Review: Dustforce (PS3)

Dustforce is the kind of indie game that harkens back to the days of the NES, ColecoVision, and my Commodore '64. The basic game design is one part Ninja Gaiden, one part Miner 2049er, and one part Impossible Mission – you must clean up all surfaces of a level using your character's acrobatics and defeat dust covered enemies in the final room.

Simple character design and visuals run counter to the complex level design which will taunt you to try and beat it with not only a fast run, but a perfect one. Death is a minor concern as you'll always be transported back a bit in your playthrough with a chance to retry before your mistake.

Review: A-Men 2 (PS Vita)

A-Men 2 is a game that suffers from murky instructions, ho-hum graphics and a difficulty curve so steep you may as well just jump off a cliff. It’d be a whole other matter if the game gradually introduced mechanics in a clever and subtle way, which sadly is not something A-Men 2 does well.

Review: Guacamelee! (PS3)

Perhaps the lasting legacy of this generation of consoles will be the rise of independent (indie) development studios.

At a time when big game studios appear to be struggling in a sluggish economy, indie developers seem to have flourished. Sony, Microsoft and Apple have made it easy for these developers bring their works to the masses. 2012 was a great example as the indie game, Journey, took home many game of the year awards.

Drinkbox Studios new title, Guacamelee! feels like another title that should get a lot of attention from gamers.

Review: Capcom Cabinet Pack 2 (PSN, XBLA)

Ghouls and Ghosts

Capcom has been making games skilled at eating up your quarters for decades. So there's nothing more satisfying than being able to re-visit some of the classics that we remember, this time with unlimited quarters! You aren't taking my entire allowance in one sitting this time, Capcom!

Groups of games are being released in batches – last month we got Black Tiger, 1943, and Avenger and this batch we get the amazing Ghouls and Ghosts, Section Z and Gun.Smoke.

Review: Fuel Overdose (PS3)

Fuel Overdose fondly recalls one of my favorite Nintendo games – RC Pro AM: an overhead view combat race where leading the race may not be the smartest option. Each racer comes packing some serious weaponry – machine guns, mines, rockets, grappling hooks and a specific set of power moves that they can unleash.

Feature: This Generation - Part III

Left 4 Dead 2

For the purposes of these features, "This Generation" refers to software found on the following hardware: Wii, DS/3DS, PSP, Playstation 3, and Xbox 360. Trends found on the PC platform will be addressed but because the demarcations between PC hardware iterations can be foggy, establishing what is of this generation is much more difficult to finalize. 

"This Generation" includes major trends or evolutionary notes that will, in this writer's opinion, be identified strongly with this generation of games and hardware for years to come.

Third  item to hallmark this period of gaming: Co-Op Gaming.

Review: Resident Evil Chronicles HD Collection (PS3)

The Resident Evil Chronicles games were first released for the Wii but now it's available, in HD, on Playstation 3.

The game is a simple rail shooter, but it does feel a bit special knowing it serves as a cool recap of the Resident Evil franchise. Gets you all caught up with the story without having to play through the originals if you don’t feel like spending hours with each game. Makes me wish some other franchises would borrow this idea.