The original Elevator Action was nice, but it got pretty monotonous. Taito decided to create a sequel which has about as much in common with its predecessor as Final Fantasy 7 does with Final Fantasy 6. Eschewing the first game’s light-puzzle gameplay in favor of a action shoot-em-up, EA2 adds a plot and additional characters, things that the first game didn’t have. EA2 has players taking control of one of three secret agents as they battle a terrorist organization. The first level is a remake of the apartment complex in the original game, but afterward you’ll travel across a variety of different levels. The graphics are crisp, the controls are smooth, and most importantly, it has VARIETY, something the original game sorely lacked.

Note: This game is available on PS2 and PC as part of the Taito Legends 2 compilation.

Releases are still a bit sparse coming off the new year, but I think I am most please to announce the release of Plants vs Zombies for the Nintendo DS featuring new mini-games and more. LittleBigPlanet 2 is also being released for the PS3 and Mindjack for the XBox 360. Remember, if you want to purchase any of these titles, please do so by clicking on the links below to help us out.

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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.

When Steve Rogers was forced to either blindly serve the government or give up his identity as Captain America, he chose the later, and was replaced by John Walker. When Bruce Wayne’s back was broken by the villain Bane, leaving him unable to continue being Batman, he handpicked Jean Paul Valley, previously known as Azarel, to take over the cape and cowl. When Tony Stark succumbed to his alcoholism, he asked long time friend Jim Rhodes to take over his role as Iron Man. When Superman perished in battle with Doomsday, no less than 4 successors showed up, each either claiming to be him or wanting to pick up where he left off.

If there is one thing comics teaches us, it’s that no one is anybody until they’ve been killed, crippled, or forced to retire under dubious circumstances, only to be replaced by a younger, cooler, sexier, more badass version of themselves. However, there is another side of the coin as well. Usually this replacement doesn’t last very long, maybe a year or two, until the successor is killed, goes insane, or is revealed to be a pawn of a sinister plot, and the original hero is either resurrected (or revealed to not have been dead at all), recovered from their ‘crippling injury’, or is forced to come back out of retirement and resume their identity. Indeed, John Walker’s stint as Captain America was revealed to be a plot by the Red Skull, and soon Steve Rogers resumed his identity as Captain America. Jean Paul Valley had gone off the deep end, forcing Bruce Wayne (whose spine was miraculously healed) to retake his identity of Batman. Iron Man recovered from his alcoholism to battle Obadiah Stane after Rhodes was injured by the villain, while Superman recovered in the Fortress of Solitude and reclaimed his identity after the Eradicator sacrificed himself to restore his powers.
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Mega man 9 was a clever throwback to the franchise’s NES origins. It resonated so well with players that Capcom decided to take the Blue Bomber on another trip down memory lane with Mega Man 10. A virus has gripped robots all around the world, including Mega Man’s ‘sister’ Roll. Thus, Mega Man has to team with his ‘brother’ Protoman to find a cure. It’s classic 8-bit Mega Man action, just the way you like it, although it has a few new twists.
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Batgirl has been a staple of the Batman mythos for decades, much like Much like Robin, the boy/girl wonder — though for not quite as long. The one near-constant of this title is that the girl in question usually ends up as the current Robin’s girlfriend. That might not be so bad, except the role sentences the unsuspecting Batgirl a slew of terrible fates (in no particular order): being shot, paralyzed, raped, tortured to (apparent) death, and even wiped out of existence. Mostly.

Regardless, I’m sure fans everywhere remember when the very first Bat-Girl, Betty Kane, burst onto the scene with her red, green, and gold outfit.

…bwuh??

Read on to see more about Batwoman’s sidekick, and her not-quite-as-long-as-Robin line of unhyphenated successors.
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Releases are still pretty sparse after the new year so far, but there is one big game dropping this week in the form of DC Universe Online from Sony. I’ve been hearing about Jim Lee working on this game for YEARS now and the beta for many months. I look forward to seeing the feedback and reactions after its release.

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While this week’s Lost Classic may not be as quirky or unique as this week’s $20GOTW (or should that be FGOTW), it’s still worth its place among the shooter genre’s classics, even if there are a couple of huge flaws. Besides, R-Type is part of the holy trinity of horizontal side-scrolling shooters (its other two members include Konami’s Gradius and Taito’s Darius), so this game deserves a mention.
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Before Unreal, Gears of War, and Bulletsotrm (and after Jazz Jackrabbit, ZZT, and Jill of the Jungle) Epic Megagames released this vertical scrolling shooter. While it contains classic shooter action in the vein of Raiden and Xevious, it contains a few tricks of its own that make it unique. The game was originally conceived as a tech demo by two friends Alexander Brandon and Jason Emery. It didn’t even have sound, although it was shopped out to both Epic and Apogee Software. Epic eventually considered the game a perfect fit for thier company, and hooked the team up with sound composers and graphic designers, and thus Tyrian was born. You play as Trent, a terraformation expert. After being sent to the planet Tyrian to do some terraforming work, your friend is assassinated by Microsol (not Microsoft), the corporation controlling the terraforming effort due to his knowledge of a rare mineral being mined on the planet. Realizing that you’re next on Microsol’s hit-list, you set out to make your escape.
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