I have a small confession to make: this is a culmination of two weeks worth of games. I was unable to get my Sunday Roundup done last week on time, and as you’ll see I had plenty of games to put together a solid week’s worth of titles for you all. But one thing lead to another and I wasn’t able to publish my weekly article. But fear not! The Sunday Roundup has not gone away, and it is back, better than ever. Or at least it’s back. Being better is totally subjective.
 Battle Arena Toshinden: Ultimate Revenge AttackSaturn Release Date: 1996 Purchased at: Game Xchange (Lafayette, IN – $8) I picked up this game two weeks ago now. While visiting Lafayette and Purdue for a football game, I was eagerly awaiting my trip to Game Xchange, where they’ve constantly carried a decent supply of Sega Saturn games. Being a new owner of the system, I wanted nothing more than to expand my library as soon as possible. Though their selection was large comparatively, it wasn’t filled with too many exceptional games. But Battle Arena Toshinden is at least a classic fighter. It’s not a good fighter, but that doesn’t stop it from being a classic. |
 Dance Dance Revoluion UniverseXbox 360 Release Date: March 27th, 2007 Purchased at: GameStop (Merrillville, IN – free) Don’t let the $19.99 price tag fool you: I received this game for free as part of the Buy 2 Get 1 Free promo at GameStop this weekend. And what a deal it was! I saved $1 by getting this game for free. You can get a lot for a dollar these days, and now you can include old, crappy DDR games in that collection. Sadly, the game doesn’t work, so I’ll be having to return this one to GameStop this week. I sincerely hope they have another copy available, as I’d like to own this one. |
 Dance Dance Revolution Universe 2Xbox 360 Release Date: January 18th, 2008 Purchased at: GameStop (Merrillville, IN – $3) You might be noticing a pattern here. I’m going to spoil it for you now: yes, I did buy all three Xbox 360 DDR games. Why? Because it was Buy 2 Get 1 Free. And I’m a DDR fan. And each game was less than $3. Sadly though, this is the only game of the three that actually worked. And, even worse, it was… terribllllllle… Like, embarrassingly bad. What happened to you DDR? |
 Dance Dance Revolution Universe 3Xbox 360 Release Date: May 12th, 2009 Purchased at: GameStop (Merrillville, IN – $3) Again, this game didn’t work and I’ll have to take it back to the store. The songs on the back of the box for this one seems to be the best lineup of songs. But nothing will top the PS2 and earlier DDRs. |
 Daytona USASaturn Release Date: May 11th, 1995 Purchased at: Disc Replay (Lafayette, IN – $2) I am definitely not a racing game aficionado, but I know a true classic when I see one. I throw around the term “Classic” a lot, and mostly I’m referring to games that are older and hold at least memorable moments in my mind. Daytona USA however, is truly a classic game. You couldn’t go into an arcade in the 90’s and not hear and see a Daytona USA machine tucked away in the back. And as far as arcade racers go, this one isn’t that bad at all. |
 Fighting VipersSaturn Release Date: November 30th, 1996 Purchased at: Game Xchange (Lafayette, IN – $8) The best Saturn game I got last last week, Fighting Vipers is a Sega developed fighting game that features similar gameplay to the Saturn’s other notable fighter, Virtua Fighter. Fighting Vipers was also the only game I was looking for that I actually found unfortunately. I have yet to play it, but I’m sure it’s better than Toshinden. Anything’s better than that. |
 Last BronxSaturn Release Date: 1997 Purchased at: Game Xchange (Lafayette, IN – $8) Also if you hadn’t noticed, each of the Saturn games at this particular store were all $8. It isn’t that bad, especially considering most of these games are well over a decade and a half old. Anyway, Last Bronx is an exclusive fighter for the Saturn, with 3D, weapon based gameplay. Apparently they used motion capture to get the moves down, but it doesn’t look any more special that Virtua Fighter or any other 3D fighter. That being said, this game easily holds the title of best looking Saturn game I’ve played so far. Not only that, but there were plenty of Sonic the Hedgehog’s in the stage backgrounds! |
 LuminesPSP Release Date: March 22nd, 2005 Purchased at: GameStop (Merrillville, IN – $3) Remember when I was all like, “Wow, Lumines II! I can’t believe I don’t have this game yet,” and I bought it? And then I was all like, “I can’t believe I don’t have the FIRST Lumines game yet, considering how it’s a classic for the PSP.” Yeah, all that ended on Friday when I found this game (in great condition, box and all, by the way) at GameStop. |
 Pokemon Black Version 2DS Release Date: October 7th, 2012 Purchased at: N/A (Review Copy) I’ve already said enough about this game in my two posts about Pokemon Black and White Version 2. You can read the review here, and the follow up article explaining what I think the next Pokemon game should include here. Also of note, I was pretty darn excited when I got this game in September, a full two weeks before it was released to the public! Thanks, Machinima! |
 Professor Layton and the Last SpecterDS Release Date: October 17th, 2011 Purchased at: Amazon (Online – $20) I was happy I was able to secure the upcoming fifth title in the Layton series, The Miracle Mask, which comes out at the end of this month. But I still haven’t played The Last Specter, which takes place prior to the events of Miracle Mask. So, naturally, I decided I had better find a copy of The Last Specter and make sure I was completely up to date on the series before I tackle the newest game in another two weeks. And also I just love this series! |
 Revolution XSaturn Release Date: June 16th, 1994 Purchased at: Game Xchange (Lafayette, IN – $8) Music is the weapon. Revolution X is an on-rails shooter starring none other than Steven Tyler and the rest of the band Aerosmith. I’m dead serious. You murder thousands of thugs en route to saving the band and a lot of hot chicks from the New Order. If that doesn’t sound awesome enough, you get to kill tanks and helicopters with CDs! Yes, that’s right, Compact Discs are weaponized with deadly precision and an explosive nature. If you see this arcade cabinet floating around (which would be quite the feat in and of itself) you NEED to play it. Also, for a game with a band as the main characters, it has a decent soundtrack mainly composed of older Aerosmith tunes. Not too shabby! |
 Rise of the KasaiPS2 Release Date: April 5th, 2005 Purchased at: Disc Replay (Lafayette, IN – $3) Story time: I had eyeballed this game for years at Disc Replay. It was always sitting on one of the lower shelves of PS2 games, collecting dust next to the likes of Half-Life and Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. I have the first game in the series, Mark of Kri, and you know how I’m a stickler for owning a complete series. But the reason I didn’t buy the game until now is because it was $3! Since Disc Replay has a Buy 5 Get the 6th Free promo everyday, I didn’t want to just get this cheap game for free. But his time, one of my last times at the store, I decided to finally give Rise of the Kasai a good, loving home. |
 Tai Fu: Wrath of the TigerPS1 Release Date: February 28th, 1999 Purchased at: Disc Replay (Lafayette, IN – $6) Having never heard of this game before, I decided to do what I do a lot of times when in doubt with a game: look at the price and see what the game looks like on the back cover. At $6, the game was on the high end of my budget for “Games I have no idea about,” but the back cover sold me. It’s an adventure game where you play as one of the last Tigers in a clan, battling other anthropomorphic animals on a quest to become a martial arts master. Basically, you get to kick ass as a ninja tiger. A fu****g ninja tiger! SOLD! |
 WTF: Work Time FunPSP Release Date: October 23rd, 2006 Purchased at: Disc Replay (Merrillville, IN – $2) Lastly we have WTF: Work Time Fun for the PSP. I vaguely remember this game when it first came out, but most of that knowledge has left my mind along with a lot of high school calculus. The game is a collection of minigames (hurray!) that come in a variety of shapes and sizes. But the real reason I bought the game was because it was only two dollars. And it’s called WTF. |
Laters,
Jsick
