2000 was a good year for Squaresoft, particularly the summer. We got several awesome games from them, each of which was special in their own right. Some gained more accolades than others, though. Alongside Final Fantasy IX and Chrono Cross, we also got Parasite Eve 2, Vagrant Story, and this little number, Threads of Fate. Even though Threads of Fate was clearly geared towards kids, older action RPG fans who own a Playstation will enjoy this too.

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While Valve’s Source engine is no Unreal 3, it is capable of impressive graphics all on its own (as anyone whose played the Orange Box can tell you). Its software development kit is also a favorite of modders and game developers alive, as many projects, mods and independent game releases alike have made use of it. Outerlight’s The Ship is one of these projects. Originally designed as a mod of Half Life 2 (which is why its menus are similar), the developers made this game an independent release. This is probably for the best, because The Ship has many unique gameplay mechanics that help set itself apart from other first person shooter games.
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Take one part Virtua Cop, one part Mission Impossible, 1/2 cup minigame elements, stir, and bake at 450 degrees for 25 minutes. After it cools down, you’ll end up Sega AM3’s (at the time doing business as Hitmaker) 2001 sleeper light gun rail shooter Confidential Mission. Playing as a secret agent (or 2 if playing 2 player), you set out to stop a terrorist organization from taking control of a satellite. You’ll travel to a museum, a train, then the terrorist headquarters. Gameplay is pretty much what you’d expect from a light gun shooter, although there are some minigames spread about. You’ll try to guide a grappling hook to it’s target, break out of a room filling with gas, and attempt to rescue a girl. Of course you can play this game with a controller, but obviously you’re going to want to play using a lightgun, as it will make the minigames much easier. Along with a replication of the arcade game, the Dreamcast home version includes an ‘Original mode’ (a mode with a different set of challenges), a training mode, and a decent amount of unlockable features. The home version extras are a good thing, as the main game only has three stages. Even with its lack of replay value, fans of light gun shooters who still hold on to their Dreamcasts will want to get this game, along with a lightgun to play it with. It may be a bit hard to find, but it will be well worth the purchase.

I love a good crossover as much as the next man, but things have been getting way, way, way out of hand lately. Come on now, Solid Snake in Smash Brothers Brawl? Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe? Yoda, Darth Vader, and that guy from The Force Unleashed in SoulCalibur 4? Capcom vs Tatsunoko? X-men and, well, any character from the Top Cow universe? As exciting as many of these either are or could be, this is border lining on ridiculous. Of course zany crossovers are nothing new, especially in gaming. One of them was this beat-em-up classic, which paired together Rare’s Battletoads with Technos Japan’s Lee brothers. Besides the fact that both franchises had home games which were at one time published by Tradewest (who published this game), there was no real connection between the two. Beside a few key flaws here and these, this is mindless beat-em-up fun.

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Now I’m just as excited about playing the newest iterations of Grand Theft Auto, Metal Gear Solid, Guitar Hero, SoulCalibur, and Silent Hill as the next gamer, but if you ask me, now is an awesome time to be a fan of classic gaming. Throughout these past few years, we’ve had several compilation packs of classic titles from companies like Taito and Midway. Nintendo, Sega, SNK, and NEC have been putting much of their systems’ back catalogs on the Wii Virtual Console, while the PSN store and Xbox Live Arcade have had a steady stream of both classic and classic-style games made readily available for download. Just when you think things couldn’t get any better, Konami recently released the Japanese version of Dracula X on U.S. shores for the very first time, and Capcom will be releasing new Mega Man, Street Fighter, and Bionic Commando games throughout the next several months. Then there is this, Contra 4. Out of nowhere, Konami has given gamers a clever throwback to the 16-bit glory days of Contra, while still keeping it relevant today. They’ve managed to bring back everything old school gamers loved about Contra while at the same time reintroducing it to a new generation of gamers.

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Yes, that’s right, a Virtual Boy game. Before you shoot me, hear me out! This is actually one of the few good games for the system, and it makes best use of what little the console had to offer. It has true 3-d environments, wire-frame graphics (think Battlezone, but in red), and it made use of every button on the Virtual Boy controller, including both directional pads. Remember, this was before single-analog, let along dual analog. Fans of rail shooters (like Starfox) who happen to come across the ill fated system will enjoy it. You play as the pilot of a Tech-Wing fighter on a mission to destroy a rouge super computer. You make your way through 5 stages, blasting at everything in the way. For the most part the game’s levels are straight forward, but since you can move in all 360 directions, it’s easy to get disoriented at times. After you complete a stage, you can watch a replay, complete with full control of the camera. There are also Easter eggs in the form of hidden wireframe objects. It’s not much compared to other games, but it is nice to have, and they do a good job of pushing the system to its limits.

Obviously this game isn’t enough to make anyone go run out and buy a Virtual Boy (and it’s not like I’d personally recommend it anyway). However, Red Alarm did an excellent job of showing off what the system is capable of. If there had been more games of this caliber, then maybe the Virtual Boy wouldn’t have crashed and burned as badly as it did. Wishful thinking I know, but a man can dream can’t he?

For the life of me, I don’t know why EA decided to call this a Command and Conquer game. It has nothing to do with Tiberium, the conflict between GDI and NOD, Kane, or even the alternate universe of the Red Alert games. Heck, it doesn’t even have C&C’s trademark cheeseball live action FMV cutscenes. It shares more in common with Blizzard RTS games such as Starcraft and Warcraft than any previous C&C game. It’s pretty much as if EA wanted to show off its new Strategy Action Game Engine (SAGE), and couldn’t think of a better name for the game than its classic RTS franchise. This game is more like what would have happened if Blizzard made a Starcraft game and set it in the modern era. HOWEVER (and this is a big however), if you’re a fan of RTS games, then you should not ignore this title. It’s the first C&C (after the FPS Renegade) to be fully 3-d, and it adds several twists to the gameplay to set itself apart from other RTS titles. It might not be a ‘true’ C&C game, but it’s worthy enough to stand alongside the rest of the series.
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A few months ago, I did a special on the first half of the Final Fantasy series, where I briefly touched upon this iteration of the series. With Final Fantasy IV hitting the Nintendo DS shortly (as evidenced by aDam’s video review of it below), hardcore FF fans will want to check out its predecessor as soon as possible. This remake is the first and only international release of Final Fantasy 3. It blends together what made the original version of the game unique with some new innovations that help keep it fresh for today’s gaming audience.
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