’t find myself fiddling with it much. It’s local co-op alteration of the main campaign, which might help some people extend the life of what is a fairly short game. But unless you regularly have buddies over at you’re place looking for something to play together, I sincerely doubt you’ll be spending much time with this mode.

All in all, Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken is a good game, but a great art direction, narrative, and fantastic soundtrack can only go so far to counterbalance a short campaign with average gameplay.

The world doesn’t end in 2012, at least that is not the check out date according to Fate of the World: Tipping Point. Also, there is no fugitive asteroid coming to claim us all. According to the game, the world will most likely suffer a slow, agonizing death full of drought, famine and civil unrest a century or two from now. This is good news for us, bad news for future generations and careless time travelers.

Despite the dark and sardonic outlook, this turn based card game manages to instill hope in an otherwise crumbling world. This is because in Fate of the World: Tipping Point, or FotW:TP for short, you’re placed in the mantle of power, with the chance to turn things around through real world solutions. This is no walk in the park, however, as with this power players must balance resources and public perception or they will wind up on the wrong end of a revolution. Are you up to the challenge?

Fate of the World: Tipping Point is actually comprised of the base game, FotW, and two DLC packs Migration and Denial. All makes up a total of 9 single player campaigns that put the player on one altruistic mission after another. Along the lines of raising the quality of life in Africa by 2045, or raising the world’s gross domestic product to $200 trillion by 2200, it’s safe to say these are not your typical save-the-world video game scenarios; and it is an understatement to say that they stray into the realm of the real world. In all honesty, every aspect of the game pits gamers smack dab in the real world.

Whichever campaign you choose, the game starts off with a series of devastating events. In 2018, the world’s first hypercane wipes out a massive number of the world’s population. Then, earth’s ice caps begin to shrink. In reaction, the world creates the Global Environment Organization (GEO). For some reason or another, this group winds up taking control of all aspects of the world’s development, from economics to technology, above the obvious environmental protection. Guess who is the next leader of the GEO?

On a high level, Fate of the World: Tipping Point is played on a turn by turn basis. The player visits each region of the world, laying down a number of cards representing anything from biotech research to water conservation to police funding. Depending on each region’s problems, the leader of the GEO must choose accordingly. Then, after all the cards are dealt, a simple click advances the world five years. This is when things get interesting.

Red Redemption Ltd. understands that nothing in the world goes according to plan. It shows in the reactive, randomized world they developed for FotW:TP. For example, playing that more expensive biotech card made 3rd generation biofuels available, but at the expense of civil unrest since jobs and industry were neglected. On top of that, a series of storms had struck both coasts forcing evacuation and panic. All of a sudden, the heart meter which show public sentiment goes down a notch or two. In this game, you truly have to think two steps ahead of the world, which makes for quite a challenge.

Thankfully, the game offers a wealth of analytics to help keep players abreast of all global machinations. In fact, it can get a little overwhelming if one really wants to dig in. How’s this for an inventory: Annual Emissions (MtCO2e), GDP, Life Expectancy, Education, Public Outlook (Consumerist, Materialist, etc.), Public Stability, Oil & Gas Need/Recoverable, Coal Used/Extracted, Agriculture GDP, Food ($/Capita), Forest Area Annual Change and Climate Refugees? Each one of these comes with its own graph/chart complete with bright colors and somewhat incomprehensible numbers.

Those who aren’t into numbers need not fear. Fate of the World: Tipping Point also has a news digest that gives context to all the analytics. Getting the news is as easy as clicking into region and then clicking on the envelope icon at the top of the screen. The digest lists both the accomplishments and problems that have happened over the past five years for each region, and is more important than it may seem at first. Each round can last twenty to thirty minutes, especially if one is prone to serious deliberation. Each round can therefore become a game in itself, with the digest as the player’s temporary leaderboard.

As far as the challenges go, that news digest can also become a primary tool in planning out the next round. The game boasts more than 1,000 dilemmas, from flash fires to global resource wars to political unrest. Depending on your view on challenge and punishment, you can be lucky and come face to face with 1,000 problems over the course of one campaign, as opposed to Jay-Z who only has 99. It is more than enough to keep you on your toes.

Albeit, it is important to vary one’s strategy. Reacting to the problem at hand is critical, if only to keep public sentiment on your side. At the same time, one cannot forget the main goal of the campaign as well as the various side goals to increase points. Add the fact that one must do all this with limited resources, FotW:TP is no piece of cake, not by a long shot. Keep your head on a swivel and start thinking in terms of decades in stead of day by day, and the game can get wildly addicting and gratifying for the amount of time you put into it.

Fate of the World: Tipping Point is not all about serious world issues, as it may seem. Red Redemption did have the foresight to add a campaign called Dr. Apocalypse. In this campaign, instead of saving the world, the player must drive the world into hell for as long as possible. Public sentiment plays a big part in the challenge for this campaign as playing the villain naturally creates enemies. Even if you fail here, you can fail with a bang, as a sniper’s bullet puts an end to your tyranny. In the end, this campaign is especially satisfying.

Ultimately, FotW:TP offers a beautifully designed card game to which I don’t mind giving an hour or two of my time per sitting. It dives headfirst into real world issues without climbing atop a soapbox or feeling too preachy. It just makes the player think, while at the same time hypnotizing with a very real experience of power and consequence. It’s a must have for card game vets and it’s worth a shot for those who have never touched a card game in their life. Bravo, Red Redemption.