Pro Wrestling X is little more than a playable concept. However, it represents the culmination of a decade-long dream. Several years ago, members of a wrestling gaming forum were lamenting over the state of wrestling games at the time while longing for the glory days of Nintendo 64 classics like No Mercy. A troll remarked the usual ‘if you think you can do better, make your own game!’ line. A group of people soon calling themselves Wrestling Gamers United took him up on his challenge, and thus Pro Wrestling X was born. Built from the ground up (as the programmers had zero programming knowledge), PWX Uprising is a playable proof of concept which aims to bring back the glory days of the Aki-developed classics. There isn’t much to it, you pick one of 8 wrestlers and you can battle it out in 1 or 2 player matches. However, the game’s files are modable, and already fans have changed textures to give the game a new look. You can purchase it with a $5 donation, and you can get even more extras with a higher donation. While the animations and controls are a bit on the stiff side (this was in development for years), it shows the progress of dedicated fan labor and hard work. When the completed game is released, it will be even better. Learn more about the game at http://uprising.prowrestlingx.com/

This past week saw the release of the critically panned Aliens: Colonial Marines. The low rankings this game received have led many to believe that it’s next to impossible to make a good Alien game. However, if one looks to the past, there was a near perfect Alien game for Super Nintendo which was based upon the third film in the franchise. Playing as heroine Ellen Ripley, you make your way through the halls of a prison planet completing various objectives in a nonlinear format. Rather than producing a straightforward adaptation of Alien 3, LJN instead presents a nonlinear platforming game in which Ripley can use a different variety of weapons to defeat the Xenomorphs. The graphics are dark and dreary, perfectly suited for the horror franchise, and the soundtrack does a good job of making the already creepy atmosphere even more tense. This is one of those carts you’ll have to do some searching for, but if you’re a fan of the franchise, or if you like Metroid style sci-fi exploration, you’ll want to check out this classic.

Okay, what’s the most important part of any RPG, western or Japanese? Okay, yeah, the storyline, characters, and the battle system, but besides that? THE VILLAGE! Where else are your heroes going to go to get quests, restock items, hear the latest gossip, and lay their heads at night? Weather it’s Whiterun in Skyrim, The Town of Baron in Final Fantasy 4, Tristram in Diablo, Vizima in the Witcher, or even the Citadel in Mass Effect, the city/town/village is the glue the keeps the entire game together. Kairosoft’s downloadable title is one of the few games that simulates what goes on inside that village. You build a village from the ground up, building shops and houses for your residents. Your goal is to attract adventurers. These adventurers then go on quest that you give them, earn money, and (hopefully) spend it on your shops, thereby generating income for your village. You can hold special events, expand your town, and unlock new types of buildings. The only major issue with this is the one common to most business/city simulator games: once you begin to generate lots of income, the challenge disappears. Also you’re only in this for a high score. Even so, the game gets incredibly addictive, and you’ll love the 16-bit style retro graphics. If you got an iPhone or an Android, download this game and you’ll experience firsthand one of the most important, yet unappreciated parts of the role-playing-game genre.

Streets of Rage 2 is a sequel to Sega’s classic beat-em-up, and it signified one of the best reasons to own a Sega Genesis back in the days. Taking control of one of four characters, you set out to rescue your friend from criminal overlord Mr. X. You (and a friend if playing co-op) will battle through 8 levels, such as a tropical island and an amusement park. The graphics are some of the best seen on the Genesis and the soundtrack, composed by Yuzo Koshiro is one of the best soundtracks in a 16 bit video game. The electronica/techno beats will keep your blood pumping as you beat up everyone in your way. It’s available in several Sega compilations, and you can buy it on just about every download service, so if you haven’t played this classic, now is a good time to do so.

Welcome to the Powet Top 5, where we explore the top (and bottom) 5 items we think are relevant to any of a variety of topics that span the imagination. Sit back, read, and respond.

The excellent Ni No Kuni, one of many awesome titles that has been or will be released this year.

If you’re reading this, then you already know that the world didn’t end back in December (f course if you were smart, you knew it wasn’t gonna end anyway). That’s a very good thing. Not only do you get to stay alive a lot longer, but there are some very awesome things coming this year. Several new gadgets and gizmos are hitting the block for gamers (including the PS4 and Xbox 720 is rumors hold true), several awesome movies are hitting theaters, and most importantly, several new games are coming out within these next twelve months. This past January has seen the release of the Devil May Cry reboot and the sure-to-be classic JRPG Ni No Kuni, but there are even more awesome titles hitting systems this year. Here are just 5 of the most anticipated.

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I know how the world is going to end, and it ain’t pretty. It starts with one small bug known as…Hope. And not the Barack Obama kind either. You see, some unlucky schmuck in Indonesia gets infected by it after eating some bad cattle. Other than some mild insomnia and some nausea, the guy doesn’t think much of it. However, the virus is able to spread via insects and tainted livestock, and other people in his village catch it. Of course some tourists from Britain come over, and after mingling with a few ‘working girls’, they inadvertently take the bug with them back to the United Kingdom. Before the summer, the bug has evolved quite a bit, as now that nausea turns to vomiting, those coughs turn to pneumonia, and anemia begins to develop within the blood streams of those effected. This gains the attention of the international community, but the virus continues to develop new strains, making it harder and harder for scientists to keep up with it. Making matters worse, now Hope is being spread through air and water. As infections start showing up in first world countries like the U.S and Japan, it gets increasingly harder to keep a lid on the virus, as even our antibiotics are no longer enough to fight it. Affected citizens degenerate into outright insanity as whole governments are being shutdown to deal with the threat. By the end of the following year, there is no place on Earth that hasn’t been affected by Hope. The lucky ones are already dead. The ones left become living corpses as their bodies slowly degrade. Advanced dysentery shuts down their digestive systems as their stomach immediately reject any thing they try to eat. Humanity is left to die a slow, agonizing death within 2 years after the first infection.

That nightmarish scenario isn’t real thankfully. However, if it happens in Ndemic Creations/Miniclip’s Plague Inc, then you will have won the game. That’s right, your goal is to develop and evolve a super virus so that it will kill off all of humanity.
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Final Fantasy was the last of the ‘old school’ Final Fantasy games, and it would be the last numbered entry on a Nintendo system (barring the remakes). When it was released over here, it was re-titled Final Fantasy 3 as it was the third FF game to be released in North America. It’s graphics, characters, and story stand out as one of the greatest RPG epics even to this day.
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The original Just Cause was a game that came out during the early days of the Xbox 360 lifespan. Although it was far from perfect, it did have a lot of potential as a Grand Theft Auto meets Mission Impossible style free roaming espionage title. This game’s sequel improves on it in every way, enabling players to pull off batshit insane stunts straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster.
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