About James Heiger

Battle High: San Bruno was developed by Mattrified Games and retails for 80 MSP. A copy of the game was provided for review purposes.

Battle High: San Bruno is a one-on-one fighting game akin to classics such as Street Fighter 2 and The King of Fighters. It was originally released in February 2011 but has since undergone a revision and has been named one of the finalists of the Indie Summer Uprising. Battle High is the sum of years of fighting game tropes put together. What it lacks in originality it makes up for in playability. It even benefits from the classic story of competing high school students ripped straight from Rival Schools. The inspirations for this game are many. In fact Battle High really reminds us of classic Neo-Geo fighting game Rage of the Dragons. But does this game have enough to excite fighting game fans?

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The Baconing was developed by Hothead Games and published by Valcon Games. It retails for 1200 MSP. A copy of the game was provided for review purposes.

The Baconing is the third installment in the DeathSpank series. Why it isn’t simply called DeathSpank 3 is a mystery but with a game this over the top it only seems appropriate. This game has the hero DeathSpank seeking to destroy the Thongs of Virtue by burning them in bacon fire. This mission will branch of into countless other directions as the citizens of the world give DeathSpank other quests to do as well. Those familiar with the series know about the over the top humor of the game and frantic combat of the game. But is this installment enough to win over the uninitiated?

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R-Type: Dimensions was developed by Southend Interactive and published by Tozai Games. It retails for 1200 MSP and was released February 4, 2009.

R-Type: Dimensions is an HD remake of R-Type released in 1987 and R-Type 2 released in 1989. They are both horizontal shooters which, along with the Gradius series, defined the genre. For those who don’t know the genre is defined by brutal difficulty, mandatory memorization, tactical gameplay, and blowing up aliens. In R-Type: Dimensions you control one ship against the entire Bydo alien race. The Sci-Fi space theme works well and lends itself to crazy bosses and enemies. R-Type’s historical importance is without question, but it is also one of the few games that old that still holds up to modern gameplay standards.

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Lair of the Evildoer was developed by Going Loud Studios and retails for 80 MSP. A copy of the game was provided for review purposes.

Lair of the Evil Doer is a twin stick shooter with some roguelike elements as well. You are the rejected creation of an evil doctor who has decided to fight for his life rather than be terminated. To survive you must explore floor after procedurally generated floor. Along the way you collect new and improved weapons and level yourself up as well. The RPG elements are fairly solid which adds a lot to the game. It also has a lot of oddball humor scattered throughout the game.

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The Ms. Splosion Man table for Pinball FX 2 was developed by Zen Studios and retails for 240 MSP. It will release on August 31, 2011. A copy of the table was provided for review purposes.

Ms. Splosion Man is the latest table for Pinball FX 2 and the first non-Marvel table in some time. This time the theme is none other than the Twisted Pixel heroine, Ms. Splosion Man. But instead of platform action this battle will be won with a silver ball and a pair of flippers. Ms. Splosion Man must battle the agents of Big Science and Mr. Destructoid himself if there is to be any hope of rescuing Splosion Man. This table is rather short in length but doesn’t play particularly fast. It’s in the middle of the line as far as difficulty goes compared to other tables in the series.

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Zombies Ruined My Day was developed by Mancebo Games and retails for 80 MSP. A copy of the game was provided for review purposes.

Zombies Ruined My Day tells the tale of one man who finally got a date with his dream girl, only to have it completely upstaged by a zombie apocalypse. He has only two options, be eaten or save his girlfriend and the world. He chooses the latter and that’s where the game starts off. In Zombies your goal is to mow down hundreds of zombies while staying alive and rescuing survivors. Each level has a set number of zombies that come out in waves. The trick is figuring out which zombies to kill first and how best to do it. Fortunately there is plenty of firepower to help even the overwhelming odds.

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Aban Hawkins and the 1000 Spikes was developed by 8 Bits Fanatics and retails for 80 MSP.

Aban Hawkins is a classically inspired platformer with a penchant for pain. The games protagonist, Aban, has a strange name and an Indiana Jones identity crisis. He is trekking through dangerous ancient temples searching for treasure. Saying his job is extremely dangerous is an understatement as every step tends to bring impending doom upon him. At its heart this is a simple platformer that ramps up the difficulty very rapidly. It is likely to elicit rage and laughter all at once since it is so sadistic.

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Seizonrenda was developed by Inland Studios. It was released October 30, 2010 and retails for 80 MSP. A copy of the game was provided for review purposes.

Seizonrenda is a twin stick shooter taking place on a barren moon. The goal of the game is to survive and score points. Waves of floating asteroids and sentient enemies continually fall to the moon in increasingly complex patterns. The action is fast and gets complicated quickly as more and more enemies pile onto the screen.

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A new race wheel is coming out for the Xbox 360. But it isn’t just any race wheel; it is a licensed Ferrari 458 Italia racing wheel …
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Not all XBLIG’s are created equal. So when one comes out that looks great it is worth mentioning. Brand by Nine Dots Studio in particular looks awesome. The gameplay …
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