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Review: Dissidia: Final Fantasy (PSP)
Dissidia: Final Fantasy is just okay. While the time I spent with the game's combat was certainly fun, if repetitive at times, a truly awful story and seemingly arbitrary customization options weigh down an otherwise decent fighting game. After 10 hours and a handful of characters, I was left wondering exactly who the game was intended for -- the FF fan in me loathed the story and the fighting game fan in me wanted deeper, more varied combat. %Gallery-12134%
Power Stone XBLA dreams deferred
Way back in September of 2006, we ran a brief series called "That Should Be on XBLA." In that series, we suggested old games that would make a great addition to Xbox Live Arcade. One such game was Capcom's neglected Dreamcast fighter, Power Stone. Earlier this week, Microsoft announced not one, but two Dreamcast games that would be making their way to XBLA, namely Rez and Ikaruga. This got the folks over at The Xbox Domain thinking. If they can stick those Dreamcast classics on Xbox 360, why not Power Stone (or even better, Power Stone 2)? Just to satisfy their curiosity, The Xbox Domain contacted Capcom about the idea, and received this disheartening response:"We have not made any announcements about a Power Stone game, but thanks for your interest."While the comment was followed by a smiley face, we aren't smiling. Still, it's not an outright "no," and that gives fans something to hope for, right?
Hail to the Chimp wants to prove politics are fun
Wideload Games has released the first trailer and bits of information for their new PS3/360 party game, Hail to the Chimp. Dubbed an "over-the-top party game" with "biting political satire," the title appears to be a cross between brawlers like Powerstone and the political comics like Doonesbury. Sporting a cartoony look with subtle cel-shading, the game looks bright and colorful but fairly unremarkable. You have a mixture of political/racial stereotypes done up in animal form smacking each other around, with 'hilarious' and 'topical' newspaper headlines tossed in. Gameplay looks extremely generic and uninspired, but it's hard to tell from the short trailer. What do you guys think? Does this game have any promise? Do our brawlers really need second-tier political comedy to make them more entertaining?
UK gamers about to get Conned
The Con didn't exactly generate a lot of buzz when it originally came out for the PSP in the US. It was critically panned (getting a 64 average on metacritic) and didn't develop much of a following even from early PSP adopters. Despite all this, The Con is finally coming to the UK from SouthPeak Games with enhancements. It's reported to have faster load times and an adjusted difficulty level. With Tekken: Dark Resurrection and several other fighting options like Power Stone out for the system, I'm not sure The Con still has a market, but if you are interested in getting conned, you can pick up The Con in March on UK shores. [Via DCEmu]
Relive Crazy Taxi with PSP rehash
Forget PSone, Sony should have worked out a deal with Sega to emulate Dreamcast on PSP. Instead, we're starting to see some attempts by publishers to revisit some of their Dreamcast titles using the UMD format. First, Capcom did Power Stone Collection, and now, Sega has announced Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars, built from Crazy Taxi 1 & 2.While Fare Wares offers a new *Ad Hoc* multiplayer mode, we'd gladly trade the additional content for straight-up ports; if it meant we'd be downloading the games and playing them via emulation. Is this just wishful thinking?[Via press release]
Japanese release day highlights: 11.30.06
Compared with most parts of the world, Japan is in the future by a distance of some hours. Compared with European and American game release schedules, Japan's is sometimes years ahead (this is known as the "Final Fantasy V Phenomenon"). Very occasionally, however, Japan is outdated. Today is one of those days, as Japanese gamers at last get Capcom's Power Stone Collection for their PSPs -- even though Johnny Foreigner has been enjoying it for a whole month already.Other notable new releases of the day, those worthy of our ¥ennage, are bullet-pointed: Tales of Destiny (remake heaven; PS2) Final Fantasy VI Advance (remake heaven; GBA) Power Stone Collection (remake heaven, once more for emphasis; PSP) Super Robot Taisen XO (not a remake, more of a rehash; Xbox 360) Japanese release day highlights
Metareview: Power Stone Collection
There were way too many PSP games released in the past few days, and it seems like the big media sites are struggling just to play through all of them to give us reviews. Power Stone Collection, a port of the original Dreamcast brawlers, is now available on the PSP. How did it fare to the critics? Let's see: GameSpy (80/100) likes the frantic nature of the multiplayer matches: "With so much going on at once, you'll occasionally lose track of your character (especially during four-player matches), but you'll probably be having too much fun to notice much. If you missed it back when Sega was still making systems, now's your chance to give this well-remembered series a try.". 1UP (70/100) notes that Dreamcast fans will love this, even though the game hasn't aged too well: "While as nice as it is to see a classic arcade-style game get its due, what the world really needed wasn't a regurgitation of Power Stone 1 and 2; it needed Power Stone 3, brought up to spec with advancements in game design and all the things players have become accustomed to in other games.". Games Radar (60/100) thinks single-player is no fun: "The lack of online support severely hinders the chance you'll be seeing a lot of multiplayer action – and even if there were online support, there's nothing like sitting down in front of the TV with three friends and bashing each other's brains out. Sorry PSP, this one just isn't for you." It is unfortunate to see such mixed reviews for the game. If you've played it on Dreamcast, you know what you're getting yourself into. Even without Infrastructure support, you may want to take this game out for a spin. Who knows? Maybe we'll get other Dreamcast games this way.
Power Stone Collection producer wants more Dreamcast ports
IGN got a chance to talk to Capcom about their newly-released Power Stone Collection. According to the game's producer, Kazuhiro Tsuchiya, the game is relatively unchanged because they wanted to preserve the game's quality. Yeah. They weren't trying to be "lazy" at all. Interestingly, the PSP is compared to the Dreamcast:IGN PSP: Because of the button layout, the PSP seems the perfect fit for Dreamcast ports. Does the internal architecture of the PSP make it easy or difficult to port DC games? And is there a chance we will see some more Capcom classic Dreamcast games come to Sony's handheld system? Tsuchiya: The button layout on the PSP was definitely well suited for Power Stone and we are happy with the final results. In terms of hardware, it actually was not all that easy to transfer a Dreamcast game to the PSP. It took a lot of work to recreate the same experience because the systems are quite different. In the end though, we were able to pull it off and keep the same level of graphics and sound, so now we know it's possible. Capcom does have a lot of great games on the Dreamcast, and if user demand is high enough, we would be happy to consider moving other games to the PSP.The Dreamcast is one of my favorite systems ever. It would be awesome to see more games head from the Dreamcast to the PSP, especially considering how the Dreamcast never got to live the life of fame it so deserved.
That should be on XBLA: Solomon's Key
Last week it was action puzzler, Lode Runner. This week it's Tecmo's Solomon's Key (submitted by ctrl-alt-del). Solomon's Key, like many arcade puzzlers of its time, has a simple formula. It's easy to pick up and play -- you should be able to get through the first few levels easily -- but it get's much harder as you progress. Equal parts strategy and reflex, Solomon's Key is yet another example of a great game for Xbox Live Arcade (and the ladies love it). Read on to discover its block destroying devilry.
That should be on XBLA: Power Stone
Last week we took a look at Bubble Bobble as a likely candidate for Xbox Live Arcade. This week: Power Stone. One of the first games released for SEGA's ill fated Dreamcast, Power Stone was a gorgeous and innovative fighter in it's day. Part Smash Brothers and part Jackie Chan, Power Stone allowed players to use anything and everything to win a fight. Of course, the eponymous power stones were a big help as well. Read on to see why this overlooked Capcom classic would make a great addition to Live Arcade.
10 franchises that need to return
Racketboy.com recently offered up this list of 'Classic Franchises That Actually NEED a Resurrection'... Darkstalkers Shining Force Battletoads Strider Killer Instinct Vectorman Starcraft System Shock Road Rash PowerStone Runners-up: Clayfighter, Story of Thor/Oasis, Lost Vikings, Rocket Knight Adventures, Jetman, and Jet Set Radio
