Not shying away from the time-tested tradition of adding more subtitles to fighting games, Continuum Shift Extend is the latest revision of Arc System Works’ BlazBlue series. Extend is yet another “sequel” in the same vein Continuum Shift II was, focusing solely on character balance updates, and actually giving the previous DLC characters proper stories in the BlazBlue narrative. CSII never came out outside of arcades and handhelds though, so Extend brings that content plus more to both home consoles and the PlayStation Vita. READ MORE
Pinball fans finally have a great game to play regardless of console. Pinball FX 2 and Zen Pinball are available on a wide array of devices, and it is clear that the folks over at Zen are fans of the game. The difference in quality between something like Pinball Heroes on the PSP and Pinball FX 2 is astounding. READ MORE
Shank was greeted with mixed reviews when it came out in 2010, but it sold well enough to warrant a sequel from Klei Entertainment. In Shank 2, you’ll find a shining example for other small studios of how to respond to criticism and improve on an idea. READ MORE
Square Enix took a risk creating a sequel to Final Fantasy XIII, possibly the most polarizing game in the long-running series. Many felt that Square simply needed to pretend XIII never existed and go back to a more traditional style in XV. I feel like Square Enix made the right decision with XIII-2, as it corrects virtually every complaint leveled against XIII, successfully adds new mechanics and continues the intriguing story of Cocoon and Pulse. READ MORE
Konami’s series of licensed beat-’em-ups in the late ’80s and early ’90s were a huge success at the time, and those who played them then have desired to experience them again on modern consoles. Konami and Ubisoft were happy to oblige, bringing TMNT and X-Men games to downloadable services. Now we have The Simpsons Arcade, and if there’s anything we’ve learned at this point, it’s that only some of these hold up as well as we thought they would. READ MORE
