Yakuza

Platform: PlayStation 2
Publisher: Sega
Review Type: Touchy
Version: Retail


My review of Yakuza is up at the A.V. Club.

This is a game I was really psyched for. Being a fan of Japanese cinema I hoped for an experience close to being in a Kinji Fukasaku or Takeshi Kitano flick. Sadly, the game turned out more like Shenmue with more fighting and only slightly better voice acting. I think the review does a good job of explaing why the game comes close, but doesn't earn my recommendation.

Read the full review here.

Afrika

Platform: PlayStation 3
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Japan
Review Type: Looky
Version: Tokyo Game Show Trailer


The Tokyo Game Show, Japan's version of E3, just wrapped up last week. This was Sony's big chance to make up for all the negative press they got coming out of E3. And though they didn't make up much lost ground at their press conference, they still managed to get people excited about their console again. And it was video that did it.

People want to believe that the huge stack of money they spend on the PlayStation 3 is going to show up on screen by way of dazzling HD graphics. Check out the trailer for Afrika and see why gamers are starting to come around.

According to early news, Afrika is a non-violent game. Most are guessing that it's a virtual safari, which is cool by me. I dig games for their ability to transport me to new places. One that puts me face to face with an irate rhino sounds like as good a break as any from the same old space marine and cosplay fantasies we've been getting lately.

Check out the trailer here.

Metal Wolf Chaos

Platform: Xbox
Publisher: From Software
Review Type: Looky
Version: Trailer


For all you Nettertainment readers, here's a couple of clips you might get a kick out of. Metal Wolf Chaos is a Japan-only action game that casts the President of the United States as a rogue mech pilot. It's not uncommon to see a heightened version of the American cowboy reflected back to us in the mirror of Japanese video games. But there's something really special about witnessing the POTUS gleefully scream, "Let's party! Welcome to the White House!" as his fighting machine summersaults from the second story of the portico.

Video
And another Video

New Review

Oh, snap!

My first game review for The Onion A.V. Club is up!

Read my review of Star Fox Command.

Tony Hawk Project 8

Platform: PS3, Xbox 360
Publisher: Activision
Review Type: Looky
Version: Trailer


One thing the Tony Hawk games have always been good at is tricks. The series made it easy to skate your own line, peppering your run with grinds, flips and arials at your own discretion. You could actually develop a virtual skating style.

Lately, the series has veered off course. The last three games have focused a little too heavily on story and creating a free-roaming envoironment, when all they really needed to do was keep delivering imaginative levels and developing trick innovations like the manual and the revert.

This new video of Tony Hawk Project 8 is an awesome example of the kind of trick-centric focus that ought to help get the series back on course. I dig the way the camera closes in on the feet during ollies. It's like bullet time for skateboarding, but instead of busting caps, the player uses the dual analog sticks to create kick flips on the fly. Huge environments are great, but when you're skateboarding most of the action takes place below the belt. It's nice to see Neversoft making this realization.

Video page here. Scroll down for "Nail the Trick"

Late to the Party: 20th Anniversary Gameboy Micro

Platform: GameBoy Micro
Manufacturer: Nintendo
Review Type: Touchy
Version: Retail

Drill Dozer wasn't the only thing I picked up in Fry's last week. In anticipation of the copies of Rhythm Heaven and Sound Voyager that YesAsia is sending my way, I snagged the shrunken-down, Famicom-flavored version of the GBA. I'm sure both games would play great on my DS Lite, but I'm using them as a bizarre kind of justification for this redundant piece of electronics.

And though this brings the number of devices in my home capable of playing GBA carts to a whopping eight, I'm still not feeling buyer's remorse. The thing is made of metal for Christ's sake! And it's retro-toned gold and red metal at that. The screen is tiny by all acounts, but its reasonably bright and the compact image sorta erases all the flaws in the last gen graphics. I'd have bought this thing sooner if it were a tiny bit cheaper. $89.99 is steep considering the fact that the DS Lite is only 40 bucks more.

I've decided to turn the fact that few gamers opted to buy into the GameBoy Micro to my favor. I'm the only kid on the block with this shiny, metal sucker. And soon I'll be playing glorious Japanese imports on it.

Recommended

Late to the Party: Drill Dozer

Platform: GameBoy Advance
Publisher: Nintendo
Review Type: Touchy
Version: Retail

Who woulda thunk it? Within the last ten days I've purchased three brand-new GBA games. Two are in the mail, so I'll be getting to them later. But last week I snagged a copy of Drill Dozer (at full price, no less) from Fry's and have been playing it pretty regularly since.

The game had been the toast of the NeoGaf boards for quite a while after it came out, but I couldn't seem to get around the idea of buying a GBA game when there were so many DS games to play. I've since learned the error of my ways. Drill Dozer is a fantastic example of the kind of creativity that can be applied to staid and stale gaming genres. The game is essentially a platformer -- the kind of game that publishers have been shoveling onto portables for ages. But the game's clever multi-gear drilling mechanic makes the old feel startlingly new again. Shoulder buttons rotate your drill, allowing you to bore through walls, furniture and, of course, enemies. Later you aquire gears that allow you to jump up the torque on your bit and push through tougher walls.

I can always tell a game is doing more than washing over me when I start to integrate it into my internal life. When I was playing GoldenEye I would imagine shooting out the security cameras wherever I went. For Tetris or Lumines, I'd see puzzle opportunities in everyday block-shaped objects. Lately, amid the white noise of the shower or the ambient hum in the car I can hear the high pitched whine of Jill's drill as it gears up. I'm hooked.

Recommended

Gunpey Rebirth

Platform: Nintendo DS
Publisher: Namco-Bandai
Review Type: Looky
Version: Website


At this point new games from Tetsuya Mizaguchi are old news. The cat is nothing if not busy. And games like 99 Nights suggest that he's spread a little thin. So pardon me if I'm not inspired to do backflips at the guy's name any more.

Regardless, Mizaguchi is still pushing cool stuff in our direction. Gunpey Rebirth is an update of an old block-pushing puzzler -- one so obscure that it doesn't even merit a wikipedia entry. So here's the interesting part: tncluded with the game will be a simple sequencer that players can use to create their own music.

A_Lee_N of NeoGAF has posted a couple video grabs of the sequencer in action.

Official Site