Envisage a medieval kingdom of great affluence built using the power of souls bestowed to its King. Even among such prosperity, the King’s insatiable desire for power leads him to foolishly awaken the Old One, an ancient evil that descends his kingdom into darkness. Its lands now scoured by Demon hordes devouring the souls of the kingdom's innocent subjects. Dare you make a final stand where the heroes of the world have failed? Heed this warning for I welcome you to a new hell, where all who enter...

2014 was a big year for Godzilla fans. Not only did it see the release of the long awaited second American installment in the series, confirmation of a sequel and a new Toho produced film being in production, it also gave us a new PS3 game. So how did it end up – one for the Godzilla die-hards, or able to be enjoyed by all? Godzilla games over the years have tended to fall into one of two camps – destructive, destroy everything in sight affairs - like that which launched alongside the Dreamca...

Throughout the sixties and seventies a certain genre of anime and manga ran rampant across the nation that is Japan. It galvanised an entire generation, a generation that grew up to be game designers. These game designers then went and created Gigantic Drive. The genre that is being referred to is that of the "super robot", one of the oldest and most respected facets of Japanese pop-culture (next to the "real robot" genre, obviously). Gigantic Drive is a game that, literally, lets you control a...

Back in the day, many a Gundam game had the player pilot the RX-78-2, and consequently steer the neurotic Amuro Rey, through a treacherous future of civil war and political intrigue. This stuff sold, by the bucket load. They were generally pretty abysmal games, however. Thankfully, somebody at Bandai decided to correct matters. This epiphany in Gundam gaming came in the form of Gundam Gaiden (aka “The Blue Destiny”). There were a total of three games released for the Sega Saturn that enable...

How can anyone explain the satisfaction of creating a beautifully balanced mechanical avatar, taking it into the thick of combat and yet returning from the battlefield unscathed? Bathing in your freshly acquired and truly magnificent skill, you watch as charred wreckage surrounds your astounding creation. Gaming empowerment doesn’t really come any better than this. Armored Core Nexus is the eighth game in a franchise that has lasted over seven years and survived two generations of console warfa...

Upon news of the PlayStation Portable’s release, a slew of launch titles were announced. Among these was another entry into the successful Armored Core: canon, this time going by the name of Armored Core: Formula Front. However, due to the control limitations of the PSP, a direct port of an Armored Core game was not feasible. Despite this setback, Toshifumi Nabeshima and his team at From Software managed to find a solution to this problem. The solution lay in the series’ former instalments,...

Picture the scene: the director puts his hand into the Hat of Clichéd Scenarios and pulls out... Number 31 – Young Prince with Memory Loss Who is Heir to a Kingdom Currently Under the Rule of Darkness. The plot has been decided on and it's up to the scriptwriter to flesh out the characters and add a lot more cheese. They'll also need a semi-dramatic yet mellow score, to reflect on what has been lost and the trials that lay ahead. Alright, so that dastardly 'C' word has already been thrown...

Oh, Namco, what’s the point? It barely even seems worth making the game. Ace Combat? Fine, very few people will have the opportunity to take to the sky in an F-16 and dogfight. Tales of Vesperia? Sure, how else would one be able to save the entire world from evil? But Muscle March? Surely this is something everyone experiences every day? It barely even seems worth making the game. So, you’re body-building in the gym like normal, when all of a sudden an American football player bursts in a...

Whilst some of the more curious gamers were waiting patiently for Afrika on the PS3, a very similar Wii game went completely unnoticed. Doubutsu Kisoutengai! (A.K.A. Safar'Wii in the West) is a Safari game – not an over-populated genre for sure, especially considering that previous games labelled as such have been geared towards either hunting or arcade audiences. Amazing Animals differs in that it’s all about finding the animals and observing them, rather than sending them to an early grave...

SNES WEEK: Day 6

1) Chrono Trigger
2) Donkey Kong Country
3) Yoshi's Island

1) Chrono Trigger - Rob Bowker (hankwangford) When it came to the clash of the 16-bit titans, the Megadrive and SNES were both able to trade punches in almost every genre, except for the RPG. Whilst the Megadrive certainly had its fair share of quality role playing titles, support from both of the RPG heavyweights – Enix and Square – ensured that the Super Nintendo more or les...