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latest reviews
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Bully
01.13.07 / Joe
When I initially walked through the gates of Bullworth Academy, the first student to walk past me yelled "I hate you!" Later on, I had that same kid eating out the palm of my hand. That's pretty much the character arc of Bully. You, as career ne'er-do-well Jimmy Hopkins, show up at a new school full of fools, and you end up as Mr. Popular. Not really the school slaying simulator that certain crusading lawyers and easily-swayed-by-the-press-release media outlets would have had us believe. Whether Rockstar intended Bully as a colossal bait and switch for the video luddite crowed, or whether the game was dialed down in response to GTA criticism, we'll never know until that final shareholders' report. Yes, there is violence - but the "worst" weapon in the game is a baseball bat and you can't even retain it as a selectable item. Yes, it covers the uglier [more] |  |
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Cooking Mama
11.09.06 / Joe
Two years out, the DS has nicely matured. We’re past the days of tech demos being sold as full games (ahem, Yoshi’s Touch-n-Go). We have enough new-concept, high-profile games to outweigh the launch day panic of N64 ports ahem, Super Mario 64DS). And thanks to the GBA’s agonizingly slow price point death, Nintendo finally feels confident enough to stop selling their first-party DS games at the $35 level (ahem, Pokemon Trozei). The DS rode out that initial wave of gimmicky criticism and has positioned itself as a must-have, just in time to lateral a little of that mindshare over to the Wii. Although I think that two freaking years was far too slow, at least we’re here now and have something of which we can be genuinely proud. Because back when Nintendo first announced their little “third pillar,” it was far from an instant success waiting to happen. As far [more] | |
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Starfox Command
09.12.06 / Joe
I've been sitting out on the Starfox franchise for years, thanks to all the lackluster offerings during the GameCube era. It sucks, because I really liked Starfox 64 and I really want a new hip iteration in that style. For some reason, Nintendo is bound and determined to avoid that classic, blistering on-rails shooting action... giving us Starfox-as-Zelda and Starfox-as-Rogue-Leader-2 instead. Starfox Command is a return to the game's roots, but not in the way we all expected. Most franchises are ridiculed for not offering enough change-up. Starfox is the rare bird that gets smacked around for not maintaining enough of the status quo. SFC has two gameplay modes: a 2D tactical turn-based strategy half and a 3D arena dogfight half. You plot the course of your fleet on the flat map and, when your planes encounter enemies, you switch to the full-on space combat mode. "Our army alone can't [more] | |
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Odama
05.24.06 / Joe
I'm only about ten minutes into the first level when the thought occurs: "This is a pretty crappy game." That's never a joyous realization - especially when $50 was tossed like so much salt over the shoulder - but it is particularly grating when the game in question is something you've been anticipating for months. Odama is exactly the kind of offbeat, undefinable game that pulls me in. Games that offer up more than just various degrees of running / jumping / shooting / driving. I live for the thrill of locating games like this. They're underappreciated, underplayed... and in Odama's case, underbaked. Created by Yoot Saito, the madman behind Seaman and the architect of SimTower, Odama defies all attempts at categorization. The closest you can get in "real-time pinball strategy." WTF. Instant intrigue, if only the game measured up. As it happens, the strategy part is minimal (and unapproachably [more] | |
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