XBLA: 0D Beat Drop

Seemingly out of nowhere, Arc System Works has shifted from “That Guilty Gear company,” broadening its horizons with a handful of rhythm gaming installments, a good many of them actually hitting the United States courtesy of Aksys Games. While some of those titles seemed more like attempts to jump on the Rock Band/Guitar Hero bandwagon (Drum King, Rockin’ Pretty), last week 0D Beat Drop fell into our laps giving us something outside of the ordinary. If you can imagine a smashing of Puyo Puyo and Every Extend Extra Extreme with splashes of the face button timing-based rhythm genre, you have a very good idea of what to expect. In that regard, it could be said that 0D Beat Drop borrows from such influences a little too much for its own good, but, still, the end result is a satisfying and engrossing experience.

The formula I laid out above can explain the title in a nutshell: You take puzzle piece connection mechanics of Puyo Puyo, implement the graphical presentation and BPM analyzer of a Q! Entertainment game (E4, Lumines) and prominently feature music which dictates the overall gameplay. At face value, 0D Beat Drop might seem a like a confusing and intimidating game, but once a player dives in and gets a grasp of the mechanics, that is actually pretty far from the truth. To clear pieces from the playfield, players have to line up at least three of the same icon, however, actually removing the pieces from the game can only be done by performing a beat drop, which is done by pressing the X button in time to the beat of the music. When you see that the other face buttons rotate the active piece and the analog stick or d-pad maneuver the pieces, anyone who has played a puzzle game will know exactly what to do. In fact, the simplicity of the title could potentially be one of the game’s biggest hooks.

To create value for your $10, this simplistic gameplay can be enjoyed in a span of modes that pit single players against one-on-one gauntlets of CPU players, teaming up with a CPU to take on two other computer-controlled players or tackling a series of four-player battle royales. The single-player modes also allow players to attempt a series of trails (clear “x” blocks simultaneously, obtain a “x” chain, etc.), tackle a target score as fast as they can in time trial or load up a song of their own via the hard drive or Xbox 360 compatible music device to jam to. Obviously, though, the real meat of the gameplay is in facing off against human opponents (or in the case of co-op, teaming up with a friend) in the same one-on-one and battle royale formats. While, unfortunately, players can’t share their streaming mp3s analyzed into the game, multiplayer modes do encompass both offline and online features, rounding out a very robust range of options for a downloadable puzzler. You could view these modes as standards for the genre and state that little changes between the modes aside from the number of players involved and where attack pieces are sent, however, as it stands, 0D Beat Drop offers more features than some full-priced retail discs.

No matter what mode the player is in, though, the premise is the same - players launch gameplay with an accompanying piece of music, with the BPM analyzed and displayed in the form of an equalizer that pulses from the bottom to top in time with the current tune. At first, music game purists may scoff at the lenient timing window to active a beat drop, which, at the beginning encompasses roughly half of the equalizer. However, as players beat drop, successive drops accumulate a combo meter that awards more points to the player and sends more attack pieces to the opponent in the appropriate modes. As the combo meter builds up, the beat drop timing window gets smaller and smaller until it is nothing more than a tiny sliver at the top of the equalizer, really testing the player to flawlessly hammer out drops in time to the beat. Thankfully, the combo doesn’t reset if players opt to not beat drop and place pieces down on the field manually, allowing players to set up some nasty chains and links that will send the maximum amount of garbage over to the opponent. While the system sounds like a gimmick at first, the mechanic is implemented quite well and in tandem with beat dropping offers some sound risk and reward strategy – you can save your combo and build up a great attack, but, at that same time, opponents can send over garbage and ruin your plan.

0D Beat Drop controls naturally and operates just as well as any other popular puzzle game, which is a godsend when your opponent has your playfield filled with garbage pieces. When you toss in the fact that only a few buttons are used to play the title, the game is a great pick-up-and-play title that should appeal to anyone who has enjoyed a title such as Tetris or Puyo Puyo in the past. The span of modes can keep anywhere from one to four players occupied for some time and while the gameplay is extremely fast-paced and versus games can end in a flash, this does make for a great party feel where players can pass the controller around without having to wait forever for another go. That being said, with the frantic gameplay, some of the attacks can feel extremely unfair, with garbage piece totals easily reaching a total of hundreds. This is sort of remedied by allowing for a fever drop that depletes your combo meter if you beat drop after allowing more than 40 garbage pieces to fall on your playfield. The fever drop changes the colors of some of the pieces on the playfield and results in a mass clearing of your field. However, these attack pieces easily allow the opponent to immediately activate a fever drop in return, effectively creating a wacky balance in the gameplay. In the long run, however, skilled players will still be able to go back and forth and the simple nature of activating the fever drop gives less skilled players an easy means to stay competitive.

Surrounding all of the action is a rather impressive presentation, from which the appeal of the title draws heavily. Obviously, music is a huge portion of the game and on this front, 0D Beat Drop doesn’t disappoint with a small collection of varied electronic tunes that range in BPM values, along with featured material from the Japanese act Sweet Vacation. In reality, the song collection explodes when players use the BPM analyzer feature, so not enjoying the content provided by Arc System Works isn’t an excuse for players. Of course, these songs ring through in great quality and do not get drowned out by the gameplay, which features the now-common sound effects of shifting and rotating the puzzle pieces and the booms of pieces clearing off the playfield. It’s all easy on the ears, yet, somehow, it remains prominent and noticeable even amidst the most feverish puzzle session. The graphics seem like they were pulled straight out of Every Extend Extra Extreme, with the brightly-colored digital overlays and equalizer-influenced meters. Also taking a page from Lumines, there are a number of background and puzzle piece skins to choose from to mix up the scenery. While the visuals do appear to be heavily borrowed in concept, there are a variety of interesting skins to see and the use of color really make the visuals pop from the screen. Huge chains and fever drops litter the screen with explosions of light and are extremely pleasing to the eyes. Integrating with the Xbox 360, 0D Beat Drop does allow for players to use their Microsoft Avatars as in-game characters and while they may look a little out of place among the vivid visuals, their animations add to the victories and defeat encountered in gameplay.

Overall, 0D Beat Drop may not be the greatest puzzle game on the market, but it definitely hits toward the top of the list of offerings on Xbox LIVE Arcade. The rhythm aspect gives the title a hook to separate itself from the “match three” and other general puzzle games flooding the market and with the breadth of options available in-game, 0D Beat Drop is a very worthwhile purchase given its price of admission. There are a lot of obviously-borrowed elements, some odd balance issues and overly-difficult CPU characters in some cases, but with a few friends, it’s very easy to look past the title’s minor issues and put some quality multiplayer time into it. When you factor in the ability to load your own songs into the game, the replayability is amped up considerably and leaves players with a mean to expand their song selections and find tunes that they enjoy the most. While this release was easy to miss in the shuffle of a couple of big weeks at retail, we definitely recommend going back to this puzzle-rhythm fusion.

GemuBaka Final Review Score: 4 of 5

PS2 Review: The King of Fighters 2006

It seems a decade of King of Fighters wasn't enough for the flagship SNK series as the franchise now enters its 2006 installment. The last time KOF entered the PS2 arena, the series evolved into the third-dimension, with the lackluster Maximum Impact. And while 2006 improves upon the previous iteration, it still limps away from the fight.

The most notable improvement in King of Fighters 2006 is the bump in the number of features - the roster nearly doubles, new fighting mechanics are introduced and new single-player modes are added.

The entire cast of Maximum Impact makes an encore performance and are joined by four new characters, and 14 unlockables, which are playable in story, versus, mission, survival and, of course, versus play modes.

In the midst of game play, SNK Playmore has implemented two new fighting mechanics that cover both the offensive and defensive sides of the coin.

Super cancels allow for your character to interrupt the final animations of a special move and combo straight into a super maneuver and allow for extended and even more damaging combos. The second addition comes in the form of parries and allows players to turn the tides on overly aggressive players.

While the additions give the game play a little more depth, overall, the game still feels much like the previous edition and falls into the trap of throwing a 2-D game into a 3-D engine. Jump attacks and sidestepping still feel a tad clunky and I just feel like I'm playing Street Fighter EX all over again.

It's not to say King of Fighters 2006 is a bad game, but on the PS2, it hardly matches up against the competition (or even the recent Japanese SNK Playmore released Neo-Geo Battle Coliseum).

Graphically KOF 2006 gets the job done in the hand-drawn 2-D to rendered 3-D transition. The character models, while not as detailed to the degree of a game like Tekken 5, are nicely done and bring the fighters every recognizable characteristic straight from their 2-D romps. Overall, the game animates nicely and runs at a constantly smooth rate with flashes of pizzazz emulating from special and super maneuvers.

Almost all of the environments are fairly generic but do feature some nice subtle touches in the damage to the ground and arena walls. However, the environmental damage strangely doesn't carry over to all the stages. If you can smash the cement with a bone-breaking throw, why wouldn't you be able to do so in a different stage with a concrete surface or even the marble in the mansion?

Perhaps the titles biggest drawback is in the sound department. First, I would like to write a 10-page thank you letter to SNK Playmore for including the original Japanese vocals, but I'll save that for a different time. The selection will spare players from perhaps some of the worst English voice acting that could possibly be conceived.

Aside from the dangers of the game's English (the menus aren't even free of typos), everything else is standard fare. The music lacks the drive to fuel fiery fights and is easily forgettable, plus the sound effects could have been easily ported straight over from any previous King of Fighters game.

Fortunately, the game's strong suit is in its game play, which tries to keep a balance of satisfying longtime fans of the series while keeping a pick-up-and-play feel for those new to the series. All of the characters feature a surprisingly beefy set of signature, special, throw/hold, super and combo moves aside from their standard punches and kicks. Not only have the characters carried over every single one of their special moves from previous games, but 2006 also gives them new moves into the mix.

The 3-D element also includes the ever-popular "dial-a-combo" maneuvers. By stringing together mapped out combinations of punches and kicks, characters will execute a barrage of attacks in succession. The pre-determined combos end in a brutal punch or kick that sends the opponent flying, but players can throw in a special or super move in at any time before the finish of the combo and dish out even more punishment.

Players will need quick fingers to execute high-hitting combos, as the game play in 2006 is fast and furious. True to the series, matches are brief and brutal running at a speed almost comparable to the classic Street Fighter II Turbo fights. Everything definitely has a classic feel and runs as one of the fastest fighting games on the Playstation 2.

Even though there is no online fighting option once again, the mission modes will give those looking for a fight a run for their money. Not only does the mode extend the single-player experience, but it also uncovers a number of unlockables including clothing options and stages apart from the slew of hidden characters.

The hidden characters range from additional King of Fighters characters to those tossed in for some fan service to those who follow SNK - Hanzo from Samurai Showdown, B. Jenet from Garou: Mark of the Wolves, Fio from Metal Slug and more. While, unfortunately, the secret characters do not feature their own segments and endings for the game's story modes, they give players a lot of incentive to dig around in the game.

Obviously the most glaring omission from the game is the three-on-three team-based combat the series was founded on. Even featuring two-on-two battles would be a step in the right direction for the 3-D installments.

The game still feels a tad unbalanced in areas with some questionable super moves executed by the characters. While the level three super moves should be extremely damaging compared to the lower level moves, the damage scaling limits how effective the characters' ultimate super moves should be.

If a level one super does about one forth the damage and a level three super does roughly one half damage, isn't it more effective use three level one supers?

Some characters have horribly unbalanced level three supers, most notably Nagase's were she just turns invisible, and some supers such as Mignon Beart's projectile-based attack take forever to execute and just require a simple sidestep to avoid. While most of the long-time characters balance pretty well, the 3-D additions most notably fall victim to balancing.

There seemed to be a few other game play nuisances that went overlooked such as the inability to move your character into a position of your choice prior to the start of round one. However, before rounds two or three (or higher if you change the options), characters can freely move around before the round commences. The game, much like Mortal Kombat, also has some rough crossovers during jumping attacks.

Overall, however, the game play is solid and still maintains as much of the classic feel of the series SNK could capture in the extra dimension of game play. King of Fighters 2006 offers players a large number of characters old and new as well as numerous one-player modes to keep the game going just a little bit longer.

While it doesn't compare to the Playstation 2's other top-selling 3-D brawlers, King of Fighters 2006 marks the series' most impressive entry onto the system and adds enough to the mix to provide an even stronger basis to work from in future editions.

GemuBaka Final Review Score: 3 of 5

XBLA Review: Bust-A-Move LIVE!

It’s honestly a bit of surprise it has taken this long, but Bub and Bob have finally splashed down on the Xbox LIVE Arcade service. We saw this one week with the warm reception we gave to Bubble Bobble Neo, but now the other well-known half of the franchise has touched down with Puzzle Bobble now being made available on the Xbox 360. This new entry, entitled Bust-A-Move LIVE!, delivers the classic gameplay to the Xbox 360 and definitely accomplishes what it sets out to do – the action here is as pure as it gets, but if you own a dozen of the series’ other titles and are looking for some new feature that will shake the series up, you might be able to pass up on this popping puzzler.
Bust-A-Move LIVE! offers up everything players typically expect from a puzzle game this generation: You can tackle a puzzle-based story mode (with 135 puzzles and future DLC additions), face off against a gauntlet of CPU opponents, play until you fail in endless mode, enjoy local two-player versus matches or take the game online to face another Xbox LIVE user. Sure, there’s nothing new or earth-shattering here, but the expansive amount of modes gives the player some value in their $10 purchase, especially if they truly enjoy the Bust-A-Move franchise. No matter what mode you choose, however, everything remains the same: Players fire colored (or various specialty) bubbles up into a playfield and by matching three or more bubbles of the same color, players can remove those pieces from the field. Sure, it’s never really explained to the player why they are doing this, but what more do you really want from a fun and easily accessible puzzler?

The major downside to the title is if players have experienced most of the franchise, most particularly the later installments, there will be no surprises to uncover in this title, it will just serviceably provide more of the same. However, at a lower price point and through its digital convenience, Bust-A-Move LIVE! should to be tough to pass up for any puzzle game fan. Even though no liberties are taken to freshen up the franchise, what is provided here plays just like the classics and is executed really well. The tricky bounce shots are still nerve-racking, the controls are still simple and very responsive, the title is still quite a time sink and players that only experienced the very early installments of the series may find some new life in a few of the mechanics such as the specialty bubbles. With the line of achievements, multiplayer and span of game modes, the title will likely have most players coming back time and again, just like most other entries in the series.

With most of the title being pound-for-pound identical to other entries in the franchise, I’ll put more focus into highlighting what has changed for this installment. The most obvious upgrade the title has received is in its high-definition graphical facelift, which, admittedly, is very noticeable even in a simplistic game such as Bust-A-Move. The iconic 24-bit sprites from the series’ origin have come a long way with vivid, colorful art, which even gives the bubbles more flair. The hardware jump also allows for more lighting effects which create some satisfying bursts as players match up their bubble pieces. While the graphics certainly won’t rival any of the powerhouse games on the system aiming for a realistic look, this is definitely the best I’ve seen the series look and it really gives the title’s art some character. Most of the sound does go unchanged, however, but that’s not a bad thing considering the franchise has some very memorable jingles and sound effects. The music and sound in the title fit right in with the series’ themes and round out an already impressive presentation.

A few other additions haven’t been implemented without a few issues, however. The Xbox 360 version of this title works in the hardware’s avatars as in-game cheerleaders, which, normally, would be perfectly fine, if not appropriate. However, these avatars in versus mode are placed at the bottom-right-hand corner of your playfield, and when the game gets down to the wire, this character model can actually obstruct your view of one to three pieces on the playfield. Also, while versus play is made available over Xbox LIVE, I witnessed some strange occurrences where the game fails to communicate the real-time gameplay, showing the opponent losing the round. However, the gameplay continued because the opponent had not actually lost, so both players had to just stay alive as the lack of communication also stopped the flow of attack bubbles from reaching the opponent’s playfield. Granted, this didn’t happen with every gameplay, but it happened enough for me that it became a crippling issue.

Also, while puzzle games are inherently tough against calculating CPU opponents, Bust-A-Move LIVE! doesn’t hold back at all, creating virtually no balance. The CPU opponents become brutal fast as they nail the most appropriate shot with superhuman accuracy at all times. I was sweating as soon as the second opponent, which really throws off the balance of the title. However, given how easy it is to get into the other modes of play, there is something everyone can enjoy, perhaps making the CPU versus mode the final step on the performance plateau. Even so, playing the title with another human being is where the franchise has always shined, so if you’ve got some company, chances are you’ll never even touch any of the other modes, let alone the versus CPU mode.

GemuBaka Final Review Score: 3 of 5

Much like any other Puzzle Bobble entry, simplicity serves as the hook to reel in puzzle gamers and those that enjoy casual games. While Bust-A-Move LIVE! is another offering of what is essentially the same game I’ve played at the local bowling alley in the ‘90s, its gameplay and fun factor has kept it relevant and fun even to this day. The lack of additions to the formula and a few technical and balancing hiccups might turn some gamers away, but there have definitely been worse entries into the Puzzle Bobble series. As always, the multiplayer will take you a long way if you wish to spend $10 on another entry in the series, but there is still a handful of other modes and more than 100 levels to experience for your purchase. Bust-A-Move LIVE! doesn’t do anything to revolutionize the game, but even with a mix of pros and cons, the title still proves to be enjoyable.

PSP Review: Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble

I really didn’t know what a bancho was until Atlus announced its intent to localize Kenka Bancho 3 for the Sony PSP, but when a company goes out of its way to promote some off-the-wall game concept that normally wouldn’t see the light of day outside of Japan, I’m all for it. Honestly, that was the allure of Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble – we were presented with this bizarre premise, but left wondering what we would be getting ourselves into this November when the game releases. However, after months of waiting and with the end result on the horizon, even though there are some quirks and downsides to the title, it’s easy for me to say that Badass Rumble is indeed badass.

Atlus kindly provided us some advance hands-on time with the game and I pumped out a hands-on preview for Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble on Friday, so if you want the full scoop on how the title plays, be sure to check that piece out. With the premises and knacks of the game already printed on the site, we can dive straight into the technical goods and pick this title apart.

Just to brush the top layer off of the game’s story, the player assumes the role of a character on his senior school trip to the city of Kyouto in Japan. Unfortunately for the school and its teachers, your character, with the default name of Takashi Sakamoto, couldn’t care less about the temples and landmarks of the area. Instead, pulling through on your father’s wishes, your character is far more interested in beating the crap out of anyone who thinks they are tough stuff. After first stepping foot into Kyouto, the player immediate gets into a scrap with a bully who turns out to be the resident bancho (or strongest fighter of the district or school), effectively making the player the new bancho of the school for the trip. This new title engages the player in a competition – it appears a large number of schools are on the very same trip, each school having its own bancho. The overall goal of the game is to take down as many banchos as the player possibly can while managing their time over the course of seven days – not an easy task when you consider there are 46 other banchos visiting Kyouto.

While the school rumble theme might give one some River City Ransom vibes, there is a bit more to that simple premise running under Kenka Bancho’s hood. While the player will take down other students, nab their pocket change and buy items from a number of shops, the mechanics lend themselves to a number of modes: The player can tackle the seven-day story, continue with their stats in a new game plus variant, take a character out on the town for some night life in the Night Out mode or join up with another player in the Night Out mode to take down thugs. Each mode differs slightly, but each allows a player to keep going with a created character and build them up by earning experience, leveling up stats and learning new moves. This comes as a blessing as Kenka Bancho is a game that, while relatively short in nature, is one that you’ll want to play over and over. Spike is the Japanese developer of the Kenka Bancho title and much like its Way of the Samurai series, the player will have a number of choices to make through the week, with each having its own consequences and the results leading to a number of different endings. The player’s punctuality and skill will dictate how the game ends and there is a lot to see if the player searches hard enough, something that really bolsters the game’s story branching and replayability. Not only is there a lot to see in through the course of the gameplay, but the leveling system gradually builds the player up into a wrecking machine so they can ease into the harder Night Out mode and the various difficulties in the game as well as going toe-to-toe with the banchos that get progressively harder.

The story is furthered along by a series of text entries and while the dialog is fairly forced and in-your-face, that is what the game is aiming for and, most of the time, it works. Some of the insults laid out in the game are admittedly a bit groan-worthy, but, again, Kenka Bancho isn’t a game to take itself very seriously. The story gets the job done throughout the main mode and the player has a number of other classmates that interact with their character in different manners and the key characters in the game can be met or called via cell phone at certain times of the week in order to further a sidestory of their personal relationship, again extending the scope of the game and having players go back to do things differently. The story might be cliché on the surface, but if players dig deep enough, they’ll find a little more, albeit nothing that happens in the title will be described as mind-blowing. The relationships are perhaps the most crucial part of the storyline the game has going for it and with the numerous ways players can end the game, it’s not hard to walk away at least moderately satisfied with the game’s progression.

Of course, relationships and chatting with women are all fine and dandy, but if you’re picking up a game called Badass Rumble, you’re probably extremely concerned with the said “rumbling” promised in the game’s title. Overall, the controls work, although they are far from perfect, most specifically with the game’s camera control, uncomfortably mapped to the PSP’s directional pad. Players will find their customized three-hit combo mapped to square, their strong attack mapped to triangle, along with other commands to run, grapple and jump. Pressing combinations of the face buttons will do other actions such as special techniques, back attacks and spiritual charges, which extends the moveset a bit more along with the various grappling positions players can use (front/back, standing/ground). The R shoulder button fires the game’s menchi beam to challenge thugs to a fight and the L shoulder button blocks attacks, giving players a bit of a full repertoire to work with. Most of the time, fighting isn’t overly complicated, although with canned animations, players may find themselves attacking in the wrong direction for a combo and not being able to adjust before being hit and the sensitivity of the combo and attack timing sometimes doesn’t help matters, sticking players in more animation or executing a different attack. Regardless, players should overcome these setbacks quickly and with the vast number of moves to unlock by leveling up and defeating banchos, players will have full customization of their moves that can tie up a lot of the player’s time with experimentation. With no command strings to punch in for moves, players can execute moves without difficulty with the single push of a button, making the control scheme suitable for this style of game.

Ultimately, it will be down to the game’s seven-day time limit (each day lasts roughly half an hour of gameplay) that makes or breaks the game for players. If the mention of Dead Rising makes you cringe, this might not be the game for you, but, on that same token, I would say Kenka Bancho isn’t quite as strict as the aforementioned title. If you miss a bancho, you aren’t completely screwed thanks to the “competition” rule that any territory defeated by a bancho falls under the command of that person; meaning if a bancho defeats five other banchos before you defeat them, you gain control of that bancho’s territory plus the other five under their command. Also, various public transportation modes strewn about Kyouto can take you all across the city for a slight fee and minimal passage of time, cutting down on wandering across entire sections and losing precious time. Furthermore, missing out on some of the deadlines leads to story paths that wouldn’t normally be available if the player did everything they felt was necessary, so players won’t have to stop and quit and they certainly won’t have to revisit hours of gameplay. Even with the time management aspect of the title, picking up school itineraries from school thugs shows exactly where banchos are lurking on the city’s map, cutting down on the time players will spend seeking out their next challenge, so, in the end, the time’s concept of time is more of a guideline than it is a roadblock.

The meat of the gameplay, however, lies in the challenges and, of course, fights, which can become quite repetitive, but that’s par for the course in a game of this nature and players will no doubt expect this coming into the title. When the player isn’t progressing the story or tracking down an uncovered bancho, players will engage a number of thugs with the “menchi beam,” used to shoot a menacing glare at a would-be opponent and declaring your intent to fight – since the fighting in Kenka Bancho is based on respect, the player is punished with a decrease in rank if they do not lay down this challenge before attacking (and other things such as vandalism and threatening innocent bystanders will also decrease this rank). If the thug accepts your challenge (they can also bow in obedience or cower in fear depending on your strength and status), the player enters a “smash talk” mini-game where the player spouts a one-line taunt by pressing the face of shoulder buttons to match up a predetermined phase. This perhaps becomes the most tedious of the features, but if players really explore the feature, it can become quite fun. The game will throw in words that look similar in order to try and throw you off and entirely different phrases appear as well. I was able to get a few unique conversations from enemies in response to my nonsense taunts such as “Frogs say ribbit you moron!” which gave me a bit of a chuckle. If the player is successful in the taunt, they get a free hit in to start the fight and there are hidden selections in each case that does even more damage with the first strike. While screwing up the taunt results in an enemy first strike, experimenting with the smash talk feature is a rewarding experience on its own and gives players even more to do in a game that already has a ridiculous amount to see.

However, when you boil it down, players run into a cycle of using the menchi beam, smash talking, face smashing and repeating until they are blue in the face, which may not suit all players. It doesn’t help that the enemy AI isn’t the most challenging, mostly relying on charging straight in and relying on overwhelming numbers, but there is a fair amount to do outside of battle as well. A large amount of customization is involved, but most of the physical appearance options are merely cosmetic, giving you a number of pockets you can store mostly useless items in. While there are a large number of items in the game, they mostly only differ in how much health they restore, but there are groups of items that buffer your character or provide them a one-time benefit. This makes the stores in the game largely passable, as the enemies themselves usually drop anything you could ever need and when your pockets fill up, players then run into the dreaded Resident Evil-esque item management circus. That being said, though, the physical appearance options in the clothing and hairstyles should keep players going for some time and as players progress through the game, they’ll find some bonus items and unique clothes (as if you needed another reason to replay the game).

That being said, still, if you’re just looking for a game with a ton of action, you can’t go wrong with Kenka Bancho. The Night Out mode fills the streets with powered-up thugs to level up on if you don’t want to be bothered with time or story mechanics and the daily routines of the story mode cut the game up into bite-sized chunks. Again, the fact that Kenka Bancho can be played for a short period of time such as half an hour or for a couple of hours at a time in going through the full week makes the title a perfect fit for the portable format. Its simplicity and parallels to River City Ransom are hard to ignore, but that is definitely the game’s appeal – it harks back to the themes of the brawlers we enjoyed a decade past, bringing us an updated look at the genre with a humor and theme that most definitely stands out.

Even though the gameplay is satisfying, Kenka Bancho’s presentation isn’t exactly the most cutting-edge performance to be found in the system. The graphics resemble mid-generation Playstation 2 models and while they aren’t an eyesore, the lack of animation outside of fighting sticks out like a sore thumb. In conversations, there is a void of voice acting and through the text dialog, the characters’ faces do not animate at all, with most conversations consisting of very little animation. Players will see a few bits of flare in the special maneuvers that emit bursts of light or fire and charging your spirit also results in a flash of light, but such special effects are far and few between. The environments do hold up, however, giving players a variety of buildings and environments to scout in Kyouto and the menus are ripe with designs and are easy to navigate with shop owners giving player clever quotes with some of the in-stock items. In the end, though, the character models do lack a sliver of detail and repeat quite often with the innocent bystanders and thugs, but, thankfully, the banchos in Kyouto provide some much-needed variation in the crowds. If more animation and flare were thrown in along with some polish, Kenka Bancho could have looked as badass as it plays.

The more glaring offender, however, lies in the sound, with its repetitious music, lack of voice acting outside of grunts, yells and squeals, and absence of music through any section where there is no activity. Most of the time players will be listening to the sounds of the environment, which isn’t too bad with noises such as bustling traffic (from the vehicles that can run you over) or wildlife, but most of the travel in the game will only be accompanied by the footsteps of the player. When the music does chime in, it is serviceable, but outside of the smash talk theme, which blares through the speakers and is incredibly recognizable, there are very few tracks to be heard. It’s understandable that full voice acting isn’t included in Kenka Bancho with its portable format, but the voice effects provided also become repetitious and can even border on annoying. However, the fighting sound effects do their job effectively with heavy smacks and thuds and energy effects emitting from special attacks, but they do little to save how weak the rest of the audible package is in Kenka Bancho.

Overall, Kenka Bancho is an old-school package with a burst of freedom and customization that players of today demand from their game titles. It certainly has its ups and downs, but, as a whole, Badass Rumble is a satisfying package that gives players plenty of fistfights and attitude. If anything, hopefully a little retail success can fuel more entries in this series, as a little bit of improvement in some key areas and a bolster in its content could make it a must-have title.

GemuBaka Final Review Score: 4 of 5

Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble might not sport the best graphics or stellar sound, but its gameplay is an example of why I love brawlers. Even though it can be repetitive and has a few gameplay quirks, Kenka Bancho has plenty of attitude and humor to lure players to the game and features solid gameplay, entertaining storytelling and a massive amount of replayability to keep them coming back for more. Much like Fable or Way of the Samurai, players will have to know that Badass Rumble is a relatively short game that needs to be played repeatedly in different ways and while this approach and the game’s time-based mechanic may turn some players away, they stand to miss one of the PSP’s most unique and crazy games to release this year.

Genesis Review: Beggar Prince

Super Fighter Team’s first “modern-classic” put the developer on the map, molding a Chinese-developed Genesis game into a reworked and more polished RPG players could tackle in the U.S. or in PAL territories. 1996’s Xin Qigai Wangzi was given an English facelift by SFT in 2006, resulting in the first commercial Genesis game since 1998 – Beggar Prince.

Given the original title translates to The New Prince and the Pauper, it should come as no surprise Beggar Prince borrows its initial premise from the classic Mark Twain work. Bored with the confines of the castle, the Prince of Shatt sneaks out of the castle and meets a pauper who uncannily resembles him. Predictably, the two trade places but unbeknownst to the kingdom, the minister has been plotting to overthrow the king and upon witnessing the switch, throws his plan into action.

Seeing as the title is on the Genesis format, even though Prince is a 2006 release, players can’t walk into the game with a 2006 mentality. That being said, Beggar Princes looks amazing compared to other games on the system, with a ton of detail placed in the environments and while the character models are small, they feature a lot of color, and the spell effects receive the same appropriate attention. The sound drags down the presentation quite a bit, however, as most of the music is forgettable but the effects do their job.

Thankfully, the developers squashed a great number of the bugs plaguing the original Eastern release, but the title’s extremely challenging game play may make or break the title for players. In Eastern RPG fashion, the enemy encounters are frequent and since players control no one more than the Prince the entire game, players will have a long quest ahead of them. Also, unlike most turn-based RPGs, Prince has quite a bit more strategy involved thanks to the stamina system (which can be a good thing depending on how much you like to think). While players will uncover a good amount of spells, weapons and items to use, the monsters are brutal if players don’t level up properly and the challenge may turn off a number of people.

Those who are looking for a challenging RPG will be right at home with Beggar Prince but the casual need not apply here. If you’re willing to take the dive, however, you’ll find a visually appealing game that will last you quite some time. The title is only available in nicely packaged limited quantities at superfighter.net and if production stops on the game, it may raise beyond its current $40 retail value.

GemuBaka Final Review Score: 3 of 5

Wii Review: We Cheer 2

Prior to the advent of systems such as the Nintendo Wii and DS, if you had told me I would be reviewing a game about cheerleading, I would have labeled you as one daft fellow, but here we are in 2009 and there are a handful of games available based on the competitive activity. That’s not an attempt to discredit cheerleading, but it goes to show you how gaming has evolved in leaps and bounds to involve different demographics, which I am quite pleased with. Apparently, Namco-Bandai had some luck with its first attempt in We Cheer, that, recently, the Nintendo Wii has been graced with a sequel. With rhythm-based routines to more than 30 tunes, We Cheer 2 is leaps and bounds beyond what you are probably expecting going into the title and, for the most part, it nails motion-based rhythm better than most Wii titles, however, there are a few nagging issues that still hold the series back from its full potential.

Right off the bat, it should be expected We Cheer will attract the attention of the young female crowd and, as such, there is a lot on offer to appeal to this demographic. The licensed tunes are appropriate selections one could easily imagine being grouped with cheerleading routines, the title emulates using pom-poms and the squad customization options will allow players to set up a number of different aspects to their liking. I’m going to imagine there will be some people out there that wouldn’t be caught dead playing We Cheer, but, in that regard, this title plainly isn’t for that crowd. What you’ll get with We Cheer 2 is an improved version of the original, so if you enjoyed the first entry or are just curious about the title, you won’t go wrong with the sequel.

The title’s presentation is very serviceable, offering up some unique, cartoon-styled characters that animate well, which is key, considering the game’s movement is based upon rhythmic actions in time to music. Owners of the first title may recognize a lot of recycled materials re-appearing in We Cheer 2 and the character models aren’t the most detailed (although this sequel adds in male cheerleaders for the first time), but you’ll see a lot of color and interesting venues, especially when you add in the nods to classic Namco franchises such as Pac-Man and Tekken (Panda appears in the game’s training mode). There aren’t very many voice samples in the title, but what is provided serves its purpose with those sticking with the game being able to know what to do via some of the verbal cues. The title’s sound effects are standard fare as well, but this is to be expected as in a music/rhythm-based title, the music is suppose to take the stage and this is thankfully the case in We Cheer 2. The music plays cleanly in-game and there are enough recognizable tunes to appeal to the title’s demographic.

On the basis of gameplay, players are essentially getting the same experience as featured in the original title, however, a lot of care has seemingly gone into not only expanding the experience, but also improving on the playability of the series. We Cheer 2 makes the motion controlling much simpler than in the first title – button commands no longer have to accompany motions, the timing is more lenient with new indicators letting the player know if they need to motion faster or slower, the conditions to have stunts and extra movements for bonus points has been relaxed and there are now three difficulty levels per song that includes an easier difficulty setting. We Cheer 2 also makes the single-player progression a free-form affair allowing players to choose songs and venues instead of sticking them specific routines in order to advance. Still, there is a Squad Challenge that mixes in a “story” that has players trying out for a squad and moving on through competitions. Through the course of performance, players earn experience and cash in order to unlock items or purchase customizable goods respectively. In the grand scheme of things, there is a ton to do and uncover in We Cheer 2 and anyone hooked on the game will easily be coming back for more.

Overall, the game is easy to get the hang of and being able to wield one or two Wii Remotes to simulate a pom pom gives the gameplay motions some credibility. There are some accuracy issues with the motion controls, however, which become clearly evident on the hardest difficulties. If Namco-Bandai wants to continue with the series, from here on out, Wii Motion Plus will have to be a must as there will no doubt be some instances where players will feel there were cheated on a motion input. On the other hand, though, the control is mostly sufficient for the forgiving easier levels and when you look at the bottom line, the core audience of the title will most likely not care they are not getting perfect scores in every routine. The motions all make sense given the context of the cheerleading routines, the upbeat routines will give players a mild workout and We Cheer 2 serves as a simple, yet entertaining rhythm title that succeeds on a lot of fronts.

Players will probably spend most of their time in the single-player mode, which, while it has a lot to unlock, will most likely only hold most dedicated players over for a couple of hours. There are multiplayer modes that span basic score competitions, but also a couple of modes that play out as being similar to hot potato and survival. The span of modes gives the title a bit of variety, but some of the battle mode aspects aren’t quite as fleshed out, especially considering there are certain animations that stick players with the “potato” (which is a rapidly-filling balloon) while time whittles down. Regardless, We Cheer 2 could easily be tossed in to any slumber party as it features enough material and multiplayer possibilities to be tossed around among a group of friends.

Sure, the title clearly isn’t for everyone, but when you drop the cheerleading gimmick from the game, you are left with a respectable rhythm effort. While the original title seemingly didn’t win over too many fans, there has been enough additions and improvements crafted into We Cheer 2 to recommend it over the original entry and a number of other less than stellar music game efforts on the Nintendo Wii. While it is still rough in a handful of areas, especially in its control, We Cheer 2 features colorful and lively visuals, an appropriate soundtrack and it’s fun to play with others. I can’t recommend the title to everyone, but if you even have a remote interest in cheerleading or this title, it should prove to be a satisfying experience.

GemuBaka Final Review Score: 3 of 5

Xbox 360 Review: Way of the Samurai 3

Way of the Samurai has had an interesting history in the United States, but through its low-key releases and near misses to the North American market, the series ultimately has quite the cult following. Billed as a samurai adventure, the series has been compared to established franchises such as Fable, based on its decision making, consequences and themes of morality. Enjoying moderate success, the franchise has jumped from the Playstation 2 format to the Xbox 360 thanks to an effort by UFO Interactive (as well as the Playstation 3, although this entry is published courtesy of Agetec). With the expansive offerings seen in the first two entries, it should be expected the 360 hardware would considerably bump up the replayability and scope of the game. Unfortunately, the answer to this expectation is a mix of yes and no and while Way of the Samurai 3 does a number of mechanics to satisfaction, a number of others fall pretty flat.

Just like the other entries of the series, the title puts players in the role of a wandering samurai in which your past has no bearing in the game, but your character’s future is entirely dependent on the actions and choices made through the course of gameplay. In Way of the Samurai 3, specifically, the player appears to be mixed into warfare from the feudal era, when an attack deals a crippling injury to their player. Miraculously surviving and waking up among a battlefield littered with fallen soldiers, the player begins their quest from here and immediately the factors of choice and story development unfold as villagers scoping the battlefield will show concern for you – you can be nice to receive their help or tell them to piss off either verbally or by unsheathing your sword and scaring them away.

While every story path will revolve around the warring states in the vicinity of Amana and various clans vying for control of the territory and the villages affected by this warfare, it is up to the player to decide how events unfold from the beginning up until the impending invasion of the forces of Nobunaga Oda. Ultimately, the story is decided on by the player, which greatly increases the title’s appeal and, in this manner, players are free to do as they please, whether those actions are good, neutral or evil, in order to uncover the game’s more than 20 different endings. While the scripting is hardly mind-blowing, the story is very serviceable and holds true to its source setting and there are some fairly entertaining bits of dialog to be found, even though it is usually sluggishly told through word bubbles that pop on the screen (and when multiple people are talking, this can be quite annoying). As archaic as the delivery might be in regard to today’s standards, adventure aficionados that have seen their fair share of classic titles might fit right at home with the simple text dialog and menu-based delivery. Most of the game is hosted in the traditional single-player story, which, given the amount of options available to the player isn’t necessarily a bad point, but the title doesn’t feature depth in its modes and even some simple online functionality that allowed players to take their custom character online to duel other players would have taken the title a bit further in its offerings.

Before we dive into the gameplay, I will have to point out that technology junkies will surely be put off by the title’s presentation. Way of the Samurai 3 seems as if it was developed originally for the Playstation 2 or on a lower budget because it definitely shows in the game’s visuals and audio. Everything here is certainly passable, but nothing uses the true processing of the Xbox 360 as you’ll see undetailed character models that lack much animation during conversations, pop-up runs wild in certain parts of the title and players will be sure to notice the lack of detail and jagged model edges in the cutscenes. What is provided for the game’s audio measures up just a little better, but with very little voice acting in the title (with the English voices being a bit shaky in quality for the most part), players will mostly be treated to ambient sounds that get the job done. In perhaps the game’s real shining moment in presentation, during certain situations, players will be treated to music that is fitting for the time period. Overall, I wouldn’t say Way of the Samurai 3 has bad presentation, it just needed a lot more polish than what it received and doesn’t hold a candle to most of the game’s seen on the format.

Thankfully, the meat of the game is ripe with satisfying gameplay that the player can tackle in short bursts or long periods of time. Playing by the rules, players will end up doing a fair share of quests, exploration and decision making instead of haphazardly instigating fights, but given the fact these aspects shape the game as a whole, they become immediately engrossing as slight differences in the player’s actions can create the infamous butterfly effect. If you’re truly thirsting for blood, however, who you attack and off in the game does serve as a significant factor in how the world turns out in the end even though it hinders your overall progress in the game by reducing your samurai points that unlock various features in the game. In Way of the Samurai 3, if the player executes a unique character, they never come back for that specific playthrough, however, more honorable samurai will utilize the game’s new feature to attack with the blunt side of the weapon in order to merely knockout that character and immobilize them for a while. Another new mechanic remedies the problems encountered in many other titles in the genre, by allowing the player to bow down and apologize if they accidentally threaten someone (it also does a few other quirky acts such interact with cats or allow the player to beg for money). Along with dialog choices and the ability to unsheathe your sword during any event, a number of mechanics are in place to keep the premise of the game interesting and the branching series of events keep different elements of the game intriguing to return to.

Even if the story isn’t your thing, this installment of Way of the Samurai eliminates the time limitations placed on the player, allowing them to spend whatever time they wish to in the game world before engaging in the final few events of the game. Much like previous entries of the game, this allows players to collect a huge assortment of weapons that can be stored for later use and the weapon crafting system alone has the potential to keep players engrossed in the management the game has to offer. Not only can players pick fights, but they can also foster relationships with key characters and even convince them to be companions that can aid in battle, provide support or even steal from you if you don’t keep an eye on them. Also, through battle, players can raise their abilities with a given weapon, learning new moves with it, but care will also have be given to each weapon as if a weapon loses its durability, it can break and be lost for good. With such examples to supplement the title’s gameplay, it becomes somewhat of a simulation, supplementing the adventure and action aspects of the title for those that like to tinker with collectibles and inventory.

Battling remains very similar to the way it was executed in Way of the Samurai 2, where parries are performed with timing a block with an enemy’s attack as opposed to the original entry, which used directional controls to manipulate the enemy’s momentum. This becomes quite important in allowing players to execute one-hit kills with counters and play passively to adapt to the enemies’ actions. The parrying becomes crucial since being reckless with your weapons will quickly lead to their durability fading away. While mowing down grunt enemies can become a bit repetitive, as the player progresses, there will be more suitable enemies to test the player’s skill and with multiple difficulty settings, players should be able to find a suitably satisfying fight. At face value, the player has a “weak” and “strong” attack, but when you factor in the numerous weapon types and techniques that players eventually uncover, players can mix in a number of offensive strings to compliment the defensive techniques. To further add to the exploration, players can use some wacky weapons such as garden utensils or wield vegetables and scrappy fighters can opt to go to battle with their fists.

That being said, though, everything in Way of the Samurai 3 is a pretty straightforward game and while there is a ton of interesting aspects to do and see, the execution will most likely fall a bit short from most current-generation gamers’ expectations. The game’s targeting and camera work can be a bit suspect at times and while the fighting is overall satisfying, players will most likely expect a bit more scope from the title, which only has a rough handful of environments to check out. Way of the Samurai 3 is one of those titles that is short at face value, taking only an hour or two to reach an ending, but encourages multiple playthroughs and, as such, it may potentially only hold a player’s attention for a couple of times before they move on to something else. The customization of the character is fairly bare-bones and while a number of features such as dual-wielding weapons and more can be unlocked, players will find themselves going through the same processes multiple times to reach this goal and the game’s samurai points are actually pretty easy to exploit for quick advancement that creates a bit of an unbalanced player progression. Thankfully, the multiple difficulties and satisfying fights level out the game’s balance and the quantity of content makes the title worth its price tag.

However, the questionable aspect at hand for a gamer deciding whether or not to pick up Way of the Samurai 3 is in the quality of its content. Acquire has created a unique approach to the “sandbox” style of gameplay many current gamers are familiar with, but with its behind-the-times presentation and calculating gameplay, Grand Theft Auto this is not, which is made most obvious through the game’s slower pacing. One of the first quests has you fetching an old lady’s underwear, which can be stolen from your inventory by crows, definitely setting up a questionable entry into the game, but as players progress or become more unruly, they’ll begin to find more options and action in quests such as punishing thieves. Regardless, Way of the Samurai 3 can still manage to be a satisfying time sink if players can overlook its downsides. Unlike a game such as Grand Theft Auto IV that revolves around giving a story to the player, Way of the Samurai 3 does the reverse and allows the player to dictate the story, allowing the player to make the character his or her own and this even carries over into the possibility of death, which effectively ends the story for that playthrough. This may upset some gamers, but with the ability to keep all money and items earned through the player’s career, the game features enough appeal and content to keep players diving right back in.

Right now, Acquire and Spike have the content feature nailed down with its Japanese releases and if future titles can build upon this with more quality and polish, Way of the Samurai will be a series to recommend without hesitation. There is plenty of appeal and replayability in the series as a whole and this definitely isn’t lost in the series. However, it’s hard to ignore that the title does not take advantage of the hardware, which is perhaps the biggest downside of the game. Sure there are other quirks in the game’s progression and combat, but they can be easily overlooked to find a satisfying title that players can come back to time and time again.

GemuBaka Final Review Score: 3 of 5

Much like its predecessors, while Way of the Samurai 3 fails to really flex the system’s hardware muscle, it doesn’t stray from providing the replayability and unique, interesting gameplay the series is known for. The newest installment adds enough new features to freshen up the series while remaining true to its roots, but the fact it does not take advantage of the hardware is one of the title’s crippling downsides. You’ll also have a number of graphical and camera issues along with some questionable quality among the game’s huge scope of content, but at the end of the day, Way of the Samurai 3 is a title you can come back to numerous times and it will most likely have something new to show you.

Xbox 360 Review: Band Hero

Through the course of 2009, we’ve seen the Guitar Hero franchise multiply like rabbits and with Van Halen on the horizon, you can at least count on one more release in the series to hit consoles this year. Crunched into the music market last month, console gamers were treated to a new spin-off entitled Band Hero. At face value, Band Hero serves as a more welcome addition to the franchise than most people will give new Guitar Hero titles credit for. While most of Activision’s Hero releases cater to specific bands, Band Hero opens up a wider, and arguably, untapped demographic in an attempt to stray from the edgier rock anthems to provide more pop-oriented and well-known classics to draw in a more family and multiplayer-focused affair to encourage more accessible multiplayer and party excursions. The attempt is definitely more noble than most of its releases; however, with some confusing material, lack of innovation and strong competition against Harmonix’s LEGO Rock Band, this otherwise solid game can be easily lost in the shuffle, especially if you’re not a fan of the songlist offering.

To sum it up in the least amount of words possible, Band Hero is a spot-on replication of Guitar Hero 5 with a few presentation tweaks and, obviously, a new, niche songlist. On one hand, this is a fantastic aspect of the game as the modes and accessibility found in Guitar Hero 5 easily makes it the best title in the series in regard to balancing, freedom of progression and ease of use. As such, as a carbon copy of the format, Band Hero is just as accessible, which is a blessing considering the target audience for the title. On the other hand, this is the exact same game I reviewed about two months ago, as you can see from this snippet of that review:

“Let’s just say I’m not going to waste my time explaining the game’s premise. Since you are reading this review online, you have the Internet and have some interest in games, so I’m inclined to believe you aren’t an anti-social hermit that has never heard of Guitar Hero. Every staple mechanic found in World Tour returns, meaning you have selections between quickplay and career modes (albeit these are now fully fleshed out with online features), the band, character and instrument creation tools, GHMix makes a return with a few more options and the competitive modes make a return with a bit more emphasis and twists. For the most part, the “new” modes are just twists on ones already given to us in previous entries but the sequel does pack on some dandy features.

Hands-down, the biggest feature lies in the fact that Guitar Hero 5 allows players to play whatever instrument they please, regardless of whether or not someone is already on that instrument. No longer do the expert guitar players have to fight amongst themselves to see who gets “demoted” to bass, as bands can consist of five lead guitars if that is the players’ desire. The mixing and matching is by far the game’s greatest accomplishment and puts its flexibility beyond what is even found in Rock Band’s entries. Guitar Hero 5 also dumps World Tour’s long-winded and painful career mode and cash earnings to provide players with challenges per each song. This is a most welcome change as not only are players able to tackle the career in a bite-sized, per-song fashion, but each song has an instrument specific challenge (such as using only upstrums on bass guitar, holding on to a 4x multiplier as long as you can, whammying sustains for specified timeframes, etc.) that will have players coming back to songs with different instruments and full bands for those high-scoring band achievements (which is strengthened by the smart decision to finally allow the career to go online). These challenges are now what unlocks the hidden characters, cheats and customization goods and all 85 tracks are available from the getgo, meaning players won’t have to slave away for cash to enjoy certain songs. These two features are certainly well-played on Neversoft’s part.”

Sure the feature set is indeed full, especially when you add in the other additions to GH5 such as the band moments and party modes, but seeing as the name Band Hero implies Activision is trying to take something in a different direction, it’s a bit painful to see no effort whatsoever being made to differentiate itself from a game released two months ago. I mean, GHMix wasn’t even changed to BHMix or something different. If the Band Hero series wants to continue, it could definitely use a shot in the arm to differentiate itself because, as it stands, the song list is the only feature that will pull players into this game and I’ll tell you right now, Band Hero’s song list will turn away a lot of people.

On that same token, though, the title’s song list will pull in a good chunk of players based on its more pop-oriented tones. Names such as Hillary Duff and Taylor Swift have such huge fan bases that two such names on their own would warrant a purchase from some and you’ll see other recent names such as Maroon 5 and No Doubt mixed in with classic acts such as Jackson 5, Carl Douglas, Don McLean and Marvin Gaye. The lineup does have some “name brand” power to it, although it touches on the lighter side of rock and this will admittedly turn away some Guitar Hero players, however, given the context, I believe the included acts touch on the intended demographic extremely well.

The gameplay in Band Hero largely remains untouched: Strum, strike or sing on your favorite instrument as indicated by the game. Of course we wouldn’t expect this foundation to change, but don’t expect any leaps and bounds toward the improvement or innovation of these features. With the career mode challenges, thankfully, more variety has been injected into the tasks, providing a little bit of freshness for the title and preventing the mode from getting as repetitive as it does in Guitar Hero 5. Otherwise, you’re getting the same linear experience with the mode – earn stars from song selection chunks to progress to the next venue and complete challenges to unlock character items, which, for some people, are completely worthless. The basic approach to the career mode worked in Guitar Hero 5 as it was much better than what was implemented prior, but not seeing the mode progress at all in Band Hero is certainly a bummer.

Being built off Guitar Hero 5 means you will see a lot of the same visuals and menus as well as sound effects directly recycled in Band Hero – with so much borrowed material, Band Hero really seems more like a expansion or track pack, but with more than 60 songs and many not being available elsewhere, I wouldn’t say Activision is overcharging on the title. The default characters do receive some touch-ups with new attire that reflects the pop presentation of the game, but every character’s GH5 outfit is included as well. On the whole, you do receive some additions that cater to the target demo of the title, but players won’t find anything mindblowing and the quantity of such material isn’t exactly overwhelming. The two major graphical changes seen in Band Hero is in the menus being re-skinned to feature all sort of purple/pink colors to perhaps appeal to the female demographic and a host of new venues that range from your basic mall to spring break resorts and all the way into space. The venues do sport a sliver more craziness to them and do provide a bit more variety to them than the previous versions’ stereotypically worldly locales, however, you still get recycled characters placed on top of them for the most part. Of course, the career movies are replaced with new ones, but these are just as generic and not entertaining as ever and fail to really tell any sort of interesting story. With those features aside, you’re getting everything handed directly over from Guitar Hero 5 – it looks great for the most part, but some jaggies on the characters and a few instances of transparency issues on the tap notes take the graphics down just a notch.

As I’ve stated before, the song selection could potentially turn away a lot of players, but when you look at the tunes from a technical standpoint, everything is in tip-top shape here. The audio rings through clearly and stage effects and pyro boom through your speakers, really pounding the rock experience into your ears. However, again, you do get a lot of recycled sound effects, but given that the music is real star of the audio, it is mostly forgettable. On that note, however, there are some really questionable song choices that go against the grain here. In a game catering toward family play and tweeners, there are a handful of songs containing questionable sexual content for this group and there are some really bizarre content edits, most infamously in the muting of the word “whiskey” in American Pie, that may draw the ire of fans of these songs.

The charting on the songs also potentially go overboard, with even some of the tunes being a bit of a challenge on the medium difficulty. In trying to go for a more casual audience, one would think the difficulty would be eased up just a tad. Seasoned Guitar Hero players will no doubt go to town on the expert difficulty and, yes, I would believe there are eight-year-olds out there that can shred with the best of them – I’m not out to discredit the younger crowd – but Band Hero should really be drawing in the casual crowd that doesn’t play the game regularly. Finally, Activision is beginning to go way overboard on its implementation of faux instruments – if I’m holding a guitar, I should be playing the guitar, not switching over to instruments such as the piano, trumpet or such at the expense of finding a way to use the tap buttons. A few of the songs really abuse this use of the tap notes and it just did nothing but take me out of the experience with its absurdity, especially with the piano trills found at the end of I Heard It Through the Grapevine. On the whole, while the lineup of tunes really hits home, the way they are implemented among the context of the demographic had me scratching my head a number of times.

In another bit of progress with the series, Band Hero does offer the ability to export and import tracks between a few of the franchise’s games along with implementation of downloadable tracks. While it isn’t a feature new to Band Hero, it shows Activision is showing dedication to the cause and with the admittedly generous offering of free tracks available from World Tour through the newest titles, players can easily bump up the song offerings beyond the initial 65 without any extra cost. I would like to see this Band Hero series continue for the sake of the casual crowd, but, if it does, this spin-off really needs to somehow differentiate itself beyond splashing everything with what I’ve heard some people refer to as “girl colors.” It has a nice approach and thought going for it and maybe even a deal with a label such as the various artist CD collection of NOW! could lend some credibility to this extension in the future. As it stands now, however, Band Hero is a carbon copy of Guitar Hero 5 and fails to produce anything fresh while implementing a song list that will no doubt alienate a lot of people no matter how well put together it is.

GemuBaka Final Review Score: 3 of 5

Many people will probably come into a review of Band Hero expecting the reviewer to lambast the song list choices in the title, but, that’s just not the case. Activision and crew has actually assembled quite a suitable song list for a new demographic in family and party play while implementing pop songs to appeal to tweeners and these are appropriate grounds for a spin-off. The crutch here is in the title doing nothing to differentiate itself from Guitar Hero 5 aside from a purple and pink menu skin and a new song list – you’ll even see instances where the developers couldn’t even be bothered to remove instances of the initials “GH” from a number of items. This leaves the title feeling more like an expansion or track pack than anything with its own identity and is no doubt the title’s biggest failure. Also, there are confusing ways the content is implemented that wholly works against the grain when you take a look at who Band Hero tries to appeal to and these additions are no doubt going to drive a good portion of longtime Guitar Hero fans away from this entry. When you get over these glaring downsides, however, you still have the foundation of an enjoyable experience and everything that made Guitar Hero 5fun carries over into Band Hero. Band Hero is another instance where my recommendation would be based solely on whether or not you enjoy the song selection offered in the title. The fun of Guitar Hero is still here, but this spin-off has a long way to go in building its identity and offering something music game fans must have.

XBLA Review: Gyromancer

It seems you can’t release a puzzle game anymore without having some sort secondary genre gimmick, and the newest puzzle and RPG hybrid comes from the combined efforts of a company known for casual puzzlers and another company that is most certainly known for its RPG titles. PopCap and Square Enix have teamed up for a new downloadable effort entitled Gyromancer, and given this team up, players are certainly expecting great things to be birthed from this collaboration. While the initial concept is hardly original, these companies’ new spin on the hybrid effort pieces together with far more pros than cons, resulting in a title that doesn’t just copy the full Puzzle Quest formula.

In Gyromancer, players assume the role of Rivel, a beast summoner on a quest through Aldemona Wood. Of course, the quest hardly plays out smoothly and Rivel runs into resistance, and in typical RPG fashion, he becomes involved in a larger plot. The story progresses at the beginning and end of each stage along with dialog at specific encounters. Overall, the scripting is handled fairly well and the splashes of “Ye ole English” give the dialog a bit of a unique flair; however, every bit of story is handled with static portraits that rarely change to show emotions and action. Also, even though I enjoy the classic dialog style, I could imagine some players would find it hard to follow, and there were a few portions of the story that I found confusing due to the story flow and the methods used to tell the story. The storyline is standard fare for any RPG title, however, the way it is told lacks any sort of polish outside of dialect – some animations, brief cutscenes, more backgrounds, more portraits, small voice clips or really just anything in this vein would have thrust the storytelling to a much higher score. This is especially true since the single player storyline is the only mode Gyromancer has to cling to. While players can unlock “gauntlets” of enemies to run through, there is no free play or multiplayer to speak of, which is undoubtedly the title’s most glaring weakness.

Fortunately, aside from the blatant lack of originality I’ve already touched on, everything else proves to be a much better experience for players. While most of the game’s visuals are static, they are very well done, featuring a fantasy theme that one might say is comparable to the art from Magic: The Gathering. It works extremely well in context, and each character and beast is drawn in extravagant detail. However, again, the glaring lack of animation in most of the art really works against the visuals. The map screens literally looks like a player is moving a game piece on a game board, leaving most of the graphical punch to rely on the bursts and flashes of lighting seen when players trigger switches or similar events on the map. Even in battle, attacks are given the same treatment, with the beast/character portraits never animating or featuring different stills to convey actions, pain, fatigue or victory. The bottom line is the visuals provided in Gyromancer are very well defined, however, they are just never given the chance to truly shine due to their repetition – even some minor animations and alternate portraits could have raised the graphics score into the INCREDIBLE or above territory, because the drawings are, in fact, that well done.

Not only is Gyromancer great on the eyes, but the sound also comes through to round out a satisfying presentation. Anyone who has picked up a puzzle-RPG hybrid should know what to expect from Gryomancer’s sound effects, which mostly come from your basic puzzle game effects of rotating pieces, the bursting of gems and the jingles associated with navigating menus. Gyromancer takes it a bit further, with sound effects that reflect nature elements based on the affinity of a given attack, and appropriate music accompanies every scenario in the game. Players are welcomed to the game with a loud, epic sounding piece, the story-based and map segments are appropriately calm, and the strength of the enemy determines how intense the music is. For a game of this nature, there is a surprising sampling of tunes, and each is used at very appropriate times.


Honestly, there isn’t much novelty to the gameplay, however, that isn’t to say players won’t have an engaging and fun experience with Gyromancer. Not only will the theme be familiar to anyone that has picked up a title such as Puzzle Quest, but the basic mechanic implemented for the puzzle gameplay is a pound for pound recreation of Bejweled Twist, courtesy of PopCap. For those not in the know, Twist follows the same match-three mechanics as Bejeweled, however, players position four jewels at the same time and movements may only be made in a clockwise rotation, which really limits the player’s options and adds challenge to the game. In Gyromancer, of course, this formula has been expanded upon – matching jewels adds juice to your beast’s three attacks, and by filling up an attack, a jewel on the playfield is sparked with energy. Grouping this sparked jewel in a match inflicts damage to your opponent. Of course, players are facing off against an enemy and, as such, every single move made by a player juices up their attack meters, and when an enemy meter fills, a jewel is ignited with enemy energy, leaving a player with seven turns to remove it from the playfield before the attack damages them.

Everything starts off simple enough – players are positioned on simple maps with little room for exploration against standard enemies with very little to worry about in regard to penalties. While on maps, players can move one space at a time. Moving onto the same space as a skull thrusts players into a minor battle, players are shown a full beast skeleton that shows where that level’s boss is, fountains restore some of your beasts’ health and there are code icons which allow players to purchase new forms of beasts in a shop. As players progress though, they will run into roadblocks that have players solving a puzzle (such as clear x amount of jewels at the same time, make an x chain, etc.) in order to proceed, certain spaces on the map will force players to automatically move in a specific direction, enemy spawn points will appear with mini-boss characters and more. Even in the battles, enemies will throw a bunch of tricks at you, locking jewels in place, turning jewels into useless rock pieces and more. Fortunately, more tricks become available to players as well, as they come across items that allow them to rotate counter-clockwise for one turn, reset buffers and more. Obviously, as players progress, the game gives them a Pokemon vibe of “gotta catch them all,” offering up a number of beast types with three different evolutions each to provide more powerful forms that give players a chance on the later levels.

As such, while some players may find the game to be insultingly easy in the beginning, the pace definitely picks up, providing some thought-provoking challenge, especially when players begin being severely punished for taking turns that do not clear jewels from the field. It may take a few stages too long to really pick up, but once players dive into all of the nuances that makes Gyromancer so much different than other titles in the genre, that’s the point where the title becomes the most addictive and rewarding. All of the controls are simple in puzzle game fashion, but the actual mechanics surrounding them is what makes the game so intricate. Even so, there are some safeguards that allows less skilled players to manage in the game, with indicators notifying players of possible matches when they are stuck and at any time on the map or in battle, players can press a help button to allow them to highlight anything of note on the screen for a description. While puzzle veterans might feel the game takes a tad too long to get to the meat of the meal, these mechanics should be more than enough to ease anyone into the game in preparation for when the challenge starts to kick in.

While the title sounds like a straightforward puzzle romp through more than ten levels, Gyromancer does a lot to encourage players to revisit levels a number of times, and the scope of hidden items and multiple paths on the maps should have players coming back to them time and time again. Not only will players have to take part in a number of battles to keep their beasts leveled up, but in nearly every map, defeating the boss opens up a locked path that takes players to new sections of the level that can be nearly the size of the original level. This encourages players to revisit the level to find a large number of new beast codes, items and gil. Not only do the new areas open up, but each level features a lineup of “achievements.” Defeating the boss character unlocks the first achievement, but players will have to go back and take out the mini-bosses, find four codes per stage, score x amounts of points and more to have a complete 100 percent clearing of the level. As I’ve mentioned earlier, players will also unlock a “gauntlet” lineup of monsters, which is the closest Gyromancer comes to offering a type of free play mode, so PopCap and Square Enix has implemented a number of mechanics to keep players coming back time and again, and very little of these mechanics seem forced or cheap.


Overall, the companies have seemingly combined the puzzle, RPG and monster management genres all into one, satisfying package. There is a ton to do and see, and in my experience, I found a good amount of challenge to the title. Since the CPU has no active turns, getting damaged was less a matter of the computer taking the best possible move every time combined with luck; here, the player’s skill (well, yes, along with some luck) is the determining factor in what plays out in Gyromancer. Most of the downsides to the title amount to a lack of polish to the solid mechanics implemented in the title, but the full package is a welcome addition to the Xbox LIVE Arcade library. The mash of themes should be appealing to anyone looking for a solid puzzler and although most of what is presented is hardly original, there are a number of small additions to keep Gyromancer fresh and a worthy purchase. While the lack of a multiplayer or online component is disheartening, what the title does offer will keep dedicated puzzle fans tied to the system for a number of hours.

GemuBaka Final Review Score: 4 of 5

Gyromancer hits the ball out of the park in every department a puzzle game should – the challenging mechanics and rewards make the title addictive and there is a score of replayability in this seemingly simple title. You’ll find some kinks in the game’s storytelling and the title is far from original, but PopCap and Square Enix have managed to craft an extremely solid downloadable title. Some lack of polish and slow initial pacing hold the title back just a tad, but once players dive into the meat of the game, it becomes very hard to put the controller down. At the heart of the title is a total recreation of Bejeweled Twist, but the tweaks and additions make Gyromancer a very intriguing title that can hold players’ attentions for hours at a time.