Games You Should Know About... (Birthday Edition)

Yes, Games You Should Know About... is back in its new home.  It's been a while since I did one of these, so I figure we should bring it back in a big way.

For those of you who only know me as "Kaiser," my 31st birthday was this past Tuesday.  Even though I'm on my way to becoming an old fart, there is still one present of choice for me: video games.  Ever since I owned the NES, a present of video gaming bliss was always welcome (unless the game sucked).  This year is no exception.  Although only one person really bought me a video game this year (and she did so by having me purchase it with her debit card), I got a good amount of money and a GameStop gift card to set me up with a motherload of gaming.  So far, I've picked up three games, while waiting for a fourth one to come out.  Here's my birthday stash.

You may recall, on the Ablogcalypse, that I expressed great interest in this game.  It's amazing that no game before this even really explored the full potential of flying around on a jetpack.  Of course, this was the game I put on pre-order and incessantly bugged my wife to purchase for me.  She relented, but only on the condition that I won't play it until my birthday.  I was able to get her to negotiate that to the weekend before my birthday, since she didn't want me playing the game all day while she took the day off to spend time with me.

One thing that's really pissed me off about the online video game review community is that everyone's been bashing this game.  Most review scores see it at a 6 or 6.5 (which is "meh"), but when they talk about the game, most just whine about how mediocre it was.  No one fucking bothered to mention much on it's strengths (which is, primarily, the air combat).  Of course, every dickless little shit whose homoerotic feelings for Kratos, Master Chief, or Marcus Fenix keep them from knowing what a fucking good game looks like had to chime in on the comment sections and say, "I knew that game was gonna suck.  I played the demo and I didn't like the flying section (because I'm a retard who never played Crimson Skies: The High Road To Revenge).  etc."

Okay, Dark Void isn't a great game, but it doesn't suck, cockmonglers.  And, no, you didn't know it was going to suck.  You fucking guessed and when people said it was "meh," you stepped right up and assumed that it meant it was a terrible game.  You're a bunch of goddamn, punk-ass tweeners who needs to have a foot broken off in their asses and your moms are nothing more than hobo-fucking sluts.

Sorry about that.  The Kaiser really needed to speak his piece, there.  Anger check.  I'm okay.

Anyway, Dark Void is... okay.  It's biggest strength is the jetpack.  One moment, you can be on the ground, firing on robotic soldiers, then, almost seamlessly, you're pushing subsonic speeds.  The transition can be jarring, though, because if you jump to full speed flight without getting yourself prepared (that is, aiming yourself into some open space), you will smash your skull into some obstacle.  This can be frustrating (and amusing) at first, but you just need to remember to aim your reticle skyward and you'll be fine.

While air combat is great, the rest of the game does suffer.  Ground combat is not as exciting (at least, not at first).  The later ground levels are more enjoyable, but the first part of the game is a bit slow.  Using the pack to hover over your enemies is a nice touch, though.

The rest of the game feels... unfinished; unpolished.  Despite having known voice actors like Nolan North, who is pulling a Mark Hamill and lending his voice to a shitload of games, cartoons, and films, the acting is uninspired, the script is threadbare, and the story is way too shallow.  Character's are unappealing, their development is non-existent, and the ending... is not an ending, at all.

Actually, Zero Punctuation, a web series that verbally abuses today's video games on a regular basis, made an excellent point when they reviewed this game: something's missing from it.  Kind of like what happened to Indigo Prophecy, the game was either rushed or ran out of money.  Dark Void is an incomplete game.  There's even a glaring bug in there that should have been easily fixed.  In one scene, when you're talking to Nikola Tesla, who is sorely underdeveloped in this game, the voices suddenly start crackling like they were talking through a broken vocoder.  Things like that tell me that Capcom told Airtight Games, "We're publishing this game in a month, whether it's ready or not."  Unfortunately, it wasn't.

Despite the flaws, it still has some enjoyable moments.  I wish there were more of them, but there is definitely fun to be had from soaring through the sky, dogfighting flying saucers, with only a rocket-propelled pack strapped to you.  I don't know.  Maybe if someone used this idea to create a Flash Gordon or an old school Buck Rogers type game, I'd be much happier with that.  If you're interested in the game, give it a rental.  I will say that I've learned something from this experience.  First off, even the most promising projects can be ruined by outside influences.  Second, most of the people who write for these online video game sites have about as much credibility as any other gamer out there.  Given that fact, why should I give any weight to their opinions?  If I like a game that they don't, then the hell with them.

Speaking of dogfighting, this game came out recently and it is already the best air combat experience for the Wii.  While that might not be saying much, I would imagine that any future air battle games for the Wii will have to work hard to match the experience of Innocent Aces.  If you aren't savvy to the anime scene, this game is based on the movie The Sky Crawlers, which is about these teenage pilots that fly for these corporations at war with each other in an otherwise peaceful world (imagine if warfare became a spectator sport).  Turns out, these kids, called Kildren, can only be killed in battle.

As shown in the picture, this game was created by Namco Bandai's Project Aces team, the same guys who created the Ace Combat games.  Needless to say, this game is very much like the Ace Combat series, keeping a similar look and feel.  If you've ever played an Ace Combat game, this will be very familiar territory.  There are some changes, though.  One thing I like about this game over Ace Combat is that the planes are based on WWII era models, giving it a more classic dogfight aesthetic, which I love.

Of course, that means there are no guided missles, no lock-ons.  Bullets are your weapon of choice against other pilots.  This, of course, leads to a more aerial circus style of dogfighting, where well timed loops and barrel rolls are not just for show.  Since this is the case, the game uses a more arcade style mechanic to pull off  such maneuvers easily.  With just a press of a button, your pilot can dodge enemy fire or pull off some aerial acrobatics to get behind a bogey and permanently ground him.  This kind of gives it a bit of a High Road To Revenge flavor, but not so much that it overshadows the more authentic feel.  When you feel like you're ready for the big leagues, Innocent Aces does have the option, just like in every Ace Combat game, for more realistic control, which affords greater maneuverability, but is only for those top aces.

While you can use a standard control setup, such as using the Classic Controller, you can use the Nunchuck (in your right hand) to control the plane like a flight stick and the Wiimote (in the left hand) as the throttle.  It takes some getting used to, but I actually like using it.

To be honest, I've never seen the movie this game is based on.  I've heard other people recommend it, though.  Now that I've played the game, I really want to check out the anime.  The story is interesting, though depressing, at times.  The music is wonderful.  The action is top notch.  This is a good game that I don't think has the exposure it deserves.  If you are a Wii owner who loves Ace Combat or are a fan of old style dogfighting before the advent of jet fighters, then you should definitely pick up Innocent Aces.

If you are a fighting game aficionado, then not only do you know about Tatsunoko vs Capcom, you also can't believe that such a game actually came out in the States.  I remember seeing footage from this game for the first time on YouTube.  Back then, people just thought is was a really good forgery; a "dream project," if you will.  When the dream became reality in Japan, American gamers said it would never come overseas.  If there is any game that is proof that the American gaming market is becoming more open to a lot of the great games from Japan that we've been missing out for years, this game is it.

For those of you who, again, really aren't savvy to the anime scene.  Tatsunoko Productions (or Tatsunoko Pro) is a Japanese animation company that was founded in 1962 and produced a lot of "superhero" anime, such as Gatchaman, which received exposure in the west as Battle of the Planets and, later, as G-Force.  Probably the most recognizable property from Tatsunoko Pro would be Speed Racer.

What's so amazing about this game's Stateside release is that hardly anyone, even most anime fans, knows anything about Tatsunoko Pro.  Even when it's 40th anniversary project, Karas, was released in 2005, most people didn't pay attention.  Despite that, the company has been extremely prolific, usually providing supplemental work for other companies, such as Pioneer and Gainax, to produce anime such as Serial Experiments Lain or Neon Genesis Evangelion (yes, they worked on Evangelion).  Of course, such a company would be good for making a game in Japan.  In the US, Tatsunoko was an unknown.  The name didn't have brand recognition over here.  Not only that, but the Capcom side has some obscure and strange choices for their roster, such as Mega Man Volnutt from the Mega Man Legends games, Frank West from Dead Rising, and Saki Omokane from the Japan only game Quiz Nanairo Dreams (she also made an appearance as a card in Card Fighter's Clash for the Neo Geo Pocket Color).  It made sense that Capcom of America would be reluctant, at best, to bring TvC to the US.

Nonetheless, the dream is a reality and it plays exactly like that: a dream.  This is the spiritual successor to the Marvel vs Capcom games.  Though this is a must play for any fighting game master, the controls are actually highly accessible, allowing for newcomers and less skilled gamers to play the game and actually pull off some special moves with ease.  While I prefer the Classic Controller, you can certainly use any method of controls available for the Wii, including the GameCube controller.  Yes, this is a Wii exclusive game.  Quit complaining and buy one.   They're relatively cheap and worth the money.

Actually, the easiest control scheme is with the Wiimote.  No Nunchuck, just the Wiimote.  Typically, most Capcom fighting games have six attack buttons, three for both punches and kicks.  TvC has only three attack buttons for default: weak, medium, and strong; without any differentiation between punches and kicks.  With just the Wiimote, the number of attack buttons is reduced to one.  That's right, you can just wail on the attack button to your heart's content.  There's even a button for that setup that allows you to do special moves.  It's really simple.  I can imagine a five-year-old playing this game.  I can't imagine they'd be winning a lot of matches, though.  Actually, if someone can teach their little kid how to kick ass at TvC, they need to commemorate their child's skills on video, because that would be awesome.

Forget Super Street Fighter IV.  TvC is definitely the next big thing in fighting games.  What's great is that it may actually give Tatsunoko Pro some western exposure.  I, myself, am already familiar with about one third of the Tatsunoko roster in the game: Gatchaman, Tekkaman, Casshan.  I would love to believe that fighting game fans out there will be so excited about this game that they'll actually check out the anime that a lot of these characters come from.  Unfortunately, not a lot of Tatsunoko anime is available in the US, so there's some people out there who need to get to work on changing that.

Finally, this is the game I'm waiting for to be released.  If you've been a regular reader of The Ablogcalypse, you've probably figured out that I am an avid arcade game fan.  So this new collection of arcade games is a must have for me.  While some of these games I've never heard of, games such as Heavy Barrel and Bad Dudes (yes, as a kid, I was a bad enough dude...) were some of my favorites.  Caveman Ninja was turned into Joe 'n' Mac for the SNES.  I remember playing Side Pocket (where I came to the realization that I suck at pool).  And, of course, Burgertime is just classic.  This game won't come out until next Tuesday, so my friends, Kurt and Giz, gave me a gift card to GameStop so I could get it.  Unfortunately, GameStop wasn't even taking pre-orders for the game, which usually means they're not even planning on carrying it, as they don't think it will sell.  Instead, I used the gift card to pick up Innocent Aces.  If all else fails, I'll pick this up on Amazon.

So there you have it.  That's pretty much my run of the games I got for my birthday.  Most of them were for the Wii, which proves that anyone who says that there are no good games on that system are full of shit.

Kaiser, did you have anything else to add?

"Fuck those punk-ass kids with a chainsaw."

Kaiser Crowbar, so charming.