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World Heroes. When I was a teenager, one of my favorite games was World Heroes 2 for the Super Nintendo. I remember it distinctly because it was one of the last games I bought brand new for the SNES. I played the game for hours, then days and even into many assorted weeks trying to exploit all the characters from my favorites like Rasputin, Muscle Power, & Kim Dragon to even lesser characters like Johnny Maximum or Erick the Viking. With the exception of Mudman, (I never played Mudman and I’m still annoyed when fighting him to this very day) I beat the game with each and every character. This is one of my prouder achievements when it comes to fighting games, and with the exception of the Tekken series or compilations, the last fighting game I’ve really played for such a long stretch.

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The Neo-Geo console was one of my favorite consoles growing up. My parents never had the money for the home machine or the outrageously priced carts. However, that did not keep me from spending many quarters on the standups day in and day out. Most of my Neo Geo quarters were thrown into games such as Ninja Combat, Sengoku and Magician Lord. The rich graphics, the ahead of its time gameplay were all amazing beyond belief. Almost twenty years later, SNK decides to make a happy man. Sixteen classics on a single dvd for my Playstation 2 console. Furthermore, they went and released it in the $20 price range. Very very happy.

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Some of my favorite fighting games include the likes of Marvel vs Capcom 2, X-Men vs Street Fighter, Marvel vs Street Fighter, etc. The appeal of these games was simple, fun fast arcade gameplay with cool easily-known characters (I did always have a fondness for Gambit). Along those lines, SNK was introduced into the series as a logical step around 1999 in the game series SNK vs Capcom. After SNK filed for bankruptcy in 2000, the company re-formed and was called SNK Playmore. In 2005, SNK Playmore decided to bring out a game that played very much to the old versus games in NeoGeo Battle Coliseum. In the last breath of 2007, NeoGeo Battle Coliseum makes it to the states for the Playstation 2 system. Now in my greedy little hands, I explore the game and see if it stands up as a true fighter.

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Wrestling games are near and dear to my heart. From the first time I played Pro Wrestling for Nintendo or WWF Wrestlefest at the arcade, I knew I would be playing wrestling games as long as my fingers could mash the buttons. I’ve played some of the greatest wrestling games (Smackdown 2, Touken Retsuden 3) and some of the worst (WCW Nitro, ECW Hardcore Revolution). The Fire Pro series I’ve had a long relationship with. It’s been love/hate mostly. I want to love it but I find myself more often than not hating the interface and struggling to play it. I’ve bought all three import games for the Turbo Graphix 16 system and the Fire Pro (6 man scramble) game that was released for Sega Saturn. However, when Agetec announced that they would be releasing it for the stateside Playstation 2, I was very interested. Maybe since I didn’t have to import it, I would finally be able to see the menus in English and figure out the difficult interface. Every wrestling fanboy would tell me that it was the greatest thing ever. But what would I think?

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A single console rarely gets five different releases in its library. The Playstation 2 has been fortunate (or not so fortunate according to Jack Thompson) to get five Grand Theft Autos. III, Vice City, San Andreas, Liberty City Stories and now Vice City Stories have provided essentially the same game engine with new features and missions along the way. The Stories line was games that started on the PSP and then ported over. Liberty City Stories was a good port and a fun game to play. However,…

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Opening

Newer super hero cartoons usually leave me feeling bland to be honest. They generally pass them off as too kid friendly and not enough to satisfy me as an adult. Not to mention that they often use anime style drawn characters almost too much that the cartoons become borderline ugly and generic to look at. Thankfully in recent years there have been a few exceptions, one being Teen Titans. Its familiar cast of Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy, Raven & Cyborg are fun to watch as they appeal to both kid…

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Compilations are so plentiful these days but often what once was, is not meant to be. Too few games, games that don’t hold up with time, and bad porting can make this practice extremely hit or miss. When one is awful, it destroys our relationship with that game of yesteryear so much that we might curse older games, and don’t pick one up for quite sometime. However, when the compilation is well drawn up and executed proficiently, it gives us a sense of our lives before and what made those old games so great. Capcom Cl…

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When I first heard of the Movie Karaoke idea I was surprised I hadn’t heard of anyone coming up with it sooner. With the outstanding use of the Revoice software on the Shrek DVD set, I was ready to have a blast.

Then I found out what movies were in the game

Graphics

The game looks good. It has a nice, easy to read interface and the learning curve is small due to the smart layout of the screen. It’s bright, colorful and really helps with the overall enjoyment of the g…

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Few titles have the ability to be both cute and popular amongst all types of players, yet with Animal Crossing, this is exactly what one gets. The game has such great playability to it, that everyday brings something new and refreshing to the table. The character and town designs are almost unbearably cute–but in a good way that adds feel and depth to the overall game. Are you ready to be wowed by a classic Nintendo title? Then pack your bags–you’re moving to Animal Crossing !

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Even though Final Fantasy X-2 is releasing in Japan this month, and some RPG fans might be going ga-ga over an import of that game, other players who may love the Role Playing Game genre should not overlook Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht from Namco–a game with a decidedly complex storyline and polished in game visuals and cutscenes.

Based on the original game Xenogears, this new title is heavily based on sci-fi themes and an intricate, multi-layered plot. The story starts out …

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Like a bolt out of the blue, Guilty Gear X2 comes out this month and totally hits a player between the eyes. When one thinks of fighters on the Playstation 2 console, most think of the studios Capcom or Sega–and those titles popular to those particular production houses. Yet, Sammy Studios released a fighting title for the PS2 that is so marvelous, so fun, and so entertaining, that it almost completely redefines 2-D side scrolling fighters.

The game, of course, is Guilty Gear X2 and it must b…

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London is known for several popular things: Fish and Chips, Big Ben, the river Thames, but one thing it will probably never be credited for is being the centerpiece of an engaging, fun videogame–at least if one only looks as far as The Getaway. It’s a guarantee that nothing will confuse and frustrate players quicker than a game that can’t make up its mind what it is. Is it a movie? Is it a game? Well, whatever it is, it should choose a path early and then stick with it.

The plot…

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Sony seems to be on a roll this season with the release of another fun Role Playing Game that is quite a sight to see. Dark Cloud 2, the sequel to the popular title Dark Cloud which released during the first year of the Playstation 2, is the game we are reviewing here today.

The story follows a young man by the name of Maximilian, or Max, and a girl named Monica. Max is an inventor who likes to tinker with things–hence he carries around a large wrench which also doubles a…

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Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc is by all intents and purposes is a platform game, but video gamers should not just assume they have another plain-vanilla platformer on their hands. On the contrary, although Rayman 3 is another platform title, the slick graphics, neat music, and top notch voice acting make it a game worth checking out.

Most Playstation owners have undoubtedly come across Rayman at some point in their gaming lives whether it was the original Rayman on the PSOne or those e…

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Man, talk about your old school inspired shooters! Ikaruga, from Atari and for the Nintendo GameCube, is one of the coolest side-scrolling shooters to date on any of the three platforms. Placing gamers inside a spaceship up against waves of enemy fighters and mother ships, players can use several different cannons and missiles to take down the enemy swarm. Strap in, and get ready to ride!

Graphics

Originally developed for the arcade and the now ill-fated Sega DreamCast console,…

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The first person shooter has come quite a long way from the beginning days of the genre and it has seen some interesting additions to its mode of play. Although one might argue that on the one hand that FPS games are fundamentally the same as they were back then, new titles on the market like Red Faction II introduce new and better features which keep the genre fresh and exciting.

Players can pick up Red Faction II out now for their Nintendo GameCube video game console and experience some down…

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The first person shooter has come quite a long way from the beginning days of the genre and it has seen some interesting additions to its mode of play. Although one might argue that on the one hand that FPS games are fundamentally the same as they were back then, new titles on the market like Red Faction II introduce new and better features which keep the genre fresh and exciting.

Players can pick up Red Faction II out now for their Xbox video game console and experience some down right fun bl…

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