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Trent Petronaitis
Posted on 14.02.2009 in Articles, Reviews

Retro Game Challenge is just that- a challenge which resolves around playing old games- but under those retro games- is the title worth it?

Retro Game Challenge is one of those games- that from a new player point and perspective- the new kids on the block which have taken our turf- will not buy. But the old kids are taking back the land- as Retro Game Challenge could possibly one of those simple games which appeals to the hardcore generation of old. The ones which liked challenging good games, not games which are giant cuddly teddy bears.

The game has a very simple promises- that is to play retro games all day long with some creepy kid who just wants compony after going bat-shit insane in the future and sending you back to the 80s to play games with him. You play these games to do challenges which the crazy future kid has set for you.

I don’t know why these kids are still together or why they haven’t aged one bit- as the game is set over a good few years. Every so often you will be given a surprise- a brand new magazine from Arino the crazy kid I was talking about- you know the one which grows up to be big and strong- and a headless guy on a directional pad giving out orders to a kid he sent back….anyway.

For the most part Arino is asleep- or just watching you play. It’s hard to tell but this guy never touches the game controller- its weird that he becomes a “game master” as he calls himself in the future- but whatever.

…This game makes you remember why you play games- for the challenge that it offers- and the world that it sinks you into. In a time which games have lost the taste- this is a great game to bring it back…

The game has a range of games- okay that is a lie, for the most part you’re going to be playing a few sequels- just one or two. But it’s noticeable in the end that they could have put more effort in the game and had more titles (there are still a good range of titles). Cosmic Gate is the first game you play as a challenge to the death- wait it’s not that bad shesh. In the end it turns out that playing Cosmic Gate isn’t going to set you free- the punch line is you must play ALL the games which this crazy kid is getting his mum to buy in the 80s.

If you’re a retro gamer of some sort you might remember a few titles which are similar to the games in this title. For example Cosmic Gate might bring back old memories of a Namco game called Galaga, which for me to describe the title its closest thing might be something like Space Invaders. Another example is the annoying but kind of cool RPG which is in Retro Game Challenge called Guadia Quest- it might make players remember the old Final Fantasy titles or Dragon Quest.

The point here is that you are going to be remembering lots of titles which are similar to older games from the same era. Lucky for you- that era can be in your heart and minds forever as the game has a free play mode for once you finish all the challenges (there are 4 for each game) for a game it is then added into the free play mode. Which means you can play it without interruption forever- talk about some awesome reply value.

The games are quite well polished- with the bugs and cheats as well as design you would expect that a game from that era would have. Each game can be reviewed separately even- but I don’t have that time- but that is just the example of how detailed you will find these games- for the time these could have passed as retail games. It’s just amazing seeing the detail which these games revolve around- the magazines are a great part to finding out smaller tricks and cheats which can help you do a challenge or help you just keep going. I think while you can play just going from point A to point B. A small part of the challenge is revolving the game to suit that challenge- using cheats or hints to make that challenge work how it should. Making the game be quick or slow- depending on how fast you want to play it- do you want it finished in a few days? Or do you want it to last forever- trying to get that score or do the drift which results in the challenge complete.

Magazines are not just all hints and tips. Think of them as almost full magazines- remember this game is a parody of gaming life back then. You will find that the magazines reflect trends and ideas from around then. The magazines are just another small thing which makes the game feel like you’re in the world- playing the games like you used to. Regardless if you grew up in that generation or not.

The gaming world works simple and great, your menu loads up and you can select the games menu or magazine menu, or even chat with Arino. Talking to Arino can seem boring- as most of the time he’s just on a loop, but he does say some interesting things/triggers some interesting conversations with his mum- it’s quite funny to read at times.

Score: Thumbs Up

Overall this is an interesting game on the market- with a great retro feeling- Retro Game Challenge should be a must buy for all. With another one coming out soon in Japan- the second title should also be on peoples radars- a new way to play awaits you in the second title.

This game makes you remember why you play games- for the challenge that it offers- and the world that it sinks you into. In a time which games have lost the taste- this is a great game to bring it back to you again.

Trent Petronaitis
Posted on 25.01.2009 in Articles, Reviews

TWEWY is a fun and fresh RPG which came out last year for the Nintendo DS- while we played and enjoyed the title, it fell short of our review process.

The World Ends With You is another title from Square-Enix, which at first glance might seem that it has taken the stink the company carries around and keeps it inside of it- waiting for when you open the title, to smell a nice wift of a fart. While most of Square’s other titles for me leave me with this experience, there are a select few gems from the company- and The World Ends With You is one of them.

TWEWY is set in Shibuya- the game has two worlds RG (realground) and the parallel dimension which the players of this game play in which is UG (underground). While players can’t go to the RG- the RG is right there all the time- with some sneaky game play mechanics and ideas, you can still interact with people in the RG while you explore the UG.

UG is a world of its own- the Reaper’s Game. Players who come to this world play for their most dearest possession- which is given to them along with their life back. While the other option (which sadly you cannot choose in TWEWY to take the game to a different level) is to become a reaper themselves. Alas the game follows Neku around and around trying to stomp down the evil Game Master.

Did I mention that Neku is a bloody emo? Oh well.

The story though is done quite well- with some very nice cinematic cut scenes which put the user close to the action to understand the story. The game also has a long extensive list of text which a player can read to understand the story. You are playing as Neku- so he can sometimes “think” things which are clues to the games story etc. As he figures out things- you might have already noticed- or you might be surprised that is what happens. Neku’s role is also to leave doubt about many characters so the ending isn’t spoiled until well the end.

The great story is just a splash of what the game offers. The World Ends With You ‘s Music line up fits in to the title without exceptions. Neku remember is an emo- so he wants to block out the noise with his silly goofy earphones. These earphones pump Japanese tunes. These tunes are interesting to say the lest about them- to say the most- they are f’n awesome!

The game’s action is put into two sections. You have a partner which plays the top screen (you can either set it to CPU or you can play it as well) which each partner you get through the games weeks has a different style of fighting which gives the game a unique twist. Neku on the most part fights with his pins- which is a slashing, dashing action using the stylus. The aim is to whip out these monsters called noise.

The development team really made something here- with the game also having an extra day of game play after the weeks- which players can do what they want (to a strict storyline even in that day though- but you can still fight the noise by scanning for them- like in the game). There is also a side quest game play which appears throughout the main story and in the extra day- Tin Pin. Think Bayblades (god I’m old) or something simular, its interesting to say the lest- but I can’t say I’m a Tin Pin master.

Score: Thumbs Up

This is one of those games that if I gave out “gold awards” this would get it. The game works well in all places. The game feels fresh and new against other Nintendo DS titles and RPG’s for the system. This is a great change from the usual- and should be in everyone’s collection.

Trent Petronaitis
Posted on 25.01.2009 in Articles, Reviews

Disaster- a game which could of disappeared- a game which had a shaky start- a shaky middle and now a shaky end. But its one dam good game.
I keep thinking that Disaster is somehow based on a movie- at least the start. Where something bad happens in the volcanos and the rescue team guy gets all upset and disgruntled like what happened in Disaster- though the more I think about it- the more it could be just how good Disaster’s opening intro was. Or maybe there was a movie based on the start of Disaster- oh dam now I am confused.

Disaster: Day of Crisis is the game which Europeans and Australia’s call “The game which Americans finally get screwed over on”- with a release date for the survival, disaster, adventure shooting game thingy not even on the release line up. Deep down while Disaster had a disaster of a development cycle- and a disastrous release- (it wasn’t advertised in Europe and most people months after release were like ‘this is out-wow’- a failure on NOE’s part- same thing happened in Australia- but NAL is always doing crap like that). The game was released as an interesting fresh new title for the Nintendo Wii- it’s a shame that it was unnoticed- as its one of the best titles on the console.

The game stars Raymond Bryce who goes from some random person who loves saving lives as a rescue hero! To Raymond Bryce- crazy man whose promise to a friend has taken him over the country side with a gun to try and save them. Well that seems dam all hockey dory- what makes this game good?

In the end- it is the presentation. The game of course- playing it you will notice that it feels a bit rushed in places. But overall the title is polished especially how the title works in a chapter style. While you can’t skip to the next chapter (a new trend in gaming) playing through still gets the story and balances it out with game play. The games cinematic cut scenes really put an eye opener on what is happing, what has happened and what will happen.

In the middle of these chapters- you have a menu, which allows you to upgrade your weapon and your status. You can even train yourself with weapons to unlock more weapons you can buy. There also is the usual save/load system in place.

The game is centred mainly on an on-rails shooter system which the action sequences use. Players will find themselves shooting the evil SURGE and their team of NINJAS (okay no ninjas- but there is a surge group).

There are also action sequences which involve pounding the wiimote down as if you were running- in fact you are running- running from various disasters which are happing around you.

There are also driving sequences- which are not the best- but they will do. They are fun.

The game also has saving people times. In times of disaster- you need to save people- this range from getting them out of places they are stuck to restarting their heart. There are a few sections in-between- and a few side quests to say get X person a bottle of water or something like that.

For the most part of the game you will be alone- unless your shooting people- though you do find a few people along the way which can help you.

Music wise- I’m not impressed with the soundtrack, though I’m impressed with a select few of the songs- which make me enjoy those sections which use the music even more.

Score: Thumbs Up

Disaster: Day of Crisis is one of the best games on the Wii from 2008 and should be in everyone’s collection. There are other good titles out there- but Disaster takes the cake as a game which turned out to be great- though a sleeper hit.

Trent Petronaitis
Posted on 12.01.2009 in Articles, Reviews

Moon is Renegade Kid’s newest title and it once again is built on the same engine which powered Dementium (their previous title)- but Trent Petronaitis is having a hard time fitting this title in with a score- the game could be good or bad, read more to find out…

Renegade Kid is a video game company which founded itself not too long ago- in 2007 they announced a title called Dementium: The Ward. This title was built on a ground breaking engine for the Nintendo DS system. Renegade Kid proved that it was possible to make a good looking FPS on the Nintendo DS and still have all the bits and pieces.

The problem was that Dementium was too much focused on the atmosphere- at lest that’s what fan boy complaints drove Renegade Kid to develop their next Nintendo DS title called Moon. They promised less atmosphere and more FPS action to please the core gamer.

Moon was set to be one of the last titles in 2008, but it was pushed to 2009. When it was released there were two options- to play the game and like it and to play it and hate it. Once again Renegade Kid mixed up their engine to bring a game with a different formula and style- a gamble in the gaming world.

Renegade Kid loves their stories- they put so much effort- oh wait, it seems another pretty generic story for the game here folks. A not too distant future space mission Kane the leader of this epic Extra Terrestrial Encounter Organization and his marry men decide to go the moon. Like in all good games- something has to happen but in Moon it’s done in another typical corny way- red flashing lights and a bail out mission. But then instead of going home and forgetting anything happened, what does Kane do? He decides he should jump down this Alien Hatch in the middle of the Moon looking for more of his marry men who also went down there and are now dead.

Now the story isn’t that bad- you have a few bumps because of the style- but otherwise it feels like it fits to a bit, but once your cut scenes end, all you got to entertain yourself more is stupid mission transmissions from this guy and some diary logs around the place.

So once you’re in this hatch- you have to slap yourself when you notice that the blue tubes which aliens poop out when they die is accuracy health- too bad the character doesn’t realise/get told that straight way. Until then you have to look at the most corniest dialogue written to men. The idiotic-ness of Kane who needs to a chime in from his captain brings back memories of old- which were removed from games for a reason. Because help like this dam sucks balls.

Atmosphere wise, Renegade Kid was right on the money when the said there would be less of it. Moon while been placed on the moon has only that going for it atmosphere wise. The levels are prity boring looking and typical of “alien technology” which society seems to accept as the normal look for this typical boring looking area. Alien technology also updates your maps every dam second of the game with full blown maps which shows point A to point B. Heck these maps give you locations of all that icky alien technology for you to use to blow their bloody minds out.

Renegade Kid’s last title- Dementium: The Ward had a few out of place enemies- but if you think that was bad, everyone on Moon do not belong. Regardless if it’s you or those monsters you’re blowing to pieces. You have spider looking creatures and crap loads of flying balls which spit crap everywhere- and that’s only in the first Chapter.

Moon focuses primary on FPS action. Which in Moon isn’t something desirable- the weapons of choice are not that interesting- and an automatic weapon which has unlimited bullets as a starting default weapon- raises questions about why a team just digging holes on the Moon looking for alien forms would have so much blood weaponry at their disposal. The recoil in other weapons are for a game- to slow and make the FPS action feel sticky.

Moon does however implement a few more puzzles then Renegade Kid’s previous title Dementium: The Ward. In Dementium it was essentially going from point A to point B and hardly ever would you track back for something. In the Moon however going back to previous locations opens up new game play mechanics as you advance with more and more weapons which you can use. One such weapon which opens doors in the Moon for gamers- is the search droid- which can be used to go through areas smaller than your character and find things which- do in fact open doors and other locations. The search droid also has a stun gun on it and is useful if you want to look for alien artefacts which are collectable in Moon.

Along with these more puzzling features of Moon are some adjustments to Dementium’s engine which powered the title. These include now support for cars- which Moon has a dune buggy in later chapters. The save system is also reworded in this title- though it isn’t as fun as it should of been. Like Metroid there is save zones which users can save the game in. This for me isn’t a desirable method of saving- especially when you’re playing and playing then get so close to the next save point and then you die. Unwanted and boring- though once again the game does save when advancing chapters.

While I have lots of grips with this title- it does run smooth, though FPS is a bit tacky because of weapon design. The game though also has bosses in the chapters which are great break up segments. The battles are interesting- but once again the range feels out of place and the variety of alien types on Moon just astound me.

The game also controls like most FPS titles on the Nintendo DS- using the touch screen to look around and the L or R buttons as shot. The D-Pad or A,X,Y,B buttons are also used for moving. It’s a great combination which for a Nintendo DS FPS works well- and has been proven to work well in Metroid and Renegade Kid’s own Dementium: The Ward as well as other FPS on the market which incorporate this style.

Unlike Dementium: The Ward- Moon is a much lighter game in terms of colours- the colour pallet used shows the limitations of the engine much more than Dementium. With graphics looking not as good as Dementium in some stages and in others much better. Sound is also another slashed and packed in feature of Moon. With sound not the games strongest suit- there is no music as such and the sound selected just is annoying. Though it’s great to see so far that monsters don’t make sounds as horribly ear piercing as Dementium.

Score: So-So

Overall the game isn’t as packed and presented as well as Dementium: The Ward and the overall package compaired to other titles on the Nintendo DS regardless of Genre- you could find a much nicer game to spend your hours playing. If you are looking at the game as just a FPS title for the Nintendo DS- you are getting one of the best on the system, but the next few months will have more solid releases with much better FPS action then Moon.

Trent Petronaitis
Posted on 12.01.2009 in Articles, Reviews

So the guy who made Sonic decides to run into the woods naked and come back with some fresh new ideas- well that is fine- after all Sonic has turned into a pile of shit these past few titles- so gamers and all wait for the guys latest titles- Let’s Tap and Let’s catch – both part of the Let’s series.

Gamers decided let the guy have a chance- so the crazy man developed these games and released Let’s Tap in Japan in December. Well I managed to find myself with the opportunity to play with an import copy- and let me tell you- this makes Sonic look GOOD.

The Let’s series has one word- followed by another- in this case TAP. Well my friends Let’s Tap doesn’t take a genius to figure out what you do- I say you tap.

Hold on for a moment- you say this game is shit? But tapping sounds like a honky dory new innovative way to play games.

Well you got me there- the game’s style of tapping is fresh and new- but it grows old and boring with the very easy and simple game play mechanics.

There are some rhythm games- which involve tapping to a beat- these games have some alright music- but the tapping just doesn’t make the game feel right. Over all when you tap you always win- with the learning curve been 0 to nothing because the game is basically a giant fucking win button.

The game has a great soundtrack- I’m going to praise that bit of the game right now- if you heard the clip when the game was announced I think anyone would get the idea that this was going to be a system seller title- but deep down this stinks harder then Sonic- an impossible task this day and age- when Sonic is an old character who needs to dry out his suit and drown himself in his own tears of blood pouring from his eyes after he sees SEGA’s latest attempt at a Sonic game.

Score: Thumbs Down

So over all this game has some great music- but when it comes down to it- music just doesn’t sell a game. You will find the tapping interesting and new for a bit- but when it comes down to it- it won’t feel right at home with it been easy as shit pie.

Tune in for a full review when the game comes out in English one day- where I can talk about the sections and modes which I didn’t play and bash the shit out the game still- or give it a fair go, but from the looks of this so far- it’s going to be a dry boring game.

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