February ’06 Previews
So, January pretty much sucked as far as game releases go. That’s also par for the course, but man, this month looks fantastic. We’ll finally see the much anticipated and incredibly beautiful FPS Black, a bit of portable zombie violence in the form of Resident Evil on the DS, and a chance for Capcom to redeem themselves in the portable fighter world with a Street Fighter Alpha 3 port to the PSP. It’s also (once again) a good month for RPG’s, with the release of Grandia III and Tales of Legendia. We also get to see what next-gen really looks like with Fight Night Round 3 on the 360, and boy does it look nice! So strap in, slap on the BS detectors, and take a look at the cream of the crop for the month of February!
Resident Evil: Deadly Silence for Nintendo DS
This marks the 1,303,838 (roughly) time that the original Resident Evil has seen a remake, and this time it’s heading to the touch happy Nintendo DS. The last portable Evil game was Resident Evil Gaiden way back on the Gameboy Color, and it ended up being, well, less than awesome. Resident Evil DS however, is turning out to be quite cool, with a few added features that make use of the DS capabilities, such as wiping the blood from your screen with your finger or stylus, or blowing into the microphone to breathe life back into a fallen comrade. Even though most of us really, really know the story by now, I’d have to say that this looks like it’ll be worth picking up, or at least checking out. And who knows, maybe if this game sees some proper customer support, we might be looking at an all new, strictly handheld RE adventure somewhere down the line.
Street Fighter Alpha MAX 3 for Sony PSP
Ah, its portable remake heaven this month. The newest port to Sony’s portable powerhouse is none other than a slightly retooled Street Fighter Alpha 3, redubbed MAX. After the controls fiasco with the Darkstalker port that released around the system’s launch, here’s hoping that Capcom has learned a thing or two about making their fighters D-Pad friendly. Or, better yet, let’s hold out hope that they’ll release that spiffy Japanese D-Pad cover. One can dream, right? Anyways, fighting fans should be sure to pick this up anyhow, due to the severe lack of fun fighters on the handheld at the moment, hopefully tiding you over until we can get an original fighter or two on the system that will actually be worth playing.
Tales of Legendia for PS2
The latest installment in Namco’s fantastic RPG series is this time heading to the PS2. If you’ve missed out on the series until now… well, you should really go back and play Tales of Symphonia on the Gamecube at least. If not, definitely pick this title up. The Tales games tend to be fantastic, and Legendia doesn’t look to break that mold anytime soon. Even if you’re feeling a bit bogged down by the massive amount of current RPG’s being released, take some time out of your gamer schedule to give this title a try.
Fight Night Round 3 for XBOX, PS2, PSP, XBOX 360
If you own an XBOX 360 and you’re not at least pondering picking up this boxing title from EA, you’re doing yourself a huge disservice. This game looks to deliver on the next gen promise, at least in the department of graphics, when it comes to realistic fighters, animation, and physics. Some are arguing that the game looks so real that it actually borders on ridiculous, but give the game a look and see what you think for yourself. I hardly believe that you’ll be disappointed, after all, especially when this game looks to herald in a true next gen performance.
Exit for Sony PSP
Do you remember the quirky coin op game Elevator Action? If you do, you’ll find a lot of similarities between it and this new PSP title, Exit. Not a lot has been revealed about the story so far, but the game puts you in control of a gumshoe, traveling thru floors upon floors in each level, acquiring clues and hunting down the bad guys. It’s a bit of a throwback to classic gaming, and it looks like a perfect portable title (and an original title!) for the game starved PSP.
Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure for PS2, XBOX, PC
Ah, remember this game? That’s right, the graffiti/action-adventure game from clothing designer Mark Ecko, and a game that most likely owes a lot of its creation to Jet Grind Radio. Apparently Mark has had a heavy hand in the game’s development, and after a couple of delays, it’s finally set to release this month. Whether or not it delivers on its promises remains to be seen, but at least it’s finally seeing the light of day. And since Sega seems to not feel the urge to toss another Jet Grind our way, it looks like this will be your best bet for getting your legal graffiti jones on.
Grandia III for Sony PS2
The third installment of the stellar Grandia series finally hits this month as well, and I for one cannot wait. Anyone that’s played Grandia 2 on the Dreamcast (or any of the later releases on PS2) will know exactly how I feel. This is my second most anticipated game of the month (right behind Black) and probably the only RPG that will keep me from continuing Dragon Quest 8 for a bit. If you’ve not tried out the series before, now is a perfect time to start, and Grandia III is shaping up to be an early contender for RPG of the year.
Black for PS2 and XBOX
Black is coming to us from Criterion Games, who are most likely familiar to you all as the group responsible for destroying a massive amount of cars in their previous creation, Burnout. This is their first attempt at an FPS, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at it. Providing some of the single most awesome looking explosions in a game since, well, Burnout 3, Black is shaping up to be the must get shooter of the first quarter of the year. Granted, there won’t be any multiplayer to be found, but the single player experience looks to be incredibly rich and rewarding on its own, with some of the sharpest graphics you’ll most likely ever see from both systems as their shelf life winds down. Black is my MUST BUY game of the month, and you FPS fans will not want to miss out on this title.
January ’06 Previews
So December’s come and gone, we’ve unwrapped our presents, hooked up our new gadgets, and played the hell out of whatever games we snagged from the jolly fat man.
But what’s next?
January tends to be a slow month for games. There’s not much in the way of movie based games as there won’t be any major blockbusters released, and the majority of the sports titles won’t be released for quite some time. January does tend to be a good month for a quirky title or two, though, and that’s just what we have with the Nintendo DS game, Electroplankton. Unfortunately, there’s also a few less than inspired titles hitting as well, like the GTA wannabe 25 to Life. You also have Samurai Showdown V, which isn’t anything new, but it does take the series online for the first time via Xbox Live.
Besides that, it’s a really good month for Mega Man fans, with the release of the X collection for Xbox, PS2, and Gamecube, and Maverick Hunter for the PSP. For anyone that remembers Top Cow’s series The Darkness, there’s an Xbox 360 game landing at the end of the month based on the comic as well, which might be interesting to check out.
But let’s take a look at my personal picks for the month, and what I think should be keeping you from building malformed snowmen through the month of January.
Electroplankton for Nintendo DS - Ship Date: 01/09/06
I wouldn’t call Electroplankton a game, but more of a unique way to create your own digital music. Utilizing the DS touch screen, you use the stylus to tap away at different types of creatures that act as various musical instruments and beats to create your own style of music or to attempt to emulate a background tune to the best of your abilities.
This isn’t going to be something for the average player, I’m sure, but if you ever find yourself randomly tapping keys on a piano/keyboard, or trying to jam out on a guitar or drums without really knowing what you’re doing, Electroplankton is bound to appeal to you. This one will be a bit hard to find as well, not being available anywhere other than Nintendo.com and few select online retailers when it launches, so you might want to snag it when you see it, if for nothing else than to fill out that quirky niche in your video game library.
Megaman X Collection for Xbox, PS2, and Gamecube - Ship Date: 01/10/06
This is the second Megaman Collection that Capcom has put out in the past 4 months or so, and the third all-together collection (How can anyone forget the recent Capcom Collection Vol. 1!) put out by the company so far. Megaman X debuted on the Super Nintendo fairly early in the systems shelf life, and brought about a visual overhaul for the blue bomber by creating a “new” Megaman set in the far-flung future.
Megaman X also raised the bar when it came to difficulty and level design for the series, along with brand new enemies and friends. This collection represents the first 6 in the series (they’re up to 8 now) with numbers 3 and 4 being the true highlights. If you’re a Megaman fan, or just a Capcom fan in general (like myself) then you’ll want to check out this value priced collection of some of the best 2D platforming around.
Wild Arms 4 for PS2 - Ship Date: 01/10/06
Following close on the heels of the recently released Wild Arms: Alter Code F (a remake of the PS1 original) comes the 4th entry into the Western/RPG hybrid from Sony. I’ve been a fan of the series since the original release, and even picked up Alter Code F (a very cool remake, albeit not as awesome as it should have been) last month, so I’m definitely looking forward to this. It’s easily the best RPG series that Sony has released on a consistent basis, and worth checking out if you’re a fan of the genre.
Dead Rising for Xbox 360 - Ship Date: 01/31/06
Now this is the Xbox 360 title I’ve been looking forward to. I’ve heard iffy things about the gameplay so far, but hot damn, look at all the zombies! You take on the role of a photographer trapped against a horde of the undead inside a mall (classic zombie setting, right?) as you’re forced with the moral dilemma to deliver the picturey goods to your employer or help those trapped inside with you from becoming the next meal for the walking dead.
The sheer amount of characters that the 360 is able to render onscreen make this a zombie lovers dream game, as you’ll find your character literally swarmed by a sea of zombies. You’ll use any object you can find to battle your way against the undead, which should be quite a bit of fun considering what can be found inside the modern mall. If you own a 360 (and I hate you because I don’t!) and you’re a fan of the zombie genre, then you’ve got no excuse but to pick this game up at the end of January.
Also, keep an eye out for the double pack of Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and Harmony of Dissonance for the GBA, Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X for the PSP, and the new Tomb Raider: Legend for Xbox 360 all releasing this month!
- Dustin Chadwell currently resides in Ohio, USA. He's been playing video games since the Atari 2600, and believes he can whoop anyone's ass in Joust, and Galaga. Probably not Halo 2 though. New technology tends to confuse him.