Kick'em In The Ghoulies

     Video Games

1 , 2 ,

Video games old and new are covered here from classics on the Spectrum 'right up to date on the latest system's.So for your fix of frenzied fighting on screen 'Look No Further.

Since last month King of Fighters XII online mode has had a new update on XBOX live which has improved matters.

So i took the controller by the Grips and entered with caution.Like i said the lobbies are not as inviting but getting to play someone is easier(much easier).Full marks to SNK and Microsoft.So how was it i entered quite a few matches and was treated to a good time confronting players players from all over the world.Game-play wise i as up against some good fighters and though i did not come out the winner (it was my first time here) i had a good time  with all players playing like a fight as opposed to the one move combatants you get on Street fighter IV .

This makes the game worthwhile owning and in my books puts it above Capcom's purely for the professionalism of the people i came up against. I saved a couple of matches with me and will post a video here soon.

Online Score out of Ten = 9  

Copyright © Sega Corporation/ Shueisha Inc.

BLEACH - Shattered Blade is a Nintendo Wii title released some time ago ,based on a popular comic story ,There are comics/books/soft toys/TV series all for BLEACH.

Now in this game from SEGA and VIZ MEDIA you must help Ichigo and his friends find the the shards of the mighty executioners blade so they may open the gate to get them back to the Human world.( I haven't been told what world there in yet).

Any way BLEACH is a hack and slash Wii game that uses the Wii remote to great effect ,Comprising of 32 characters fro the BLEACH world and various modes of play from a full arcade mode / versus,training and a story mode.On top of all this you get Photo galleries video galleries and items to buy in the Urahara shop.In story mode at the beginning you only get to choose from 3 characters but as you finish with each one another character is opened,so that in the end you will have played 32 story mode games and won of course to get to see all the various stories for each one.

Arcade mode is just that you fight your way through the opponents in succession to win .Versus mode you and a friend can hack and slash with your Wii remotes and Nun-chucks to victory (whilst smashing your house up as you get carried away careful people)To learn your skills you have a step by step training mode to undertake or like me you just go for it an learn on the way.

 So as you can see above it's quite a crazy looking game with a real comic look.Whats nice is how easy it is to pull off the moves ,using the Wii chuck thumb-stick to move around and waving the remote to perform your stab/slash/and hacks to great effect.On the remote you have various buttons to hold down while doing the waving about to get assorted moves ,some are more basic whilst others are critical strikes that inflict more damage to your opponent,but take longer to perform,you block on the Z button on the nun-chuck and dash with the C .So is it good 'hell yes even though quite hectic at times it's fluidity makes it a blast to play and with so much to open it will last you ages just playing the single player modes.

Now this game is also on Nintendo DS so you can hone your skills on that too,and along with a few other versions on the DS to play you won't be short of BLEACH time.Also another Wii title has recently been released so look out for a review of that here soon.The Snake.                                                  Score out of Ten = 9

Copyright2009© SNK PLAYMORE / IGNITION entertainment

The King Of Fighters XII has been a while coming and fans have been waiting to see what SNK PLAYMORE would do with the series ,like would they go the Street Fighter IV way with large 3d characters yet keeping the basics of the game-play.Well the surprise is they have kept true to the originals and kept it 2D.

Now this might seem dated to some gamers but when you see the work which has gone in to the sprites of the characters ,all hand drawn and very large as well you will be amazed at the detail not just in the characters but the backgrounds as well.

This version has 22 characters and 5 levels ,in arcade mode your challenge is to choose three characters to be used in a time ranking match ,basically you fight 3 opposing characters in each round across five levels and from each round you are timed how quick you finish , the idea is to finish all five rounds in the shortest possible time so you can be ranked on the leader-boards.Not as easy as it sounds ,you have to beat 15 characters in total to post a time ,but it can be done and not just on the easy level i assure you . 

Online it seems OK, i have not experienced this for long enough  to comment if it's got staying power like Street Fighter IV  ,but the lobby area and concept of the online play does not seem that inviting as some games ,but i will investigate and post a update when i am happy i have full filled my mission.

Now some of the characters seem a bit heavy looking compared to their previous incarnations but this is just a matter of getting used to i think.So the million dollar question 'is it any good?.Well yes it is ,it plays really well and the combo's are easy enough to pull of when using the 360 controller ,but i am sure with a dedicated fight stick it would be more fun(i will  have to invest in one of those) and it is for this reason and the fact that it does not have many levels or game-play modes that it seems not to play like the best of it's predecessors,especially those on the Dreamcast and Neo Geo.So no it's not the best King of Fighters ever ,it falls somewhere in-between it just won't make you discard all your previous versions which i still play today.So very good but not mind-blowing.    

Score out of Ten = 7.5     The Snake   

Namco's SOUL EDGE aka SOUL BLADE on the Playstation one was the first in namco's soul series of games which went on to become Soul Calibur and a genre defining game .But here is the original on playstation 1 ,this was one of those games that sold playstation to the world a 3d fighter with weapons that moved at speed and a good frame rate .

After the success of Tekken on playstation namco could not go wrong so in 1995 released Soul Edge into the arcades which was met with a lot of excitement but only to come to critisism as players found the game far to hard and impossible to beat ,so they released a version 2 which was easier and had a couple of extra characters this went on to be ported onto playstaion in 1996 in Japan and arrived in the west in 1997.What we have here is a wonderful looking fighter with bright colors and characters to love from the sword fighting samurai Mitsurugi and the girl'y Sophitia and Seung mi na through to the crazy looking Voldo and the original boss from the arcade Cervantes,all in all 10 to play with .

Buying this i remember getting it home and beating it in less then 20 minutes on normal mode ,i thought this did not give value  for a game costing forty pounds ,but luckily it had a great two player mode so you could beat your friends and on top of that was the Edge Master mode which was a story based mode with alternate endings one good 'one tragic where you progressed through beating various adversaries and gaining their weapons which you could adapt as your own characters .This added a much needed base to the game which made it shine ''excuse the pun'' 

 So there we have it classic gaming and a game that spawned a great sequel and then some .So with all the great blocking and defensive moves to muster Soul Blade is a must own if you have a ps1 .So go and slice and dice your way to victory in this fine game .The Snake                                

  Score out of ten = 8

In 2000 SNK released a the ninth game in the Fatel Fury series on Neo Geo AES but not on the cd as the Dreamcast had been released ,they chose to release in 2001 a version on Dreamcast that could match the aes version as it had faster load times then the Cd version of the Neo ,What we have here is a fighting game of the utmost brilliance and a tribute to Fatal Fury in every way ,with 12 characters to choose from and a lots of backdrops with all the animation that the Dreamcast could do so well ,each and every character has there unique fighting style.and you can see each and every art in this .

The Taekwondo boys are a joy to behold as you recognize all the moves and the Drunken master is superb.Unfortunately this was only released in Japan on Dreamcast so is not easy to come buy ,but if you own a Dreamcast YOU MUST play this game because you will be missing out on a classic fighter which stands up to any of the Capcom games on the same system ,and possibly the only one of there games that gives it any competition in my opinion that is is Capcom vs SNK 2 ,again this is only a Japan release . 

So as you can see this is pure bliss in video gaming that no fight fan should miss and i recommend this without hesitation .

Score out of ten = 9

Double Dragon ,there has been many variations on this video game on many systems but very few were really any good compared to a lot of other fighters regardless of the system it was on ,even the film of the same name was no master piece; i am sure you know this .

Were saved DOUBLE DRAGON is on the NEO GEO system ,a system which was made for and is home to many of the great fighters .What we have here is a tribute in the highest form .

Because this is DOUBLE DRAGON and it's GREAT.Now the Neo was a system for hardcore gamers and  in it's prime it was a expensive system to buy and even now some 14 years after it's time there still not cheap secondhand.SNK  has made a one on one fighter which is a joy to play featuring Billy and Jimmy as our two heroes along with ten other adversaries this is a a wonderful looking game with a auto zoom battle field which zooms in and out according to how far your opponent is away from you .

Add to this some great animations in the background which no system of that time could match bar the Saturn which used Ram carts to which came with the Saturn versions of SNK games to boost it's power.A simple control system  and a good fight engine made each battle a real test of your skill and when in two player mode it was a joy to behold.

Of course it is it's on Neo Geo home of the beat em up ,if your into your fight games and you don't own a Neo buy one now because your missing out on a shed load of games and Double Dragon is no exception it is great to play and look at and stands the test of time and i enjoy this as much as Soul Calibur or Virtua fighter.

Remember it's the only way to survive.

The SNAKE

 Score out of 10 = 9

KASUMI NINJA /ATARI JAGUAR

All Hell is About to Break loose ,the moto read on the box ,i'm not quite sure if it did  ,but KASUMI NINJA on ATARI's ill fated JAGUAR was one of only a few games released for the system ,let alone fighting games.With stiff competition from SEGA and SONY  who had the likes of Tekken and Virtua Fighter even the SNES and Megadrive had Mortal Kombat and Killer Instinct.So ATARI released this to go up against them before they released Fight For Life which was to go up against the big 3D fighters.

 You are the ninja out to stop the evil Ninja lord Gyaku.Graphically the games not bad for the time the Jaguar could move some graphics about and went for a Mortal Kombat look for the charactores ,but the thing it lacked was a selection of foes only 8 in all plus Gyaku himself and in one player mode you always start as the ninja either Habaki or Senzo and as you fought your way through each opponent you could choose him if you wish for the next round if he was any good that is as only 3 or 4 of the characters are of any use ,even though the Scotsman ANGUS who's special move is a fire ball like street-fighter ,but lifts his kilt and fireball will shoot out i don't know where it's coming from but looks painful.

You also had a Gore factor which you could turn off if required ,the more Gore the more blood dropped from the two swords above which was each players health bar .In two player mode as with all these games there is some fun to be had and the combat system is quite easy to learn and your be pulling off good combo's in no time .So if a little shallow compared to others if you had a Jaguar this was a game to have and i still play it now ,it's a shame Atari's machine did not survive to see how it could compete .Play this and see if you can it's the only way to survive.     The SNAKE 

Beat that donkeyWatch out for that fire ball

Released back in 1985 ,Jackie Chan had just released Police Story a genre defining kick flick for the 80's  and we needed a fighting game to do the same .

Along came The Way oft the Exploding Fist for the 8 bit computers. Released on the Spectrum/Commoodore and  Amstrad .Fist was the game we had been waiting for a full blown take on martial arts which consisted of kicks,punches,blocks flying kicks .18 moves in all to fight and defend as you progressed from a novice up to tenth dan .

Each match consisted of 2 bouts in which you were scored points or parts of a ying yang ,two ying yangs and you won that bout win two bouts and you would progress to the next level (dan grades) .But the real brilliance of this game you could play two player against each other which would open up many heated battles between friends and family as each of you twisted and smashed  your  joystick to bits trying to beat your friend .

This was a genre defining game and set the benchmark for all fighting games in the future .BUT this did not end there as in as in 1986 Beam Software the brilliant coders of Fist brought us FIST 2 The Legend Continues ,and twisted the genre on it's head again.

1986 and Beam software release FIST 2 The legend Continues ,this time were in scrolling beat 'em up territory ,a land of swamps/ forests /mountains and dark caves and you must defeat the evil Warlord and his disciples .

So with a vast area to explore you come up against various foes along your travels .Even though there had been scrolling fighters  before they consisted of a punch / a kick and run ,that was it .Beam software brought you the the true Fist all 18 moves but in a scroll-er .

Awesome it was. But at times you would come across a enemy who would begin to fight and then would become like a statue and not move and you could not progress until you had beaten him as you would be locked in combat mode but this was rare .

Your quest was also to find the Trigrams a scroll which assisted you in your knowledge ,8 variations in all .Your  health was depicted as  a chi energy bar at the bottom of the screen as was your  opponents .On top of this the other side of your cassette came with a combat mode to train for quest ,which was like fist but with a different look ,a bonus none the less .

A top game once again.But then 2 years later came FIST +in 1988.

1988 and Beam software release FIST + ,this time were back to the roots of fist this is a 1 on 1 beat 'em up ,but with the added bonus  of three people able to play against each other all the moves are here ,and the characters move  a bit quicker as with 3 on screen fighting you need to move quick .

With this there were always three characters on screen ,so if you played alone you would be up against two computer controlled characters ,which is not easy .scoring was done by a energy bar at the top of the screen which would fill up as you struck you opponent.a good sequel but not ground breaking as IK+ had also been released doing the same. 

FIST + / SPECCYSPECCY LOADINGFIST 2 /SPECCY   FIST 2 COMBAT MODE

To sum up ,all three games are crackers that hold up till this day ,load up your copy and i bet your there an hour later .Graphic wise games have moved on leaps and bounds ,but with game play like this ,These are hard to beat and beat them you should ,it's the only way to survive.         THE SNAKE

.