The genre of physics puzzler has more or less dominated the mobile gaming market ever since Angry Birds hit the AppStore back in 2009. Since then, there have been many variations on the genre, and even what could be termed “Angry Birds Clones”.
Greedy Penguins is one such variation, and one that manages to make it’s gameplay decidedly distinct from the Angry Birds franchise.
Story
As with most puzzle games past and present, the story is thin at best. The basic idea is you need to feed each penguin their favourite (matching colour) fish, afterwhich they release a pink ice-cream cone, which you then tap to deliver to the walrus, pig, or other random animal lazing around somewhere.
I don’t know why you do this, or if it makes any sense whatsoever, but you don’t play this game to learn about penguins, the human condition, or grow as a person… you play this game to excercise your brain, pit your wits against the game’s creators, and to pass the time. And it definitely succeeds in that endeavour.
Gameplay
Each puzzle provides you with a number of different coloured fish, hanging individually in ropey-net-type-things, and dares you to deliver those fish to their corresponding colour penguins. You have to roll them around the level up and down ramps, hurl them across the screen using cannons, and avoid letting them roll into the ocean below.
The controls are nice and simple. For the most part, you’re tapping on fish to free them from their nets, letting them drop, slide or fly into the gaping mouths of the greedy penguins. As you progress through the stages more obstacles and gadgets are introduced (the classic fans with switches and cannons to name a few), calling on you to put more thought into the setup and ordering of your actions to best achieve your goal.
Once a penguin receives their fish, they dive into the water, letting you send along the next fish to reach other penguins. Send the wrong fish to the wrong penguin, however and it’ll… make him “ill”, and you’ll fail the level. More on that later.
The penguin will then let their pink ice-cream cone start float skyward, which you then need to tap to send it over to that particular stage’s mascot. These mascots mainly serve as an identifier to the stage, and basically just sit in the level pulling faces and the like until you send them some ice-cream.
Once all of the penguins have been fed, you’ve completed the level, and are scored based on time taken and how many cones you grabbed. You are then presented with a fish ranking between 1 and 3, which of course go towards unlocking the next stage.
Each stage consists of 12 levels which slowly ramp up in difficulty, but largely keep things straightforward, which is a welcome change from the usual steep learning curve in these kinds of games.
The gameplay is pleasant and stays mildly challenging until only they last few levels of the final stage. That said, it is very short. There’s a total of 72 levels, but due to the lack of difficulty, you’ll be able to blast through the game in a couple of hours, tops. This won’t be an issue if you’re playing it in 5 minute intervals when you’ve got a little time to waste, but if you’ve got a lot of time to waste, you may be disappointed by the game’s length.
The time you do spend playing this game, however, will be filled with fun, mildly challenging phsyics fun.
The game can change between landscape orientations, mute buttons for music and sound effects, along with GameCentre and Crystal integration.
Audio & Visual
The game’s visual style quirky but largely stays on the cartoony side of the line. Each colour penguin and each stage mascot can be poked at any time to see a unique animation, and even have a selection of humourous idle animations and sound effects that play intermittently.
When a penguin eats something he shouldn’t, he immediately barfs it up, in a pseudo-graphic, though decidedly comical way. When a mascot eats an ice-cream, he gives a satisfied groan afterwards.
These little animations are very well put together, and do a lot to keep your interest. You even unlock new animations for the mascots as you receive more fish at the end of the levels, again, keeping you engaged with the characters and amused in general the whole time you’re playing the game.
The music, too, stays playful and unobtrusive in the background, not particularly wowing the player, but keeping you in a trance of “aww”, “teehee” and “that’s so cute“.
Overall
This game is a joy to play from beginning to end. And although it doesn’t last very long, the time you spend on it is rewarding and humourous, and serves as a great pick-me-up in the coffee break of a long day, or as an alternative to the more hardcore physics puzzlers out there.
A new addition to the lineup of the much anticipated 2D beat-em-up Skullgirls has been announced in a new trailer!
Her name is Carol, but her foes know her by Painwheel. Kidnapped by Valentine, she was taken to the Anti-Skullgirls Lab Zero, where she was implanted with the Buer Drive, Gae Bolga parasites, and some experimental Skullgirl blood, creating the monster we see today.
Controlled by Zero Lab’s own psychic director Brain Drain, she’s a raging beast who draws on her pain and fury, while deep down the scared little girl strives to fight off the dark voices that would control her.
Her likes include gardening and walking on the beach at sunset, memories of times gone by, and the colour magenta. Her dislikes include Brain Drain, Lab Zero, and her monstrous and mutilated body.
Led by fighting game champion Mike “Mike Z” Zaimont, and artist Alex “0_8” ahad, Reverge Labs is set to release the title early 2012 on XBLA and PSN.
If you are one to run away from a zombie infestation, move out the way! The rest of us have some merciless killing to do. Ever since publisher Square Enix and developer Doublesix launched All Zombies Must Die!, gamers have been slaughtering zombies with cricket bats and automatic rifles.
But now players can purchase neat All Zombies Must Die! memorabilia for their avatars on Xbox Live. Perhaps you would be interested in having a miniature pet zombie or jumping into the SWAT Zombie outfit? Zombie heads can be bought individually as well, so you do not have to change your entire outfit. Some people just love their ugly holiday sweaters too much.
Watch the All Zombies Must Die! avatar trailer below, and purchase some neat zombie material (HERE).
Bioware have revealed the system requirements for PC versions of Mass Effect 3, via the Bioware Social Network; as well as shedding a few extra details on the upcoming demo for the game, to be released on February 14th.
Despite the great graphical improvements between the original Mass Effect and its sequel, gamers should recall that the requirements didn’t change all that much between them, and it’s much the same story here:
Minimum Requirements
OS – Windows XP SP3/Vista SP1, Win 7
CPU – 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (equivalent AMD CPU)
RAM – 1GB for XP / 2GB RAM for Vista/Win 7
Disc Drive – 1x speed
Hard Drive – 15 GB of free space
Video – 256 MB* (with Pixel Shader 3.0 support)
Sound – DirectX 9.0c compatible
DirectX – DirectX 9.0c August 2009 (included)
Recommended Specs
OS – Windows XP SP3/Vista SP1, Win 7
CPU – 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (equivalent AMD CPU)
RAM – 2GB for XP / 4GB RAM for Vista/Win 7
Disc Drive – 1x speed
Hard Drive – 15 GB of free space
Video – AMD/ATI Radeon HD 4850 512 MB or greater, NVidia GeForce 9800 GT 512 MB or greater
Sound – DirectX 9.0c compatible
The post also shed new light on the demo being released next month. Two multiplayer maps will be available to those who take part in the demo before March 5th (the multiplayer portion will then be taken down), the singleplayer portions allow full creation and customisation of Shepard (but these will not carry over into the main game, so don’t obsess over whether that facial scar matches the personality of your character), and players can try out the much-touted different game modes from Mass Effect 3: “Action”, “Roleplaying”, and “Story”.
Mass Effect 3 relays into your nearest games retailer on March 6.
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend Publisher: Aksys Games Developer: Arc System Works Platforms:Xbox 360 (Reviewed, Import), PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita Release Date: February 22, 2012 Price: $48.00 – Available Here
Overview:
One of the most impressive new IPs of this console generation has to be BlazBlue, and I’ve been following it ever since it initially debuted as ‘Blaze Blue’. With the fighting genre currently being a saturation of sequels and HD remakes, BlazBlue is perhaps the only fighting franchise that’s actually still fresh and interesting.
BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger was such an amazing release at the time, and while it had only 12 characters, the sheer uniqueness in the play style of each was really impressive. Each character had their own unique fighting system, and no two combatants felt remotely alike. What really stood out in the fighting system was the Drive mechanic, a single button that allowed each character to perform their special ability. The idea was simple in concept but amazingly deep in execution. Another thing Calamity Trigger did so well was story execution, as not only was the story really interesting for a fighting game, but it was delivered nicely enough as a visual novel and the characters were pretty compelling too.
BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger would then be followed by a sequel called BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, which moved the story forward and introduced a host of awesome new characters, as well a major overhaul in play styles, mechanics, and overall balance. In 2012, we see yet another new entry in this series, but this time it comes in the form of an expansion pack, BlazBllue: Continuum Shift Extend.
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend comes to Western territories next month as a highly generous budget release (RRP here is $48). But being the eager and impatient fan that I am, I grabbed myself the Japanese version for my Japanese Xbox 360. While the game is very import friendly to anyone who has been following this series since day one, you’re still better off waiting just a bit longer for the local release. As you will learn, it will definitely be worth the wait, and the price of admission.
Story:
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend, being an expansion to the original Continuum Shift, doesn’t really move the story forward. However, the game’s story mode does have more substance as it offers new story arcs, revamped cut scenes, and more backstory. Much like the previous games, Continuum Shift Extend story mode uses a visual novel format to portray the BlazBlue lore. However, unlike previous entries, this time every playable character has their own scenario, including the characters that were DLC only in the original Continuum Shift.
The format is the same as past games, you go through several animated stills with large amount of fully voiced dialogue between characters, take part in battles, and even make choices along the way. There are multiple paths and endings for each character, and getting full completion will allow you to unlock more scenarios and the eventual final ending.
What’s cool about Continuum Shift Extend is that it includes a remastered version of the Calamity Trigger story. What you essentially get is a nicely streamlined retelling of the events that transpired in Calamity Trigger. You take part in a few key battles and witness only the true canon events that would lead up to the current setting in Continuum Sift. The remaster also introduces some new animated cut scenes, which are nicely done and portray the story in a far more entertaining and dramatic fashion.
BlazBlue has a rather fascinating lore, and while it does get a bit confusing and convoluted at times, it’s still very interesting thanks to a rather vivid cast of characters that are extremely likeable. The plot is so detailed and crazily intertwined that it warrants its own anime series, and is riddled with themes of time travel, cloning, ancient secret weapons, big political conspiracies, and a ton of extremely personal rivalries between the characters. The in-game universe really has a life of its own, with the quality and depth being something that you would expect from a role playing game.
Visuals:
Given that the graphics engine is largely unchanged from Calamity Trigger, much of the impact that it made back then is pretty much gone at this stage. Still, BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend is a visually stunning game, and is easily among the best looking and performing HD 2D games you can find. The character sprites brim with a ton of detail and animate extremely fluidly, and they blend smoothly with the high resolution 3D backgrounds and effects.
From an artistic standpoint, the game is still as amazing as always. Although nothing much has changed since the previous game, it still has a ton of flair and the character designs are still the most interesting you will see out of the genre. BlazBlue really has a style of its own, and even with things largely unchanged, there isn’t another fighting game out there that has the same amount of personality.
A cool addition on the artistic side of things is the new animated intro, courtesy of the famed animation studio Production I.G. The studio is famous for the Ghost of the Shell series and more recently the excellent Guilty Crown series. The animated sequence is well drawn and animated, and adds a little spice to the game’s presentation.
Audio:
Daisuke Ishiwatari is perhaps one of the greatest composers in the industry, with his style primarily being that of heavy metal rock. He did a fantastic job with the music of the Guilty Gear series and still continues compose for the BlazBlue series. His style has certainly evolved over the years, as his compositions now have a bit more symphonic flair to them.
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend has a mind blowing soundtrack, retaining all the great tracks used so far in the series while adding plenty of great new instrumentals and vocal themes. Among the new tracks, one that personally stands out to me is X-Mantic, which is the theme of Carl Clover vs. Relius Clover, and it’s a really dramatic and highly emotional piece filled with slow melancholic guitar riffs that captures the story of their rivalry and relationship perfectly. There are several rival theme songs like this, and they do a great job of enhancing the story presentation and making battles between certain characters more emotional.
Any fan of good heavy metal rock will appreciate the quality of the music present here, and there’s plenty of interesting symphonic fusions and other unorthodox pieces (such as the theme of Taokaka and Platinum). It’s an amazing soundtrack, and probably among the best of this generation.
Gameplay:
BlazBlue Continuum Shift Extend plays just like original Continuun Shift, but with some noticeable improvements. With fighting games, even the smallest change can do wonders in altering the game balance and flow.
Generally speaking, Continuum Shift Extend, like any BlazBlue title, plays like a dream. The mechanics are just sublime and smooth, and it allows you to chain attacks together into massive combos with great ease and fluidity. What’s great about the system is that it allows you to be creative, and you can basically improvise on the spot and not feel like you’re being restricted as is the case with most fighting games.
The gameplay mechanics are unchanged from Continuum Shift, as you still have the instant kill ‘Astral’ finishers and the Drive system that allows each character to perform their unique skill/ability. But what they have really done different this time around is alter some of the characters in terms of their moves and play styles, changes that may seem minor but actually have a significant impact on the game balance. A good example being Tsubaki, her Drive is basically a charge that strengthens her attacks, and in the original Continuum Shift she could charge fairly quickly with ease. In Continuum Shift Extend, however, she now pauses after charging each bar of the meter, and that split second pause basically exposes her to an attack. Little changes like these really shake up the overall fighting experience.
Continuum Shift Extend has 19 playable characters, all unlocked and ready to use in any mode, including all the characters that were DLC in the original Continuum Shift. Relius Clover, who in past games was a non-playable character that played a key role in the game’s story mode, now joins the list of playable characters. Much like his son, Carl Clover, he too uses a puppet (named Ignis…his wife so to speak) to assist him in combat. Relius however, is far easier to use than Carl as his general play style is pretty aggressive, allowing players to chain together rapid strikes to create some really big combos. His drive allows him to summon Ignis to perform special moves. With Carl and his puppet Nirvana, it was a lot like controlling two separate characters at the same time, but with Relius and Ignis it’s not quite like that as their dynamic/mechanic is similar to that of Litchi and Matenbo (the staff). Ignis shows up only temporarily to perform some big moves but like Nirvana, her usage is also restricted by a gauge. Another thing that’s interesting about Relius is his Astral finisher, where he basically tortures his opponent, but the torture method he uses depends on who his opponent is. Overall, Relius is an awesome addition to the cast and like any other playable character in the game, offers a truly unique combat experience.
Apart from the fleshed out Story Mode that I already discussed in detail, Continuum Shift Extend introduces some new single player modes, but they’re all pretty similar as all you really do is go up against a series of opponents. There are a few gimmicks in these new modes, such as the RPG style stat building in Abyss mode. The real purpose that these modes serve is to help you earn enough points/money to unlock artwork in the game’s rather large and impressive gallery. All the other modes from previous games are intact, such as the extremely useful tutorial and challenge modes. The online multiplayer mode is still as strong as ever, with the quality of the netcode being near perfect (if not the best you will experience in a fighting game) and this time you get some new team based match types to play around with. It’s a nice package overall, with plenty to do and unlock, and the online multiplayer will always have you hooked.
Overall:
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend, even though is just an expansion pack, is still a pretty awesome release. For one thing the price of admission is generous, and you’re getting quite the value for it. All the qualities that fans have come to love over the years are still present in full force, be it the head banging score by Daisuke Ishiwatari, the refreshing art direction, the fascinating story, or the breathtaking and masterful fighting system. Everything is present, just that it’s more refined and fleshed out than it’s ever been.
Relius Clover makes a great addition to the cast, and being a BlazBlue character, the gameplay experience he offers is unique and refreshing, and unlike anyone else in the roster. The story mode is wonderfully crafted, and it’s really convenient to have both the story of Calamity Trigger and Continuum Shift bundled together to get the complete picture of the BlazBlue lore. Not only that, but they’ve added several new story arcs and a plenty of cool animated cut scenes. The old saying “story doesn’t matter in fighting games” does not apply here, as this is one tale that you definitely want to experience, and the vibrant cast of characters will definitely win you over.
As a fighting game, BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend is still as strong as ever, as there isn’t another fighting game out there that will offer a gameplay experience quite like it. The fighting system is still as breathtaking as it’s always been, it’s just now more refined than ever before. There is plenty on offer here to keep players busy, and is endlessly repayable courtesy of the near perfect online play. BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend is an excellent accumulation of the entire series, and is the most complete and definitive BlazBlue experience.
Run Roo Run Publisher: 5th Cell Developer: 5th Cell Platforms: iPhone (Reviewed), iPad Release Date: January 12, 2012 Price: $0.99 – Available Here
Overview:
5th Cell are known for their genre breaking hit Scribblenauts, a game in which you could essentially do anything. So how do 5th Cell follow up a game that you could do anything in? It’s simply really; a game that you can only do one thing – Jump.
Run Roo Run is so simple in it’s design, yet so creative in it’s execution and style. The classic ‘jump’ gameplay is reinvented in this spellbinding iOS title for the post-Angry Birds era.
Run Roo Run breaks preconceptions attributed to the iOS by combining the best of the puzzle and platforming genres for the most creative casual game in recent memory.
Gameplay:
This game is undeniably a simple creation. The entire game is controlled with a single touch. You play as a mother Kangaroo who decides to reclaim her Joey that was kidnapped and taken to Taronga Zoo in Sydney. The mother Kangaroo must travel from Perth to Sydney, encountering obstacles along the way.
It all a very simple concept yet it is so incredibly addictive. I found myself plowing through all 420 levels and going back for more time and time again. It is honestly the most addictive casual iOS title since Angry Birds, it also has far more content available than Angry Birds as a matter of fact.
The very core of Run Roo Run is it’s attention to enjoyment. 5th Cell crafted the game to make the player feel rewarded as they progress through the game. By the time you are onto the Extreme levels and you are dying countless times, once you finally make it to the end of the level you will rejoice as you have a true feeling of accomplishment.
Don’t get me wrong, Run Roo Run isn’t all difficulty. As a matter of fact the first bunch of levels are as easy as can be in order to get the player use to the games control system and play style. This ultimately makes for an overall enjoyable play experience as you grow better as you progress, never feeling under-skilled or over-skilled.
Run Roo Run is all in all an addictive gaming experience that is perfect for on the go casual gaming.
Visuals & Audio:
Aesthetically Run Roo Run retains all the charm and quirkiness of 5th Cell’s previous work, Scribblenauts. There is a lot of style and personality in Run Roo Run and there is admittedly enough marketable material for this game to be the next massive mainstream casual hit.
The graphics are relatively simple, but simplicity is key here. The game itself is straight forward and the visuals match that, without ever being cluttered or messy. Its a beautiful game, at least as beautiful as casual iOS games can get.
The game’s audio is catchy as hell and instantly memorable. It provides a splendid backdrop to the layers that sit upon it. 5th Cell have brough the same musical spirit of Scribblenauts to Run Roo Run, creating a pleasant listening experience all around.
Overall: Run Roo Run is one of the best casual games on the iOS in a very long time and it will undoubtedly go on to become a huge mainstream success much like Angry Birds before it. It is such a simple and accessible game, anyone can play it and that is Run Roo Run’s greatest advantage over it’s large amount of competition on the iOS platform.
The game has taken a lot of well known formulas, mixed them together and watched as the sum of all of its parts exploded on screen in an experiment that went miraculously and fortunately right. There was a lot of things that could’ve went wrong with Run Roo Run but in the hands of 5th Cell, it has become the next big casual iOS title.
Run Roo Run is truly brilliant and is a must buy for all iOS owners. Run Roo Run poses one question to the iOS platform as a whole, “Why Walk when you can Run?” And with that I must say, this game deserves all the success that is coming its way.
You can check out our Gameplay Video of Run Roo Run below.
We’ve seen plenty of trailers and screenshots of Phantom Breaker since 7sixty announced that they would be bringing the unique fighting title overseas to North America. However one thing that some fans have wondered about is how the Story Mode of Phantom Breaker looks.
As such, 7sixty has provided us with these exclusive screenshots of the Phantom Breaker story mode, following both the routes of Cocoa, a girl who has grown so bored with reality that she modified her body to create her ideal form and a mysterious girl named M who has lost all her memories. Below the story mode images you can also see a new exclusive trailer below showing these two unique girls battling against one another. Who wins? Check out the fight below and keep an eye out for Phantom Breaker in stores early this year on the Xbox 360.
Chances are you’ve seen something of Squids in the App Store. An “underwater epic that stars a ragtag team of cephalopod heroes”, since release in October it’s seen over 100,000 downloads and is sitting pretty with an average rating of five stars. Topping the number one spot for RPG’s in 51 countries and the paid app category in it’s native France, the game sees players take control of an army of sea creatures to help protect their underwater kingdom.
Developers The Game Bakers have just announced that the official game soundtrack is now for sale, with the title track on offer for free. Ramping up the squidy goodness in support of the soundtrack release is a two day sale on the game itself, which has been discounted by 50% to a very tempting $0.99.
And the price of the soundtrack? Whatever you want. The 11 track album (which has fantastic cover art, above) can be downloaded here, and all the proceeds will be going straight to the independent production of the Squids sequel. Better act fast, because the pay what you want offer is for a limited time only (with a minimum cost of $4 thereafter). The purchase will include a digital art book with line notes from composer Romain Gauthier.
If you fancy checking out the game itself, click here. It’s currently compatible with all iOS devices and will see a release on Android, PC and Mac in the next few months.
Zumba fans already know that Zumba Fitness Rush is preparing to launch on February 14th, exclusively for the Kinect. Now it seems you can also look forward to the multiple add-on packs as Majesco recently detailed what we can expect with the post-launch DLC.
A three-song Bollywood style pack available in May addresses consumer demand for more of the trendy dance style and expands upon the Indian choreography in the game, and a Hip-Hop style pack out in September offers three additional songs that will include hit tracks from today’s popular artists. Each Game Add-on pack will be available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 400 Microsoft Points.
“Zumba® Fitness Rush is a truly exciting addition to the Zumba® Fitness video game franchise,” said Jesse Sutton, Chief Executive Officer, Majesco Entertainment. “This high-quality experience built for Kinect for Xbox 360 offers a wealth of exclusive content to fans, and then delivers even more post launch with multiple Game Add-on packs. The February 13th launch of Rush is the company’s largest integrated marketing program to date, and we are thrilled to have Microsoft’s support around the world to bring this exceptional product to market.”
You know, it’s kind of refreshing to see a company announce their plans ahead of time in this manner for DLC, as the fans can be aware of both the price and content ahead of time. With already 42 songs in Zumba Fitness Rush already though, there looks to be plenty of reason to snag up this latest fitness dance title when it launches next month.
In the latest issue of Famitsu, information is covered on the latest installment into the .hack// series of media. This series is well known for it’s genre spanning story, occuring across multiple platforms. The story started with .hack//SIGN, combined with the four .hack// games on the Playstation 2 and moved on to .hack//ROOTS and another three games on the Playstation 2 device.
Now, there is rumoured to be a game or series of games appearing on the Playstation 3, alongside this latest movie, in which players return to the latest iteration of The World, called FORCE:ERA. Of course, my japanese is a little awful so I’ve taken a look over at dothackers.net for more info, which you should all do as well.
Be sure to check out the original article at Famitsu for more information. It is worthwhile just for the artwork.
