The Lone Gamer

Fast Tube by Casper
Console quality fighting action on the go?

Perhaps as a nice prelude to the big release of Soul Calibur V at the end of the month, Namco-Bandai got their mobile guys to port the classic Soul Calibur (back from the days of the Dreamcast and Original Xbox) to their iOS platform. While this kinda sounds cool, there are a lot of caveats.
First off, the game costs $11.99- pretty pricey for an app, but still I guess nowhere near as expensive as some Square RPGs on the appstore. The complete game roster of 19 fighters is available, with Arcade, Survival, Extra Survival (Sudden Death), Time Attack, Museum and Practice modes on offer. No Story Mode it seems, at least for now.

The files size is about 215 MB, which is large but not overly so. However, it requires an iPhone 4 or 4S, iPod Touch 4th Generaton or an iPad2 to run- and from the vid above it doesn’t seem to run that smoothly. If you factor in that much of SC’s appeal is silky-smooth animation, this may dash quite a few gamers’ dreams of heavenly beat ‘em up action on the go.

Lastly, despite being called Universal, the game apparently won’t run on iPad1. So if I get this, I’ll only be able to play it (at least until some patch addresses this) on my iTouch.

My Touch is already full of fighters- Streetfighter IV Volt, King of Fighters, Mortal Kombat 3 and Infinity Blade 2. Adding in Soul Calibur would probably be another nice feather in that cap. I’ll decide if I get this or not later tonight when I get home to the Sanctum and have access to my iTunes. So far though I’m at 40-60, against getting it. What I actually, really, totally and truly want, after all, is Soul Calibur V. Oh well…

Old-school RPG gaming coming to iOS, Android!

Ever heard of The Shadow Sun? It’s an RPG that’s got some really incredible graphics and seemingly good mechanics, and it’s coming to iOS. Well, good news for all the Android owners groaning at yet another great RPG title missing their platform out completely, as it’s also going to be released there, too, eventually. Some bits of info on The Shadow Sun- it was produced by staff with a lot of experience making games for that particular genre- specifically, one of them was even a staffer on Baldur’s Gate, to give you a rough idea of how far back their experience stretches.
It’s essentially a mish-mash of the old and the new – the tactical, think-carefully aspect of older PC RPG titles, and the newer console-inspired action-combat games inspired by recent fantasy efforts. Whether you’re new to the genre and tend to play PartyPoker espanol rather than FFXIII, or you’re an old hand at RPGs and you’re looking for something to suck up your time on one of the new Android tablets, this should come as welcome news.

The combination of old and new continues in the features list, with standard RPG mechanics like character and ability customization standing alongside a good/evil choices mechanic, plus it promises a dramatic story full of “complex characters, intrigue, danger, and shocking surprises.” It remains to be seen how good the story actually is, but given that Baldur’s Gate is the bar for quality here, it may turn out to be a platform-defining title.

If you haven’t tried RPG titles on your phone yet- everything from retro-style gem Legends of Yore to MMORPG Pocket Legends- then you’re missing out. So until The Shadow Sun comes out for iOS in the later half of 2011 (Android release is still TBA), so stay tuned for another game to suck you in for hours and hours. More as we get it then!

Fast Tube by Casper
The schoolgirl brings the pain with her improvised Shotokan style.

The recently-announced update patch for iOS’s Capcom beat ‘em up upgrade, Streetfighter IV Volt, is now available for download at the appstore! This free patch adds two more fighters to the 18-strong roster (which includes unlockable Akuma), Sakura and Makoto. Aside from this, there’s now a penalty for players who drop matches during online play- ragequitting will result in both a loss of the match AND a loss of Battle Points. This has its ups and downs but I think this will at least give sore losers some pause.

Anyway, I’m just happy at the inclusion of two babes to the roster. My only gripes are that Makoto’s walk animation is extremely choppy-looking, which is no surprise given how frame-hungry this animation was in the console and arcade versions. That aside, she retains her array of efficient normal and special attacks, and has her dreaded ball-busting Seichuzen Godanzuki Ultra as well. Gotta download this as soon as I get home later.
If you haven’t already downloaded SFIV Volt yet, now is a good time as the game is on sale for just $4.99 until August 8.

Fast Tube by Casper
Makoto’s karate style may be more traditional, but it’s no less dangerous.

The iOS version is optimized with full touchscreen controls. Swipe that job wheel!

Famitsu has just announced that their long-awaited classic strategy-RPG, Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions, will FINALLY hit the appstore on Thursday, August 4. Delayed several times after initially being announced for a 2010 release, this PS1 classic has been on iGamers’ wish lists for a loong time. That it’s a perfect fit for iOS devices is demonstrated in a demo vid over at Famitsu- the iPhone version of FFT has been given fully-functioning touchscreen controls- swipe physics are implemented, and navigating through menus looks pretty intuitive and easy. In battle, you can conveniently rotate the battlefields to get a better view of the action, and pinch to zoom in or out. Pretty slick!

Remembered by Square fans for it’s addictive stat-building, wealth of jobs and classes, compelling storyline and challenging scenarios, Final Fantasy Tactics will surely eat away hours as players build their army of death dealers to survive a treacherous world of ambition, conspiracies, intrigue and demonic invasion. I’m thinking, will I finally be able to figure out what a damn Calculator is for in combat?

The version to be released this week is for iPhone and iPod Touch. An HD iPad version is expected to follow later in the fall. You can find a cool video showing off live gameplay over here.

In a Zombie Apocalypse, you’ve got the best seat in the house.

Remember one of the coolest parts of the first Bayformers movie? The part where Lennox (Josh Duhamel) and his crew are being attacked by Scorponok in the desert village, and after some silliness (“LEFT CHEEK! LEFT CHEEK! LEFT CHEEK!) they manage to call in this awesome aerial gun platform which blows the Decepticon to kingdom come. Well, actually I think about 80 percent of the rounds fired hit sand, and Scorp actually managed to escape sans tail, but it was still pretty cool. Well, picture a game that puts you in the seat of that awesome flying gunship, but this time the stakes are fare higher, the situation even more tense, and your need to hit with accuracy through the roof. That’s Zombie Gunship, a new game for iPhone from Limbic Software.

Set after some Pandemic unleashed hordes of slobbering undead on the world, the game throws you into the gunner’s seat of an AC-130 gunship, tasked with the role of protecting an armored bunker in the mountains from approaching zombie hordes. To do this, you’ve got a machine gun to start, and afterwards you can buy a couple of heavier guns/cannons. As killing zombies nets you money, you can use your rewards to upgrade the various aspects of your equipment, from damage radius, cooling down times and bullet speed, to extras like radar upgrades and a last resort bomb at the front of the bunker.

Complicating things a bit are some still-human soldiers making a hasty retreat to the bunker amongst the zombies, and you have to keep from hitting these poor fools by mistake. Kill two with your friendly fire and your tour of duty’s over. Let one zombie slip into the bunker tunnel, game over. There’s actually no goal, no stopping- you keep shooting and shooting till you fail. And fail you will, since after a bit the hordes grow increasingly relentless and numerous, and among the rank-and-file shamblers are giant boss zombies that take a LOT of fire to take down… try to take out these bad boys early. It’s a pretty simple but compelling game that you can easily jump into and out, and it’s fairly addictive.
The presentation seems Spartan, but it actually does resemble the similar segment in Modern Warfare for consoles, down to the deadpan delivery and commentary of your commanding officer/pilot as you shoot, score or fail. Sound effects are also simple but dead perfect. Play this with headphones in the dark for best results. It may get so tense, you may find yourself strapping on a parachute after a while.

Zombie Gunship is one of the cooler games I’ve recently gotten for my iPod Touch, and at just 99 cents, it’s a great buy for any iOS gamer. So grab it from the appstore posthaste and get ready to bring the rain.

Fast Tube by Casper
It’s always interesting when Ono’s around…

Here’s the full Capcom Panel at Comicon, as filmed by Gamespot, with Yoshinori Ono presiding. The Streetfighter producer announced various things, from a promise to pitch once again for a new Darkstalkers game, to a release date for Streetfighter III Third Strike Online, to add-ons to Streetfighter IV Volt on iOS, continued support for Super Streetfighter IV Arcade Edition and of course, the new characters debuting for Streetfighter X Tekken. But of course, why just show it all via Powerpoints when you can have cross-dressing and a unique slapstick segment starring Ono and Tekken’s Katsuhiro Harada to make this panel pretty memorable?

There’s still a day left to Comicon, with Namco-Bandai saving all their Fighting Game news for then. Let’s hope for even cooler stuff then. More as we get it!

Who’s the toughest schoolgirl around? Let’s find out!

If you love beat ‘em ups and have an iOS device (iPhone or iPod Touch), you probably have the pretty awesome Streetfighter IV. If you’re in the know and up to date, you probably have the updated Streetfighter IV Volt: Battle Protocol, which ratchets up the action and adds in several new fighters- Vega, Cody, Balrog and secret boss Akuma. Well, the so-far apparent sausage-fest of a game Volt has been so far has finally been up-ended with a shot of super schoolgirl action into this handheld fighter.

What’s better for full-contact combat: Skirts or Gis? Your choice!

To arrive in an upcoming update for SFIV Volt will be a couple of tough teen spitfires- Ryu’s No. 1 fan Sakura and The Girl with Pure Karate Spirit, Makoto! Miss Kasugano brings with her the trademark sailor outfit and her Shotokan skills, while Little Mak brings her worn karate gi, trademark trailing ribbon and her family’s hard-hitting, more traditional form of karate.

Makoto’s ready to choke out the competition.

MAN, this is the great news, particularly after me personally being disappointed with Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3′s all-guy roster. Makoto’s my favorite SSFIV fighter and having her on my iPod Touch with Volt is going to be freakin’ awesome (now I can actually work towards that 100 online fights when I’m using my fave brawler). For more screens of Makoto and Sakura in action, check out Famitsu’s article and gallery here (which also contains a secret code for unlocking Akuma).

No date yet set for this, but it should be hitting the appstore very soon. More as I get it then!

Slow-mo Shootouts, sleazy bars and mature language. Nice.

Gameloft continues to bring familiar-looking and playing titles to the iOS (and Android, actually) platform, the latest being 9MM, a run-and-gun action title reminiscent of the classic Max Payne series. You star as John ‘Loose’ Kannon (Heh), a hardcore cop who who’s relentless pursuit of druglords has put him and his team into some hot water. Now John has to take the fight to the kingpin behind it all, chasing down and interrogating fugitives, shooting it out with gangs of thugs and goons through varied locales and environments.

Aside from the high-octane action, array of firepower, large maps and dialogue rich with F-bombs, the game boasts support for Online Multiplayer (Deathmatch and Free-for-All) and a hiphop/rap soundtrack with artists like Freeway and Jake One, Beanie Sigel and Apathy.

That all said along with the teaser trailer above, perhaps the best argument for getting this game would be the vid below, which shows quite a bit of gameplay from a member of the TouchArcade forums. The game looks great, seems to play great and I’m interested. iOS shooters have been getting better and better as of late, so I’m ready to load this 17+ Shooter up on my iDevices (it’s Universal, BTW) and get some killing done. Find it on the appstore now for $6.99.

Fast Tube by Casper
Actual gameplay with lots of guns and F-bombs.