In an announcement surely causing an eruption of cheers rivaling an atomic blast, powerhouse game developer Capcom, and funnybooks juggernaut Marvel Comics announced today that for the first time in a decade their once championed super-partnership has been renewed.  Regardless of your personal feelings towards the Versus franchise, once cannot argue that this is not a behemothic moment for fighting game fans worldwide.  There is no mention in the trailer of a release date, but there are a handful of silhouettes for fans to speculate as to who will be on each side’s roster.  Here’s hoping we won’t have long to wat before Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 takes us for a ride once again.

The Charge:
The Versus series returns in an all-new brawl!

Opening Statement:
Never let it be said that gaming dreams don’t come true.  Despite riding high on a wave of pure hype, I would have never guessed that Tatsunoku vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, the legendary developer’s return to their arcade smash-hit Versus franchise would ever see the light of day on western shores.  Seeing as juggernaut anime producer Tatsunoku’s cartoon commodities are tied up in what can only be described as several decade’s worth of logistical licensing nightmares outside of Japan, a game featuring a compilation of some of their best and brightest creations  would hardly be worth the headache for a game developer to even attempt off of their native soil, .  However, once again in what is rapidly becoming a habit for Capcom, trends will be bucked, and throngs of fans will get what they’ve begged for.  Question is…was it worth bringing over?

Facts of the Case:
An assortment of larger-than-life heroes and motley villains from both anime powerhouse Tatsunoku Pro and legendary third party developer Capcom have gathered for a barnburner of a brawl.  Ansatsuken goes head-to-head with Henshin-A-Go-Go Baby!  Crazy tag-team fighting is back!  Get ready for combos that go into the dozens of hits, and more flashing lights than the entire city of Tokyo.

The Evidence:
A 2D fighter with flair to spare, Tats vs. Cap wears its heart on its sleeve.  The regimented, balanced game play of games like Street Fighter have been eschewed in favour of a more frenetic style of fighting.  For starters, the controls have been streamlined down to a grand total of four attack buttons, the requisite light, medium, and strong strikes alongside a command that calls in a gamers’ tag partner for an equalizing support attack.  There is also a catch all “AT” button that will throw out whichever strength strike that best serves the current situation, allowing for a pretty simple way of extending combo attacks.  The result is fighting that is as fast as it is furious, with 10-20 hit sequences becoming a pretty regular occurrence (purists may argue that such simple combos belie shallow game play, but we are talking about a game where damage is measured in the billions of hit points).  Rest assured though, Tats vs. Cap is no simplistic button-masher.  Fresh concepts such as Advancing Guards, Crossover  Raids, Baroque Combos, and offense-smashing Mega Crashes will keep players heading back to the training mode and instruction book for the time being until they grow accustomed to the risk vs. reward structure of what is a refreshingly nuanced fighter.   There are several available control options, though any true gamer with more than a handful of grey matter to rub together will balk at the idea of using the Wiimote or the nunchuck and opt for a Gamecube or Wii classic controller.
With a full roster of 26 playable characters (most of which play very different from one another), it’s quite easy to lose an afternoon when there is more than one gamer in the room.  I am a self-professed Street Fighter fanatic, and despite any apprehension I had in my first few rounds with Tats vs. Cap, I must say that I can see even my hardcore Street Fighter crew, a group that flat out despised the earlier Versus titles plunking down quite a few hours with this one once we get used to the rapid-fire fighting system.  Anticipating the perfect moment to launch a counter-attack can lead to one shattering the game’s illusion of mindless offense.  It’s nice to see a Versus game toss aside the brain-dead air combo happy nature of Marvel Vs Capcom 2, and offer up the same sort of well balanced game play we’ve all come to expect from Capcom’s fighting franchises.  It’s not quite Capcom Vs. SNK for the Dreamcast, but then again, very few games are.
Visually, Tats vs. Cap packs a powerful presentation punch.  It’s not often I encounter a Wii title capable of blowing my mind with great graphics, which of course only adds to the presentation impact.  The entire game is just animated beautifully, every character just oozing a sense of life.  There is the odd case of pixelization on some of the character models, but the rest of the game just exudes such a high level of activity that it’s rarely noticeable and even less bothersome.  Stages are stuffed to the gills with familiar faces and brilliant cameos, and the animations on some of the special moves can and will cause loud chortles of laughter.  Anyone who is not amused by Tatsunoku-side fighter Doronjo’s Supreme Evil Plan hyper combo is completely lacking in a soul.

Vreeeee-hee-hee-hee-hee!

Rebuttal Witness:
Lamentably, not all is milk and honey with Tats vs. Cap.  With all the strength and surprising depth of the fighting system, the game’s online component comes perilously close to biting the big one.  And we all know how much fun biting the big one is.  Depending on gamers’ physical distance from their online opponent, the chances of lag increase almost exponentially.  It’s a nuisance at best, and King of Fighters XII at worst, making certain online bouts completely unplayable for anyone outside of a casual gamer.  After spending the majority of my free time over the past holiday season elbow deep in the buttery smooth online component of Street Fighter IV, I cannot fathom the online modes of Tats vs. Cap to be anything outside of a dismal failure.  Unless of course you’re playing a local round against a gamer in the same room.  Then it’s a real hootenanny.  As well, there are a handful of roster balance issues, which is something that has been a thorn in the side of the Versus franchise since the original X-Men vs.  Street Fighter.  Capcom have done extremely well in adding a sense of depth to the combo system, and thrown in just enough complexity to keep us brawlers coming back, but again the Speed/Power scenario pops up.  A player wishing to win needs to do little more than stack their team with either a zippy little freak like Yatter-Man 1 or a slow moving, damage-dealing bruiser like G. Lightan.  It’s the Spider-man vs. Juggernaut problem, and it’s a real issue that needs to be addressed.  Outside of these two extreme ends of the spectrum, the characters are balanced just fine, but seriously Capcom?  Gamers have been griping about this for close to a decade now.

Closing Statement:
After the dust has settled from that last 32 hit combo, when all is said and done, Tatsunoku vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars is a fantastic example of fan service and a more than solid delivery of apotentially brilliant new fighting franchise.  This fills a long empty niche on the Wii, and more than makes up for 2008’s massively over-hyped (and tragically mediocre) Super Smash Bros. Brawl.  Plus, there’s a ton of bonus content to delve into.  Gamers looking to knuckle down with some serious fighting action can’t go wrong with Tatsunoku vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, a cartoon cavalcade sure to please a whole new generation of fans.

The Verdict:

I have to admit that even for a guy who came of age during the whole anime explosion of the 80s and 90s, I still have no freaking clue who Yatter-Man is supposed to be.  I dig his disco threads and electric yo-yo, but I have no clue who he’s supposed to be.  I loves me some Tekkaman Blade though.

- J

Platform: Nintendo Wii
Developer: Eighting
Publisher: Capcom
Release Date: January 26th, 2010
Rated: T for Teen.

The Charge:
The Battle For Our World Begins!

Opening Statement:
Capcom’s Rocket-man adventure has finally hit the skies. Developer Airtight Games, formerly the Microsoft studio that brought us Crimson Skies (and I’ll forgive them for Shadowrun) has once again taken to the air to provide us with some old school dogfighting mixed with new school action-adventure. Is Dark Void a flight worth taking?

Facts of the Case:
It’s the late 1930’s, and the world is on the brink of war with “the facists”. Ex-military man and crack pilot Will Grey has been tasked with carting a mysterious package along a dangerous route, along for the ride is ex-flame and still military woman Ava. Somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle things go pear-shaped, and Will finds himself in The Void, a sort of alternate dimension, where UFO’s soar the skies and a race of evil beings known as The Watchers work towards again breaching the borders of the Void and toppling humanity. In their way stand The Survivors, wayward travelers who have somehow found themselves trapped in the void as well. With an experimental rocket-pack created by none other than legendary Soviet inventor Nikola Tesla, Will takes to the air, and takes the war to the The Watchers.

"I'm a ROCKETMAN!"

The Evidence:
Dark Void, at its core, is a straight up 3rd person action adventure title. The devs at Airtight have obviously played Sony’s Uncharted a few times through, and have definitely cribbed a few ideas here and there. The mechanics are all familiar, you enter an area, snap to some cover, and proceed to blow the bajeezuz out of whatever bad guys are foolish enough to get between your bullets and their destination. Dark Void really doesn’t do anything new with that particular formula, the controls are smooth and responsive, and generally feel a lot like Uncharted did. The first chunk of game isn’t something that I’d call boring or dull, but there’s definitely a feeling of déjà vu that permeates the whole affair. Then you get your rocket pack at the hour (or so) mark, and everything changes. Dark Void becomes a clever mix of ground and air combat. The rocket pack’s maneuverability makes dogfighting fun, and it won’t take long before nuking UFO’s becomes second nature. When it comes to nuking said UFO’s, you can use your trusty built in .45 calibre machine guns, or if you prefer you can jack the bastards and turn their own weapons against their buddies. The UFO-jack minigame is a little drawn out, but it isn’t a necessity, and it adds a little variety to the flying affair. You can also grab friendly aircraft and rattle a few robots with some powerful on board machine guns and rockets.

Meanwhile on the ground, the wide open stages allow for some quick repositioning and “death from above” style attacks on ground based foes. Punching your jets and boosting to a higher vantage point to snipe is also an option. The controls are pretty effortless in this regard, and the boosting mechanics feel natural and intuitive in the 3rd person shooter shell. Certain parts of the game take the action vertical, where you cling to platforms and cliff ledges while shooting upward or downward at the baddies. It’s a neat idea, and it works pretty well, but it’s definitely disorienting the first few times out. Mission objectives do have a slightly ‘old-school’ feel to them, particularly the flying levels, where you’re given weak points to hit to knock out shields or disable larger foes, and there’s an escort mission here and there where you’re stuck protecting friendlies. It all adds to the retro vibe though, and I for one welcome the variety – it’s a hell of a lot better than simply throwing lead at wave after wave of baddie only to rinse and repeat in a room-by-room fashion.

All of this action is backed by a pretty solid story that piles the pulp on and does a solid job of establishing who’s who in the void. There was definitely some effort put into the storytelling, and it’s great to see an action game where the plot doesn’t exist solely as an afterthought. The Watchers make for some solid, if slightly enigmatic villains and you come across a healthy variety of ground and air troops as the game progresses, including a few nasty boss fights that are suitably epic.

El-Goddamn-Dorado? What? Never heard of it.

Technically, Dark Void definitely scores points for some original art design that I can only call Tesla-punk. The game has a pretty imaginative look that sets it apart from its peers. The texture work is top notch, and while there are times where environments look a little plain, for the most part the games stylish lighting and unique setting go a long way toward satisfying the eye-candy quotient (the blue flash of Watcher lasers looks nice too). The character animations are smooth and convincing, even if a little repetitive at times, and the framerate stays consistent. At first glance, Dark Void isn’t a visual stunner, but it’s definitely got a subtle beauty that appeals to me, and it’s well executed.

The audio package is one area where the game truly shines. The voice acting is solid all around, with rising star and video game mainstay Nolan North voicing our heroic lead, and weapon effects thunder and zoom appropriately. Of extra special mention is the fantastic score by composer Bear McCreary (of Battlestar Galactica fame), Bear’s score brings the action to life in a huge way. The driving percussion combined with otherworldly sounds and cinematic overtures is just flat out awesome. It’s not often that a video game score really grabs you and immerses you further into the experience beyond providing a little atmosphere, but the first time I went airborne and heard Will’s heroic overture blare from my speakers (in DTS no less) I had a huge stupid grin on my face, this is one score that ranks with the very best of them.

Rebuttal Witness:
Yes, I love Dark Void’s plot, but the characterization is about as cliché as it gets in video games. Will Grey is your stereotypical square-jawed real American hero, which certainly fits with the pulpy tone, but there’s nothing there that really endears him as a character. Nolan “Drake” North basically phones in a Nathan Drake-lite performance, which in and of itself more than gets the job done (we’re talking about one of the best ‘rising stars’ in the voice over racket here) but Grey just has nothing unique to set him apart from his more contemporary counterpart. Beyond that, Nikola Tesla’s appearance feels like the video game equivalent of stunt casting, and Grey’s love interest is anything but interesting. The character bits at the beginning really slow down what becomes a very entertaining and fast moving story. Ultimately story wins out over character, but the issue is certainly there.

It needs to be said, if you’re one of these “sea of brown” detractors who’s been bitching about color schemes in your next-gen games since 2005, look away from Dark Void. All of the great textures, beautiful lighting and wonderful particle effects do appear in a pretty dingy, well-worn environment. So yes, there’s much in the way of earth tones.

Eat Knuckle Sandwich Naz... er Robot... dude!

I’ve also encountered quite a few glitches during gameplay – most notably a loss of sound effects, and while Bear McCreary’s score is totally awesome and all, the game feels a little dead without any other kind of audio playing. It’s nothing that a patch wouldn’t iron out, but the glitches are there.

Finally, I wouldn’t call this a flaw per-se, but like many other games of the same cloth, Dark Void isn’t really the longest in length, and could probably be tucked away in a day or two, and with no multiplayer options, the replayability is sparse. I’ll pull it out every now and again like I do Heavenly Sword, using it as the video game equivalent of an awesome Sunday movie, but for those who don’t take joy in revisiting something you’ve already plowed through, you may want to forgo a purchase and give Dark Void a rent.

"We aren't the bad guys... honest!"

Closing Comments:
In truth, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Dark Void in spite of a few complaints, the narrative overcomes a slow start to become a strong experience that really propels you forward, even if every character is a simple yawn-inducing cliche. There’s a great mix of air and ground action, equally well implemented, and the visuals are great looking, even if they’re not cutting edge. If you’re looking for a solid single player action-adventure title now that you’ve finished Uncharted 2 for the 11th time, you could do a lot worse than Dark Void

The Verdict:

Platform: Sony Playstation 3/Microsoft Xbox360 (PS3 version reviewed)
Developer: Airtight Games
Publisher: Capcom
Release Date: January 19th, 2010
Rated: T (13+) for Teen

Mega man fans – Get Equipped with Nostalgia!  The Blue Bomber is back to dole out another serving of hot robotic justice!  Isue 250 of Nintendo Power (the Gentleman’s game magazine, according to Erich) features the announcement of Mega man 10 for WiiWare.  Like 2008′s critically acclaimed Mega man 9, the latest sequel in Capcom’s undying mega-franchise features 8-bit presentation, and hopefully enough old school gameplay to have gamers across the globe scrambling for their credit cards.  The story (which can be previewed HERE) includes details on the first revealed boss character (one of the more unique Robot master’s in mega-history, I think we may have another Dust Man on our hands), as well as the return of Proto Man as a playable character, AND an unannounced third playable character.  There’s also an easy mode for all you nancies (Steve) who couldn’t get into Part 9.  No mention as of yet if the title will be released on Xbox Live or PlayStation network, but keep in mind the magazine featuring the story.  Now if all that doesn’t make you happy, have a coke and a smile and kindly get out.

(Again, that story preview)

No doubt deciding that touchscreen controls were the missing element to make the game easy and enjoyable to play, Capcom has announced at the Tokyo Game Show that the eponymous, tear-generating side-scroller Ghouls ‘n Ghosts is being ported to the iPhone platform. I tremble with terror.

According to Touch Arcade, the game will resemble the PSP version Ultimate Ghosts ‘n Goblins, mixing 2D and 3D elements. No price or release date have been announced yet.

Seriously, Capcom, why do you want your audience to cry tears of rage? This franchise has been naught but merciless on gamers the world over for more than twenty years. Were we not despondent and depressed enough now for your tastes? Do you really see the need to punish gamers with a game (already near-impossible in difficulty and unforgiving controls) by mashing a glass screen with our thumbs?

I mean, you already can’t time your jumps correctly playing Ghosts ‘n Goblins. The thought of doing that with an iPhone…

(via Touch Arcade)

Capcom has spilled the unsurprising beans about the follow-up/expansion to their awesome fighter and seeing as I’m pretty much settled on the fact that Street Fighter 4 is the runaway Game of the Year, color me pleased.

Apparently nine more fighters are en route, including old school pugilists T-Hawk (ugh) and Dee Jay.    Eight new characters in all are going to be added, the remainder shrouded in mystery (come on Frank West!)

In addition, existing characters will allegedly be tweaked and balanced (how about we bring Sagat down from Olympus?).  All of this will be coming on a less-than-full-retail disc some time next year.

How will Capcom improve on the greatest fighting game ever made?  We shall see.

They are one of the most respected game publishers in the free world (and maybe a banana republic or two) and their catalog is pregnant with iconic titles.  And I’m pretty sure super-Capcom-fanboy Jon Mercer possesses the world record for  Chun Li erotica.

So this one is for him: all-time favorite Capcom game.  Let’s hear it.

Dave:  It’s a toss-up between fourth installments.  Street Fighter 4 and Resident Evil 4 are neck-and-neck, competing for my affections.  The former is the greatest fighting game I have ever played and to this day I’ll jump online and burn through hours at a time piledriving fireball spammers.  The latter is the finest survival horror epic ever crafted.

Hefty competition so I’ll just punk out and award them a tie.  It’s impossible to choose; both of those games are perfection realized in their respective genres.

Can I hear an amen?

Steve: I’m all about Street Fighter. No other series has had me ensnared for so long, well maybe Final Fantasy. Also have to give a shout out to the Ghosts N Goblins/Ghouls N Ghosts games. Hard as hell, but always fun.

Jon: Hey, awesome…a Symposium tailor-made for me on a week when I’m not on the podcast.  Jerk.  Now, this truly is a hard topic.  I mean I’m a huge Street Fighter fan…but I’m also a huge fan of the Capcom/Disney efforts for the NES.  I’m a Megaman fanatic at heart, but really that would seem a little too obvious.  Steve already gave a shout-out to the Ghosts N Goblins franchise, which stands testament as to why the 16-bit generation gamers are a tougher breed than today’s mincing sissies.  So with all that goodness out of the way, I’ll bring up one that is even more dear to my heart than the obvious choice of Mega Man X.  I blind bought this following game for 80 dollars using my paper route money simply because it looked awesome, Capcom were on a do-no-wrong roll at the time, and i was looking for something that provided the same level of presentation and gameplay as my beloved mega Man franchise, but catered more to my developing Heavy Metal sensibilities.

Pictured: A game that does all of those things

Enter Demon’s Crest, a 16-Bit iteration of Capcom’s underappreciated Gargoyle’s Quest franchise; itself a spin-off of the popular Ghosts N Goblins games.  Demon’s Crest was as if Capcom had taken a shot at making a Castlevania title.  It featured all the graphical punch that Capcom were known for at the time, and a gloomy soundtrack , and game play that was addictive and fun, even if the game was as hard as the devil’s knob (Newfie slang, I ‘pologize b’y).  The main character; Firebrand (the infamous Red Arramer from GnG) could fly, scale walls with his claws, breath several types of upgradable breath weapons; and would gain four additional forms over the course of the game that each had their own unique skills and weapons.  The stages could be tackled in a somewhat nonlinear fashion (though entering a level without the proper items and forms was tantamount to suicide), and there were several endings.  The levels were filled with at-the-time stunning visual effects, EPIC boss battles, and tons of hidden bonuses (including pathways to hidden stages, which included more hidden bonuses).  As well, once the game was finished completely, a password was given that would unlock a sixth form for Firebrand; a Satanic looking amalgamation of every other form’s powers, as well as the unique ability to charge it’s breath weapon a la Mega Man X.  Playing the game with this form unlocked the game’s true final boss, and supposedly the game’s true ending (which may or may not exist, seeing as I’ve yet to encounter a human soul who has managed to beat Demon Crest’s INSANE final boss battle).  A truly amazing title, and one that I regret having sold when I got rid of my Super Nintendo and games back in 1997.  If there were any sense of justice in gaming, we’d all be looking forward to a new Demon adventure on the DS or PSP.

"I seethe with generic rage!"

The Charge:
Arm Yourself!

Opening Statement:
Nathan “Rad” Spencer is back. The original Bionic Commando returns in a 3D action title farmed out to Swedish development house, Grin (Wanted: Weapons of Fate and Terminator: Salvation.) It’s been awhile since Bionic Commando has graced a home console in a true sequel, is our metal armed protagonist able to satisfy a legion of nostalgic fans? Or is this one appendage you’d just as soon cut off and run from?

Facts of the Case:
Nathan Spencer, the original Bionic Commando is on Death Row awaiting execution, convicted of crimes he didn’t commit. It seems memories are short, and the powers that be have no trouble selling out the hero who triumphed over the “Empire” a decade earlier. As luck would have it, “Rad” is given an opportunity to shine once more. Ascension City has fallen prey to a terror attack, and a weapon of mass destruction has been detonated, turning the once proud metropolis into a smoking, irradiated ruin. Using your trusty Bionic Arm to swing and shoot through the ruined environment, your task is to infiltrate the enemy lines, and neutralize the terrorist threat.

The Evidence:
I’ll admit up front, I was never a huge fan of the classic Bionic Commando games; the old NES version turned me off with its lack of a jump option and its sluggish controls, while Bionic Commando: Rearmed (also developed by Grin) just had a demo that was too painfully short for me to commit to a purchase. Without any manner of nostalgia to tie me to the old series, I had my doubts that I’d get much enjoyment from this one (particularly after Grin’s last release, the woefully mediocre Wanted: weapons of Fate.) Thankfully, in this regard, my expectations were completely off. Bionic Commando thrusts you into the action pretty quickly. The game eschews the typical 3rd person control scheme for something more akin to one of Activision’s Spider-Man titles, giving you large vertical playgrounds to swing and rappel through. Along the way, you will of course fight a legion of terrorist scumbags, and you’ll upgrade special moves and gather new weapons as you go. If it all sounds pretty straightforward, it’s because it is. That’s not a bad thing in this case, as Bionic Commando’s “full speed ahead” approach to action gaming certainly feels right. That’s not to say that this is an easy title, on the contrary, it can be tough as nails, and there’s a steady slope of a learning curve that requires some climbing. The swinging mechanic, while essential to progressing, takes a fair bit of getting used to, and in my time with the game I never felt that I quite mastered it. It’s an essential tactic for covering ground quickly, and above all else, swinging around the ruined metropolis just feels awesome.

"And I'm free! Free Faaaallllin!"

The level structure basically consists of moving between waypoints and bashing a few enemies along the way. You’ll encounter computer relays which can be hacked, providing a little flavor text for you to read, which can sometimes be beneficial to learning how to deal with a particularly tough foe, or otherwise give you a window into what’s going on in the enemy camp. It’s a nice touch.

With regards to combat, Spencer’s moves are pretty awesome all around. Some of the combat maneuvers look fantastic in motion, and there are enough moves and weapons at your disposal to spice things up a bit, and when you start really using all of Spencer’s abilities to their fullest, everything clicks, and it all feels immensely satisfying. Sadly ammo for everything but your starting pistol is pretty rare, which means some of the more awesome feeling weapons will be benched for a lot of the game (I especially love the Shotgun) and using your fists as standard means of offense is a little unwieldy. Thankfully you have the bionic arm and claw, which definitely spices things up. You’re able to grapple onto an opponent and quickly zip in from the air with a devastating dropkick, pick up objects in the environment and use the grapple to toss them at unsuspecting foes, and whip the arm around you like, well a whip. The way that Grin has integrated the bionic arm into every facet of the gameplay from combat to exploration is really to be commended; it shows that some thought definitely went into the game’s chief gimmick.

Also included are little goals that can be met to unlock additional benefits for your character. These “mini-achievements” typically grant boons like additional health and better accuracy with weapons. One must be careful however, as if you blow your chance to unlock these, or gather all of the hidden collectibles in a stage for that matter, your chances are officially blown, as Bionic Commando offers no do-overs once you’ve skimmed through a level.

Hunting for Shrubberies.

Technically, Bionic Commando is definitely a solid performer. The visuals, while marred with some aliasing issues at times, certainly look fine, with a great job done on bringing the ruined city of Ascension to life, er, unlife. Scripted events occur in the background, buildings tumble, helicopters fly overhead, and all of it adds up to create a nice sense of destruction and atmosphere. The terrain also changes up throughout the game, keeping things interesting. Sadly the art design never quite catches up to the technical merits. Enemy designs remain pretty stock, and the animation and look of the main character, while solid, is never especially distinct. Thankfully, in all the action, I never once noticed any of the more common issues of the current crop of games. No clipping, framerate hitches, or texture pop-ins are present, Bionic Commando runs like a dream. The complexity of the level geometry does allow for a few more loading screens than I’d like, but that’s really picking nits.

Sound wise, Bionic Commando gets the job done, but it doesn’t particularly impress. Mike Patton of Faith No More fame provides the voice of Nathan Spencer, and he’s about as dull as dishwater in the part, sounding about as bored as bored can sound. Faring a little better are the supporting voices, and the generic “Army of bad guys” voices are all well-suited and do a solid job without hurting the eardrums. Music pops up now and again, and disappears just as fast. It’s not bad, it just is. The title screen does have a nice piano version of the classic Bionic Commando theme, and I found myself kind of sitting there the first time I booted the game up.

Rebuttal Witness:
If there’s one complaint I have with the game, it’s in the level design. While I hesitate to use the word “repetitive”, the design’s simplicity doesn’t allow for much diversity as you play through stages. The swing, shoot, activate relay, rinse, repeat formula may not have the stamina to propel the game for the full length for many players. Some more diversity in the stages would definitely have been welcome; perhaps some scripted events? The pace never really quickens much, though every now and again you get to tussle with some big baddies and vehicles, and you may have larger crews of people to contend with. Then there’s the god awful multi-player, which i’ll not sully myself with any further.

Yes, I love daisies. And Pansies.

Closing Comments:
Bionic Commando is definitely a pleasant surprise. While it doesn’t quite strive for greatness, and some elements suffer from a little bit of the bland, I definitely recommend it to action junkies looking for a fix. It may also be a particularly solid recommendation to those who adored the original and blew through Bionic Commando: Rearmed last year. It’s unlikely you’ll be disappointed.

The Verdict:

Platform: Sony Playstation 3/Microsoft Xbox360/Windows Vista PC (Xbox360 version reviewed)
Developer: Grin
Publisher: Capcom
Release Date: May 19th, 2009
Rated: M (17+) for Mature

Holy crap! People still read Nintendo Power?!

Normally, I’d try to remain calm and file this under “rumor”, but unless this is the greatest Photoshop job ever pulled; the latest issue of Nintendo Power is reporting that the impossible has occured, and Capcom are bringing their new mash-up 2D fighter Tatsunoku Vs. Capcom to North American gamers.

Tatsunoku Vs. Capcom, a 2D fighter for the Nintendo Wii  pits classic fighters from developer Capcom’s massive library of games against retrolicious characters from Japanese animation studio Tatsunoku‘s ginormous back catalogue of classic anime series.  Seriously…one of the guys from Gatchaman is in there, as are Tekkaman Blade and Casshern.

Expect an official word from Capcom in the very near future.

[thanks to the guys at GoNintendo and NeoGAF for the heads up]

I know it had its detractors, but I was–am–a humongous fan of Capcom’s original zombie-multitude-murder epic.  The save system was a bastard and led to a couple of frustrating restarts, but the story, gameplay and humor of Dead Rising were all winners in my book.

With the sequel on the horizon, set in a new venue primed for more quirky weapon usage, starring a new dude who’s obviously knows his way around chainsaws, I breathlessly await the opportunity to continue my undead slaying adventures.

Does the Dead Rising franchise float your boat as much as mine?

(Trailer 2 embedded after jump)