The console Castlevania games have taken a peculiar path since the polygonal transition, with various experiments on the N64 and PS2 garnering mixed reception. The handheld titles, on the other hand, have shown a consistent brilliance on the GBA and DS, adhering to a formula that works while focusing on combat precision and varied boss battles. On the 3DS, the series has taken just a bit of a nod toward the console style, while still maintaining something resembling the classic gameplay.
Sony’s The Show has been the premier baseball game for years, but that seems to have only driven the developers to strive even harder to improve it every year. With that in mind, this year’s release has more upgrades and new content than we’ve seen in a few years. READ MORE
Poisoft’s eShop offering Kersploosh! is a difficult game to evaluate, due to its almost-insignificant price point. In an era where even re-releases of decades-old NES titles go for five dollars (like my much-beloved Mega Man 2, which I have effectively purchased for the fourth time now), how does one accurately value a game costing a little more than half of that? Even a mere hour of mediocre gameplay should be considered insane value for that price by most metrics, no?
Fortunately, the gameplay in Kersploosh! is quite above mediocre, and I’ve already put about an hour an a half into it. It’s a difficult game to play for long stretches, especially with the 3D on, but as bite-sized time killers go, I have enjoyed far worse. READ MORE
When discussing action franchises that defined a generation, you can’t forget to bring up Tomb Raider or its protagonist, Lara Croft. As one of the first major 3D action-adventure games to hit it big, Tomb Raider became a cultural phenomenon. However, after so many games in the venerable series, the popularity died down and the quality of each subsequent entry became less stellar. In short, the series needed a fresh take, and thus providing Crystal Dynamics a chance to start anew. Bringing us back to Lara’s very first adventure, Tomb Raider is a return to form for a series that desperately needed a new beginning. READ MORE
The PlayStation Vita is a powerful piece of portable hardware! Because of that, we’ve been able to enjoy a handful of ports and updates of games that were previously only on consoles, such as Street Fighter X Tekken and Persona 4 Golden. Tecmo Koei contributed to the trend in the form of Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus, which was an update of an update of an update, bringing the mid-aughties classic to a portable system for the first time and somehow managing to conjure up even more new features. READ MORE
