“Too many ports!” consumers cried as they looked at the list of upcoming 3DS games after the system’s launch. With titles like Street Fighter, Ocarina of Time, and Star Fox taking most of the spotlight, it seemed the handheld’s early life would be devoid of truly new content.

But there sat Nano Assault, hiding away in the shadows during the busiest gaming season of the year, just waiting to be picked up by lovers of score based, arcade style action.

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If you thought we were done paying tribute to the 25th anniversary of Metroid, well… then you haven’t met the Bad Dudes. They don’t play by our rules. They don’t celebrate when we celebrate. But they do make music that will save the galaxy.

I’m talking about the same dudes that brought you the fantastic CHRONOTORIOUS album and fought the OverClocked ReMix community in musical combat. We are talking about some seriously bad dudes here. Dudes so bad they were commissioned by Samus herself to make the Metroid Arrange 25th Anniversary Album (if their totally rad trailer below is to be believed).

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A new Nintendo system means a new Mario Kart game. That’s just how things work. So here we are with the seventh entry in the chaotic kart racing series (not including the Namco co-developed arcade games). Aside from it being one of the very few first party games currently available on the 3DS, why should you care about yet another Mario Kart game?

The answer is simple: Mario Kart 7 is easily one of the best games in the series.

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A good video game boss theme is a lot like a good video game boss: it will punch you in the face in the best possible way. These are the themes of the baddest of the bad. Their baditude knows no bounds.

But even bad guys deserve their dues. That’s exactly why OverClocked ReMix is paying tribute to these vicious villains with a totally badass remix album appropriately titled BadAss Boss Battle Themes. But not just any style of music would do. These had to be the most dark, gritty, downright evil mixes forged into mp3 (and FLAC) files.

What does that translate to? Well, mostly heavy metal. But there’s also some really mean electronica and even an epic orchestral Mega Man 3 arrangement. You may think you’ve heard your share of “One Winged Angel” remixes already, but you’ve probably never heard one that channels the hard hitting beats and abrasive synths of early Justice tracks like PrototypeRaptor’s mix does.

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Continuing the deluge of 25th anniversary game albums of 2011 comes a tribute to The Legend of Zelda. No, not the symphonic concert series CD packaged with Skyward Sword. This one is far more eclectic (not to mention free).

25YEARLEGEND reinterprets memorable tunes from all across the franchise including some of Link’s less covered, portable adventures like Link’s Awakening and Oracle of Seasons. It’s a loving tribute to the music of a series that inspired each of the indie (and not so indie) game composers involved. Disasterpeace (Fez), Laura Shigihara (Plants vs. Zombies), C418 (Minecraft), Souleye (VVVVVV), and Big Giant Circles (Mass Effect 2) are just a few of the talented contributing artists.

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Just over two years ago, The King of Fighters XII released with a great fighting system, a hopelessly broken online experience, and an almost complete lack of single player modes. Today, the latest entry in the series releases with the intent to right the missteps of its predecessor.

The expanded roster of The King of Fighters XIII doesn’t have much new for the series, but it brings back a lot of the fighters missing from XII including Team Women Fighters members Mai, King, and my personal favorite, Yuri. With over 30 fighters available, the amount of choices are once again approaching the levels of its decade-old asset ripping, last generation entries.

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Have you been scared off by the complex nature of the fighting game genre, but intrigued by its resurgence in recent years? Atlus is planning on replacing that fear with knowledge by dishing out a new series of tutorial videos leading up to the release of The King of Fighters XIII.

This first video featuring Dream Cancel community member, Metaphysics, starts with the basics. And I mean the very basics. While the first half is more of an introductory course on fighting games in general, things get a little more interesting when character archetypes and play styles enter the discussion. (more…)

Last year, Sonic Colors showed me that 3D Sonic games could be fun again. Of course, this was the very same year that Sonic 4 dashed my hopes of a quality 2D Sonic experience. So when it was announced that the next game in the series would feature both styles of play, I was skeptical of SEGA’s ability to handle the classic stages.

It turns out they actually learned from their mistakes… well, most of them anyway. Sonic Generations, while not perfect, manages to be a rather successful blend of old and new Sonic gameplay that’s fun in spite of its shortcomings.

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2011 will be forever known as the year every game ever had its 25th anniversary. To celebrate the incredibly dense history of Castlevania (which I’m pretty sure consists of 1.2 hojillion games), a group of talented fans have put together a remix album to celebrate the occasion.

Vampire Variations reinvents the soundtrack of the NES classic while taking a few additional elements from throughout the series. Listen to only half the album and you’ll get the wrong ending! Divided into two distinct musical acts, the album covers everything from “Rock and Orchestral to Jazz and Electronic”.

But don’t worry. Unlike Dracula’s castle, you won’t have to do anything fancy to unlock the inverted second act of this album. Just grab a whip and adventure into the album’s official site. Of course, if you’re too scared to walk in blind (and who can blame you?), you can prepare yourself with the teaser trailer below.

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To make something fresh, you don’t always have to start from scratch. Sometimes you can take something that’s very well established and simply put it in an entirely different context. Suddenly, what is old becomes new again.

This is something Aliens Infestation does in more ways than one. In it, you’ll find a combination of many things. While the most pronounced is its Metroid “Lite” structure, it also borrows elements from cover based shooters and even has a tinge of survival horror. Everything comes together to form a game with its own strong identity, never feeling like a clone of any of the games it takes inspiration from.

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