Sunday Roundup: 12/29/13

Man, how long have I been waiting for this. After naming the 3DS sequel Virtue’s Last Reward as an honorable mention Game of the Year last year, my eyes were set on the first outing on the DS. Interesting factoid: this cover here is the re-release cover. The original cover, which is slightly cooler in my mind, shows the game’s cast as well as some alternate fonts. Have at it, collectors, and track down both!

The first Adventure Time game based on the Cartoon Network animated series was short but sweet. The second game here promises to be a longer game rounded out with co-op multiplayer. I have debated about getting the 3DS collector’s edition as well, because I have the first game as a collector’s edition on the 3DS already, but the allure of Xbox Live support and easy access to friends to play with was too much to pass up. Thanks for the mathematical gift!

For one reason or another, I came across a video discussing good bargain bin games. Swine of the Night was on the list, and I thought the combination of cowboy pigs, video game parody, and apparently decent controls and gameplay made for a game I should check out. I’ve been searching bargain bins ever since but without any luck. Finally, I noticed the game was somewhat cheap on Amazon this week so i finally picked it up.

My very first time in a Fry’s Electronics proved quite the adventure! I didn’t know they would have an assortment of PS2 games, albeit used, for purchase! Cartoon Network Racing has no appeal to me other than being a cheap, complete, PS2 game. Huh… with Adventure Time this makes two Cartoon Network themed games this year…

I splurged a bit on this one, setting me back a whole eight bucks! I didn’t know they even released the game on the DS, but here it is! Actually, the $8 price tag is pretty good for the game: I checked it out online and used complete copies go for somewhere around the $15-$20 range. So not a bad find at all in my book!

Hooray for games you can’t even play! Everquest Online Adventures is a PS2 version of the MMORPG Everquest on the PC. The console version was significantly altered to from the PC game, but it actually wasn’t that bad. I was able to play this game online when it came out way back in 2003. My brother had a copy of it and I remember going online and playing. It… wasn’t great, but it was still fun. Interestingly, the game’s servers went down in march of 2012! I thought it would have been much, much earlier. That’s a good 5 solid years after the release of the PS3!

We played this game at a demo station in GameStop awhile back and it was a complete blast! The games we played were challenging and fun, and left a wonderful impression on how awesome the GamePad could be. I am happy that I was given it as a gift this year, but since there were some other games on my list that I also got I haven’t gotten around to this one quite yet.

Heavenly Guardian is a strange case for me. I have had my eyes on the game for quite some time now, but for one reason or another I would never find it at a good price or in good condition. There is also a Wii version (which I have as well), but I have always wanted the PS2 version. I am more than happy to finally have the game in my collection, even though it’s in no way special or all that good.

Zombies, on-rails shooting, and cursing. What more could you want from a game? Haha, I am very excited to finally be able to sit down and play this one. I thought I remembered something about the game holding a record for dropping the most F-Bombs in a video game? Maybe it’s been beaten out since, but that’s pretty crazy. Especially for a Wii game, which could largely be considered a child-friendly console compared to the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Man, I was completely surprised to open this one up on Christmas morning! Kid Icarus: Uprising isn’t a particularly difficult game to find, but finding it complete with the big box, 3DS stand, and AR cards is quite the task. Laura’s mother bought the game for me brand-spanking new, so I don’t even have to worry about not having each piece! Seriously, out of all the games I received this year, this one was the biggest surprise!

Oh my god, this game is awesome! There were two games that I wanted more than any other gift this year, and this game was one of them. A Link Between Worlds has been wonderful to me so far, full of nostalgic locales, beautiful musical scores, and a challenge and sense of adventure that the Zelda series is known for. I’m only a few dungeons in so far, but I can already see why so many are calling this game the best in the entire franchise!

With the release of each new LEGO game I feel like they can’t really do anything better than the last. LEGO Batman 2 was awesome, giving a sort of Grand Theft Auto open-world feel to the game. How can they top that? Apparently by adding nearly every recognizable face from the Marvel comics universe into one video game, that’s how! Though Jett over at In Third Person isn’t too keen on it, I’m still expecting a great game out of this one!

I have only heard negative things about this game. One that the gameplay was just meh; two that the game was too easy; and three that the game wasn’t all that good. But still, for just $3 I’ll buy pretty much anything. I mean it… even some of the crappiest games (which may very well include this one) are much more appealing if they are only a few dollars each! Protip: get a massive game collection fast by just picking up cheap games, regardless of quality. Haha, I’m kidding, that’d be terrible!

You know, people always consider the Lumines series, which started out on the original PSP, to be one of the better puzzle games out there. It combines music with simple puzzle gameplay, and while I have played it a do find it addictive and cool at times, it just doesn’t quite do it for me. Regardless, having Lumines Plus on the PS2 is a neat addition to the game library for sure.

Oh man! After narrowly purchasing the Wii U version of the game I am quite happy to finally have my hands on the 3DS version of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. Many 3DS friends of mine (real world friends as well as 3DS online friends) recommended the game to me, telling me I’d love the RPG aspects, but I never played it before. I don’t think it’s really a gamble to play this one without knowing anything about it, because I’m more than positive I’ll like it, but I’m wondering exactly what the game will be like.

One more Forgotten Sands game down, and just the PSP version to go! After discovering that each version of this game is slightly different on each console I’ve been on a quest to track down each and every version of the game. The DS game here is the latest addition to the library, and features unique 2D side scrolling gameplay and special attacks. Honestly I feel like the PSP version will be the hardest to find, but I’m up for the challenge!

Huzzah! Another special edition 3DS game! Though special edition isn’t really special when I think every version of the game came like this. The game comes with a bonus soundtrack CD which I’m more than happy to have along with the game. For the SMT fans out there, Soul Hackers is a port of the once Japan exclusive Sega Saturn game Devil Summoner, and the only English translated version of the game out there.

The other game that was on the top of my Christmas list was Super Mario 3D World. Considering that this was the game that convinced me I needed to own a Wii U, you can say I was more than excited to open up this game. Thank you so much Laura, I absolutely love it! I’ve actually been able to play a few hours too, and I can say the game is a complete blast and easily one of the best Wii U games as well as one of the better Mario games out there. In terms of multiplayer gameplay, I think this surpasses New Super Mario Bros Wii/U.

Drake’s final (at least for now) chapter is finally mine to experience. After the insanely exciting and fun Uncharted 2: Among Thieves I was totally on board for the sequel. Though it isn’t said to be as good as Uncharted 2 it’s still a solid game on the PS3 and another classic by Naughty Dog. The Game of the Year edition here gives some bonus DLC as well!

This one isn’t exactly my gift because it was given to Laura, but I thought I’d include it on this list anyway because I mean come on, it’s The Wonderful 101! Laura was able to play a quick demo of it while she was waiting for me to finish my demo of Knack on the PS4 (mini-review: it was just alright, but looked pretty), and she really liked how the game looked and played! One of her good friends bought it for her, and now we have another great Wii U game to play in 2014!

A Wii U launch title, ZombiU has been a title I’ve wanted to play since the system’s release. Not really for the fact that it’s a Wii U exclusive, but because of how it handles the gameplay. Even when you’re in a menu, you can be attacked. I think the franticness of that combined with the danger of zombies (duh) makes for a unique outing.