Firstly Gavvie, how did your set at the London Gaming Con go?

I felt it went really well. I was a little disappointed that we had to cut it short, and that people weren’t dancing along, but then again it was quite late on a Sunday evening. That said, the bar staff were dancing to Eat ‘em Up! (a Pac-Man remix from Ridge Racer), and that pretty much made my evening.

What did you think of the con in general?

As a first gaming convention by Anime League, I thought it went really well. Of the two days, the Sunday was a better day, as there were more people there who I knew, but the Saturday was a fun day as well. CoLD SToRAGE’s set was just brilliant, as was Brentalfloss’ on the Sunday morning. I enjoyed myself a lot, and would gladly attend the next one – hopefully as a DJ again!

Describe your music sets to those readers who have yet to see you live or listen to you on RadioSega?

Well, London Gaming Con was actually the first full DJ set I’ve ever performed, but on RadioSEGA I tend to showcase the best SEGA music and remixes, from the early days on the Master System up to the latest releases. As a live DJ, I try to mix video game music with popular music, depending on the sound I’m wanting. The London Gaming Con set was geared towards club and dance music, although in the future I’d love to do a rock one!

Gavvie and his lady, the lovely Mena

Most embarrassing track on your MP3 player?

Well, there’s no Spice Girls or Steps, if that’s what you’re hoping for! I do however have Daniel Bedingfield’s first album on there though, so I’ll have to go with If You’re Not the One. That song is so unlike my musical tastes, it’s unreal.

You took over from SegaMark as owner of RadioSega about a year a half ago. RadioSega’s a pretty significant site on the gaming scene,  what encouraged you to take on that responsibility?

SegaMark actually asked me if I’d like to take over when he’d decided to step down. To be honest, I felt honoured to be asked such a question, and accepted without any hesitation. RadioSEGA is quite unique in that, not only are we a radio site, but we’re also trying to compile the most complete collection of SEGA music on the Web. We still have a lot to do in that regard, and I feel we can, in time, become bigger than we are currently. We’re getting there though, slowly but surely

Worst Sega game?

This is hard only in the context that I have to pick one. Iron Man and its sequel are both awful, although as they’re playable they are probably both better than Sonic ’06. Flat out worst game has to be Golden Axe: Beast Rider though. Whoever let that pile creep out of the office and onto shop shelves should really feel sorry for themselves!

What are your plans both for RadioSega and regarding yourself as a DJ for 2012?

We’re actually in the process of building a new website for RadioSEGA. It’s been in development for a couple of years now, and all being well I’d love to see it finally get released in 2012. It improves upon a lot of what the current site does, and hopefully the new look will bring in a lot of new members into our small community. It would be nice to see the community grow, as that’s one area of the site which I feel needs the most amount of work. We have a top quality radio stream, and will soon have a website to compliment it. Just missing the community now!

Gavvie's radio station

As a DJ, I just want to perform more. Whilst I’ve been part of the DJ team at the previous two Summer of Sonic conventions, I haven’t had as much time at the decks as I would’ve liked, so if there’s a convention this year, I’d love to be able to get a bit more time to entertain people. I’d also love to do London Gaming Con again, as I enjoyed this one so much. Whether or not I do any other conventions though, well, I’m open to all suggestions. I enjoy doing it, and I’d like to do it more than once or twice a year. So..if you’re holding a games convention, please consider me for any DJ sets you might have!

You can find RadioSega here : http://www.radiosega.net/
Find Gavvie :
On GooglePlus : https://plus.google.com/112316469071809498226#112316469071809498226
On Twitter here : https://twitter.com/#!/GavvieUK

Sorry for the delay with the Sonic Generations review, truth is its such a good game its been near impossible to tear myself away! I hope to make up for this by providing not just a regular review of this title, oh no. What you have here, indeed, is a level-by-level synopsis.

Released on the 4th November 2011, Sonic Generations brings together and ties 3 major periods in Sonic’s lineage : the first being the 16-bit era, the second : 2000-2004, and the last being everything since. There are 9 regular levels, which are further supplemented by numerous boss battles, trials and other little bits.
Sega have confirmed that the pre-order figured for Generations is a new record for the franchise which I, as someone who has played the game through to the end, believe is nothing if not deserved.

Green Hill

The title starts off with a bang in the series’ most iconic level. And, gosh, let me tell you, you’ve never seen a Green Hill Zone quite like it! Never before has our beloved verdant haven exhibited so much variety. You’ll find twisty loops, rails, dash rings and more! All meshed side by side with the traditional sites of Totem poles, Crabmeat badniks, and of course, those unforgettable chequered hills!

One thing that really impressed me is not only the sense of deja-vu I get from the days of playing Sonic 1 on the Megadrive, but also how this level brings my mind back to other Sonic games I have loved in the past. For example, the darkened little enclave towards the end of Act 1 instantly (whether intentionally or not) reminded me of the tropical Jungle Zone from the 8 bit Sonic 1. Where as the roses Sonic runs past a little earlier in the Act remind me of the joys of playing the first level of Sonic Advance as a teenager.

The music is fabulous beginning with the housey/basey Classic rendition of the classic green hill zone tune then evolving in to a stomping Ska piece. Very fitting opener that instantly draws you in.

Chemical Plant

At first I was surprised to hear that Sonic 2′s Chemical Plant had been chosen for a Generations remake, thinking it a little too ambitious. Then I remembered that mecha levels (particularly in 3D) is something Sega excel at! They have the benefits of near-enough 20 years of experience making games since Chemical Plant’s original inception, and it shines through quite clearly. Sega have really done well to breathe new life into this old gem.

The 3D level, for example, has clearly taken many nods from levels such as Sonic Adventure’s Final Egg and Heroes’ Final Fortress. Neon-lit tunnels are in abundance, as are mesh flooring and hazards galore (but don’t worry, you now have Omochao to patronise help you!).

The blobbish blue poison, one of the level’s signature features, has been used in some interesting new ways. The 3D level, interestingly, incorporates it as avoidables for when skydiving, where as the Classic level features vats of the stuff, swirling away like the most ominous of lava lamps. The music’s pretty groovy too.

Sky Sanctuary

I want to begin by saying that the 3D level in Sky Sanctuary was my most pleasant surprise while playing Generations, and also my favourite level. So masterfully have The  Sonic Team managed not just to re-create that Star Wars-esque sense of anticipation, but also to weave that in with an eye-watering 3D rendition of the Athenian backdrops of the original. It boggles my mind quite frankly! This Act’s music was also drop-dead gorgeous, full of nifty electronic bits and sparkle, while also sounding slightly on the classical side, if that even sounds possible!

The 2D Act wasn’t quite so good… the music was poorer for a start. Aside from that it just felt like an amalgamation between the original stage and the 3D level found here, which was disappointing and, thankfully, something not found across the game as a whole.

Speed Highway

Speed Highway was perhaps my biggest disappointment in Generations. Sure its got the twisting roads, the floodlights, the rockets, the rails… even the helicopters of the original, and in many ways its better. However I felt it just didn’t have the same magic. Maybe its the absence of that glorious purple sky, or the simplicity of the original, but I think the main thing that makes this version less enjoyable than its Sonic Adventure incarnation is the removal of ‘Speed Highway at Dawn’, the much-loved mini-level at the very end of the original.

If I judge Speed Highway purely on its own merits, however, I cannot deny that it is a very fun stage! Among the things it manages to carry over and improve on is the flow of the level, which serves to demonstrate momentum-based platforming at its very best. It also needs to be noted that no effort was spared on this level’s visuals, and at any one time the screen is filled with a multitude of exciting things going on in the background.

City Escape

Its easy to see why this was chosen as a demo level for events like Eurogamer : it really is an outstanding piece of both art and of level design. The original City Escape itself couldn’t have come at a better time being smack bam in the middle of the Dreamcast era. Ah the Dreamcast era : a time when Sega were really out-doing themselves, particularly in the field of recreating bustling metropolitan scenes (see Shenmué and Jet Set Radio) the result was as it only could have been : the best level in Sonic Adventure 2.

As you might imagine from my enthusiasm, the Generations version actually manages to improve on this, not an easy task. The Generations version manages to squash more ideas into what feels like the same amount of time, with expanded parks, actual choice when encountering crossroads and an even more sinister and invasive evil monster lorry (atleast during Classic Sonic’s level. Meep!). The fan service featured in this level is unrivalled it has to be said. That’s quite a claim given this is Sonic Generations we’re talking about here! References include, but are not limited to, WANTED posters featuring Bark the Polar Bear, Bean the Dynamite, Fang/Snipe the Weasle, among others. There are also buildings entitled things such as ‘Coffee-Blaze, ‘Tails’ Pizza’ and ‘Amy’s Market’.

Music-wise I must say the tune featured in the classic level is one of my absolute favourites in the soundtrack. But I don’t think the 3D level’s track works so well. Laid back, almost country-ish rock can’t do justice to such an upbeat track as ‘Escape from the City’. Atleast not in my opinion.

Great level.

Seaside Hill

Oh, Seaside Hill. Its up there with the Green Hill Zone as one of the most featured level in the series’ entire lineage, despite being a poor man’s Emerald Coast. Its featured in at least 5 games so far, and will no doubt feature in many more. As you may be able to tell, I’m a little bit sick of Seaside Hill, so can’t say I particularly enjoyed this level. Particularly the 3D stage, which was very similar to the original (although at least this time you’re not restrained by Sonic Heroes’ seriously annoying play style).
The 2D version is a little more original. Its a traditional water level with a temple-inspired background. It actually has some nice touches, such as when the whale propels you up by the stage by head-butting you. The music’s also good, a housey update.
All in all not an appalling experience by anyone’s standards, but certainly my least favourite level from the selection thats on offer here.

Crisis City

I laughed when reading SonicYoda’s review of Sonic Generations on SegaDriven.com. He wrote : “It should… be commended that Sonic Team made a Sonic ’06 level enjoyable!”.
Enjoyable it certainly is. Crisis City is a brilliant, suspense-filled jaunt through a high-rise city in lava-quenched peril. At times it reminds me of the first level of Shadow the Hedgehog, other times Chaotic Inferno from Sonic Rivals 2.
The music is somewhat reminiscent of that found in the Bowser castle levels from the original Mario Bros games. Oh the irony Its quite up-beat and housey, despite the impression of impending doom it simultaneously manages to convey. Brilliant.

Rooftop Run

Rooftop Run is based on the joyous, sunny level Spagonia from the mighty Sonic Unleashed. It’s quite an impressive home-coming it has to be said! Act 1 sees you navigating through buildings and streets built in that Western European many of us have missed so, while a continual flow of confetti descends from the sky, creating a really jubilant, summery feel. Later in the level you work your way up a glorious clock tower, which invoked in me happy memories of Nights : Journey of Dreams.

Act 2 looks a lot like the original level from which this was based, except more colourful, with an abundance of hot-air balloons! There’s also the breath-taking moment when you’ve finished running up this really high building and suddenly begin sliding down, spying a million tiny rooftops in the distance.

The music on both Acts is really good, and overall I’d say this is one of my favourite stages.

Planet Wisp

Like Seaside Hill, Planet Wisp doesn’t show a massive amount of deviation from the level from which it was originally inspired. Which, given how recent Sonic Colours still is (it was released in 2010), might not be that surprising.

Planet Wisps sees you strewn into what seems like an endless valley of flowers and mint-green grass, which soon gives way to a devious mecha red jungle. Like the Colours’ version (and, indeed, that whole game in general), it is actually quite challenging, and one you’ll certainly need to use your brain to get through. The 3D level also, unforgivably, has a bad case of Bottomless Pit Syndrome.

Not one of my favourite levels, but it was good to see the return of Wisps, the little creatures from Colours who’s fondness for I didn’t even realise until I saw them return while playing this! An interesting return to Eggman’s Amazing Interstellar Amusement Park.

So in conclusion what you have here are a wonderful set of levels that really draw successfully on, and exhibit well, the long history of Sonic, if not indeed Sega itself. The variety is top-notch, and gamers will find plenty of different play styles to keep them amused as they traverse these 9 fields of home.

I’ve got heaps more to say, but quite frankly it would take me another 1900 words and quite frankly I’m exhausted now. Instead I’m going to be cheeky and do a bit of a journalism no-no : just summarise the rest of my thoughts among the Pros and Cons section below.

Pros:
+ Jaw-dropping visuals that improve on everything that’s gone before.
+ Implements old ideas in awesome new ways
+ Nothing has been spared on the fun factor
+ Many different ways to play
+ Fan service is immense
+ Brilliant sound track

Cons:
- Some of the levels not quite as fun as others. But thats more me being nit-picky than anything
- The 2D levels don’t revert to 3D, so its annoying how the 3D levels go back to 2D sometimes

Score: 9.5/10 – Honestly the best-looking, best-sounding and, most importantly, funnest game I’ve played this century so far. No Sonic fan should be without this, heck, buy an Xbox/PS3 if you have to!

~HelenBaby

We’d like to share our excitement for this upcoming gem by offering one lucky PlusXP reader the chance to win this rather sexy 6 pack of classic Sonic figurines :

Featuring Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy Rose, Metal Sonic and Super Sonic, this delightful box of treats has the charm of 10 salesmen. So enticing are they that Garvaos was positively vexed when we reminded him that staff weren’t eligible to enter our contests

The contest

So finally we get on to what you need to do to win our lovely prize. Just send us in a photo, or an amalgamation of photos, that you feel sum up the theme Sonic Generations. It could be a picture of your Grandad with a Sonic plushie, a pic of you wearing a Sonic t-shirt as a kid… whatever you can think of. You probably already have a photo in your hard drive that’ll be perfect, don’t ya?

The Rules

• Contest closes on Sonic Generations’ release date. So, to clarify, that’s the 4th November.
• Only one entry per person. But you can change your entry if, before the contest’s end, you think of a picture you’d prefer
• All entries will be featured in an article summing up the contest, so by entering your consenting for your picture to be used in this way

How to submit

Just link us to your entry either via Twitter, where you can find us @PlusXP, or send it to us via email at competitions@plusxp.com

We look forward to receiving your entries guys.

(By the way, those of you who live in London and are over 18 should totally join SonicLondon, run by your’s truly. We have meet ups around the Capital about 3-4 times a year, where we drink, draw, play games and generally lark about : http://www.facebook.com/groups/107060975984482/ </shameless plug>)

-HelenBaby

This was my first Eurogamer Expo and can I say that it was an amazing one to start with. As you have read in previous post, there were a lot of great titles that you could play. As always with expos, there are games that haven’t been released yet.

One of these titles was House of the Dead:  Overkill Extended Cut for the Playstation 3. This was an extended version of a previously realised game. I have played all the arcade versions of HOTD (I’m just going to call it that to make this easier to read) and have enjoyed them immensely. All the blood, guts and gore make for a perfect zombie, so I was excited to try this out the game to see if it had what it takes.

The game was tucked away in a corner of the 18 section, from an onlooker’s perspective, the games graphics are up to the usual HOTD standard. sharp graphics with really grainy overtones, what I like to call, arcade style of graphics. The BGM and SFX are what any arcade fan would come to expect with a HOTD game, very dark and ominous music coupled with the some perfect SFX, you can really hear the zombie moans and the body squelch as your bullets blow their heads off.

The game requires you to play via PlayStation move, you can get a plastic rifle that you plug the move controller into in order to play the game, but the move controller is just fine by itself. Since the controller I was using was needed to charge at the time I used just the controller on its own.

You didn’t get much of the story with this as it was just a demo. All that was said story wise was that an incident happened at a location and I needed to check it out. Oh and what did we find? Zombies and they are looking very nasty.

As with all the HOTD games you have little bonuses and power ups through the game, one of the latest power ups they have added to this game is slow motion. This is an awesome addition as can not only kill a butt load of zombies in slow-mo, but you also get to see zombies explode and their body parts fly off as you shoot them with your shotgun all in glorious slow motion.

Now you would suspect that after I have said all of that, that the game would be brilliant. Well sadly you would be wrong, but this isn’t because of anything in the game, it’s well designed and everything around it has been well thought out. The problem however lies with the Playstation Move controller and rifle that you use to play the game with, there are multiple reasons why the PlayStation move isn’t that great for this game, but the main reasons are:  The controller is not as responsive and accurate as you would like it to be, when you do try to calibrate it, the targeting feels off so you can not accurately calibrate the move. Even standing about a foot away from the screen I was still missing, this just shows how bad the move controller is when trying to calibrate it. The other reason is that plastic rifle you get with this game breaks quite easily.

Overall the game is good and has all the quality of its predecessors, but the only thing that lets this game down is the move controller. Get rid of that and you have the potential for an awesome arcade game for the PlayStation 3.

House of the Dead:  Overkill Extended Cut is released on the 28^th of October for PlayStation 3

-Random Man

As my reviews are on the brief side I’ve decided to group them into two posts, as opposed to individual ones for each game, the tactic favoured by most of the staff members. This first part looks at Kid Icarus, Warhammer, Sonic Generations and Super Mario 3D Land!

Kid Icarus

Set for release in 2012, Kid Icarus is an upcoming Nintendo title for the 3DS. It is the third title in the Kid Icarus series, arriving 19 years after the second.

Kid Icarus was my biggest disappointment of Eurogamer. It was one of the games I was most looking forward to playing, but when I tried it I found I had to force myself to carry on. It’s not that it’s a bad game at all, it’s just composed of elements I’ve seen all before.

The main gameplay area, for example, reminded me of a cross between the Yu Suzuki classic Fantasy Zone and Face Raiders, the 3DS’s inbuilt Face Shooter game, except significantly less fun than the latter. Which comes free with 3DS…poor show.

The parts of the level where you controlled Pit walking around were better, I must say. They included some puzzle elements and felt almost like a Zelda dungeon. I rather enjoyed those bits and imagine that, if they had been emphasised more, this mini review would have ended up a lot more positive.

I can’t fault the game on its graphics. Pit looks his bishonen best as he flies through a very pretty landscape that is essentially Ancient Greece meets early 90s Sega, with evil anthropomorphic mushrooms and eye monsters ahoy! The skies are also fleshed out beautifully, in a spectrum of colours and to the backdrop of endless stars.

It’s a shame that the lovely graphics couldn’t save this game however. I suppose in a sense the jury’s still out on it, because I never got to try the multiplayer and, from what I’ve seen on YouTube, I must admit it looks quite good. But from what I’ve played so far, Kid Icarus seemed boring and uninspiring.

Warhammer 40,000 : Space Marine

Warhammer 40,000 : Space Marine is an Action/Third Person Shooter from THQ. This happens to be the latest game to be set in the Warhammer universe, and features familiar races from the franchise such as Orcs and the iconic space marines .

As always, lets start with the controls. The protagonist’s bolshy swagger makes him such a fun character to walk around with. When you encounter level elements you can interact with it glows, giving you the choice of executing the action with a button press when you stand close enough to it. The combat itself is extremely satisfying and switches between melee and ranged. Everything Captain Titus (the main character) does he does with as much force as possible, and its a joy to behold him swishing his sword into an enemy, watching lashes of blood descend, as well as pumping enemies with bullets from afar. Yes this is a game with a lot of blood and explosions.

The realistic graphics are fleshed out with high res textures, and are highly reactive to the special effects (such as illuminating in response to explosions). The development team have really outdone themselves in creating a murky, yet always clear, landscape where heaps is going on at any one moment. And the cut scenes look even better, the movements, facial expressions and clothing textures put them up there with the best CGI I’ve ever seen.

I would highly recommend Warhammer 40k : Space Marine to Warhammer fans and gamers alike. It is immersive, gorgeous, and downright fun to play.

Sonic Generations

Sonic Generations is being created to celebrate Sega’s mascot’s 20^th Anniversary. Interestingly, it lets you flip between ‘Classic Sonic’, a cute looking Sonic who uses the old signature moves of Sonic from the 16Bit era, such as spin dash, and ‘Modern Sonic’, who has Sonic’s current look and moves he’s amassed since the Dreamcast era, such as the Homing Attack. It’s also notable for blowing my mind and being, along with Mario Kart 7, the best game on show at Eurogamer, in my very humble opinion. Allow me to explain why.

The game is an absolute gem to play. There are just so many different routes to take and choices which can be made. Tr!ppy from nightsintodreams.com, who was looking after the Generations booth (she works for Sega), said that, even now, after having access to this game for months, she is still discovering new routes through the levels. And I can totally appreciate how that would be the case. This is, its fair to say, a game that just keeps on giving.

The visuals throw forth an absolute abundance of ideas at you as you traverse the beautiful, beautiful zones. Of course none of the old elements have been left out, to take the Green Hill zone as an example you’ve got palm trees, rocks, the iconic checkered walls, the totem poles, bridges… I think you get the picture! Running through the first Act of City Escape I was also very pleased to see posters hanging up (you’ve got to be lucky to spot these though, given the velocity in these levels!) featuring many a familiar face from Sonic’s history, such as Mighty the Armadillo and Bark the Polar Bear. And everything is just tied together so seamlessly, then augmented by well-thought out special effects, such as lighting and use of the blur lens, which work together to really create an impression of class.

The soundtrack pleases me greatly. What you’ve got are housey updates of the classic tracks, such as ‘Escape from the City’ which just sound so damn good with their thomping bass, I must say. It sounds very, very contemporary, and suits the Sonic franchise’s cheerful yet badass demeanour perfectly.

This game is set for release in November, and its fair to say that I absolutely cannot wait. Sega have created a masterpiece, and I hope both for their sake, and the sake of gamers everywhere, that this is instantly propelled to one of the best-selling Sonic games of all time. Because it deserves it.

Super Mario 3D Land

Super Mario 3D Land is a 3DS title due for release this November. A platform game, it has a time limit with a jump-flag at the end, just like the old style Mario games.

First of all : a rant. I was really disappointed that, given its name, all the retro references, at least those I noticed, related to the Mario Bros series. It’s very misleading to include ‘Land’ in the title when there are no references to the Super Mario Land (a series found on the original Gameboy). The neglect Nintendo have so far shown Super Mario Land blows my mind, it’s not as if the titles didn’t sell well! The first two both feature in the top ten best-selling Mario games ever, and have combined sales of 30 million units, which is pretty significant it has to be said…

Anyway back on topic! 3D Land felt, to me, like a cross between Super Mario Galaxy and New Super Mario Bros, being quite inferior to the former, yet an improvement on the latter. Best handheld Mario to date? Quite possibly… but its nothing you haven’t seen before at the same time.

I’m not sure if it’s an issue with the current build that will be ironed out in the final release, but the game seemed to run very slowly, which was a further damper. The game was still fun though, with well designed levels and puzzles, and it’s always a joy to see Tanooki suit Mario.

Everything about the graphics, from the interface to the textures and models, have clearly taken big queues from Mario Galaxy. Which isn’t very original, but given how amazing Galaxy was it’s quite acceptable. The whole thing looks very shiny indeed.

Overall 3DS Land is good, but certainly nothing ground-breaking. It would probably be best appreciated by people who were fans of Mario back in the day who have taken a break and are looking to get back into the franchise, rather than people like myself who have been grinding the recent titles for all their worth. Average.

- HelenBaby

Back in February last year I got a copy of Bayonetta for my birthday, I had previously had hands on previews with the game back at 2009’s Eurogamer Expo and I adored the game play, it was like playing Devil May Cry 3 for the first time, the sheer variety of weapons and moves coupled with the great visuals made for a great game. Unfortunately the story and the game’s protagonist didn’t cut the mustard with me, however I persisted and beat the game. The story wasn’t the greatest of video game narratives and it was slightly confusing, but the games closing scenes did do the classic riding off into the proverbial sun set leaving the narrative available for a possible sequel.

This week, word has been going round that a sequel to the 2010 smash hit maybe on the horizon. According to a tweet from the Platinum Games director Hideki Kamiya there may be an official announcement for Bayonetta 2 this week in a gaming magazine. This would make sense because in about two weeks the 2011 Tokyo game show will be kicking off in Japan, this would be prime time to announce the next title in the Bayonetta saga.

Is Bayonetta 2 a good idea though? Even though the first game gave potential for a sequel, to me the title felt like a one-off. Sure it had great game play and awesome visuals, but I felt that Bayonetta as a character was a bit bland. She isn’t as cool and cocky as say Dante for example she just seemed to over the top, she said so many innuendos it actually got to the point of making me cringe. Even though she did try the whole cocky confident bad ass witch act something didn’t feel right, and the whole magical hair suddenly turning her naked while performing epic magical moves didn’t really cut it for me, well it might of back when I was fifteen.

If a sequel is to be announced for this game I would like to see some big changes. Such as revealing more of the darker side of Bayonetta, it was touched upon during the first game but I feel it wasn’t covered enough, a lot needs to go into her character development in my opinion. With that said though the gameplay is one thing that shouldn’t have to be changed that much as the first title had the right level of over the top action and a perfect mix of variety when it came to weapons and moves. I just hope the game will dive deeper into Bayonetta as a character and reveal her true potential as a protagonist.

So I do welcome the idea of a sequel to 2010′s Bayonetta, I just hope it isn’t the isn’t as cringe worthy in its protagonist as the last game was, even though I have a sneaky suspicion it will be. Still the gameplay in the first title was awesome.

Keep an eye on Plus XP for Bayonetta updates as we hear them.

Garv

This wasn’t the Sonic I was hoping for…..

Don’t get me wrong, Sonic 4 Episode 1 was a good game; it was reminiscent of the 2D Sonic games, but it wasn’t retro enough for me. It was missing a pile of nostalgia that I hoped that it would bring but didn’t, and my hopes of a new Sonic game that would bring me back to my youth were dashed once more. That is, until yet another shining light decided to spread its warm glow over my gaming dreams and bring forth Sonic Generations…

Believe it or not, but Sonic is going to be 20 years old this year. SEGA’s mascot made his first appearance back in 1991, and Sega want to celebrate that with a new game! Well, technically, it’s half new and half a remake. You see, Sonic Generations involves the newer generation of Sonic travelling back in time to meet the original 90′s Sonic in an epic stand-off against a new nemesis. The story may sound a bit flimsy at first, but hang on, because there’s more!

Sonic Generations combines the retro 2D Sonic gameplay of yester-decade with the fast, frantic and 3D gameplay of the newer Sonic, which you may remember from Sonic Colours and the only good parts of Sonic Unleashed. As a result, the side-scrolling parts will play like we all remember; lots of speed and only a jump button to worry about. Classic 2D stages (par exemple, the Green Hill Zone from Sonic 1) will be remade and playable. The twist comes in that these stages will also be playable as the new Sonic, translating the same stages into 3D and giving you a totally different way to play the levels you loved from the past. Essentially, the Sonic fans (like myself) who crave for a shinier version of the original games will be satisfied while also appealing to those who want in on a new Sonic game more like Episode 1, Unleashed and Colours.

The information released thus far has really got me excited beyond words. Not much else is known about the game as yet, but this sounds like a game I will definitely be keeping an eye on.
Stay tuned to PlusXP when we have more info, but for now we’ll leave you with a gameplay trailer!

Garv.

The game plays similarly to the classic titles, with the objective to run through each stage collecting rings, and reaching the finish while avoiding/defeating enemies and navigating the various loops, springs and spike traps spread over the level. Now, my biggest complaint when I first booted the game was the physics of Sonic himself – he felt slower, clunkier, and less fluid than the classic titles. I must admit this was a turnoff at first, but I actually found that I got used to it the more I played, and got the hang of a few tricks as well – in all honesty, while I feel that Sonic isn’t as fast as he used to be, it’s because the game has more of a focus on maintaining speed and learning how to navigate the level without losing it. One of the biggest controversies to the latest 2D Sonic venture is the inclusion of a homing attack – by pressing jump in mid-air, Sonic will home into a targeted enemy or object. People believed this would eradicate all traces of skill in the game, with no need for any kind of precision. However, it’s actually more of a platforming mechanic – allowing Sonic to chain homing attacks to enemies to cross them to reach new side routes, while also allowing him to break into a run more quickly. It’s not all easy sailing either – if you mis-time the attack you’ll just find yourself flailing in mid-air in a more vulnerable state, so it really doesn’t give you that idea of being able to “mash the jump button and win”. I’m not saying the game is perfect – there are some occasions where platforming is awkward (such as one section where you are supposed to time jumps across a number of flipping platforms or fall to your death), but with a little practice these parts get much easier anyway.

That said, the game does feel as though it’s aimed at experienced Sonic players, rather than for first-time players. Personally I enjoyed the fact that the game wasn’t a walk in the park – considering the originals are easily accessible and still worth playing even by today’s standards, but it might put a few people off. Regardless of a few tough bits, the game really is full of nostalgia, with plenty of loops, springs, and familiar Sonic enemies that really made me smile.

That brings me to the stages. The game consists of four zones, each with three acts and a boss. However, unlike traditional Sonic titles, you may select the order you wish to attempt the stages, as the game incorporates a world-map style level select. This is great for replay value, as it makes stages very accessible, and besides – if you want to play in a more traditional way, you can always start at Splash Hill Zone Act 1, and simply press a button at the end of the stage to automatically progress to the next act without returning to the map screen. Each of the stages feels like an homage to a classic Sonic title – Splash Hill is a traditional, luscious Green Hill Zone type stage, Casino Street hearkens back to the days of Casino Night Zone, Lost Labyrinth is pretty much a remake of Labyrinth Zone, and Mad Gear feels like a new Scrap Brain Zone. Fans may either love or hate this – since the levels are very good, yet maybe a little too familiar if you’re looking for something new. That said, one thing I really loved about them was that each Act within every zone had its own unique elements – such as a sunset stage on Splash Hill Act 3, and Casino Street looking more like some kind of Caesar’s Palace as the acts progress. It was nice to see more than palette swaps, showing some real uniqueness between the acts – although to be honest I found this was a little less apparent on the Mad Gear stages. The zones all have appropriately matched music, that while fitting, were neither disappointing nor particularly memorable.

The bosses of the game are similar – they are all variations on older bosses. Most of them essentially take an older boss (such as the classic Wrecking Ball Robotnik/Eggman from Green Hill Zone) and once you’ve hit him a few times, the music changes and his attack pattern changes – in the case of the first boss, he suddenly starts swinging the ball in a 360 degree slam attack. While some players may feel that the game should have created new bosses, rather than re-making old ones, I personally enjoyed the nostalgia, with the variations enough to mix it up and keep it fresh. The bosses range from easy to hard, and while some people may at first find some frustrating (such as one that uses instant-kill crushing attacks akin to the final boss of Sonic 1), I found that with a little concentration and practice, they mostly offer average challenge. The bosses have now also been separated as stages of their own (rather than at the end of Act 3), which you may either like or dislike depending on your personal preference – I’m undecided, as it makes them easier to access, but it feels a little less like a traditional Sonic title, and offers a little less pressure for failure.

One thing I will mention, is that it seems Sonic Team have attempted to include a variety of new ideas to mix up the levels – particularly in Lost Labyrinth Zone, which introduces a few new gameplay elements. Firstly, there’s a stage where Sonic carries a torch, which restricts your field of vision, and also doubles as a lighting device for torch-switches and explosive fuses scattered around the level. Secondly, there are mine-cart sections where you have to jump at the right time to clear gaps, and lastly there are a few sections that require you to “tilt” the stage in order to move water to push a plug from the wall, whilst stopping Sonic from sinking into some spikes – this bit was pretty badly executed, and one of the worst elements of the game, but it’s easy once you know how, and only lasts a few seconds. The other elements I personally enjoyed, mixing up the stages – the mine cart sections reminding me of the classic Master System games – but some people might not enjoy them since they do break up the traditional speed-run feel of the stages.

Of course, Sonic 4 wouldn’t be a Sonic game without Special Stages. Taking influence from Sonic 1, stages are accessed by jumping through a giant ring at the end of the level, which appears if you have 50 rings, and are also based on the emerald-collecting maze stages of the original. However, unlike Sonic 1 where you had to navigate Sonic through a constantly rotating maze, Sonic 4′s Special Stages have a different twist – literally – as you instead control the rotation of the stage, while Sonic constantly free-falls downward. The stages are fairly challenging but not unfair – although you need to collect time-boost bubbles on some stages which have a time-limit, unlike the classic versions. Overall, I found them to be at just about the right difficulty, with the game’s level-replay system making the Special Stages fairly easy to access, although it does mean replaying a whole level each time you want to try again. Of course, collecting all 7 Chaos Emeralds unlocks Super-Sonic (and the slightly better ending), which is always worth the hassle.

With a final zone to complete, and all 7 emeralds obtainable, Sonic 4: Episode 1 feels sort of like a short, but complete, Sonic game. While this is nice, as the other episodes aren’t available yet, I’m a little worried that the other episodes won’t combine together to create one larger experience, rather four smaller ones. This is only a minor concern, but I do hope that once all of the parts are released they will merge into a complete package, rather than simply staying as four parts – with around 16 stages, the sum of all of the episodes could give us the biggest, longest 2D Sonic titles ever made – definitely not a bad thing! However, with Episode 1 priced at a hefty £10, we could be looking at the price of a full retail title for the whole thing.

While Sonic 4 doesn’t feel exactly like the older games, it’s definitely the closest we’ve seen in a long time. It took me a little getting used to, but by the end of the episode I’m definitely looking forward to the rest. Personally, the 2D Sonics are some of my favourite games, and I’ll be happy to shell out for the following episodes as long as they are equally as good, if not better. The game is a definite blast from the past, and I only hope that this is the start of a new trend for Sonic – finally remembering why he used to be so good.

-Leon

The only time it interests me greatly is when the media blow politics out of proportion. I.E things ridiculous movies or games which some how take things over the edge and make politics enjoyable (yes I am admitting I do like very big explosions over who is running for office).

"Time to go Master Cheif on your ass" Image From IGN.com

So I present to you Vanquish. A new game from Developers Platinum Games and Publishers Sega. This is a 3rd person outing set in the future, where the US and Russia are vying ownership of the last of the worlds resources. So the US thinks it’s an awesome idea to harness the energy from the sun in a big space station. Russia are obviously cheesed off by this and proceed to take control of the space station and then decide to blow up San Francisco in hope that the US will surrender there and then. So of corse the US fight back and are now trying to take back the space station and this is where you come in.

You play as Sam, a special Government agent armoured to the teeth with all sorts of weapons and a cool suit of armour, your job is to fight through hordes of Robot russians and aid the US in taking over the space station before the russians inevitably blow up New York. Now that’s what I call politics!

"Just dropping in." Image From IGN.com

Gameplay wise this is again your usual 3rd person shoot and cover game, but with a difference, every now and then you get to pilot Mechs and tear the place up a bit. The visuals in this game look amazing as well, taking a lot of influence from Manga and Anime such as Code Geass and Full Metal Panic. The over the top futuristic playing field mixed with huge robots and technology defiantly sounds like something take from an Anime or Mage series, seeing as it is all about politics as well. It’s for this reason why Vanquish is getting me a little bit excited.

"Ahh, A friendly uber russian killing tank!" Image From IGN.com

Fortunately, one of the Plus XP team will be able to get their hands on a demo of this game at this years Eurogamer Expo, which is held at Earls Court in london from the 1st to the 3rd of October. If we have any more news for you on Vanquish before then, we will post it on the site as usual.

Garv.

As many people will agree, Sonic games have been on a steady decline since they left the 2D roots – although I enjoyed Sonic Adventure, the games have seemingly gotten ever worse with SEGA trying everything they could to make him work on a 3D plane, and with each failed effort moving ever closer to his retirement. The latest installment, Sonic Unleashed, had me cringing at cheesy voices and boring gameplay, with some semi-enjoyable running scenes and a heck of a lot of awful “Were-hog” parts that separated the fun parts with some long, really boring rubbish. I quit the game soon enough, and finally accepted that Sonic was well overdue on his retirement, and had strayed too far.

However, I recently got hold of the demo of Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. I don’t know why I did – I mean, I’m not a huge fan of racing games or 3D Sonic, so it didn’t have a lot going for it. Perhaps I was bored. Anyway – the single race the demo offered made me want to try a little more, being surprisingly decent and bursting with colour.

Come release day, I decided I’d buy it and give it a real shot – heck, I hadn’t bought a racing game since Mario Kart Wii, and I felt like picking up something casual to play between Heavy Rain and Final Fantasy XIII.

As Garv said in his demo review, S&SASR plays almost exactly like Mario Kart – with fast paced multiplayer kart-style racing set in colourful environments, with weapons, jumps and turbo pads. Almost everything feels like Mario Kart – but is this a bad thing? I don’t think so.

Thing is, I think Mario Kart is a real solid racer, especially good for casual fun with friends and equally good fun solo. However, since I’ve never been a fan of Mario, the cast was never something I really enjoyed – I picked my characters for their attributes since none of the characters appeal to me for who they were. So what have we got? Take the Mario Kart system and change all the levels and characters to that of Sonic and other SEGA titles – and pretty much what S&SASR is on a basic level. And that’s the end of the Mario Kart comparison (mostly) how does the game stand as a title of its own?

 The cars in the game aren’t Karts, rather they’re vehicles specific to each character – Sonic drives a personalised blue sports car, Eggman (or Robotnik as he should be known) drives his traditional Egg Mobile kitted out with some monster-truck wheels, and Billy Hatcher drives an egg-styled car. Some characters, such as Ulala and Tails, have vehicles that don’t even have wheels, but they all play evenly and balanced - though they have different stats with some characters with better acceleration, while others are better at manoeuvering or have better turbo boosts.  There are 20 characters in total (plus one or two extra depending on console), with racers from wide range of source games both old and new.

The game offers 24 tracks in total, which are separated into 6 Grand Prix’s for the main solo mode. There are eight main level themes including Sonic “grassland/beach” style, Sonic “Casino” style, Billy Hatcher themed courses, House of the Dead and Samba De Amigo themes. Each of these themes has three courses, but they’re all individual in their own right – such as the HotD stages which include an outdoor course, a sewer run and an indoor/rooftop course. There’s a good mix of different arenas, from the snowy Icicle Valley (of the Billy Hatcher set), the psychedelic Samba De Amigo stages, and the urban Shibuya Downtown city course (as one of three Jet-Set Radio courses). The selection is quite vast, and it feels as though it encompasses a wide range of different areas and elements.

As you progress through the game, you earn “Sega Miles” which act as credits to unlock new characters (since only some are available to start), courses to play in the modes outside of Grand Prix, and alternate music tracks which can be selected to play when you race. Unlocking new characters is always good, and the other items feel worth unlocking rather than just garbage gallery content, too. Each character only has one car each, which at first disappointed me – until I realised that they all have their own unique vehicles, unlike the Mario Kart’s simple Light, Medium or Heavy class Karts – and all of their unique vehicles are actually well modelled and often intricate, which is quite impressive really.

As with a certain Kart game I’m no longer mentioning, the game has a variety of weapons, obtained from pickups around the course. There’s a good selection of weapons such as homing missiles, proximity mines, nitro shoes, and disorienting abilities such as the “Confusing Star” which flips the target’s screen upside down, and the “Pocket Rainbow” which temporarily obscures the vision of whoever is unlucky enough to hit it. There’s a decent selection, and they don’t feel too overpowered, either. There is one super-weapon, though – the All-Star move. Each character has a specific attack that they can access at random, usually when toward the back of the pack, and it gives them a temporary but huge advantage – such as driving at super speed for a while, or being able to fire barrages of missiles at anyone who gets in their way. The moves are really fun, and it’s quite exciting to see what each character does – Sonic turns into Super Sonic and speeds up the road, while Billy Hatcher runs on a giant egg and crushes anyone he rolls over. Although the moves are powerful and can make a big difference, they don’t feel overpowered so in the end skill is the main deciding factor to who wins the race rather than chance - it just gives a bit of extra fun and a helping hand to whoever falls behind.

The game has a decent challenge to it - the Beginner mode is easy enough that a skilled player should be able to win 99% of the time. However, once you progress to the Advanced level, the AI really ups it’s game and it’s a lot more challenging to pull out ahead of the pack. I have yet to attempt Expert, but I can safely say it will definitely need some skill to master – it’s required to learn how to drift and score extra turbo boosts if you want to keep up with the AI on the later levels, since they’ll be making use of it all the time.

The game has a solid base to it with a good cast and a decent selection of tracks, but one thing that does make it shine is the inclusion of optional extras. The time trial mode is included as with most racers, and allows you to race against the leaderboards, yourself, and also a Staff Ghost to give yourself a sort of par to set yourself to. One of the bigger modes is Mission Mode, which gives an assortment of different challenges with set rules, such as winning one-on-one race as Tails against Sonic, collecting rings and chaos emeralds down a course within a time limit as Eggman, or crushing as many birds as you can using Billy Hatcher’s special. This mode really adds some extra enjoyment, feeling like a real full mode rather than simply filler material, giving the game some extra depth.

Obviously with a game like this, Multiplayer is a big factor - and it goes just as well as it should. Offering up to four-player local split-screen, the game allows you to play all the courses against your friends, and also allows you to toggle weapons and AI opponents to tailor the matches to your needs. Sadly there’s no “multiplayer Grand Prix” mode, but the game does keep track of who wins each game so all that’s really missing is an end-of-set award ceremony of sorts.

Of course with today’s standards online modes are included, allowing for 8-player matches. This is great for playing against friends, and is also fun in random matchups, although I must say the lobby system might need some tweaking – I found myself waiting for over 15 minutes to get into a session before, but this may just be early-release kinks that will be fixed when there are more people playing. Still, when it works, its great fun and you can keep playing so long as there are people left in the lobby after each race.

Although the game is available on all three major consoles, I personally went with the Xbox 360 version which is arguably the best, with the most characters. The 360 version includes Banjo-Kazooie as an extra character, alongside the ability to play as your Xbox Live Avatar – which works really well given the game’s graphical style. The Wii version includes Mii capability, and the PS3 has no extras (no idea why it got the short end of the straw).

The game is solid, and although it’s almost impossible not to compare it to Mario Kart it seems to be using the ideas to great potential rather than simply making a sub-par clone. The game is bright and exciting, and is really good fun with lots to do. Personally, I think that the courses, racers and modes elevate the game to a level even more enjoyable than Mario Kart, but then I am a little biased. Let’s just say, I own both – and I know which one I’ll be sticking to in future.

Although the game is fleshed out and definitely doesn’t feel lacking, it’s been said that DLC is also a possibility in the future – if the coming year finds us having access to an even wider selection of racers and courses to expand the game even further, this could easily be one of the best kart-style racers ever made. With Sonic 4 on the way, perhaps Sonic’s got something more to give us yet.

-Leon