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Totally New, Totally Downloadable, NBA 2K10: Draft Combine

Josh Salem — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:45:23 +0000

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Almost like a souped up demo, you can get a taste of NBA 2K10′s all-new gameplay and My Player career mode as an NBA hopeful dealing with the stress and intrigue of the NBA Draft Combine.

This download-only title gives ballers the action of pre-season fun leading up to the launch of NBA 2K10. Coming out this September for Xbox Live Arcade and PSN; NBA 2K10: Draft Combine will allow fans to create their own personal player and begin their career from the ground up going through the Draft Combine at the ATTACK Athletics gym in Chicago.

It's pretty intense trying to get a spot in the NBA.

“We’re giving our dedicated NBA 2K fans an incredible opportunity with NBA 2K10: Draft Combine,” said Greg Thomas, senior vice president of sports development for 2K. “Gamers will have exclusive access to online content and get to test drive NBA 2k10′s new gameplay features, advanced player progression system and the all-new My Player career mode before the game launches this fall.”

NBA 2K10: Draft Combine, developed by Visual Concepts is planned for release in North America, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and India this September for 400 MS points (on Xbox Live Arcade), and $4.99 (on PlayStation Network).

Now all I’m wondering is if we can create and customize a player, then transfer him over to the actual NBA 2K10 title when it releases.

Marvel VS. Capcom 2 Is Finally Here, And It’s Glorious

Josh Salem — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:15:50 +0000

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That’s right folks, if you’re anything like me (and I guess it’s ok to assume that you are not… or else the world would be a very strange place) than you’re stoked for Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 to finally make it’s way back onto our consoles and our hearts.

Available for download NOW on Xbox Live Arcade for 1200 MS points (later on PSN), Marvel Vs. Capcom has stood the test of time and is back for another round on this generation of consoles (as long as it’s PS3 and Xbox 360). With MvC2 players can now battle online as one of 56 Marvel or Capcom fighters utilizing unblockable attacks, infinite combos, and other frustrating maneuvers that everyone online seems to be able to do except for me.

Want to see who would win in a fight between Wolverine and Ken? Perhaps Spiderman Vs. Megaman? Ohhh how about M. Bison pitted against Magneto? (I don’t know about you but it feels like the Marvel characters would ususually be the ones to come out on top). Forget Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe, this is the real deal here.

Two blasts from the past are coming to Xbox Live

Josh Salem — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 22:57:25 +0000

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Coming out this Wednesday, two of my favourite aspects of the late 80′s and early 90′s are coming back with titles on Xbox Live Arcade. The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition and Madballs in… Babo Invasion are both going to be unleashed on an unsuspecting public in a couple of days.

The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition originally released in 1990 is back for another go with all new HD graphics, a remastered music score and complete voice work to bring this wacky and entertaining classic into the hearts of a new generation to love, enjoy, and obsess over. Published and developed by LucasArts, this title will run you 800 MS points, is rated E10+ and will have your swashbuckling humor bell a-ringing!

Now, if your like me, you might remember Madballs; Madball toys, Madball cartoons, Madball cardgames… then one day, they all just disapeared… these small ball like creatures just up and left our planet. Well, they’re back, and they’re taking the world by storm. With the ability to play solo, 4 player online co-op, or 16 player battle arenas, Madballs will bring you back to your youth and not question why these balls are so mad. Complete with map creation and the ability to use your Xbox live avatar, Madballs in… Babo Invasion will cost you 1200 MS points and is also rated E10+.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 gets a solid date! … for Xbox

Josh Salem — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:52:40 +0000

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That’s right boys and girls, men and women; My favourite (and quite possibly some of yours as well) arcade fighter Marvel vs. Capcom 2 has finally decided on a solid date to release their awesomeness to the downloadable console world. Only July 29th, 2009 players from AROUND THE WORLD will have the opportunity to pit the Hulk against Ryu, Spiderman against Megaman and pretty much have one of the most out-there battles I can think of pitting… well, Marvel characters vs. Capcom characters… part 2.

As mentioned above, the release date to download Marvel vs. Capcom 2 on Xbox Live Arcade is July 29th globally and will set you back 1,200 MS points. This release is part of Microsoft’s “Summer of Arcade” promotion and I don’t know about you but I plan on getting alot of online play out of this title when it finally lands.

Unfortunately there is still no date for the release of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 for the PlayStation Network, however we are told it is coming soon.

Game Review: Castle Crashers

David Barmak — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:00:45 +0000

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A short, 2D man stumbles into a tavern and dies. His body flashes and then disappears. This is your introduction to the world of Castle Crashers, a game full of self-reflexive and irreverent humour. Someone has crashed the castle and kidnapped four princesses. You must choose the Blue, Red, Green or Orange knight to go out and rescue the princesses and win them back one kiss at a time.

Castle Crashers is a classic, side-scrolling arcade game. You progress across linear levels from left to right and defeat bad guys as you go. The game has many throwbacks to the coin-op era, including a flashing finger pointing you right as the screen is cleared. A more contemporary twist has been added, as the characters level up with attributable skill points to strength, magic, defense and speed.

This is an action game with a quick pace. The game does not halt when your character gains a level; instead, it let’s you adjust your skill points between stages. Magic spells are limited to three per character with generic elemental themes such as ice for the Blue Knight and fire for the Orange Knight. As you clear stages, more characters are unlocked. I played as the Orange Knight and ran into big trouble in the lava stage as the enemies were immune to my magic attacks. Later in the game, I encountered more magic-resistant enemies. During these sections, the combat became very one-dimensional as I button mashed my way to the next stage so it’s important to keep your characters balanced if playing solo.

The controls are quite simple to pick up, allowing even novice video game players a chance to crash some castles. On the other hand, not all of the buttons on the controller have been utilized. Throughout the game, your character will unlock different weapons and helper animals. You can only change your weapon in between stages by navigating all the way back to the beginning of the map. The game would have benefited from the ability to map weapons to the directional-pad, making it possible to switch from magic-boosting mace to power hammer in a click.

Hardcore gamers will take pleasure in the boss battles. These are a lot of fun. Often the battles began with a lot of cursing and swearing on my part before I would eventually catch onto the right rhythm as each boss (like classic games of the past) have a certain technique to defeat. The boss of the ice level, for example, summons crystals to crash down constantly, forcing your character to literally skate across screen without stopping in one place.

At one point I got to a boss that was an evil corn-on-the-cob — and here, please, let me tell you about what makes this game special. Castle Crashers is simply the most cohesive game experience on Xbox Live Arcade. The graphics in 1080i are stunning! The art style is bright and colourful, and matches perfectly the overall wacky tone (indeed, featured artist Dan Paladin has been credited with “Art ‘n Animation”). The music is trancey and frenetic. As I blasted the giant, evil corn-on-the-cob with fireballs — POPCORN FLEW OFF. Yes, there have been zany games in the past like Earthworm Jim and Katamari Damacy, but evil corn-on-the-cob is about as close as we’ve come to kooky video game perfection.

Castle Crashers is available on the Xbox Live Arcade for 1200 Microsoft Points — a fair price to pay for a game with such high production value. The single-player took me about 12 hours to complete, and there are a multitude of characters to choose from for a second playthrough. Multiplayer is where Castle Crashers really shines. It supports up to four players in local or online coop. It’s a great party game which lends itself well to the informal pass-the-controller dynamic. Developer The Behemoth has already released an update patch, and more playable characters via downloadable content. The game also comes with an eating contest mini-game and a dueling mini-game for multiplayer action both online and off.

Now, this downloadable content dubbed the King Pack comes at the cost of 160 Microsoft points and provides those that download it with three new weapons (the king’s mace, a giant lollipop, and the golden sword) a new pet named Pelter that at times, freezes enemies, and two new playable characters, the open-faced grey knight (same as closed-faced grey knight) and the king himself (whom has the element of gold and has a magical spell that heals him and those around him). This downloadable pack adds more replay value for those that have gone through the title time and time again and need something new to play with. As well, adding the healing magic, we are introduced to a new dynamic in the game, that of the healing role for the rest of the team.

Overall, Castle Crashers was a blast to play and now even after almost a year has passed, it’s still one of my favourite Xbox Live Arcade titles out there. Check out The Behemoth’s website at www.thebehemoth.com for their contest in which players guess when exactly 1 million players will be on the castle crashers leader board!

Gameplay 3.5/5

Graphics 5/5

Sound 4.5/5

Replay Value 4.5/5