Review: The Battle of Olympus (NES)
With the release of Percy Jackson and the Unnecessarily Long Title a few weeks ago and the Clash of the Titans remake just around the corner, I thought it would be appropriate to blow the dust off The Battle of Olympus (NES) – a game that combines the intrigues of Greek mythology, the side-scrolling gameplay of Zelda II: The Adventures of Link, and the “WTF, how did I just die?!” moments of every game that ever pissed you off.
Virtual Vox Pop: What’s the hardest 2D game you’ve ever played?
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 hardest games ever.
Games just aren’t as hard as they used to be.
Don’t mistake this statement as one coming from a person looking to artificially give his gaming accomplishments more weight – - I see it as fact. Outside of a few throwback titles (Mega Man 9, Mega Man 10), few contemporary games achieve the level of hair-pulling insanity that ran rampant through the 8- and 16-bit eras.
The 2D-X team has decided to list our most frustrating 2D games and, as expected, they’re all pretty old. Agree? Disagree? Let your voice be heard, folks.
Shank pre-GDC gameplay trailer is bad ass
Klei Entertainment, fresh from inking a publishing deal with EA, has released a pre-GDC gameplay trailer of the upcoming modern-day Western, Shank. The 2D, cartoony side-scroller packs hardcore action title that features copious amounts of gunplay, bladeplay, and bloodshed.
8-bit Left 4 Dead creator returns with Mega Man 9 HD Remix
After garnering significants mounts of nerd-cred with this 8-bit de-make of Left 4 Dead, Eric Ruth is back with a new project: Mega Man 9 HD Remix. Forget the fact for a second that the official Mega Man 9 already runs at 720p, and just stick with us here, folks.
Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands includes forgotten gem for Wii fans
Straight from the horse’s mouth:
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands™ from Ubisoft will launch May 18 on both the Wii and Nintendo DS platforms. Boasting amazing graphics with fantastic action and puzzle-solving game play, the Wii version will be the first in franchise history to feature a two-player cooperative experience. As an added bonus, the Wii version of the game will exclusively include the 1992 Super NES™ version of the original Prince of Persia game.
Whether you’re a fan of the series or not, it’s good to see another company giving gamers more bang for their buck. We’ll keep an eye out for any more details as they come in but in the meantime click above to view the latest trailer.
Bank Run combines an online interactive movie with iPhone gaming
One of the most difficult and time consuming activites that a website editor does on a daily basis is tackle the press release beast. I, for example, receive dozens of very similar-sounding games and gaming accessory pitches in my inbox, with one being barely distinguishable from the next. Bank Run is not one of those games.
5 reasons why Metroid: Other M is a must-own
Her gaming debut may have been more than 20 years ago, but from what we’ve seen so far of Team Ninja’s Metroid: Other M, Samus Aran has never looked better.
In an interview at the Nintendo Media Summit in San Francisco, Nate Bihldorf, a localization producer for Nintendo America, shed some more light on what we can expect from this chapter of the Metroid series and took us beyond the E3 trailer that left everyone wanting more.
We liked what we heard so much, 2D-X is bringing you the top five reasons why you should add Metroid: Other M to your 2010 wishlist.
Review: Twin Blades (XBLIG)
Considering the amount of coverage we’ve given Press Start Studio’s Twin Blades: The Reaping Vanguard (which tackled the initial announcement of the Xbox Live Indie Game port, and later the interview with Philippe Rapin, co-founder of Press Start Studio), I believe it high time that I turn a critical eye toward the game itself.
Twin Blades puts you in the role of an insanely cute large-eyed, anime-inspired nun that has 31 days to rid the town of a zombie infestation. If you’re looking for a story, there is none. In fact, the only reason that I know that I had 31 days to eradicate the undead menace was due to a between-level blurb that asked if I could survive that length of time. Ultimately, the game is about slaying zombies and it does that quite well–but not without some polarizing faults.
First Impressions: The Legend of Vraz
We’ve been following The Legend of Vraz since it was first announced, and now that it is finally released, quality PC time has been spent with the game. I’ve gotten through most of the first section of the game so far and have played enough to give you my first impressions and thoughts on the game vs. what I was expecting.
Mimeo and The Kleptopus King takes you on a 2D video game history lesson
Neo-retro titles are all the rage these days as developers that were once enamored with the old school games of yore now have a chance to create their very own on the cheap. In most cases, games such as Mega Man 10 duplicates the aesthetics of video games from a particular era, but very few attempt to capture the look and feel of multiple eras.
Mimeo and The Kleptopus King, an upcoming 2D hop-n-bop Mario clone for the iPhone/iPod touch, does just that. When cartridge power ups are acquired it doesn’t effect the player character, but the world around him. The power ups will transform the environments from 2-bit to 4-bit to 8-bit and, ultimately, 16-bit. Switching between the different 2D video game eras alters the enemy behavior and level design, so there’s a bit of puzzle gaming involved as well to complete stages.
Touch Arcade as a Vimeo of Mimeo that’s worth checking out. Yup, a Vimeo of Mimeo. That makes me giggle.
[Hat tip: Touch Arcade]
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