When Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies came out a few weekends ago, everyone in my household played their respective copies non-stop for the first two days. Everything was going great at first, but then I started to get a horrible headache.

I started to notice that my hands were killing me. I realized that I was squinting the entire time I was playing, and the small size of the console was increasingly uncomfortable in my hands.

It was time to give in, admit that I am an old man, and grab a Nintendo DSi XL.

I’ve had the DSi XL for about a week now. I have noticed the soreness in my hands has started to go back to its normal levels caused by working a day job of web development.

I have pretty bad eyesight, and the advertised “93% Larger Screen!” was one of the things that intrigued me about the system in the first place. The resolution is obviously the same as the regular DS and DSi, so the images are just being stretched to the larger screen size. Because of this, it can sometimes make things, particularly text, look a little blurry. The only time it is really noticeable is on the DSi’s standard welcome screen where there is a lot of white. I never noticed it during gameplay.

I tried out Dragon Quest IX first, since it was the game that motivated me to buy the console. The use of 3D within the game already has some jaggies, and they were even more apparent on the larger screen. The game by no means looks bad. It’s probably the best use of 3D graphics on the DS so far.

Next I put in New Super Mario Bros., and was pleasantly surprised to see that its graphics look just as smooth as when I played it on my DS. The larger screen had no ill-effect on that games aesthetics. Finally, I tried Contra 4. The sprite work looks fantastic on the larger screen.

The buttons on the XL are the same size and just as responsive as on its smaller counterparts, but having them spaced apart was much more comfortable for me, especially in the high level of action that Contra provided. Also, I could finally see those damn bullets!

The buttons feel a lot more clicky than on my DS Lite. This is nice, as I am a big fan of having tactile feedback in my games (suck it, Apple’s hatred of real buttons). They are easy to press down, so finger fatigue has not been an issue either.

The DSi XL cameras are still about as good as your standard cell phone. So, not great. The best use of the DSi cameras so far has been Photo Dojo, which you should go buy if you have any version of the DSi.

The DSi XL comes pre-loaded with a few pieces of software. The webbrowser (which is still the terrible Opera browser), a clock, and a couple of brain training games. These are Brain Age Express: Math and Brain Age Express: Arts & Letters. Just like their retail counterparts, they are more of little math and word puzzles designed to get your brain working more than they are standard games. This goes along with the fact that the XL line was designed for older gamers. It is also the reason they come in Burgundy and Bronze (aka poop brown). Sure, there is a young hip blue color, but that defeats the purpose.

All in all, the DSi XL is a solid device. It is likely a little too large for younger players, but if you are like me and are getting into your thirties, you might want to consider it over it’s smaller counterparts.

THE UNBOXENING!! Photos:

Compared to the standard DSi

I’m sure you’ve already heard the Puzzle Quest games described as “Bejewelled with hit points”. It is a pretty base statement, but not entirely untrue. Puzzle Quest 2 continues the tradition of adding role playing elements to a match-3 puzzle game, but this newest version does a few things that make it more enjoyable than its predecessors.

At the start of the game, you once again pick a character class from a stable of role playing standards. As you would expect, the class determines your character’s strengths and weaknesses, and which equipment they can use. While I found the original game to be overbalanced in favor of the warrior classes, Puzzle Quest 2 seems to have improved its balance throughout the experience.

Your weapons and armor do more than give passive stats in this iteration. They are now usable in battles by collecting action points in the form of gauntlets on the battle field. You still match skulls to do basic damage, but I found myself relying much more on my weapons and spells this time around. It adds an extra layer of strategy to the battle system and makes it a heck of a lot less frustrating.

The battles themselves also seemed to have been greatly balanced over the first. I found the original to be incredibly frustrating after getting a few hours in. The AI opponents seemed to always know what blocks were about to fall from off screen, and would often magically set up completely unpredictable (to a human player) combos that were impossible to defend against. But the sequel fixes this.

The drops in Puzzle Quest 2 also feel a lot better. I found it much less frequent to see a single move produce a dozen or more combos from off-screen drops. That was a huge annoyance in the first game, and it seems to have been corrected for the sequel.

I also prefer this game’s more intimate take on the overworld. Instead of a map with tiny icons representing your character, various kingdoms, and monsters, you are actually at the human level via an isometric view of the surrounding area. Sure, it’s a cosmetic touch, but it has a much better feel than before. You actually get the sense that these characters exist in some sort of world, rather than as dots on a map.

As you would expect in an RPG, you will buy, sell, and find new gear. My main gripe with Puzzle Quest 2 is that when you are given a choice between gear from defeating a monster, you can’t compare the stats to what you already have equipped. Unless you have kept a detailed log of your equipment, you’ll find yourself guessing at what you should take.

There is also a built in hint system. In theory, it will suggest a move if you are taking to long to make a match. What I found would often happen is that it would immediately start pointing to a potential move, like an excited younger sibling pointing at the screen and going “Oooh, oooh!”. It’s not a major issue, though, as you can turn the arrow off if you want.

That’s another area where PQ2 feels a lot better than the original. In the first game, nearly every time you would use the AI’s suggestion, it would end in disaster. The aforementioned cascade of combos from off-screen in the opponents favor would have been laughable had it not been so maddeningly frustrating. They seemed to have fixed that, much to the joy of my sanity meter.

Puzzle Quest 2 also offers a variety of multiplayer modes. You can use the hero you have been building up in the single player campaign or even set up matches between the game’s various monsters. This gives it a lot of replayability since you can sit on the couch and battle with your friends, or play them over Xbox Live.

It may sounds like I am down on the original game, but I actually did enjoy it quite a bit. Puzzle Quest 2, while the same in its core mechanic, feels like an improvement in all the ways I could have asked for. It’s a great game for relaxing with on the couch. The additional mechanics added via the RPG elements help keep things feeling fresh for a lot longer than your standard match-3 game. All in all, it’s a fun package worth checking out.

This review is based on code of the final build of the Xbox Live Arcade version of Puzzle Quest 2 provided to us by D3Publisher.

Anybody who hasn’t had their fill of JPRGs need not worry. Q3 of 2010 has a trio of big hitters in the genre thanks to Square-Enix and SEGA. But JRPGs aren’t the only genre represented here. Head past the break to see the full list of titles we have our eyes on.

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (DS)

“To say the last installment, Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, was a hit in my household would be a bit of an understatement. It is nearly single-handedly responsible for my wife’s interest in my silly little hobby.

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies has made a lot of changes from previous entries. For one, it has been moved to the DS. While traditionally JRPGs are a solo affair, DQIX lets you team up and go questing with three of your friends.

Rather than the set of pre-made characters that you would usually find in the series, you create a hero. DQIX also features a loot system in which your character class is based solely on how you have outfitted your character. All of your gear is also reflected on your character, which is a mechanic I am personally a sucker for.

I am looking forward to sinking way too much time into my DS come July 11th.” -Jonah

Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep (PSP)

“It’s been four years since the release of Kingdom Hearts 2, the last game in the series to not be a big rehash of old worlds. The wait is finally over. While it may not be Kingdom Hearts 3, Birth by Sleep looks like the closest thing to it. You’ll take control of three different keyblade wielders, each with their own unique play-styles, as you embark on a journey revealing what happened ten years before the first Kingdom Hearts.

You’ll explore new worlds such as the Dwarf Woodlands from Snow White, the mysterious tower of Fantasia, and even Deep Space with Stitch (before Lilo). With a revamped combat system featuring a heavy emphasis on customization and four new multiplayer modes, Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep looks to finally be the next real Kingdom Hearts game.” -Jesse

Valkyria Chronicles 2 (PSP)

“Finally, the sequel to my GOTY 2008 is coming. Valkyria Chronicles 2 takes the Strategy/RPG/Third Person Shooter hybrid gameplay and moves it to the PSP for battles on the go. VC2 keeps the same watercolor art style and manages to shine visually even with the limited hardware.

While the system is smaller, the game will be bigger with more advanced unit classes branching from the starting five. Missions now have alternate paths leading to other smaller maps. If that wasn’t enough for you, the sequel will feature both co-operative and competitive multiplayer modes. This looks to be one meaty sequel.” -Jesse

Batman: The Brave and the Bold (DS) [Hands-On Impressions]

“When I saw the screenshots for Batman: The Brave and the Bold, it immediately brought me back to my time busting baddies as the Caped Crusader back on the SNES with The Adventures of Batman & Robin.

Based on the cartoon of the same name, the co-op brawler teams Batman up with the likes of Green Lantern, Plastic Man, Blue Beetle, Aquaman, and of course, Robin.

You can even connect the DS edition with the Wii version to bring the all-powerful Bat-Mite in on the action. I enjoy a good brawler and am looking forward to teaming up with a buddy to crack some criminal skulls.” -Jonah

Ace Combat: Joint Assault (PSP)

“For the first time in the history of the Ace Combat series, the battle has been brought to the real world, with locales such as London, Tokyo, and Egypt replacing the fictional lands of the previous games. Take on objectives with up to three friends in co-operative missions or play against each other in an eight-man showdown.

The new Joint Assault Mission System puts players into two teams adding an extra dynamic layer of strategy as the coordination of one team’s attacks may affect the situation of the other team. Ace Combat: Joint Assault boasts more than 40 licensed aircraft for you to pilot on the go.” -Jesse

What DS and PSP games are YOU looking forward to this quarter? Let us know in the comments!

As I mentioned yesterday, finding out when and where to eat at E3 is important business. While there is food on site, like at the Convention Center’s Galaxy Cafe, it’s just so-so and fairly overpriced. “Either eat on a budget or pay for a decent meal,” is my motto. But what’s the best way to go?

On day one, after exploring the grounds a bit, my friend and I left the Convention Center and found our way to Lucky Strike Lanes & Lounge. They offered an $8 lunch special that included a round of bowling (yes, there are lanes on the site). That atmosphere was very laid back and comfortable, and the cheeseburger and fries were very satisfying. Sadly, we had no time for bowling. A fine meal, but a little pricey and time consuming.

For day two we decided to go totally budget. Unfortunately, there isn’t any fast food around the Convention Center, but we were still in luck. To promote the game Homefront, an upcoming FPS about North Korea taking over the US in the future, THQ subsidized a traveling food vendor to sell themed food items, like Korean BBQ tacos and kimchi quesadillas (clever, if not controversial). The food was pretty good for its simplicity, and two tacos and a quesadilla cost a mere $4.

But the best way to go is eating for free, though this may take investigation and connections. When we finally found Activision’s area (which was separate from the two main halls) and saw a presentation for Call of Duty: Black Ops, we realized they were serving free pizza. It was awful, but shoot, it was free. A little later we got free beef and cheddar sandwiches from Capcom, as we were invited to their swanky special event on site. I should also mention that there are plenty of people in and near the Convention Center who will give away free energy drinks, so keep your eyes peeled for them.

Boy, all this talk is making me hungry. Let’s get on with some games. Today I’m here to give impressions on NBA Jam, Bionic Commando ReArmed 2, Okamiden, Ghost Trick and Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes. And yeah, that’s me and Charles Martinet up top! Woohoo!

NBA Jam

Back in the 16-bit days, NBA Jam was one of my all-time favorite games. I never owned it, but rented it constantly — remember when you could just go down the street and rent games for a dollar a day? At any rate, it’s kind of funny. Since then, sports games have strove to become more realistic and complex, and this factor made me a little worried when I first heard that NBA Jam was being reborn. But I’m glad to say NBA Jam for the Wii is still all those things that made it great: a baller jumping 20 feet into the air, smashing down a flaming slam dunk, and the announcer yelling “Boom-shaka-laka!”

So far as I can recall, everything I loved about the original is the same. The only major improvements to my eye are the graphics, which now use 3D models for the players, but various facial photos of the available players for the faces. It looks silly, but in a fun way, and really fits the vibe of the game. Another element that was new to me, though I believe it’s been employed in past successors of the original NBA Jam, is having two-player coop, with a total of four players in a game.

Much like in Donkey Kong Country Returns, my rustiness really showed in this game, and I was really ineffective at playing with my friend, Cheston. Once our two opponents got a knack for the alley-oop dunk, they crushed us pretty handily. Similarly to Wii Sports Resort’s basketball, the game uses thrusting the remote up to jump and then slamming it back down to shoot/dunk. I think I got a little too into it and got careless, but being able to dunk on people as Stoudemire felt awesome (when it worked).

I have to admit, this E3 really brought me back to my 16-bit days, and I think this game might have taken me back even more than DKC and Kirby. As a testament to how fun this game was, even though we played it just once and I sucked, my friend is considering buying a Nintendo Wii just for this game. I’m looking forward to it too — then I can set right that darned Lakers/Celtics championship.

Bionic Commando ReArmed 2

Bionic Commando is a fine game, but it’s one I could never get into. While not one of Capcom’s more renowned series, it has a devoted following. But with each new attempt to bring back Bionic Commando, Capcom has simply lost me — that is until now. Playing their newest installment in the works, Bionic Commando ReArmed 2, I finally get it. I finally feel like a master of my own universe. I can finally jump.

Even though it’s just a mere, unenthusiastic hop, being able to jump really changed this game for me. Leaping up and grappling onto objects just feels better than positioning yourself carefully and then grappling. The ability to grab and throw barrels from ReArmed is back. The demo also started with three weapons: the typical gun, a more powerful but short ranged shotgun, and a grenade launcher that created such a wide explosion that you risk killing yourself if you don’t get out of the way. These same weapons may have been in the first ReArmed, though, and I’m not sure if the final game will let you start with them.

Despite the added ability of jumping, the game is still challenging, and I wasn’t able to clear the initial demo stage. I still don’t know if I’m sold on Bionic Commando, but I think with a game like this I could definitely get into it better. The visuals are nice, though I do wish they were brighter and more defined. Still, it’s a nice homage to old school values, and it’s interesting to see that ReArmed is outliving its big budget, cinematic adventure counterpart. Oh, and Nathan “Rad” Spencer, the protagonist, has a mustache now, which is pretty cool.

Ōkamiden

Ōkami is a game I unfortunately never got into. While it certainly does have unique concepts and a glorious visual style, these things alone didn’t make it a great game to me. But with its successor coming to the Nintendo DS, I think there’s a good opportunity to fix some things up. After all, a game that has drawing shapes as a major mechanic would be most suited on the DS, don’t you think?

In Ōkamiden you play as Chibiterasu, the little pup variation of the previous game’s antagonist, Amaterasu. Also joining you is the boy Nushi, who rides on Chibiterasu’s back. While the player controls Chibiterasu, they can dismount Nushi and command him to go somewhere by drawing a path on the touch screen. This gives a bit more depth to the game’s puzzle elements, and in the demo I was carefully guiding both Chibiterasu and Nushi to different switches, one at a time, in order to clear obstacles and proceed.

At any time you can use the celestial paintbrush to draw different figures and cause effects, like repairing bridges or cutting down obstacles. I can tell you this feature works so much better on the DS, as I have painful memories from the Wii Ōkami in taking over 20 minutes trying to draw a straight line with the remote. The game’s battle system has also been simplified; I never really understood how it worked in the original game, but in Ōkamiden I seemed to pick it up a lot quicker. There were also minor enemies that appeared on the map which you could attack with a boomerang-like weapon, instead of always shifting to the battle mode.

Despite its improvements, Ōkamiden still seems to be the same slow-paced, adventure puzzle game, not unlike the DS Zeldas, and it’s not my cup of tea. But for fans of Ōkami and adventure games, this new installment should really please you.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Ghost Trick is a game I’ve been excited for long before I knew I’d be going to E3. I’m a huge fan of the Ace Attorney series, so seeing an original concept from the same team was great news. In Ghost Trick you play Sissel, a man who’s already dead but his spirit lives on, sans memory. But before he can make heads or tails of things, he sees a dangerous looking man about to shoot a girl in cold blood. A mysterious voice urges Sissel on to rescue her with his new ghostly abilities — namely being able to possess and operate inanimate objects…  and he fails. But death is only the beginning.

Ghost Trick takes the logic-based gameplay and story driven scenes from the Ace Attorney series and adds in action elements. Yes, action. The two chapters available in the demo started with the death of someone or something. As a ghost, you can talk with their spirit. But you also have the ability to rewind time four minutes before the person’s death (small trivia: four is an unlucky number in Japan, since its pronunciation, “shi,” also means death). You first get to see how things play out, which give you an idea of what items you’ll want to interact with later. Time then rewinds again, and now you must find out what objects to possess in order to avert the person’s fate.

During a “mission,” you can enter the Ghost World, which is how you possess objects. Your reach from an object only goes so far, and you must have other points nearby to connect to. Then you can return to real time, and manipulate the object with whatever ability it has (turn on a lamp, strum a guitar, extend a ladder, etc). But events occur in real time, and you may have to wait for someone to move to the right spot before using an object effectively. Some objects can only be used once as well. Every time you successfully alter someone’s fate, it acts as a restore point for you to return to later, and the mission ends when you successfully prevent a person from being killed. But with the grains of the hourglass constantly falling, you can get real tense when you don’t know what to do (fortunately a thought bubble icon gives you hints).

The storytelling and characterizations seem to be right on par with the level of quality that Ace Attorney has. One thing I’ve always loved about Ace Attorney that seems to transfer over to this, is how lightly they take the subject of death. Despite this, however, a Capcom rep told me that the story gets pretty heavy early on. Like a good book, it sounds like Ghost Trick will be hard to pry from your hands.

Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes

This is really the third installment of the Sengoku Basara series in Japan, and the funny thing is, I remember playing the first one back at E3 2005 when it was being called Devil Kings. I actually don’t know much about the series, and the only reason I wandered over to it was because it was open. But Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes turned out to be one of my surprise favorites at E3.

To the best of my knowledge, Sengoku Basara takes place in a fictionalized version of feudal Japan, and the characters are based on real life samurai integral to Japan’s history. Of course, the game really has about as much to do with feudal Japan as do giant enemy crabs. But being a stylish action game, Sengoku Basara doesn’t take itself very seriously, and that’s part of what makes it fun.

What REALLY makes it fun is mowing through countless hoards of enemy troops as they run at you. As many of the troops are virtually harmless, the point becomes to chain up as big a number of combo hits as you can, which lets you perform even more powerful attacks. It may seem simplistic, and I certainly wasn’t trying to pin down a technique when I was playing, but it’s supremely enjoyable to smash through mobs of troops, and watch their health meters bounce around as you continually demolish them. On the other hand, the bosses do pose a real challenge, since they can chain-attack you much in the same way.

Each stage is about taking over enemy territory; defeating the sitting regent or whatever and replacing them with your own (doing this is what actually clears an area). What’s more, the game offers split screen co-op, allowing you to have a friend join in on the fun. We played the Wii version, which wasn’t quite as pretty as the PS3 version, but I doubt it was any less fun. Only complaint I have is the voice acting, which sounds pretty campy. Other than that, this was an immensely fun game that I’m now looking forward to.

———-

Tune in tomorrow for my last round of E3 impressions. We’ll look at some of Nintendo’s and Capcom’s heavy hitters, as well as a game that’s not by either of those companies. See? I’m not biased or anything!

My first day at E3 was essentially all about getting my feet wet.  I didn’t line up to play games so much as I explored the premises and got a good idea what was around.  It’s been a pretty lively event, and one that only got busier as the day wore on.  But one thing I did manage to take a stab at, the one thing I was prepared to do when I knew I was going to E3, was trying out Nintendo’s 3DS.

The 3DS was shown off in red, teal, black, purple, and orange colors, and they all had a metallic finish, which surprised me a little. Holding the device in my hand, the 3DS felt pretty much like my DS Lite, though perhaps a bit “sturdier”. I wish I had brought my DS Lite to compare, though.

The 3DS is built pretty much like the previous DS entries. The start and select buttons are now beneath the bottom screen, and there is a home button between them. The volume control is on the left side of the device, and on the right side, by the top screen, is a slider to control the depth of the 3D effect. The headphone jack is on the bottom, directly centered. I didn’t notice any other card input other than the one at the top, so I imagine 3DS game carts are roughly the same shape as DS game carts.

To get right to the thing I’m sure everyone is wanting to know about, the 3D effect the system accomplishes is neat, but it wasn’t mind-blowing, and at times it was even a little annoying. I should mention I’m someone who hasn’t “gotten along” with 3D in the past, and watching 3D movies tends to give me a headache.

While it’s definitely nice not to have to use glasses, in some of the demos it seemed like my eyes had a hard time finding what to focus on, and after playing a few, I did feel like I was getting a slight headache. Even one of the Nintendo representatives admitted to feeling a little cross-eyed when she used it.

Overall, the effect wasn’t that great. It definitely added a sense of depth to the visual, but I didn’t really feel like things were flying off the screen at me. But it seemed about as good as most 3D movies I’ve seen (I consider the best to be Terminator 2 3D at Universal Studios, incidentally). One other thing, though. You have to look at the screen dead on for the effect to work. If you deviate too much to an angle, things will just get blurred as the stereoscopic image becomes undone.

The first demonstration I tried was basically a selection of “tests” meant to get the user used to the 3D effect. It was very Nintendo. The first thing it shows you is two strawberries, one in 3D and a flat one, and you have to pick which you think is the 3D strawberry. After that, you can pick one of four more tests. The one I tried showed three mine carts set on tracks that interwove between each other, and you had to pick the one that would get to the diamond at the end. My partner also did tests for finding which hole a ball was in, and counting how many children moving around on the screen were in 3D.

Next, I saw a trailer for a CG animated movie called Legend of the Guardians. Again here, the 3D was a quaint attraction, but I didn’t feel like it was flying out at me. I will note, however, that the movie quality seemed very sharp, and while I don’t know what the specific screen resolution is, I’d hazard to say the movie seemed like it was HD. While I know it was a movie being played directly off of a cartridge, and I also know movies on smaller screens tend to look sharper, I’d say if streaming content on the 3DS could look as good as this trailer did, it’d be a pretty big feature.

After the trailer, a Nintendo rep let my partner and I try out the 3DS’s 3D photo capability. She admitted it worked best when the object you focused in was about 1-2 meters away. After you take a picture, you can “focus” it using a slider on the touch screen, which lets you set the best manageable 3D effect. I held my arms out in my picture, and my friend held up his camera, and you could definitely get a sense of the depth.

Next, I watched a trailer for Resident Evil Revelations, which was rendered in real time. This was the only demo I played that let you use the analog stick on the 3DS; a new feature. All it did, though, was slightly change the orientation of the cinema playing, as if you were looking around. The A and B buttons let me zoom in and out, and X let me pause the movie.

The analog stick feels very solid; way better than the one that’s been on the PSP models before. However, as a personal preference I wish it weren’t on top of the D-pad, as I prefer the D-pad to be directly horizontal to the other major buttons. This was the first demo where I noticed the 3D effect was starting to bother my eyes a little.

After that, I watched a demo for Paper Mario. Given the simple visuals, this game actually looked the best to me in 3D, and had nice features like Mario peeling away parts of the BG and walking back into the coves it revealed.

Then I watched a trailer for the new Kid Icarus game, though I wasn’t completely sure if it was a movie or being rendered in real time. This was another demonstration where the 3D effect started bothering me, and in some segments, like the Sin and Punishment-esque shooter parts, I had a tough time keeping my eyes trained on Pit. But I will say that this game and others before looked stunning. In a lot of cases, I turned off the 3D to see how the demos looked, and they were pretty much just as good. The visuals in Kid Icarus easily looked on par with a Wii game.

The last demo I tried was for Nintendogs + Cats. This was the only real interactive demo I tried. I could change costume items on the puppy, as well as select different toys for it to fetch and bring back. The toys were thrown by sliding them across the touch screen. It was a quaint little game, and while I’ve never played Nintendogs before, playing this made me miss my dogs back at home.

I do think I’ll go one more round with the 3DS if I get a chance. There were a lot of demos shown off, but your time in the demo area was limited, and unfortunately there weren’t any good indicators showing which demos were where.

Overall, the 3DS stands out to me as the next evolution of the DS, rather than being a new system (such as how the Virtual Boy was an entirely different beast than the Game Boy). I imagine this is why Nintendo stuck with the 3DS name.

I’ll reiterate, the 3D is a nice gimmick, but it didn’t wow me. But as someone who personally doesn’t care much about 3D either, this fact doesn’t bother me a lot. Since the 3D effect can be a little wearing on the eyes, I’m glad Nintendo had the good sense of letting you tone it down or turn it off entirely. It may seem counter-intuitive to be able to turn it off, but it’s good in making sure the 3D doesn’t get in the way of enjoying the game.

The 3DS still seems to have all the great features of the DS before it, and some new ones like better visuals and the analog stick. With the amount of content already in the works, I’d say Nintendo’s 3DS is going to be a pretty big contender.

Photographs taken by Cheston Tang

There may not be a lot of portable games coming out in the second quarter of 2010, but there are a couple big ones. We’ve chosen not to include games listed simply as “Summer” (sorry Dragon Quest IX and Ace Combat: Joint Assault) since they’re more likely to end up in Q3. Here are the games we’re looking forward to.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (PSP)

“The story of Big Boss continues in the first PSP Metal Gear to be directed by Hideo Kojima himself. Originally titled Metal Gear Solid 5: Peace Walker, the game is being developed by a team that’s just as large as the one responsible for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots on the Playstation 3. Peace Walker bridges the gap between the prequels and the original Metal Gear and will have a large emphasis on co-operative play. I can’t wait to play as the REAL Snake once again.” -Jesse

Valkyria Chronicles 2 (PSP)

“Finally, the sequel to my GOTY 2008 is coming. Valkyria Chronicles 2 takes the Strategy/RPG/Third Person Shooter hybrid gameplay and moves it to the PSP for battles on the go. VC2 keeps the same watercolor art style and manages to shine visually even with the limited hardware. While the system is smaller, the game will be bigger with more advanced unit classes branching from the starting five. Missions now have alternate paths leading to other smaller maps. If that wasn’t enough for you, the sequel will feature both co-operative and competitive multiplayer modes. This looks to be one meaty sequel.” -Jesse

Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow (DS)

“The developers over at Mistwalker have decided to take the Blue Dragon series in a new direction. Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow is a direct sequel to the Xbox 360 game, but rather than be turn based, it is an action RPG. The developers have said they took inspiration from Secret of Mana (one of my personal favorites) and went with a leveling system where, rather than your character leveling, your equipped shadows (the giant blue monsters where the series gets its title) gain levels and experience. Your character is fully customizable, and all your loot shows up on the character model. There is even an online component where you and two friends can go on boss runs to get even better loot. It sounds like an interesting change for the series and has definitely peaked my interest.” – Jonah

When PokéMon Red and Blue came out, I was as happy as a young boy could be. Catching monsters and using them in turn-based battles was an exciting concept. I can think of few games that I have obsessed over as much as the original PokéMon generation in its day.

That being said, I can’t help but feel like each new generation is limiting itself in a lot of very arbitrary ways. While some things never change in order to preserve connectivity with older titles, other aspects remain stagnant for no apparent reason.

That isn’t to say new generations aren’t bringing anything new to the table. As the series has progressed we’ve seen new areas, new PokéMon, new elements, double battles, and more. But I’d like to take a moment and re-examine the series and see where its great concept could go if it wasn’t held back by its old traditions.

More Than Four Attacks Per PokéMon

I know it sounds crazy, but hear me out. What if you didn’t have to constantly forget old moves to learn new ones? One might argue that only having four attacks are what help set apart other players using the same PokéMon. That is why I suggest that no move be forgotten, but only four moves can be active at once. That way, you never have to regret forgetting an earlier move while at the same time retaining the customization of your current usable set.

If left unchecked, people could easily cheat the Power Points (PP) limits by switching which attacks were in their set once they ran low. This, however, can easily be solved by only letting you switch which attacks are in your set while in a PokéCenter; a place where PP would be refilled anyway.

Click the Image to See the Source Comic

Hidden Machines (HMs) Need to Change

As it stands now, HMs like Cut and Rock Smash are required to progress along the map. The problem is that you need to permanently take up one of your PokéMon’s attack slots to learn these abilities. If you want to be able to progress through any type of terrain that comes up in your travels, you’ll end up needing a lot of HMs applied to your team.

Instead, all the field versions of those abilities should be dormant in the PokéMon that can learn them, then unlocked when the appropriate badge is acquired. The battle versions could be added to your ability list (mentioned in the previous section) at this time as well.

Have the Option of Switching Current PokéMon With Newly Caught PokéMon

There’s a certain type of Poké Ball called a Heal Ball for healing newly caught PokéMon. This item is generally useless to me because I always head out with a full party of six PokéMon. By the time I’d retrieve the new PokéMon, he would already be at full health anyway. Instead of transferring newly caught PokéMon to your PC when your party is already full, you should be given the option of transferring one of your current PokéMon instead and taking the new one with you.

Update the User Interface (UI)

Many of the menus found in modern PokéMon games feel virtually unchanged from the original. If you want to switch PokéMon with ones stored in your PC, they give you a separate menu for Withdraw and Deposit. Move, which can accomplish both actions, is buried below. It’s a convoluted system that could use some streamlining.

When you are in battle, you should be able to hit a button to see all the details of an attack. Technically, you can check the details of an attack, but you currently have to go into the PokéMon switching menu, click on a PokéMon, click Summary, then turn over one page, then highlight the desired attack. This is utterly ridiculous and it’s hard to argue that it is anything but a bad design choice.

When walking around, if one of your PokéMon has a status ailment, this will take the place of what level they are despite that there is room for it to appear elsewhere. It’s little things like this that add up to frustration and could be fixed very easily.

Serious Graphical Overhaul

With the successor to the Nintendo DS on the way, we can be sure that portable gaming will have even more graphical potential in the near future. Rather than having still frames of PokéMon slide around as disconnected attack animations play over the top of them, we should be able to see PokéMon actually performing these attacks. This would most likely use 3D models similar to the style of PokéMon Battle Revolution.

"I'm not expecting the graphics of a home console, but stop making them still frames."

Create Your Own Character

Going along with improved graphics, you should be able to use a character creation tool at the start of the game to change your appearance instead of just choosing “Boy” or “Girl”. Besides personalizing the experience in single-player, this would also make playing with people online a lot more interesting. Perhaps you could even unlock additional clothes for you character to wear by accomplishing different things in the game.

Final Thoughts…

The whole concept of the PokéMon series is both incredibly fun and addicting. Even without many changes to the core gameplay, it has managed to remain a very enjoyable experience. Just think, though, about how much untapped potential it really has.

So what are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree with any of the points above? What would YOU change?

"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.

Character balance is a big factor in a Kart Racers. It’s not just about being able to pit Big the Cat against Alex Kidd, they have to bring variety to the table without making any one character over-powered. All-Stars Racing has a pretty decent balance of characters ranging from the low top speed but awesome handling to the high top speed with no handling.

Another important factor is each character’s turbo attribute. Turbo is triggered after you let off the drift button when taking corners. If your character has a low turbo, it will charge quickly, but not give that much of a boost, while a high turbo takes longer to charge, but is a much more substantial boost. The drifting is one of the best I’ve seen in a Kart Racer, since they simplified it to holding down one button while you take a turn. This will lock you into turning sharply in that direction, but it still allows you a little bit of control over your kart.

Core to any racing experience is the track selection. While not every character has a level themed after them, and some of the themes repeat on a couple tracks, each one manages to feel unique and fun. I was very impressed with the variety they managed to put into each level. If they are able to keep up this level of quality, DLC tracks would be highly welcome.

As you race, you collect “Sega Miles” which can be spent at the in-game store to unlock more characters, tracks for multiplayer and music. The music is a fun assortment of songs from the various games that the race tracks are themed after. Once you have unlocked more songs under a theme, you can select which one will play during the race.

"Holy Adam West Bat-Mobile, Sonic!"

Any racing game that includes weapons runs the risk of having the weapons diminish the fun of the actual races. While they can make it more frenzied and add to the fun-factor, it is easy for them to overshadow the rest of the game. When an “I Win” item is included, it ruins the game for everybody. Fortunately, Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing did a good job of keeping the weapons subtle. They are there, and they add that element of needed danger from the other racers, but there is no magic “win” button included.

Multiplayer is very easy to pick up and play. When playing this for review, I had a few different groups of people over that were able to pick up a controller and instantly be having fun.

Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing does a lot of things right. They took a fun mix of characters, and while the aesthetics of each don’t always mix, it still brings a smile to my face to see characters like Ulala, B. D. Joe and Amigo back on my TV Screen.

This review is based on a copy of Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing for the Xbox 360 provided to us by SEGA.

"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.

It started out promising. WingDamage-a Claus gifted me a copy of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney and I loved it, despite it not being a straightforward adventure game. I was thirsty for more. After a basic Google search I had assembled a sizable list of games to check out. I was drawn to the game Trace Memory. I liked the look of the art and it’s plot. A ghost story that takes place on the ominously named Blood Edward Island? Yes, please. But what I found when I played the game was an easy-as-pie adolescent drama that lasted two brief evenings. I had caught wind of these flaws in online reviews of Trace Memory previous to purchasing it, but my optimism had blinded me to them.

Going back over my list of possible games, they all seemed a little off. Professor Layton is apparently a puzzle game in adventure game clothing. Reports of diminished graphics and a poor interface have scared me off of Syberia. Middling reviews have caused me to shun Insecticide. Ugly art, and the threat of the same developer that released Trace Memory, kept me from checking in to Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (although this review of it almost made me change my -bad pun alert- tune). Time Hollow gives off a tween vibe similar to Trace Memory. Hey wait, the Secret Files games look good, I’ll take them! Ah, no, not available in the US. Of course. I felt like I was spinning my wheels, so I set my DS down for a few months.

I recently came back to it, and found a game that looks okay. Broken Sword: Director’s Cut. It’s ported from PC, but it looks like it was redesigned for the DS and not just clumsily shoved into a new format. It looks like it makes good use of the DS interface, which is important to me.  I’m not a big fan of straight forward dramas however, which it looks like Broken Sword might be, and the comparisons to The DaVinci Code are kind of scaring me. But I clearly have to take what I can get here.

If I were the Don Corleone of the Adventure family on the DS, I would get Dave Gilbert on the case. I would play Emerald City Confidential or any of his Blackwell games on the DS in a heartbeat, and they’d look great on the shelf. I’d get Telltale with the program. I can’t imagine Monkey Island or Sam & Max not making a total killing if properly ported. I don’t think the Days series would do well on the DS, but wouldn’t an original Yahtzee game blow everyone’s minds? He really knows how to make limited graphics and sound sing. I think any of these entities would make a big splash if they released something on the DS, a system that I don’t think gets a lot of high profile, original releases that are of interest to the mainstream gaming community. There’s endless potential here, and I’m dying to seeing it realized.

Don’t get me wrong, the DS is a great system. It’s got a fun personality, a unique interface and a lot of games that make it worth having. I think it’s the only system I’d really want to have. But I am disappointed that it doesn’t have more of the specific type of adventure games I was hoping for.

Am I totally off base? Are there some amazing gems that I’ve missed? Am I wrong about any of the games that I dismissed above? Am I a cranky old man, asking the new world order to get off his lawn?

Let me know, internet.

"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.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks takes place about 100 years after Phantom Hourglass. As somebody who’s dabbled in writing Zelda continuity theories in the past (nerd alert!!), having a well defined place in the timeline is something I can really appreciate. There are direct references to the characters of the last game and even some clever nods to the heroic deeds of the previous Link. For example, you will start the game in your engineer clothes (you know… because you ride a train), but end up with the iconic, green tunic by disguising yourself as one of the castle guards whose uniforms now resemble the famous hero of old.

The story of Spirit Tracks is very quirky and lighthearted. The new mythos explaining the trains, as well as sages known as the Lokomo is very silly. Fortunately, the game never takes itself very seriously, so this actually works to the game’s advantage. Due to various circumstances introduced in the beginning of the story, Zelda follows you around throughout the game as a ghost (it’s no longer a spoiler when it’s on the game’s cover in certain regions). Since she’s present for the whole game, they actually made her into a character with a personality. Her dialogue is often genuinely funny and one of the game’s highlights.

"The graphics look a little better this time around, but the changes are subtle."

If you played Phantom Hourglass, you know exactly what to expect from the mandatory touch-screen controls in Spirit Tracks. You’ll be dragging the stylus around to make Link walk, double tapping to roll, and so on. Though I prefer the button setups of the earlier games, the controls are bearable… most of the time. In certain instances, I longed for the precision buttons provide. I can’t count how much health I lost from failing to adequately compensate for the slipping caused by icy floors or how many times I had to restart a long sequence during one of the final boss’ last forms due to a dodge roll that I accidentally performed in place of a slash. Knowing that my failures were caused by imprecise controls rather than level or enemy design are what had me cursing at my DS from time to time as I played the game. Also, be prepared to blow into the mic a lot; both to use one of your items and to play your magical pan flute.

Like Phantom Hourglass before it, Spirit Tracks abandons the series’ staple of an overworld for a vehicle mechanic. Given the nature of how trains work, you won’t be drawing paths every which way this time. Instead, you’ll be tracing along preexisting tracks which will increase in number as the game progresses.

Your train can move forward in two different speeds, but you’ll soon wish it had a third. There are occasional enemies, but most of the time you will simply wait to reach your destination. While there are a few teleports unlocked as you progress, they are very inconvenient. Traveling by train is often so uneventful that it feels like an interactive loading screen. Sometimes there will be invincible, evil trains traveling on certain tracks that you’ll have to avoid. But rather than adding a much needed spice to your travels, this just temporarily shifts the trip from boring to downright annoying. In what I can only assume is some kind of sick joke, you’ll sometimes be forced to take on passengers that will force you to slow down during certain parts of the track.

"I'm not sure what feels slower: Zelda's Phantom body or the train."

Between dungeons, you’ll mostly travel back and forth to towns. These sections drag on. Anytime I wasn’t in a dungeon I was wishing I was. Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks are the only games in the series that have made me loathe not being in dungeons. The continued removal of the overworld in the DS entries is nothing short of baffling to me. The overworld is a vital staple of the franchise. Removing it is like taking jumping out of Mario. Without it, much of the joy of getting a new item is diminished since you won’t be using it to advance between dungeons. One of my favorites aspects of Zelda is exploration, and it pains me to see the developers toss this aside yet again.

The items you collect in Spirit Tracks are a mixed bag. The first two you acquire are literally Twilight Princes’s Gale Boomerang split into two separate items in two separate dungeons. I don’t mind them reusing items (the series does it all the time), but splitting an existing item’s abilities into two separate items, stripping the possibility of another unique item, just feels lazy. On the other side of the spectrum, one of the game’s last items, a rod that lets you control sand, feels very fresh and innovative.

Spirit Tracks has two sets of dungeons. First, you have the standard dungeons that provide you with your new items. Second, you have the Spirit Tower. Unlike Phantom Hourglas’s Temple of the Ocean King, the Spirit Tower never forces you to repeat floors you’ve already completed. It also has no time limit. These are welcome improvements over the last game.

The Spirit Tower is where Zelda will be able to occupy the bodies of Phantoms (the large knights) after meeting certain conditions. You can have her follow you or draw direct paths for her to follow. This leads to some pretty clever puzzles, but like the train she is incredibly slow. In fact, she is so slow that I’d often reach for my phone to keep myself occupied while I waited. There are different types of Phantoms Zelda can control, each with a different power. But this led to more moments of impatience as, for example, I walked a few steps at a time to allow a fire-based phantom to light the way in a pitch black level. As I neared the end of the game, I started to resent the Phantom almost as much as I resented carrying Princess Ruto through Jabu Jabu’s belly in Ocarina of Time.

"Download play was a great idea. Too bad they forgot to make the multiplayer fun."

Spirit Tracks also features a multiplayer mode, but it really feels like an afterthought. You and up to three friends can battle (without swords) to collect the most force gems as you try to trigger traps to disrupt your opponents. Jonah and I both agreed the mode was a disappointment, but at least your three friends don’t have to buy their own game cart to find that out.

I’m sad to say that The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is more tedious than fun. While it manages to fix some of the problems I had with Phantom Hourglass, it adds a few new ones and retains some of my most glaring gripes. If you were a fan of Phantom Hourglass, you’ll most likely enjoy Spirit Tracks. If not, though, this isn’t a better enough game to win you over.