Where were you when SNK died? I remember reading about it, on this site and on forums like Orochinagi and Fighters.net back in mid-2000, and I also recall seeing the first crowd reaction reports of KOF2001 (specifically, laughter at the spaceship-zeppelin cutscene) at my desk in my old job, back in what must have been early 2001.

(more…)

• Publisher/Developer: SNK Playmore
• The Accessibility: 8
• The Depth & Lastability: 8
• The Features: 7
• The Audio & Visuals: 6
• The Plot & Characters: 5
• Score: 58%

The pioneers of 3D fighting continue to revolutionize the ‘game.’

(more…)

• Publisher: Sega
• Developer: AM2
• The Accessibility: 10
• The Depth & Lastability: 10
• The Features: 8
• The Audio & Visuals: 10
• The Plot & Characters: 8
• Score: 96%

I can imagine the bored groans of Japanese Gundam enthusiasts when reading “Bandai announces new Gundam fighting game for the Super Famicom!” See, “Bandai”, “Gundam”, and “fighting games” hadn’t been a recipe for success in past years – hell, “Bandai” and “Gundam game that isn’t a turn-based strategy game” typically didn’t bode well either.

(more…)

• Developer: Natsume
• Publisher: Bandai
• Reader Review by: HiryuNoKen
• Score: 95%

While relatively unknown outside of the Far East, in his native Japan and it’s surrounding nations, Ultraman is a seemingly invincible franchise that’s enjoyed success that’s seen it transcend the status usually afforded to television characters and become a bit of a phenomena.

(more…)

• Publisher/Developer: Bandai
• Reader Review by: Ham
• The Accessibility: 4
• The Depth & Lastability: 2
• The Audio & Visuals: 6
• The Plot & Characters: 8
• Score: 20%

While Power Rangers, in its various guises, seems to be an unstoppable juggernaut of a franchise, back in the early-to-mid 1990s when it hit the screens, the show’s ‘creator’ Haim Saban didn’t seem to have that much faith in it, and created numerous spin-offs and similarly themed (in other words a Japanese action showed altered to have American characters) shows in the hope of recapturing Power Rangers’ runaway success.

(more…)

• Reader Review by: Ham
• Publisher/Developer: Sega
• The Accessibility: 4
• The Depth & Lastability: 2
• The Audio & Visuals: 7
• The Plot & Characters: 5
• Score: 40

How come this title isn’t being ported directly to the PS2?! How come it’s a PSP exclusive?! How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?!

(more…)

• Publisher: Namco Bandai
• Developer: Namco
• The Accessibility: 10
• The Depth & Lastability: 10
• The Features: 10
• The Audio & Visuals: 10
• The Plot & Characters: 8
• Score: 99%

Gosh it’s all go in the MK world at the moment, isn’t it? The final current-generation game of the series, Armageddon has just come out (it’s shit) UMK3’s tearing up the streets of Xbox Live (they’re shit) and here we have MKU on the PSP, and it has to be said that the derogatory-comment forecast is looking mighty promising.

(more…)

• Publisher/Developer: Midway
• The Accessibility: 7
• The Depth & Lastability: 6
• The Features: 9
• The Audio & Visuals: 7
• The Plot & Characters: 7
• Score: 52%

I loved it, I hated it, and loved it again. That is my history with The King of Fighters 2002 in a capsule.

(more…)

• Publisher: Playmore
• Developer: Eolith
• Reader Review by: Photon
• Talkback Thread: Read the full article.
• Score: 85%

So this is Midway’s final Mortal Kombat game for the current generation console (PS2, XBox). And it was suppose to be Midway’s best MK game ever. Well, let’s just see about that.

(more…)

• Publisher/Developer: Midway
• Reader Review by: Vic Viper
• Talkback Thread: Read the full article.
• Score: 58%

Mortal Kombat’s great, isn’t it? The controversy, the films, the characters, the games, the comics, the whole deal. The guys at Midway have truly been living the American dream for the past fifteen years – can you imagine becoming incredibly wealthy, successful and famous on the back of selling such thinly-disguised crap? Hell I’d do the same, given the opportunity, grandma-selling start-up costs or no.

(more…)

• Publisher: Midway
• Developer: Digital Eclipse
• Score: 69%