Sonic CD Review

Sonic CD (PS3/Xbox 360)
Developed By: SEGA, Christian Whitehead
Published By: SEGA
Date of Release: December 14, 2011 (XBLA) December 20, 2011 (PSN)
Price: $4.99/400MSP

20 years. Two decades. A fifth of a century. That is how long it has been since SEGA released the first Sonic The Hedgehog game for the Sega Genesis in 1991. And now that our spikey blue friend has reached such a momentous milestone, SEGA is helping him celebrate in style with the re-release of Sonic CD. At first glance you may scoff at the bargain price, thinking that it's just a haphazardly ported cash grab. However such thinking could not be farther from the truth!




The 2011 revival of Sonic CD was masterminded by a genius freelance coder named Christian Whitehead. He originally pitched the idea of a Sonic CD port using his amazing Retro Engine, and SEGA signed him on after seeing a demo version. As a result we have the amazingly polished work which is on the review table today. Sonic CD is an absolutely marvelous pixel-perfect port of the original, with enough time traveling extras to fill a DeLorean. Let's start with the soundtrack, shall we? Players immediately have the option to switch between the Japanese and USA versions of the soundtrack, with only a small disappointment in the loss of the Japanese theme song's lyrics, due to licensing issues. However the rest of the amazing soundtracks are there in full force, sounding every bit as good as they did 20 years ago.




Another new addition is the choice between the original Sonic CD spindash, and the famous one from Sonic The Hedgehog 2. Choosing the latter will slightly alter the game's physics, making it feel more like playing Sonic 2. Like the music, the spindash feature can be toggled at any time in the main menu. And now for the graphics! Not only does Sonic CD have the original graphical style intact, it's been expanded into full widescreen, with 3 detail options to choose from! You can choose the original pixelated retro glory, a bilinear type smoothing filter, and an HD upscaler that gives you the crisp edges and smooth sprites from the other two modes.
And if all that isn't enough, you can now play as Tails after you finish the main game!




Playing as Tails is kind of like a cheat mode, as you have access to every single inch of the map, and you can take all kinds of shortcuts. It definitely gives players a chance to explore the levels, and find things that they never would have seen otherwise. Add to that the addition of Trophies and Acheivements, and Sonic fans really have the whole package here. Now honestly, what are you still doing here? Get over to the PSN or XBLA and buy this thing!

Satazius Review

Satazius
Developed By: Astro Port
Localized By: Nyu-Media
Published By: Capcom
Date of Release: December 16, 2011
Price: $5.99

It's no secret how fond I am of the shoot-em-up genre, be it the bullet hell bliss of Gundemonium or the retro stylings of Gradius and R-Type. It is this latter type that today's entry falls under, though there are times that your foe's bullets will flood the screen giving you little hope of escape. However Satazius is a game more akin to the classic Snes-era Gradius titles, with a few twists of it's own!




Satazius is a game that takes a fair bit of trial and error before you get into the flow of it. Like Gradius, you choose your loadout and upgrade plan before you start, and collect capsules along the way to upgrade your weapons. Anyone who has played Gradius should immediately feel at home. The controls are tight and responsive, and the non-linear branching paths through the levels give you a fresh experience each time you play it. Always be on the lookout for places that you can veer off from the main path, as exploration is rewarded.




Satazius is quite easy on the eyes graphically, with gorgeous hand-drawn art making up the game's massive sprites and lush backgrounds. It looks like it could have easily be at home on the SNES or Playstation. The pounding techno soundtrack is also impressive, with heavy beats thumping along to the explosive action. It's definitely clear that the SHMUP genre is making a comeback lately, and games like Satazius are going to take the lead in this retro-revolution. At $5.99, Satazius is a must buy for Steam users who like retro shooters. This Steam port is truly excellent, though it does lack online leaderboards and acheivements, though i imagine those could be easily patched in. I truly can't wait to see what is next from Nyu-Media!

COME GET SOME!

Duke Nukem Forever (PC, Xbox360)
Developed By: Triptych Games
Published By: Gearbox Software
Date of Release: June 14, 2011
Price: $19.99

15 years. One and a half long decades. That is how long the world waited for a true sequel to Duke Nukem 3D. Stuck in the longest ever known development hell, switching engines multiple times, and winning a crapton of vaporware awards, Duke Nukem Forever seemed destined to never see the light of day. But see the light of day it did, thanks to the combined efforts of Triptych Games and Gearbox Software!

Triptych Games was founded when 3DRealms closed it's doors back in 2009, and they worked out of their own homes for no pay to make DNF what it is today. Then in 2010, Gearbox Software bought the franchise, hired on Triptych, and helped them polish their work, resulting in the badass beast we know today.

The Duke Nukem series has always been known for it's balls-out irreverent sense of humor, and DNF continues that fine tradition of debauchery with gusto. The traditional Duke charm is firmly imbedded in the game's design, managing to give fans a good laugh along the way and in the process completely offending those who don't get Duke's particularly awesome brand of humor.

The gameplay is a melting pot of what's best about classic FPS games, and the best of their contemporary counterparts. Gone are random medkits and stimpacks, now we have a regenerating EGO bar that represents Duke's Dukeness. Let it drop to nothing, and he might not be able to shrug off that next bullet. Dive behind cover and rest a moment and you'll be back in action in quick order. Or you can take the manly route and use an execution move on an enemy, this instantly refills Duke's ego bar.

The signature interaction introduced by Duke Nukem 3D is back in force, with pool tables, pinball machines, weight benches, arcade games, air hockey, and more ready to entertain those who want to take a break from the carnage and just mess around.
Most items give you a permanent EGO boost the first time you use them, to try and mess around with anything and everything. You can even recreate the infamous microwave scene from Maniac Mansion.

Dukes signature arsenal is back in former glory, and this is where the Xbox 360 version takes a bit of a sidestep from the PC counterpart, on PC they patched in the ability to carry four weapons at once, but on the console as of this writing you can still only carry two. Still, the game is amazingly balanced, with plenty of guns lying around to take your pick from. During boss fights you can usually find an ammo crate to keep the rockets flying, so don't be afraid to use your firepower.

Multiplayer returns big time in DNF, with Dukematch, Team Dukematch, Capture the Babe (capture the flag, but easier on the eyes) and Hail to The King. A diverse array of maps are included, based on locations seen in the campaign. My personal favorite is Duke Burger, which sees the players shrink down to action-figure size, and let loose in the kitchen of the iconic fast-food joint. Earning EXP in multiplayer earns you new items to decorate your personal penthouse, and completing challenges gives you new shirts and hats to customize your Duke.

Duke Nukem Forever may not be the greatest game of all time, but despite some long loading times on the Xbox 360 version it stands tall and proud in representation of the Duke franchise, and in my humble opinion it should be played by fans and newcomers to the series alike, as it finally brings closure to the most epically insane development saga in the history of gaming. Oh, and it kicks ass too!





Hail to the Icons Parody Pack (PC, Xbox360)
Developed By: Triptych Games
Published By: Gearbox Software
Date of Release: October 11, 2011
Price: $9.99, 800 MSP

What's this? Can't get enough DNF multiplayer? Well we've got what you need right here! Welcome to the Hail to The Icons Parody Pack! Serving up a healthy dose of four new maps and 3 new weapons, this pack gives you four new maps, new weapons, and new game modes!

On the maps front we have the Team Fortress 2 inspired 2forts1bridge, the Doom inspired Inferno, the self-explanatory Call of Duke, and the epic Sandpit, inspired by Halo's Blood Gulch. Among the new modes in this pack are Freeze Tag, where you shatter your foes for point combos, the babe-coveting Hot Potato mode, and a new version of Hail to The King.

Each of the new maps also presents players with an exclusive themed weapon. Inferno has the big badass DFG, 2forts1bridge has the minigun, Call of Duke has the potato spamming NOOB TOOB, and as for Sandpit? STICKY BOMBS! All in all the Hail to the Icons Parody Pack gives DNF multiplayer fans a whole lot of new asskicking opportunities.


The Doctor Who Cloned Me (PC, Xbox360)
Developed By: Triptych Games
Published By: Gearbox Software
Date of Release: December 13, 2011
Price: $9.99, 800 MSP

If you're coming to this page today, you have probably played everything else in the review so far, and you want to know if The Doctor Who Cloned Me is any good. Well, I'm here to tell you it's not good. It's F*CKING GOOD. It's the most epic Duke experience I have had since Duke3D. It makes the main campaign look like fanfiction.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Babes and Dukes... The Doctor Who Cloned Me is the REAL DEAL. With a bowl of nachos.

The Doctor Who Cloned Me picks up right where DNF left off, and doesn't let you sit still for even a moment. Great action, great puzzles, and awesome driving sequences await. This expansion gets everything right, from the attitude, the humor, to the pacing. Not only do you get an awesome new campaign to play through, you get 4 new multiplayer maps, and new weapons to boot! Start to finish it took me about 4 hours to play through, and I am getting ready to play through it again! I should note that on the Xbox360 version the load times seem to be a little bit shorter than the main campaign.

The four new multiplayer maps are a diverse bag of goodness, from the office building in Sky High, EDF Command, the rooftop of Duke's casino in Drop Zone, and the Breston Plant Nuclear Facility in Biohazard, multiplayer aficionados will be rolling in shell casings for a long time to come. When you get right down to it, The Doctor Who Cloned Me goes to show that the team at Triptych definitely haven't lost their touch. All you Duke fans out there should drop everything and buy this pack NOW.

I've got ballsballsballsballs of steeeel!

COMING SOON! I'll be reviewing the brand new DLC campaign for Duke Nukem Forever: The Doctor Who Cloned Me! Not only that, but I'll be reviewing the main campaign as well, plus the Hail to the Icons multiplayer DLC. Tune in again soon, same Duke time, same Duke channel!