At the time of its release, this Data East-developed game was second only to Konami’s X-men game in terms of multiplayer beat-em-up action, and even today it maintains its charm. Taking control of either Captain America, Iron Man, Vision, or Hawkeye, you battle your way through various supervillians in order to make it to the Red Skull’s moon base. You’ll meet Whirlwind, the Wizard, Ultron, Crossbones, and several other familiar Avengers villains. You’ll even run into Juggernaut and the Sentinels from the x-men comics. Quicksilver, Namor, the Wasp, and Wonder Man make cameo appearences. There are even some shooter segments to mix up the action. The game’s English translation took some hits (“Why should it goes well?”) when it came over here, but the game is still enjoyable, especially when you bring along friends. There is an absolute zero chance of this being re-released in any way (primarily due to the fact that Data East no longer exists and Activision holds the licensing rights to most major Marvel properties), so you’re going to have to do some searching to find the cartridge or cabinet. If you do manage to run across the game, check it out, and it will tide you over until Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 hits sometime down the road.

It has been over TWO YEARS since I spoke about Beyond Good & Evil 2! I’d forgotten about it, and simply chalked the lack of news to it being a bad rumor.
Well creator Michel Ancel hasn’t forgotten, and according to JeuxVideo (another French site!): Beyond Good & Evil 2 en préproduction. Why hasn’t it been officially announced? Ubisoft hasn’t given it the greenlight. This cult hit from last gen didn’t make the publisher the kind of money they wanted so they’re hesitant. I think gamers are getting more savvy and a theres not reason a cult game can’t become a big hit, like Bioshock did only a year ago.

Never played the classic original? You’re in luck. GameTap has it available now, and its available on PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, and PC, so you have to be able to play it on something you’ve got there. Its an action adventure in the same mold as Zelda with great characters, puzzles, acting, gameplay variety, and art direction. Its actually better than Wind Waker.

It doesn’t matter much that the Silver PS3 has never been released in the US, or that the concept “boomerang” controller never made it to production. The Transportation Security Administration has deemed this as potentially dangerous as the original Xbox, a camcorder or… what is that, a humidifier?
General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee won’t stand for you simply leaving these senseless items in your bag. Bust ’em out and get them in a bin. But be careful, that security guard asked you to take off your shoes probably so you can’t run when he declares that the PS3 hates freedom and takes your mythical boomerang and box into custody.

I was out of town for the weekend, and imagine my surprise when I caught up with GameTrailers on Spike that the first in game footage of Gears Of War 2 had been released. No short cutscene or render, this is gameplay from the third chapter of the first act called Assault. Gears master and geek pinup Cliffy B introduces the game, which looks great.

Looks great. Can’t wait to play it. The main game of the first Gears was spectacular, and tossing in some new mechanics like using enemies as a shield and chainsaw duels will only make the new one better. Graphics looks the same, but thats hardly a complaint. Delta Squad returns in November.

Double Agent is the fourth entry in the Splinter Cell series and the first to hit the new generation consoles. Ubisoft Shanghai has taken some bold new steps with the formula, not the least of which is having series protagonist Sam Fisher juggle his loyalties to both Third Echelon and the terrorist organization which he is tasked to infiltrate. While there are some missteps in this new direction, Double Agent still manages to bring the series into the next generation with style.

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This is 1980s arcade run-and-gun absurdity at its finest. Back then, you didn’t need a complicated backstory, fancy unlockables, top-notch graphics, downloadable content, a promotional tie-in, or online play. You only need an itchy trigger finger, loads of quarters, 30 – 45 minutes to spare, and a friend. You take control of a mercenary (or two if playing in two player), and you are assigned the task of retaking an underground nuclear complex from a group of terrorists. You are armed with a weapon and grenades, and like in most top-down shooters, you collect power ups. One in particular, the Heavy Barrel, is split into 6 pieces which form an awesome super weapon once they are found and assembled. The gun will only remain active for 30 seconds, but its firepower can be used to easily take out some of the harder enemies, including the bosses. There really isn’t much more to it, it’s just a fun shooter in the vein of Ikari Warriors and Contra.

Only time will tell if this game will show up on Virtual Console anytime soon, as Data East went bankrupt five years ago. Many of its intellectual properties were bought out by Japanese Corporation Paon, who developed Donkey Kong Barrel Blast for Wii, DK King of Swing for Game Boy Advance, and DK Jungle Climber for Nintendo DS. They have released several Data East games for the Virtual Console already and are no doubt planning to release more, so we can only hope Heavy Barrel is one of them.

Koei and W-force’s Musou games (known over here as Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors) are Japan’s equivalent to our sports franchises, except for the fact that they have educational value added to them. They featured anime-styled versions of historical figures and battles throughout the Warring States and Three Kingdoms eras. The games get periodic releases with a roster update, slight graphical updates, and some new features added. They also get a bad rap for their repetition and simplistic playing mechanics. While some of the criticism is deserved, the series does a excellent job of catering to it’s small-but-devoted fanbase, and this entry is no exception.
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Not only is the 8th 4th game in the Grand Theft Auto series taking in more money Rockstar games than protagonist Niko Bellic could ever steal, the game now sits high atop Game Rankings and Meta Critic‘s score compilations.

Its surely the most important game to be released this year, but its not perfect. Can GTA stop Iron Man this weekend? We’ll have to wait and see.