On the Fence - Wario Land: Shake It!

Wii owners like me may found some worthwhile stuff to buy next week with Mega Man 9 on Monday (WiiWare), De Blob during the week, and Nintendo's very own Wario Land: Shake It on Tuesday (or Monday if you're lucky). My Wii is continuing to collect dust despite some playtime when cousins /nephews / nieces want to play it (usually Mario Kart Wii or Super Smash Bros. Brawl), but this new Wario Land may bring me back to Wii before school starts (I return on Friday).

I blogged previously about Shake It! and it seems to be the "definitive" game for the hardcore that fanboys think Nintendo gave up on. It looks and plays like old-school platforming and it is a short one too to beat. In addition, it has great graphics with anime-like cutscenes and Wario having some of the best animations on Wii with this game. Who knows, if I plan to buy it next week (now its this or Duke Nukem 3D XBLA - maybe both), expect a review as well.

Speaking of reviews, my Rock Band 2 review will be up tomorrow.

Old-school Mega Man returns next week...

Mega Man 9 is out next week as fans are going nuts. Capcom confirmed a Monday release on WiiWare, Thursday on PSN (That and WipEout HD out on the same day = Madness!!!), and XBLA the week after on October 1, which is fine as Microsoft gives Duke Nukem 3D XBLA its week of glory before Mega Man's time. Remember, Mega Man 9 is as old-school as it gets from the 8-bit graphics and gameplay, the press kit (pictured above) with that "amazing" box art on a shirt and a NES cart that doesn't work. Also, Mega Man games are usually hard, so this new one won't be a cakewalk either.

Bandages, Bandages, Bandages...

Other than the long awaited Rush album Moving Pictures coming to Rock Band 1 / 2 as DLC on Tuesday, more songs are out that day as well such as Hot Hot Heat's "Bandages." I think I'll buy Bad Religion's "Sorrow," The Cult's "She Sells Sanctuary," and Kasabian's "Shoot the Runner" along with the Hot Hot Heat song. I don't know yet about Rush - but I'll probably buy it anyway.

More AM Show 2008 Clips...

This year's Amusement Show is still going on at Japan now...



Here's the latest trailer for Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, which is now coming to the Wii at Japan at the end of the year along with the arcade release. The latest additions to the roster are Tatsunoko badsss swordman Karas and Lost Planet's PTX-40A Vital Suit.



King of Fighters XII is another big hitter at the show and this new entry looks amazing (perhaps the best looking fighter now and it is still in an early state). This game is out next year on arcades and consoles (PS3/360). Expect this to give Street Fighter IV some competition for your quarters soon along with Tekken 6 BR.

Burnout Paradise Bikes DLC Hands-On

So the Bikes Pack for Burnout Paradise came out today on both PS3 and 360 for free adding more ways to mess around Paradise City. You start out with 2 bikes and 2 more are unlockable by beating burning and midnight routes with them (those 2 are basically upgraded versions of the default bikes). As for how they handle, they control fine with no boost and less traffic to worry about. Since this is not something like Motorstorm where the rider flies out after a crash, crashing is a simple reset to the game not seeing the rider flying like crazy (I think its not Criterion's style anyway). There is enough content contained in this DLC from more single player events, new road rule times for the bikes themselves, and more freeburn online challenges designed specifically for the bikes that could take a few hours to beat. The burning / midnight routes are pretty easy for the bikes (if u choose the faster Firehawk) as you're given a lot of time to beat them (even the Road Rules as well). I haven't messed around online with the bikes yet, which I'll do that tomorrow along with finishing the game since I'm already 3/4 done with it after four hours.

The other big feature in this Bikes update is the day / night cycle to Paradise City, which works well to the game as gameplay reflects pending on time of day. As for a 24 hour day in the game's timeframe, it takes nearly about a hour for it to pass, but it can be customized for quicker days. The sky itself changes throughout the day from sunny days, some fog, or being cloudy. Graphically, this game looks better with dusk and dawn skies along with nighttime. When darkness comes, traffic is barely in meaning you can cruise around with the bikes as a madman allowing more opportunities to do long wheelies. With traffic not being that much of a distraction, the night visibility itself can be one at times, especially playing while the sun is up.


So far, I'm really enjoying this Bikes update to Burnout Paradise. It is another reason why this game is still awesome today while Criterion continues to release big updates like this for free (The new island DLC should be out this fall). The Paradise Awards adds more replay value to the pack as well being "in-game achievements" (No trophies or achievements were added yet to the console versions). Simply, the bikes themselves are fun enough to drive with even though the single-player events are only burning routes, so no races against AI opponents unless you're online against human competition. If the Cagney update wasn't enough for anyone to go back to Paradise City, this Bikes pack is worth a return trip with hours of content to mess around.

Tekken 6 BR at AM Show...

The 2008 Amusement Show is going on right now at Japan as the big hitters so far are King of Fighters XII and Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion. This post focuses on T6 BR as the game is playable with new content ranging from characters, stages, and customizations. Hopefully, the balance changes will be right for this version, but here's the trailer and some pics featuring the two new characters Alisa and Lars (for more details check out SDTekken or Tekken Zaibatsu).

My only reason to buy a PS3 this year....

WipEout HD is out next Thursday on PSN and arguably the game I'm most excited for on PS3 other than Tekken 6 at this point. Honestly, I never played a WipEout for a long amount of time, but this game is just amazing on every end. With great graphics, awesome electronica music (with custom soundtrack support), and in your face gameplay, WipEout HD could be racing game of the year being a downloadable title among stiff competition (Burnout Paradise, GRID, MotorStorm: PR). If I want to buy a PS3 this fall, this and likely LittleBigPlanet will be my first purchases.

Meanwhile, I beaten Band World Tour on Rock Band 2 today (not 100% finished) and I went nuts after beating "Painkiller" for the second time on Guitar Expert (took me two tries). That song just grew on me as being awesome and fun to play while being hard at the same time. Review of this still maybe on the weekend (have to mess around online play and the challenges for a bit).