Virtual Vox Pop: What Should Capcom Do With The Final Fight Franchise?
Filed under: Beat Em Ups, Fighters, Virtual Vox Pop
Pictured: Cody demanding a return to Metro City
Virtual Vox Pop is a weekly open mic in which we ask you, the reader, to sound off on a particular topic. This week, it’s the future of the Final Fight franchise.
Cody and Guy are back! Not in Final Fight, but in Super Street Fighter IV.
That’s not a slight on Super Street Fighter IV by any means, but as a long time fan of beat ‘em ups, I find it disappointing that Cody and Guy can’t throw haymakers within the confines of their own game. Think about it: here’s a generation of fighting game fans that associate the pair with the Street Fighter instead of Final Fight. My younger cousin, for example, stated that it was awesome that “Alpha 3″ characters are finally making a comeback. Capcom, methinks we have a problem.
King of Fighters Movie Trailer Looks Awful
If there’s a lesson learned from my completion of the Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, and Super Mario Bros. live-action flicks, it’s that a) I can tolerate the trashiest films ever made and b) I should never hold hope that a fighter will translate into a decent, watchable flick. So when I got word that SNK Playmore’s King of Fighters series, one of the premier 2D fighting franchises around, was making the leap to live action, I expected crap – - and that looks to be what I was given.
Our bud Devindra Hardawar of the wonderfully delightful Slashfilm movie blog crafted a post about the recently released King of Fighters trailer, and, well, I leave it to that good sir to analyze what’s on the screen. Needless to say, it seems to lack a significant level of awesome, but I’ll try my best to reserve judgment until the movie is released. I’ll try.
B-Boy Brawl Brings Breaking To Your iPhone/iPod Touch
My biggest gripe against the rhythm game genre as a whole is the heavy reliance and focus of the guitar as the central gameplay element. Certainly, it would be insane for me to expect games /platforms entitled Guitar Hero and Rock Band to have a killer tuba peripheral and accompanying songs, but would a Tuba Hero be too outrageous? Today’s youth could use a solid dose of glee from a low pitched brass instrument.
DJ Hero made strides to add some hip to the hop, but really it was the next obvious extension of the music game genre rather than a radical reimagining. Enter B-Boy Brawl. The product of a partnership between Scottish iPhone/iPod touch publisher/developer Tag Games and Mobile Pie (a development studio based in the UK’s hip hop heartland of Bristo), this music game focus on breaking. Think of it as Dance Dance Revolution S, but with (hopefully) far better tunes.
…B-Boy Brawl promises to make a mockery of other weak wristed iPhone music games. Aiming to own the streets (and of course the App Store) the game features a unique control method that allows players to ‘finger break’ for the first time, awesome street style visuals, various crews to ‘battle’ and loads of great hip hop.
Opponents get served in late January.
LOLZ OMG: teh internetz-Attack of the Memes Annoys Its Ways To The iPhone and iPod touch
I don’t recall the precise date, but ’twas sometime in November 1998 that I first connected to this flustercuck that we know as the internet (or “internetz”). Back then, it was a hardcore carnival-meets-wild-wild-west in that you never knew what hilariously awful thing would pop up next.
Over the last 11 years, we’ve seen variety of internet fads come and go, from lolcatz to rickrolling to the “Chocolate Rain” dude. It never crossed the dank corners of my mind that someone would actually attempt to make a video game out of such insanity, but lo, Insurgent Games has stepped up to the challenge with teh internets – Attack of the Memes, a $2 shooter/shmup for the iPhone/iPod touch. Deets!
Double Dragon Returns With “Revenge of the Wounded Dragon”?
UPDATE: It looks like the answer, sadly, is no. Revenge of the Wounded Dragon appears to be a new title that’s set to debut on PSN “soon.” A feature list, courtesy of the PlayStation Blog:
- Single player and local multi-player modes
- 4 beautiful environments with immersive levels, totalling 24 areas all of them packed with enemies
- 10 mini-games: Play them in single player or against your friends
- Finishing moves to defeat your enemies
- Dragon rage, your special power
- Co-op moves to use with your friends in multi-player mode
- Cool animated comic storytelling between levels
- 12 PS3 Trophies
- Leaderboards
- The ability to create your own soundtrack and relive your game by taking screens through the XMB!
My original jump-the-gun post after the break.
Harvest Moon: My Little Shop Sprouts On WiiWare
The Harvest Moon franchise never fails to amaze me. There’s seemingly a new game on a different platform every few months, I’ve met exactly one other person in real life that loves it besides me, and, well, it’s about farming. It’s not exactly the sexiest concept, but Natsume tapped the virtual farming niche well before Farmville became all the rage on the Facebooks.
Today, Harvest Moon wowed me once again with the release of Harvest Moon: My Little Shop on Nintendo WiiWare. This new spin on the Harvest Moon formula is available for 1200 Wii Points, and is rated E for Everyone so the whole family can it in on the ho action. Let’s get some words from Natsume’s big man:
The Greatest 2D Sports Video Game Athletes: Bo Jackson Edition
Unstoppable.
That’s the only word that can even remotely come close to describing “Tecmo Bo”, a sports video game athlete so dominant, so simultaneously loved and feared by 8-bit pigskinners worldwide, that his name has become forever entangled with the game – - both on the digital gridiron and in real life. Sports commentators often recycle the phrase “you can stop him, you can only hope to contain him” when referring to an elite athlete, but a “contained” Tecmo Bo will still break off 200 yards on you. In the first quarter.
TimeWasters: Robin The Archer
TimeWasters highlights many of the excellent Web-based/lightweight downloadable titles that you can dive into within the space of a lunch break. This week, Chris Gampat explores Robin the Archer.
If you’re a Super Mario buff looking for a somewhat familiar, yet fresh take on the platforming formula, Robin the Archer may just be for you. The game runs easily on any PC and will keep you entertained whenever you’re in need of a quick gaming fix. Turn the sound off and you’ll be able to play throughout the day. In fact, due to its length, you’ll be able to play for days.
Review: Dungeon Fighter Online (PC)
Dungeon Fighter Online has been in open beta or a number of weeks now, which has given MMO fans the chance to thoroughly sample the gameplay – - and I’ve been amongst them.
Unlike other reviewable games that are more or less fixed when presented to the public, Dungeon Fighter Online’s MMO roots opens the door to evolving content (something, I suppose, may become commonplace with games of all types thanks to DLC), which renders a review as a snapshot in time. Therefore, take this Dungeon Fighter Online review as version 1.0 of an ever-changing document.
The mark of a well-crafted MMO is the number of hours that it draws from a player, and I can say with truth that I’ve poured more time into Dungeon Fighter Online in the past two weeks than any other game released this year.
Pokemon Meets Left 4 Dead: Laughter Ensues
Imagine yourself vs. the A.I. Director in Left 4 Dead dueling it out on your Nintendo DSi, Pokemon style. Yesterday, we took a look at the 8-bit Left 4 Dead game that will be coming out in January, but if you like your undead mixed with a little Pikachu, you’ll love this short flash video.
Created by Distract-A-Bee, the video celebrates Left 4 Dead 2, but none of the new characters (survivors or infected) are present in the video. Another video may probably be made, though, as not all the infected from the original are present in this game, and the video commenters are requesting to see the Boomer do his thing, Frank the Tank style. No matter, it is still a great video to watch, and, hopefully, Distract-A-Bee will create a follow up.
Similarly, our hopes are that Eric Ruth will also create an 8-bit version of Left 4 Dead 2 featuring the new environments that submerge players in the darker side of the deep south. If not, something along the lines of Alive 4 Ever would be really kickin’.
-
Categories
-
Circle of the Joystick
By Business Card Designs
Get your 2D-X gear!
-
Most Popular
- TimeWasters: Infector: World Domination
- How To: Beat the Turtle (and other bosses) in Civilization Wars
- Interview: Herb Yang, Managing Producer for Dungeon Fighter Online
- 4chan Features The Most Epic Pokemon Artwork Ever
- Epic 4chan Pokemon artwork: Take 2
- Interview: Ray Murakawa, Producer, Tecmo NBA Unrivaled
- Project Needlemouse becomes Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1
- Interview: Robby Zinchak, Associate Producer, Final Fight: Double Impact
- CES 2010: Hands-On with Super Street Fighter IV
- CES 2010: Hands-On With Dark Void Zero
-
Recent Posts
- Review: The Battle of Olympus (NES)
- Interview: Mike Fahrny, producer, Tecmo Bowl Throwback
- Gameworks, Las Vegas: SEGA’s gaming oasis in the desert
- Virtual Vox Pop: What’s the hardest 2D game you’ve ever played?
- Microvision’s Show WX pico projector pimps your portable playing
- Shank pre-GDC gameplay trailer is bad ass
- Free Twin Blades DLC revealed in new trailer
- Grab your stylus: Scribblenauts sequel coming this fall
- NES controller rug nerdifies your living room
- 8-bit Left 4 Dead creator returns with Mega Man 9 HD Remix
