In the world of 3-D fighting, three franchises come to mind: Virtua Fighter, Tekken, and Soul Calibur. The first game pioneered the genre, the third introduced complex weapon-based fighting to the tried and true conventions. Tekken may not have had the impact on the genre that the other two did, but it still deserves to be mentioned in the same breath. After 4 solid entries (including Tag Tournament), the series took a step back with Tekken 4, when a frustrating wall fighting system and the attempted insertion of more Soul Calibur-like foot movement turned many players off. Last year, with Tekken 5, Namco revitalized the franchise in a major way. A handful of new characters were added to the Tekken mythos, and the moveset of every returning character recieved a major overhaul. Speaking of returning characters, nearly every character from the past Tekken games shows up. The graphics are some of the best seen on Playstation 2, and there are lots of extras in the game. As an added bonus, the arcade versions of Tekken 1, 2, and 3 have been included for players who want to see how far the series has come.

In the world of 2-d fighting games, 2 names remain at the top; Capcom and SNK.  Sure Arc System and Sammy’s Guilty Gear series may be the better game at the moment, it, as well as other fighting games (both 2-D and 3-D) owe thier existence to the two top dogs of the genre.  The KOF series, with it’s 3 on 3 team-oriented fighting, cast of characters spanning nearly the entire SNK catalog, and it’s heavy storyline has proved to be the fighting genre’s equlivalent to John Madden football.  Ever since it’s inception in 1994, each yearly installment of the series has managed to keep the action fresh as well as satisfy it’s leigons of fans even as the Neo Geo hardware shows it’s age. 

This double pack is a compiliation of the 9th and 10th entries in the series.  KOF 2002 is a “Dream Match”, which is a break in the series’s main storyline.  As such, there is no real plot or endings, but the nature of this game allows for the return of several characters who were either killed off or M.I.A. in the previous installments.  (Most notable of which are Yashiro, Chris, and Shermie of the Orochi team as well as long time SNK villain Rugal.)  KOF 2003 makes the biggest impact however, as it adds a brand-new tag team system as well as lays the ground work for a new storyline featuring the return of the Orochi.  Both of these games are filled with extras, such as hidden artwork, remixed music and backgrounds, and online play (for Xbox only of course).  Anyone who considers themself a fan of fighting games needs to pick this up, and learn some history.  Hopefully we’ll see Neo Geo Battle Coliseum and King of the Fighters XI over here in the near future, but until then, this will definently tide fighting game fans over.

As previously reported, Marvel Ultimate Alliance is coming in Fall 2006 for the next gen consoles. We also mentioned that there was a trailer out. I managed to find it on YouTube and embedded it below.

This is your chance to win the role of BRUCE BANNER or JEAN GREY in Marvel™: Ultimate Alliance and be part of the largest Super Hero alliance ever! You can either enter right here on the site, or by mail. You’ll get all the details and rules by clicking this link: Click here to enter and get all the details!

As if being in the game wasn’t enough, our one male and one female Grand Prize winners will get an Xbox 360, a copy of the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance game, a poster signed by Stan Lee, a pack of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance playing cards and a trip to Los Angeles to record their lines and meet the producers.

The audition period will end on July 23, 2006. Be sure to get your entries in before then!

Arc the lad was one of the first games released for the original Playstation in Japan. However, it wouldn’t be until late in the system’s life cycle that it would come over here, thanks to the now defunct Working Designs in the form of a 6 CD pack chock full of extras in the usual Working Designs style. It contained the series’s three entries, which gave players the entire saga of the struggle against Darkness. The thing I liked best was that each sequel took place only a short period of time after the previous entry vs the “thousands of years after the big battle” cop out of %95 of most other RPG franchises. Upon reading that SCEA of Japan was planning a PS2 sequel, I was somewhat skeptical, especially after Arc 3’s grand finale (Which in itself wasn’t even suppose to be released). This game takes place thousands of years after Arc 3, (but this time is understandable, seeing as how it would be impossible to follow up on the events of Arc 3) and it tells the storyline of the war between two races; Human and Deimos, and an evil empire which seeks to subjugate them both. In the middle of all this are two heroes, Kharg and Darc, both twins being born to a Human mother and Deimos father, but were separated at birth. You will alternate between both, and see the storyline from both viewpoints, and makes you feel sympathetic towards both causes. When the two brothers finally do meet, it’s a lead-in to some very big plot twists. Although the combat engine has some flaws (having to buy spirit stones to cast spells), the new free walking is a welcome treat versus the grid based strategy battles of not only Arc the lad, but most other Strategy RPGs. It may not be Final Fantasy of Kingdom Hearts, but this is worth checking out especially if you’re a fan of the series.

Rockstar is pretty much to the video game industry what the South is to hip hop. They may not be as ‘abstract’ as everyone else, but they add their own unique twists to tried and true gaming conventions that, other  developers will be all too happy to try to emulate.  (See Driv3er, True Crime, and Narc) So with that in mind, lets look at 2 of their most recent games.

The warriors is based upon the cult classic 1979 film.  This is probably one of the most referenced films in hip hop next to Scarface.  Anyone who has seen the film can tell that that could make a game in and of itself, but Rockstar manages to add in new content to flesh out the backstory.  You’ll learn how the warriors spent the summer leading up to the big meeting, get up close and personal with the gangs seen only briefly in the film, and even learned how the gang got together.  The game starts at the fateful night where gang leader and visionary Cyrus is gunned down, but in a Quentin Taratino-esque twist, we flashback to 3 months before the meeting, which makes up 2/3rds of the game.  Rockstar attempts to reinvent the brawler for a new generation (an act barely achieved successfully by fighting force and Gekkido on the PS1) by combining elements of their other titles such as GTA and Manhunt, and they succeed.   The environments are large and open with hidden objectives to discover, and some stealth elements and minigames help move this game away from the same ol same ol brawler territory.  Also to note is the team dynamic, in which you can use the right analog stick to issue commands to your AI controlled teammates.  Although it takes some time to get used to, this isn’t complicated at all, and you can do anything from having them wreck the place to watching your back.  The game also does a fine job of capturing the look and feel of the movie throughout the game, as much of the last third of the game is directly out of the movie.  Several unlockables (including a double dragon-esque arcade game) help round this out and keep players coming back for more.

As the latest entry in Rockstar’s franchise, Grand Theft Auto:  Liberty city stories doesn’t do anything that hasn’t been done in the past three entries, almost being a step backwards, as many of the features and enhancements from Vice City and San Andreas have been left out.  Your protagonist can’t swim, targeting is as cumbersome as ever, and many of the missions range from just plain bland to outright frustrating.  However, as a PSP game, GTA LCS is one of the first real ‘must buy’ games for the system.  It contains everything that GTA is known for (a free open world, a dirty sense of humor, a somewhat compelling plot, and a vast selection of weapons and vehicles to utilize in order to wreak havoc on civilians), and it brings every square foot of liberty city to PSP.  Also, this is the first version to feature wireless multiplayer.  Although it’s ad-hoc only, it’s still nice to finally have this in a game without having to rely on a PC hack.  Also interesting to note is that a save game exploit can be used to load homebrew games for users stuck with an upgraded PSP.