Thor: God of Thunder (DS) Good lord it’s a game based on a movie and it’s actually really, really fun!’ At first glance it looks like your normal run of the mill beatemup, but there are some neat elements in this game that make it stand out. You collect runes that upgrade Mjolnir (that’sThor’s mythical hammer for you comic noobs out there), your armor and your helmet. There are some of huge bosses that take up both DS screens, and the combat is pretty decent.’ My one complaint is that the enemies get very repetitious.’ You definitely get tired of seeing the same baddies over and over again. In my opinion, the good outweighs the bad though. It’s a ridiculously cheap game (only $5-$7 on eBay)and 100% worth the money.

World Heroes Anthology (PS2) In preparation for our next podcast, in which we will be discussing 2d fighters in general, I’ve been dusting off some older fighters in my collection and giving them another look. Well, let’s just say I now remember why I let this one collect dust.’ I actually really enjoyed the first World Heroes game for Snes, so I figured that the PS2 versions of these games must be just as good right? Wrong. The original plays fine, it’s still fun, and I still really dig the Deathmatch mode.’ That’s were the compliments end. The Anthology also consists of World Heroes 2, World Heroes Jet, and World Heroes (not so) Perfect.’ These 3 games suffer from speed issues. I think it’s the emulation that they used to port these games over, but whatever it is, it makes the rest of the games not fun at all. One fight you are flying around the screen at a breakneck pace, and the next match you are at a normal, or slightly below, speed.’ It makes the game feel unpolished in a way. I’ll still play it but only for the original World Heroes, which doesn’t suffer from the same issues as it’s successors.

Fighter’s History (SNES): Commonly referred to as Karnov’s Revenge, this game is actually nothing like the first Karnov, which was a platformer/shooter for the NES. Fighter’s History is actually a fighter (re: Street Fighter clone) that was released on the SNES and the Neo Geo. This game is probably the closest thing to Street Fighter that I have played on the Snes, although not as good as Street Fighter (duh). In fact, It’s so close that Capcom actually filed a lawsuit against Data East. Enough about that unpleasantness though. As far as fighters go this game is really decent. I usually don’t have high hopes for any fighter released during the Genesis/Snes era, with the obvious exceptions of MK, SF, Killer Instinct and Samurai Shodown, but I have to say this one is worth picking up. There are 9 fighters to choose from, and as is the case with all 2D fighters, they have their own set of special moves complete with fireballs, flying spinning kicks, jumping uppercuts..hey..wait a sec…ahem..moving on! The controls are decent, there is no lag as you pull off a special move and go straight into a combo, and the backgrounds are definitely on the same level as Street Fighter 2. I actually found that the 1 player mode is fairly easy, even on the hard setting, so there isn’t too much replay value there. Karnov is the last boss, and his moves are predictable, so once you figure the pattern out he is easy to beat down so it takes the challenge out of the game a bit. I think the replay value lies within the Vs mode where you and a buddy can beat the bajeezus out of each other. Of course that value is limited as there are only 9 characters but still it’s worth the money as this game only goes for around $10 on eBay. Helpful hint: the speed can feel a little slow, especially when compared to today’s fighters, but go to the options menu and change the speed to fast and the game flows much better.

Lego Marvel Superheroes (360): Yup. A Lego game. After our last podcast, we decided to do a comic book theme for our next show which will be recorded on April 11th. To stick to the theme Shawn thought it would be a good idea to do a segment on the Lego superhero titles. I told him that it was a great idea BUT I have never played a Lego Batman or Marvel game. Long story..uh..shorter…I picked up a copy of Marvel Superheroes at Best Buy because it was on sale (I’m cheap, what can I say?). I popped the disc in with a sigh, not really expecting all that much. I mean it’s a damn Lego game, these things are meant for kids…right? Wrong. The game is insanely fun..I expected a mindless PG rated beat’em up, but instead I found myself playing a really good puzzle game with some beat’em up segments sprinkled in. Honestly, this is the kind of game that you would want your kids to play. It tests your critical thinking skills, it’s entertaining as hell, and it’s not over-the-top violent. Despite the lack of violence and the fact that these are little Lego characters running around solving puzzles, this game can be enjoyed by gamers of all ages. I highly recommend this one.

<I refuse to insert a picture of the next game>

Afro Samurai (360): Okay, we go from a great, well-designed game, to a steaming pile of dog sh*t cooking in the hot summer sun. I really liked the Afro Samurai anime series, so I thought the game must be, at the very least, playable. Can’t win them all I guess. If I had to choose one word to best describe this game it would be repetitious. You run around hacking the crap out of a bunch of Japanese guys. That’s it. The voice acting is decent, (hot damn! A compliment!), but wears thin after awhile..(aaaaand compliment retracted). Between the wacky camera angles, the boring combat system, and fighting what looks like the same enemies over and over, this game isn’t worth the 5 bucks I paid for it.