Sonic Rivals- Impressions, Links, and More…

Sonic Rivals is SEGA’s latest adaptation of the classic Sonic series, except it is far unlike its 3D console counterparts–it involves a story where you are catapulted into an all racing-fest full of competitiveness and some classic 16 bit Sonic play. Sonic Rivals fails where it lacks features, but does wonders where it offers superb features.

[UPDATE] Christmas Demo Available…Now!

 

 

 

Merry Christmas to all! The demo is finally available to all and boy will it be fun (when I download and begin to play it….). Here’s how you can download it:

1) Download the Japanese version (v3.02 required).

 

2) Download the European version and North American version (v3.02 required).

4) Download a version for v2.80 and v3.00 from PSP117 here.

 

EDIT: The save file is PSP\GAME\NPJG90001 (Japanese) or PSP\GAME\ UCUS98662 (North America) . Unless you are using PSP117’s version, you MUST have v3.02 for this to work. Also, recharge your battery before downloading a new fir mware update. There is no longer a mobile version available for download.

Ratchet & Clank: SM Preview, More Sonic:R Reviews

GameSpot has an exclusive preview at Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, the newest PSP infrastructure game coming this Spring. Size Matters is based off of the successful PS2 series, but the online gameplay is enticing many PSP players who feel that 2007 will be a great year to own a PSP. Finally, a non-shooting, non-sports game that has infrastructure!

In addition to the single-player game, we were able to try out some of the multiplayer offerings, which will support both ad hoc and infrastructure play. Besides the expected deathmatch, team deathmatch, and capture-the-flag options, High Impact has put together something new for R&C multiplayer fans: the Iron Lombax Challenge. We were able to try out two of the variations of the new mode…

They also have a review of Sonic Rivals, giving it a 6.9/10 or “fair”. They tout the game’s graphics and music, but they don’t like the storyline nor do they enjoy the shortness of the game. They also had a very interesting look at the AI, which they didn’t like so much.

The artificial intelligence in the game also isn’t very good. Your rival will always be either right behind you or right in front of you, no matter how well you’re doing. It works just like the rubber-band artificial intelligence prevalent in many traditional racing games. If you start to slow down and do poorly, your rival will do the same. If you freeze your rival with an ice blast, he will be slowed momentarily but will inexplicably catch up within seconds.

Talking about other PSP games, The Elder Scrolls Travels: Oblivion is coming to the PSP April 16, 2007. But, I’m hyped about Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas, which arrives January 30, 2007. It’s the latest incarnation in the Rainbow Six series. It was originally expected to arrive this week in stores, but it was delayed. Even so, the XBOX 360 version received very good superb ratings, so I expect the PSP and PS3 versions to do the same when it hits stores early next year. You can expect me to be all on this one.

A Christmas demo is coming later .

Halloween Demo: Review, Impressions, and More…

The new LocoRoco Halloween Demo came out a few days ago! Today, I got my first chance to play and I have to say that I must commend SONY for not giving up on such an excellent game; hopefully, this demo will open a door for LocoRoco developers to continue to develop for the game with extra content that will continue the game’s lifespan.

The Halloween demo is loosely based on the last level of each world in the full game. Known simply as “Moja’s Everywhere”, these last levels feature Koge, Toge, and Ojya (or the Moja Corps Boss). This demo features the same music, leaving out a lot of the evil characters and implementing some scary stuff:

1) Pumpkins that make noise and shoot out bugs when you jump and hit it.

2) Bats that hold nuts/flowers for LocoRoco to jump and eat.

3) A pumpkin ball that helps you to jump to reach bats that hold flowers.

4) A broom that “sweeps” LocoRoco’s away.

Just this is enough to scare you, but the game remains enjoyable despite all these added features. It is very hard and complex. I usually average 17-19 LocoRoco on World 4 games that I play regularly and today, I only reached 10. That is an embarrassment, but it explains how hard this level is. With all of this, SONY is on their way to another demo hit.

Graphics: 9.6/10 Gameplay: 9.9/10 Longevity: 9.7/10 Easy-to-play: 9.4/10

Final: 9.65/10* Average Score

For more everything LocoRoco Halloween demo based, visit:

PSPFanboy (for v2.80 downloads)

YourPSP (for European v2.82 downloads)

PSP117 (for portal 117 downloads…)

And stick with the blog!

LocoRoco Review- Impressions, Links, and More…

LocoRoco is what I’ve lived for since the beginning of summertime. When SONY first announced the game back at TGS05, bloggers loved the game. I was first introduced to LocoRoco during the Game Developers Conference this past year. LocoRoco is a unique 2D side-scroller, pitting you into a world full of happy LocoRocos and MuiMuis. Unfortunately, their world is invaded by the Moja Troop, who eat LocoRocos and destroy all of the fun. Our job as players of the game is to tilt the surface left and right in order to lead our LocoRocos through challenging maps to safety.

Something as simple as that turned into obsession. For days and days on end, I would blog and blog until no return. LocoRoco is such an interesting game that pushes you into a different atmosphere. You use about three buttons in this game to get the surface working. Hit the shoulder buttons to tilt left and right, hold both together to make the surface move so LocoRocos will jump, and use the circle button to both separate and combine LocoRocos. In the end, you are pushed into a world full of fun.

LocoRoco Reviews: IGN 9.0/10

GameSpot, IGN, and 1Up finally have this game on their hands. What can I say? They were impressed. The IGN review gave LocoRoco a 9.0/10. Before going on to tout everything that is the music, graphics, and gameplay, they rolled it all into one and said:

Though at first all you see is lunacy — colorful, magnificent lunacy. Locoroco adds a dash of spice missing from the PSP library. Everything from its hallucinatory visual presentation and infectious soundtrack, to the layout of its menu and interface, [LocoRoco] has more personality than half of the system’s library combined. Locoroco is funny, quirky, accessible and altogether unique; just the thing you want in your pocket when waiting for the bus.

Tekken:DR Review- Impressions, Links, and More…

Tekken: Dark Resurrection is a new game from Bandai Namco that continues the legacy of the Tekken series. Tekken 5 was the ultimate PS2 fighting game–it incorporated everything fighting along with a series of arcade games into the ultimate console. Now, Tekken has arrived for the PSP and it has done wonders to the portable handheld. It is seriously what the PSP has been waiting for since its launch back last year. I made a decision to buy Tekken because of impressive ratings. I’ve never been hungry for fighting games, but I’ve played 4 and 5 and I was impressed.

Think of Tekken: Dark Resurrection as the Grand Theft Auto of fighting games–even while Tekken 5 comes on a bigger screen and gives you a better handle, graphics are stellar and on par with the PS2 version. It is almost realistic and by a mile, the best I’ve seen of 3D games on this handheld thus far. Also, Tekken doesn’t miss a beat when it comes to variety in moves and controls. There is always something to learn. After nearly a week with this game, I’ve used about 2% of it. There is so much to unlock and so much to explore.

The main point is money. After creating a profile, your money will carry on everytime you boot the game. Money can be used to buy accessories for your fighters–whether it be a bear for Lili, or a change of color for Heihachi. There are many modes of fighting: Quick Play (vs. CPU [a regular one vs. one game] or Team Battle [between 1-8 players play against a team of 1-8 players]), Story Battle (takes you through a story before and during gameplay, and Arcade Battle (non-stop action fighting between different characters]. Additionally, you can choose to fight competitors in Survival, an ‘Attack’ fight in which you try to stay alive and beat as many competitors as possible before your health meter runs out. ‘Bonus Games’ will give you the choice of doing commands in a certain record of time that are listed for money.

You can unlock other ‘Bonus Games’, like Tekken Bowl. It has so much depth that it is like a game within itself! Bowling is really easy. After determining whether you want to play by yourself or go head-to-head with your friends in 2P, you choose a character. Then, you bowl. Click X to varify you’re ready and it begins. Two meters are listed. You first stop one at the left in the middle to make sure you don’t overbowl/underbowl. Then the meter at the right: stop it near the top but not all the way and your character will bowl. It is a lot easier than it’s said.

Unlike many others, I found controlling to be a blast. Using many of the same controls from the PS2 Tekken 5 will make this easy to pick up on for lovers of Tekken 5. But, the D-Pad can get annoying at times. It seems to be very unresponsive in this game. The analog stick doesn’t work right. The aspect of being able to move around is hard to be accomplished. I’ve heard things about a D-Pad replacement made especially for the game, but I received nothing of the kind in my copy and the store I bought it at had no clue about a replacement.

Beautiful graphics, longevity, easy controlling, and enormous amounts of bonus games makes Tekken worth every penny. Actually, it only costs $39.99 (that compares to the $49.99 price of many first-party and EA games) for all of this. Tekken:DR proves that you can do so much with an enormous amount of characters. Games like GTA, Sonic, and NBA Live should allow you to bowl, too, huh?

Graphics: 9.5/10  Gameplay: 9.3/10 Longevity: 9.6/10 Easy-to-play: 9.1/10

Final: 9.375/10* Average Score

For the best resource of info on all the Tekken series, look no further than here:

Tekken Zaibatsu

Tekken on Wikipedia (EN) 

Tekken 5 Portal

Tekken 5: DR on GameSpot 

I’m looking forward to future reviews.