Yuna and friends rise again with an updated edition of Final Fantasy X-2 dubbed the "International" version. FFX-2 International is basically the USA version of the game with English voices but Japanese subtitles, text, and menu options only. A gaggle of new game modes also make the new release worthwhile for return buyers.
Two new costume modes are featured in the game: Psychicer - where players may use arcane arts in battle and an "Ultimania Omega" mode. The "Last Mission" mode takes place 3 months after the events of FFX-2 where players take on the Tower of Yadonoki. Although the voices in the FFX-2I game proper are in English, note that the voices in Last Mission are only in Japanese.
A Monster Taming Mode in the game gives players the chance to capture enemy monsters and corral them into the party. Monster hunting is accomplished by laying traps on a world map. Eventually, a hapless beast will fall into your trap and become a guinea pig for your monster raising exercise. Once trained, a monster may be pitted against others in a fighting arena for winnings and acclaim.
Relive the days of Street Fighter tourneys, dizzy effects, redizzies and experience once again, the depth of the old school SF games sans the rolls of quarters, cigarette smoke, surly challengers and other hazards of the olden arcades. Similar to the gaming scheme found in Vampire Chronicle for Dreamcast, Capcom reaches back in time and gathers together all of the World Warriors found in various versions and iterations of Street Fighter II into one comprehensive fighting game. It's a veritable Street Fighter melting pot with a bunch of bonus material to boot.
For example, one may select an original fighter from Street Fighter II (1991) and pit it against a stronger Ryu, Chun-Li or Ken from Super Street Fighter II Turbo to determine rank. The character versions represented include the original Street Fighter II World Warriors (1991), Champion Edition (1992), Turbo (1992), Super Street Fighter II (1993) and Super Street Fighter II Turbo (1994) which break down into five possible versions of each character as follows: World Warrior (Normal), Dash, Turbo, Super, and Super X. The speed of the game is selectable and may be toggled between four levels of turbo speed.
The third Narutimett Hero game runs faster, smoother, and more robust than the previous releases. In the Versus and Practice modes, up to 40 fighters are in the roster but only 19 are playable from the outset of the game - the other 21 require unlocking.
To follow Naruto's story from the beginning with the 9-Tailed Fox Demon threat through important scenes from the animation, the Story Mode provides gamers with a roundup of Naruto's greatest hits. The first battle against Kakashi is a training match where sensei reads a book and hums to himself as Naruto tries his darndest to beat sensei with a flurry of punches and doppleganger chains. Similar to previous Narutimett games, each fighter has a standard attack, a shuriken throw, a guard move, and rapid-fire combos that may be chained together in fluid motion.
Narutimett Hero 3 also contains an adventure game mode and mini-games including one where Naruto races up a tree against another player or a COM-controlled Sakura. The mini-game is viewed in 3D from behind Naruto so he's seen running upwards into the tree and moving from left to right while grabbing 1-up bonuses and avoiding falling rocks. If Naruto smacks into a branch, he'll stop for a spell while Sakura continues higher.
Create pixel-perfect images with logical reasoning and a stylus. That's it. By using the numerical clues on the top and side of the grid, players fill in blocks to create pictures.
For example, if you're working on a 5x5 grid of blocks and one of the cues has the 5 number on the side, the entire row of blocks is filled in. From there, look at the top and side numbers to hunt and peck the blocks and fill them in appropriately. Further, if the number on the side is 1 2, that means there's one block filled in on the row followed by a 2-block fill-in elsewhere along the line. By using reasoning and process of elimination, the rest of the blocks are gradually filled in by way of common sense and row/column inspection. «NCS Game Notes»
Taito digs deep and unearths 25 games from their esteemed library. The collection of software in Taito Memories II Vol. 1 spans nearly two decades and includes enjoyable shooters such as Scramble Formation, Darius II, and the mighty Rayforce.
01) Space Chaser 1979
02) Grand Champion 1981
03) Time Tunnel 1982
04) The Athlete 1984
05) Ben Bero Bee 1984
06) Return of the Invaders 1985
07) Gladiator 1986
08) Kick And Run 1986
09) Scramble Formation 1986
10) Exzisus 1987
11) Super Qix 1987
12) Rainbow Islands 1987
13) Operation Thunderbolt 1988 14) Continental Circus 1988
15) Chuka Taisen 1988
16) Asuka & Asuka 1989
17) S.C.I. 1989
18) Darius II 1989
19) Champion Wrestler 1989
20) Fighting Hawk 1989
21) Space Gun 1990
22) Ninja Kids 1990
23) Dino Rex 1992
24) Rayforce 1994
25) Bubble Memories 1996
Bonus Item: All orders will include a bonus 28-page booklet which checks out old flyers and historical data on all of the games featured in Taito Memories II.
When monsters and other ungainly creatures invade the holy city of Antinopolis in the year 165, the Roman Emperor Hadrian calls upon heroes to cleanse it of the unwanted invaders. Venture deep into the catacombs and dungeons beneath Antinopolis and use slashing action to dispatch the beasts.
At the outset of the adventure, players may select a hero from four archetypes (as shown on the game cover) and edit colors accordingly. There's a character called High Lander who's muscular and carries a magnificent sword, a red-headed Amazoness who hefts bow and arrow, a Gladiator who looks like an Onimusha hero, and an almost naked and full-bosomed Dark Sercher who fights with a sword and carries a big shield. Once the character choice has been selected and given a name, head over to the dungeon to the southwest of your current position and battle rodents who bite and leap like Mexican jumping beans... with teeth.
The action runs fast and vicious with enemies approaching in steady waves and collaborating with each other to gang up on the player. When attacking a group of monsters that attempt a swarming tactic, the hero can move around like a whirling dervish swinging a weapon. Low-to-the-ground creatures which look like rodents are called Chumps, muscle-bound bruisers are called Skull Maniacs, insect-like creatures are Dark Rustle, zombie look-alikes are Residents (interesting), and there's a red-skinned fighter called a Minotaur which is exactly that - a minotaur. «NCS Game Notes»
NCS' first exposure to Koei's Mahjong Taikai series was a JPY10,800 Super Famicom cartridge dubbed "Super Mahjong Taikai" way back in 1992. Prior to that, Koei debuted the very first Mahjong Taikai game on the 8-bit Famicom in 1989. Through the ensuing years, incarnations and updates of the game have been released on the Saturn, Playstation, Dreamcast, and the PSP. A Playstation 3 version was released last year and it's only fair that Koei show love to the Wii as well.
Mahjong pits four players against each other in their respective bids to build hands of three matching or sequential tiles. At the start of the game, an invisible dealer doles out 13 tiles to each player which are automatically assembled in rows. From there, each player takes a turn taking a new tile per round and then keeping it to build a hand or throwing it back out into the communal pile for anyone to take to complete their own hand.
The Wii version of Mahjong Taikai features one-handed gameplay where the Wiimote is used to control the entire function of MJ-playing. The opponents in the game consist of 23 hard-edged professional players who all wear poker faces. In this crowd, a smile is difficult to find. Players may set the rules of the game and also enjoy a Free Mode.
The PS2 Wild Arms Vth Vanguard game shipped on December 14, 2006 and Vance Project involves themselves by shipping a set of Pinky Street figures based on the lead heroines from the game.
On the left, Rebecca Streisand sports a pair of ruddy pigtails tied together with yellow ribbons and wears a pink/white ensemble. Rebecca has what we have come to know as "crazy eyes" which are generally signs of insanity. On the right, Avalil Van Freul keeps her wheat-colored locks in place with a hair-braid and dresses up in a fancy schmancy green-blue-yellow outfit with matching boots. She hefts a sword in her right hand and peers at the world with a pair of sedate eyes. Less crazy. The two figures are bundled together in the Wild Arms Vth Vanguard Pinky Street set which includes the weapons shown and display discs for each figure.
