[floatleft]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/reviews/burnoutrevenge/cover.jpg[/floatleft]I’m not a fan of racing games. I am, however, a fan of chaos and destruction, which is exactly what the [i]Burnout[/i] series has brought to the table. [i]Burnout 3[/i] was my first experience in what could be the most entertaining racing game of all time. [i]Burnout Revenge[/i] is back with some new features and a few major changes that may or may not thrill fans of the previous versions of the game.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with [i]Burnout[/i], let me tell you a little bit about it. [i]Burnout[/i] is a very well done arcade-style racer that encourages road rage, crashing, and general mayhemA
Despite my lack of housing I have managed to find time to play quite a bit of Advance Wars: Dual Strike. Advance Wars is the 2nd turn based strategy game that has kept my interest and Infected Zero did a nice job with the review. I couldn’t agree more that it is fantastic and everyone with a DS needs it.
Burnout Revenge is… how do I say it… awesome? I am not going to proclaim it superior to Takedown, but it is pretty darn good and I am glad I picked it up. The changes to crash mode are still uncertain to me and I don’t know if I am happy with the changes at this point. Time will tell. In the meantime, We Love Katamari, X-Men Legends II, Battallion Wars, DK: King of Swing, Fable: The Lost Chapters, Dawn of War: Winter Assault, and Ninja Gaiden Black are all out this week. I pity the wallets of gamers everywhere. I am also glad that we have so many good games coming out despite the close release of the Xbox 360.
[floatleft]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/features/bandai-08-31-05/cover.jpg[/floatleft]I recently had the opportunity to participate in a conference call with Bandai to talk about two of their new games, [i]Inuyasha: Feudal Combat[/i] and [i]One Piece: Grand Battle[/i].
[i]Inuyasha[/i] is a PS2 exclusive that is based on the popular TV show of the same name. Bandai has taken the show and developed it into a fighting game which allows you to pair up your two favorite characters from the series and duke it out in ancient feudal Japan. The game features 12 playable characters as well as interactive environments. The game promises a truly original battle system that is sure to be a hit with fighting game enthusiasts.
In addition to the standard two-player versus mode, you can try your skills in the mission and story modes. Along the way, you will be able to develop your character’s skills and compatibility with your partner to improve your attacks.
[i]One Piece: Grand Battle[/i] is also a new fighting game based on the [i]One Piece[/i] anime from Cartoon Network. [i]One Piece: Grand Battle[/i] is available for PS2 and GameCube, and a GBA version coming soon. [i]One Piece: Grand Battle[/i], like [i]Inuyasha[/i], makes use of awesome interactive environments that have things such as charging cows and a buzzing hornet’s nest. [i]One Piece: Grand Battle[/i] sports 16 playable characters with 32 additional support characters from the show. Each character has 20 moves as well as special and ultimate attacks that inflict extra damage.
Six different gameplay modes and seven different environments are sure to give [i]One Piece: Grand Battle[/i] a very high replay value. Unlockable features such as characters, costumes, items, and mini games will also keep your experience with this one fresh.
Fighting fans should definitely keep their eyes on these titles. We should have reviews of these games online shortly after release.
We scored a few exclusive trailers for those of you that might be interested:
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[floatleft]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/reviews/advancewarsds/cover.jpg[/floatleft][i]Advance Wars: Dual Strike[/i] is the third installment for the series here in North America. It has jumped handhelds from the GBA over to the Nintendo DS, allowing use of the stylus for this turn-based, rock-paper-scissors type of game.
For people who have played the previous [i]AW[/i], the Black Hole army is back to its no-good shenanigans, trying to take over again. New CO Jake takes a stab at commanding while you drive him to victory or loss using his power-ups on the go. This time around, you gain points and ranks allowing you to pick “skills” that upgrade certain stats like farther movement by one square, or when you attack you gain a little bit of money. You also get to use two COs at once and can use the Dual Strike power which lets the first CO go make all the moves and then switches with the other CO allowing him to move and give you a great advantage.
The use of the two screens is implemented in various waysA
[floatleft]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/reviews/incrediblehulkud/cover.jpg[/floatleft]Sometimes, at night, I sit and wonder why people can’t understand the good fun in mindless, amoral destruction. Admit it, dear readerA
