One time, I saw a TV commercial for Guitar Hero II. In that commercial, two young men are shown playing different controllers side-by-side. One hero holds the Cherry version of the SG controller, which has been available through various means since the original Guitar Hero game came out, and is now commonly bundled with Guitar Hero II. The other player is shown holding a strangely-shaped white and black guitar that I’d never heard of before, and never heard of again until I saw it at my local Target store.
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It’s been a while since I had a Dreamcast title here, so here goes one. This game is also available on PC, and there is an enhanced version on PS2. In late 2001, Sega’s final attempt at console success was on it’s last legs. As a result, and also due to publisher fears of not being able to turn a decent profit, several high profile games had seen only Japanese and European releases (such as Capcom vs SNK 2 and Shenmue 2) while others were simply cancelled altogether. Among the latter was the Dreamcast version of Half Life. However, another game would arrive to alleviate the pain of what had happened: Soldier of Fortune.

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Yes, I know there is an enhanced version of this out (MGS 3 Substance), but I couldn’t wait to feature this game. Besides, the enhanced version of the game is already $25, so it will drop in price soon enough anyway.
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Now that I have all the minotaurs from the 7th Kingdom series from the Four Horsemen, I took the opportunity to put together a photo gallery. Its far from professional, but it gives you a good look at the figures, their posability, and their accessories. I tried to have a little fun with it and give each minotaur a little personality by differing up their poses and weapons. The accessories give credit to a wide range of options with some mixing and matching of the halberd, spear and flag.

You can see the gallery by clicking here:
FANtastic Exclusive 2006 Minotaurs

For more information on the FANtastic Exclusives for 2006, check out this edition of PowetToys.

For as long as I can remember, GI Joe has been a staple of every young man’s childhood. They’ve come a long way since they used to be nameless 12-inch dolls. The Joes have graced multiple TV shows, comic book lines, and several lines of the famous action figures, but what of video games? You think that the real American heroes would be a perfect fit for a video game right? Well, yes, but not greatly. Alson with a slew of computer and atari 2600 games, the name has graced 2 little-known NES games that were actually pretty good.

The games were side scrolling shooters which allowed players to take control of one of several Gi Joe characters, each of which having thier own abilities and upgradable weapons. The first, which was published by now-defunct publisher Taxan, had players select a three-man team of Joes before the start of each mission. The first of which was a preselected team leader. 5 characters were included; Duke, Snake-eyes, Rock-n-roll, Gridiron, and Blizzard. Hawk was playable in the game’s final mission. Each level was broken into 3 parts. First you make your way to the base, then you search around and plant bombs at various checkpoints, then you escape and battle a boss. The second one, which was published by Capcom, was a little less linear, as you could select which order to take the stages in. You started out with General Hawk this time, although you would run into Wet-Suit, Duke, Roadblock, Storn Shadow, and others after you found them in certain stages.

Although these games didn’t do as well commercially, they were still pretty decent games. Your best bet is to hunt down the roms, seeing as how there is a very slim chance of them being bought to the virtual console. (Seeing as how they are licenced games and such. It dosen’t help matters that the first game’s publisher is out of business as well.) Also, check out Konami’s arcade game while you’re at it.

Sorry I was late this week, but I was caught up in the holiday. So without further ado, here’s the $20 GOTW.
For all of you wishing for a return to the 16 bit glory days of gaming, and don’t plan on buying a Wii (even if you are and don’t want to wait until these games come to virtual console) this one is for you: Sega Genesis Collection on PS2
If you thought system fanboy wars are bad now, you should have been there when Nintendo fanboys went head up against Sega fanboys. Even though multiplatform releases on the SNES were better most of the time, Sega had a lot of classic games as well. They pretty much had to, since they had to catch up thanks in no small part to Nintendo’s rough licencing policies. The Genesis was graphically inferior to the SNES, so Genesis game programmers had to make the most out of the hardware. When they did however, some pretty sweet games were the result. Sega has packed nearly 30 games from thier genesis catelog as well as a few unlockable arcade games into this one handy dandy PS2 disc.
Many of your favorites are here, such as Sonic, Phantasy Star, and the Golden Axe series (including 3, which was never before released in the US!). There are also several cult classic titles such as Comix Zone, Ecco the Dolphin, and Vectorman. Of course, what Sega comp would be complete without Altered Beast? Each title is accompanied by a history feature, as well as artwork and game tips.
Even though there are some glaring omissions, (NO STREETS OF RAGE? WTF?) this is an excellent alternative to shelling out the cash to grab these on virtual console or hunting them down in your favorite gaming stores. Hopefully Sega will give us a sequel with even more classic goodness.

Fresh off the shelf, here is a quick impression of Mirage from Transformers: Classics!

A look at the newly released The Transformers The Movie 20th Anniversary Special Edition DVD.