14 years ago
Nin2-Jump review (XBLA)
Nin2-Jump was developed by Cave and retails for 400 MSP.
Nin2-Jump (pronounced Nin-Nin-Jump) is a platformer that comes from an unlikely heritage. It was developed by Cave, a developer famous for one thing: bullet hell shooters. It’s not hard to see where this influenced the game in many places. But in releasing Nin2-Jump Cave has proven that they can produce competent games in other genres.
Much like a shooter, the story here is razor thin. You are a ninja. Your goal is to save the princess. You achieve this by collecting scrolls and destroying bosses. While this all sounds familiar it is enough to drive the game, and it is the gameplay that matters.
14 years ago
‘Splosion Man Rewind Review
‘Splosion Man was developed by Twisted Pixel Games and retails for 800 MSP. It was released July 22, 2009.
‘Splosion Man is a platform jumping game in which our hero must escape the lab where he was created. He is armed with only one weapon: the ability to repeatedly explode himself, or “splode”. When he does, he is launched into the air. This is, in effect, his jump and attack rolled into one. He can splode three times in succession and splode off of walls to get where he needs to go.
This simple mechanic is quick to pick up and carries our hero through the many difficulties that follow. And there are many traps waiting: acid, attack robots, lasers, and giant vices to name a few. But there is always a unique answer to each problem. Simply put, this game gets platforming right.
14 years ago
Soulcaster 2 review (XBLIG)
Soulcaster 2 was developed by Magical Time Bean and retails for 240 MSP. A copy of the game was provided for review purposes.
Soulcaster 2 is a retro combination of tower defense, rpg, and action-adventure gaming. It was released by Magical Time Bean in December 2010. Soulcaster 2 puts the player in the role of the soulcaster. But it is the souls that are the real stars of the show. The soulcaster, for all his power, is essentially helpless. He must summon the souls of ancient warriors to defend him. These come in three archetypical forms. The warrior excels at close quarters combat and plugging small pathways that would otherwise be streaming with enemies. With the enemies held at bay the archer can safely pick off enemies if she has a clear line of sight. Finally the alchemist lobs explosives over obstacles to cause area of effect damage.
These three souls are the soulcaster’s only defense while navigating some seriously treacherous terrain. The souls all have three attributes that can be powered up using the money collected on the field, hence the rpg element. But the souls must remain stationary and fight from their assigned position for the tower defense element. Only the soulcaster is free to roam the battlefield which is a good thing because the situation will get too dicey for him to stay put anyway.
14 years ago
Rewind Review: Ikaruga (XBLA)
Ikaruga is a vertical shooter developed by Treasure and released on Xbox Live Arcade April 9, 2008. The game is a port of the arcade original that was released 2001. It also received a Japan-only port to the Dreamcast and a much later port to the GameCube in the US. With so many versions, why should we be concerned about yet another one? The answer is simple – this is the definitive version of the game.