Okay, I realize I shouldn’t like this game as much as I do, but in spite of its over emphasis on the female form, slightly sluggish yet simple play control, and lack of variety in its play modes, it can actually become a bit enjoyable if you don’t expect much from it. Developed by Yuke’s Future Media Creators (you know them from the Smackdown games) and published by Konami (you know them from Metal Gear Solid, Castlevania, Contra, and dozens of other great franchises), RRXX is a sequel to 2004’s Rumble Roses, a Playstation 2 wrestling game. The game’s big hook is that it features an all-female cast. Each of them scantily clad to boot. This game clearly isn’t for everyone.
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Even though this game has been overshadowed by its sequels three times over, Soul Edge was and still is a revolutionary title in the fighting genre. A 3-d fighter with weapons based gameplay, Namco’s classic took the genre to new heights. Although this certainly wasn’t the first fighting game to feature weapons, (SNK’s Samurai Showdown and Sony’s Battle Arena Toshinden having been released prior) it made the weapon deeper and more fluid rather than simply having sword slashes as a substitute for punches and kicks. The game also had a deep storyline taking place in the 16th century featuring a diverse cast of warriors. Later games in the series would expand on the plot even further, adding new characters and plot twists. The home version of the game wasn’t bad either. As a matter of fact, the Playstation version of the game, renamed Soul Blade, featured new playable characters, new game modes, and other cool extras. Along with Namco’s Tekken 2, Soul Blade was one of the few arcade-to-home conversions at the time that managed to surpass the original arcade game it was based on.
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Light gun shooters, fighting games, and Dance Dance Revolution are pretty much the only reasons people visit arcades these days. Even so, with so many gun games available, it takes more than just pasting a gun onto a cabinet to get a gamer’s attention, and Konami has never disappointed in this regard. Even back in the days with Lethal Enforcers and its realistic digitized graphics, Konami created many innovative entries in the genre. One of its best additions is the Silent Scope. It featured a huge sniper-rifle peripheral attached to the cabinet, and it simulated the experience of being a real anti-terrorist sniper (to a certain extent of course). You had to use strategy and planning in taking your shots. Shooting erratically like in other shooters will only alert the enemy to your presence quicker and make your mission that much harder. This tense atmosphere made Silent Scope unique from other light gun games. Several versions of the game have appeared on Dreamcast, Playstation 2, and even the Game Boy Advance. However, Konami has put all the games from the series on this Xbox compilation. It contains Silent Scope 1 and 2, EX (the exclusive arcade game) and Silent Scope 3 (a Playstation 2 exclusive entry featuring a stage select). Like most shooters, the games tend to be short. However, the games contain several unlockable extras that should extend the replay value some. There is also a light gun available for use with this compilation. Although its a bit hard to find, it should act as a suitable replacement for the arcade game’s huge gun. Even without it, the controls work quite responsively. Getting 4 games on one disc isn’t a bad thing, and its one of the best gun franchises besides Time Crisis. Fans of the genre should check it out.

If you’re a regular visitor to Powet, then chances are, you know of my love of robot ninjas. It’s like putting together two different kinds of awesome. On two separate occasions, I featured games in this column featuring robot ninjas in all of their glory. The characters in this little known Super Nintendo game that was developed by Hori Electric and published by Atlus may not exactly be ninjas, but they’re close enough. In Run Saber, players take control of either Allen or Sheena (or both if playing a 2-player game) as they make their way across 5 levels battling robots and aliens in a bid to save Earth. It’s pretty much your typical mid-90s SNES platformer, with jumping and powerups. The way they climb on walls and move however, is quite similar to Capcom’s Strider. In fact, it wouldn’t be far fetched to say that is Strider had a 2-player co-op mode, it would look something like this. That’s not to say it’s a ripoff, just that as great minds think alike, so in particular do great game designers. The game manages to make an identity all on its own with its level layouts and boss encounters (including a giant witch whose face decomposes). Who knows when, or even if, Atlus will bring this game over to the Virtual Console, so it looks like this is one of those gens you have to hunt down for yourself. It might not be original, but it does what it does very well. Besides, you can never go wrong with games featuring robot ninjas.

Capcom’s Street Fighter series was a first in gaming, particularly in the one-on-one fighting game genre. While it didn’t create the genre, it helped launch it into mainstream. It introduced the popular 6-button attack scheme, multiple selectable characters, and combo attacks that made use of joystick motions. Unfortunately, it was also one of the first games to receive multiple revisions, particular with Street Fighter 2. By 1995, we had no less than 5 different versions of the game. Players were begging for more, and Capcom’s inability to count to three became somewhat of a running gag in video games. Thankfully Capcom finally gave us something new. Street Fighter Alpha, with a storyline that took place between Street Fighter 1 and 2, gave the series a much needed update with new characters (including many from the original Street Fighter and Final Fight), attacks, and a new fighting system. It wasn’t exactly Street Fighter 3, but fans ate it up all the same.
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ID software, the fathers of the first person shooter, had three major franchises in the genre; Wolfenstein 3-d, Doom, and Quake. There was also a fourth series that, while it wasn’t was well known as the other three, managed to provide some unique twists on the FPS genre all on its own. Even though it was developed by Raven Software, it maintained the innovation that had been present in ID’s other franchises. The Serpent Riders Trilogy, better known as Heretic, Hexen, and Hexen 2, followed the player’s quest the save the world from three ancient demons. While most shooters of the time placed players in a science fiction setting, Heretic and its sequels placed gamers in a fantasy realm. This was a first at the time, and it was an experience which few FPS games have managed to replicate. Even today, you’ll be hard pressed to find a first person shooter game willing to deviate from the norm this drastically.
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In less than 48 hours, one of the greatest first person shooter franchises will make its return. So what better time than the present to take a look at one of the other types of shooters? Before FPS games, 2-d side scrollers (and their cousins the vertical scrolling shooters) ruled over gaming. They came at a dime a dozen, but three series stood out amongst the rest: Darius, R-Type, and Konami’s Gradius. Gradius had some awesome levels, cool music, challenging gameplay, and a unique power-up system. There have been several classic entries in the series, including the spin-off series Parodius, and the two-play cooperative Life Force/Salamander. Lets take a look at this classic series, becuase its as gamers, it’s imperative that we don’t forget where we came from, particularly in this age of Unreal Engine 3 graphics, Havok Physics, and Emotion engines.
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We’re a bit late this week due to the outage, but we’re back. I’m gonna give you the $20 GOTW and the Lost Classics at the same time this week, as to not to overshadow aDam’s Mexican Independence day. One of this week’s featured games is one of the all time greats of the RTS genre, while the other is one of the few good movie based games of the 16-bit era. So, lets waste no further time in getting started. Click the jump and come ride with me to your local video game dealers bargain bin.
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