What with the release of Metal Gear Solid 4, GTA IV, Fallout 3 and many other largely anticipated games, a few goodies are falling under the radar. This post plans to showcase some that I have found.
MLB 08: The Show – PSP
Baseball, while not so celebrated in New Zealand (we deal with Rugby) is a great sport to emulate in a game and MLB 08 does just that with great precision. While also on the PS3; the PSP version is not a straight port with dropped down graphics for more sales just based on the franchise. MLB 08 works from the idea “if it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it”, so if you’ve played MLB 07 don’t expect anything new to blow your mind. However, it found what was broke with the last game and fixed nearly every major issue. If you have a PSP hungry for a great baseball experience, MLB 08: The Show will hit all the right spots.
Ikaruga – XLA
While Ikaruga may not reach the height of triple A titles, it gets a place as one of the best top-down shooters out there. Originally released in 2002 on the Dreamcast; a review of the original from Gamespot’s Greg Kasavin sums it up nicely: “Ikaruga achieves the impossible: It's an accessible, over-the-top, extremely intense, highly challenging, utterly action-packed space shooter, but one that demands the utmost of care and restraint on behalf of the player.”
The World Ends With You – DS
Square Enix may quite possibly have been a strong influence in starting the emo craze, with its stories containing angsty, teenage lead characters being put in situations where anything that could go wrong, did then it’s no less bluntly obvious in The World Ends With You where the name itself screams emo. An emo style isn’t necessarily bad, especially when you add it with the stunningly amazing artists and designers at Square with a game that’s target audience is (I dear say it) emo. So moving on from the fact that its emo, the game is full of unique game play. First off, the combat uses both screens of the DS at the same time; the top screen utilizing the d-pad and buttons in a DDR’esque fashion while the touch screen uses a system of pins that have different powers that players manipulate with the stylus to defeat foes. This, added in with character development in the way of buying cooler looking (and stat increasing) clothing, the ability to read characters’ minds and an angst driven plot; The World Ends With You is definitely a game you want to take a closer look into as there is more depth than there may seem.
