Back on the Sega Mega-Drive, one of my favorite games I would play constantly was Streets Of Rage 2. For some reason 1 and 3 didn’t compare to the second outing of thug bashing. Plus there was a kid on roller blades who I thought was awesome. So I started off playing beat ‘em ups, a side from the classic FPS games which I don’t really need to mention  now.

When I finally got to play Castle Crashers on XBL I loved it, but for the life of me couldn’t complete the damn thing on my own. It was a perfect mix of old school beat ‘em up, plus some awesome medieval and quite comical graphics and theme, it was truly a game that brought back some fond memories.

Since then I have been thinking, what would be the perfect game to combine Castle Crashers and Streets Of Rage 2? Well put simply, there wasn’t one out on the market…Untill now.

I have been following Scott Pilgrim Vs The World intently. I have all the comic bar Volume 6 (just finished volume 5 see) I am pretty much booking the evening off for the day the film comes out, and to be honest I just think the whole concept of Scott Pilgrim is just beyond awesome. You may remember the post I did about the whole Scott Pilgrim universe a couple of weeks ago, but if you don’t the basic story is that Scott has fallen head over heals with a girl named Ramona Flowers and in order to date her he has to defeat her seven evil Ex-es, throw in a tone of video game references and you have a pretty awesome story. In the last post I only showed you a video of what the game has to offer, but now I can give you an insight into the game and what the Downloadable has in store for noobs and Pilgrim fanatics a like.

Character select, Mario style - Taken from IGN.com

From the get go you get to choose from 4 different characters. Scott Pilgrim himself, Ramona Flowers Scott’s love interest, Stephen Stills who is Scott’s friend and lead singer of his band Sex Bob-bomb and Kim Pine who is the band’s drummer. All of these characters have their own set of unlockable moves (which are unlocked as you level up though the game, much like Castle Crashers) and unique special attacks, they also have the ability to call in for a striker to help them for a momentary time. It is all what we are pretty much used to when it comes to a 2D side scrolling beat ‘em up. But there are a couple of nice little touches that keep the game fresh. For instance you can use sub-space if you so wish. On your travels if you find a door marked Sub-space you can use it to take a short cut through that level, this is completely in optional, in subspace you will find a number of mini games, one of which is a mini game where you have to destroy flying piggy banks to collect their coins.

Well that's sub space for ya - Taken From IGN.com

As with all old school beat ‘em ups, it’s not all about punching and kicking. Scott Pilgrim is no different, you do have some weapons at your disposal you can pick up bats, recycling bins, and even snowballs which does always add a nice element of carnage in there, but the really cool thing is you can pick up your team mates and do a team up attack also, nice touch.

Well that’s a little bit more info on the up coming game, I personally can’t wait for this title. Oh, but one bit of good news is that the Xbox 360 version of the game has been confirmed, so I am breathing a sigh of relief at least.

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World hits PlayStation network on August 10th and Xbox LIVE Arcade on August 25th. Pre-order you PSN version and get an awesome Sex Bob-bom T-shirt for your PlayStation home avatar.

I hope they do one for XBox LIVE avatars…..

Garv.

Not to be confused with this...

Now just to let you know, this is not to be confused with the Namco X Capcom RPG title back on the last gen consoles, these are strictly fighting games. Now Capcom Vs Namco will be developed by Capcom on the Street Fighter IV engine while Namco Vs Capcom will be developed by Namco on the Tekken 6 engine. Now the first game sounds good, I love 2D fighters now, it’s a fact. But having a some street fighter character play on a 3D surface, could be a little weird. I have a nasty suspicion that in some ways it won’t translate well, or I could be really wrong and this will be the fighting game of the century. Only time will tell.

I got this information from both Kotaku.com and Gameinformer.com. The rumour itself looks pretty strong as it has been hinted that a trailer for both games will be at Comic-Con in San Diego California this weekend. So stay tuned to Plus XP for more info as I get it.

In light of this pretty epic fighting mash-up. Here are some epic battles which I hope to play if this all takes off.

This would be an epic battle. The most demonic creature in the Soul Calibur series, Nightmare. Versus the demon slayer himself Dante, from Devil May Cry. This would be an epic sword fight resulting in huge demon powers and possible some epic sword skills from both sides.

M.Bison fighting in the Capcom corner, against Kazuya Mishima in the Namco corner. This would be a huge fight over nothing but power alone. You know in the playground back in primary school where you thought you were the cooler and most popular kid? Well think that, but with evil and powerful instead of cool and popular then you will get a vague idea of how cool this match-up would be.

The fight that will probably never happen. Seeing as Spawn was only in Soul Calibur II and Namco lost the writes to ever use him again. Jedah Dohma from Darkstalkers only appeared in Capcom Fighting Jam and again, was never to be seen again…well apart from Darkstalkers. Anyway this match up would be a proper epic Demon fight with all sorts of crazy powers, and it would probably just make me nerdgasm just a tiny bit.

So if this rumour is true, then we may be in for an epic fighting game. I guess we will get some sort of confirmation at Comic-con this weekend.

Garv

Well gamers and Sega fans of the world. I suggest you sit down because the sequel to Sonic 3 has been announced. Project Needle Mouse is non other than, SONIC 4!

The full name Sonic 4: Episode 1 will be using the same visuals as we are used to from the likes of Street Fighter IV. Meaning there will be 3D models used on a 2D playing field. So it is safe to say that out Blue spiky friend is back to his 2D form, just.

From the teaser trailer that Gamespot had showed just this morning, some of the original 2D features will be making a come back, such as the classic loop the loops from sonic 2 and the double screen loops from sonic 3.

Image From Gamespot.com

So what are we expecting from Sonic 4’s story? Well when Gamespot asked Ken Balough, the sonic 4 brand manager he said, “While the game is a brand-new adventure, it will definitely pick up after Sonic & Knuckles. However, what you are looking at is the beginning of a new story arc,” a direct follow on sixteen years after the 1994 release of Sonic And Knuckles. Well it took them long enough.

Keen then went on to say, “We’re going to deliver a Genesis-era Sonic game as if it were created today that goes to the core of what classic Sonic fans desire. This means [the fan] gets to judge us on our work each step of the way, and we plan on delivering that goal in a big way.” This all sounds pretty exciting, but wait, there is more.

It seems as though the sonic team are taking the “going back to the roots of sonic” to heart. As you can tell from the title this will be an episodic outing for Sonic. It has been stressed that Sonic 3 and Knuckes were in effect two parts of the same game. So with Sonic 4 Sega are planning to use that feature more, meaning the Lock On technology we had with Sonic and Knuckles may come back in a some what different way.

As for controlling Sonic, the classic 2D moves we have known and loved have come back, such as the spin dash and the super speed sneakers power up.  But later Sonic titles have utalisd a homing attack, and it has been announced that this homing attack will feature in Sonic 4.

This is all sounding to be a pretty sweet game. As it is an episodic title I will imagine that this game will be available for download, as opposed to a disc release. It will be available across all platforms (Wii, PlayStation 3 and X Box 360) and, for me at least, this is a welcome come back for the retro Sonic most gamers of my generation have grown up with.

Garv

Losing their 2D roots, most of these have converted to 3D formats – Sonic and Castlevania opting for third-person perspectives, Metroid’s Prime series turning it into a first-person perspective, and others doing a mix of different styles, with the occasional 3D-graphic platformer such as Megaman X7 or Super Mario Bros Wii. Even Street Fighter has stripped itself of it’s 2D past, opting for a 3D look. However, as I play the GBA version of Megaman & Bass on my DS, I mourn that the day of the 2D game has come to an end.

As the DSi loses its GBA functionality, and strips the console of the majority of its 2D gaming, the 2D genre consists mainly of nothing but the odd flash game or downloadable arcade title on the major consoles. With the focus turned toward polygons and realism, it seems the platformer genre itself is endangered, the FPS and third-person 3D titles taking the lead roles in gaming today. However, do people really not care about 2D gaming any more? Is the love for Sonic based solely on nostalgia and a few fans of the mediocre 3D titles?

I don’t really think so. However, seeing as FPS and third person titles do well, I believe that producers see the good sales and decide to continue churning out more of them – however, with no real focus, the platformer seems all but forgotten. Yet, those old Sonic games still sell when they are released for download, since people still enjoy them to this day. Megaman 9, which was a brand new title created with the old NES style released for download last year was accepted with open arms, the fans ever there to accept the 2D game, if only they are still created. True, I would have preferred to see a Megaman game in the vein of the SNES incarnations, but it still shows that people are still interested in the genre.

The game producers do know this, though – with countless Sonic collections being released on all consoles, Castlevania titles for download on Xbox Live, PSN and Wiiware, among a whole horde of other retro games, the fans have proven that they still love these games, yet they don’t seem to think creating new titles in the same vein is a good idea. Why? The first Sonic games continue to sell well to this day, while 3D titles such as Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 and Sonic Unleashed score pitifully in reviews, receiving marks that average around the 40% mark. However, suggest to people that 2D gaming should return and many are hostile, telling me that it’s not good enough for today’s gaming market. I don’t believe a word.

It really is a shame, since retreating back into my 2D days I realise that there is a large void in my gaming life that has been left unsatisfied for all too long – I mean sure, there’s been the odd DS Castlevania game, and the rare title such as Braid, but it really feels as though there’s not been a single title recently given the pure love and attention of the designers of games such as Metroid and ‘vania.

Even today, going back to such titles I can’t help but admire the quality – aside from the odd blocky part it’s obvious that the creators cared about their titles, the use of colour and imagination flourishing into something artistic – and even today I believe they look and play brilliantly, Sonic still feeling as responsive as ever – looking back at some of my PS1 titles, I hardly feel the same.

Fans of Castlevania will know all too well of Symphony of the Night, with its vast castle and numerous enemies, many rooms offering unique artwork – paintings, environments, huge demons, all drawn by skilled artists. As we turn to polygons I can only feel that manufacturers are sticking with the easier, less risky 3D genre – now, thats not to say that I don’t appreciate 3D games, the realism can be immersive, but I believe theres a place for everything. I mean, people didn’t stop painting pictures when the sculpture was invented, did they?

As today’s technology grows and improves all of the time, I can only dare to dream what kind of games could be produced with the right minds and skilled creators – I believe that a game like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night with clean, HD graphics and a castle many times bigger could really impress people – in the past, the limitations were not the skill of the creators, rather the limitations of the console itself. Now, the bar raised ever higher, just imagine what those people could do today, given the chance. No more pixellation, or blocky animations, just pure HD quality shine.

As much as I do dream to see the day when they create a new home console 2D platformer, I only feel like an old fool that dreams of days gone by, the new generation making its mark and taking things in its own direction. But I will continue to dream, and maybe, one day, I’ll see what I’m waiting for. Project Needlemouse (the new 2D Sonic game in the making) could be something to please me, but I’m expecting it will be a 3D game with 2D gameplay, rather than going back to pure 2D glory. Nevertheless, I can only hope that it will pave the way for creators to realise that the days of the 2D gamer have not yet come to an end.

-Leon

I’ve previously looked at Metroid’s 2D roots, and it’s latest saga, Metroid Prime. With four 2D titles (plus remakes) and four titles in the Prime series, it’s been a couple of years since Nintendo have had any news on the series’ future – and personally I was wondering – will the next title tip the majority of the series’ titles towards the 2D style, or the first-person style of Prime? However, along with the release of Metroid Prime Trilogy on the Wii, Nintendo have released some interesting news on the next step for the series.

In an unexpected revelation, Nintendo announced at E3 2009 that they would be teaming up with Team Ninja, creators of Ninja Gaiden, for the next installment of the series. This was perhaps the most unlikely pairing I could think of – with Nintendo’s family-friendly style, and the all-out maturity of Team Ninja’s work. Regardless, I eagerly took note of the information released about the next title in the works: Metroid: Other M.

In an interesting twist, it turns out that the latest Metroid title will feature a mix of both the 2D and first-person style gameplay, and even incorporate some third person action as well – no doubt the influence of the Ninja Gaiden team.

Most Metroid titles so far have fairly minimal storyline, with lonely situations that are mainly built up through various bits of information Samus finds throughout the game, generally focusing on Samus and generally nothing but aliens and Space Pirates, leaving little room for dialogue. However, as Metroid Prime has progressed, the series has slowly incorporated more storyline events and characters – with scenes of various humans in flashbacks of Metroid Prime 2, and the inclusion of other english-speaking characters in Metroid Prime 3, it seems Metroid: Other M will focus a lot more on Samus’ character.

Set between Metroids 3 & 4 (Super Metroid and Fusion), Other M shows scenes of a large cast, including Samus’ commander, Adam Malkovich, who was referenced in Metroid Fusion, with a degree of affection for Samus – his trademark line “Any objections, Lady?” quoted previously in Fusion. Although perhaps not a love story in the works, Samus has yet to show any signs of family or friends to date, save for brief information on her upbringing with the alien race, the Chozo, - so this could be quite a revealing change. Also shown is a fairly generic looking marine-type character, although he uses the words “Remember me?” – I can’t think of anyone this could be, but perhaps this suggests that this character is someone we’ve seen at some point in the series before.

So far, the game’s looking quite impressive – with a visual style not unlike Metroid Prime 3, the trailer shows snippets of the various types of gameplay. Firstly, we see snippets of what looks like a reworked 2D engine – although set on a 2D plane, the game is in the same 3D graphics and features Samus looking fairly fast, boasting a roll manoever which hasn’t been seen before in Metroid. The trailer then moves onto the new third-person gameplay, with Samus getting unusually up close and personal with what looks like an almost God of War style of attack, taking up a strangely close-proximity combat style – performing grabs and cinematic attacks which could possibly be linked with some kind of Quicktime Event. Samus can even be seen jumping and grabbing the neck of an alien and shooting it in the face as it struggles to release itself. 

Mixed into the trailer are some shots of gameplay in a very Metroid Prime style first-person viewpoint. Samus is shown using various attacks in this mode, including an Ice Beam that she uses to actually freeze up an enemy, encasing it in ice. It’s not clear however if the first-person will be used in sections played the same way as Prime, with full exploration and visors, or perhaps just a first person mode that can be used for precision attacks by holding an “aim button” whilst playing the game’s third-person sections.

There seem to be a range of enemies in the game, from new aliens, Space Pirates and what looks like the return of Ridley – shown in some cinematic scenes of Samus in some brutal looking cinematics. It wouldn’t be right if we don’t see a Metroid or two – but what place they’ll take in the game is yet to be known.

There are also a few shots of Samus doing various platforming and running in third person mode – according to Nintendo the game will include regular exploration – so worry not, I’m sure the classic Morph ball mode, upgrades and Metroidvania gameplay will still be there – and assuming that they’ve continued to use the open-world format it should still manage what both the original and Prime game’s managed in those areas.

The trailer does lend itself to some questions though – there are three characters that bear a resemblance to Samus, although it’s not certain who they are. Firstly, we have a shorter-haired blonde girl who is seen in military gear, and has a fair bit of focus in the earlier stages of the trailer, and she does have a Samus look to her. It’s unsure whether this is or isn’t Samus, but personally I believe this could be shots of her younger years, perhaps for the purpose of flashbacks and history to be told in the story. Next we have Samus in her Zero Suit, who is shown with her Power Suit forming around her. This is almost certainly Samus, but does raise some questions if the previous character isn’t simply Samus from flashbacks. Lastly, we see Samus meeting a character who looks almost exactly like Samus, wearing a lab coat. Now, Nintendo have stated that this lady is NOT Samus, but she is an important character. Now, I assume the similarity between the two ladies is much more than coincidence, so it’ll be interesting to find out what’s going on there.

Graphically, the game’s looking good for a Wii title. The graphics are very reminiscent of Metroid Prime 3, and the enemies and animations look smooth and fluid. The music seems to be keeping to the series’ style with a mix of eerie tones and fast paced-music, so I think the game’s style is going to feel like a Metroid game at heart.

Metroid: Other M is shaping up to look quite interesting. It’s really unknown how the three gameplay styles will all mesh together, but hopefully the switching between 2D and 3D gameplay won’t break up the gameplay leaving the player confused and disoriented with the controls. As long as Nintendo manage to pull it off, we could find ourselves with a game that combines the best features of all the series’ titles. It will certainly be interesting to see the direction the plot takes, and hopefully we’ll see something quite special. Nintendo have done well with the series so far, so I’m hoping to see something fantastic.

Metroid: Other M is due sometime in 2010, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s more toward the end of the year. We’ll keep you updated if we get any more info in the future. Check out the full E3 trailer below.

-Leon

The original Metroid was released on the NES in 1986, the same year as the first Zelda title. As well as the platforming and open world style common to Metroid, many other aspects of the title were introduced in the very first title, and carried on to the later games – concepts such as upgrades that improved Samus’ power as she progressed, but also allowed access to new areas in order to give the open world some restrictions and would guide the player around in a certain way without feeling linear or restrictive.

The original title also introduced enemies and bosses that remain consistent throughout the series, namely the Space Pirates, an alien band of miscreants, and their Commander, the dragon-like Ridley. Last but not least, the original of course introduced the series’ first Metroids – the most dangerous beings of them all. Somewhere between a jellyfish, a brain and a leech, the Metroid is a rather disturbing creature – hovering emotionlessly, the Metroid wants nothing more than to drain the life of it’s victim, has a nasty habit of multiplying, and is incredibly hard to kill.

Metroid’s story, and its quality, has improved in stages over the years. Five years after Metroid came Metroid II: Return of Samus. Released on the Nintendo Game Boy, Metroid II was the first handheld title of the series, and was one of the most impressive handheld titles of it’s time – sporting graphics superior to the original home console version, and fluid controls, Metroid II found Samus hunting Metroids on a lonely planet called SR388.

This title was the first Metroid I ever played, and was what got me into Metroid in the first place. Metroid II kept most of the major functions from the original, and also introduced some new weapons, however it is one of the few games to focus solely on Metroids as bosses, in various evolutionary phases, as no Space Pirates or other aliens are involved. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, though, as it only helped enhance the cavernous feel to the empty depths of SR388.

In 1994, Metroid reached a new level with the coming of Super Metroid on the Super Nintendo. This title was the first to feature full colour graphics and improved on every aspect of the game – particularly the plot. Although the game continued to feel vast and open, Super Metroid saw the return of Ridley, and introduced perhaps one of the most useful features of all, a map. Whereas the older titles could feel confusing and hard to navigate, Super Metroid included a map that could be viewed on the fly, detailing not only the layout of the area, but save rooms and other places of interest. This feature would be implemented into all future titles, and was even mirrored in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night three years later, which was the first to implement a more Metroid style of gameplay and progression that would create the term “Metroidvania” which can be heard nowadays.

Sadly, Super Metroid wasn’t really appreciated fully at the time of it’s initial release. Although considered one of Nintendo’s biggest classic titles, the initial trilogy sold fairly poorly and production was cancelled.

However, all that changed in 2002. Alongside the new GameCube title, Metroid Prime (more about this in my next post), the team that developed Super Metroid released an all new 2D Metroid for the Gameboy Advance. Entitled Metroid Fusion, the fourth Metroid title pitted Samus against a new threat, a parasitic lifeform known as X. After coming into contact with the viral lifeform, Samus becomes surgically bound to some of the core components of her Power Suit, creating the Fusion Suit.

Fighting against both Metroids and this new threat, hunted by a powerful doppelganger known as SA-X, Metroid Fusion yet again improved upon the game’s design in almost every way. Fusion did incredibly well, being named Handheld Game of the Year at the 2002 Interactive Achievement Awards, and recieving high praise from many gaming sites, and sold over 1 million copies worldwide. This success saw the rebirth of the series and Metroid continued to develop.

In 2004, Nintendo released Metroid: Zero Mission, a remake of the original Metroid on the GBA with graphics that perhaps surpassed even that of Metroid Fusion, and incorporating features and abilities from the more recent titles, such as saving capability and a selection of different abilities such as crouching, hanging, speed-boost running and much more.

They also expanded upon the game’s original plot, and even added an entirely new area to the game, including a section which, for the first time ever, allows you to play as Samus without her Power Suit for a more stealth-based chapter, dubbed “Zero Suit Samus” by Super Smash Bros Brawl, which incorporated this ‘naked’ version of the heroine as an alternate mode for her in the fighter series, which also turned a few heads in the process.

And thats as far as the 2D saga of Metroid has come to this date – I personally hope to see at least one more 2D Metroid in the future. But that’s not to say that Metroid ends there, oh no – the present has seen a change in Metroid’s style…

Stay tuned for Metroid: The Present, in the second of this three-part look at the series!

-Leon