Ever so often, a game from Japan that you’d think would be perfect for Western audiences never gets picked up for localization. Like, a game that harkens back to 50’s B-movie horror (in this context, referring more to the unintended scariness of such films’ very existence). Now that special effects are no longer the obstacle they then were–on the contrary, they are often used to and sometimes actually can salvage an abysmal production–why aren’t there more digital likenesses of The Blob that Ate Everyone, or Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, or especially Japan’s own movie-monster speciality, Godzilla?

That is, why not more games like EDF, a.k.a. Earth Defense Force 2017?

Part of a cheapo label in Japan called Simple 2000, EDF stormed the import scene on the PS2 a few years back, and someone took notice. (That would be D3 Publisher, I guess.) So they made a pseudo-sequel on the Xbox 360, and the alien bug-blasting adventure was, finally and happily, playable by the monolingually anglophone. (Admit it, importers: other than blowing up a Big Ben that was crawling with space ants, you had no idea what you were doing half the time.) Basic reading ability is a great boon in navigating the menus and for matching the plethora of weapons to the appropriate missions, but what you really need is your best trigger finger, and a small side of brains, for getting out of–and into–harm’s way.

Giant ants, jumping tarantulas, and walkers straight out of War of the Worlds–the end of the freaking world never made better interactive entertainment fodder. Such all-out poly-pushing worked the poor PS2’s legacy innards a little too hard, but looks a lot better on the more capable hardware; one can see the sacrifices, such as ripping the flying female character out of 2-player mode, more than made up for within a single 360 screenie. Moreover, 2-player mode shouldn’t slow this version to a crawl, meaning fun EDF before should be really fun this time.

While almost completely free of urban convenience and amenities, the untamed paradise of my last week’s vacation wouldn’t have been complete without the relic of public recreation known as the video arcade. I think the town must have realized, when it contracted the beach-side lot (or whatever it is that towns do) to Subway and the adjacent funhouse, that they could use the type of establishment that so few developed areas have anymore to draw even more people out there. They certainly picked the good games you don’t find elsewhere–one of which is Ghost Squad.

Playing Ghost Squad in the arcade jogged fond memories of the Wii version. At under $30, Ghost Squad Wii can be yours to own (and beat) on the cheap compared to any bastard coin-sucker. It’s not an exact replica–the Wiimote doesn’t have that ratta-tat-tat that arcade assault rifles do so well (nor any rumble at all, really, as you’re likely expected to use a gun attachment), and the visuals are less lustrous high-res and more budget-title. But the content remains the same, with a made-up military squad out to thwart those durn terrorists in one of several missions. Choice branches split and re-split the route through each level, and lead you to pleasantly varied mission objectives that you don’t typically encounter in a light-gun game. For example, at one juncture, you might opt to save the hostages, smoke the place out with grenades, or just burst in with barrels blazing. Your choice brings new controls (like mashing to release handcuffs) and new rules (like don’t shoot the hostages, duh) into play, so you have to be thinking on your feet. Plus, for the Wii version, the designers have concocted some of the most laughable costumes imaginable–a must-see.

In the voluntary and gainful way, I mean: by playing a Treasure game. No dwindling number of gamers have elected the mental and carpal pounding that accompanies every Treasure release. Their feats of sprite-hemorraging, always comfortably leading the field like it weren’t no thing, have kept players’ synaptic activity off the charts since 1993. I’m sure medical science is just a hair’s breadth from discovering a neuronal imprint in the shape of the Treasure Cube amongst the oldest devotees.

The commonality amongst all Treasure games is that they do the same things over and over, but better each time. After all these years, that still sets them a universe apart from normal. Most recently, with Bangai-O Spirits, the bar might just have been irretrievably raised in Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence. Consider 167 stages of kaleidoscopic mayhem with a tiny-giant robot at the centre of it all. A little bit Metal Warriors on SNES, a little horizontal space shooter, and–because Treasure works in everything Treasure wants–even a little sports game, Bangai-O Spirits equals a lot of crazy. For the sake of your own sanity–or at its expense, for attaining amaze-your-friends-and-impress-yourself gaming ability–don’t pass up Bangai-O.

Today we cover the official digital facsimile of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the aptly-entitled Beijing Olympics 2008 from SEGA. Related in name and make only to a certain sports-themed mascot mash-up, this outing is the full-blooded trustee in preserving the memory of the athletes and events of the world’s largest amateur sports meet–a lot of responsibility. But is it a lot of fun?

From the sounds of the more favorable reviews–which I will trust, because I like their sounds more–the game harkens back to Decathlete on Sega Saturn, which was as fine an exercise in button-mashing as was ever conceived. This is the control scheme that best simulates (or simulates as closely as is possible with a manually-operated input device) the act of running, peddling, swimming, or hurdle-hopping your legs off. Repetitive strain injuries to your finger muscles will put you in the shoes of any Olympian–but if you can withstand the current crop of Guitar Hero-like dexterity drills, this should be cake. While the older game featured–obviously–a mere ten events and few more athletes, things have come a long way since 1996: of the 30+ events in Beijing Olympics 2008, only a few are duds, depending who you want to believe (1Up.com in my case). And, while online play is declared lag-fully flawed, it’s just as in the real Olympics–there are those pendulous, precious metallic incentives for solo play. For some, such a simulation might be better left to the Wiimote-waggling of Mario and Sonic–but for those with a taste for real venues and real personalities, not to mention all other penchants for realism, this may be the way to go.

Many moons ago, I ardently advised anyone not owning a DS that the time had come to borrow, purchase, purloin, or acquire by any means necessary at least one unit–and up to seven more as required. Since that time, Super Dodgeball Brawlers, hotly anticipated until the moment of its release, came and went–amidst only mediocre reviews. The Japanese import, deemed too slow by the earliest players, led to months of tweaks and additional wait time for a domestic release. Only now, as the mash-up finally becomes available to ButtonSmasher readers, shall we dispel some of the dust settled over yet another DiSappointment. (really–I love the thing, but there have been enough to warrant that jab.)

Although it doesn’t look much more than 12-bit and has its share of other antiquation, Super Dodgeball Brawlers, offers a throwback to the old school and DS multiplayer functionality better than the underwhelming grades often attached to its reviews. The tools of Technos’ combat-sports trade explode conventional boundaries once again, as players throw everything from poison food to explosives, to punches and kicks across the centre line, hitting friend and foe alike. Occasionally, you might even catch the ball and pull off the impossible jumps and hundreds of new Super Throws in the style that made the original NES game famous.

Aside from the fun and challenge of climbing the international dodgeball ladder in Tournament mode, one can spend a good deal of time customizing their own team of Brawlers with hundreds of eye, hair, and apparel choices, and take them to a good old-fashioned street fight. That’s where one card can support 8 players.

So with the dust settled, I still say Super Dodgeball Brawlers is a rollicking good time in excess of its average grade.

I admit, coverage here has tended heavily toward the most pick-up-and-play of titles. Today’s suggested gaming material ought to satisfy the want of blog and blog-readers’ alike for a game longer than a television commercial. It comes, after all, from a very cinematically-inclined developer. 

A tale of two warriors, tens of tournaments, tons of weapons and innumerable recruits, LucasArts’ turn-based strategy RPG, Gladius, equates to watching a Star Wars film somewhere between 20 to 50 times. While it boasts an original cast, setting, and storyline, Gladius’ battle system is greater still, built for solid, tactical appeal. As one would expect, sharp visuals (quite so by 2003 standards) and a blockbuster-scale soundtrack round out the package.

Some generations have their Great Depressions, their Grassy Knolls, or their Great Wars… … well, ours has Final Fantasy. The 1991 classic Final Fantasy IV, notorious for Cecil, Rosa, and the Spoony Bard line, has just been retooled for the Nintendo DS. Even if you’ve seen it every one of the 20 times it was reiterated–from SNES to PS1 to GBA and back to PS1 again–you haven’t seen it quite like this before. Even if you’ve seen the recent remake of FFIII on DS, you STILL haven’t seen it like this before. It may appear from the CG intro and general polygonality that Square has settled on a new engine into which to pump all FF’s till the end of time, but no: Final Fantasy IV is enhanced by voice-acted cut scenes, rebalanced abilities, the option to equip the essences of your departed party members to existing ones, auto-battle, and–in a natural move for a DS game–multiplayer.

You know whether you’ve liked FFIV before, but you may never really know until you try the definitive version. At least that’s what Square Enix is telling me… oh come on. If you don’t play it, where are you going to say you were when FFIV came out?

The Cube certainly had a dearth of RPGs relative to its competition. Amongst these shiny few, Baten Kaitos stands out–not only as an RPG for the Nintendo box, and not only in being an outstanding RPG, but as an original title that warranted a prequel regardless that, at that point, the hardware was at its life’s end. People gravitated to Baten Kaitos for all kinds of reasons (desperation, mainly), but then, discovered that they might like desperation, if only Namco and MonolithSoft could solidly fill it.

I’ve played BK 1 & 2 in reverse chronological order, but no matter which is your first, you’ll discover that much of the material–from entire towns to world maps–remains exactly the same in both. Rather than a case of lazy recycling, I find the similarity an incentive to play both. The visual offerings aren’t to be scoffed at, and the battle system in 1 will prove entirely new to players of the second release. The music, and naturally the scenario, are also entirely different.

Baten Kaitos is the perfect prelude or follow-up for fans of the series, and RPGs at large.

Now leaving Corn Central Station. Next stop in all the FF brand’s unchecked
diversification: four-player support. Which of Square’s caravans was ever built for four, you ask? Why, Crystal Chronicles–if you count its real-time combat, low-direction delivery, and script-free adventuring scenarios as authentic to the vision of FF, that is.

As part of a series whose image is chameleonic at best, anyway, Crystal Chronicles kind of fits right in. Sort of. Maybe? Well, as a standalone experience, it’s got the same qualities that endear FF to the hearts of so many: visual splendor, auditory bliss, a cast cuter than a Moogle’s button nose… but I digress. Your party sets out in a caravan to recoup a cup-full of Myrrh, the lifeblood that wards your town against the Miasma of your sickly planet for a couple more years. Every path leads to this ultimate goal, on a road fraught with the perils of puzzles, monsters, familiar bosses, and the co-operative hand-offs of the Chalice. Trust me, distributing the task of carrying the thing between four people can be the deadliest prospect of all–you really have to co-operate.

The lure here is the use of the Game Boy Advance as the main input and interface device. It frees up the screen of maps, menus, and most textual display, and creates a feeling of personal ownership, like peering into the pack you would carry on such a quest. It also means you’re required to own the portable in order to play, but you can, naturally, also find just such a portable here… but that’s another post for another day.

Just one of the infinite possible round-table discussions between Lucasfilm and Namco that brought Darth Vader and Yoda back in time to the 16th century in Soul Calibur IV, newly released to a hungry, fighter-playing public. It was either this, or Street Fighter IV–not that it would have been any stranger a candidate for the cameo appearances. Ultimately, Namco isn’t alone–the orbit of the Mortal Kombat universe will, somehow, soon eclipse that of DC Comics, rending holes in the very fabric of logic itself.

It’s all a little hard to take.. but may I proceed to admit that the fans will love it? The culmination in a quartet renowned for its flash (and flesh), SoulCalibur IV (if you’re lucky enough to get what I like to call the “Special Tin Edition”) includes memorabilia like a comic book and wet-erase tournament leaderboard to commemorate the occasion of its release. And it’s a good game, too–I’ve seen it first-hand, and SoulCalibur, being at least 50% about looks, and about 50% of that being how good the characters look, delivers again on both counts. On PS3, from the time you boot to the crazily cinematic intro, to the time you create a character in the enormously-expanded Creation Mode, to the time you take them into battle, everything is stylish and smooth.

If you’ve liked it so far, you’re going to like it again.