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GDC 10: Limbo Hands-on

http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/107/1077308p1.html

March 12, 2010 - As soon as I put on the pair of headphones in front of me and took my first steps in Limbo, I was hooked. It's simple, pretty, hauntingly awesome when it comes to sound, and ready to keep puzzle fanatics on their toes. Plus, Limbo has really painful-looking, unexpected deaths.

In short, it deserves the two Independent Games Festival awards it took home last night.

From PlayDead, this 2D platformer starts with a simple goal. You're a boy who has to figure out where exactly he is and find his sister. To do so, he'll need to navigate deadly environments like a forest, city, and so on. The catch is – for players at least – that this game is entirely in black and white and only exists in silhouettes. The boy, the ground, and the trees are all stark black outlines against a white/gray background. The boy has two white dots for eyes, but other than that, he's just a shadow.

That scheme alone caught my eye, but when I began fooling with the first area in the forest, there was so much more to digest. For starters, the controls are very easy to get the hang of. The joystick moves the boy, one button jumps, and another grabs things to you can drag them around. On the sound effect side, there's no music in the part I was playing, so there was just an eerie wind blowing and the boys footsteps to listen to. On the graphics side, the animations for the kid moving around the world are super-fluid; they're so natural.

Look before you leap.
Look before you leap.
When I moved to the right side of the screen, I came to a lagoon I would die in, so I grabbed a crate, dragged it back to where I started, and jumped from the box to a rope hanging from a tree. From there, I swung up to a platform and began leaping to other landings as I climbed into the sky. When I grabbed the crate, the boy hunched over and you could see the weight of the box in the way he was pulling it. When he snatched the rope, the straight line buckled and danced in the air. When the kid jumped to platforms, he'd grab the edge and hang there like a little animated Nathan Drake. From atop the tall tree, I pushed over a broken log I could use for a makeshift bridge across the lagoon, and then backtracked through the limbs to get to the ground (jumping from the sky equals death).

I've detailed all that mundane sounding stuff to kind of set the stage for what came next. As I moved to the right side of the screen, I passed a bear trap in a tree and then ran upon a massive tree trunk that had gigantic spider legs coming off of it. The limbs moved slowly, so I thought I could run by them, but as I passed under the raised one, another shot down at the boy, impaled him, and raised his bleeding corpse in the air. After the shock, I figured out a way to the bear trap down, but then I accidently leapt into it and saw the jaws snap shut and the boy get decapitated in explosion of flesh.

These kills are still in black and white, but the silhouettes of death are still delivering gore.

A three-hour tour...
A three-hour tour...
Although my demo was short and I couldn't really test it, I was told that no art or music is reused in Limbo so every one of the game's 80 to 90 puzzles should feel completely different. Personally, I can't wait to try them all. Limbo might not seem that impressive in the still screenshots we have, but I can assure you it's a sight to behold in motion. The ease of play, the way it looks, and the cleverness of the puzzle are all so good. Even better for dunces like myself is that there's no big punishment when you die – no lives or load times to worry about -- so it doesn't feel like a chore to try something and fail.

Limbo is set to hit Xbox Live Arcade this summer – with about four hours of gameplay -- but if it does well, PlayDead says that it's open to bringing it to other platforms.
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GDC 10: Nexuiz Hands-on

http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/107/1077427p1.html

March 12, 2010 - Are you an old school PC player who has migrated to consoles but still misses your old Quake parties? Well, Illfonic has heard your cries and is bringing a dose of arena-based first-person shooters to the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live this summer.

It's called Nexuiz, and it's filled with sweet jumps.

If you're a fan of FPS arena games, Nexuiz might ring a bell. Launched for free in 2005 and downloaded a couple million times, the game ran off of the original Quake code and let players come up with their own levels and such for frantic FPS action. Now, Illfonic is distilling the game into an experience all its own for console players to enjoy – outside of the code, the content that makes up the game is 100 percent new.

The version I saw today was described as a prototype. Running on the PlayStation 3 (work hasn't begun yet on the 360 version) after only two and a half months of work, Nexuiz had four different players running around a multi-level arena that looked like a cross between Halo and Portal -- bright, simple colors and plenty of height. The guns are clean looking devices with a sci-fi feel and come in the various sniper/shotgun/rockets/machine styles you'd expect. Each weapon will have a melee attack, but there are also going to be straight melee weapons.

When I got my hands-on time with Nexuiz, I had fun. I haven't played an arena battle in a long, long time, so it was fun to just run around, fly through the air via jump pads, and blast opponents so that satisfying "+1" icons popped up on the screen. Because it's a console title, there's a healthy aim assist feature in the game, but I found that I still needed to have my head on a swivel to make kills.

I didn't get to play with it in my match, but the most interesting thing I heard about Nexuiz was the Mutator system. What this does is reward players who are kicking ass by letting them choose how to mutate the game. When you're doing well, you can spend the points you've earned in a match to turn on game changing rules like rapid fire, low gravity, and so on. When you finish matches, you can spend your skill points on persistence bonuses such as health boosts that will always be attached to your profile from there on out.

On day one, Nexuiz will have nine guns and nine maps that follow the big city/sci-fi feel and two multiplayer game modes – four-on-four team deathmatch and eight-on-eight capture the flag. If you don't mind playing unranked multiplayer games, you can arm Mutators to change the way the matches feel -- jetpacks, grappling hooks, and so on. If you're shooter skills are a bit rusty, you can create single-player rooms and staff them with bots to practice. The game also packs three factions, but choosing one before setting out into a match just changes the color/details of your costume. The factions are purely aesthetic choices.

Sure, it was early in the game's lifecycle, but Nexuiz was fun when I played it this afternoon. Its super-simple look and presentation will appeal to those looking for a throwback to the old PC arena games people used to play. Will the Modern Warfare 2 masses pick up on Nexuiz? Who knows, but the lack of customization options and pizzazz might keep some away. Still, the game will launch with an integrated tournament system, clan management options, and leaderboards, so fans will have plenty to do, and IllFonic plans on offering DLC.
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GDC 10: Ancients of Ooga Preview

http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/107/1077372p1.html

March 12, 2010 - At this year's GDC in San Francisco we had a chance to check out Ancients of Ooga, a platformer puzzler from NinjaBee and J Kenworthy Entertainment. In case you're not familiar, NinjaBee was behind some early Xbox Live Arcade games like Outpost Kaloki and Cloning Clyde, and more recently A Kingdom for Keflings. With Ancients of Ooga, the idea is to reproduce some of the character swapping mechanics of Cloning Clyde while giving you a range of abilities to complete challenges and proceed through the game's over 50 stages.

You play as the spirit of Ooga, who's able to transfer between playable characters to complete puzzle challenges. The playable characters are called Ooganis, of which there are seven types, all of which have different powers and advantages. The basic story is that the Ooganis have been enslaved, and you need to travel between the tribes and help solve their problems, drive away the evil creatures known as Boolis, and eventually set them free.

A lot of the puzzle gameplay will revolve around the Ooganis' ability to eat and store items. So if you're carrying something and need to climb a ladder, you'll have to eat it so you can free up your hands. The catch is some items have special effects. For instance, if you stuff a hot pepper into your face, you can only hold it for a few seconds before the Oogani belches fire. That is, unless you're playing as a member of the Fireling Oogani tribe, in which case you can hold the pepper down indefinitely.

Eat, puke, and breathe fire.
The deceptively named Stoner Ooganis can use their bodies to smash through walls, Swimmers can breathe underwater, Harvesters can walk across thorny obstacles unharmed, Flappers can fly, and Stinkers can knock you out with their breath. In a trailer shown off, it seems like there'll be plenty of collectibles to pick up, platforming to do, levers to pull, and things to punch. It also seems like Ooganis can actually eat each other, walk around, then puke out the contents of their stomach at another location, which could have interesting implications for some of the puzzles.

It's difficult to say much more without some hands-on time, but it seems like this game has some good ideas being built into it. It'll also have local multiplayer so you can bring in a friend. No price point or release date has been set yet, so look for an update when we know more.
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Achievements: Puzzle Chronicles

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/game/puzzle-chronicles/achievements/

Humble Beginnings 5
Finish the Tutorial map

Zombie Hunter 10
Defeat Zulac

Basilisk’s Bane 10
Defeat Iriki

Giant Slayer 15
Defeat Arokk

Story’s End 25
Defeat the Horned Daemon

Conquering Hero 20
Win 15 Ranked Xbox LIVE multiplayer games

Skillfully Done 10
Raise any one of your Stats to 25

Dungeon Delver 10
Unlock 10 Dungeons

Finder of Secrets 15
Uncover a secret location

Dog Trainer 15
Train your Warbeast to level 25

Craftsman 15
Forge 10 items

Deathbringer 50
Collect all 60 Awards
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Achievements: Metal Slug XX

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/game/metal-slug-xx/achievements/

[Printable Version ]
There are 12 achievements with a total of 200 points.

Mission 1 Clear 10
Clear the 1st mission.

Mission 2 Clear 10
Clear the 2nd mission.

Mission 3 Clear 10
Clear the 3rd mission.

Mission 4 Clear 10
Clear the 4th mission.

Mission 5 Clear 10
Clear the 5th mission.

Mission 6 Clear 10
Clear the 6th mission.

Mission 7 Clear 10
Clear the 7th mission.

Mission All Clear 30
Clear all the missions.

Metal Slug XX Master 50
Clear all the missions without continue.

Frontal Attack 15
Use a frontal attack to kill boss.

100 MORDEN Soldiers 15
The 100 hiden MORDEN soldiers appear.

The Paths of Fate 20
Find all the paths.
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It looks like Invincible Tiger has been de-listed or taken down,it's on my HD but no downloads are available, so the unlock key is gone. Anyone know what's up? It gone for good?
 
Family Fry said:
It looks like Invincible Tiger has been de-listed or taken down,it's on my HD but no downloads are available, so the unlock key is gone. Anyone know what's up? It gone for good?
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That's really strange. The game was just on sale too.

Gotta love digital distrubution. Games available forever, never have to worry about out of print games... oh wait.
 
Family Fry said:
Maybe it had a low 'digital' print run :D
Is odd though, maybe it's just had a marketplace accident and no one has noticed.
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:lol

A marketplace error would actually make the most sense, no? I assume all the other Namco Bandai games and Blitz Arcade games (like Droplitz and Powerup Forever) are still available.
Is it still up on PSN?
 
Final Fight: Double Impact Coming Mid-April
Combination of Final Fight and Magic Sword will cost $10.

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3178412

Capcom's small tribute to classic arcade brawlers is due out in the midst of tax time. The company announced today that Double Impact will be coming out on April 14 on Xbox Live, and April 15 on PlayStation Network. It will cost 800 Microsoft Points, or $9.99 on its respective systems.

Double Impact combines the arcade version of Final Fight with the classic Magic Sword. Combining the two makes it about five bucks per game, which isn't a bad deal if you're a fan of classic arcade brawlers. Check out the video above to see it in action.
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Achievements: Game Room

http://inside.mygamercard.net/2010/03/17/stock-up-on-quarters-for-these-game-room-achievements/

My First Theme
Place a Theme in your arcade 5

Theme Filler
Place 5 unique Themes in your arcade 20

Fancy Arcade
Theme an entire arcade with unique Themes 20

My First Mascot
Activate a Mascot in your arcade 5

My First Decoration
Place a Decoration in your arcade 5

Proptastic
Place 5 arcade Decorations in your arcade 20

My First Game
Place a Game Cabinet in your arcade 5

The Visitor
Visit a Friend’s arcade 5

Show Me!
Visit the Showcase Arcade 5

The Player
Play a Friend’s Game Cabinet 5

Room Filler
Fill an entire room 20

My First Win
Win a Challenge 5

My First Challenge
Send a Challenge 5

Challenge Chief
Win 10 Challenges 5

Challenge Master
Win 20 Challenges 20

Too Cool for my Score
Beat your own High Score in a game 20

My Blisters have Blisters!
Play a game for 1 hour continuously 5

Arcade Junkie
Spend 4 hours total playing games in your arcade 20

Retro Addict
Spend 8 hours total playing games in your arcade 20

Go to Sleep
Spend 16 hours total playing games in your arcade 20

Machine not Man
Spend 24 hours total playing games in your arcade 20

Matchstick Eyes
Spend 36 hours total playing games in your arcade 20

My First Medal
Win your first Medal 5

Medal Variety
Win a Medal of each Type (Point Buster, Survivalist, Time Spender) 5

Double Trouble
Win 2 Medals of each type (2x Point Buster, 2x Survivalist, 2x Time Spender) 20

Medal Collector
Win 3 Medals 20

80s Skilled
Win 6 Medals 20

Game Beater
Win 9 Medals 20

Arcade Hustler
Win 12 Medals 20

Retro Expert
Win 15 Medals 20

The New Old Schooler
Win 18 Medals 20

Medal Enthusiast
Win 21 Medals 20

Arcade Shark
Win 24 Medals 20

Can’t Touch This!
Win 27 Medals 20

Retro Master
Win 30 Medals 20

Check My Skillz
Win 33 Medals 20

Minted
Win 36 Medals 20

Medaltastic
Win 39 Medals 20

Fly Skillz
Win 42 Medals 20

Medal Masher
Win 45 Medals 20

I Like Shiny Things
Win 48 Medals 35

Level Up!
Reach Level 2 20

Level 5!
Reach Level 5 20

Level 8!
Reach Level 8 20

Level 11!
Reach Level 11 20

Level 14!
Reach Level 14 20

Level 17!
Reach Level 17 20

Level 20!
Reach Level 20 50

Medal Smasher
Win 10 Medals of each type 20

Medal Mad
Win 20 Medals of each type 50

Point Buster
Win 5 Point Buster Medals 20

Point Slammer
Win 10 Point Buster Medals 20

Survivalist
Win 5 Survivalist Medals 20

Survival of the Fittest
Win 10 Survivalist Medals 20

Time Spender
Win 5 Time Spender Medals 20

Time Crazy
Win 10 Time Spender Medals 20
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Gowans007 said:
speaking of which where is Gazuntas Game Room Official Thread?
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Hopefully coming soon - can't wait to get in on some Game Room action and those achievements will hopefully encourage a good launch
 
ESRB Watch:


Aqua

Platform: Xbox 360
Share |

Rating: Everyone 10+

Content descriptors: Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Language

Rating summary:

This is an action game in which players control a boat in a fictional "steampunk" setting. From a top-down perspective, players shoot enemy ships, airplanes, defense towers, and other mechanical constructions that explode into pieces. Realistic cannon and torpedo sounds, as well as explosions can be heard during the frequent combat. Some dialogue contains language such as "damn" and "hell."
 
wow that is a ton of achievements for the game room, right now I am just interested in seeing it running on my pc via gfwl, skipping the 360 download as I just don't have the hdd space.
 
First Details On Second Magic The Gathering DLC

http://www.gamerbytes.com/2010/03/first_details_on_second_magic.php
The first details on the second expansion to Magic: The Gathering has been revealed. Are you ready to take on the ancient vampire sangromancer Sorin Markov?

The second expansion will feature a slew of new cards and decks to add to your arsenal, including Nicol Bolas's "Eons of Evil" deck, as well as three additional cards to all existing decks. The expansion will contain a new single player campaign which will allow you to unlock additional Rhys the Redeemed's "Heart of Worlds" and Chandra Nalaar's "Heat of Battle" decks.

Lastly, it will contain 5 new challenges, new personas, 3 new achievements and a first for DLC - new Avatar Awards.

There is no word when the DLC will be released, but expect it in the coming weeks. We also have no word on when the PlayStation Network version will be releasing either, but it should be soon. Thanks to Mat for the heads up.
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So the more games you buy in Game Room and unlock stuff, the higher level you will be going, something like the trophy system for the PS3.

Wonder why they opted for a Universal achievement list for it rather than going game by game.
 
sweetvar26 said:
So the more games you buy in Game Room and unlock stuff, the higher level you will be going, something like the trophy system for the PS3.

Wonder why they opted for a Universal achievement list for it rather than going game by game.
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Theres going to be like 1000+ games (or theres planned to be).
 
Project Lucha (Punchers Impact/Mindscape), beat'em all, 4 players locally or online.

ME0001239317_2.jpg
 
sweetvar26 said:
So the more games you buy in Game Room and unlock stuff, the higher level you will be going, something like the trophy system for the PS3.

Wonder why they opted for a Universal achievement list for it rather than going game by game.
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If they do keep with the 7 games a week thing, plus most of them being simple asteroids or very old games, having achievements for each title would take time, effort and probably more money to manage. At least with a global list you can buy the games you want and over time still get the achievements.

Not that I plan to buy many unless they somehow bring some awesome titles to the service that I personally loved.
 
sweetvar26 said:
So the more games you buy in Game Room and unlock stuff, the higher level you will be going, something like the trophy system for the PS3.

Wonder why they opted for a Universal achievement list for it rather than going game by game.
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Because not all games will be suited to achievements outside the standard three types given in game room. For example; can you think of 12 different achievements for Asteroids?
 
Kafel said:
Project Lucha (Punchers Impact/Mindscape), beat'em all, 4 players locally or online.

ME0001239317_2.jpg
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4 player scrolling beat 'em up? Very happy with premise, wanna see some gameplay before getting too hype, lol. Hopefully Punchers Impact has graphic talent on par with Golgoth and their Toki HD work...

THE WORLD NEEDS MORE BEAT 'EM UPS!
 
From MajorNelson:

Xbox LIVE Marketplace release schedule March 23


Here is a list of upcoming content scheduled for the Xbox LIVE Marketplace* Please see the blog post I’ll make for each of these for regional availability.



Xbox LIVE Deal of the Week:

March 29: Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram, 800 Points

April 5: Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, 400 points each



Xbox LIVE Games on Demand:

March 23: Avatar The Last Airbender: The Burning Earth
March 23: Operation Darkness (Japan)

March 23: SEGA Superstars Tennis

March 30: Record of Agarest War: Reappearance (Japan)




Xbox LIVE Arcade:

The Block Party promotion wraps up this week with:

March 24: Game Room, Free to download. Individual games will cost 240 to 400 points

March 31: Mega Man 10, 800 points

March 31: Magic: The Gathering Game Add-on, 400 points


Xbox Avatar Marketplace:

These are just a few of the collections scheduled for the Xbox LIVE Avatar Marketplace.

March 23: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
March 25: Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing

April 1: Army of Two: 40th Day

April 1: Avatar Marketplace Spring Collection


Also, the following Xbox 360 Game Add-Ons are scheduled to be available:



March 30:Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Package, 1200 Points



Also, on April 1 from 12:00 pm ET/9am PT through April 5 at 12:00 pm ET/9am PT, Xbox LIVE Silver members can enjoy features that are reserved exclusively for Xbox LIVE Gold members – including Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm and premier multiplayer features. Sign up for a free Xbox LIVE account today and be prepared to play.

SALE: Between April 1st and April 7th, there will be Ten Arcade Games on sale (like Super Street Fighter II HD, South Park LET'S GO TOWER DEFENSE PLAY and Defense Grid: The Awakening) I’ll post the complete list of titles and sale prices as soon as get my hands on it.


You may want to follow my Twitter account if you want to be reminded when many of the above items become available.
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http://majornelson.com/archive/2010/03/23/xbox-live-marketplace-release-schedule-march-23.aspx


Hope there are some good titles on offer, 2100pts burning a hole in my account. :D
 
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/silva-has-third-dishwasher-game-planned

Silva has third Dishwasher game planned

The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai creator James Silva may have only recently unveiled a sequel, but already he's told Eurogamer that plans for a third game are laid down.

"I've got a whole chronology set up," he offered us. "But it might depend on how much Microsoft wants to let me do."

"This one [Vampire Smile - number two] is going to occur after some of the events that happened in the middle - the middle being what I want to make as a third game."

Clearly not busy enough, Silva also designed a game called Charlie Murder for Xbox Live Indie Games.

"Right when I finished Dead Samurai I started working on this Indie Game called Charlie Murder," explained Silva. "I put it on the back burner, but that's been revived.

"That game is... boy I can't really say! It's sitting around and it's going to be playable at PAX [East - 26th to 28th March]." From this we can probably infer it's attracted the attention of publisher.

James Silva's gory platform game The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai won Microsoft's XNA Dream-Build-Play competition, bagged an XBLA publishing deal and was released in April 2009 to wide critical acclaim - Eurogamer's included.

"Oh yeah," replied Silva, when asked if the game he built on his own sold well. "My hope for Dead Samurai when I was working on it was that I could continue what I was doing here. My company has grown from one to two! We've doubled!"

Silva revealed a follow-up to Dead Samurai, The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile, in February 2010.

"When I started the sequel I started the whole engine from scratch. If the guys at Microsoft had any idea how messy the code-base was [for Dead Samurai] by the time it was put into cert they would have pulled the plug!" blurted Silva. "It was a total house of cards; anything could pull the whole thing down. The game's a lot more expressive now."

"I really want to make combat flow better and be more fluid, dynamic and friendly," he said of the changes in the sequel. "It's more forgiving; you just press buttons and awesome stuff happens. It's more badass; it's really gory, it's excellent.

"The environment of the game is... Ah crap the cat's eating my food! I just turned around and she was sitting on the oven. Oh boy... I really want to create this environment where it changes around you."

Silva went on to say the game has two playable characters each with their own campaign. There's The Dishwasher and "this mystery lady". There will be story co-op online and offline, and "everything has been reworked from the ground up in terms of character art and animations".

"To me this feels like a next-gen sequel of Dead Samurai," added Silva. "That's just how it has been coming across to me. I go back and compare it to the first one and I'm like, 'Man!'"

He said people complaining that the Dead Samurai and Vampire Smile look similar really ought to "put them next to each other". "It's looking pretty good," he promised.

Silva's got the sequel playable "from start to finish", but still has Arcade Challenges to add and "tons and tons of bug fixing" to do. Therefore, added Silva, Vampire Smile will be out "when it's done".

"They don't really breathe down my neck," said Silva of Microsoft. "I'm on track with this milestone but I had told them I would be there months ago. But they said, 'Why don't you take some more time?' I have a habit of giving myself unreasonable milestones and then not meeting them. They're pretty good with that."

"They've been so helpful," he added. "There's an XNA team and a group of people that try to make [the game] work with Xbox Live Arcade, and I get the feeling they're just sitting there waiting for my call."

Looking ahead, it's unlikely that Silva's The Dishwasher series will head elsewhere. Microsoft gave him his break and he accepts that. "Everything I make is a Microsoft platform exclusive," he said.

"There are ways to port [the games]," he added, "but they're not easy. For iPhone games it's probably a little easier to port stuff because there are lots of similarities [in the code]. But I don't have the time right now.

"My favourite thing to work on is Xbox 360. If I had an extra me, I'd look into doing this stuff, but I'm happy with the status quo."

As a final note, we picked Silva's brain about the oddly-allocated Achievement Points in The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai.

He had this to say: "I had no idea people were that OCD about it! I really didn't know. I noticed they all came in multiples of five, but when I got my tools I was like, 'Oh cool, you can make them any number you want.' So I just put a bunch of random numbers in. It was a fun thing to do. I had no idea people would be so upset about it!
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Xbox LIVE Deal of the Week:

March 29: Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram, 800 Points

April 5: Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, 400 points each
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Virtual On, here I come!!!

My wallet dreads to think what's going to be in that April sale... hopefully I own all the games already.
 
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I Preview

http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/107/1079808p1.html

UK, March 25, 2010 - Blue skies, red shoes and golden rings, tied together with chequered tiles, corkscrews and springs. These are the things that great memories are made of, but it's impossible to talk about Sonic the Hedgehog without acknowledging how tarnished they've now become, with nearly every entry within the past decade marred by missteps, mishaps and plain bad design. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I promises to be entirely different; it takes those memories of long afternoons spent dashing and spinning against ever-colourful backdrops at a time when it wasn't parallax barriers but parallax scrolling that was the buzzword, and it makes its business nothing simpler than polishing them and refining them. The result, we're delighted to report, is quite dazzling.

Marking the first entry in a new episodic approach – although SEGA's yet to reveal how many episodes to expect or how frequent they'll be – Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I is so reductive in its approach to the series' formula that it makes Sonic 2 seem bloated and Sonic 3 feel like an exercise in abstract expressionism. Every bit of excess fat that the games have accumulated over the years has been stripped away (and when Sonic games have descended into delivering water-weak mimics of God of War it's fair to give a diagnosis of morbid obesity), and it's a thrilling discovery to realise that Sonic's core concept is still as brilliant as ever.


Maintaining momentum is the order of the day and it's a feat that's rewarded by some wonderful turns of speed. Sonic's always been more of a racing game than a platformer, its legacy more evident in games like Trials HD than anywhere else, and when it goes back to basics this is more apparent than ever. It's an aspect of the game that's acknowledged well in the time trial mode, with global online leaderboards logging the best times achieved throughout Sonic the Hedgehog 4's stages.

Those stages themselves are well designed and while they're firmly rooted in the foundations laid by the very first wave of Sonic games they've clearly benefitted from 20 years worth of hindsight. Splash Hill Zone is the only set of stages on display and they're near enough a remake of Sonic 2's Emerald Hill Zone, with multiple paths coursing through green hills and under a SEGA-blue sky that turns red as the sun sets in the last of its three runs.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4's structure is also steadfastly traditional, with levels coming in sets of three and climaxing with a showdown with Dr. Robotnik. Snatch 50 rings in a stage and at its end there'll be the opportunity to enter a bonus stage that's ripped from the very first Sonic the Hedgehog, with a revolving maze housing a Chaos Emerald. There's a modern twist too; both the PlayStation 3 and Wii versions get motion control support as the maze can be rotated with a flick of the pad.


Sonic himself is also a blast from the past. His look in the game may well stem from the 3D generation of games, but his moveset harks back to earlier days. The only addition to the standard set of run, jump spin and spin attack is the homing dash that Sonic Adventure introduced and it's been well worked in to a 2D space, providing an invaluable tool when trying to chain airborne enemies in order to maintain speed. Likewise the power-ups are of the old order – speed-ups, shields and the trademark glittering invincibility were the only ones we witnessed, and we doubt there are any other outlandish additions that lay in wait.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 might feel familiar, but in truth it's better than we ever remember Sonic being. Levels flow together with a little more ease than the originals, and of course the HD refit sits perfectly with Sonic's bright visuals. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I's an advancement of the approach taken by the DS's excellent Sonic Rush games, no surprise given that it's Dimps that are undertaking the bulk of the development work with Sonic Team lending a helping hand. Some familiar names return, most notably composer Jun Senoue who provides some suitably sparky and hummable background music.

We've been here before, of course, and it's not the first time that a Sonic game has wowed at first glance only to disappoint further down the line. But, truly and genuinely, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is different, being the first game in some time to acknowledge why the series was so popular in the first place. Don't be surprised if it provides some sweet memories of its own when it comes out this summer.
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Hydro Thunder For Xbox Live Making Surprise Appearance At PAX? Update: Yes!

http://kotaku.com/5502393/hydro-thunder-for-xbox-live-making-surprise-appearance-at-pax-update-yes

Midway's classic speedboat racer Hydro Thunder may be making its way to Xbox Live Arcade soon. And it may be playable at PAX East even sooner—as in tomorrow.

According to a report from /gamer, the Xbox 360 booth at PAX East features at least one kiosk with a playable copy of Hydro Thunder, indicating an XBLA port of the 1999 arcade original—which saw versions on the Dreamcast, PC, Nintendo 64 and PlayStation—may debut at the expo.

Arcade game specialists Raw Thrills released a spiritual successor to Hydro Thunder last year, with H2Overdrive bringing similar over-the-top, high-speed boat racing to arcades. H2Overdrive was developed by some of the original Hydro Thunder team. No word yet on whether that spectacular looking follow-up is coming home.

Since /gamer's evidence consists of a rather grainy photograph purported to be from the PAX East show floor and Microsoft reps have not yet responded to requests for confirmation, we're calling this rumor for now. But we'll be all over PAX East starting Friday, so we'll know soon enough.

Update: Xbox Live's Major Nelson confirms that "Hydro Thunder Hurricane" will be playable at the PAX East Xbox Booth. Go go gooooo!!!
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Hydrophobia exclusive to XBLA, playable at PAX East

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/26/hydrophobia-exclusive-to-xbla-playable-at-pax-east

As if the thought of getting early hands-ons with Skate 3, Mafia 2, Red Dead Redemption, co-op Splinter Cell: Conviction and ... uh, well, tons of other games at PAX East wasn't enticing enough, we've just received word from Hydrophobia developer Dark Energy Digital that the game will also be available on the show floor. Moreover, the game has been announced as exclusive to Xbox Live Arcade (no word on whether the planned three-episode release will still get a retail counterpart). We'll be diving into Hydrophobia's flooded corridors this weekend and speaking with the developers, so feel free to dump a torrent of questions for us in the comment section below if you're so inclined.
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