Games Cheats and Reviews

Scott Pilgrim: The Game is made to appeal to your sense of nostalgia. A beat-em-up in the vein of old 8- and 16-bit classics with a purposefully pixelated art style, your mission is simply to get from one end of the map to the other while beating the crap out of everyone who gets in your way. And, for a game that celebrates the simple pleasure of button-mashing, it’s highly effective.

The game effortlessly weaves together nerd-culture references (from Super Mario Bros. to Akira) with levels and playstyle created to remind you of games like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and River City Ransom. Miniscule background animations and character details ensure that, even when you’re just wailing away on clones of enemies you’ve seen in every other level, they all look distinct. And like RCR (or more recently, Castle Crashers) you also level up your character — earning new powers, greater strength, and more incentive to keep going, the further along you go.

If the current crop of consoles has taught me anything, it’s that game developers have a real knack for transmuting my childhood memories into a revenue stream. New Super Mario Bros. Wii, for example, struck the nostalgia center of my brain like a laser-guided missile. Nintendo can call it “New” all they like — that game ostensibly boils down to four-player Super Mario Bros. 3, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. So when I heard that a multiplayer, high-def remake of Earthworm Jim was on the way, I thought, “Sure, I’ll bite.”

This latest, juiced-up classic to hit Xbox Live Arcade brings with it just about everything that was so great about the original Earthworm Jim: varied run-and-gun platforming, surreal environments, and absurd boss battles against walking non sequiturs (like Bob the Killer Goldfish and Queen Pulsating, Bloated, Festering, Sweaty, Pus-filled, Malformed, Slug-for-a-Butt). To top it all off, everything sports a fresh coat of fancy, high resolution paint, so the game looks good.

Xbox Live Indie game Mamotte Knight (Protect Me Knight) is a genuinely enjoyable, upbeat, and colorful hack-and-slash-meets-tower-defense game. Developed by Ancient Corp (Beyond Oasis), with energetic chiptune music by Yuzo Koshiro and a sharp retro sprite art style, the game oozes just the right amount of nostalgia and charm. The game even comes filled with smile-worthy Engrish (extending to the in-game manual as well as the music track titles like “Defeat F$%kin’ Evils!”). And it has one of my personal favorite features: co-op (up to four players). Overall, Mamotte Knight’s a pleasing endeavor, but one that leaves you feeling not quite satiated by the end, like a fancy meal that’s a little too small on the portioning. From character selection to the credits, the game takes about 20 minutes to complete on Normal difficulty.

Your number one directive is to protect the princess from wave after wave of enemy goblin forces. You can move the princess around the map, and out of trouble, by pushing her, and the two of you can move seamlessly through the various barricades erected on the map, but otherwise she essentially just stands there as a big fat liability.

At first glance the latest Skate installment can easily evoke nostalgia. The series’ recurring flick-it controls, low-angle camera, and penchant for handrail-strewn environments suggest that Black Box subscribes to the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” school of design, a strategy that would still satiate audiences were it all that Skate 3 accomplished. Instead, this latest chapter improves on virtually every aspect of its near-flawless fundamentals, while delivering more modes, missions, and multiplayer components, proving to fans that its days of resting on its laurels aren’t here quite yet. Let’s just hope that three games in three years marks an exercise in refinement rather than a trend towards repetition.

The developer has revised the dual-stick control scheme and tweaked the physics, and the freshly minted streets of Port Caverton somehow feel sleeker. But the real accomplishment is in the fluidity of the game as a whole. From dropping-in and super-ramps to jogging up stairs and repositioning park benches, the entire experience feels like one uninterrupted action, and anything you do, short of pressing the guide button, is there to further the feeling of freely sessioning your favorite skate spot.

GamingUnion.net writes, "The 90s are long gone, and sure there were some trends that are long dead and should stay that way, like cassette tapes. The 90s did also mark a time of arcades in their prime, with classic brawlers such as Final Fight. For those looking for that bit of nostalgia, there’s Final Fight: Double impact, an arcade double pack for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network featuring both the Final Fight and Magic Sword arcade games bundled into one package."

The original Gold and Silver are getting a bit long in the tooth, but a decade of extra gameplay polish makes HeartGold and SoulSilver extremely appealing. The games are next-gen nostalgia done right.

Scorched Angel Writes: Nostalgia is everything in this business. It is really one of the foundations that keep the video game industry going. Perfect Dark is a prime example of that. For months, fans of one of the original first person shooter were clamoring for this remake. They kept asking when it was coming out, and wanted to see what Rare would do, and if they would mess it up. Well, I can say with great confidence that they have not messed it up. It still proves that Rare was able to make outstanding shooters back in the day, and this one especially, is bursting at the seams with nostalgia.

Following last year’s release of ‘The Ocarina Of Rhyme,’ a remix album featuring beats from Nintendo’s seminal game franchise, Team Teamwork has given Square’s long running role playing series the same treatment with this week’s release of ‘Vinyl Fantasy 7.’ Taking original musical compositions from Final Fantasy 7 and remixing them with a who’s who of hip hop (and even Tom Waits),  Team Teamwork continues to impress with infectious takes on tunes which hold such nostalgia for many gamers. I recently was able to catch up with the man behind the curtain, Timothy Jacques, and ask a few questions about the new disc.

Eric: From your work on the Ocarina of Rhyme album, is there anything you learned and improved upon in the time between it’s release and that of Vinyl Fantasy 7?

Tim: I’ve learned a lot since last March about what makes for an interesting beat. More importantly, I’ve learned a substantial amount about what to listen for when mixing a track. As a result,VF7 sounds a lot more cohesive and consistent than Ocarina.

Eric: Is there any difference or difficulties that are associated with making remixes from game music as opposed to those on The Good-Ass Remixes (Team Teamwork’s ‘Traditional Remix’ Album)?

Tim: Working with a limited amount of tracks makes it easier to get stuff done because it’s more of a “make it work” mentality, but it’s also easier to get frustrated with the constraints of such a small set of sounds.

Eric: Was it harder narrowing down the specific musical choices from Final Fantasy 7’s expansive soundtrack or picking the songs featured from Ocarina of Time?

Tim: Holy crap, yes. With Ocarina, I only cut 2 demos from the final. With VF7, I ended up deleting more songs than I used. Something like 16 tracks that I put together didn’t make the album.

Eric: Being that I am one of your followers on Twitter (which has it’s advantages, such as an early copy of Vinyl Fantasy 7), I noticed that the tracks were re-ordered for the final release, can you tell me the reasoning behind this?

Tim: The tracks, in their final order, are almost entirely chronological to where they appear in the game. The exception is the last track, Save Me Dear. [SPOILER] Aeris dies (the sample in track 12) way before you fight Sephiroth (the sample in track 11). I wanted Save Me Dear to be the last track because it’s my favorite.

Eric: Seeing that Danger Mouse got his big break from remixing Jay-Z’s Black Album with the Beatles White Album, to form the Grey Album, do you have ambitions to become a full time musician?

Tim: It’s still just a fun hobby. But I don’t see myself quitting any time soon.

Eric: Follow up Question: If you could form a Duo, much like Danger Mouse has done with Ceelo (Gnarls Barkley) and James Mercer (Broken Bells), who would it be with, and what style of music would you make?

Tim: That’s a really hard question. I really like working solo because, unless I have a deadline, there is no stress at all. But If I had to think of one off the top of my head, I’d do a Madvillain/Soul Position-style team with Bun B or a Broken Bells-style team with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver.

Eric: I know you have found recognition on the Internet from the success of Ocarina of Rhyme, but have any artists or other celebrities commented on the remixes (If it hasn’t the inclusion of self proclaimed video game enthusiast Murs on Vinyl Fantasy 7 may change that)?

Tim:Drug Rug and Mum, two great bands that I sampled on Good-ass Vol. 1, responded very positively to the remixes I made that sampled them, and one of my favorite comedians, Aziz Ansari, blogged about Ocarina. That was pretty astounding.

Eric: You’ve stated that your future musical ambitions include remixes from Capcom’s Megaman series, since up to this point you have been remixing synthesized orchestral music with Ocarina of Time and Final Fantasy 7, do you think it’ll be a challenge to work with the chiptune melodies of the NES?

Tim: I don’t think it’ll be any more of a challenge. It still has a melody, bass-line and drum part. If anything, it might be easier, since there are MIDI files set up with the notes easily editable But if that ever comes to fruition, it’ll be a long time from now.

Eric: What are your thoughts on the nerd-core sub-genre of Hip Hop ie. MC Frontalot, MC Chris etc.

Tim: It’s okay. I like MC Chris. But as nerdy as I am, I’m not all that familiar with the genre.

Eric: Any game soundtracks or hip hop albums from the past year that you thought stood above the rest?

Tim: For hip hop albums: Freddie Gibbs’s Midwestgangstaboxframecadillacmuzik mixtape is really excellent; Edan’s Echo Party;  Diplo and Benzi’s Fear and Loathing in Huntsvegas mixtape; Oh No’s Ethiopium; and of course J Dilla’s Jay Stay Paid. As for video game soundtracks: the score for Borderlands set the mood of the game pretty well. But none really stood out to me.

Eric: Finally, If you could perform one track from either Ocarina of Rhyme or Vinyl Fantasy 7 live with the MC’s featured in the remix, which would you choose?

Tim: Knockin’ Doors Down (Hyrule Field) by Pimp C, Lil Keke and P.O.P. because in order for that to happen, Pimp C would have to be brought back to life.

Thanks to Tim aka Team Teamwork for taking the time to discuss his third full length album with me. The full album can be downloaded at Team Teamwork’s website (for free), but if you dig it, throw a couple bucks his way, because I really want that Megaman remix album…right now, seriously. I think vast sums of money could go a long way in speeding up the creative process — amirite?

If your fondest arcade memories are of playing gratuitously violent games without your parents knowing, then Microsoft’s Game Room probably won’t give you the sense of nostalgia you’re looking for. According to a Microsoft representative, there are no plans to carry Mature or even Teen rated titles in the feature.

“Games available for download within ‘Game Room’ will carry either E or E10+ ratings,” this representative said to GamerBytes (via Kotaku). “We currently have no plans to feature titles of those [higher Teen and Mature] ratings.”

The reasoning behind this is where things get a little tricky, though. Originally, GamerBytes reported that Microsoft elected to get an ESRB rating for the Game Room feature itself, rather than have to rate every title that will launch within it. As such, they limited themselves to E and E10+ games only, and will have to continue to do so for every new game released for Game Room. The logic here is this will save Microsoft tons of money in ESRB rating fees since they supposedly wouldn’t have to rate future games for the service.

Game: Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond
Developer: Vicious Cycle Software
Genre: Side-scrolling Shooter
Verdict: A hilarious arcade shooter that satisfies the nostalgia for a great old-school side scroller.
Pros: Hilarious dialogue and one liners, awesome parodies of other video games, good game mechanics.
Cons: Hard, hard as hell,and hell gave up playing on the highest difficulty, no online co-op.
Acquired: Developer Provided
Price: 1200 Microsoft Points ($14.99)/$14.99 on Playstation Network

Matt Hazard is back, and he’s better than ever – if you call being reverted to 2D better. Thanks to the folks at Vicious Cycle Software, the world is once again graced with a tale of everyone’s favorite self-aware video game character, Matt Hazard, and once again, his very existence is in danger.

Bu-du-bu-bu-du-bu…bu

In Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond, Matt’s old nemesis, General Neutronov, has hatched a new scheme to rid himself of Matt. Rather than face Matt head on, Neutronov has gone back in time and kidnapped the old…errrr…younger 8-bit version of Matt.  As Matt chases Neutronov through the server in order to rescue himself…his self…hisself…feh, nevermind, he must traverse the worlds of his fellow heros. These parodied worlds include those of Super Mario Bros., Mirror’s Edge, Team Fortress, Portal, Bioshock, and many more.

Matt, being the self-aware character that he is, is quick to throw out a witty comment on almost everything he encounters. In one boss encounter, Matt faces a Johnny-5 style robot (Short Circuit, circa 1986. If you’ve never seen this film, walk away from this review and go watch it. I’ll be here when you get back) aptly named Juliette-5. During the battle, Matt quips aloud, wondering if Juliette-5 is still alive (again, a reference to the movie that you should have now watched). Matt’s good buddy and all around voice-in-his-head, Quentin, has his share of funny moments too. When Matt heroically faces off with a gargantuan boss that is a mix between an elephant, a hippopotamus, and a rhino, Quentin asks what one calls such a mix – brace yourselves…get ready for it…a h-eleph-ino. Ha, get it. A hell if I know. That’s funny…right? Fine. Don’t laugh. I thought it was hilarious.

H-elep-ino!

All joking aside (ok, most joking aside), Blood Bath and Beyond is a very well done game. The shooting mechanics are very much like Shadow Complex, while the level design and power ups are reminiscent of Contra. Enemies are appropriate to the level in which they reside, and they are plentiful. By far, in this writer’s opinion at least, the best enemy type in the game is the Mountie-driven moose-head tank in the Canadian level. That’s aboot…about as funny as it gets. The bosses are also fun, becoming more outlandishly awesome as the game progresses.

One cannot talk about this game without mentioning the difficultly level. I started the game on “Damn, this is hard”, which would normally be considered the “normal” difficulty. This difficultly level gives you five continues to use throughout the game. I would never claim that I am the best gamer around, but I’m not a neophyte either. On this setting, I was dead and out of continues by the fourth world. It is not often that I have to drop down to casual, “Wussy” in this game, to give myself infinite continues. To be honest, “Wussy” was challenging, but doable. I’m sure that “Damn, this is hard” is doable as well, but I did not have the time to continue to mess with it. The hardest difficulty level is called “Fuck this shit,” and I surmise that it was implemented just so the developer’s can laugh their asses off each time they hear a story of someone attempting it. If anyone has beat an substantial part of this game on this difficulty, get it one video and post it on YouTube. You will be considered a video-game god.

It's Doc. He's alive.

Graphically, this game is beautiful. It has the expected high-definition sheen, though it only runs as high as 720p. The character’s are well done, and the environments are gorgeous at times. It also has a pseudo-3D element, which allows some enemies to be in the background and allows Matt Hazard to shoot into the background. Though the game is pretty to look at, the developers poke fun of themselves by describing certain events between scenes with text similar to, “and the lab exploded in a monstrous explosion that would have been way out of budget for us to put into a cut scene.”

Sound is also well done in Blood Bath and Beyond. It is not stellar, but it is good. The sound effects are what you would generally expect from a shooters (explosions, guys groaning in death, etc.). The level music is very reminiscent of a good ’80s side-scroller, complete with an intensity change in the songs during the boss fights. There is nothing bad to say about the sound in this game, but there’s nothing great to say either. It was well done, but that is all.

Honestly, Blood Bath and Beyond is one of the better Arcade games that I have played. It clocks in at about four hours of gameplay, and for $14.99, that is definitely worth it. It does incorporate a co-op element that I did not have a chance to try during my review period, but that just gives me an excuse to replay the game on a harder difficulty level. Unfortunately, the co-op gameplay is onscreen only; no online guys. Sorry. If you like parody games and like the feel of Contra and Shadow Complex, go grab Blood Bath and Beyond. If you’re not sure that you want to drop $15 on chance, then go grab the demo, which is available on both Xbox Live and the Playstation Store. Whatever you do, don’t think that you’ll be able repeat one of the one-liners from the game to your wife and she’ll laugh as hard as you did. I tried; it didn’t work.

Sharing: It’s Win/Win