WingDamage.com

"If I win this race, they'll make Shenmue 3!"

“Kart Racers” as a genre have a bad rap. Back when Nintendo had success with the original Mario Kart, everyone wanted a piece of that hot, mascot racing action. The sad thing is that nearly every one of these attempts have failed. From Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing to M&M’s Kart Racing, most entries in the genre have been groan inducing.

Because of this, my hopes were pretty low for Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing, but the addition of some very nostalgic Dreamcast characters drew me in. The first time I saw a screen-shot of Ryo Hazuki on his motorcycle, I knew I’d be playing this game one way or the other.

(more…)

"REAL adventure is waiting for you, DS."

I’m the type of gamer who mostly plays old Sierra and LucasArts adventure games. Some people might not even consider me a gamer at all, in fact. I didn’t have a console until very recently. My circa 2002 computer may be running like a champ, but it had some lagging problems running Psychonauts… in 2005. So, modern computer gaming is also out. I was lucky enough to be visited by the Wing Damage Fairy a while back, who blessed me with a DS.

I was excited about rumblings of the DS being the promised land of adventure gaming; I’d read on many a message board and blog that since the console’s point-and-click stylus interface was ideal for the genre I would have a bevy of adventure games to choose from once I had a look around. I was bummed to find out, however, that there is not, in fact, a whole lot of quality adventure games on the DS. At least not the kind I’m looking for.

Read after the jump to see my findings.

(more…)

"An improvement over Phantom Hourglass, but by how much?"

For the most part, I love the Zelda franchise. The portable titles in particular have a history of getting on my good side with Link’s Awakening being my second favorite title in the whole Game Boy catalog (next to Tetris). That being said, I was shocked when I didn’t fall in love with 2007’s Phantom Hourglass.

While Spirit Tracks looked disturbingly similar to the object of my disappointment, the Zelda fan in me was determined to give the game a fair shake from beginning to end.

(more…)

2010 is looking to be one of the most ridiculous years we’ve ever seen for game releases. The amount of promising titles coming out is nothing short of intimidating. It is entirely possible that you may drown in quality titles. But remain calm.

We here at WingDamage are here to throw you a life preserver of information. So grab a hold of our list of DS and PSP releases below and you just might survive the first three months of 2010.

(more…)

"A hard game to ask for by name."

Kingdom Hearts is a series that is starting to have more “side stories” than numbered games. The latest entry, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, takes place after an event that happened most of the way through the first game and spans all the way up until Kingdom Hearts 2 begins (with Chain of memories taking place in parallel). But enough about time-lines.

(more…)

Broke again? Just plain don’t like paying for things? You’re in luck! We’re giving away a free copy of Nostalgia, a steam-punk RPG with heavy “old school” inspirations. You’ll be able to take a rag-tag group of kids on an exciting adventure. Airships, monsters, mustaches; Nostalgia’s got them all! Follow the contest rules below and you can too.

(more…)

From the re-makes of Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy to the more obscure Shiren the Wanderer, the DS has become one of the best places to find old-school RPGs. Nostalgia is no exception to this trend. Matrix Software even did the programming and 3D graphics for the Final Fantasy III & IV remakes before their work on Nostalgia.

Nostalgia is set in a Steam Punk version of Earth, complete with giant airships and an adventuring based economy. It is clear right from the outset that this is a throwback to a time when not every RPG focused on a character whose main motivation was angst.

(more…)

It’s that time of year again! The fourth quarter of 2009 is already upon us and we at WingDamage are here to keep you in the loop about some of the notable games coming out for each platform. Below you’ll find some of our most anticipated titles for both the DS and the PSP.

(more…)

"A new JRPG developed by a dream team."

Sands of Destruction is a JRPG that has been very high on my watch list for awhile now. The reason for this is the people involved with the game. My personal favorite composer, Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger, Xenogears), is responsible for the soundtrack, Masato Kato (Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VII, Xenogears) is the game’s scenario writer, and Kunihiko Tanaka (Xenogears) is the character designer. Each of these people have several renowned JRPGs already under their belt, so it’s needless to say that the game is created by a dream team.

Unfortunately, a short demo in a crowded and noisy room is a terrible way to experience an RPG. To make matters worse, I only had a single party member when I jumped into the demo which appeared to be close to the beginning of the game. In spite of this, I gathered what info I could in my short time with it.

(more…)

“Wario Ware: Touched!” is one of the first games to have been released on the Nintedo DS when it made it’s debut in late 2004. I missed it the first time around, but had always heard it was one of the best games to show off the touch screen functionality of the system.

(more…)