Mystic Quest’s story was pretty much as basic as it gets: monsters stole the 4 creatures, and you, the hero, must get them back. As the game is supposed to be for beginners, many of the series staples have either been diminished or eliminated entirely. Instead of a wide open world full of hidden secrets, we get a linear-style interface that holds our hand and leads us on a guided path. Instead of character customization and equipment options, weapons and armor are automatically equipped. Instead of a huge customizable 3 – 4 man party full of multifaceted characters that are interesting in their own right, we only travel with one other companion at the most, and with a few exceptions, these people are simply there to provide an extra set of hands and to move the story forward.

There are a few changes that were for the better though. Players can save anywhere when not in battle, there are no random encounters (as enemies are present on the map), and there are several action-based puzzles. You can use weapons outside of battle to hack down trees, make use of bombs to destroy barriers, and you even gain use of a grappling to cross gaps Zelda-style. The music, while not as memorable as the other FF games, was pretty catchy too.

FFMQ set out to make the RPG genre accessible to newer RPG gamers. Though its intentions were noble enough, one should always remember the ending destination of the road paved with good intentions. It wouldn’t be until years later that FF VII helped bring the RPG mainstream success (and in the process, changing the face of gaming). What burns me up the most about FFMQ is the fact that Final Fantasy V, a much more superior game, could have made it over here instead.

Fun Fact: The Japanese version of FFMQ is known as Final Fantasy USA Mystic Quest. Also in Europe around the time, the Final Fantasy series is known as Mystic Quest. So when FFMQ was released over there, it was titled Mystic Quest Legend.

Thanks to Beaterator, you don’t need thousands of dollars with of studio equipment to make hits. All you need is a PSP, a copy of the game, a memory stick, and some patience, and you can become the next DJ Primer or Manny Fresh.

All of your favorites return, from Taki and Sophitia to Cervantes and Ivy. The new characters Ivy and Algol join the cast. In addition, there are bonus characters who are designed by manga artists. Although they share movesets with returning characters, they have their own unique looks, so they are similar to the bonus characters from SC3. Also, there is a crossover with the Star Wars universe of sorts, as Yoda is playable in the xbox 360 version (and can be purchased on the PSN for $5) and Darth Vader is playable in the PS3 version (and can be purchased on the Xbox Live Marketplace for $5). The Apprentice, who is the main character in the game “The Force Unleashed” also joins the cast on both systems. These characters have Force maneuvers that use a special ‘force meter’ to activate. Although they are somewhat unbalanced, it’s cool to have them in the game. Of course, you can also create your own character as well. The create-a-character mode has been revamped, and there are more options for tweaking your custom fighter. The graphics have been tweaked as well. There is a huge amount of detail in both the characters and the backgrounds. Even if a few of the backgrounds have been recycled from past SoulCalibur games, it’s nice to see the additional graphical tweaks that take advantage of the new hardware.

The gameplay is roughly the same, although some new tricks have been added. Characters can equip armor that enhances their abilities and grants them additional powers. A character’s armor can be destroyed, and they lose the benefits that that piece of armor provided. The Soul Gauge has been added. As you guard and make hits, it changes color. Once your opponent’s gauge is flashing red and a piece of their armor has been destroyed, your character can perform a critical finish, which is a finishing move unique to each character. Online play has been added for the first time in the series, and you can even take created characters online. It is laggy at times, so you’ll have to seek out opponents with good connections. You can also download new content on the Xbox Live Marketplace or the Playstation Network Store.

My main disappointment lies in the single player modes. The thing I liked most about the Soul series is that their single player story modes have gone above and beyond the usual “beat up everybody until you get to the boss then beat him up too” scenarios from other fighting games. They have contained story-driven modes complete with branching paths, unlockables, and details that shed light on the story and its characters. Heck, SCIII even had an RTS minigame! However, in SCIV, the story mode is as bare bones as it gets. When I pick a character, I get a screen showing their storyline. Then I go through 5 stages, including the boss. Sometimes I have to fight more than one opponent, other times I tag team with someone, and it is never explained why. Finally I get to the final boss, either Algol or Nightmare. At least I still get to see a good ending. There is also a mode called the “Tower of Souls”, where players can take part in several single player challenges. This mode is somewhat better, due to the variety. Thankfully, like in past SC games, there are lots of items to unlock. Achievement hunters will find lots have fun finding achievements in this game as well, as their nature is so random, and you’ll get gamerpoints for seemingly random activities. It almost feels like Dead Rising, where you’d be playing the game, then suddenly the achievement bubble pops up, and you’d scramble to press the big Xbox button to see what you just did to get your gamerpoints.

Now maybe I can let the bare bones single player mode pass if I consider that the development team used their time and resources on the online play and graphics. In fact, this is perhaps the first time I’ve seen a fighting game where I can create characters that look just as good as the guys who are packed in without the main characters having to lose out on graphical detail, so this is definitely a plus. Like its predecessors, SCIV is an awesome fighting game. It won’t overwhelm series newbies, and veterans will feel right at home. Now listen up Namco: for the next installment, I demand a deeper story mode, all new backdrops and music, and more play modes. The series has had all of these things since Soul Edge on Playstation 1, so I know it’s possible.

Other than that, the gameplay will feel right at home for veterans of RON. The campaign makes use of a map similar the RON’s conquer the world campaign, and you’ll spend lots of time in battle researching and upgrading your tech tree. While Rise of Legends doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it is still an excellent RTS game, and it does a good job of following up Rise of Nations, even if its scope is scaled down in comparison.

Marker Man adventures is a fusion of platforming and physics based puzzle gaming, but it doesn’t do either very well. You play as Marker Man, a stick figure out to find his dog Doodles. He can’t do much beside walk (very slowly) and jump, so you use the stylus to draw bridges and shapes to navigate. By drawing various shapes in motions, I activate the game’s power ups, such as breathing underwater and faster movement. Works good in theory, but the drawing is very unresponsive. I mean, having to draw a line 8 times before the game will register it and lay it down. Even worse, when I draw a shape, the system also misreads it, and I end up drawing a triangle when I wanted to draw a circle. Speaking of circles, they are the only way to deal with the game’s enemies. I can draw circles around them and push them around to keep them at bay, but the only way to deal with them permanently is to push them off cliffs.

The levels, though poorly designed offer several different solutions to replay them. Unfortunately, in the short amount of time I spent with the game, I found no way to select previously completed levels. There is no incentive to do so anyway, as there is no ranking, no scoring based on how you complete the levels, or no high score chart. Thankfully, the game takes care of that situation though, as my save file tends to get mysteriously set back to level 1. Combine this with some annoyingly haunting background tune (which seems to be the only music in the entire game), and what could have been a promising DS title ends up being an exercise in frustration and boredom.

In closing, if you must have a game like this, then just download Crayon Physics. If you must have a game like this on DS, then just cough up the extra $10 and grab Scribblenauts.

There is no shortage of wrestling titles that allow players to step inside the ring, but how many allow them
to step behind the curtain or even into the front office? No I’m not talking about Smackdown vs Raw’s General Manager mode. I mean taking the role of the Vince McMahons,the Eric Bischoffs, the Bill Watts, the Vince Russos, or the Paul Heymans and deciding who gets the push, who gets buried, making deals, securing talent, negotiating contracts, and everything else that the head booker does. Well, Adam Ryland’s Extreme Warfare series has been letting players do just that. It’s been around since 1995, and in 2004 it changed its name to Total Extreme Wrestling and made use of a windows interface. Although 2010 is going to be released soon (if it hasn’t been already), 2005 is available for free at the site at www.greydogsoftware.com.

Like its predecessors and sequels, TEW 2005 is entirely menu-driven. That means you won’t be seeing any matches, controlling any wrestlers, or participating in any wrestling action. What you will be doing is selecting one of several promotions, and do what you can to take it to the top. You’ll set merchandising, book angles, set matches, decide who wins, and even set the length of the segments of your television product. You’ll also have to deal with wrestlers and their egos, and like the stuff you see on tv, you’ll also have to deal with backstage drama. The menu interface is sometimes hard to work with (especially when trying to book angles) and the game could benefit from some kind of tutorial mode, but once you get the hang of everything, you’ll easily get sucked in. You’ll be booking PPV cards, promoting matches, and negotiating with talent just like a real promoter.

If you’re what they consider to be a ’smark’ (wrestling lingo for smart fan) or wrestling insider, TEW is the perfect package for you. Wrestling fans will get a kick out of taking control of what goes on behind the scenes…. as long as they realize and are willing to come to terms with the fact that pro-wrestling is scripted.

Duke Nukem. Halo. Call Of Duty. Resistance. Killzone. Goldeneye. Bioshock. Deus Ex. Quake. Timesplitters.

The list of great first person shooters goes on and on, and each game has left its own unique stamp on the genre, weather it’s the RPG-like stat progression of Bioshock and Deus Ex, the cinematic realism of Modern Warfare and Rainbow Six Vegas, the zaniness of Timesplitters and Duke Nukem, or the multiplayer action of Halo and Goldeneye. However, all of these games owe their existence and popularity to one name: Doom. While ID Software’s classic didn’t create the FPS genre (that honor many would say belongs to ID’s previous effort Wolfenstein 3D), it helped shape the face of the genre for years to come. This article will take a look at the classic and its impact on gaming.

Wolfenstein 3D
Our article does not actually start with Doom, but with Wolfenstein. Released as a 3D reimaging of the 2D Castle Wolfenstein games, Wolfenstein 3D was notable due to a couple of reasons. Years before Call of Duty and all its clones had players storming Normandy beach for the 50th time, Wolfenstein 3D was one of the first WWII inspired games that gave players the actual real-life WWII experience, complete with zombies with chain guns embedded into their chests, mutant attack dogs, and a cyborg Hitler. More importantly, it was the dawn of what would be known as the first person shooter genre. While games had been done in first person before (mostly adventure and RPG games) Wolfenstein largely received credit for kick-starting the genre. With its first person viewpoint, Wolfenstein gave players an untold level of immersion, and it was the closest players would get to the virtual reality craze that was popular in gaming at the time without buying any fancy headgear. However, once its innovations had worn off, Wolfenstein’s number one fault became all too apparent: SERIOUS LACK OF VARIETY. You traveled through the same bland hallways, shooting the same limited arsenal of weapons at the same few enemies. It was not as if the game was terrible, in fact for many critics and fans, it would go on to become one of the greatest games ever. However if this new genre was to survive, then its next entry would have to offer more than what Wolfenstein did. So to that end…

The Legend Begins
ID Software’s next effort bought nothing less than certain Doom to PC gamers, so it was only natural that the game be called Doom. The game’s setting could best be described as Alien meets the exorcist. Placing gamers in a role of a space marine trapped on Mars, you had to survive a demon infestation that would lead you literally into Hell. Taking the same basic design as Wolfenstein, Doom improved on it in every area. There was a lot more variety in the weaponry. Along with the standard pistol, you made use of shotguns (which would go on to be a staple of nearly every good RTS series), plasma rifles, the BFG 9000, a chainsaw, and other tools. Your expanded and diverse arsenal was a good thing too, as you faced everything from demoniacally possessed enemies, large animal-like demons, fire wielding imps, and cyborg-demons. The bland hallways of Wolfenstein gave way to changes in height elevation, which enabled stairways, elevators, pitfalls, outer courtyards, and high ledges. The bland walls were also replaced thanks to texturing. The first episodes of the game were filled with computer terminals, electronic devices, futuristic equipment, and other doodads. Later on in the game, these devices were replaced with satanic imagery, scenes of ritual sacrifices, demonic imagery, and other horrific imagery as you descended into Hell. Improved lighting effects enhanced the game’s atmosphere, with the darkness in many of the game’s levels being used to frighten players, making Doom one of the first games to use darkness and lighting in such a manner. Little touches such as non-perpendicular walls, your weapon swaying back and forth, and audio clues helped to put Doom over its spiritual predecessor in a big way. By the way, here is some trivia: during the early stages of development, developer Tom Hall wrote the Doom Bible, a huge document full of ideas that were later dropped from the game in favor of a more simplistic approach. Among them was a new weapon, several playable characters, and a backstory featuring a fictional planer.

Multiplayer
Along with an excellent single player game, Doom also included a deathmatch mode for players to battle their friends with. By connecting computers over ethernet, players could fight against each other online. Doom also supported deathmatching online by letting two players connect over a phone modem. By the way, Doom was the first game to use the term ‘deathmatch’ to refer to the mode.

Modding
Doom’s greatest contribution may not have come from the guys at ID Software but rather the consumers who purchased the game. Particularly crafty hackers discovered that the game and its levels were encoded in an easy-to-discover WAD format. By altering this format, they managed to make changes to the levels. Exploring further, they found that they could create all new WAD files, meaning they could create new levels. Particularly crafty programmers then created 3rd party applications with which to create new WAD files. Even more so, they figured out how to change the textures altogether to create all new enemies, weapons, wall textures and sprites, even going as far as to create an all new game on top of the engine, known as a total conversion. People went on to create total conversions of Doom based on everything from Batman to the Simpsons. As you can see here, there is even a mod based on Mega Man. The U.S. Military even created a version of Doom used for military training, and Digital Cafe created a nonviolent version of doom called Chex Quest which was given away for free to promote the cereal. ID Software’s product inadvertently (or perhaps intentionally) gave rise to a community of user-generated content never seen before in gaming. Other games in the genre would soon become the catalysts for mods themselves, with many total conversions even gaining mainstream success such as Counterstrike (a mod of Half-Life), Defense of the Ancients (a mod of Warcraft III) and Team Fortress (a mod of Quake). It got to a point where PC development companies began to openly support game mods, with developers going as far as to include map and scenario design tools with their games. Many PC game releases even include the same tools that the developers used to make the game, such as the Epic’s Unreal Editor program.

Controversy
Doom was released during the early 90s, when gaming began to head out in a more mature direction, led by the arcade monster Mortal Kombat. With the increase in blood and guts came an increase in the outrage of parents and teachers. With this increase in drama came the increase in politicians sensing opportunity. It was then discovered (read: scapegoated) by ‘experts’ (read: people who never played a video game in their lives save for Pong and Pac-Man) that video games, along with heavy metal, grunge rock, and gangsta rap, were responsible for corrupting the youth and turning them into hardcore criminals and murderers. Doom was especially singled out, as parents feared that its first person perspective, along with the emergence of virtual reality technology was actually training children to become killers (apparently somewhere out there is a gun with a keyboard, mouse, and monitor attached to it). To ward off some of the fire from Doom and other such games, the entertainment software board established a ratings system designed to inform parents of a game’s content, so this temporarily took the focus away from Doom (of course later violent video games that were released throughout the next few years caught their fair share of heat too).

Doom would once again be at the center of controversy in 1999, when two teenage gunmen, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold went on a grisly shooting spree at Columbine High School. I’m not going to recap the horrific events of that day as its been done millions of times already (most particularly in this past week’s $20GOTW). After the shooting, parents groups, teachers, and the media would go on to find out what drove two youth to preform such acts (because you know, suburban youth never decide to commit crimes on their own, so it must be an outside influence), and in doing so they found several scapegoats to blame it on. One of these would be no other than the PC game Doom. Thus, an all-new firestorm of controversy arose against video game violence, with fingers once again pointed at ID Software’s masterpiece in a knee-jerk reaction. Thankfully nothing major came out of it. A few years later when incidents such as this tragically became the norm, studies done by researchers such as the Institute for the Greater Good, Harvard medical school researchers Cheryl Olson and Lawrence Kutner, the U.S. Secret Service and the Department of Education would conclude that video game violence and the increase in school shootings were not closely related. The Secret Service and DOE studies in particular analyzed 37 different incidents of school violence and found out that only 1/8th of the shooters had an interest om violent video games. The main trait that everyone had in common was that they had histories of depression and/or attempted suicide. However, parent groups, teachers, clergymen, and election-year politicians aren’t trying to hear it.

By the way, I’d like to take this opportunity to clear up a couple of rumors. First of all, parents complained that the two boys played a version of the game called ‘God Mode’. God Mode isn’t a version of the game, but rather a secret code in the game that grants invincibility. Also, it was rumored that Eric Harris designed a custom map based on Columbine High School which was used as a ‘practice run’ before the actual massacre. This isn’t true either. While Harris did create custom Doom levels, none of them were based on Columbine High School.

Distribution and Sequels
The original Doom was released as shareware. The first episode, consisting of 9 levels was uploaded to a public server, and players were encouraged to download it and share with others. While many people who played the shareware version didn’t buy the full game (consisting of two more episodes), the game itself sold upwards of 10 million copies, and drove the success of later sequels, which weren’t released as shareware. There wasn’t a retail version of Doom available until The Ultimate Doom was released in 1995, containing an all new episode.

Like most good games, Doom was followed up by numerous sequels. 1994’s Doom II saw the demon invasion heading to Earth, and the marine had to stop it. While II used a newer engine, it wasn’t much different from the original. That was okay, because back then it was okay for a sequel to not deviate much from it’s predecessor, and more of Doom is always a good thing. ID released a series of Doom II levels entitled ‘The Master Levels’, which was a collection of levels designed by independent designers. They were hard to complete, and didn’t have a real storyline, although fans of Doom ate it up. Doom II was later succeed by 1996’s Final Doom, a released composed of two independently developed episodes: TNT and The Plutonia Experiment. Doom 64, a Nintendo 64 exclusive rendition of the franchise featured all new textures for enemies and weapons. Doom III, which was released years later, was a re-imagining of the first game. While it’s dark atmosphere and creepy enemies kept the survival horror spirit of Doom alive, purists panned it for not being more faithful to earlier entries in the series. Doom III didn’t change the genre like its predecessors did, but it was powered by an all new graphics engine, and its horror-movie storyline kept things moving. It was followed up by an expansion pack, Resurrection of Evil and an IPhone sequel Doom Resurrection, which was a prequel to Doom III. Last April, ID Software announced Doom 4. However since they are busy on their new IP Rage (which will be released ‘when its done’), I wouldn’t expect to hear anything on it for a good while.

Console & Source Ports
Doom was a much sought-after game, and console gamers wanted to see what the fuss was all about. Nevermind that joypads at the time didn’t match the precision of a mouse and keyboard, Doom was the big killer-app of its day, and any console that was capable of running it gladly included it amongst its lineup. The Sega 32X and Atari Jaguar included it as a launch-window title, and in the case of both systems was one of the few games that you’d buy the system to play, although both ports were missing several levels and enemies from the PC game, and both versions had an inferior soundtrack. A version of the game also hit 3DO, although it was sorely lacking thanks in no small part to a playscreen that was the size of a postage stamp. There was even a port for the Super Nintendo thanks to the Super FX Chip. This version of the game was a strange beast. It had most of the monsters that were missing from the Jaguar and 32x ports, and it’s soundtrack was closer to the PC version, but it had no texture mapping for floors and ceilings, the back and sides of enemies weren’t rendered (so enemies always faced you), and there was no progress back up system (although higher difficulty levels allowed players to select which episode to start). Two players could play deathmatch online using the Xband modem. The definitive console port of Doom at the time was the Playstation’s ‘Ultimate Doom’. Along with most of the levels from Ultimate Doom, it contained a number of new levels, a redone soundtrack, and improved textures. The Playstation also received a port of Final Doom, which included a mix of levels from both Final Doom and the Master Levels collection. Throughout the years, Doom would hit multiple consoles, handhelds, and computer operating systems, either as official ports or homebrew. These systems included the Linux OS, Game Boy Advance (making it the first time that the game was made available on a handheld), Macintosh, and Sega Saturn. Although it wasn’t a console, Microsoft’s Bill Gates made it his mission to bring Doom to Windows 95 even featuring it in advertisements for the upcoming OS. Recognizing the game’s popularity, and hoping to promote the new OS as a platform suited for gaming, Microsoft programmed a special port of Doom for Windows 95 entitled Doom 95. It could run WAD filed from previous DOS versions of Doom and could be used to set up multiplayer games. Doom is also available on Xbox 360 via the Xbox Live arcade, and was included on the collector’s release of the Xbox version of Doom 3.

In 1997, ID software made the source code for Doom available, and fans began porting the game to hardware that didn’t previously support the game, including the PSP, Nintendo DS, PDA, and Ipods. Fans have also created ’source ports’, programs which run Doom on more modern hardware. Many of these source ports contain new features. For instance, Vavoom, the one I use, features OpenGL and Direct 3d rendering as well as full 360 degree mouse look.

Legacy
When it first came out, Doom was simply a good game that everyone just had to play. Over the years however, it would stand the test of time, becoming a pop culture icon, and changing the landscape of gaming much like games such as Super Mario Brothers, Street Fighter II, and Final Fantasy have done. Even today, with more advanced FPS titles, Doom still has a huge community of fans who continue to create mods, play deathmatches, and develop and maintain various source ports of Doom. It’s easy to take for granted Doom’s innovations to the genre, even today as players create levels for Little Big Planet, play each other online in Madden for Xbox Live, and are scared shitless by Dead Space’s dark atmosphere.

Movie

Yes, I know there was a movie based on Doom. It featured Dwayne Johnson (a.k.a. The Rock), and basically took a rancid dump over everything we loved about the source material in a way that would rival Uwe Boll’s greatest works.

Doom 64 takes place after Doom II. The Earth has been saved, but there are still demons roaming the halls of Mars and its moons. In a last ditch effort to eliminate every trace to the demonic invasion, the moons are bombed with irradiation, killing off nearly every demon….except one. While healing himself, he resurrects his fallen brethren. However because of the radiation, they become different and more powerful than they were before. Now it’s time to go back once again and stop the demon horde.

Doom 64 features all new textures and animations for the enemies (well the ones who have returned at least) and weapons. The backdrops and wall textures have also been given a new look, with the satanic imagery more prevalent than the old PC game. The lighting and texturing have also been altered to make the game’s atmosphere seem more moody and fearful than it was in the PC game. All of the weapons are back, although they have new looks and effects. They have been joined by a new weapon called the Unmaker, a powerful laser gun which can be upgraded by finding artifacts for it (now for some trivia: the Unmaker was one of the many unused concepts from developer Tom Hall’s Doom Bible, and its appearance in Doom 64 marks the first and only time it appeared in the series). The game also includes booby traps such as darts, making the game’s levels more intense than before. The music was done by Aubrey Hodges, who had done the musical score for the Playstation version of Ultimate Doom. The moody soundtrack also does a good job of adding to fear and dread.

Doom 64 is an excellent and underrated part of the Doom saga, and could almost be considered Doom 3 (of course the actual Doom 3 was released 7 years later). Doom 64 was also one of the few must-have titles on the Nintendo 64, and beside Goldeneye, it was one of the best first person shooter games on the system. Sadly it was largely ignored due to its engine looking dated and gamers having moved on to more advanced FPS titles. A lot of fans are hard at work bringing this to PC as a Doom conversion, and it hopefully won’t be long before this game is available on the Virtual Console.

For those of you who don’t know the story, on April 20th of 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, two troubled teens who had apparently been bullied during their years in high school went on a violent shooting spree, killing over a dozen students and teachers. The media, parents/teacher groups, clergymen, and opportunistic politicians, unable to fathom that two white boys from a wealthy suburban community bought about something that apparently is only supposed to happen in the ghetto or a backwoods rural area (and with rumors of a so-called ‘trenchcoat mafia’ shut down), immediately set about finding things to blame the tragedy on. “It was because of easy access to guns!” “It was because gun control laws are too strict!” “It was Marylin Manson!” “It was violent video games!” “It was Doom!” “It was because of the evil liberals taking prayer out of schools!” “Where were the parents at?” “Why didn’t anyone see the warning signs?” With all the fuss in a search for a scapegoat, few even considered to take a look at the events in their lives that might have led up to the shooting. Enter independent developer Danny Ledonne. Using the program RPG Maker 2000, he created a game which places characters in the role of the shooters. By researching thousands of pages of news articles about the massacre, home videos the two killers made, and video news reports, Ledonne’s product gives an insight and paints a picture suggesting why such a tragedy occurred.

Super Columbine Massacre RPG takes place in 3 parts. In the first part, the two sneak past teachers and students to place bombs in the cafeteria. In the second part, the two gunmen enter the school and attempt to kill as many students as they can (although how many they actually kill is up to you) before ending it all in the cafeteria. The third part sees the boys in hell fighting demons and creatures from Doom before meeting Satan. Throughout the game, you’ll discover flashbacks from the boys’ past. The dialogue in these events was lifted from home videos and writings, and they portray the events as the creator imagined them. It’s these flashbacks which give the most insight into Eric and Dylan’s mindstate and hold clues as to why Columbine happened. The game falters a bit in it’s third part, which may seem a bit absurd, especially compared to the events of the first two parts.

Super Columbine Massacre is one of the most difficult games you’ll ever play. Not because of level design, technical issues, enemy AI, or gameplay mechanics. It’s difficult because it places you in the role of the perpetrator of one of the worst events of last decade. It’s like watching a horror movie like Saw or Hostel in the way that the only way to skip the gruesome parts is to simply not play the game. Obviously this game isn’t for everyone, and for many, it tends to re-open wounds from that tragic day almost 11 years ago. However, this game may be the few pieces of media to give us any real insight as to why events such as this happen. Chuck D referred to hip-hop music as ‘The Black People’s CNN’. Well, video gaming has the potential to become the geek’s CNN, especially with more games such as Super Columbine Massacre.

Note: If you want to download this game, then you’ll have to search online sharing networks as the author no longer hosts the game on his sight due to the stress on his server.

Timesplitters places players in the shoes of various heroes throughout the ages as they do battle with a mysterious race of mutants known as the Timesplitters. You’ll begin in 1930s Egypt, travel to Chinatown in the 70s, and you’ll even travel towards the distant future. Rather than the hyper realistic graphics of most FPS titles, Timesplitters has a cartoonish art style, and there is very little blood and gore (although a few women characters are quite scantily clad The campaign mode (which you can play co-op) is easily the weakest part of the game. The story is virtually nonexistent, and all you do in each stage is head out to retrieve an object, then bring it back to the starting point while being chased by the Timesplitters. However, the game’s arcade mode is where the game really shines. It allows players to complete challenges, get used to the game’s multiplayer modes, and unlock new maps and characters. The arcade and multiplayer modes are guaranteed to keep Timespliters in your PS2’s tray for months after finishing the Campaign mode.

The game also includes a user-friendly mapmaker, so that players can create their own multiplayer maps. You basically select a motif, lay down room tiles, and you’re ready to go. Throughout the series’ next few entries, the mapmaker’s functionality had been expanded, and by the third entry, Future Perfect, players were able to create story mode single player missions and share them online. This helped pave the way for more user-generated content in console games.

Before Halo burned up Xbox Live, Timesplitters helped bring buddies together so that they could blast each other to pieces, and its sequels improved on the formula. Sadly, the status of the franchise is up in the air as Free Radical was absorbed into Crytek after 2008’s Haze, a flop of epic proportions. Long before their premature demise, Free Radical shown a teaser for Timesplitters 4. Hopefully they will be able to proceed, because I’m ready to see what they can do on current generation hardware.

$20 Game of the Week: Syphon Filter – Logan’s Shadow
Logan’s Shadow is the follow up to 2006’s Dark Mirror, the game that reintroduced the Syphon Filter franchise to gamers and also one of the PSP’s must-have titles. Logan’s Shadow continues the espionage fun with an all new plotline. Once again stepping into the role of agent Gabe Logan, players have to once again unravel a conspiracy. This time however, longtime partner Lian Xing has been suspected of being a traitor and is missing in action, while Gabe Logan’s agency has been disbanded by a corrupt U.S. senator, so the stakes are higher than ever before. If you played Dark Mirror, then Logan’s Shadow will be easy to get into. In fact, the tutorial missions are the same as in Dark Mirror, with the exception of an added tutorial for underwater combat. The only major gameplay change is that the medkit system has been dropped in favor of a Halo-style auto-refilling health bar. You can now chose weather to have the L button use a free-aiming mechanic or the series’ trademark lock-on system. Just like Dark Mirror, Logan’s Shadow features a ton of unlockables, including weapons and missions.

Like it’s predecessor, Logan’s Shadow should be in the library of every PSP owner, and fans of the series will find another round of the action that the series is known for, although the ending leaves the future of the series up in the air. I won’t spoil it for you, you’ll just have to play the game.

Lost Classics: Super Castlevania 4 (SNES, Wii Virtual Console)

Okay, so this game really doesn’t really fit the criteria for a proper Lost Classic. With today being a holiday and this being perhaps one of the games of all time however, I hope all you Poweteers will let me slide.

In my personal humble opinion, SCIV is the best Castlevania game in the series. Yes, there are better games in the series than SCIV, and there are games in the series that I have enjoyed more than SCIV, but no other game in the series has left the impression on me that SCIV did.

In the early days of the SNES, the games that were released for it were basically 16-bit sequels/upgrades of classic 8-bit games. Super Mario World improved upon the overworld design of Super Mario Brothers 3 while adding battery backup. Final Fantasy II (or IV as it was known as in Japan) took the basic gameplay of FF1 (and the Japan only 2 and 3) and added in Mode 7 graphics and orchestra sound. So it was with Super Castlevania IV, which in terms of the series’ chronology, had the same storyline as the original Castlevania: Simon Belmont set out to defeat Dracula, who was risen from the dead once again. Only this time, the game didn’t start right at the entrance. That wasn’t until level 6. While the game started out with the familiar whip-cracking-outside-the-gate sequence, you had to travel through the stables, the marsh, a cave, and more before you even got to the front door. With a front yard like that, you wouldn’t even need ADT security. It would be so much trouble getting to the front door that any would-be burglar would simply give up. Simon thankfully had a new trick up his sleeve to take on the danger: an 8-way directional whip, possibly inspired by Contra. This trick helped a long way towards alleviating some of the frustrations which were common in platform gaming, such as enemies overhead and small flying objects which cause pitfalls. By holding down the Y button, Simon can even dangle the whip, providing a shield of sorts against smaller enemies and projectiles.

It being a SNES game, the first thing gamers noticed was the improved visuals, particularly Simon Belmont’s sprite. it was huge and well detailed. There were also parallel backgrounds, and the first level of the game in particular took advantage of the new technology. You traversed inside and outside of a gate to make your way through part of the level. Then there was the second stage and its swamp, where after you beat the level’s boss, the level still didn’t end, as you went down a sludge covered ramp. One of my favorite moments in the game takes place in level four. You traverse your way through a tower with rotating platforms, and midway through the level you fight a giant ghost skull. After destroying the skull, you then move on to the level’s second half, which started with a room full of spikes which rotated as you had to hang on for dear life then swing across to avoid getting impaled. Next, you’re in the inside of a rotating barrel full of enemies which come out the background to attack you. The last part of the level took place in a hall which put a whole new spin on the ‘moving blocks’ segment of the platforming genre. At the end, you faced yet another boss: a rock monster which grew LARGER as you damaged him. The next level was a bit of a rest of sorts, as you went up a stairway towards Dracula’s castle. When you finally entered Drac’s castle in level 6, it was a brand-new experience entirely. While level 6 started off with the old-school Castlevania zombie entrance way and underground water lagoon, things soon got hectic as you jumped across chandeliers, battled ghost dancers, and took on possessed suits of armor. The final level was another awesome moment which really put gamers’ fingers to the test, as they outran a giant wheel, descended a tower, and took on THREE SEPARATE BOSSES before meeting Dracula himself. SCIV’s levels were chock full of cool stuff, and the graphics and sound capabilities of the Super Nintendo made everything even more surrealistic.

The music was another huge part of the SCIV experience. While this was right before CD gaming became the norm, the SNES sound processors could give more advance sound systems a run for their money, and SCIV demonstrated this. The game’s first level featured a tune that would go on to become a classic Castlevania anthem, and you’d even hum along to it like you did songs like Vampire Killer and Bloody Tears. The second level’s BGM featured slapping congo drums and an ominous but upbeat melody which went perfectly with the marsh setting. The first part of level three featured a hauntingly beautiful harp-plucking/flute melody which gave way to a strong piano loop when you reached the waterfall in the second part. The final part of the level featured a weird smooth-jazz sounding number which sounded surreal with the area’s Sunken-Atlantis backdrop. The second part of level 4 was an awesome melody which started out almost like a modern R&B piece, but transferred into a more traditional Castlevania-style tune, although it got increasingly frantic as it went on. The R&B ends abruptly with some organs, then the horns and drums come in, and they get louder and more frantic, which was perfect, because the level itself became crazier and frantic towards the end. Level 7’s library featured a quieter string/wood piece, which helped players catch their breaths a bit after level 6’s insanity. It also helped get them ready for 8, which had some foreboding piano keys accentuated with some even more sinister sounding African drums. This was especially perfect, as the level took place in a prison full of traps. The game’s final levels featured remixes of some classic Castlevania tunes as well.

It has been almost 20 years since that Christmas morning that I got my SNES and played SCIV for the first time. However, it still remains one of my favorite games to this day. It demonstrated how an action game should be done, and it was an excellent showcase of the SNES’s capabilities. It was also one of the first games I downloaded to my Wii Virtual Console, and playing it with my Gamecube controller gives me so many flashbacks. No other game in the series has as many water-cooler moments as SCIV, not even Symphony of the Night’s upside-down castle, Dracula X’s burning village, or even Portrait of Ruin’s tag team final boss battle against Dracula and Death. If you haven’t played it yet, you owe it to yourself to do so as soon as you can. It’s an excellent entry in an excellent gaming franchise.

$20 Game of the Week: Dead Space
EA creating an original IP? A sure sign of the apocalypse, but I digress. This might be after Christmas, but Dead Space may be a game more suited for Halloween if you think about it, as it represents the next generation of traditional survival horror. You know, that pants-turning-yellow sensation you got the first time you played Resident Evil (rather than Condemned’s psychological horror), except this time it takes place in space. What better setting for it, because if we learned anything from the Alien movies, it’s that in space, no one can hear from you scream.

Players step in the role of Issac, an engineer bought aboard the Ishimura, a large mining spaceship. A horrible disaster has taken place aboard the ship, and most of the crew is dead. A horrific infection has overtaken the vessel, and there are monsters on the ship which have been made from the remains of the dead. It’s not enough to simply shoot them, you have to kill them by dismembering them limb by limb. Although Issac doesn’t have much in the way of offensive capabilities (he is an engineer after all) he can purchase new weapons and upgrade them using the ship’s shop terminals. He can also use stasis to slow down time in certain areas to solve puzzles, and can use a Kinesis ability to pull in and repel objects. By finding various logs and documents scattered around the ship, you can learn more about what has happened to the crew.

For those of you who believe that Resident Evil is no longer scary or that the Silent Hill franchise has lost its luster, Dead Space is the perfect survival horror game for you. It’s atmosphere, bizarre monsters, and gripping narrative will leave you sleeping with the night light on for months after you finish it. EA has vested a lot into this franchise too if you haven’t noticed. There is an animated movie available on DVD, a Wii-exclusive prequel that’s a rail gun shooter, a comic book series, and a sequel has just been announced, so right now is an excellent time to check it out.

Lost Classics: Tropico Reloaded(PC)
I didn’t even know this series existed until I read a review of the third game which was released this past fall (while at the same time also learning that the game would be coming to Xbox 360 as well). The first two games in this series are available in the Tropico Reloaded 2-pack, so I decided to purchase it and check them out. The best way to describe Tropico would be ‘Sim-Castro’. Players take control of the island Tropico in the 1950s, and are tasked with transforming the island into a nation, keeping the citizens happy, and most importantly, staying in power. You’ll control various types of industry, from logging, to mining, to farming, even tourism. You’ll decide how much to pay workers, how much funding your schools and hospitals get, what policies and edicts to pass, and when (or if) you’re going to hold elections. Despite its humor, it deals with heavy handed topics such as the Cold War powers, banana republics, authoritarian governments, totalitarianism, and military coups.

The game has a very steep learning curve, and beside the bare bones tutorial (as well as a few of the scenarios), you’re pretty much on your own. There are several different scenarios to try, with everything from forging ties with the U.S. to managing a crew of shipwrecked people. You can adjust the difficulty level as well as the frequency of random events (such as hurricanes and the like), so you can have a different game each time. Tropico 2 has a different style of play, with players managing a pirate fortress. You’ll capture citizens to use for slave labor, plunder loot, and keep your gang of pirates happy.
For those who can master its steep learing curve, Tropico will provide hours of enjoyment for armchair dictators. Tropico Reloaded contains Tropico 1, the Paradise Island expansion pack, and Tropico 2: Pirate Cove. Players can purchase it from either Steam or GOG.com. If you ever wanted to rule over an island paradise, become the next Fidel Castro, or command a gang of cutthroat pirates, Tropico is for you.

Today is marks Hallmarks annual day to bask in the fruits of rampant consumerism. More importantly for Christians, today marks Jesus’ birthday. Our regular $20 GOTW and Lost Classics will return tomorrow afternoon, but today, Powet has a special Christmas gift for you. Though there is much debate on just how separate church should be from state it seems that religion should be kept as far away as possible from video gaming as possible. Not because of offensive material (most of these games carry good messages) mind you, but more so because of how bad many of them turn out. Powet will be taking a special look at religious-themed video games, more significantly, NES games by Christian gaming company Wisdom Tree. While Wisdom Tree and other designers of these types of games meant well, most of the games themselves were just plain awful.

Wisdom Tree was an offshoot of Color Dreams (a name you’ll also be seeing here before long so I won’t go into their complete history), who was one of the few NES publishers who operated outside of Nintendo’s licensing program, going so far as to reverse engineer a workaround for the NES lockout chip. This would be amazing (given Nintendo’s ultra-strict licensing policies at the time), but unfortunately a good 95 percent of their games were crap and had trouble running properly. Things got so bad that Color Dreams formed a sub label called Bunch Games to release lower-quality games so as to not harm their reputation further. Picture that for a moment, a game developer sucking so bad they they resort to creating a sub label to deliberately release bad games. Anyway, someone got the idea to release really crappy games based on Christian themes, and thus Wisdom Tree was born. Since Nintendo put pressure on mainstream gaming retailers not to sell unlicensed NES products, Wisdom Tree market their product to Christian bookstores. This was genius, since Christian bookstores don’t sell video games and therefore wouldn’t be subject to Nintendo’s pressuring. Despite their quality, the games sold reasonably well to Christian audiences. Most of their games however were ripoffs. Either they were rip-offs of more popular games or they were total conversions of Color Dream’s own titles.

The first game from Wisdom Tree was Bible Adventures. It’s a three-pack of bible based games, all three of them borrowing liberally from Super Mario Brothers 2. Noah’s Ark has the player knocking animals out and stacking them up (even carrying many of them at once) in order to get them onto the ark. Baby Moses has players controlling Mariam as she tries to get Baby Moses to safety. She carries him over her head and can even throw him, but nothing will be harmed, he’ll just sit there smiling. You have to finish the entire level holding him, otherwise you’ll get a message saying “Good Job, but you forgot baby Moses!” David and Goliath has players herding sheep and avoiding creatures as he gets his slingshot and uses it to fight Goliath. Seeing as how they are Christian games, you collect scrolls with bible verses on them to restore health. Despite it’s lousy gameplay, the game’s success encouraged the company to go ahead with more Christian related video games.

Spiritual Warfare was another title, although the game was ‘inspired’ by Zelda. Playing as a soldier in God’s army, you use the ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ to convert nonbelievers and defeat demons. You battle boss characters to gain the 6 pieces of the armor of god. The game makes use of the same engine as another Wisdom Tree effort, Bible Buffet, which despite its title, has little to do with Christianity other than random trivia sections. Bible Buffet and Spiritual Warfare were surprisingly pretty decent (well compared to other Wisdom Tree/Color Dreams titles), with the former giving players a decent 4-player party game years before Mario Party and the latter, although being a Zelda rip-off, turned out to be a fairly competent one.

Which is more than I can say for Sunday Funday. In this platformer, players control a kid on his skateboard trying to make it to Sunday school, fighting clowns, plumbers, frogs, old ladies, and other things trying to block his way. This game is particularly notable for being a remake of an earlier Color Dreams game, Menace Beach with the graphics replaced and the story changed from the hero having to rescue his girlfriend to the hero having to get to Sunday school. More shockingly, the screens in between levels of Menace Beach depicted the hero’s girlfriend chained to a wall, her clothes rotting away until she is left in her underwear. These screens have been replaced with images of a fully clothed Sunday school teacher giving advice. Menace Beach was released in 1990, and Sunday Funday, which is a conversion of Menace Beach, was released in 1995. Say what you will about Acclaim, but Color Dreams apparently got so lazy that they ripped off a game they released 5 years earlier. On a side note, Sunday Funday was the last game released on the NES, licensed or unlicensed.

Most of Wisdom Tree’s NES games were re-released on the Sega Genesis, and they even produced an SNES game, Super 3D Noah’s Ark, which uses the game graphics engine as the SNES version of Wolfeinsten, right down to the HUD. Instead of blasting Nazis however, players used fruit to pacify animals. A popular misconception is that ID Software was pissed off at Nintendo for making them censor the SNES version of Wolfenstein 3D, and allowed Wisdom Tree to make this game in order to get back at them. This however, isn’t true. Wisdom Tree simply licensed the engine from ID in order to make this game. As a side note, this is the only unlicensed SNES cartridge in the history of the system. To circumvent the lockout this time, Wisdom Tree designed the cartridge so that players had to insert an ‘official’ NES game in the top in order to play it, kinda like that Sonic & Knuckles cartridge on Genesis.

Even though Color Dreams died off long ago, Wisdom Tree still exists as an independent company today. You can even go to their website at http://www.wisdomtreegames.com, where you can play their NES games online. Thy have also been releasing a number of educational and religious PC games, many of which have been made using the 3D Game Studio program, and in true Color Dreams fashion, they use the assets that come with the program. You can’t knock Wisdom Tree, or any company producing religious-themed games. However, we can knock crap video games. Thus if religious game developers (Christian or otherwise) want gamers to go to church, then they’ll have to put in a little more effort than what we’ve seen so far, especially with recent titles such as the laughably bad PC RTS, Left Behind: Eternal Forces. As the popularity of Wisdom Tree games have shown, there is a market for Christian-themed video gaming, developers simply have to make quality products.

Little Known Fact: River City Ransom is actually the third game in what’s known in Japan as the Kunio series. The first two made it over here as Renegade and Super Dodgeball.

From the moment you power on your Wii, it’s not hard to figure out the inspiration for HOTD Overkill: Those sleazy 70s exploitation movies, filled to the brim with sex, violence, and profanity. You know, the kind of movies that Quentin Tarantino recently paid homage to. Levels begin with a drive-in movie style trailer, the graphics have a grainy dirty cinema feel, and the soundtrack is composed of progressive-style rock, and there is a lot of profanity. In fact, the game is set to receive a Guinness World Record for the most profanity in a video game! Taking placeyears before the events of the original HOTD, Overkill follows the exploits of rookie Agent G and officer Isaac Washington as they travel the Bayou to investigate the mysterious Papa Caesar, who has been transforming the populace into mutants. Along the way you’ll meet a stripper named Varla Guns, who seeks revenge for the death of her brother.

Being a shooter, the game is pretty easy to pick up and play. You’ll be blasting zombies apart in no time. You can use money earned in the levels to upgrade your weaponry. When you want a break from the main game, there is a selection of minigames to play. There are also plenty of unlockables to find, including a dual-wielding mode using two Wiimotes, artwork, and a ‘director’s cut’ mode, with higher difficulty level.

HOTD Overkill is an excellent package for Wii Owners starved for more serious action, and Tarantino fans especially will get a kick out of the grindhouse-inspired action. If you have the Wii Zapper (or better yet Nyko’s Perfect Shot) then it will go great with this game. What else are you waiting for? Cock your gun, load your ammo, and get ready to pay another visit to The House of the Dead.

When Timely comics became Marvel during the 1960s, creator Stan Lee, along with creators such as Jack Kirby and Steve Dtiko, helped the company create a new breed of superheroes. In the process, they introduced the world to Spiderman, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and other soon-to-be household names. What made these guys so special was that unlike the characters created by their distinguished competition, it was easy to relate to these guys. For decades, fans read about people like Superman and Wonder Woman who had near-godlike power and an almost mythic stature. Even Batman, despite not having any powers, was the pinnacle of human achievement. With Marvel however, people read stories about people who had superpowers but had to deal with hang-ups and issues like we do. When they weren’t exploring the Negative Zone or fighting Doctor Doom, The Fantastic Four bickered and quarreled with each other like any other semi-functional family. In between battles with Kang the Conqueror and the Masters of Evil, the Avengers played cards, pulled pranks on each other, went shopping, and hung out as if they were a fraternity or club rather than a superhero group. Peter Parker, a.k.a Spiderman, was a normal teenager like anyone else (save for his superpowers of course), so he had to deal with grades, girls, and bullies as often as he had to deal with symbiotes, idiots with fishbowls for heads, and psychopaths flying on gliders. By the way, this is not to imply anything negative about DC, because there isn’t anyone who hasn’t grown up with Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne. Besides, DC themselves would adopt this real world approach to its heroes, with storylines about Green Arrow’s sidekick having a drug addiction and the Jason Todd Robin confronting an abusive husband.

Marvel comics also frequently dealt with social issues as well. Spiderman was all about responsibility and power, Captain America examined what it meant to be a patriot in modern day America, and Iron Man even tackled alcoholism. One comic book in particular captured the mood of the period like no other. It was called X-men, and its premise about a sub-race of humanity fighting for their very right to exist resonated perfectly with the struggles that the African American community had to face at the time. Over the next few decades, the X-men’s popularity would increase to staggering proportions, making it one of the best selling comics world wide, and spinning off into a franchise of movies, TV shows, video games, and toys.

X-men depicted the lives and struggles of mutants. Mutants were just like normal humans, except for a genetic mutation caused by what is known as the X-factor gene. When their genetic abnormality manifests itself (usually in the mutant’s teen years), they gain a special power. Some mutants also experience changes in their physical appearance. While some are able to hide and conceal their mutations, others aren’t so lucky, being given a hideous-monster like appearance or even becoming crippled by their power. It’s because of their mutant gifts, their destructive potential, and for many their freakish appearance that normal humans despise and fear them, making them outcasts. The X-men are a group of these outcasts, who use their unique gifts in order to defend humanity. The group was bought together by Professor Charles Xavier, who had a dream of peaceful coexistence between mutant and human. To this end, he established a school where mutants can train in the use of their power. This school also acts as the headquarters of the X-men, who defend humanity against mutant threats.

In the early days of the X-men, the main mutant threat was a terrorist group called the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. They were led by a man known as Magneto, who was a survivor of the holocaust and a former friend of Charles Xavier. They worked together during the Korean war and were good friends until their views on human mutant relations drove them apart. While Xavier wanted peaceful coexistence between human and mutant, Magneto believed that mutants were the next step upwards in the evolutionary chain and since humanity won’t accept them, then it is their rightful place to dominate humanity. It is often said that the best villains are villains because they believe that their misdeeds are somehow justified. If that is true, then Magneto could very well possibly be the greatest comic book villain in history. Here was a man who was forced to endure the worst of what humanity had to offer and wanted to assert his dominance not out of sheer evil, but because he believed it to be what’s best for his people. He still remained sympathetic to his rival, standing alongside him whenever they had a mutual interest, and even took over as the headmaster of Xavier’s school for a time when Xavier was critically injured.

Does any of this sound familiar to you? One man envisioned equality between human and mutant, while the other envisioned the domination of the mutant race over mankind, a goal he was willing to carry out by any means necessary. Xavier and Magneto were similar to the two top civil rights crusaders, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. While MLK sought unity between all races, Malcolm X wanted to insure the safety and prosperity of the African American people by any means necessary. While Malcolm X would not hijack submarines or take over Cape Canaveral (and neither him nor MLK would train paramilitary strikeforces composed primarily of teenagers), he often stressed how important it was for the black man and the black woman to defend themselves. Further parallels to race can be seen with the Hellfire Club, a group of aristocrat mutants that would be introduced several years later. While the Hellfire Club is an organization of the rich and powerful, its inner circle is made up of rich and powerful mutants who have their own agendas, similar to the black community’s rich elite of entertainers, athletes, and other professionals’ tendencies to assume that their social status puts them above their fellow African Americans. All too often however, they receive grim reminders that their financial status makes them no less a mutant than any member of the X-men or bortherhood, just as one’s multi-million dollar sports contract, law degree, or record deal does not make an African American any less black than someone who resides in a housing project. A perfect example of this was a storyline in which several members of the group were slaughtered by sentinels, giant robots whose development was assisted by Sebastian Shaw, who ironically was a mutant himself and head of the inner circle.

Enough about race though. In the early days of the comic, the X-men had several exciting adventures, and even teamed up with heroes such as the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and Spider-Man. However, the X-men weren’t doing so well saleswise. Rather than cancel the title outright, the next several issues of the comic after 66 were dedicated to reprints of earlier stories. (In late 1999 and early 2000, writer John Bryne explored what happened to the X-men during this period in the series X-men: The Hidden Years.) In the 70s, Marvel attempted to revive the comic, with new creators, a new cast of characters, and a new direction with Giant Size X-Men. The driving force behind this new direction was the team of writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum. They introduced a new multicultural team of mutants, spanning from all over the globe. This team had been recruited to rescue the original lineup which had gone MIA during a mission. They included Colossus, a Russian strongman who, despite his power to turn into living steel, was a gentle man who was devoted to his family and even took up art. There was also Banshee, an Irishman who had previously met the X-men as a mind-controlled villain. He had ties to a former romantic interest of Xavier’s and his mutant power was a loud sonic scream. Also joining the team was Nightcrawler. Despite his demonic appearance, he was actually a devout Christian and at one time a priest. Storm was another member of this new group. An African whose weather control power was so profound, that she was worshiped as a goddess by the people of Kenya. The Japanese Sunfire, whose flame power was perfectly suited to his hotheaded nature, ended up leaving after a few short missions. Then there was the ill-fated Native American Thunderbird, who was killed off in the very next issue, by b-list Marvel villain Count Nefaria. His death showed both the X-Men and the readers how high the stakes were for the group. The final member of this new lineup was Wolverine, whose first appearance was in an issue of the Incredible Hulk. Few realized it at the time, but this short tempered man with a yellow and black costume and silver claws in his arm would go on to become one of Marvel’s most popular and recognizable characters. Later on, the X-men were joined by Jewish teen Kitty Pryde and former rival Rogue. Rogue was an especially conflicted character. Her power causes her to absorb the memories and powers of whomever she touched. While any mutant’s power can be an issue to deal with, her power was especially a curse, as she is unable to have an intimate relationship with anyone. When this power first manifested, she left her then boyfriend Cody in a coma. Villain Mystique adopted her as her daughter, and she was manipulated into joining her version of the brotherhood, even beating the Avengers single handed. After a battle with the hero Ms. Marvel left her powers and personality almost permanently merged with her own psyche, Rogue sought out the X-men’s help.

Issue 93, which followed Giant Size X-men, was the start of an epic 16-year run for Chris Claremont. his stories redefined the X-men, and introduced many story norms that they are associated with. The X-men interacted with alien races such as the Brood and Shi’ar, encountered strange and dangerous new enemies, and even fought against Dracula. In one memorable storyline, X-woman Jean Grey merged with the essence of creation and traveled the stars before her apparent death during the Dark Phoenix Saga. Another storyline showed readers a nightmarish alternate future where the Sentinel robots took over the world, with the robots not only killing most of the X-men, but many of Marvel’s non-mutant heroes as well. Another storyline saw the massacre of an entire underground community of mutants ordered by a mysteriously unseen enemy of the X-men. There was also the classic graphic novel God Loves Man Kills, in which the X-men unite with Magneto against William Stryker, a reverend who believes that mutants are the spawn of Satan. Claremont’s run would end in 1991. However, he would still contribute to the book at times, such as parts of 2005’s House of M crossover and the subsequent Decimation storyarc. His current ongoing series, X-men Forever, depicts an alternate continuity with the X-men as he would have written them had his run not end. This series features such surprising plot twists as Cyclops having an elementary-school age son, Colossus being romantically involved with marvel heroine Black Widow, and the death of Wolverine at the hands of….Storm.

In the late 70s and early 80s, Marvel began to release several spin-off books based on the world of the X-men. A Wolverine limited series showcased the title character being the best he is at what he does, while laying the groundwork for an ongoing series featuring the character. New Mutants introduced readers to the next generation of mutant heroes, young mutants dealing with real life and teenage issues along with villains, in the spirit of the original X-men. Later on, after many writer, artist, and cast changes, the book was rechristened X-force. This new book, spearheaded by future Image writer/artist Rob Liefield, centered around the enigmatic Cable’s mission to take down the terrorist Mutant Liberation Front. Speaking of the five originals, member Jean Grey was resurrected (well actually retconned into not being dead to begin with in a particularly complicated storyline) so that they could star in the book X-factor. They posed as mutant hunters while secretly rescuing them and providing shelter. This book introduced a person one of the X-men’s greatest villains: En Sabah Nur, a.k.a. Apocalypse. This immortal mutant’s survival of the fittest philosophy drove his villainy, transforming various mutants into his horsemen. Among these mutants included many of the X-men’s number. Angel became the horseman of death before shaking his programming. However, the physical mutations would remain years later. The role of death was also briefly filed by the morlock Caliban who sought to avenge his fellow morlocks, and even Wolverine.

In the early 90s, Jim Lee was the artist behind all new X-men book, which ran alongside the long standing Uncanny X-men. The costume designs that were depicted in the book were significant, because they were the character designs that were adopted for Fox’s X-men animated series. Because of that classic Saturday morning cartoon show, the X-men became more popular than ever, and Jim Lee’s costume designs were the X-men’s most recognizable look. Capcom and Sega had even adopted them for their blockbuster X-men video games.

In the mid 90s, Marvel once again turned the world of the X-men upside down. A four-month event entitled “The Age of Apocalypse” depicted a nightmarish alternate timeline in which Xavier was killed before he was able to form the X-men, and the villain Apocalypse took over the world. Things were turned upside down. Mutants who would be allies were villains, and the X-men’s (who in this reality were led by Magneto) ranks included people who would be enemies in the regular timeline. The storyline showed just how much Xavier meant to the world of the X-men.

When the movie was released to theaters in 2000, that helped to influence the direction of the X-men comics even more. The comic’s brightly colored costumes would not translate to the big screen, so director Brian Singer introduced military-style black leather costumes. The popularity of the movie led many writers to adapt parts of it to the comics, such as Toad’s new sleek look and Mystique’s scaly skin texture. Even if many of the changes were only temporarily, they made the translation to the comic pages quite well. A few months after the movie hit the screens, Marvel introduced the comic Ultimate X-men, a comic which was part of Marvel’s Ultimate comics line. The Ultimate line was geared towards new readers, and it’s mission was to provide readers with a fresh take on Marvel’s characters. There was already an Ultimate Spider-Man book, and a revamped version of the Avengers, retitled the Ultimates was on its way. The Ultimate iteration of the X-men showed Professor Xavier taking a more proactive approach to mutant affairs, and had featured surprises such as Wolverine originally being a member of Magneto’s Brotherhood, Colossus being gay, and a Nick Fury who was a dead ringer for Samuel L Jackson.

Meanwhile in the mainstream books, writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quietly took over the adjective-less X-men book in the summer of 2001, and renaming it New X-men. While his run didn’t last as long as Claremont’s had, it left just as large of an impression on readers. Morrison explored the idea of mutants being an entire subculture of humanity better than any other writer before him. His run also featured some of the most shocking moments in X-men history, such as the death of Jean Grey, the slaughter of nearly the entire populace of Genosha by sentinels, and a gruesome rampage in New York carried out by Magneto (who was revealed to be an impostor in a post-Morrison storyline that in this writer’s opinion was hugely convoluted). Shortly after Morrison and Quietly, Buffy and Angel creator Joss Whedon left his own unique stamp on the X-Universe with Astonishing X-men, a third ongoing X-men series. Though it had been hampered by a slow release schedule, Astonishing’s storylines played a huge role in shaping the X-men franchise for years to come. In particular, his opening storyarc about a ‘cure’ for mutant powers served as inspiration for the plot of the third X-men film.

Today, X-men remains one of the biggest and most popular comics created by any publisher. With its huge cast of diverse characters, epic storylines, and the explosive action, X-men stands in a class of its own.

The Sega Genesis version stuck to the movie’s plot, and it added in flashback levels from the series showing how three of the Power Rangers joined the team. It was a Final Fight-style beat-em-up, and you faced villains from the series after beating up waves of putties (the mindless footsoldiers that comprised the private army of whatever villain the rangers were battling against in that particular series). You controlled the Megazords towards the end of the game, and the game’s music was comprised of music from the show, albeit it was in Sega Genesis sound processor form.

The Super Nintendo version on the other hand didn’t follow the movie at all. The only real similarity it had with the movie was the fact that you fought Ivan Ooze. The game seemed more of a sequel to the Power Rangers game that was released the previous year. You had your pick of rangers, and this time a friend could join you for co-op. It was a side scrolling platformer with beat-em-up style gameplay, a’la X_men Mutant Apocalypse. In many of the game’s areas, you can jump vertically between two planes of action, similar to the old-school Fatal Fury games. The game features bright graphics and a catchy soundtrack, as well as a few codes for players who beat the game on expert mode.

Disappointingly, neither version of the game features the ninja suits or the ninjazords that were introduced in the movie, and that was one of its man selling points. Also, as these games were obviously geared toward children, they don’t present much of a challenge. Even on the highest difficulty setting, my brother and I had no problems finishing both games withing a couple of hours. Still though, if you wanted something you could play with your kids or younger siblings, then you could do a lot worse than Power Rangers.

At the conclusion of the previous game, you had been blackmailed into helping out a corrupt bureaucrat just hours after taking out Stillwater’s three biggest gangs. You met with him on a boat which then exploded. The good news is that you managed to survive. Unfortunately you were mangled so badly that the prison doctors can’t even tell if you were a man or woman. That’s right, you can create females this time around. The sliders have also been refined, so you can create someone as bizarre as you want them to be. Oddly enough, no matter how you make your character, everyone you bump into will recognize you. From there, it’s time to escape the prison. The game throws you into the wringer from the start, but hey, at least you aren’t spending the game’s first few hours babysitting your pathetic douchebag of a cousin (*cough*GTAIV*hack*). You then learn that things have gone south since you went absent. The Ultor corporation controls most of the city’s underground after they renovated the city. The Saints have disbanded, and three new gangs are taking control of Stillwater. Johnny Gat is on death row, Julius has gone missing, Dex works for Ultor, and Troy, (the two-faced son of a bitch who blew up the boat you were on) is now the chief of police. So now it’s up to you to put the Saint’s back together, dispose of the three new gangs, get revenge, and take back the city.

The mission layout is similar to the first game. The three gangs, the Ronin, the Sons of Samedi, and the Brotherhood each have their own self-contained storyline. To gain access to new missions, you have to fill up your respect bar. The fastest way to do this is by performing activities. All your favorites from the first game have returned, along with several new ones. Wait until you see Septic Avenger, FUZZ, and Trailblazer to name a few. You can also perform diversions, minigame-like activities which earn you small amounts of respect. These include drive-by shootings, hostage ransom, and more. If you get tired, you can chill out at one of your cribs. You can even play the video game Zombie Uprising on your game console. The customization options have returned, and they are bigger than ever. You can outfit any car you wish and store them in your garage just like the last game. You can also change the look of your pad, your fighting style, and your gang’s tag. You can even change the dress style of your gang, and you can change their motif into anything from Secret Service to prohibition-era gangsters, to ninjas. Yes, ninjas. even though Saint’s Row 2’s story is a bit darker, it has lost none of it’s comedic edge, and it has even become more absurd. A pre-order code gains players access to a flying saucer and a midget motorcycle for crying out loud.

GTA San Andreas fans will be pleased to know that there are several playable aircraft and motorcycles in the game, and there are even satchel charges. It’s always funny to see a civilian run around frantically with a satchel charge attached to them. Multiplayer is back, and although it’s no Halo, it makes an excellent diversion from the main game. The game also includes drop-in/drop-out co-op for a system link or Xbox Live/PSN pal. You can also download two mission packs, one of which features adult film starlet Tera Patrick. One thing that I like (and this was in the original game too) is that the gangs are made up of people of different races and genders. It’s not uncommon to see women running alongside men. Nothing brings the people of the world together better than deviant criminal activity.

If you didn’t like the original game, then you won’t like the sequel either. If you did like the previous game, Saint’s Row 2 presents players with more of a good thing. It might copy Grand Theft Auto’s formula, but at least Volition once again chose to copy what worked rather than what didn’t.

GunValkyrie takes place in an alternate version of the early 1900s. During the late 19th century, a scientist named Dr. Hebbel Gate harnessed the power of Haley’s Comet to advance technology and help the British Empire take control of Earth. Recently he has gone missing but not before cutting his daughter’s head off, placing it a life support unit, and stealing her body (an act which will surely guarantee his nomination for father of the year). Making matters worse, entire colonies are disappearing and being replaced by bug-like creatures. Therefore it is up to the military force Team Dolphin to find out what’s going on.

Players take control of one of two characters, Kelly O’Lenmy or Saburota Mishima, both of which have their own weapons and abilities. The two characters also have their own difficulty levels, as Kelly is geared towards players who play on the medium difficulty and Saburota is recommended for advanced players. You often choose which character to play as before the start of each level. The two have upgradable weapons and armor, which you’ll need because the game can be very difficult. The game’s dual analog control scheme is different from other third-person shooters, so there is a very steep learning curve. Those who master it will be rewarded with some very trippy visuals which do a good job of complementing the stunning backdrops. One level in patricular has players scaling a structure as an alien creature broadcasts Dr. Gate’s voice.

GunValkyrie was a one-of-a-kind action shooter on Xbox, with some fans even comparing it to Metroid. It’s anime-inspired atmosphere made it unique. It’s too bad that Sega never decided to follow it up. Maybe Microsoft will make it available on Xbox Live’s Xbox originals.

C&C3 takes place a few years after the Second Tiberium War (in C&C: Tiberium Sun). Kane is seemingly dead and the Brotherhod of NOD has seemingly been scattered. However, things are anything but calm. The world’s surface is becoming increasingly poisoned by Tiberium radiation, with many parts of the world becoming unsuitable for human life. Unfortunately, these contaminated areas of the world house much of the worlds population, with the Global Defense Initiative’s headquarters being located in the uncontaminated blue zones. With civil unrest increasing throughout the population, it’s the perfect opportunity for NOD to bolster its forces. When the alien Scrin show up, the stakes have never been higher for the GDI.

When you hit the battlefield, you’ll have several units at your disposal for whatever faction you’re playing as. The single player missions are large and complex, and the feature several optional objectives you can compete. Completing these secondary objectives will award you with information about the game’s units, as well as news logs which give a greater insight into the world of Command and Conquer. The gameplay still boils down to the RTS basics: gather resources, build your army, then steamroll the enemy. However, C&C has never been the most complex RTS franchise, and there is still a lot of strategy involved. It doesn’t completely abandon C&C Generals’ ideas either. The game uses an enhanced version of General’s SAGE engine to power its graphics, and there is more of an emphasis on research and unit upgrades. There are also special commander abilities which function similar to the Generals powers, and units are more individualized for each of the three factions. However, the Scrin campaign, which must be unlocked, is woefully short.

You can also take the game online and compete against other players in matches that can be broadcast for spectators worldwide. You can even use EA’s battlecast to set up matches with other players. The Xbox 360 version even lets players use their vision camera. Speaking of the Xbox 360 version, while a joystick can never be a suitable substitute for a mouse and keyboard, C&C 3 has a pretty good control scheme which was adopted from EA’s Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2. It makes it simple to create and select units, and it helps make the RTS genre more accessible on consoles. PC users can download the SDK and create their own modifications as they see fit.

The game’s graphics and music do an excellent job of conveying the image of foreboding doom, making you feel that it’s time to pull out all the stops in every battle you fight in. Longtime series fans will enjoy the live action cinemas, which include talent such as Michel Ironside (Splinter Cell’s Sam Fisher), Josh Hollloway (Lost), Billy Dee Williams (Lando), and of course, the messiah himself, Joseph Kucan, who reprises his role as series villain Kane.

C&C 3 does an excellent job of returning the series to its roots. While it may not bee as deep as Starcraft or Empire Earth, C&C 3 maintains its status as one of the most significant games of the RTS genre. It’s too bad that the planned FPS spin-off was canceled.

Oh and for more C&C 3 fun, grab the Kane’s Wrath expansion pack. It features a new campaign for NOD, new units, and subfactions for multplayer.

Well, now that the turkey is digested and the Black Friday bargain hunting is done, it’s time to get a start on your holiday shopping. Of course, I’m here to help you get a head start. For the $20 GOTW, I’ve got one of those new-fangled rhythm games that the kids seem to love so much, and for the lost classic, I got one of those old-school style PC RPGs that a select few tend to love.

$20 Game of the Week Part 1: Guitar Hero II (Xbox 360, PS2)
There have been music games long before the Guitar Hero series. However, none of them have done the genre justice like the Guitar Hero series. The Guitar Hero series has made the genre more accessible thanks in no small part to the prop guitar that comes with the game and the recognizable song list. Even hip-hop heads such as me can recognize many of the songs on the game’s playlist, and it’s not uncommon to go into stores like Best Buy and see people gathering around an in-store product demo. The genre has spurned many knockoffs and imitators, but beside Rock Band (which was created by series creator Harmonix), few of them have gotten the genre right.

Guitar Hero II is a very important entry for the series for two reasons. Number one, it was the first to go multiplatform (hitting Xbox 360 months after the PS2 release). Number two, it introduced music tracks downloadable content. For a cheap price, your playlist can get even bigger, making your game experience fresh. These two features helped change the face of the music game genre. Thanks to the online model that Harmonix and Activision introduced, more and more of your favorite bands and tracks are showing up for current games such as Rock Band 2 and Lips.

(Obviously the $20 or less price tag is for the game by itself and without the guitar. )

Lost Classics: Realms of Arkaina (PC)
The main thing that separates console RPGs from their PC counterparts is their ties to the old school pen-and-paper RPGs of the past. You know, the kind that you have to roll 10 or 20 sided die in order to generate your character’s stats. Even with current hits like Dragon Age and Oblivion don’t stray too far from the Dungeons and Dragons blueprint with their character customization. While games such as Final Fantasy and Breath of Fire feature characters who are unique, games such as Mass Effect and Neverwinter Nights have concentrated on having players making unique characters. Earlier RPGs especially stuck close to this blueprint, even at the cost of their accessibility. One of the earliest examples of this trend was SirTech’s Realms of Arkania. Based on the German pen and paper RPG The Dark Eye, Arkania features several features from other RPGs, such as Might and Magic 3 and Eye of the Beholder. The game takes place mostly in a 3D view, but switches to an isometric view for the turn-based strategy battles.

This 2 pack features the first two games in the series, Blade of Destiny and Star Trail. In Balde of Destiny, players have to find the pieces of a legendary sword in order to defeat an orc king while in Star Trail, players have to find a legendary artifact which will unite elves in dwarves in battle against the orcs. The cool thing about this series is that players can save the game after beating them, and carry their characters over into the sequel. The game has a very steep learning curve. Along with simply having to defeat enemies, you also have to make sure they get adequate food, water, and rest. You also risk catching the flu if you don’t use blankets while sleeping. Unlike today’s RPGs which put you through an intro, the game tends to throw you right into things without telling you what to do, so reading the instruction manual is a must. You’ll also want to find a decent strategy guide or FAQ somewhere online.

Realms of Arkania has a very steep learning curve that WILL scare away most players. However, for those who do manage to get a hang on how things work and how to approach the game, the game can be quite rewarding. You’ll get into some serious level grinding and exploring, and you’ll be spending time in the game’s generation section crafting the perfect party to use. There is a 2 pack featuring the first 2 games in the series at GOG.com. The third game, Shadows Over Riva is also available on the site, and both can be purchased for $5.99 each.