It’s a New Year, and one that looks exciting for geeks everywhere. To celebrate (and to make up for my tardiness), I’ve got a three-piece of new game related content. Along with the $20 GOTW and Lost Classics, we have the debut of our new section, Maximum Letdown. What is Maximum Letdown? Well you remember all the gaming classics from your youth? You know, the beloved Castlevanias, Contras, Zeldas, Street Fighter 2 Turbos, and the Final Fantasies that we love to reminisce about. Of course, there are other games from that era that we don’t like to talk about so much. Remember the CD-I Mario and Zelda games? How about the Adventures of Master Chu and Drunkard Hu (WHAT!?!?)? Do you remember when the Grand Theft Auto games had lousy play control? Or better yet, Wisdom Tree’s bible games? For every Gears of War, Halo, and Castlevania released, there are a thousand more Pixar/Disney/Nickelodeon/Cartoon Network shovelware carts destined for the bargain bin, if the even make it that far. Yeah, Maximum Letdown is gonna remind you of the darkside of gaming. We’re gonna dredge up some seriously bad memories. These are the games that either didn’t deliver on their promises, had that one fatal flaw that ruined it for gamers, didn’t do its license or predecessors proper justice, or was just plain awful. This won’t be done as frequently as a Lost Classics or $20 GOTW, but we’ll have a new one up at least twice a month. Speaking of Lost Classics and $20 GOTW, the former deals with a fighting game released at the dawn of the 32-bit era, and the latter is a game based on a fighting game. So without further ado, read on after the jump.

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This is the latest in Powet Editor Zac Shipley’s series on video game culture in Madison, WI for TheDailyPage.

My favorite video games of 2008
Madison developers and gaming continue to move forward in 2009
The last several years have been wonderful for gamers, setting a ridiculously high bar. Was last year up to the challenge? I initially jumped at the chance to rant and rave at the best and worst of electronic entertainment in 2008, but I’m far from an unbiased professional. >More

With the past 364 days behind us, you may wonder “What the hell was so special about 2008, anyway?” Surely there were a myriad of noteworthy events, such as a controversial new president elect and Gay marriage being banned, then allow, then banned again. However that’s all stuff that you could read in any retrospective article on a news site. What exactly was noteworthy about the year 2008 for the average to over-average geek like you and I? Here, we’ll take a look about the good, the bad, and the absolutely insane of this past year.
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Before Capcom vs SNK, there was, well, SNK vs SNK. While the Neo Geo had several good shooters and platformers, it would be fighting games which would really put SNK and the Neo Geo on the map. Games such as Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, and Samurai Showdown would show that SNK was every bit as equal to Capcom in the fighting game arena. Even third party developers such as ADV and Data East made games for the Neo Geo. In 1994, after the several Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting games, SNK decided change the genre and do something completely new. They created a fighting game in which fighters were placed into 3-man teams, something which was unheard of at the time. Even more amazing, they teamed up characters from their back catalog. Fatal Fury fighters mixed it up with Art of Fighting characters. Yeah, people flipped when they fought Ryo Sazaki in Fatal Fury Special, and it was cool to see Geese Howard as the boss of Art of Fighting 2, but now the crossover appeal had been taken to the next level. It wasn’t just SNK FIGHTERS who joined in the fun. Characters from Ikari Warriors and Psycho Soldier also threw down with Terry Bogard and crew. There were also several new characters who joined as well. In fact, Kyo Kusanagi, one of the new blood, would rise to become KOF’s main hero. The series itself would become one of the Neo Geo’s (as well as the genre’s) most prolific titles. Subsequent entries were released on an almost-yearly basis, and the newest entry in the series is being developed even now. To tide us over until then, SNK has released this collection of the first 5 games in the series. This disc is a must-own for fans of the series, fans of SNK, or fans of 2-d fighters period.
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This title from Sammy (now owned by Sega) is one of the finest, yet most underrated titles on the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game contains 3 different styles of gameplay. There are side scrolling platforming segments in which players can switch between various weapons, light-gun shooting levels which are similar to Operation Wolf, and driving levels similar to Spy-Hunter. The story, told through cinemas explores genetic mutations, cloning, and secret conspiracies which take the game beyond the standard ‘save the princess’ storylines seen in other games of that period. This game is a sought after title for the Virtual Console. In fact Mark Bozon, editor of IGN’s Wii Page have been asking the company about the possibility of the game being available on the service. However, Sammy apparently doesn’t remember the game and is tracking down the licensing rights to it. That’s a shame too, as this is an excellent title that deserves a second life.

IGN has posted a full 21 minute video of gameplay in Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty. The battle features Terran vs. Protoss and gives a decent look at some of the new units and abilities.

You can see that video here.

One of the abilities I was intrigued by was that a newly built command center was able to carry 4 SCVs with it to immediately start mining at the expansion base. Another new feature shown was not only the ability to traverse terrain at different levels with certain units, but also that some parts of the terrain could be interacted with, in this case a pile of boulders blocking/protecting the entrance to an expansion site. They were also pretty quick to point out that this is still an alpha version and you can probably bet on a somewhat lengthy beta version to work out all the bugs. That being said, things are looking very good so far.

The division between American-style role-playing game fans and Japanese-style RPGers is almost as deep as the split between Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter fans. While American RPG games such as Diablo and the Elder Scrolls series have focused on more real-time action oriented combat and deep character customization, Japanese RPGs such as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest have focused on character development, turn-based combat, and semi-linear storylines. For years, it has been a back and forth battle, with both American and Japanese RPGs gaining popularity amongst fans at certain periods. When Final Fantasy VII changed the face of the genre, many American gamers flocked over to the works of Square-Enix, and its contemporaries. Fast forward to a decade later. Japanese RPG developers have been going as strong as ever, and even new ones such as Mistwalker have emerged. However, the problem with the current JRPG scene is that these developers have mostly relied on the same old formulas that they have implemented since the late 90s. The failures of games such as The Last Remnant and Infinite Undiscovery (as well as the cult status of games such as Persona, The World Ends With You, and Valkyrie Profile) have demonstrated that the public wants to see something different. Moreover, throughout the last decade, the American RPG market has been bolstered by excellent games such as Diablo, Oblivion, Neverwinter Nights, and Jade Empire. This brings me to this week’s feature, Mass Effect. Mass Effect was created by BioWare, the camp behind hits such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, Baldur’s Gate, and the forthcoming Dragon Age. As in the past, BioWare has taken the RPG genre to new heights by not sticking by the genre’s norms. Square-Enix, Tri-Ace, Mistwalker, and other RPG developers, both American and Japanese, would do well to study this game (especially if they plan on doing any more work with the Unreal 3 engine).
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Ending Music: “Unholy Vespers”

The first of my two reviews for the recent Castlevania games. Like what you see? Be sure to check out my Staff Pick for the month. (last month too!) Make sure to check back here at Powet.tv for the other Castlevania review you won’t want to miss!