In 1996, the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis were on their last legs. Won over by their technical capabilities, long time publishers and developers were abandoning the 16-bit cartridge based systems in favor of new stand alone 32-bit disc based systems such as Sony Playstation and Sega Saturn. One of these publishers was Square. Before leaving Nintendo’s side however, Squaresoft joined forces with Nintendo to produce one of the best role playing games ever. Sadly, along with being the last Squaresoft product released on the Super Nintendo, this would also be the last Mario game released for the system. Even so, this game managed to push the Super Nintendo to its limits by providing cutting edge SGI rendered graphics, innovative gameplay, and a solid story line. The game starts off as any other Mario game does. Bowser kidnaps Princess Toadstool, and Mario runs off to rescue her. However, when a new enemy arrives causing chaos, things immediately spin out of control and Mario finds himself teaming up with his arch nemesis (along with a few other characters) in order to set things right.

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Eidos/IO Interactive’s Hitman series has always been the thinking man’s stealth action game. You don’t into heavily fortified military bases to take out genocidal terrorists (most of the time), you are sneaking into public locations to eliminate a designated series of targets. Simply not being seen isn’t enough, you have to cover up evidence of your presence and eliminate any cause for suspicion. You don’t just hide in ventilation shafts and cardboard boxes. Often times you’ll have to disguise yourself and figure out how to sneak your weaponry onto the mission site. Your job isn’t just to kill your target and move on, you’ll also have to avoid (or reduce the possibility of) innocents being killed. After 2 successful games and a weaker third title, Hitman returns to top form, just in time for the next generation of gaming.

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No, this doesn’t have anything to do with Dave Chappell, conscious hip hop music, or a brief Fugees reunion. However, Ultimate Block Party (known in Japan as Kollon) is a fun little anime-inspired PSP puzzle game brings back memories of Tetris Attack. You arrange colored blocks in groups of four to clear them out. As with many good puzzlers, things aren’t nearly that simple. When playing against a CPU or friend, the disappeared blocks are sent to the other player’s side, adversely affecting their game screen. Blocks can glue together, become harder to move, or even cover up the playing field. Clearing out blocks can earn magic squares, which give certain advantages such as changing all the blocks in a row to a certain color and blowing up clusters of blocks. As expected, you can chain together blocks and add on to your score. You play as one of 8 characters, but there are no real differences between them. It offers a Vs mode, an arcade mode, and a single player endless mode. There is also a campaign mode, but all it is is simply Arcade mode with just one character and some intro animations. In a nice little touch, the game offers Ad-Hoc play (something that wasn’t in the Japanese release), but good luck finding another player who has a copy of this game.

Ultimate Block Party may not be Lumines, and it doesn’t offer a whole lot in the way of game modes, but it’s still a solid title for casual gamers. It’s hard to find thanks to the lack of decent marketing around its release, but puzzle fans should definitely check this game out. Now that I think about it, this would make a good Xbox Live Arcade game.

In 1995, late into the Super Nintendo’s life cycle, Square-Enix, then known as only Squaresoft, released Chrono Trigger. Chrono Trigger was a role playing game which took place over the course of several time periods. It had an innovative battle system, beautiful graphics, an awesome soundtrack, and multiple endings. It was, and still is to this day one of the greatest RPGs ever made. Half a decade later, Square would release a follow up. While it wasn’t as critically acclaimed as the original, it would be an excellent game in its own right.
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It’s that time of the year again folks! The scariest night of the year, October 31st is upon us once again, and in between the candy, costumes, and practical jokes, we got a dose of some of the scariest games that have ever graced a console. One of which is an unknown chapter of a well-known franchise, and the other is a modern-day update to one of the most prolific titles in gaming. So without further ado, turn down the lights, keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times, and try not to wet yourself.
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I featured this game’s sequel as this week’s $20 GOTW, so with Halloween less than a week away and Dracula X Chronicles hitting the PSP this week, lets take a look at this classic but overlooked installment of Konami’s signature horror series. While it had the look and style of earlier Castlevania games, Bloodlines introduced some subtle changes in the formula that made it stand out from the rest of the series.
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Later this month, Konami will be bringing Dracula X to the US for the first time ever as a PSP remake of the original PC Engine game. The original version of the game, as well as Symphony of the Night, will both be available as hidden extras on the disc. No time like the present to look at the most recent entry in the series. This follow up to 2005’s Dawn of Sorrow, sticks closely to the franchise’s more recent “Metroidvania” style of gameplay while adding in some new twists of its own. Not the least of which is that you’ll be controlling two characters at once, each with their own skills and abilities. Features such as this help keep the formula as enjoyable as it has been in the past several entries in the series.
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People who feel burnt out by Electronic Arts’s monopolizing of football may soon have another alternative to turn to this November. Nerjyzed, an African-American owned gaming company, is bringing the Historically Black College and University football (possibly the only football league besides the Canadian Football League that has yet to be bought out by EA Sports in an exclusive contract) experience home to PC this November with the aptly titled Black College Football Xperience. Seeking to introduce gamers to the atmosphere of this severely overlooked part of football, the developers are featuring over 40 official HBCU teams, mascots, marching bands, and their fight songs (in fact, a halftime mini game will allow players to take control of the drum major and participate in the halftime battle of the bands). The game will also include ragdoll physics, online play, and commentary by Donal Ware and Jonathan Coachman. The game will be the first sports title to make use of Unreal Engine 3. The developers hope to both revolutionize football gaming and create good games that can shed light on other cultures without reinforcing negative stereotypes. A huge goal to set, but if they can get the gameplay right, then it can become an easily obtainable goal. At the very least, with the proper marketing, it can become the alternative to Madden that All Pro football was supposed to be.