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Deja Review: Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (Vita)
We're of the firm opinion that your time is too precious, too valuable to be spent reading a full review for a game that was already reviewed many, many years ago. What's the point of applying a score to a game that's old enough to be enrolled in the sixth grade? That's why we invented Deja Review: A quick look at the new features and relative agelessness of remade, revived and re-released games. Here's a first: a Deja Review of a game that's already been Deja Reviewed. This time, it's the PlayStation Vita port of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, a handheld version of the updated version of last year's crossover fighting game.Capcom did an amazing job on a technical level; in every way, this is the console game, playable on a portable device. However ... it's the console game, playable on a portable device. The reduction in size unfortunately adds some baggage.
Deja Review: Quarrel (XBLA)
We're of the firm opinion that your time is too precious, too valuable to be spent reading a full review for a game that was already reviewed many, many years ago. What's the point of applying a score to a game that's old enough to be enrolled in the sixth grade? That's why we invented Deja Review: A quick look at the new features and relative agelessness of remade, revived and re-released games. Quarrel was originally planned for XBLA, and then all the publishing deals fell through. Then Ignition took it on and began working with developer Denki on an iOS release -- which ended up coming out first. That makes this XBLA version, which was the original version, a re-release. Weird!What isn't weird is playing this on XBLA. It's still just as difficult to battle over territory by quickly spelling out anagrams, and just as satisfying to capture your opponent's soldiers by doing so. The combination of fairly quick board-game design and online play is an obvious winner, giving it a decisive advantage over its portable counterpart. Even if you're playing alone, new modes offer experiences not found in the iOS release. %Gallery-145658%
Deja Review: Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3
We're of the firm opinion that your time is too precious, too valuable to be spent reading a full review for a game that was already reviewed many, many years ago. What's the point of applying a score to a game that's old enough to be enrolled in the sixth grade? That's why we invented Deja Review: A quick look at the new features and relative agelessness of remade, revived and re-released games. There are certain prerequisites that simply come with being a Capcom fighting game enthusiast. Alongside the need to recognize and understand various fundamentals (mostly in the form of now standardized button combinations), there's also the acceptance that game X will be regularly updated, and largely at the cost of the player. Most revisions bring with them various tweaks to the formula, fixes for flaws that were only discovered once the completed game was in the hands of experts on the tournament circuit. Beefier updates add fighters new and old to the fray, while slightly less substantial but nonetheless obligatory cosmetic enhancements fall closer to the realm of shameless nickel and diming. Most of Capcom's updates have been no-brainers, but in the case of the not-yet-one-year-old Marvel vs. Capcom 3, there is enough cause for trepidation. Could the expanded offerings of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 not be added as DLC? More pressing: Is UMvC3 worth the $40 price of admission? Not surprisingly, it depends entirely upon how much you loved the first edition. %Gallery-137983%
Deja Review: Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
We're of the firm opinion that your time is too precious, too valuable to be spent reading a full review for a game that was already reviewed many, many years ago. What's the point of applying a score to a game that's old enough to be enrolled in the sixth grade? That's why we invented Deja Review: A quick look at the new features and relative agelessness of remade, revived and re-released games. You never forget your first. Way back in 2001, halfway through my first year of college, my parents unexpectedly bought me an Xbox for Christmas. My first game was Dead or Alive 3, but the one I'll always remember was something called Halo: Combat Evolved. I'd never heard of it before, but the editors of my gaming magazine of choice -- EGM, as I recall -- gave it not one or two or three, but four 10 out of 10s. I picked up a copy and the rest, as they say, is history. I played through the campaign alone, and again with friends, and again with my brother, and again with my then future in-laws. I played multiplayer at the only LAN party I've ever attended and I got slaughtered, falling countless times to the effortless pistol precision of friends-of-friends who were actually geekier than I was. But it didn't matter, because Halo was a blast. Ten years later, it still is. %Gallery-139261%
Deja Review: GoldenEye 007: Reloaded
We're of the firm opinion that your time is too precious, too valuable to be spent reading a full review for a game that was already reviewed many, many years ago. What's the point of applying a score to a game that's old enough to be enrolled in the sixth grade? That's why we invented Deja Review: A quick look at the new features and relative agelessness of remade, revived and re-released games. In the eyes of many, the original GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64 stands out as much more than a mere game. GoldenEye is a legend with a legacy all its own; one that cannot be substituted or replicated. Of course, that didn't stop Activision from making the attempt in 2010 with a brand new game with the familiar moniker of GoldenEye 007 for the Wii. Mercifully, the publisher made the very wise (and legally mandated) decision to carry the franchise forward in name only. Rather than creating a direct remake of the 1997 classic, they crafted an entirely new experience that was surprisingly original while still feeling classically GoldenEye. The new game featured much of the style of the original while reimagining the story and characters and events in the modern day. GoldenEye 007: Reloaded is the latest attempt to fill in the N64 classic's sizable tuxedo -- this time in high definition. Unfortunately, while Reloaded fits into the right suit, it seems that it's gotten a bit snug.
Deja Review: Cave Story 3D
Not even a semi-controversial visual makeover can keep me from loving Cave Story. I admit to being a bit worried upon seeing the first screens of the new 3DS remake, Cave Story 3D, developed by Nicalis in conjunction with original creator Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya. And I admit now that the new polygonal graphics lack the extreme charm of the original pixels. But Cave Story is a wonderful game on any platform, in any configuration. Those new graphics are there to sell the game to non-"core" gamers who see 2D art as archaic, and who have no pre-existing knowledge of the indie game scene or of Cave Story. The game still works with its new look. Besides, I was really, honestly impressed with the redone art in several areas. I enjoyed seeing the game reinterpreted, after seeing the original so, so many times.
Deja Review: MDK2 HD
Murder Death Kill? Mystical Door Knobs? Malevolent Didgeridoo King? The true decomposition of codename "MDK" used to be a legend of sorts in the game industry. Now, there's not so much as a hint of enigma around the latest letters appended to the game: MDK2 HD does indeed run in haughty definition. Even if you're joining us from 2000's PC version of MDK2 (released alongside a Dreamcast version, and preceding a PlayStation 2 port), you'll be treated to a significant visual upgrade in MDK2 HD, care of Overhaul Games. What hasn't changed in the last eleven years, of course, is the incredulity that results upon playing a funny, frivolous and uncluttered action game from BioWare. Yes, that BioWare.%Gallery-136275%
Deja Review: House of the Dead: Overkill Extended Cut
House of the Dead: Overkill was something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's a game defined by its grindhouse, B-movie trappings and, when it arrived on the Wii in February 2009, it developed the sort of cult audience that builds around the films the game set out to emulate. Of course, by definition, cult audiences aren't particularly large, so Sega's attempting to reach a new crowd with House of the Dead: Overkill Extended Cut, a beefed up version of the hilarious, well-built on-rails shooter. Yes, Agent G and Isaac Washington have made the transition to PS3 and -- fair warning -- they still work pretty blue. %Gallery-132174%
Deja Review: Dead Rising 2: Off the Record
We're of the firm opinion that your time is too precious, too valuable to be spent reading a full review for a game that was already reviewed many, many years ago. What's the point of applying a score to a game that's old enough to be enrolled in the sixth grade? That's why we invented Deja Review: A quick look at the new features and relative agelessness of remade, revived and re-released games. What if you could go back in time, but instead of doing something mundane like killing Hitler's mom or saving Sarah Connor, you could get filthy rich. Like Scrooge McDuck rich. Like Dethklok rich. Sure, you do a little betting, you use your knowledge of upcoming events to amass an empire of wealth by simply doing something you should've done in the first place. But even that mistake ends up being a blessing for you: You've got something the people want and you know it. That's the Capcom of recent, a company who is quickly becoming the master of selling us the same game multiple times. Dead Rising 2: Off the Record is the company's latest re-release -- sadly, marginal technical improvements and the replacement of protagonist Chuck Greene with the original game's hero, Frank West, just aren't enough to warrant another go 'round Fortune City. %Gallery-121017%
Deja Review: Crysis
We're of the firm opinion that your time is too precious, too valuable to be spent reading a full review for a game that was already reviewed many, many years ago. What's the point of applying a score to a game that's old enough to be enrolled in the sixth grade? That's why we invented Deja Review: A quick look at the new features and relative agelessness of remade, revived and re-released games. The original Crysis is an abstract concept for many. Whether through actual technical limitations or a perception thereof, it was the destroyer of worlds and PCs, seen as out of reach for all but the most tech-driven of PC gamers. It's been so easy to get caught up in the question of "Can it run Crysis?" that there's a swath of gamers who have never asked, "How is Crysis?" But here we are, with Crysis (the first) finally making its way to six year old hardware. It runs. But is it fun?%Gallery-134861%
Deja Review: The Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection
We're of the firm opinion that your time is too precious, too valuable to be spent reading a full review for a game that was already reviewed many, many years ago. What's the point of applying a score to a game that's old enough to be enrolled in the sixth grade? That's why we invented Deja Review: A quick look at the new features and relative agelessness of remade, revived and re-released games. It would be difficult to think of two games that have so unanimously been labeled as masterpieces by gaming critics and consumers alike than Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. Each possesses a unique beauty possessed by (regrettably) so few other games: Ico with its sense of childlike wonder and grand adventure, Colossus with its abject desolation and foreboding. They're poignant, and sad, and (fortunately for Sony and Team Ico) inimitably timeless. The Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection pairs HD-remastered versions of the two titles in one tidy $40 package. Their visual revivification -- the most substantial improvement over the PS2 originals -- isn't quite as thorough as ground-up reconstruction of Halo: Anniversary or the total reskinning of Ocarina of Time 3D. But it's certainly enough to make these once-beautiful games even more staggering. %Gallery-130949%
Deja Review: Radiant Silvergun
We're of the firm opinion that your time is too precious, too valuable to be spent reading a full review for a game that was already reviewed many, many years ago. What's the point of applying a score to a game that's old enough to be enrolled in the sixth grade? That's why we invented Deja Review: A quick look at the new features and relative agelessness of remade, revived and re-released games. It may not have garnered the same enthusiastic posthumous cult following as its little brother, but the Sega Saturn was a very good console -- provided you were a very specific type of gamer. Unlike its contemporaries whose processing architectures were designed to excel at 3D graphics (not 3D-glasses 3D, just, you know, polygons), the Saturn's extremely complex and unconventional processor configuration was uniquely suited for 2D, sprite-based games. While the Crash Bandicoots, Crocs, and Super Mario 64s of the period were pioneering the field of depth perception, the Saturn became a safe haven for 2D skill-based games like Radiant Silvergun. Despite the fact that it was never released stateside, Treasure's manic 1998 shooter is thought of as a definitive Saturn classic, which continues to influence contemporary shmups even to this day. Now, through the magic of XBLA, an entirely new generation of gamers are being exposed to the genesis of bullet-hell, and even after 13 years, Radiant Silvergun is still a relevant, infuriating masterpiece.%Gallery-102402%
Deja Review: Star Fox 64 3D
We're of the firm opinion that your time is too precious, too valuable to be spent reading a full review for a game that was already reviewed many, many years ago. What's the point of applying a score to a game that's old enough to be enrolled in the sixth grade? That's why we invented Deja Review: A quick look at the new features and relative agelessness of remade, revived and re-released games. If you've spent any time with the Nintendo 3DS -- especially if that time was spent with the handheld's aeronautical launch title, Pilotwings Resort -- you're probably aware that flying games are right in this handheld's wheelhouse. Moving forward through the sky as objects and other pilots move towards, around and behind you looks invariably dope with the 3D slider turned on; this law is no less incontrovertible in the system's latest first-party remake: Star Fox 64 3D. But games can't live on dopeness alone -- they need meat on their bones as well. Star Fox has no lack of content, but if you owned the Nintendo 64 original and thoroughly explored its brief and branching campaign back in 1997, you've probably seen that content plenty of times before. Much like Ocarina of Time 3D before it, Star Fox 64 3D is banking on a single bulletpoint to earn your purchase: You've never seen that content quite like this.%Gallery-128694%
