Believe it or not, the fact that someone has taken a beloved, 2D arcade shoot 'em-up and turned it into a turn-based strategy game played on a hex grid is not the craziest thing about R-Type Command. No, the nuttiest thing is just how beautifully the bloody thing works. Borrowing equally from strategy RPGs and Nintendo’s Advance Wars series, this is an experiment that succeeds beautifully.
Jan 9, 2008
Technically, they werent lying when they called the last game R-Type Final. This apparent sequel might look and scroll like a conventional shoot-em-up, but really its a universe apart. A turn-based strategy shooter, its a test of mind rather than reflexes. Once youve fumbled your way through the menus, you set up your attack fleet, each squadron of ships occupying one or more hexagonal tiles. Alongside the usual fighters and scouts of the R-Concept fleet, youre also responsible for
Some people could watch NASCAR and its purgatorial oval endlessly, but the rest of us demand a little more variety. It may not be quite up to the visual or simulation standards of its console brethren, but Race Driver 2006 is certainly a damn fine portable surrogate.
Fifteen different racing disciplines can be tackled in three main formats. The first is a career mode, through which you're introduced to the world of racing, and your mentor's thick Scottish brogue. Whether you're drifting a
Due to an error, this review was originally posted with a score of 6, instead of the score assigned by the author. We have changed the article to reflect the correct score. The text is unchanged. We regret this error.
There's no reason to think that Rengoku II would be good. The original game was an atrocity. But hope lived because there is so much potential for fun in the basic idea of the series. Futuristic androids (A.D.A.M.s) trapped in eternal battle in a tower representing the seven
Retribution does the best it can with the PSP’s single analog stick. It maps aiming to the face buttons and indulges you with a generous amount of aim assist – but it still feels far from an ideal solution. It’s a shame really, because in every other respect this is classic Resistance: epic, explosive, and fast-paced.
It's a cliche (perhaps even the cliche) of handheld gaming that it's best enjoyed while either sitting on the bus or the bog. And while we've yet to play Ridge Racer in the loo (our PSP somehow feels too new and shiny for that sort of thing - yet), we have played it while making use of our fine public transportation system. And such is the degree to which Ridge Racer totally absorbs you, it's directly responsible for our esteemed editor completely missing his bus stop the first time he played
By
Edge_
posted October 12, 2006
Ridge Racer 2 is an exercise in completism doomed, for reasons of presentation and price, to be considered one of opportunistic laziness as well. Apology and insult combined, it's keen to fill the holes in the Ridge Racer greatest hits anthology, but never justifies the number in its name.
Fractional improvements include eight new tracks (playable as mirrored and reversed variants), three new play modes and some minor gloss for its lighting system. All of which will be appreciated solely by
Riviera's a convention-breaking fantasy RPG in which you play a fallen angel who teams up with four women (remember it's a fantasy) to prevent demons from invading the world. The combat system is fresh, if a bit uncooperative. And the game constantly moves forward, although some would say it's because it doesn't let you explore the environments on your own - each screen has several things you can look at and up to four directions you can go and that's it. No moving around , you just click the
Rock Band Unplugged shouldn’t work. Not just because the name conjures up images of a bearded hippy gently crooning about flowers and peace while strumming on an acoustic guitar, but because Rock Band isn’t portable. Unless you have massive arms and you’re really strong.
Fittingly, given that Rocky Balboa is a boxing game, your hands will be killing you after just a few hectic rounds. Its not the games fault, though; its more the fact that PSP requires you to have fully elastic thumbs.
Thankfully, the controls themselves are well laid out, and make the best use of the handhelds somewhat awkward layout; after time, they become second nature. The face buttons are for your basic punching: Square and Triangle take care of left and right direct smacks, while X and
