Blessed by the deities of ancient Olympus, Diana of Themyscrya travels to man’s world to bring peace, love, and equality as Wonder…..oh wait a sec….

The star of this week’s Lost Classic bears a bit of resemblance to a certain DC comics icon, and it’s also one of Sega’s first female protagonists. Taking control of the title character, you set out on a mission to take out a fat guy who looks like the Kingpin. Hmm, lets see, we a hero that looks like Wonder Woman, and a villain that looks like Wilson Fisk. No wonder we didn’t see more of her after this 1985 release.

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As seen on our game night last week!

Castle Crashers is a tongue-in-cheek throwback to old school beat-em-ups like Golden Axe and Double Dragon. It was developed by The Behemoth, the people behind the similarly zany Alien Hominid. Taking control of one of four characters, you (and up to three more of your friends if playing co-op) set out on a quest to defeat thousands of barbarians, sorcerers, monsters, and other baddies in your quest to save the princesses. You can stop at shops to buy special items, and you can replay stages after you beaten them. There are well over 20 unlockable characters, including several who are available as downloadable content. You can even unlock Alien Hominid if you have a save file from that game. There is also a competitive multiplayer mode which you can play with up to 3 other players. Castle Crashers is headed to PSN later this year, so PS3 owners can see what the big deal is.

By 2002, the Mortal Kombat series had become a running gag of the fighting game world. The last gamers had seen of the series was an awful port of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and the horrific action game Mortal Kombat Special Forces. Now granted, the fighting game scene was in a slump, but even then there were still quality titles such as Capcom vs SNK 2, King of Fighters, and Dead of Alive 3. Midway knew that they if Mortal Kombat was once again going to be relevant, they would have to go back to the drawing board, and they did just that with Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance.
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This turn-based strategy RPG is easily one of the most underrated Nintendo DS games of last year. In fact, I’d almost go as far to say that it was one of last year’s big sleepers. It introduces a unique style of play that sets it apart from other games on the DS, as well as other games in its genre. I would be hesitant to even call it a strategy RPG, as it takes a lot of pages from other genres, such as real time strategy, shooter, and even some tower defense games for good measure. It’s Episode 4 in developer Sting’s Department Heaven series, which also includes the Game Boy Advance titles Yggadra Union and Rivera, although there isn’t much of a relation between them, and one does not have to have played the other two to enjoy KITN.
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Since the alphabet is the building block of our language, the Powet Alphabet is the building block of what makes us geeks.

Okay, so while this week’s Powet Alphabet isn’t STRICTLY for geeks, it is just as relevant to geekdom as Transformers, Sailor Moon, X-men, or Street Fighter.  The Wire was an HBO series that ran from 2002 until 2008.  It was created by writers Dave Simon and Ed Burns.  Simon’s previous works, the tv series Homicide: Life on the Street (based on the novel of the same name) and the HBO miniseries The Corner (which he collaborated with Burns on) served as testing grounds for many of the concepts explored on the Wire.  Although it never got the viewership it deserved, it was critically acclaimed amongst fans from nearly every walk of life, and was even declared to be ‘The best show on television”.  The Wire is one of those works of fiction which has something to offer everyone.  Geeks will appreciate the intricate multi-layered plot, the cool kids will appreciate the hardcore gang members, many of which closely resemble or are inspired by real-life celebrities, parents will appreciate the underlying messages that the show conveys, political heads, both liberal and conservative will appreciate the show’s political commentary, and even the gay and lesbian communities will love the prominent roles that homosexual characters have on the show.  Click below to read more.  Just a fair warning, this article contains some spoilers, although I’ve tried to keep them to a minimum.

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Blood is an alumni from the early days of the fps genre, and its graduating class includes Hexen, Doom, Duke Nukem 3D, and Marathon. Back in those days, you didn’t need AI companions, ragdoll physics, quick-time events, a fancy 3D graphics engine, or any other neat bells and whistles to get players into your game, just guns, blood, and gore. Developed by Monolith and 3D realms, Blood utilized an enhanced version of the Build engine that had previously been seen in Duke Nukem 3D. It may not exactly have changed the way we look at gaming, but like many other games released during the period, it was chaotic grisly fun.
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When it was released in 2004, Far Cry was initially seen as a tech demo for Crytek’s CryEngine, which produces beautiful graphics even by today’s standards. The game itself wasn’t bad either, merging sandbox-style gameplay, spot-on FPS action, and enemy AI. You step into the shoes of Jack Carver, an ex Special Forces operative who is attempting to escape his troubled past. When escorting a female reporter named Valerie Constantine, his boat is attacked by mercenaries and she goes missing. Jack must search the island to find her, and discover why these mercenaries are attacking him. The journey will take him all over the island, from lush jungles, to deep forests, beaches, and canyons. The game’s graphical engine makes these visuals seem realistic as possible, and at times you may even forget that you’re being hunted down by mercenaries. Players can approach a confrontation any way they choose, be it an all-out gun approach, using stealth, or even setting traps to avoid confrontation altogether.
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Regarded by many as the first successful business game, Trevor Chen’s Capitalism puts players in the shoes of a CEO. Your goal is to amass profit while keeping your company from going bankrupt or being bought out by another CEO. You can pursue your entrepreneurial path in several industries, including retail, factories, research and development, farming, and mining. You make decisions involving everything from what cities to build in, what products to sell, what crops to grow, and how much marketing you spend on your product. You have to take into consideration climate, supply and demand, location, and land value for each of your firms. You’;; be competing against other firms in the region too, and just like in the real world, the market is fierce.

You can either start from scratch with a brand new business, or play through one of the game’s 17 scenarios. If you’re a novice, then it pays to explore the game’s many tutorials, and even then there is a steep learning curve. The first few times I played, I found myself constantly issuing shares of my own stock just to keep from going broke. Once you do get the hang of things however, the game becomes fun, educational, and addictive. A sequel was released in 2001, and both games are available on GOG.com.