Normally, I don’t do Maximum Letdowns (or for that matter $20 GOTWs and Lost Classics) on games that haven’t been released yet, and since I don’t normally purchase bad games just to smash on them, I concentrate on older titles (along with the occasional dud I find as a download). However in this case, I think the premature bashing is more than warranted, as one of my all-time favorite gaming franchises has been ruined.

Ever since it’s origin on the Japanese PC Engine, the Fire Pro Wrestling series has been notable for its huge list of wrestlers (many of which are based on real-life personalities), huge amount of customization options (allowing players to customize everything from wrestlers, to match types, to ring logos), and its realistic (well as realistic one can get for a scripted sport) simulation-like quality. Not anymore. Thanks to Microsoft, the Fire Pro Wrestling franchise is going to become less than a shadow of its former self, and the upcoming iteration will be a complete mockery of the wrestling franchise I once loved.
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Galcon Fusion, created by developer Phil Hassey, is the latest in the Galcon series, a series of games that started as a 1987 PC shareware title and has been remade as a browser game, Iphone app, and a desktop game. Short for Galactic Conquest, Galcon Fusion can best be described as an arcade-style real time strategy game. The object of the game is to use your fleet of ships to colonize other planets in the galaxy while watching out for other players. By capturing planets, you enable them to create more ships, which you then direct at other planets in an attempt to conquer teh galaxy as fast as possible. It’s simple to get into, yet like most casual games, it gets addictive. There are several different modes, including online multiplayer, and you can post your high score to the game’s leaderboards. It’s available on steam, and it’s cheap, so check it out.

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Every major love in Clark Kent’s life has an alliterative “LL” name: Smallville-schoolboy-crush Lana Lang, army-brat-turned-sassy-and-sexy-metropolitan-reporter Lois Lane, and mermaid (MERMAID??) Lori Lemaris.

But let us not forget the enigmatic and powerful Lex Luthor.

Oh, come on, you can’t tell me that Lex doesn’t have a serious boy crush for Superman, why else hate him so much yet want to BE him at the same time?

Writers of many stripes have tried to answer that question since the character was introduced, but none have been quite as successful as John Byrne’s 1986 post-Crisis interpretation. Despite the many alterations since, this is the core of the character that has shone through.

That is why L is for Lex Luthor. Read on!

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