Review: Plants vs. Zombies (Mac, PC)
When it comes to designing incredibly addictive, infinitely playable casual games, no company can match the track record that the magicians at Popcap have produced. Zuma was marvelous. Even more so, Peggle. But with the release of Plants vs. Zombies Popcap has truly outdone itself by crafting what is one of the most fun, engaging, and dare I say flawless games of this generation. Hyperbole this is not.
Plants vs. Zombies’s premise is a simple one: You’re given the task of protecting your home from a zombie invasion by planting a variety of flora in the yard which grant a variety of offensive and defensive capabilities. As the undead make their slow march from the street toward your abode you seed a six square high grip with a number of plants including a exploding cherries, Peashooters (which can snipe from long range), and Chompers (a zombie-eating Venus Flytrap-like green). The most vital plant of the dozens that you’ll acquire is the Sunflower, which is the fuel for your attack.
As with analog plants, these digital ones require sunlight to flourish, which is represented by falling golden orbs that are affixed with point values that let you purchase plants. These will occasionally appear on the field all by there lonesome, but as you plant more Sunflowers, they appear at a far quicker rate, vastly increasing your “money” supply, and thus your armaments. However, you can’t simply litter the field with the most powerful of weapons and sit back; icons on the top of the screen display each individual plant’s refresh rate, some like the Sunflowers are swift, while others takes seemingly a lifetime to recharge.
EGM Rises From The Grave; Will Continue Publishing Later This Year
Back in January, just a week into the new year, Electronic Gaming Monthly was purchased by media giant Hearst, promptly closed, and purged of all its employees. That was a particularly black day as I considered EGM the bible of videogame journalism, even when the content lost some of its luster in the Ziff Davis era. In its 20-year existence, it was the face of the industry, and set the standard of excellence for print game coverage.
The raw, indie spirit of the early years still held a special place in my heart: it was the first gaming mag I ever purchased, and the place where I learned of one of my favorite consoles, the PC Engine. But like Jesus, Horus, and oh so many zombies, EGM is back from the dead. For reals. And it’s not even April 1st.
Steve Harris, one of the founders of Electronic Gaming Monthly, sent out a press release stating that he had acquired EGM’s trademarks and publishing rights from Ziff Davis Media. Yes!
“The re-launch of Electronic Gaming Monthly represents a welcome opportunity to continue delivering quality content to gaming enthusiasts,” said Harris. “I feel honored to once again be associated with this respected magazine. The talented writers and designers who built upon EGM’s original vision have left behind a publication that is uniquely positioned to be successful.”
EGM is set to be relaunched in the second half of 2009, but the release didn’t specify if there will be a print magazine (EGMNOW.com, however, currently has a placeholder). It doesn’t matter really; simply having EGM back is any capacity has me all a-tingle, and I’m looking forward to see what Harris and company does with its direction.
Welcome back, boys.
Interview: Dekker and Julia, the DJs Mixin’ It Up At 8bit FM
My diverse musical tastes have motivated others, both friend and stranger, to toss heinous names of all sorts in my general direction. I’ve been called a hipster, hipster-wannabe, blipster, and sell-out for my love of just-off-the-mainstream sounds. If I were to share my Slacker stations with you, you’d find programming that leaps from The Talking Heads to The Dirtbombs to Das EFX to The Bird and The Bee. What can I say? I love my music when it’s as far from the current pop tastes as possible – - except for that admittedly horrible “Paris is Burning” track by Ladyhawke, which simultaneously owns a small morsel of my soul and destroys any sort of cred I’d imagined myself having.
That said, I do thoroughly enjoy a good videogame tune, which is why 8bit FM is currently one of my favorite websites. A cursory glance would lead to the belief that 8bit FM is nothing more than a collection of streaming soundtracks, remixes, chiptunes, and nerdcore, but that would only be a portion of the story. 8bit FM operates in a similar fashion as a terrestrial radio station except, you know, the people behind it play good music.
For example, there are actual on-air programming blocks. 8PM-Midnight EST covers chiptunes; 2AM-5AM EST is all about epic orchestral pieces; 6PM-8PM EST is where nerdcore drops the rhymes (MC Chris in the house!). You can also request songs from the rather deep library, view the Top 20, and check out the Party Calendar to discover when your favorite lo-fi artists will be performing in your area. Intrigued, I reached out to Dekker and Julia of 8bit FM to discuss videogame music.
What lead to the creation of 8bit FM?
Dekker: I’m more of an old school gamer than someone who follows new titles. I used to play Atari and NES. I even won a regional StarFox contest once. I love the older games and the design of has a strong impact on anyone who grew up in that era. I love the feeling of those old tunes and I’m really excited about the people who are using the old hardware to make original compositions. Julia and I wanted to build a place where listeners can have a piece of nostalgia while discovering new artists.
Review: Contra (NES)
Nowadays, when folks think of Konami, their minds invariably drift to the wild and wacky adventures of one Solid Snake, as he stealthily makes mincemeat of all manner of sci-fi/supernatural/G.I. Joe-level paramilitary freaks. But if you were to hop into the Way Back Machine and touchdown in the late ’80s/early ’90s the Konami name was associated with another kickass military-themed series: Contra, one of the early (and best) entries in the run-and-gun genre.
The ’80s were filled with such anti-drug slogans as “Just Say No”, “Crack Is Wack”, and the like, but Mrs. Reagan, and dozens of PSAs overlooked Contra’s shoot-everything-that-moves gameplay that had millions of kids strung out and looking for their “just a few minutes, ma!” fix. Bedrooms and living were just really tidy back alleys, really.
Contra’s premise is remarkably simple: two buffed soldiers named Mad Dog and Scorpion are dropped onto a small, alien-infested island that has the most bizarre climate known to man (it somehow pulls off being both tropical AND polar) to regulate in the name of the third rock.
Raiden 4 Coming to Xbox 360 This August; Shooter Fans Splooge
Is there any genre capable of delivering as potent a cathartic release as shooters? I reckon there is not. Unfortunately, the genre (much like brawlers), have yet to reclaim the popularity that it once had 15 years ago, but some titles (such as Valcon Game’s recently released Raiden Fighter Aces) have brought explosive joy to the hungry base.
Good news: UFO Interactive, the company that pubbed Raiden III for the Playstation 2, gave 1Up the scoop that it’s bringing Raiden 4 to the U.S. market via the Xbox 360. Raiden 4 will utilize Xbox Live to for global leaderboards and downloadable replays from top scorers. Even better, there will be downloadable ships as well.
The carnage begins in August.
[Hat tip: 1Up via Kotaku]
THQ Hopes Drawn to Life Sequel Will Finally Put Your Doodles to Good Work
They say that honesty is the best policy, so, since I’m not one to shy away from the advice of wise words, I’ll make a confession: When Nintendo first unveiled the DS, I was most definitely not a believer. Some would even go as far as to label me a “hater.” Dual screens? Gimmick! Touchscreen? Who needs it?! I lacked the foresight to see how a radical change to mobile gaming would encourage radical software to be built, which would in turn encourage radical gameplay. Totally radical gameplay.
So when THQ announced a Fall release of Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter, the sequel to Drawn to Life, I smiled a bit inside knowing that companies are out there dead set on proving the ol’ Jeff Wilson wrong. Using the DS’ stylus, players draw their own protagonists for use in the in-game adventure to defeat the evil Wilfre and restore color to the Raposa civilization. The game’s Action Drawing Tool gives each color special properties when scribbling objects into the environment. Coin collecting, puzzle solving, multi-player modes, and other action staples also are part of the gameplay.
Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter is also in development for the Nintendo Wii, which will allow players to use the Wii Remote to draw more than 100 unique items (vehicles, weapons, tools, and more) to conquer their enemies. The Action Drawing tool allows for objects to be drawn directly into the game to help navigate through several environments, including a sky world, jungle and shadow city. Plus, the game’s multi-player feature will allow players to draw their team members and equipment to compete against others in a variety of mini-games, such as soccer, hockey and basketball.
Kinda makes you wish you still had those doodles drawn in Trapper Keepers on hand, doesn’t it?
King of Fighters XII Online Details Revealed: Lots of Options, PS3 and Xbox 360 Exclusives
Today, Ignition unveiled new King of Fighters XII info that’s sure to please fighting fans that miss the arcade experience of days past. Although word of online play was previously announced, the depth of it was kept on the hush hush. But not anymore! KOF XII will feature global online play (no region restrictions!), and a ton of options. Check the deets.
- Online Lobbies: Up to eight blokes can hang in this virtual arcade. Two face off, while the others “quarter up.”
- Smack talk via voice or text chat
- Winner Stays: The winner fights the next opponent in line
- Loser Stays: The loser stays and gets to fight the next opponent in line ( aka, The Torture Division)
- Sparring (randomized match ups)
- Player Match (a friendly match where no stats are recorded)
In addition, SNK Playmore has tossed in an online ranking system, which gives players a letter grade and displays it, and best attack times, on the leaderboard for all to worship. Depending on your system, you’ll find console-exclusive online extras such as the Playstation 3’s Clan Mode (which allows players to create clans, recruit clan members, blacklist players, and compete against rival units), and the Xbox 360’s Truskill mode (which lets players record, replay, and share matches). These heaping scoops of awesome will arrive in July with King of Fighters XII’s home release.
Beat Em Ups: How to Properly Resurrect the Genre
A few weeks ago, my friend Gabriel stopped by to take in a couple of rounds of Hokuto no Ken for the PlayStation 2, as he’s a huge fan of the American Fist of the Northstar movie, hilariously bad Streamline dub and all. After several minutes of being dazzled by the sexy visuals and fun gameplay, he said in a very matter of fact manner, “This would kick ass as a side scrolling brawler.”
My brain hung on those words as he continued to slice his way through Roah using Rei, and I pondered why there aren’t any visually stunning, hyper-animated, 2D beat ‘em ups. After realizing that the answer to that query was one I did not want to hear (BEUs are a genre on the verge of extinction) I shed a mighty, floor-shattering man-tear worthy of one that Kenshiro would drop (after Gabe left the premises, of course).
As a child of the ’80s, my videogame resume is filled with the likes of Double Dragon, Final Fight, River City Ransom, and Streets of Rage. Mowing down wave after wave of urban vermin made up the majority of my gaming time, and possibly prepped me for a rather excellent career as a vigilante or rogue cop should this writing thing not pan out. As such, I support the genre in all of its forms, even digital abortions like Beat Down: Fists of Vengeance, but I’ve become increasingly fed with an industry that seemingly has forgotten why BEUs were a gaming mainstay in the ’80s and ’90s. So what the fuh went wrong?
Heavy Metal Kings: The Six Most Bad-Ass Military Action Games
Image courtesy neogeoforlife
This Memorial Day, the 2D-X crew pays respect to the courageous men and women who’ve bravely entered the line of fire by looking back at some of the more awesome videogame examples of soldiers at work. We’re not talking realistic first-person shooters like Call of Duty; it’s all about hardcore, near-mindless twitch soldiering that dominated the 8-bit and 16-bit era just as the Cold War began to thaw. No need to carefully manage supplies or call for back up: Simply check your brain at the door, grab the AK, and prepare to leave a foreign body count higher than anything Stallone, Arnie, Dolph, or Norris ever tallied.
During my “research” (which consisted of me playing naked, at 3AM,with a box of Dominos at my side), it became obvious that these war games were more than simple recreations of humanity’s flawed (and recurring) activity; they were also snapshots of time. It’s no coincidence that these titles emerged in a period where the threat of global nuclear annihilation had combat on everyone’s brain, particularly SNK, a company that takes half of the slots if this countdown. Go, America!
Review: Boing! Docomodake (DS)
Unless you’re an aging hippie or experimental college student, it’s very unlikely that mushrooms have played a major role in your life. Even in the Super Mario Bros. franchise, where mushrooms act as sidekicks or the ultimate boosters, they play second fiddle to our squat Italian plumber.
Fortunately, if you’re pro-mushroom, there’s good news: AQ Interactive and Ignition look to move the ’shrooms from the back of the bus to the starring role with Boing! Docomodake, an excellent Nintendo DS title that blends multiple genres into a surprisingly complex and interesting mix. I just don’t know if I would deem it as fun.
As you may have ascertained from the rather quirky name, Boing! Docomodake is a decidedly Japanese title. In fact, the lead character, Papa Docomodake, is based on the mascot for Japanese cell phone company NTT DOCOMO. That little factoid may not mean much to non-Japanese gamers or crazed gaijin okatu, but it’s the equivalent of the Michellin Man starring in a videogame. It’s that heavy, dudes.
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