Knytt Stories

Developer: Nicklas Nygren
Publisher: Nicklas Nygren
Release Date: Aug. 28, 2007
System: PC
ESRB Rating: Unrated
Official Web site

In a nutshell: It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that double jump.

0:00 I initially found this game on a list of free, independent platform games on MetaFilter. Those are three of my favorite adjectives in that last sentence there!

0:01 The opening menu has some concentric circles of colored, rotating balls with ethereal music in the background. Odd. Tutorial time!

0:02 "Welcome! Try to walk around by pressing the left and right arrow keys." OK, I'll try, but I doubt this is gonna work!

0:03 Whaddya know -- it worked. And the S button worked at making my little character jump. Some more ethereal music comes in amid the rainy, pixelated background. Very minimalist graphics and animation so far. I like it!

0:04 I get some power-ups that let me run faster and climb up/hang on to walls. I like the stickiness of clinging to the edges.

0:05 A double jump item! It's just not a proper platformer without a decent double jump!

0:06 I come across an umbrella to slow falls. Who does this guy think he is, Princess Peach?

Read the full review at Crispy Gamer

Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath

Developer: Electronic Arts LA
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date: June 24, 2008
Systems: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PC
ESRB Rating: T
Official Web Site

In a nutshell: War from above.

0:00 I got literally three missions into the original Command and Conquer before quitting the series for good. I'm really, really bad at real-time strategy games, you see.

0:01 Straight to the title screen, with a red globe and a generic looking super-soldier in the background. Meh.

0:02 The controls screen is a confusing mess, with buttons like "selection modifier" and actions like "decrement from building queue." I hope they hold my hand a little bit.

0:03 Boot Camp sounds like a good place to start. "This mission will teach you the basics of how to utilize the interface and controls." Thank God.

0:04 "Welcome to the training scenario, Commander." Click on the training stations to get training info. Duh!

0:05 OK, I know what a mini-map is. I don't need THAT much hand-holding.

Read the full review at Crispy Gamer

Iron Man

Developer: Secret Level
Publisher: Sega
Release Date: May 2, 2008
Systems: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PS3, PS2, wii, DS, PSP, PC, mobile, Sega Master System (just kidding)
ESRB Rating: T
Official Web site

In a nutshell: The much awaited follow-up to the classic Iron Man/X-O Manowar game.

0:00 I liked the movie and I like Sega, but I'm still expecting a let-down from this one. It is a movie-based game, after all.

0:01 A gadget-porn pan over a pre-rendered Iron Man suit runs behind the menu screen. Some extremely generic light metal music plays in the background.

0:02 The controls screen mentions that the directional pad is used for something called "power distribution." This sounds way too complex for a game like this.

0:03 Difficulties are "Easy," "Normal," and "Formidable." I'm all for giving interesting names to difficulty levels, but you should go all or nothing. Why not "Puny" and "Nondescript" for the first two?

0:04 In a cave full of crates, Tony Stark works at a kiln. "Alone in a cave, surrounded by weapons. That is a very poignant way to die," says that guy from the movie whose name I can't remember. Tony's friend who helps him break out. You know who I'm talking about! "Ah, there he goes again, give it a rest, Shakespeare," says Robert Downey, Jr., er, I mean Stark. The guy whose name is on the tip of my tongue prattles on philosophically about what make a man a hero while Stark lifts the first Iron Man mask out of the kiln and stares at it, meaningfully.

0:05 Cut over to the Stark computer display that gives my mission objectives: escape from the Ten Rings encampment I'm being held in. How am I seeing this computer display? I'm trapped in a cave. Way to break the fourth wall already.

Read the full review at Crispy Gamer

Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy

Developer: BudCat Creations
Publisher: Majesco
Release Date: June 10, 2008
System: Wii
ESRB Rating: E
Official Web site

In a nutshell: KatamaR-Type? Gradius Damacy?

0:00 I played a demo of this game for about five minutes at last year's E3. It was by far the most original game I played at the entire show.

0:01 A bass-heavy techno beat plays over a simple title screen, with labeled pieces of a cel-shaded plane marking the different options.

0:02 The controls configuration screen shows a total of three buttons: Shoot, Hide Attached Shapes and Pause. Now that's old-school.

0:03 Let's jump on in to the official-sounding Campaign mode. The difficulties are Rookie, Pilot and Ace. Since I'll be flying a ship, I feel like I should at least be a Pilot.

0:04 I know from my experience with the demo that shooting down the opposing ships lets me collect their falling carcasses and attach them to a growing ball around my ship, Katamari-style. It's a good thing I know this, because the game doesn't explain it anywhere that I've seen.

0:05 Right off the bat, I'm finding it hard to tell which enemies are dead, and thus OK to absorb, and which ones are alive, and thus not OK to touch. Some better color-coding or something would help.

0:06 I've already lost all three of my lives. The enemy shots seem to be magnetically attracted to the center of my ship.

Read the full review at Crispy Gamer

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Release Date: March 25, 2008
System: PSP
ESRB Rating: T
Official Web site

In a nutshell: A little less conversation, a little more action.

0:00 I'd call myself a fan of Final Fantasy VII, though I'm decidedly not a fanboy. There's an important difference, mainly having to do with cosplay.

0:01 Pan over a beautiful dystopian city as the credits roll. A chopper flies in and someone's running down a corridor. A guy talking in an office. AERIS! OMG! Sephiroth, explosions, an apple, a gun, a swordfight, a horse with armor. More swordfighting, more running, a box labeled "sealed," Aeris kneeling in prayer and... title! Whew! I'm already out of breath.

0:02 Call me a sucker, but the little "bloop" sound effect when moving through the initial menu selector takes me right back to the original FFVII.

0:03 The camera does a long zoom out from a sign for the Shin-Ra Electric Power Company to a bulging tower rising over a dirty, industrial city. "Wutai troops have hijacked the Shinra Express," says a voice over a radio. A helicopter full of SOLDIER, er, soldiers, hovers over the train. "Eliminate them and take control of the train." "Oh yeah!" says Zack, our immaculately coiffed protagonist.

0:05 Zack runs towards the attackers on the roof of the train, blocking bullets with his sword and jumping over an RPG missile in super slow-mo. Just another day at the office. "SOLDIER 2nd class Zack is ON THE JOB!" he says to no one in particular.

Read the full review at Crispy Gamer