Ubisofts’ adorable party animals, Raving Rabbids have been featured in a video wishing us all a merry christmas this week.
After a successful release of Raving Rabbids: Travel In Time last month and gaining favourable reviews by many, the Rabbid’s latest adventure involves two Rabbids in cute Santa and Elf costumes, armed with a bell, slay and reigns. Viewers then witness a Rabbid making a humours attempt at convincing his reindeer decorations to take flight in true Rabbid fashion, before sending us their christmas wishes. Ubisoft also takes the time to remind us that Raving Rabbids: Travel In Time is available now, a subtle hint to pick it up for the holidays. This has become a tradition for the franchise, as fans of the series may recall a few similar videos released around this time in the last few years.
Game Name:Frenzic Platform(s): Nintendo DSiWare Publisher(s):Two Tribes Developer(s): IconFactory, Two Tribes Genre(s): Puzzle Release Date: November 29, 2010 Price: 200 Points ($2.00)
Two Tribes’ latest DSiWare title Frenzic is a puzzle game, but not quite what you would expect. Using the touchscreen, you must fill a pie-styled circle with certain colored while on a short time limit. With power-ups also in the mix, Frenzic attempts to show the DSiWare a new puzzler on the block with it’s unique style and gameplay. Here is my review.
Gameplay
Describing how Frenzic plays is kind of tough. It’s not that the game is complicated by any means, as I assure you it’s not. Frenzic is just not your typical puzzle title. When you start up Frenzic, you are greeted by a standard menu screen and with one tap, the game gets started. Everything has an extremely simplistic layout, which at first I was thinking “That’s It?”, but soon after the gameplay made me forget about every other thing that was going on as Frenzic is truly addictive.
Each game starts off with 6 blank circles surrounding a center circle. A piece will pop up in the center and you must quickly assign it to an outer circle before the timer runs down by tapping where you want to place it. Each piece is specially cut so that it looks like a pie piece with six pieces making a whole pie. The object of the game of course is to fit each piece properly and make a complete pie and keep going until you are out of lives to score as high as possible. After you fill a pie, it becomes blank and you do it all again as the speed raises. With the pieces being one of three colors, the game has you pick and choose which colored piece should be applied wherever you see fit to place it.
The whole concept is simple, but the timer is what makes Frenzic live up to it’s name. As you place pieces and fill circles, you must keep in mind two things. The first is of course the timer as it drains rather quickly so you must fit a piece in the six circles as quickly as possible. The second thing to keep in mind is the colors. When you combine a circle of all of one color, more points as well as an extra life are rewarded. It may sound simple, but the variation of pieces make this a game of strategy and reflex as past moves can come back to haunt you if you are too busy focusing on one color.
One thing I thought was great is that while lives are needed to keep in the game, you must use them as apart of your strategy. There were many times while I was playing Frenzic where I had to sacrifice a life to “skip” a wedge that didn’t fit with any of the pies on the screen. There are also pies that have power-ups attached such as a x2 score, the Nuke, which clears the board of pieces, and a timer which can slow down the game for a few seconds. Holding pieces also can come into play as well, so there is quite a bit to keep up with to fully master everything. With the game moving faster as you progress, you must utilize as many of these power ups as possible if you want to continue racking up points on the current game.
A personal score-board is also added in the game which has 7 scores for the player to achieve, all the way up to MASTER. This score-board to me made the game that much more addictive as I was trying to topple each score and playing hours at a time. The fast-paced gameplay and life system may make for shorter games, but the urge for jumping right back in each time was always there.
Graphics/Audio
Everything in Frenzic looks bright and sharp even though the standard menus are a bit simple, but none of that really mattered as I was so deep in concentration I didn’t even bother to think about menu design too much as they are not a necessity in Frenzic whatsoever. The shades of colors all really contrast really well against the colored circles so it is easy to apply full attention to the pieces and pies. The game also gives you an option to change the colors of the pieces which was a small, yet great addition which I used a lot to change things up visually.
The music in Frenzic is rather generic but it fit in well with the hectic gameplay overall and after the hours you spend playing this game, you are bound to be singing it’s tunes wherever you go. Sound effects are pleasant and also flow nicely with the game. I do feel some more variation of music would have been great as well as some sharper sounds, but as I said, the sound does not affect much of the game at all.
Overall
Frenzic was quite an experience it is really simple to learn, but as I progressed through I got better at playing it and there is an infinite amount of strategy buried underneath all of the simplicity. The whole game just feels original and for the price is well worth the 200 points spent as the game is so addictive you will never look at a real pie piece in the same way again. Frenzic is one of those titles you will want to play again and again and it would be a true shame for any puzzle fan to miss out on this hectic yet strategic title as it is a perfect fit for the DSi.
Mario Sports Mix may still be a couple months away, but Nintendo seem to be as ready as ever for their newest title to hit shelves as the company released a brand new trailer on the official Nintendo of America Twitter earlier today. As most of you know by now the title being developed by Square-Enix & Nintendo will feature all of your favorite characters such as Mario, Peach, Luigi and more from the Mario side as well as characters from Square titles like Final Fantasy & Dragon Quest such as Slimes, White and Black Mages and quite a few more (to see the full list, click this link).
Now the trailer doesn’t show off too much new, but we do get a chance to see some of the basketball/volleyball/dodgeball matches in action and honestly, everything is looking spectacular. So go ahead and check out the trailer below and we will keep you updated with more Mario Sports Mix news and tidbits we grow closer to the release date.
Sony is strongly encouraging you to support 3D. Considering that I don’t even have a HDTV yet, it is kinda hilarious. Nevertheless, it is interesting to note which developers are jumping on the bandwagon. And, in an effort to get all fancy, Playstation has compiled a list of games supportin’ actual 3D support. Here it is in all its glory, NO GLASSES REQUIRED TO READ! 😉
Auditorium*
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Enslaved: Journey to the West (via PSN software update)
EyePet
The Fight: Lights Out
Gran Turismo 5
High Velocity Bowling
Hustle Kings*
James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game
MotorStorm: 3D Rift*
NBA 2K11 (new retail version; free PSN software update coming in January 2011)
PAIN*
Prince of Persia Trilogy*
The Sly Collection
Super Stardust HD* (via PSN software update)
Swords and Soldiers*
TRON: Evolution
Tumble*
WipEout HD*
Coming in 2011
Crysis 2
de Blob 2: Underground
Dungeon Defenders*
Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection
Killzone 3
MLB 11: The Show
Mortal Kombat
MotorStorm Apocalypse
Virtua Tennis 4
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
*Indicates downloadable PSN title
Blu-ray 3D Movies
Note: Select titles appear here, for a full list of all 3D Blu-rays, refer to Blu-ray.com/3D.
Valve is well known for delaying games, but they have also recently agreed to partner with Electronic Arts to distribute their latest masterpiece, Portal 2.
“Portal 2 is Valve’s most innovative title in the company’s history and will be launched with a first-class launch campaign this April,” said Doug Lombardi, vice president of marketing at Valve. “We’re excited to be working with Electronic Arts to deliver this title as we expand our platform strategy to include the Mac and PlayStation 3 platforms.”
Portal 2 will launch on Steam on April 21, 2011. Electronic Arts will be handling the distribution of the game on Mac, Xbox 360 and PS3 through regular, retail, brick and mortar stores. However, Valve does reserve the right to delay the game at any time, so we will see.
Lara Croft: Legend and Lara Croft: Anniversary will getting their first release on Playstation 3 in 2011. Tomb Raider: Underworld will also be getting released again. All three of these games will be bundled together on a single Blu-ray for your viewing pleasure. No, not that kind of viewing. Male and female avatars for PlayStation Home and an XMB theme are rumored to be included on the bundle too. With Prince of Persia, Sly Cooper and Splinter Cell getting updated releases on PS3, what is next? What are you most excited about?
Also, if you are confused about your Tomb Raider series, here is a recap.
Crystal Dynamics reinvented Lara with the games in the collection mentioned above. A continuation of her story was available in Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, available as a digital download on Xbox, PS3 and PC. She will be be getting rebooted (new look/gameplay/etc.) in Tomb Raider, coming soon. More details here.
A little splatter here a little splatter there, bloody snowflakes in the air. Just a bit of holiday cheer to go along with the blood and gore that goes along with any mode in Splatterhouse. If you are enjoying the Survival Arena mode then you will be happy to know that Namco Bandai hasn’t forgotten about Splatterhouse because they have just released the Lost Islands DLC which will bring with it the new Lost Island Survival Arena.
The Survival Arena will bit Rick against countless enemies as they increase both in number and strength as the waves go on and on. Can you make it to the 20th wave? If you think so then you better go pick it up now on the Xbox Live Marketplace for 160 MSP or the PSN for $2 as it is available now.
I suppose after being infected for as many years as he has, and going through everything that he did in Dead Rising 1, and in the years since then would make anyone take something personally. That is what Frank West is going to be dealing with in the upcoming stand alone Dead Rising 2 epilogue Case West which releases next week on December 27th.
Again we’ll go over a bit of a recap that both Chuck Greene and Frank West will be teaming up to take on a Phenotrans facility outside of Fortune City with the hopes of obtaining evidence to prove to the world exactly what Phenotrans is doing. Expect the DLC to cost 800 MSP ($10) and is currently going to only be available on the Xbox 360. Catch the launch trailer below.
Konami has announced that Castlevania: Lords of Shadow will be given two new DLC in early 2011. Both DLC episodes will introduce new areas, monsters and more additions to the story.
The first DLC is entitled “Reverie”, and players will be returning to the game’s castle as hero Gabriel Belmont to aid Laura, who is a servant to the vampire Carmilla. Within this DLC you’ll destroy an evil that had previously been held back by the recently slain Queen; however, since she is dead it is up to you to get rid of the evil lurking in the castle.
The second DLC “Resurrection” picks up where the game’s incredible ending left off. Resurrection will provide some further knowledge about Belmont’s ultimate destiny. According to Konami, Resurrection will be larger than Reverie, and features a showdown with an old enemy.
Both DLC chapters are scheduled for early 2011, the first planned to appear in February and the second a few months later. No pricing for the DLC has been announced yet.
In the spirit of giving, and giving back, those who already contributed to the Humble Indie Bundle are going to be receiving a little bit extra for their money. The Humble Indie Bundle 2 now also contains the original Indie Bundle for free if you have already bought the second version. That means that you can now pick up World of Goo, Aquaria, Gish, Lugara HD, Penumbra Overture, and also Samarost 2 as easy as you had your original HIB2.
If you had been waiting to act on the HIB2 however then you will have to pay a little bit extra to get the first HIB. You can still pay whatever you feel like for the HIB2 but to receive the extra games that were in HIB you have to pay at least the average contribution price, or give a bit extra down the line to put your initial payment over the average. Which means that you better act fast because the average price paid will most likely continue to go up. But this isn’t about getting games for a deal, it may still be in your books, but it is also about helping sick children and this is more than enough incentive to do so.
