This is an often overlooked gem for the Gameboy Advance. Players often dismiss titles based on licensed properties, but Astro Boy Omega Factor is a fantastic game. Most of the game is a 2-D beat-em-up, but there’s a few SHMUP levels mixed in. The developers (Treasure) also found an ingenious way to extend gameplay through the multiple endings that doesn’t feel cheap by creatively using an unexpected feature. I’d say more, but don’t want to spoil it for those that might play the game since it was such a pleasant surprise.
The game is challenging, but not impossible. Highly recommended.
Shit. Have I really not updated since August?
Portrait of Ruin is the latest Castlevania game for the Nintendo DS. It follows closely in the footsteps of all the Castlevania games since Symphony of the Night, the first in the series to introduce Metroid-like exploration adventure gameplay.
So far PoR is easier than its predecessors, but that doesn’t make it any less fun. It’s easy because of its two central gimmicks. First of all, you have two characters with distinct abilities and weapon types, who you can either swap at will or have one be computer-controlled. The fact that you can have two characters attacking simultaneously, with added combined special moves, gives you a lot of added firepower and the game doesn’t really compensate for this. The second gimmick is the game’s level design. Rather than having a huge connected environment like SotN, there is a large central level that has scattered portals to smaller stand-alone levels that are fairly linear. You don’t find yourself backtracking to these small levels very often, either, especially if you explore them thoroughly the first time through.
Despite the differences, it really is just more of the same. I’d recommend it to anyone who hasn’t played any of the GBA releases or Dawn of Sorrow for the DS. If you’ve played them before and you’re not a big Castlevania fan, then you can probably skip this game.
I read something about the Final Fantasy VI release for the GBA due out next month that made me pretty excited.
As for the English version, word has it that Square Enix is mostly sticking with the game’s original localization … But it won’t be a simple rehash; memory limitations reportedly forced the SNES team to cut roughly half of the game’s Japanese script, and everything previously lost will be restored on GBA. Although the decision not to completely overhaul the dialogue will inevitably rankle some of the game’s more frothing fanatics, the resulting balance between fidelity and nostalgia should offer the full depth of the story with the charming personality of the fan-favorite translation.
(Source: 1up)
If that’s not exciting to you, then you’re obviously not an FF whore like I am.
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