If we were to judge this based entirely on the opening city fly-by, we might say it was one of the most impressive DS games we’ve ever seen. Streets, cars, skyscrapers and pedestrians in a bustling 3D rendering of New York, powered at a super-smooth frame rate by a humble handheld console. Amazing, we might say. We’re going to have some serious fun here!
The government has lost contact with a top-secret research station, and it sends you to investigate. Welcome to C.O.R.E., a first-person shooter that feels far more like Wolfenstein 3D or Doom than anything remotely modern.
There's a line of people out the door, you're running three ovens and frosting stations, the cupcakes are still in the microwave, and the guy in the pink bunny costume is melting down because you mistakenly gave him a red-frosted, egg-shaped cake instead of the round, chocolate one with the sailboat. If only his favorite TV show was on...
This is a completely typical scenario in Cake Mania, a cute little bargain-priced title in which you play a baker's granddaughter determined to save the
Nov 7, 2007
We're going to be brutally honest here - no one takes handheld ports of AAA games seriously. Blame it on the piles of shoveled-out-there GBA ports from back in the day. The console versions get all the attention, both from developers and gamers, while the portable translation is overlooked and basically DOA. Well, we're not about to say Call of Duty 4 is going to buck the trend, but it's certainly much better than you'd think.
As with Metroid Prime Hunters, you move around with
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Mobilized recognizes and reproduces what its franchise has always been known for. Enemies constantly pouring out of nooks and crannies while you push forward with bullet fed justice. However, Mobilized is missing what makes its big brother such a blockbuster experience: insane amounts of polish.
Every year we're inundated with derivative sequels that look and play just like the earlier version. Yet Castlevania never seems to lose its bloodthirsty, explorative spirit. Dawn of Sorrow crucifies all three Game Boy Advance vamp hunts by offering a longer quest studded with gruesome, fleshy bosses and enough customization to make even the most obsessive gamers arch an appreciative eyebrow.
As with many entries before it, Dawn drops you into Dracula's enchanted castle virtually powerless.
Like the excellent Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin before it, Order of Ecclesia drops you into a gothic realm on the brink of disaster. Lord Dracula is about to make a not-so-surprising return from the dead and it’s up to you to put him back in his grave by collecting new magical powers and slaying his blood-guzzling henchmonsters.
As one of the last bastions of classic, side-scrolling gaming, the Castlevania series has to accomplish two things with every new release. First, it has to strike a perfect balance of old and new, offering fans just enough of the recycled, explorative gameplay they crave while also giving them fresh reasons to send Dracula back to the grave. Second, and perhaps more importantly, each 2D entry in the series has to prove that old fashioned sprites and animation are better, in some instances, than
Oct 18, 2007
It's rare these days to find a puzzle game on DS or PSP that isn't just a port of a PC shareware game that's been out forever (Cake Mania or Luxor, for instance). However, Chameleon is no port... instead, it appears to be a knock-off of a PC shareware game called Filler. That's arguably even worse, isn't it? Well, let's see how it plays anyway...
Chameleon takes place on a grid of colored hexagons far taller than the dual screens can show (you can zoom out to get a better view,
Is parkour still cool? Okay, it doesn’t say anything about parkour in The Chase, but that is what it’s about. Playing as either Felix or Felicity – two hip young things who take a shine to each other – you’ve got to race across town for your hot date with either Felicity or Felix.
