In light of Iraq, Katrina, and the Blackwater controversies, it may seem strange to do a feature on a game about mercenaries. However, the gameplay, backdrop, and atmosphere help this title avoid similarities to real-world events. It doesn’t hurt that this game’s strategy RPG gameplay and team management are solid as well. Although this title never gained commercial success, it achieved a healthy cult following amongst its fans. If you give this game a shot and bear through its old school graphics and interface, then it isn’t hard to see why.
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This is the follow up to Sega/Treasure’s Bleach: The Blade of Fate which was released in the U.S. in 2007. Based on the popular anime of the same name, Bleach: Dark Souls provides more fighting action featuring your favorite characters from the series. One would look at this and call it Bleach: The Blade of Fate Championship edition, and they wouldn’t be completely wrong, as Dark Souls borrows a lot of its content from Blade of Fate. However, there is a huge amount of new content in the game, and some gameplay refinements have been made, making this game stand out from its predecessor.
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Whenever a lot of people often talk about how cool the old-school Ninja Turtles games were, they usually talk about the first arcade game and Turtles in Time. How come no one hardly ever mentions this game though? It’s just as cool as its arcade counterparts, even if its graphics aren’t as nice as they are. TMNT 3 was the third NES game based on the TMNT franchise (with the first being a horrid platforming game and the second being an NES port of the arcade game). Although it wasn’t based on any arcade game, it took it’s basic gameplay from the arcade titles while presenting all-new bosses and areas. Like the arcade games, the game did a good job of showcasing what people loved about the franchise at the time while providing fun cooperative gameplay.
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You gotta love system fanboyism. In exchange for the feeling you get of supporting your favorite console manufacturer, you screw yourself out of the chance to play some of the best games available on the other guy’s system(s). Back in the 16-bit days, I couldn’t throw a stone without hitting a Sega fanboy bragging about playing Sonic 2, Streets of Rage, and Madden football while secretly wishing to play Final Fantasy 2 and Super Castlevania 4. Likewise, I knew many a Nintendo fanboy who, while singing praises of their Mario Karts, Secret of Manas, and Contra IIIs during the day, secretly cried themselves to sleep each night over their version of Mortal Kombat having no blood in it. Even in this age of console exclusivity shrinking, I can’t think of one Sony fanboy who didn’t secretly wish to play Mass Effect or Xbox 360 owner who didn’t want to play Meta Gear Solid 4 (even if they wouldn’t admit it out loud). During the last console generation, if there was at least one game that Sony fanboys would have gladly given their first born child for a chance to play, it was the Xbox exclusive Ninja Gaiden, and for good reason. Team Ninja’s 2004 classic not only reintroduced the series to a new generation of gamers, but it crafted one of the finest, hyperactive, gaming experiences on any console, past or present. Thankfully, Tecmo decided to relent, and give Sony PS3 owners a bone. Thus, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, the definitive version of Ninja Gaiden hit PS3s in 2007.
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Like football? Hate how overcomplicated it can be? Then Midway has the game for you: NFL Blitz. Blitz did for football what their previous ‘extreme sports’ series, NBA Jam did for basketball: strip out all of the grunt work and concentrate on the big hits, big passes, and over-the-top action fans love about the game. No stats to fudge through, no back-office politics to worry about, no contract negotiations to wade through, you just pick your team, hit the field, and play through 4 quarters of smash-mouth football, just the way God intended.
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Koei’s Musou games (or Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors as we know them over here) are a guilty pleasure of gamers. Although they tend to be simplistic and repetitive, they are easy to get into, and they are quite educational thanks to their historical setting. Plus there has always been a certain charm to be gained by slashing up dozens of Chinese warriors or evil samurai with a guy who wields fans as weaponry. While the Dynasty Warriors games cover China’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms period (in which Three Kingdoms vie for ultimate power in the wake of the collapse of the Han Empire), Samurai Warriors deals with Japan’s Age of Warring States (in which Nobunaga went head to head against other warlords in an attempt to unify Japan under one banner). Fans often speculated what would happen if the casts of the two games teamed up. In fact, you can go onto any message board and find a “Samurai Warriors vs Dynasty Warriors Heal/Hurt” game. It would only be a matter of time until Koei and W-Force answered player’s wishes, and in 2007, the great warriors of Ancient China and Japan joined forces in Koei’s Orochi Warriors. While it’s not perfect, it’s the crossover fans have been waiting for.
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Earlier this week, I featured a compilation of the PC Delta Force games. So to that end, this week’s Lost Classic features a Playstation side entry of the series. This game is special as it was one of the last (if not the last) first person shooter games for the original Playstation. While Novalogic could have easily phoned this end, they instead chose to go all out with it, creating one last engaging military-style FPS experience, putting this game head and shoulders above other PS1 shooters, and even giving a few then current-gen shooters a run for their money.
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When Delta Force was originally released in 1998, it signified a new breed of first person shooter games. Up until then, FPS games for the most part had been fast-paced blast-a-thons which rewarded quick reflexes and quicker trigger fingers. However, Delta Force was one of the first FPS games to emphasize using tactics, stealth, and planning to succeed. You are a member of a real-life military unit, taking part in realistically styled military operations. You don’t find guns and ammo conveniently laying around the area, you pick a loadout during the mission briefing and hope that it’s adequate. There are no armor pickups or medical kits waiting to magically restore you to full health when you run over them. Instead, you character takes one or two hits, then they go down for the count.
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