GamesRadar - PS2 Reviews

Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked (Review)

14/04/2006

Given how crazy violent the postmodern, hip-hop-heavy anime Samurai Champloo is, you'd think it'd be easy to make it into a decent video game; just inject the characters into a cool-looking slash 'em-up and add a whole lot of weirdness, right? Guess not. That's more or less what the developer did, but Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked still kinda sucks. Not that Sidetracked doesn't have good things going for it. Created by the TV series' writers as a "lost chapter" in the show's canon, ...

Samurai Shodown Anthology (Review)

31/03/2009

The great trouble with a lot of SNK games is that due to the exorbitant cost of the Neo Geo consoles and cartridges, pretty much no one got a chance to play them when they first came out. It’s only now, through downloads and retro compilations like this one, that many of us are getting our first taste – and for many titles (such as the uber-bland King of Fighters) it’s just come a little bit too late. ...

Samurai Warriors 2 (Review)

20/09/2006

Koei is releasing the same game for what seems to be the 97th time in the last four years. The latest installment in the popular Warriors series is Samurai Warriors 2. Based in feudal Japan, this title blends a ridiculous amount of mindless violence, entertaining cutscenes, some truly horrendous voice acting and an upgrade system that's totally wasted. Put it all together and you have a real yawner of a game that's more dirty farm peasant than exalted warlord. Only the most loyal of fans should ...

Samurai Warriors 2: Empires (Review)

2/03/2007

Samurai Warriors 2: Empires looks great on paper: based on historical Japanese events, you must lead your feudal clan of soldiers into battle, hacking away at enemies, unleashing devastating special attacks all while devising strategy and executing policy in hopes of guiding your people to ultimate victory and the unification of your beloved Nippon. Sounds awesome, no? Well, Koei must agree because theyve made the same game countless times already under the Dynasty Warriors moniker. As the ...

Samurai Warriors 2 Xtreme Legends (Review)

24/03/2008

It has been a long time since any of publisher Koei's Warriors games have felt new. No matter what the setting (this series is in Japan instead of the usual China), you’re still pretty much hacking hundreds of identical dudes into little pieces. Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends is now the second expansion release for Samurai Warriors 2 (the first being SW2: Empires) and offers even more bonus content for the hackers and the ...

SBK-07 Superbike World Championship (Review)

5/06/2007

Bike games are hard. Finding the inch-perfect line every time, keeping it on the black stuff and shiny side up amidst a field of amazing riders while juggling brake balance, lean angle and rider weight is a demanding prospect for even the most experienced gamer. However, although were all for being eased into a game, SBKs Arcade mode offers so much assistance that you can ride at full lean, at full throttle on the gravel without getting asphalt in your face. By way of contrast, the full-on ...

Scarface: The World is Yours (Review)

12/10/2006

Everyone always knew Tony Montana was one tough hombre - but strong enough to survive the famous attack on his mansion? Last time we saw the Cuban drug lord, he was knee deep in blow and bullets, and his life appeared to be finito. However, in Scarface: The World Is Yours, our antihero has emerged none the worse for wear. He's as bad-ass as ever: a coke-dealing, woman-chasing, f-bomb-dropping son of a bitch hell-bent on reclaiming what he feels is still ...

The Secret Saturdays: Beasts of the 5th Sun (Review)

17/11/2009

The Secret Saturdays stars 11-year-old Zak Saturday and his super scientist parents Solomon “Doc” Saturday and Drew Saturday. The three of them together study supernatural animals called Cryptids – which are kind of like Pokemon only less cute. The PlayStation 2 game puts players in the shoes of the Saturdays at different points throughout the game. ...

Sega Mega Drive Collection (Review)

5/12/2006

Ah the Genesis. Back in the 16-bit era, Sega's black box was a masterpiece of hardware that competed fiercely with Nintendo through a combination of killer software and slick marketing. "Blast processing," anyone? Though the speedy blue hedgehog Sonic has been the focus of recent compilations, Sega's latest trip down memory lane takes a somewhat broader approach, revisiting a number of classics that many current gen gamers have never played. Among the featured titles are the first two Sonic ...

Sensible Soccer 2006 (Review)

26/06/2006

Wednesday 7 June 2006 Oh, dear. It was only a month ago that we said Sensible Soccer is "a big bag of fun". And, at first, it is. 'Cos, you know, it's Sensi - the best football game of the '90s. But then, after a few matches, the nostalgia blindfold falls off and you realise that, actually, its only Sensi in the loosest of senses. All it really has in common with the peak of last decade's gaming is its overhead viewpoint. Aside from that, it's not much like Sensible Soccer at all. You see, ...

Shadow Hearts Covenant (Review)

15/02/2006

Sigh... you can't help but expect any RPG on PS2 without the words 'final' and 'fantasy' in the title to achieve nothing more than the status of 'also ran'. This was the case with the first game in this series, which scored a rather pallid 60%, despite being developed by a group of ex-Square Enix employees. Covenant, however, has restored our faith and proved it possible to make a great RPG that isn't a me-too Final Fantasy clone. The storyline picks up a year after the first game, with ...

Shadow Hearts: From the New World (Review)

13/03/2006

The Shadow Hearts series is an enigma in role playing games. You have one of the deepest combat mechanics in the genre, mixed with some seriously wacky storylines. After jumping the publishing ship from Midway to newcomer XSEED Games, one may worry that the delicate balance the series treads would be in jeopardy. Not so, and Shadow Hearts: From The New World is another truly great and genuinely interesting RPG. We get introduced to a new cast of characters here, making it more spin-off than ...

Shadow of the Colossus (Review)

28/02/2006

Think of the Statue of Liberty: crazy tall and impossibly massive, composed of heavy, durable materials like cement and iron. "She" is in the shape of a person, but that shape exists on a physical scale that utterly dwarfs us, and her age is almost impossible for us to comprehend. We are, literally, like ants to her. Now imagine the Statue of Liberty has come to life, but she's a nightmarish, twisted version of the Lady Liberty you know. She's covered in armored stone plates and matted fur, ...

The Shield (Review)

19/01/2007

Vic Mackey doesn't answer to you. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not even on Cinco de Mayo. Pardon the grizzled cop-speak, but if you're not already wincing at dialogue oozing with that type of machismo, then The Shield may be right up your dark and drug-infested alley. For those unfamiliar with FX's show, Mackey is an officer who "plays by his own set of rules," but what cop doesn't nowadays? No, our bald protagonist goes it a step further into the gray void of morality by stealing and planting ...

Shin Megami Tensai: Devil Summoner - Raidou Kuzunoha vs The Soulless Army (Review)

13/10/2006

Shin Megami Tensei has always stood out from the role-playing pack. While the typical RPG is firmly rooted in swords 'n sorcery, Megaten (as the cool kids abbreviate it) gives us stories that take place in dystopian present-day worlds. The art style, environments, and character designs of Megaten are dark and hauntingly beautiful, as opposed to the sunny fields and feather-haired heroes we've come to expect from Square Enix. Oh yeah, and there are demons. Megaten always has lots of devils, ...

Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs King Abaddon (Review)

27/05/2009

The PS2 just can't be killed. Even with its successor nearly three years old, the war horse keeps going. And while the PlayStation 2 has a good amount of shovelware clogging its new release section, the Shin Megami Tensei series is keeping it honorable with games expertly tailored for the RPG fanatic in all of us. ...

Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga (Review)

20/07/2006

Wednesday 20 July 2006 The first thing to be said about Digital Devil Saga is that this is no typical RPG. There are no medieval towns, no princesses in towers, no crazy stuffed toy style characters and you most definitely will not save the world. It's already been destroyed you see? This is a post-apocalyptic nightmare of a world known as the Junkyard, where our 'hero' Serph and the other members of the Embryon Clan that he commands fight five other tribes. The winners will supposedly be ...

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 (Review)

15/08/2007

Persona 3 is easily described in one word: “different.” That might not sound too promising, considering that the connotations of “different” can be either positive or horrible - ever hear someone describe some delicious foodstuff as tasting "different"? Hearing about what makes this RPG so unorthodox might also make a gamer uneasy: Most of your exploring takes place in a single, randomized dungeon; you only have direct control over one party member in battle; you have to ...

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES (Review)

21/04/2008

If you played Persona 3, is it worth your $30 to buy Persona 3 FES all over again? Yes. For everyone else, congratulations on not buying the first game, it's all included with FES - you are a winner. There are two Episodes in the game: The Answer, a new thirty-hour campaign taking place directly after the events of the original Persona 3, and The Journey, which is the original episode spiffed up with new features. FES has added enough new ...

Shining Force EXA (Review)

20/03/2007

Shining Force EXA arrives as a near-identical clone of its predecessor, Shining Force Neo. Which is to say, it's nothing like the beloved strategy RPGs that started the series back on Sega consoles. Instead, it's a smooth-moving, inoffensive Action RPG that ticks most of the boxes it needs to, but lacks the overall inspiration to make itself truly memorable. See those monsters? Can you press X? Okay, have ...