Being a fairly tame month, there’s only a few interesting releases: 3 multiplatform games, 2 PS3 exclusives, 3 DS games and 1 PSP game.

Read on!

MULTIPLATFORM RELEASES

DC Universe Online 01/11 (PC, PS3)

Having seen the beta version of the game, I think it looks pretty fun. It’s an MMORPG, with an action-based gameplay style, and lots of customization, and it’s set in the DC universe so you’ll see a bunch of familiar vilains and superheroes. It seems interesting enough. At 15$ a month it’s definitely steep though.

Mindjack 01/18 (PS3, 360)

Well I’m not actually expecting this to be any good, what with it being a standard cover-based shooter, but it does have that mind-hacking element that enables you to control other people and machines, which might potentially make this interesting… Maybe.

Dead Space 2 01/25 (PS3, 360, PC)

The first Dead Space was a fairly good action-based survival horror-like game, and this one seems to be very similar to the first, other than the fact that it continues the story, and it has multiplayer for some odd reason (seems like it could be fairly good though). If you were a fan of the original, this should be just as good.

PLAYSTATION 3 RELEASES

LittleBigPlanet 2 01/18

The first LBP was an okay game. It had its problems, like the huge floatiness of the platforming which kinda annoyed me, but it sported a very interesting level design tool that could make not only platforming levels, but a bunch of other stuff. I’ve seen Tetris, shmups, calculators, and more. LittleBigPlanet 2 seems to be going even deeper with its level building system, with people in the beta making really bad FPS, or really bad fighting games. I’m joking here a bit, but what we’ve seen of LBP2 for now is very promising.

Mass Effect 2 01/18

I really wasn’t a big fan of ME2. It felt more like Gears of War with very minor stat-customization and lots of really boring conversations. I enjoyed the first one a bit more (though the huge amounts of boring conversations in that one annoyed me as well), but people LOVE this game, and it getting a superior (apparently) release on the PS3 is quite a big thing. It apparently lets you do some of the major choices from the first game before getting into the actual game, which is interesting, though maybe not as much to some people as it would be to actually play the first game, but I guess releasing a port of the first game could have been too annoying for BioWare to do… or something.

NINTENDO DS RELEASES

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 01/11

This looks like a very fun adventure game. You play as some guy who died. You “relive” other peoples’ last few minutes before dying, and you can posses objects to hopefully change the character’s destiny, saving their lives. It definitely looks very interesting.

Kingdom Hearts Re:coded 01/11

Hmm… After looking at some gameplay videos, it looks essentially identical to the first KH game at least gameplay-wise…. until it becomes a turn-based RPG. It will probably be a good game, since the only KH game that I found to be completely unplayable was Birth by Sleep (damn loading times), but it still remains to be seen.

Plants vs. Zombies 01/18

It’s Plants vs. Zombies port! It’s good on the other platforms it’s on, so it should be just as good here. And this seems to have a few new modes, it has versus and maybe some other stuff. Should be worth playing. Again.

PLAYSTATION PORTABLERELEASES

Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! 01/11

Yay! A Prinny sequel! This time you play as a thousand Prinnies questing to get Etna’s stolen panties back.The original was a tough game with very strict platforming and fun boss fights. This one looks just as good, except now there’s an Asagi mode, where you play as a Prinnified Asagi, who has different weapons, which looks really awesome.

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Plants VS Zombies originally came out on the PC last year, and the iPhone/iPod Touch version was constantly being delayed. But now it’s finally out.

Does it hold up to the PC version, or should people just pay a bit extra for a better experience?

Read on and see!
(NOTE: this will be extremely short… I’ll mostly talk about the port’s quality)

Developer: PopCap
Publisher: PopCap
Date of Release: February 15th 2010

Platforms: iPhone, iPod Touch

Genre: Tower Defense
Players: 1
Rated E for Everyone

Well, I already reviewed this game’s PC version. And I really liked it. It was even a winner in our 2009 Games of the Year “Best Downloadable Games” category. So I won’t go back fully detailing the gameplay like I did in my original review, and mostly talk about the porting itself.

Graphics and performance
The graphics are lower quality than the PC release. Especially when things are moving, you’ll see a lot more pixels. And when the seed packs zoom in into the screen when you pick them up at the end of every level, you’ll see how low-res the graphics really are. BUT, despite the lower quality graphics, it looks great. It might not be AS good as the PC version, but the game retains the same style, and the sprites are still very nicely detailed, and the animations are smooth. The conversion to a lower resolution really didn’t do the game any bad.

The game DOES have performance issues though. When you have a lot of plants shooting at once, with tons of zombies appearing on the screen (basically every final wave), the game has a bit of slowdown. Sometimes it becomes really slow(like that pool stage with a conveyor belt that only gives threepeaters as projectiles). Not enough to ruin the game, but it can be a bit annoying. After a while it dies down though, so it never runs slow for too long.

Gameplay
The gameplay is intact from the PC version. The HUD got changed a bit, with the seeds to plant your defenses being placed vertically on the left-hand side of the screen. This is also where the conveyor belt appears in the final stage of every area. This makes it really easy to play, I’d say even moreso than the PC version. The touch-screen controls work really well and go a bit faster I’d say.

But there the game goes a bit down. After finishing the adventure mode, you can… replay adventure mode! Or use the Quick Play mode… which just enables you to replay certain stages from the adventure mode. The “bonus games” section here is just the conveyor belt levels and the mini-game levels within the adventure, with no unlockables or anything. In that sense, it’s a bit of a disappointement. It also lacks the garden from the PC version.

Overall
The game is still very good. The gameply is great, the variety of plants you can use is the same as in the PC version, it still has the fun humor and style, and it’s still a very good game. And you can’t really go wrong at 3$, compared to the 10$ on Steam, or 20$ on popcap.

While it’s lacking in content compared to the PC version, it’s still a really fun game, well worth getting.

Pros and Cons
Pros
- Just as fun as before
- Touch screen controls work great
- Looks great
- Cheap

Cons
- Slows down rather frequently
- Lacks a lot of content from the PC version

The Save Factor
Despite lacking content, the game is so cheap, costing only $3, that it’s worth it. So the Save Factor for this one is $3!

(told you it was gonna be short)

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So we pretty much HAVE to have a category for the best downloadable games. To be precise, this will only include games that are downloadable only. Any game that has a retail release in addition to its downloadable release(like Borderlands) does not count.

So what are the best downloadable games of 2009? Read on for the 5 winners!

Plants vs. Zombies

A casual game in a game of the year awards? That’s weird… Well, this game has a special quality where it can appeal to both “hardcore” and casual gamers. The more experienced gamers will breeze through the main game, but the extra unlockable modes will be a major challenge even to the best gamers. The game uses a really original Tower Defense gameplay. Instead of defending just one path while putting towers next to the path and having enemies walk to the end, you have 5 paths to protect, and you put plants directly in their way to stop them. It looks great, it plays great, and is a must at only $10.

Contra Rebirth

Contra is tough. Contra is awesome. They don’t need to do much to make a great Contra game. Just take the basic gameplay, give a few cool weapons (not forgetting the spreader of course), a few cool levels, and voilà, instant great game. This offers a big challenge with multiple difficulty levels, fun bosses and a few unlockables. At $10, any “hardcore” gamer who owns a Wii would be an idiot not to buy it.

Shadow Complex

You’ve got some Metroid in my Xbox 360. And it’s awesome. The game literally plays like a new-school Super Metroid. Solid gameplay, multiple weapons, a bunch of upgrades reminiscent of Metroid. I’d say a slight bit more linear than Super Metroid, but there’s still some exploration to be had. Doesn’t have much of a story, but games don’t need stories. Any old-school gamers with $15 to spare should check this out.

‘Splosion Man

Proof that games can still be done with just 1 button in mind. Instead of impossible to learn controls, ‘Splosion Man is a game that gives you a d-pad and a button to explode your fun-looking character. Other than the fact that the game is 3D, this looks just like something we could have seen in the SNES era. Great visual design, hilarious animations, hilarious sounds, great difficulty with a nice learning curve and great 1-button gameplay… Is there anything wrong with this game? No, not really. It’s $10, and worth every penny.

Excitebike World Rally

I love Excitebike. Really simplistic, but really fun nonetheless. Perfecting your time in each track requires lots of practice and precision control. Well, the Wii sequel is just as good as the NES version. If not a bit better, with slightly smoother controls and a few new gameplay elements. $10 is a really good price for a huge update on one of the most cherished NES titles.

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Other than that, I’ve purchased a few other titles on the DSiWare store but I wasn’t AS impressed as I was in the previous title mentioned. I tried AQUIA (AKA AQUARIO) from Art Style as well as BOXLIFE (AKA HACOLIFE). They didn’t hook me as much as PiCTOBiTS. They both have a pretty good level of difficulty in them though so if you’re in for a challenge in something that would seem like a simple game, you’ll find it there. BOXLIFE has a pixel like charm to it, which is neat.

I got a title named Mighty Flip Champs! this one has an increasing difficulty as well, but the first few puzzles are a complete walk in the park. you basically walk this super deformed girl over to her frog lover or something like that. Eventually you’ll need to gather things before you meet him. Apparently this is a game meant to be taken as a speed run type game. You want to improve your time and see just how much you can optimize out of it.

And the last title I will have a small blurb on it Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! This is a series that interested me from the beginning but I never got to play with any previous version of it. You have wind up marios that basically go forward from the time you do the first crank. They will collect coins and open the door to exit the level. It’s fairly simple. There are boss stages that are entirely different however. I didn’t get a chance to play this one too much but I will give it another chance eventually in the future.

Onto Peggle now. I’ve been playing this on my iPhone, it was a dollar a while back and I figured I’d check it out. This game is totally worthwhile. It’s exciting to play it well, when you finish a level you get an over the top congratulation. You just want to do it over and over. I finished it in a few sittings. Now I’m playing through it again and trying to get an even better score. I use the zen owl. Having the green peg upgrade from him totally rocks on non-moving stages. Also, this it totally pick up and play on the iPhone, it will save your state and allow you to resume whenever!

Enough of the Handhelds now!

I’ve sunk most of my time recently on the following titles: Team Fortress 2 (PC), Left 4 Dead (XBox360 and PC), Final Fantasy XI (Xbox 360 and PC), Demigod, Plants Vs Zombies (PC) and Prototype (Xbox360).

I’ll start by mentioning Team Fortress 2. Ever since the last patch, I’ve spent a decent amount of time playing with my friends. I like to jump classes in all my games. I have invested far more time in medic in this game however. This, for some reason is the class that’s lacking in a team most often, but in my opinion it is the most exciting and it will often make or break a team. I’ve played a decent amount of Pyro as well. This game is great. There’s just so much community love out there for it that there’s tons of youtubes out there with dubbed sound clips. The achievements are neat too. Some are clever. I got one for getting a guy to rage quit apparently. I had no idea an achievement like this existed! Here are my stats! I really don’t have any sniping skills.

Still playing Left 4 Dead on both XBox360 and PC. But mostly Xbox360. Not playing no mercy constantly is pretty nice. The fact that the Xbox version got patched up to current was very sweet a few months back. It unbroke the game, but it’s still pretty cookie cutter and you’ll use the same tactics over and over again. It’s mindless fun though and that’s what counts!

I’ve come back to an old favorite, Final Fantasy XI. I mostly play on Xbox 360 but sometimes on PC. Saving macros on the server makes everything really easy for me! I decided to level jobs I wouldn’t have even considered in the past. I dropped my goal to get Ninja to 75 (currently 65) to level other jobs. Scholar was my main goal, but I’ve kept White Mage and Red Mage at the same level. I plan to do this for as long as I can. After this is complete I may go back to melee. I’m thinking I’ll cap up my Ninja and move over to Monk. Eventually, I would like to get back into Assault/Nyzul. I’ll have to get into Limbus and Dynamis for a short while too. Einherjar is another one I’d like to try. Everything mage is semi-new to me so I like the change of pace. It’s funny how this game after so many years still stands apart from the rest of the MMOs. The cross platform aspect of it is also quite wonderful.

I’ve been playing Demigod still, less frequently though. I love this game but on the steam platform it may have flourished a bit more than on the Impulse one. The game has some pathing and balancing issues. It’s also quite annoying to play with a person with high ping as it makes the game choppy and nearly unplayable for everyone else. I also cannot play this with my friends easily.

I got Plants Vs Zombies for both me and my significant other. We both played this tons. I would have loved the progress to be saved on my Steam profile somehow. I’ve had to replay the same parts twice because I move it over to my Asus N10J (semi-nettop).

I also purchased and played through BlueBerry Garden. It’s a pretty game. I liked the music and the art but it offers no replay really. It’s cheap though so if you don’t think that’s going to hold you back go ahead! I’d also suggest And Yet It Moves. Not entirely the same thing but it’s got charm also!

Finally, I’ve been playing Prototype on Xbox360. I love this game! I don’t care about graphics, they’re more than acceptable. I’ve seen people complain about them but honestly, that’s being pretty picky. The abilities you unlock, using them and the exploration of NYC is pretty fun. I’ve gotten quite a few “orbs”. I’ve heard people complain about the difficulty but I’ve just been caught by a spike once honestly. It’s quite easy to feed off poor random innocent bystanders while doing your thing. I’ve been listening to a lot of people on destructoid talk about both these and inFamous. I believe episode 102 of Podtoid had a few people discussing these. Anyways, I’ll try and complete it this week. I believe some review will be incoming soon on behalf of Dave. Metacritics don’t do this game justice however. To me, between this and inFamous I totally prefer this one but it’s quite frankly a pretty big coin toss.

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I’ve contacted Pop Cap about this and here’s their customer service director’s suggestion:

This is a not uncommon issue with a lot of games, but it seems very widespread with PvZ for some reason (possibly just because more people are playing this game?). It’s a Vista issue, and it can be resolved in nearly all cases by following the instructions below:

We would like to suggest that you change a setting for the program’s Compatibility Mode.

PROGRAM COMPATIBILITY WIZARD:

1. Right click the shortcut to your game (if you don’t use a shortcut, right click the .exe file).

2. Click Properties.

3. Click the Compatibility tab.

4. Click the box marked “run this program as an Administrator.”

5. Click ok.

Hope this helps!

So here’s the solution some of you have been looking for. Try it out and let us know if it works!

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Instead, let’s get hyped for next month!

With a few interesting releases… Well, it could be a fun month, we’ll see. For now, let’s look at the releases for each system!

The multi-platform games are at the bottom of the list, and the japanese import games will have (JAPAN) written next to the titles.
And slightly bigger boxart sizes for the more interesting games O_O

Read on!!!

DS

Desktop Tower Defense
Originally a fun little flash game, now becomes a DS game. It was a fun little time-waster, so it’s probably gonna be no more than that on the DS either.

Puchi Puchi Virus

This game was supposed to come out a long time ago, sometime last year, but it never did(despite the ROM being leaked). Well, now it’s actually coming. A fun little puzzle game published by Nippon Ichi Software America. Souldn’t be too bad.

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Stardust Accelerator: World Championship 2009

It’s Yu-Gi-Oh… Not much more to say. If you like children’s card games and don’t have a yu-gi-oh game on DS yet, this will be worth checking out.

Naruto Shippuuden: Ninja Council 4

I had it last month, but I guess it was pushed back. I don’t have very high expectations for this, but it’s probably gonna be a bit fun for Naruto fans.

Steal Princess

I don’t know… It’s published by Atlus so it’s pretty sure to be rare fast, and the trailer on youtube makes it look not too bad.

Gyakuten Kenji (JAPAN)

A must for Phoenix Wright fans. In this one you play as prosecutor Miles Edgeworth. But considering the type of game it is, it’s probably not gonna be possible to play if you don’t know japanese.

A Witch’s Tale (JAPAN)

This was supposed to come out some time last year in the US, but the developpers randomly decided to change the game’s genre(from an Action RPG to a normal RPG) and, of course, they pushed back the release. It’s now coming to japan, so the US release should be coming in not TOO long…

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (JAPAN)

It’s Kingdom Hearts… And the 3 seconds of gameplay I saw last year looked pretty good, so this should be interesting.

PSP

Patapon 2

Budget priced, and just now it was announced to POSSIBLY be downloadable only(despite them still shipping the game with boxes…). A bit random, but whatever. The first game was apparently really fun, so this one should be just as good.

Bleach: Heat the Soul 6 (JAPAN)

A fighting game with Bleach characters, and the sixth in the series. I’ve only had… around 10 minutes of experience with that series, so I don’t know if it’s really good, but it must be doing something right if it went up to 6 games in the series (hopefully that “something right” isn’t just “being about Bleach”…)

PS2

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon

AKA game with uselessly long title. Not familiar with the “Devil Summoner” sub-series, but it should be interesting enough.

Secret Agent Clank
(yeah, it’s the PSP boxart, probably won’t change for the PS2 version)
Another PSP game gets ported on the PS2. A good option if playing it on the PSP isn’t possible…

Wii

New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
(japanese boxart, expect the same thing for the US boxart)
Another “New Play Control” game, this time it’s Donkey Kong taking center stage. Be ready for some random Wiimote Waggling! >_>

Klonoa

Klonoa was a fun game originally, and the remake should also be really fun.

Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus

More Guilty Gear! Another version of XX. This time, from what I’ve read, Kliff and Justice are back, and there’s a bunch of random balance fixes and tweaks.

Punch-Out!!

It’s Punch-Out, but this time with Multi-player and awesome graphics! Should be badass enough.

Boom Blox Bash Party

Didn’t play the first Boom Blox and frankly I have no interest, but this should be a pretty popular game…

Xbox 360

Raiden Fighters Aces

A compilation of Shoot ‘em ups. Seems pretty fun from the videos I checked. The only interesting 360-exclusive release for the month of May.

PS3

Cross Edge

Finally! Looks to be a really fun RPG with characters from Disgaea, Darkstalkers, Ar Tonelico, some other random stuff, and some new characters. The Battle mechanics look fun, so this could be worth looking into.

inFamous!

It was just announced that it was pushed up one month, coming near the end of May, and it looks really fun. If interviews about the game are to be believed, everything that LOOKS climbable is, and the lightning powers look cool. Should be a very interesting release!

PC

Crysis: Maximum Edition

It’s Crysis… Not much more to say.

Plants vs. Zombies

Zombies are quite overused recently, but whatever. Seems like a little tower defense game where you place various types of plants to kill zombies.

Multi-Platform Games

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (PS3/360/DS/PSP/PC/Wii/PS2)

This looks like it could be pretty fun. Expect much lamer version on PS2/PSP/DS/Wii, but it should be really good on PS3 and 360. The PC version is the “uncaged” edition, and I have no idea what’s different about it. If it’s well optimized (not like that lame PC version for the latest Spiderman game), it should at least be playable. Oh, and you can have the classic yellow-blue outfit, awesome

Bionic Commando (PS3/360)

The gameplay videos for this are really not convincing me, but this will at least be a rental. The ue of the robot arm might be good, and the gunplay looks… just about as good as in any third-person shooter.

Sacred 2: Fallen Angel (PS3/360)

Didn’t like the PC version much, but if you liked the first game, you should like this one too.

Left 4 Dead (Game of the Year Edition) (PC/360)

Not really a big release. All it includes is the game with all the patches up until now and the free DLC already on the disc. Nothing special… But if you don’t have L4D yet, it’s well worth checking out.

Terminator Salvation (PS3/360/DS/PSP/PC/Wii)

Well… the latest trailer was vastly unimpressive… Maybe it’s because so many games lately are third-person shooters that all play the same?

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