A Long Overdue Collection

I was very excited when Data East Arcade Classics was announced. At long last, I would be able to relive two of my all-time favorite arcade games: Burger Time, and Magical Drop III. Two days ago, my disc finally arrived. With great anticipation, I opened and played the game.

The user interface was relatively standard - no fancy animated buttons, no fireworks to play each time you hover over a button - just simple "choose game, play game" functionality. It was quite intuitive and permitted me to jump into the game quickly.

I was happy to see that all of my favorites were there. Some of these games I had forgotten about: Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja, Joe & Mac (in the pack it had the title "Caveman Ninja", probably due to licensing restrictions), and Wizard Fire (I remembered playing this a long time ago, and thought I'd never see it again! It's an unsung classic). In addition, you get Burger Time and Magical Drop III (two of my all-time favorites), Burnin' Rubber (Bump 'n' Jump), Peter Pepper's Ice Cream Factory (a challenging sequel to Burger Time), Express Raider, Super Real Darwin, Side Pocket, Crude Buster, Secret Agent, Heavy Barrel, Lock 'n' Chase (probably the weakest game in the pack), and Street Slam - for a total of 15 games.

To enhance the experience, the developers added five goals to each game. Completing the goals permits you to unlock features, such as images in the gallery, music tracks to play, or special game play modes which raise the difficulty of the standard games, effectively giving you 30 games. The game also permits you to save your high scores, and associate Mii's with your high scores.

The pack had a few weaknesses. For one thing, the music is kind of tinny - I'm not sure how much that has to do with the original sounds, which after all were made on relatively unsophisticated hardware. I would have liked it if the pack had some kind of autosave, or if it at least prompted you to save your game when you were finished (if you don't, you lose all of your progress - including high scores and achievements). Just remember to periodically save your progress and you'll be okay.

How high should I rate this? Well the primary reason for buying Data East Arcade Classics is to relive a good collection of classic games. The emulation was spot-on, and the choice of games was excellent - though it could have been better. Perhaps they're withholding some titles for a part two? (Hint: I need Karate Champ and Karnov!)

Overall, this game gets a 9.0 / 10.

Would Have Been Better as an Interactive Novel

The story parts are great, and the different art feels really good. Unfortunately, the parts you actually "play" are so awful, and damn choppy, that knowing I would get to the character interaction afterward, was barely enough motivation to get through.
Honestly, I probably only bought it because I'm so hooked on anything ME. If you've played the games, read the novels, and bought the comic, what's another two bucks between friends? That being said, this is only for the completionist, psycho colector.

READ THIS ONE!!!!!

Ok, so let's start this review by thanking Naughty Dog for this spectacular new game. The graphics are absolutely stunning in some places, the game was addicting , and the voice acting was amazing. The game focused mainly on the story to create an amazing masterpiece of firefights, great cutscenes and of course Drake is still there.

Ok the cons. Although this game was great it had minor setbacks. It took me only about 15 hours to complete, and, like the first one, it didn't have a great replay value to it since it focused on the story to carry the game.

Alright so you should definitely get this game. The cons are inferior campared to the pros and this should definitely be game of the year.

Spirit Tracks is a brilliant addition to the series.

Spirit Tracks, set around 100 years after Phantom Hourglass, features better graphics, gameplay, and multiplayer. As childish as it sounds, whistle blowing on the train is a blast. The story mode is loads of fun. The train is awesome, the dungeons are epic, and the Spirit Flute may replace the Ocarina as my favorite Zelda instrument. My only complaint is the multiplayer could be MUCH better. Though the series isn't known for multiplayer experiences, this one's mode gets old after about 2 rounds. It features good maps, but they all feel the same. Ultimately, though, that is a relatively small quibble in an otherwise fantastic game.

Animal Crossing City Folk Review

Animal Crossing City Folk is a very, very good game. I have not played the first two enough to know some experience with the series, but even if I did, I can still tell you that City Folk will satisfy you all year.

Not only that, but the game is practically all year. There is special events that happen in the game like the real world, and even when your not playing the game is still continuing. There are some minor problems, though. If your someone who does not play in the day that much, and play rather in the night, most stores in the game close by 9,10, or 11 pm. So that's something they could have fixed, except for Nook n' Go and Redd's Store, they are open pretty late. But all aside, you will have a fantastic time with the game.

P.B Winterbottom pleases more than pie.

P.B Winterbottom is a quirky, imaginative game. As Winterbottom himself, you travel the world, stealing pies. The main hook of this game is your ability to bend time to make copies of past motions that play out in the present. The result is a fun, imaginative puzzle game. However, I wish there was cooperavtive play and some form of hint or skip system for the hard stages. But this game is still a brilliant puzzeler.

A must own for anyone with a console

Very seldom in the gaming world does anything make this much of a stir. After the huge success of CoD 4, Infinity Ward had high expectations for this game and from day one shattered any doubts.

Even though the multiplayer uses the same engine as CoD 4, it's had a complete overhaul. With the new guns, perks, and customizable killstreaks this is one game that's definitely a one of a kind experience. This game is just plain fun.

That said, their are several downfalls to this game. The biggest dissapointment seems the be the campaign mode. The story doesn't flow well and things don't end the way they should. Without ruining the story for those of you who haven't played it, I'll just say many of the loose ends aren't tied up in a smooth manner or at all for that matter. The gameplay is unique with different enemies and weapons, but in the end gets repetetive.

The co-op mode, Special Ops, fixes some but not all of the campaign's issues. There's no ridiculous story lines, just plain ol' action. The only problem there is that plain ol' action gets boring. No one wants to see a movie of just shooting and fighting so why would anyone want that in a game? This mode is fun for beginners but veterans won't find much enjoyment here.

Even with all its flaws and shortcomings, this game truly is a must buy. With it's amazing multiplayer and on-the-side fun of Special ops and campaign, this is one game I know I'll be playing late into the night for many days to come.

That's Bad Company for Ya!

I just want to say first that the multiplayer is what got me hooked on this game in the first place. I loved the DEMO and I was in the PS3 beta. The storyline of the single player is a little slim but its not bad. I like the visual look of the game but I think DICE could have done a better job with the design of each character.

The characters look a little out dated compared to what many of us see with other video games. But the detail of the land is wonderful and along with the wonderful landscapes the audio is fantastic. Once I changed my audio settings from Hi-Fi to War Tapes I was blown away. Everything from the gun fire to the tanks driving in sound so real. The sounds is of movie quality once placed on War Tapes.

Multiplayer:

I have tired Modern Warfare 1 and 2 but never could get into them online. Little to no teamwork and nothing like your own team members dropping a Tactical Nuke to end the game. But with Bad Company 2 there is teamwork and that makes the game a lot more fun. Yes you could play without a squad but then you miss out on a lot of XP and fun gaming with others.

There is nothing like being able to drive a tank, helicopter, ATV, jet sky and other vehicles on a battlefield. You can get right into the action with a T-90 tank and blow some sheet up or take down an objective.

Even though using vehicles are cool the thing that I like the most is the ability to spawn on your team mates without having the run from one end of the battlefield to the other like some games. This makes spawn camping almost impossible.

Single player:

I have yet to finish the single player mode. As of right now I feel the game is a solid 5/5. There is always room for improvement with any game but I don't find that there needs to be a ton of improvements for Bad Company 2 to be a really great game.

If your still not sure about buying Bad Company 2. I recommend you rent it but I know you will buy it after playing only for a few hours.

The Reds Might Have Won This Time...

There was a reason why I bought Operation: Anchorage last; I read online that it was short. However, my lust for more Fallout 3 saw me buying the add-on, so I did. And what do I have to say? That the DLC sucks. While the other DlCs were nice and entertaining, this one I might have to say different words on. First of all, its short, shorter tham amy of the other add-ons. Secondly, it glitches alot, even more than The Pitt. Also, you cant use your own gear; youll have to use gear that is given to you. Although it does sort of act like a "prequel" to the war that devestated the world, it still isnt that good, and while the rewards might be good, they wont satisfy you for long(though the Chinese Stealth Suit and the Winterized T-51b might be an exception). I reccomend this the least out of the DLCs. Get Broken Steel or Mothership Zeta instead. And the icing on the coms cake; no Liberty Prime. He was supposed to be in the war to help liberate Alaska(you can easily tell by his qoutes in Take It Back!), yet he doesnt appear at all; he's not even mentioned.

Lunar- Re-Playing A Classic RPG...

Well, I just got done playing Lunar for the PSP, and I must say it is done really nicely.

The gameplay is still the same old classic RPG but feel right at home on the PSP...The music is great as always in Lunar games.

I've played thru this game once on the Sega CD and twice on the PS1, and the overall feel and story is the same...The upgraded graphics are very sharp on the PSP's screen, and are nice to look at. There are some load times that can get in the way, but overall I can look past this.

I'm a sucker for classic RPG's so I give this game a 9 out of 10...If your not a fan of this series or other classic RPG's, this game would be about an 8 for you.

Blu