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Yakuza Kiwami
Yakuza Kiwami! is Sega’s grand remake of the original PS2 Yakuza released in 2005. Utilizing the previously established fighting and graphics of engine of Yakuza 0, Sega succeeds in breathing new life into a 10-year-old classic. Story and Gameplay: Yakuza Kiwami! is a story-driven, open world, action RPG, set in Kamurocho, the fictional representation of Japan’s red-light district Kabukicho. In Yakuza Kiwami! you play as Kazuma Kiryu an Ex-Yakuza on a mission to find his long-lost love interest Yumi. On his quest Kazuma encounters a lost girl named Haruka. Haruka tells Kazuma that she is looking for her mother who is revealed to have a connection to Yumi. In search…
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Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap
When I started playing Wonder Boy, I was instantly floored by the beautiful graphics, but I ultimately hated the gameplay. It felt slow and dumbed down as if for an infant, yet the difficulty was far too high for a child of that age. Something felt off. I knew there was an old game called Wonder Boy, so I started looking into it. Wow! I felt like a complete dolt when I found out that this isn’t a sequel, but more of a 1 to 1 recreation of the original Master System game with new visuals. The game’s mechanics are identical to the original which says a lot both for…
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Yakuza 0
We asked for it and now we finally have it. Yakuza 0 has been fully localized for the US and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve played the Yakuza series religiously since the original release on the PS2, and after putting over 50 hours of gameplay into Yakuza 0 I think I may have a new favorite. One of the greatest things about Yakuza 0 is its status as a prequel. If you are new to the series, there is no better place for you to start. In this review I’d like to share my thoughts on the game and why you should give it a try. At first glance Yakuza…
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Superdimension Neptune VS Sega Hard Girls
Superdimension Neptune vs. Sega Hard Girls(SNvSHG) is is a RPG for the Vita where you play as the anthropomorphized representations of console systems & hardware. Combined from two different series (Hyperdimension Neptunia & Sega Hard Girls) that follow the same basic premise of hardware themed characters, we finally see a cross-over game as the two series go head to head, vying the girls representing modern consoles against classic Sega machines. What could go wrong? Unfortunately everything. SNvSHG suffers from a bewildering series of problems in its design, but let’s get one of the worst offenders out of the way; the frame-rate. Well the game plays at a fairly normal 30FPS,…
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King of Fighters 14
When the first trailer for KOF14 was released, there was a strong reaction in the gaming community as most people said it looked like a Playstation 2 game. SNK assured fans that it was still early on and that it would be much better looking in the final build. Trailer after trailer, the ugliness gradually faded, but it still isn’t the most gorgeous game. By switching to polygonal models, SNK left behind the absolutely gorgeous 2D graphics of the previous game. Many fans, myself included, were not expecting much from this game. We’ve seen what happened that last time they attempted to use polygonal models. KoF Maximum Impact, and it’s…
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Persona 4 Dancing All Night
Well, damn! I was not expecting to enjoy this game as much as I did. If you’re a fan of the Persona 4 characters and their story, just go out and buy it and jump feet first into the story mode. Rise Kujikawa has a new voice actress, and it has spurred a lot of stupid discussions in online forums. Basically, Laura Bailey (who played an awesome Rise and does great voicework for many projects) had a scheduling conflict and needed to be replaced. Is it a permanent switch? Who knows at this point? She’s an Atlus staple VA, and will be back for other roles for sure. My feeling…
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OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast
For the most part, I don’t consider myself a racing game fan. There are many exceptions to this rule – kart racing games, Ridge Racer, arcade racers, and of course, the OutRun series. So, when I hear that SEGA’s classic has been released on the PSP, I know that I have to pick it up. And while it isn’t the full arcade experience (and who’d honestly expect it to be?), it is still a great addition to any racing aficionado’s PSP collection and a very good entry to the series itself.
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OutRun
Ah, OutRun, one of SEGA’s classic arcade games, which ended up ported to various systems in various forms, until the release of its sequel, OutRun 2. This is one of the ports, brought to the Game Gear. Like most Game Gear ports, OutRun offers all of the fun of the original, but with decreased graphic and sound quality. Probably the first good driving game on Sega’s power-draining portable. Compared to today’s minimum standard for racing games, it’s a bit simple, but it gets the job done.
Handheld Gaming Reviews
