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Castlevania: Circle Of The Moon
Castlevania. A name well-recognized by gamers of all ages. As Konami’s first Castlevania game on the Gameboy Advance, Circle of the Moon had a lot to live up to. Did it succeed? Read on to find out.
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Biomotor Unitron
There’s a common stereotype when it comes to the NGPC, that it’s got nothing good besides 2D fighters on it. That’s a fair exaggeration in regards to the system’s library; at most, only half of the Neo Geo Pocket’s games were fighting games. Of course, several genres made appearances on SNK’s handheld: board games (King of Fighters: Battle de Paradise), shoot-‘em-ups (Cotton), even a few sports titles (Pocket Tennis, Neo Turf Masters, Baseball Stars), but there are two in particular that could be called the NGPC’s unsung genres: puzzle games and RPGs. Of course, the latter isn’t completely forgotten; Card Fighters’ Clash is one of the two games most commonly…
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Brave Story: New Traveler
We all know what it takes to make a good RPG. It’s really not that hard. Make the character models look unique, the dungeons varied, and throw in some level grind goodness but don’t make it too tedious or too frequent. Take this, coupled with a story that captivates the game playing audience, and you’ve got something that will satisfy most RPG nerds.
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River City Ransom EX
If there’s one series that has a really convoluted history when it comes to American translations, it’s got to be the Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun [“Hot Blooded Tough Guy Kunio”] games. Broken up by several American publishers, it serves as the root for such NES classics as Renegade, Super Dodge Ball, Nintendo World Cup and my personal favorite of the games, River City Ransom: a cult classic and arguably one of the – if not THE – best beat-‘em-ups ever conceived for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. So, imagine my surprise when I heard the game was being remade for the Game Boy Advance. Does that last line seem familiar? Well,…
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Celebrating Portable Review’s Imminent Return
After my attempts to reunite the old crew fell through, I came up with an idea. Since everyone is currently unavailable, I asked them if I could re-publish their old work. Those I was able to get in touch with are on board with the idea, so I’m here to introduce you all to Portable Review Classics. Each review will be filed by system and the tag “Classics”.
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Black Rock Shooter
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCOX4Y7bykI&w=540&h=304] I never watched the Black Rock Shooter anime prior to playing the game. I didn’t know what to expect, so going by the name alone, I thought it would be a bad first person shooter with a generic anime paint job. By playing the game, I discovered the show, and now I’m hooked. I’m also a bit hung up on the game. I started the game with only the intent to review it, but as I played it, I got caught up in the gameplay. I really don’t know how to review this. Is it an RPG, an action game, or a 3rd person shooter?
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Why Don’t You Do 3DS Reviews?
Someone asked me why I don’t review 3DS games. The short and honest answer is that I just don’t have many of them. The games I do have are Luigi’s Mansion, Fire Emblem, and Art Academy. I also have all of the Mii Plaza games. It also doesn’t help much that none of my contacts have sent me any 3DS games to review while I’ve gotten a bunch of Vita titles to review.
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Tearaway Gets Release Date
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3tKip_HD0o&w=540&h=304] Originally scheduled to release sometime in mid-October, the team needed a little more time to iron out the wrinkles. The good news is that they have announced an official date for its release, November 22. One month isn’t that long to wait for a more polished game. I honestly like it when I hear a developer say that the game will be done “when it’s ready”. We almost always get a better game when they are allowed that extra time.
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Small Shadowrun Induced Delay
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFYsQ0M2Jrg&w=540&h=304] In the unlikely case that there is anyone waiting on baited breath to read my next review, I’m sorry for the delay. You see, about a year ago, I backed a little project called Shadowrun Returns. It released on the 25th of July and I’ve been spending a good deal of time with it. Everything else was put on hold as I wanted to take it all in. Now that I’ve taken it all in, I have to get it off my chest. After this, I assure you that Portable Review will be all about portable stuff. Hell, maybe I’ll review this when it comes out for iOS/Android platforms.
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Stealth Inc. Is A Real Bastard
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JyQJARvlR0&w=540&h=304] I hate this game so much. Not because it’s a bad game, but because it’s so frustratingly good. The controls are toddler simple using nothing more than left, right, jump, and duck. It seems so easy at the start, but like any good puzzle game, the simple stages serve as prep courses for things to come. It was about the 4th boss level where I got completely stumped and had to look for a solve on YouTube. My utter incompetence is forever thankful to the internet jockeys who managed to tackle this long before I got my hands on it.
Handheld Gaming Reviews