It’s been a humongous week for Injustice: Gods Among Us news. We’ve had two long-rumoured character reveals come to light – Ravenand Doomsday – but now, we have confirmation that the star of the Nine Network’s upcoming action programme ‘Arrow’ (has been out in the States for quite some time), Stephen Amell, has lent his likeness and voice-over to an ‘Arrow’-themed skinned version of Green Arrow in Injustice: Gods Among Us.
This skin/version can be unlocked by fans who vote on the Injustice: Gods Among Us ‘Battle Arena’ and may be available as DLC down the line. Speaking of the Battle Arena, the quarter-final match-ups have taken place and the resulting action can be seen below:
Batman vs. Wonder Woman
The Flash vs. The Joker
Aquaman vs. Green Lantern
Superman vs. Green Arrow
So, what did you guys think of the fights and their results? Disappointed by the victors? Who did you vote for/think should have won. Let us know in the comments section below. And remember to visit injustice.dccomics.comto cast your votes on all future battles. For those who are unfamiliar with the competition, its rules or the prizes at stake, go herefor more information. I will leave you with the semi-finals bracket:
Today Gust shared another video in their countdown to the PlayStation Vita release of Atelier Meruru Plus this week in Japan. The video is six minutes long and features Director Yoshito Okamura once again talking like an NPC.
This time around the video focuses on the various items players will use as well as some brief comparison shots between the PlayStation 3 version of Meruru and the Vita version. As you can see in the video below, it looks like the Vita version hasn’t suffered too much of a visual downgrade, though it appears to have blurred slightly compared to it’s console counterpart.
GameSamba has an exciting lineup of events and announcements in store for players of its Remnant Knights and Champions of Regnum MMOs.
Those who upload a video of them and their friends performing the Harlem Shake to YouTube in either game have the chance to win great prizes. Remnant Knight players can win free in game credits while Champions of Regnum can win some significant shop discounts. The contest ends on the 29th of March, so players should make sure to get their videos uploaded before then. For full contest rules and regulations click here.
From the 20th of March, Remnant Knights players will be able to participate in the week long Alien Abduction Festival. Players have to collect as many Aliens as possible to turn in for out of this world prizes. Participants can receive some pretty cool space suits and an Alien Trophy for your dorm. Fans of the game will be happy to know more wacky events are planned for the future including World Penguin Day and Amelia Earhart Day.
Remnant Knights players can now download a small RK Launcher file to access the game without using a browser. The game can still be played via the browser. To download the RK launcher click here.
Flash forward. Waicon 2013. Perth City prepares for Australia’s Anime and Manga fans, AND THAT’S WHEN THE INEVITABLE HAPPENS! I know, It sounds like the beginning of a cheesy, B-Grade, slasher flick but if there’s one thing I can say it’s that this odd, animated thriller is NOT cheesy, in fact, it’s a little bit fishy.
If you haven’t heard of “Gyo: Tokyo Fish Attack”…strap yourself in because it’s choppy out here! “Gyo” was originally a manga by artist Junji Ito but was recently turned into a full length animated movie. This crazy, new-age apocalypse story revolves around two friends who encounter aquatic creatures that have mutated and are now able to roam around on land which, when creature like Great White Sharks exist, is NOT going to go down well. I won’t say too much because our good friends at Hanabee Entertainment have organised to premier this movie at Waicon 2013!
We can’t wait to see this movie! Let me say one thing before I finish up; do NOT take this movie lightly, it’s a graphic horror story which tells us that staying out of the water will do nothing when the dangerous animals can come to you!
Fans of Toradora would be excited to hear that at ‘Game no Dengeki Kanshasai 2013 & Dengeki Bunko: Haru no Saiten 2013’ Event it was announced that the Golden Time light novel series from Toradora creator Yuyuko Takemiya will be getting an anime adaptation.
Golden Time is a romantic comedy set within a college. It follows a cast of characters that can’t seem to escape their high school past, whether it be through regrets or loss of those memories.
The light novel series launched in 2010 and has since gained quite a following. Given the success of the Toradora anime it comes as no surprise that Golden Time is getting an adaptation. Details of the anime series has not been revealed at this point in time but the fact that an anime of Golden Time has been announced is enough excitement for one day, right Takemiya fans?
Did anyone else just hear a bunch of 90’s kids gasp for air or is that just me? Don’t bother doing a double check because you read correctly! Charizard is back!
In the latest episode of Pokemon (Episode 777), named “Burn, Charizard! VS Dragonite”, Ash and Co. come across a Kanto-Themed fair where he lays eyes on a chipper, little Charmander that reminds him of a certain other Charmander that was once at his side.
With a quick call to Prof. Oak Ash requests he send his old pal Charizard to him and is once again reunited with his dearest and most powerful Pokemon. Sparks fly once Ash’s Charizard and Iris’ Dragonite meet and within an instant a rivalry is born! Two dragons; One being, by far, the biggest bancho of the Pokemon world, the other is the epitome of rage.
The coming fight will be one that viewers wont soon forget! I, for one, am extremely excited to see Charizard back in action and hopefully (Probably) kicking all sorts of arse!
Yesterday we reportedabout a special event held in Akihabara where Gust revealed that they were working on another Atelier game. At the time, we saw some small photographed footage of the game and learned that it is currently being called “Project A15.”
Well today the teaser trailer for Project A15 was uploaded to the internet and you can check it out below and an image showing the complete character design of the main character has also been revealed which you can see to the right.
Also it is now known that Hidari, the character designer for Vividred Operation, Sasami-San and Fractale, has returned to work on the character design and Rie Murakawa who voices Vividred Operation’s Aoi will be voicing the yet to be named heroine of the game. More information is still set to be released next week on March 28th’s issue of Dengeki PlayStation magazine.
Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds Developer: Division2 Publisher: 5pb Platform:XBLA Release Date:February 27, 2013 Price:800 MSP – Available Here
Overview: Many people may recognize the name Phantom Breaker but may not know where they have heard of it before. Well that is because Phantom Breaker itself is a 2D fighting game that was meant to be released over a year ago, but never made it to stores. However what has made it to digital stores at least is Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds. In what has become an interesting trend, the game has been released in the West by the original Japanese publisher 5pb. Is this unique looking 2D brawler worth your time? Let’s find out.
Story: I find myself in a rather unique situation with Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds’ story mode. You see, while knowledge of the events in the main Phantom Breaker fighting game isn’t required to enjoy Battle Grounds, it does provide some additional information and enhance the minimalistic story of PB:BG. That being said, while I was able to experience Phantom Breaker’s storyline, almost no one else has been able to.
Anyways, Phantom has continued to plague the cast of Phantom Breaker and with one of their sister’s kidnapped; Mikoto, Waka, Yuzuha and Itsuki set out on a mission to track Phantom down and rescue the sister while also putting a stop to his plans. However upon battling the first of Phantom’s minions, the girls are sucked into an alternate world where their abilities have been taken away from them and they must start from scratch.
As mentioned before, knowledge of the events in the past game isn’t required to understand the storyline for PB:BG but it certainly helps. Therefore many consumers may find that the story is not only a bit confusing and vague, but it also doesn’t play a big role in the game to begin with. It is worth noting however that all story aspects are removed from the game during co-op play, so those wanting to experience the game’s story unfortunately have to play solo.
Visuals: PB:BG has been given the old-school sprite treatment and the whole title oozes with charm thanks to this. While the enemy types may be quite repetitive, their absurd designs such as cat-eared otaku, ganguro girls, odd looking monsters and more, make up for the repetition. A lot of attention has been paid to making sure most of the game’s environments are highly detailed and anyone familiar with Japanese culture will probably recognize numerous jokes or areas in the game. Though it is worth noting that one stage does suffer from heavy palette swapping and compared to past areas in the game, it is a stark contrast of quality.
As for the characters themselves, they are presented in chibi-sprite form where they look simply fantastic. The four initial playable characters and subsequent unlockable fighters are designed exactly like their fighting game counterparts and their attack animations are fluidly handled.
Audio: While not a major player thanks to the fact that the game’s story is lost in co-op and may confuse many, it is worth noting that the game features a Japanese voice track where characters have retained their original voice actors. As for the game’s soundtrack, players are presented in high quality old-school chiptune music which fits the game’s aesthetic perfectly.
Gameplay: As players enter into the game for the first time they will be presented with an easy to learn combat system that actually is rather complex. There are various weak to strong attacks as well as special moves that can be performed with only a few button presses. In PB:BG there is a front line and a back line where players will be battling enemies and swapping between these lines can sometimes be essential for fighting tougher opponents.
Anyways, when players first start off they are given an opportunity to use their chosen character at their strongest. They will have access to their chosen fighter’s entire move-set and upgrades; however it is merely a preview of things to come since once the first level is cleared, their chosen character will be reset to level 1 with the most basic of attacks.
The only way to gain your skills back is to defeat enemies and complete levels to earn XP. Each level up provides a set number of skill points which can be used to either upgrade your character’s speed, power, defense or unlock more of their moves. The system is handled well enough though it is worth noting that if you are playing in co-op, especially online co-op, you cannot actually apply your skill points to your character. This means that if you were to go through multiple levels without taking a break you will be stuck with a very underpowered character.
The four playable characters, Mikoto, Waka, Yuzuha and Itsuki, as well as the two unlockable fighters M and Cocoa have had nearly their entire moveset transferred over from Phantom Breaker into Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds. This means that each character has a unique move-set that has numerous combo options and potential to juggle the many enemies you will come across meaning that while simply mashing X is a possibility, there are a lot of options available for players.
In Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds players are given the standard story mode, four player co-op that can be both online and local co-op, though it is worth noting that the online co-op can be a bit laggy at times and since players cannot jump into an already existing game, it is sometimes hard to find three others to play with. When playing with three local friends however, the game ran flawlessly even with four fighters on the screen at one time.
Outside of the standard arcade modes, there is a Battleground option where up to four players can choose a character and battle it out against their friends. There is also a mode that allows players to try and complete stages with the fastest time and highest score. You may have noticed that I mentioned a few unlockable characters earlier; well it is worth noting that they cannot be used in normal story mode, but they are usable in the time-attack and battleground mode.
Overall: Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds is an unconventional looking brawler that does have its faults, but beneath these faults PB:BG oozes with charm and a combat system deep enough to fit right in with a normal fighting game. With a decent amount of game-time available, a nice selection of fighters with different move-sets to play as and the option to play alongside friends in fast-paced combo packed combat Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds is a fun retro-anime beat’em up that definitely is worth a look.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Just the other day, we let you in on Yacht Club Games opening up for business. Of course these little developer was founded from some of the best at WayForward, and now we have something extremely exciting to look forward to. Yacht Club Games have now started a kickstarter for their first project by the name of Shovel Knight, which has that retro vibe we expect, as well as some interesting gameplay mechanics that will come to life as players progress.
Here is a bit more info:
Our first game is Shovel Knight, a sweeping classic action adventure game with awesome gameplay, memorable characters, and an 8-bit retro aesthetic. It’s a hot mashup of new and old that may remind you of Mega Man, Castlevania, or Dark Souls! You play as the eponymous Shovel Knight, a small knight with a huge quest. Shovel Knight has come to this valley with two goals: to defeat the evil Enchantress and save his lost beloved. He wields a ShovelBlade; a multipurpose weapon whose techniques have now been lost to the ages. Always honest and helpful, Shovel Knight is a shining example of the code of Shovelry: Slash Mercilessly and Dig Tirelessly!
I personally don’t follow the whole Kickstarter scene too much, but this is the first project in a long time that I believe in strongly. Why should you donate? Well, this is your chance to be a part of something big. Not only will you get that warm and fuzzy feeling of helping a developer with promise, but a good portion of the rewards for donating are letting you be a part of the process, with one tier allowing you to have your pixelated face in the game.
Check out the screenshots and trailer below, and go ahead- visit that Kickstarter page and hit donate if you can, as Shovel Knight is one game that should and will soon be on everybody’s radar.
The first official Mobile game based on the popular Dragon Ball Z anime has been announced.
The game is simply called “Tap Battle”and was revealed in this weeks V-Jump Magazine. Very few details were revealed about gameplay, but the magazine confirmed you can have intense battles simply by tapping the screen and that you can play against the computer or against a friend.
Dragon Ball Tap Battle will be available from the 25th of March on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) devices and higher. The game is also set to arrive on iOS at a later date. The game will cost ¥350 Yen (approx. $3.50). Unfortunately, it is not clear if the game will be available to download Internationally or only in the Japan region.
The Dragon Ball series has been seeing a revival lately on the back of the upcoming film Battle of Gods set to release at the end of this month.
Although this game probably won’t be enough to recover the bad reputation amounted by a streak of low quality game entries in the franchise, it does look like a fun distraction to play while you’re waiting for the bus. Let us know in the comments if you can’t wait to battle on your Android device!
Fans of Toradora would be excited to hear that at ‘Game no Dengeki Kanshasai 2013 & Dengeki Bunko: Haru no Saiten 2013’ Event it was announced that the Golden Time light novel series from Toradora creator Yuyuko Takemiya will be getting an anime adaptation.
