All new shots from the upcoming Street Fighter film
By Jeremy Azevedo
I’m still a bit reticent about a Street Fighter movie centered completely around Chun-Li, but it has got to be better than the vile Van Damm movie from ‘94, right?
At least Kristin Kreuk looks the part, more or less. Either way, we’ve uncovered some pics of her doing some “Spinning Bird Kicks” and “Hyakuretsu Kyakus” on a few nameless thugs, but so far no sign of M.Bison (or Vega, if you’re in Japan)…
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is almost complete, and we’ve got some new screens that show just how well it’s coming along!
The hand drawn character art by Udon Entertainment looks so amazing, it sets a new standard for 2-D animation in a video game. To illustrate the difference, here is a picture of the actual in game appearance of Ken Masters, both in the original game and the HD optimized remake:
Notice the difference?
SSF2HDR will be available very soon on XBLA and PSN, and is expected to set records for the longest combination of acronyms ever written by gaming journalists. Anyone who has ever played a fighting game should be excited to get their hands on the definitive version of the title that started it all. For those that haven’t, SSF2HDR presents an ingenious way to expose a new generation of gamers to a classic, combining old-school action with cutting-edge visuals, not unlike a cougar with a really phenomenal boob job.
Any Street Fighter fan worth his or her weight in hadoukens should remember the classic 1992 EGM prank about unlocking Ryu and Ken’s legendary master “Sheng Long” in Street Fighter 2…
While it turned out to be an April Fool’s joke, gamers have (for some unknowable reason) never been able to banish Sheng Long from their imaginations.
The original prank in all it’s nerd-busting glory:
Now we have word that Sheng Long will finally make an appearance as a secret playable character in Street Fighter 4! Is this some kind of Japanese “September Fool’s” prank or the ultimate fan service? We have uncovered some official looking art, as well as received this suspiciously mischievious comment from SFIV Project manager, Natsumi Shiozawa:
Hello everyone! Its been so busy here lately, I’m beginning to become a bit absent-minded here.
Today, I am glad to introduce you to a Hidden Character in Street Fighter IV. Actually, I wish I could formally announce this information, but I can’t show that much yet so this will have to suffice… sorry!
Feast your eyes on this! This is one Street Fighter IV’s Secret, Unlock-able Characters, Sheng Long!
Though… it’s been blacked-out and a little hard to see. (I’m the one who blacked it out.)
Psyche! I found the image pre-blackout, check it out! -ED
(Cont’d)
Basically, you can see his long hair tied-up, his bulging muscles, and what he’s wearing. You get the idea. Looks pretty strong, huh? He should be! After all, Sheng Long is Ryu’s… You’ll have to wait until an official character announcement is made for more information.
However, since this I did post this with the title “Secret Unlock-able Characters”, I couldn’t post this without telling you guys something. For now, I’ll give you a hint on the whole “secret unlock-able” part.
1. Select Ryu as your character. 2. Win every round with a perfect until the last boss fight. 3. During the boss fight, perform a Shoryuken…
Oops, I’ve said too much!
Those who are quick to catch on should be able to do this no problem. However, since the legendary character Sheng Long is about to come out, I won’t get away with this that easily… But, this isn’t the game’s only secret though.
From the beginning, Sheng-Long hasn’t been the only planned secret character. As I wrote the other day, the release is approaching its final stretch and I will be bringing you as much new information that I can. What?! There’s going to be a special update?!
Don’t miss it!
Hmmm… Seems a bit fishy…
The image above is supposedly a leaked screenshot of Sheng Long, even though any idiot can see it is just a sloppy re-coloring of Ryu by some junior-level photoshooper…
So what do you think? Is this for real or have we been duped again? As awesome as this would be, my own personal bullshit meter is leaning hard toward the latter…
If you would’ve told me a year ago that I’d be playing a new classic 8-bit NES Mega Man game on my Wii today, I’d tell you that was crazy talk, and that you’ve been spending too much time with disgraced series villain, “Crystal Man”.
Apparently, someone over at Capcom listens to crazy talk and put together another great piece of fan service on the heels of last months “Bionic Commando” remake. Mega Man 9 looks, sounds and plays just like old-school Mega Man, before all the graphical changes and charge busters and secret characters and other bullcrap that would eventually obscure the series’ greatness. In true retro fashion, you must battle 8 renegade robots with specific strengths and weaknesses, take their weapons, and eventually take the battle to Dr. Wiley who is almost certainly behind it all!
Mega Man and Splash Woman, the first ever female evil robot master.
The first thing you notice, besides the colorful, charmingly familiar 80s style graphics, is the incredibly awesome music. Classic Mega Man games were known for their rocking midi-based music and steep challenge, and this one is no different. You will probably find yourself surprisingly slow at first when it comes to twitch action and platforming, something that has been absent from most modern games.
Another thing that the original Mega Man games were known for was the great characters and weapons. This roster, which includes Concrete, Jewel, Plug, Hornet, Magma and Galaxy Man, also includes the first female robot master, Splash Woman. Because the mega slide and charge buster have been removed, the earlier games reliance on utilizing the robot master’s weapons has returned, which makes the game quite a bit more strategic.
The fruitiest Mega Man screen-shot of all time.
Even if you are not old enough to have enjoyed these games back in the day, you should really experience what essentially feels like a lost classic from another era. There is even an option that simulates old-fashion slowdown and screen flicker! If this is the kind of thing that we can expect from publishers as a result of digital distribution, then we are certainly in for some wonderful surprises in the coming years.
Mega Man 9 is available now for the Wii, September 25th for PSN and October 1st for XBLA for about $10 on all platforms!
Chris and Sheva mow down an entire village, meet Baghead!
By Jeremy Azevedo
If you are reading this, you probably already know that Resident Evil 5 is looking like it’s going to be one of the best games of the year, or ever. Having played the game myself, I can tell you that these images are no joke, the game really looks like this in action.
In fact, RE5 almost looks better in action than it does in the cut scenes, which is a weird reversal of roles if ever there was one. Check out these new screens from the playable demo at E3 to see for yourself…
If Sega was still in the console game today, I’d consider it safe to say that they would rule 2009 on the strength of their upcoming game catalogue alone. They had no fewer than 8 games on the floor (and behind closed doors) that are sure to be monster hits, some of which were even totally brand new IPs!
We’ll start with Bayonetta, an action game with a sense of theatrics so extreme that it makes Devil May Cry look like Connect Four. You play as a witch in 7-inch stilettos (that also double as machine pistols) with magic hair that can conjure up torture devices to destroy invading angels. Sounds crazy, is crazy, and looks all the more rad for it. Next up was Mad World, a black and white (and red) action game that looks kind of like Sin City but plays out more like “The Running Man”, only with 100 times more violence than any anything, ever. Surprisingly, Mad World is a Wii exclusive, much like the similarly violent but totally unrelated No More Heroes that quenched Wii gamers bloodlust this year.
Also showing at Sega was Sonic Unleashed, which features both a night and day play environment, one that has you running around as Sonic at speeds that made me want to take Dramamine, and one that has you playing more of a combat/exploration type game as “Sonic the Were-Hog”. Stormrise brings large scale tactical RTS combat to consoles, and Alpha Protocol looks like the spy version of Mass Effect. This last one in particular was one of the best of the whole show, a cool idea executed very nicely. James Bond can suck it!
Lastly we had Samba De Amigo for the Wii, Valkyria Chronlcles, a tactical RPG with a very unique looking cel-shaded graphical style, and Golden Axe: Beast Riders. I had heard that Golden Axe was cancelled a couple of months back so I was surprised to see it here in playable form, but it was a fun action title nevertheless, despite having nothing on Bayonetta. In total, an awesome showing from a veteran company in their finest form.
Square Enix was showing a new RPG called Infinite Indiscovery that looks to be the next big thing for the company (if it doesn’t fall too deep into the shadow of Final Fantasy XII), but it’s Nintendo DS gamers who are in for a real treat this fall season. In addition to the soon to be released Final Fantasy IV remake, there’s also Dragon Quest IV and the ever so long awaited Chrono Trigger port on the way as well. Read the rest of this entry →
If you were alive in the 1980’s, then you probably had an NES. And if you had an NES, then you probably either had or at least played Bionic Commando. And if you had or played Bionic Commando on an NES in or around the 1980’s, then you’ve probably been wondering just why in the hell there hasn’t ever really been a proper sequel to such a beloved game in almost twenty years. And if you’ve ever wondered this, then you’re probably kind of old to be spending so much time thinking about video games, but that’s beside the point.
By some miracle, Capcom has finally been convinced that the time is right to resurrect this long-neglected franchise for a next-gen Bionic Commando. Some say it was inevitable after seeing how Capcom utilized the grappling hook function in last year’s “Lost Planet”, but that doesn’t diminish the excitement in the slightest.
Check out the following trailer for a look at some of the awesome swinging, smashing, and shooting action coming your way next year:
All we have to go on right now is this trailer featuring Ryu and Ken battling one another, drawn in an art style that is somewhat similar to “Killer 7″ or “No More Heroes”. Is there a connection? Does The enigmatic Suda 51 have something to do with this?
This week: Hardcore niche classics for the self-flagellating gamer!
This week in Virtual Console releases: Games that are awesome if you didn’t already download any of the nearly identical versions that already came out a month ago!
Ghouls ‘n Ghosts – Genesis – 3 out of 5
Naked bearded dude faces his imminent death, scratches ass.
This is one of those games that is loved by many and reviled by the rest. I want to like Ghouls ‘n Ghosts (in it’s various incarnations), but even by arcade standards they are stupid hard. If I wanted to watch little dudes in their underwear get killed every 30 seconds, I’d rent a Taiwanese snuff film.
Compounding the reasons why this game is unnecessary, it comes out after the very similar but wholly superior SNES version, Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, has already been out for weeks. If you are a gaming masochist, at least get that version, which has superior graphics and sound, and controls slightly better.
If you have a bad temper, take my advice and stay the hell away from this game. Nobody wants to hear F-bombs raining like a hailstorm from your living room window.
Super C – NES – 4 out of 5
Shirtless muscle man Vs. the Vagina Dentata = Bitchen’ to the maxxx!
Here’s an example of a great game that looks less so by comparison. We’ve already got Contra 3, Gunstar Heroes and Bloody Wolf. How many games about macho shirtless dudes blowing up robots and commies like bullets are going out of style do we really need? The answer is: As many as it goddamn takes, so shut up.
I’m sure many of us have fond memories of (2-D era) Contra, and this is due in large to the influence of this game. Super C pushed the limits of what was possible on the NES, improving on the original in almost every way, and I’d be hard pressed to name many shooters in it’s peer group that even come close to being as good.
This is not to say that Super C is without flaw or even that it fully withstands the test of time. The controls are not perfect, the challenge is a bit extreme at times (though nowhere near as difficult as the aforementioned Ghouls ‘n Ghosts) and of course the graphics and sounds are a bit dated. But fans of Contra that haven’t played this game in ten years will be delighted to discover that the magic is still there.
Breath of Fire 2 – SNES – 4 out of 5
Someone must have let Iron Maiden design these monsters….
Amongst the many B-list RPG franchises, I’ve always had a soft spot for Breath of Fire. It’s one of those series that has little in the way of major innovation, but manages to get the minor details right. Random battles are not too frequent, localization is serviceable, and the narrative is at times surprisingly original.
Despite being fairly standard fare, which is more of a hindrance to the RPG genre than it is in others due to the time investment required, Breath of Fire manages to come at you with characters and situations unlike anything else that you’ve experienced. Your party is made up of cat people, monkey people, armadillo people, frog people… it’s basically a furry’s dream.
Gameplay is the usual turn based combat, overhead map dungeon exploring treasure hunt, but side quests, shape shifting dragon battles as well as a fairly decent story break up the monotony. If you haven’t already got the GBA port of this game, and have the time to devote to a dated RPG, you should definitely try Breath of Fire 2.
