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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.
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Atomic Ninjas Announced for PS Vita
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEcWKZWhlMs&w=540&h=304] The Playstation Blog updated with a fun little game from Grip Games titled Atomic Ninja. It looks like it’ll be similar to TowerFall on the Ouya and Crash Commando for the PS3, but instead of just dying, it looks like it’ll have a mechanic similar to Super Smash Bros. that sends you flying further and further away until you hit lava or just fly off the stage. Rockets, grappling hooks, ninja…uhh circles, teeny tiny bitch slaps, and other special abilities such as sticking to walls and ceilings. The story looks bizarre as you might expect from a game that gives multiple ninjas rocket packs and pits them against one…
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Murumasa Rebirth
Originally released for the Wii as Murumasa: The Demon Blade, this enhanced edition makes for a welcome addition in the Vita’s slowly growing library. Thankfully, you can edit the controls to suit your desires in almost every possible way. I say thankfully because the default controls are a bit of a mess. The game is simply beautiful and on full display on they Vita’s stunning screen. I find that I play this game more for the graphics than the gameplay. Playing on the easier setting is far too easy while playing on the harder setting takes a lot of work to master. Once you do, instead of being rewarded with…
Handheld Gaming Reviews