During the early 90’s, Delphine Software and Electronic Arts released a little fighting game onto the Sega Genesis and SNES that would gain a most infamous reputation. Shaq Fu, as the name would imply, features Shaquille O’Neal battling his way through an alternate dimension in order to save a young boy from an evil mummy. The game would receive mixed reviews, and in preparing for this review, I had to go back and play it again. While I do think […]
This year may be the year of the anime fighter. With Dragon Ball FighterZ being wildly successful, it has opened the door for other series to get a bit more exposure. BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle (referred to henceforth as BBTAG) is another fighter from Arc System Works that takes a slightly different approach to the genre. For the most part, it’s very successful at what it attempts.
More and more we see games trying to include as much content as possible in the hopes of appealing to a wider market. The problem with this sort of approach is you end up with a game that while it may be good, it isn’t as good as it could have been had the developers known exactly what it was and focused their efforts on that one aspect. It’s rare these days that a game will try to do just […]
Titan Quest has long been loved on the PC for its blending of mythologies into one whimsical and unique Action-RPG setting. After more than a decade, Titan Quest finally makes its way to consoles. The transition hasn’t been flawless, but for the most part it translated very well to the consoles. What Is It? The mythical Titans have escaped from their prison. The Gods of the world are unable to contain them. It’s up to you to create a hero […]
2017 has been great for games–a little less so for me playing them. Still, I’ve managed to play a few I rather enjoyed.
This review is not going to be what you expect. We have a format on SmashPad that we usually follow. For this game though, we decided to run with an idea I had. Many reviews and pundits talk about the bad practices in the gaming industry in a cut-and-dry way, ignoring the fact that on the other end of the screen is a real person. I decided to approach this review from that angle, and just write a letter to […]
While the NASCAR license has had a long and hard road behind it in the video games industry with its highs and lows, it’s still a racing franchise that people want to play. Monster Games is the latest developer to take a shot at this property and it’s remarkably solid for a second outing. What Is It? NASCAR Heat 2 is a sequel to last year’s NASCAR Heat Evolution. It builds on the groundwork laid by that game and greatly […]
Telltale’s narrative driven adventure games have been making a name for themselves by allowing players to step into their favorite worlds and get more than a cursory glimpse into its inhabitants. Be it Game of Thrones, Batman, or The Walking Dead, character development and decisions that carry over from one episode to another are what have made them popular. Now Telltale has taken a crack at Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. I’m happy to say that they’ve done another excellent […]
As I sit here playing Double Dragon IV, I can’t help but look over at the calendar to make sure it is in fact the year 2017. I may be playing this game on the PlayStation 4, but it certainly feels like I could be playing it on my old CRT TV in my bedroom back in 1989. Double Dragon IV is a throwback game, and there is nothing wrong with that.
2016 was a great year for games in general, but not so great for me. As I look back at the games I’ve played and reviewed this year, it was hard for me to pick ten that really stood out. I didn’t want to just pick the games I gave the highest scores to, as I wanted to make this list about the games that I truly enjoyed and continue to enjoy. I ended up settling on five games that […]
When Rock Band 4 launched last year, it was met with mixed reviews. Most of the criticism was centered around the lack of modes and content. A lot of the features from Rock Band 3 didn’t make it into the new game, and players felt that they were being charged full price for a Beta. Harmonix kept on working on the game, releasing numerous updates which added in much of what was missing initially. With the Rivals expansion pack, they […]
Folks, we’ve got to face the facts. As we get older, we get progressively crankier. Things that used to bring us joy now grate on our nerves. We wonder about the ‘the kids these days’ and lament about how things were better when we were younger. Well, Zenith is a game that speaks directly to us old farts.
