Missed me? I would have written something last week if I hadn’t passed out from PAX exhaustion or if there was anything even remotely interesting to tell you about unless you think Everyone Sings for PS3 and Xbox 360 is interesting. This week’s offering seems to be a little bit more palatable, so I’ll do you all a solid and shake off the remnants of my PAX hangover so that I may “enlighten” you with the games of the week.

Remember. Release dates are quite literally made at the whims of the publisher.  The following are subject to change without any warning.

 

Releases To Watch For This Week

Kirby’s Dream Collection: Special Edition (Wii)

Sunday September 16, 2012

Normally I don’t even bother with highlighting compilations given how it really doesn’t bring anything new to the table, but Kirby’s Dream Collection really does set itself apart pretty well from most collection namely by the age of the compiled games.

To celebrate Kirby’s 20th anniversary, Nintendo has compiled Kirby’s first six games into KDC. Meaning it has Kirby's Dream Land, Kirby's Adventure, Kirby's Dream Land 2, Kirby Super Star, Kirby's Dream Land 3, and Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. Those with good memory, or instant access to Google, will notice that the first two Kirby’s Dream Land games came out on that lovable, monochrome green screen, great, granddad of the 3DS, the Game Boy. You will indeed play these Game boy games on the big screen via the Wii. On top of these games, KDC will also include several Challenge Stages and supplementary materials like a Kirby timeline highlighting all of its games, a 45-track music CD, and a little booklet talking about Kirby’s origins.

Kirby’s recent forays has veered pretty far from his origins as the pink fluffy vacuum that everybody loved. Kirby’s Epic Yarn sees him lassoing enemies while Kirby’s Mass Attack sees him split into ten mini-Kirby’s who gangs up on enemies. Only the most recent game, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land, has Kirby doing classic Kirby things like inhaling enemies and stealing their powers and whatnot. Given Kirby’s recent diversity, young’uns could easily be confused as to Kirby’s true identity. This repackaged, blast from the past should set the record straight.

 

Note to self: Figure out how a double date actually work

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (Xbox 360, PS3)

Tuesday September 11, 2012

Do your Tekken matches feel a little too lonely with your one guy per team limitation? Well spice it up with Tekken Tag Tournament 2 where you will once again pair up your favorite Tekken characters with other Tekken characters without those annoying Street Fighter characters hogging up the roster.

On top of boasting over fifty characters, TTT2 will implement the World Tekken Federation, think Bungie.net or Call of Duty Elite, so instead of just feeling like you suck at Tekken, you can see a number that clearly tells you that yes, you suck. WTF will track even the most minute detail of your fighting style like how often you break out of throws or whether or not you’re most susceptible to low hits or high hits. Don’t be surprised if it also tracks how often you swear at the TV (Kinect required).

If you don’t care about how you actually do and more about the actual experience of fighting, then perhaps the Tekken Tunes will be more to your liking. TTT2 lets you change the music that plays during the match. It does more than give you a selection of tunes to change it from though. A song can be imported from your own library of music. Ever wonder what a Tekken feels like with Yanni playing in the background? How about Beethoven? Or just toss aside the whole notion of music altogether and import a ten minute recording of fart noises. If you lack imagination though, Bandai Namco will have a selection of classic Tekken tunes you can pay for.

The first Tekken Tag Tournament, which came out back in 2000, was highly regarded and still has a following even today. No other Tekken, barring the recent crossover, has the multiple player format leaving that honor solely in the TTT franchise’s hands. Now let’s see if this longtime-coming sequel can give those old fans something new to play.

 

Coming This Week

Tuesday September 11, 2012

Battlefield 3 Premium Edition (Xbox 360, PS3)

Wanna catch up with all your Battlefield 3 playing friends who has all the DLCs for it, but you want a disc that has it all instead of downloading said DLCs? Obviously EA was thinking of you when they made this Battlefield 3 edition, which by the way also comes with the Premium membership, a.k.a Battlefield 3’s version of COD Elite.

Finding Nemo: Escape to the Big Blue (3DS, DS)

If you absolutely must own a game of every movie that comes out at the time the movie comes out, or in this case comes out AGAIN, in movie theaters, Nintendo has you covered not only on the DS base, but the 3DS base as well. Please enjoy this re-release of a 2009 DS game, and please give me regards to Big Foot and Santa Claus as well.

NBA Baller Beats (Xbox 360 Kinect)

How does one even start to talk about the madness that is NBA Baller Beats? You know. The basketball Kinect game that somehow thought that a sports game desperately needs an infusion of Guitar Hero to make it work. In Beats you literally dribble an actual basketball in front of your TV to the beat of the 30 or so available songs. Like Guitar Hero, Beats has a notes highway that shows you what kind of dribbling is required and in what frequency. On a practical level, this game could potentially teach you to be a better basketball player. On a common sense, WTF level… well… WTF!

NHL 13 (Xbox 360, PS3)

NHL 13 continues to build off it's strong 2012 performance by upgrading its Hockey Ultimate Team, skating and goalie animations, and GM connected. Electronic Arts has definitely gone the safe route this year with their updates, and why not. With a lockout threatening the entirety of the NHL 2012-2013 season, NHL 13 might be the only way for hockey aficionados to get on the ice. Not having a league to sell alongside your licensed product is never a good sign, and even though we've seen this scenario play out lately, last year NBA 2k12 came out in the midst of an NBA lockout. The NHL is one labor negotiation, unlike in the other leagues, that is expected to wipe the entirety of the league calendar. Will people buy a game for a league that's not open for business? Guess we might just find out this year.
-Wolf96

 

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