The Dark Shadows That Plague Kaiser Crowbar's Crypt of Doom (A Games You Should Know About... Halloween Special)

The survival horror genre has been a staple of mainstream video games for over a decade.  Most of us remember playing Resident Evil for the first time and actually being creeped out by a video game.  I remember playing it with tense apprehension, waiting for something to jump out at me so I could put a few shotgun shells in it before I wigged out too much.  The fear factor wore off after the first time playing, but the game did give you a good experience.  After the success of the Resident Evil series (which is still going strong), Capcom and other companies capitalized on the rise of the genre.  From the disturbing pshchological terror of Silent Hill, to the eerie horror of Fatal Frame, to the seat-of-your-pants zombie survival bonanza Dead Rising.  It was all thanks to Resident Evil for being the first survival horror game that started it all... or did it?

Actually, Resident Evil was not the first survival horror video game.  That honor would probably belong to another Capcom game, Sweet Home, which was released in 1989 in tandem with the movie of the same name.  Though Resident Evil did borrow a lot from this game, Sweet Home was never released outside of Japan and was an 8-bit RPG for the Famicom.  Resident Evil is a 3D game, so would that make Resident Evil the first 3D survival horror game to reach the States?

No.  Another game beat RE to the punch by four years.  That game was Alone in the Dark.  It was primarily made for PCs and Macintosh computers, but a version did crop up on the lackluster 3DO console.  It took place in 1925, as a paranormal investigator, Edward Carnby, discovers terrible horrors in a Louisiana mansion where the owner committed suicide.  The game has a heavy Lovecraftian influence and is considered a classic by many old school afficionados (I wouldn't know, though.  I spent most of my life without a computer, so I never played this game).

So, if I never played this game, why am I writing about it?  Well, the game did have sequels.  Both AITD 2 and 3 followed as direct sequels to the game, but didn't have as much Lovecraftian influence.  It wasn't until the fourth game came out that I took notice.  Titled Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare, it seemed like a reboot of the franchise.  It retained a lot of Lovecraft's influence, but the monsters in the game are not quite like the Cthulhu mythos.

The hero, again, is Edward Carnby.  Some people have theorized that he, inexplicably, was in a coma for several decades and that this is the exact same guy from the first game.  Regardless, he decides to go to this island off the coast of Maine after his partner dies while investigating there.  Along for the ride is the beautiful Aline Cedrac, a young professor at Boston University who is looking for Obed Morton, who, supposedly, inherited this island, as well as some "research," from his father.  Of course, there's much more to this story than is let on in the beginning.  It seems that the island is filled with these monsters who come from a shadow dimension and are eager to kill anything in their sight.  The player will also come across lots of zombie-like creatures: corpses that were injected with some of the inorganic material that the shadow monsters are made of.  They were brought back to some abomination of life, much like Lovecraft's story, Herbert West: Reanimaror.

The player can play either Carnby or Cedrac.  Each character has their own different game experience, as both of them are exploring the old mansion nestled on the island.  The game plays a lot like Resident Evil, you run around (just like in RE, it's like steering a tank), picking up items, solving puzzles, and shooting monsters.  But this game does some things differently.  First off, this game has a lot of investigation, in the way of reading letters, documents, diary entries, photos, and audio recordings, in order to get a lot of the backstory, which is pretty involved.  I certainly recommend reading every document you find.  It may take some time, but the backstory is rewarding. 

Another innovation with this game has to do with the lighting.  Light plays an important part in this game, from the way that lights will go out just when the monsters appear, to actually having weapons that use light, such as the phosphorescent bullets that Carnby uses, to kill monsters.  This may sound insignificant, but the flashlight in this game is quite impressive.  Considering the character and monsters are 3D representations on a pre-rendered 2D backdrop, the flashlight actually interacts perfectly with the 2D background, making a realistic spot of light appear wherever you aim the flashlight (and you can aim the flashlight to search through the dark surroundings).  It's actually a good effect.

The voice acting is a step up from the original RE.  It doesn't sound as forced or corny (no "Jill sandwiches" here).  Some of the voice actors do ham it up a bit, but it sounds much better than Barry from RE repeatedly saying, "What is it?" in such an unconvincing voice.

Like I said before, gameplay is similar to RE because this came out after and uses some of the influences from the game.  I do like that the left analog stick is used to aim your flashlight while you're searching.  You can also aim both your gun and flashlight at the same time, so you can see what you're shooting.  The dual shock controllers are a must for this game, because the game uses the vibration function to kinda give you chills at appropriate times.

Despite a lot of reviewers saying this is just another RE knockoff, it really is much more than that.  It provides atmosphere, depth, and real scares to your gaming experience.  I recommend you pick up a copy.

Now, I know that the picture above is for a PS2 version of the game, but unless you live in England, you're shit outta luck.  The PS2 version is only available for PAL systems.  I own the PS1 version of the game, which has the least impressive graphics out of all the versions.  There is a Dreamcast and PC version of the game available, but I don't know how well the controlls would work, since the control scheme seems to be made for Sony's systems.

With that being said, this video is definitely not from the PS1 version.  Most likely, it's from either the PC or Dreamcast version.  So enjoy, and always be wary of things in the dark.


Kaiser out

Games You Should Know About (But Probably Don't), or, Fairy Tale Zombie Apocalypse

I remember one day going into a GameStop and perusing the shelves, as I always do, when my eyes rested upon a Nintendo DS game that just screamed at me, "Buy this now!" Why? Well, the title was the first thing that caught my eye. In big letters, the game proudly announced itself as Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ. A name like that just sounds ridiculously awesome. I took a look at the back cover and, sure enough, the game is exactly what the title advertises. You play as Little Red Riding Hood or Momotaro (the hero who was born out of a peach in Japanese folklore) as you carve your way through hordes of zombies with an assortment of guns. Plus, it only cost $20. So awesome name, awesome premise, awesome price... but what really convinced me to buy it without hesitation was my penis.

Yep, my penis.

...because Little Red Riding Hood is so fucking boobiliscious. I mean, just look at her.
That's pretty sexy. Now, usually, buying a video game because your erection told you to is not a good idea. Lots of game companies use sex to sell their games. This does not necessarily mean the game is good, but, like I said before, awesome name, awesome premise, awesome price. I decided this was a safe bet. I was right.

This game is solid fun. That's just all there is to it. It's not too different from your typical shooter. Each stage has you constantly moving forward, ala rail shooters, but you can move left and right using the D-pad and the stylus. Zombies come at you and you mow them down. What makes this game special is it's own craziness.

Let me explain the premise in full detail. You are Little Red Riding Hood, we got that, but she's a sexy, gun-toting bad ass. She just got done blasting the hell out of the Big Bad Wolf and is mourning the death of the Woodsman, who died in the battle. Suddenly, the dead rise out of the grave and most of the world has been zombified. It's up to Red to take them down and find the cause of the uprising.

Along the way, you fight undead versions of classic fairy tale characters: Red's grandmother, a giant Pinocchio, the Three Little Pigs, Hansel and Gretel, even Santa Claus wants to eat your brains. The design on the monsters and bosses is awesome, with a macabre cartoony feel. And fighting each boss is a challenge. I think I had to try each one a couple times before I beat them.


The controls are both interesting and frustrating. At the bottom of the screen are seven squares that define your character's range of movement. Left and right on the D-pad makes the character move one square at a time, but there are times when you need to be faster than that. Tapping on a specific square with the stylus makes your character dash to that spot, which makes dodging easier. Actually, just about everything in this game is controlled by the stylus: shooting, selecting weapons, ducking, etc. You do so much with the stylus that you get hand cramps pretty quickly. Another thing is that, unless you have a really long stylus and hold it a funny way, your hand is going to get in the way of the touch screen, which means you can't see your character. Both screens show the action, with the top screen showing what's in the distance, but it's a pain in the ass to have my eyes contending with my hand while I'm playing. This is the biggest flaw in the game, because the bottom screen is just too damn busy to have your hand in the way.

So the controls weren't executed perfectly, but it is still a lot of zombie blasting fun. It does require some serious stylus skills, though, so get that hand working. For being a cheap DS game, it doesn't feel like you're getting some bargain basement crap or some shitty shovelware. This game is definitely worth a shot.

By the way, this game may look like it was an obscure game from Japan, but it actually was created by a game company in Spain. Believe it or not.

But this game came out last year. Why am I telling you about it now? Because I caught wind of a game coming out for WiiWare in December called Zombie Panic in Wonderland. Let's check out the similarities. This game features zombies in a fairy tale setting, a samurai hero, a sexy fairy tale character (Snow White this time), similar gameplay (although this game is 3D), and a very similar art style. This is more than mere coincidence.

After a little digging, I found out that Jose Manuel Iniguez, the studio director for Akaoni (the company making the game), was the producer and game designer for Zombie BBQ. He must have enjoyed the idea of zombies in fairy tales that he's making another go at it.

Whether it's a sequel to Zombie BBQ or just it's spiritual successor, Zombie Panic in Wonderland seems to have improved the control formula that the first game introduced. Movement is with the nuchuck, while the Wiimote aims and fires. There isn't a lot of info about it right now, but it does look to capture the insane fun that Zombie BBQ had (though I think that Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ is still the better title).



Kaiser out

Games You Should Know About (But Probably Don't)

In my last post, I said that Samurai Shodown celebrated its 15 year anniversary in 2008, but that wasn't the only SNK property to celebrate a landmark anniversary. In 1998, SNK decided to jump into the portable race with the Neo Geo Pocket. Unfortunately, the system only endured for year in the Japanese and Hong Kong markets (it never saw the light of day in the US) and only had 12 games in its library. However, out of the ashes of its predecessor came the Neo Geo Pocket Color, a handheld system that did come to the states and, despite the odds against it, could have toppled the stagnant monolith that was the Nintendo Game Boy. When the Game Boy came out, everyone went ape shit because it was a novel idea to play Tetris in the car, at grandma's house, in the bathroom, even at the boring ass vacation your parents dragged you on. But the Game Boy was much more than a portable Tetris dispenser. There were countless games in the Game Boy's library, even expanding into the Game Boy Color lineup. The problem was that about 95% of the games sucked ass. With the exception of the Legend of Zelda games (I still own a copy of Link's Awakening DX) and a couple other notable series, it was a shit shingle buffet. You would think that someone would have created a superior handheld with a stellar game library to pull the rug from under Nintendo's feet, and many have tried, but most of those handhelds couldn't do what should have been an easy task. The problem was the hardware. Systems like Sega Game Gear and Atari Lynx were too expensive and could drain an entire package of batteries in days. Add to the fact that none of them offered any games that enticed the consumer and Nintendo didn't even have to work up a sweat to retain their throne in the handheld race. Then came the Neo Geo Pocket Color. It was released in the States in 1999. I first caught notice of the system on some late night TV commercial, you know, the ones with the 800-number at the end. By the look of the commercial, I thought it was another crappy portable. Then I went to my local independent used game store (by local, I mean that only one is in existence, instead of the local chains, such as Slackers or Game X-Change - that might give some of you an idea of where I live). The store owner had a bunch of them in stock, along with a modest selection of games. After the guy told me about the system, I was sold. I bought one (Stone Blue in color) and a copy of Samurai Shodown 2 (note that I don't use the roman numeral for the game, because it's a different game from Samurai Shodown II, and is actually labeled with the number "2"), which is the game I referred to in my last post as being tied with Samurai Shodown IV as my favorite in the series. What was so great about the NGPC? First, the game library, though small in comparison to the Game Boy, sucked a lot less. That is to say that most of the games didn't suck at all. One thing the NGPC did well was, not so surprisingly, fighting games, as they were SNK's strongest selling video games. Along with Samurai Shodown, the NGPC had versions of Fatal Fury, King of Fighters, and The Last Blade (strikingly similar to Samurai Shodown, with different characters) in it's library, along with other popular SNK franchises, such as Metal Slug. It also had some pretty strong third party support, with games being made by Sega, Taito, Namco, and (most importantly) Capcom, who used their acclaimed SNK vs Capcom franchise to not only create a crossover fighting game, but an excellent card battle game, SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters Clash. Sega also worked with Capcom and SNK to allow NGPC games to connect with games for their own underdog system, the Sega Dreamcast. The hardware was stellar, too. The NGPC had a really cool D-pad that worked like a cross between a joystick and an analog stick and played like a dream. It was the first handheld to have no region protection, so you could play japanese games without needing to mod your system. The system had no backlit screen to devour batteries in record time. But the best part was that it only cost, get this, $69.95. Not even the pointless Game Boy Micro was cheaper than that. While the NGPC wasn't given as much shelf space in retail stores, places like WalMart, Toys 'R' Us, and Best Buy did sell them. With great hardware, a small, but superior library of games, and a cheap price tag, the NGPC had all the ingredients to knock the Game Boy down a notch. But, of course, it never happened. Why? A lot of things happened to end the NGPC's reign of terror before it began. First off, SNK was imploding upon itself. I've heard rumors that third party communications grinded to a halt. Then there was the buyout by Pachinko and Slots company, Aruze, who were supposed to salvage the company, but instead hastened SNK's demise and liquidated their assets. SNK was barely saved by its former executives who bought back all their properties and reformed, a couple years later, as SNK Playmore (They also sued Aruze for copyright infringement... and won. Way to take out the corporate evil!) But another factor brought down SNK's handheld - none other than Nintendo itself. After years of resting on their laurels, the big N took out all competition in two strikes. First, came (shudder) Pokemon. Nintendo's game of capturing animals and making them fight each other for prestige (it's like a fucking cutesy, fluffy cockfight) became a phenomenon that single-handedly resuscitated the then faltering Game Boy. The other stroke was the impending Game Boy Advance, which was the final blow in this round of the portable wars. Even though there were already handhelds that had 16-bit graphics, the Advance was a 16-bit system that didn't have the failings of it's competitors (high price and short battery life). By this point, the NGPC had quietly faded into obscurity. Even though the original Neo Geo Pocket came out in 1998, the Neo Geo Pocket Color came out in the States on August 6, 1999 which means it celebrated its 10 year anniversary a couple days ago. Though many people only see the NGPC as an insignificant footnote in the history of portable gaming, I fully recognize that it was a solid system that, if things had been different, could have been highly successful. It did a lot of things right that put it a step above the Game Boy, even the Game Boy Color. Nonetheless, it is nothing more than a slight diversion in the collective consciousness of the gaming populace. Even so, I still have my NGPC, and you can have it when you pry it from my cold dead hands. Then, I'll resurrect myself, kill you, and reclaim it. Happy 10th birthday, NGPC. Never leave an old friend behind. Kaiser out

Games You Should Know About (But Probably Don't)

This time around, we look at a game that was released in the States in early 2009, but brings the nostalgia of hanging out with your friends around the warm glow of the NES. Not only that, but this game is based on of one of the best TV shows from Japan to yet hit Stateside. That show is Game Center CX (Which seems to be better known as Retro Game Master over here) and it is a must watch for old school gamers like me. The premise of the show focuses on Shinya Arino, a japanese comedian, playing video games from yesteryear, focusing primarily on Famicom (NES) games. He tends to play some of the harder games and challenges himself to either beat the game or accomplish a certain task within a certain time frame (usually, within a day). The show is also interspersed with other segments, such as interviews with people from the japanese gaming industry and visiting game stores and video arcades throughout Japan. It reminds me of the old video game shows I used to watch in late '80s (such as Video Power) before there was such a thing as G4 (Though it's not like G4 really does that anymore. Granted, Ninja Warrior is fucking awesome, but why the fuck do you feel the need to show Cheaters and Cops every two hours? Those shows suck.) Here's some footage from the show. He's playing Super Mario Bros. 2, which became known in the States as The Lost Levels. Anyway, the show is such a big hit in Japan (It's been running for 11 seasons!) that they made a DS game based on the show. It was released in America as Retro Game Challenge. In the game, you are sent back into the '80s by a virtual version of Arino and made to complete challenges to 8-bit games while you hang out with a young version of Arino. Which games do you play? Well, though they are supposed to be Famicom games, they are actually original creations. The only place you can play them is on Retro Game Challenge. The games range from shooters to racing games to a full-fledged RPG game. Believe it or not, these games are actually fun. I'm not a ginormous fan of Rally King, the racing game, but I do like it, as well as Cosmic Gate, a Galaga knock-off, Star Prince, a shooter more in line with Star Soldier, Robot Ninja Haggle Man, an arcade type platform action game that spawned two sequels, which Haggleman 3 plays more like Ninja Gaiden, and Guadia Quest, the anticipated RPG of the game. Each game has four challenges, which, when you accomplish all four, allows you to move on to the next game. The challenges are not really that hard, though. Usually, it involves getting to a certain level with some restriction. I actually breezed through most of it. The final challenge of Guadia Quest is taking some time for me to accomplish, as you have to beat the first boss monster in this dungeon which I haven't even reached yet. The game also features all the little details from playing those old games back in the day, like video game magazines and cheat codes for each of the games. In short this is my childhood wrapped up in a neat package and delivered right to my DS. There has already been a sequel put out in Japan, but XSEED games, the guys who localized the first game over here, may be passing on bringing the second one here, due to lackluster sales after the initial release of the first one. What does that mean? If you are an old school gamer, like me, and you don't own this game yet, GET OFF YOUR ASS AND BUY THIS, NOW! Also, Fuji Television, the TV company responsible for Game Center CX as well as the classic Iron Chef, are looking for international distributors for releasing the show on DVD. I certainly hope so. It would mean more old school goodness for us on the other side of the Pacific. I need to find out if there are petitions to see both the show and the second game come over here. Kaiser out

Games You Should Know About (But Probably Don't)

In this edition, we look at three games that are more suited to a niche audience and, therefore, have not received much attention by the populace at large. Today, RPG video games are a different animal than they were when I was young. For the most part, things seem to follow either the SquEnix model of flashy, graphically impressive JRPGs (because RPGs in Japan are in a league of their own) or the hybrid RPGs that incorporate aspects from other genres, such as Oblivion or Mass Effect (both of which are great games). However, these games tend to be much easier than their predecessors. Five years ago, I collected all four Dragon Warrior games for the NES and played through them again. Those games were tough. I still have my copy of 7th Saga, for SNES (also made by Enix), but I won't start up a new game because I know it's just going to beat the shit out of me. That's the thing that's missing from RPGs as of late: a sadistic amount of challenge and difficulty. Enter Atlus. They released three RPGs on the Nintendo DS guaranteed to break a foot off in your ass and screw your girlfriend while you're at home, crying in your pillows. And these are no modern RPGs, they're 100% old school dungeon crawls. The first one is called Etrian Odyssey, which allows you to create your own guild of adventurers and take them, five at a time, into a deep, mysterious forest labyrinth filled with ravenous monsters. As you go through deeper levels, you discover the mysteries that lay hidden in the canopied dungeons. While you're plumbing the depths on the top screen, you can (and must, if you want to survive) draw out a map of the level on the bottom screen, noting all the doors, treasures, and dangerous enemies you encounter. While this is created by a japanese company and has an anime style to the characters, it is by no means your little brother's JRPG. There is no big, sweeping story, no CG cutscenes, not even mind-blowing graphics (that's not to say the graphics suck, by any means). This game hearkens back to the days of playing the old RPGs, and it's just as tough. Levels are big, monsters are plenty, and save points are few and far between. For the first few hours, if you want to save your game, you have to travel all the way back, without teleporting, to the town outside of the labyrinth. Eventually, you do find a spot to save and quickly return to town, but getting there is an uphill battle. Let's say your party made it to level 2 and are low on health and magic. You need to backtrack all the way to the entrance of the labyrinth, fending off the monster encounters that plague you every couple of steps to reach the town and rest up at the inn, heal the mortally wounded, and buy/sell items. The thing is the more you use the inn or the healer, the more expensive they get the next time you go there, making you use those resources sparingly. Not all the monsters in the game are random encounters, either. There are these, let's say, mini-bosses called FOEs. When you are close to a FOE on a level, you can actually see their location, both in the labyrinth and on the map. The reason why you can see them is that they are hard as hell. Eventually, you can beat some of them after enormous amounts of leveling, but some of them are too hard for you to take on until way later in the game. The only real option when faced with one of these high level FOEs is to run past them while they chase you down (and they do follow you). Since everyone thought that Etrian Odyssey was such a good time, they decided to make another one. Etrian Odyssey II is very much like it's predecessor, though they did add a couple of extra touches: new features, new classes, an updated map creation system, oh, and new dungeon and story to make things more interesting. If you do like Etrian Odyssey, the sequel will give you more of the same, which is not a bad thing. The third game is more like a spiritual successor than a sequel to Etrian Odyssey. The Dark Spire just came out recently and, frankly, it's the hardest one yet. Where Etrian Odyssey gave you a place to fight tough monsters, The Dark Spire ups the ante and also adds lethal traps, more enemies at once during a battle, and a system that throws you into the thick of things without holding your hand or even telling you what to do. This game feels more akin to the Wizardry games as well as old school Dungeons & Dragons, having a darker, more western RPG feel. Unlike most RPGs, magic users don't have magic points. They actually go the D&D route and let you cast a certain amount of different level spells, depending on the level of the character. Leveling up also has to be done manually. You buy skills and levels with the experience points you gain from battles, but you have to go back to the guild hall to purchase a new level, giving you another reason to backtrack through the multiple levels back to town. The map in this game is different, too. You can pull up the map screen at any time and see what you have explored so far without having to draw anything, but, without using a certain spell or item, the map screen doesn't show you where you are in the dungeon. You have to figure that out for yourself (just like everything else). This game also has two modes of play, though the difference is purely graphical. You can play the modern mode, shown below in the video, or you can switch to classic mode, which looks more like the old Wizardry games with the wire frame dungeon walls and simple sprites for NPCs and monsters. Here's the thing. These games are not for everyone. Only the most hardcore may apply. All of these games will beat you up, kill your family, and sell them to a body farm if you're not careful. They are hard. If you have not the balls to take these games on, you will only find frustration. However, if you like a little pain with your RPG, these games are great fun and provide months of old school satisfaction. Until next time, keep it old school. Kaiser out

Games You Should Know About (But Probably Don't)

This is a new feature I've wanted to try out for a while. There seems to be video games that go unnoticed in America, whether it's because they don't have the same recognition as the games that come out from the big companies or they're made for a niche audience that only the hardcore would appreciate. Either way, these games don't get the appreciation they deserve. Remember when Prince of Persia: Sands of Time came out and no one picked it up at first. Now, you all know about it. And who can forget Beyond Good and Evil? If you don't know about BG&E, get off your ass, go to your nearest used game retailer and pick up a copy. I actually gave this game as a present to my nephew for his birthday one year. He had no idea what it was, but when he played it, he went apeshit over it. Anyway, I'm not going to talk about those two games right now, as POP has got enough recognition and Ubisoft listened to fans of BG&E and are working on the sequel. Today, we begin with a series of games that originated on the Game Boy in 1991 and not only became a huge success in Japan, but helped bring a resurgence of interest in the genre of anime that inspired the games. Which genre? Only the God-King of Japanese animation... GIANT ROBOT ANIME The series is called Super Robot Taisen, also known as Super Robot Wars and SRW for short. This is actually a series of Tactical Role-Playing games that spans two decades and multiple systems, both console and handheld. I actually discovered this series when I purchased an old Japanese gaming magazine at a Japanese festival. When I saw the game in the pages, I was floored. Why? Because these games feature characters and robots from just about every giant robot anime that came out. Everything from Mazinger Z, Getter Robo, and Mobile Suit Gundam (which were the three franchises featured in the first game and stalwart staples of the games, thereafter) to Evangelion, Nadesico, Full Metal Panic!, and Gravion has been featured in these games. Hell, even King of the Beasts GoLion (which kids in 80s America would come to know as Voltron) is in there. What does this mean? There's a shitload of gian robot mayhem in there. But before you ask me, "If it's just a turn based strategy rpg, doesn't it tone down the awesomeness that comes from watching the anime. To this, I tell you hell-to-the-no. A lot of strategy rpgs, like Shining Force, for instance, had battle animations that played out the individual blows that came between combatants. I must say, never before have I seen battle animations so kick ass as the ones in SRW. Just take a look: That's just from one attack. Imagine that happening all the time. I know that some people may whine, "but that stuff slows down the gameplay and gets repetitive." Seriously, if you're not into sweet battle animations full of giant robots and kick ass music, then this game wasn't made for you. Shut up. I'm usually not that big a fan of turn based strategy rpgs, to be honest, but this is just too fucking awesome to pass on. Now before any of you want to pick these games up, know this: Most of these games are never coming to America. Why? Most of these shows have been released in America by different companies. Can you imagine trying to work with all of these American companies to secure the rights to each and every one of these anime. It would be shitloads of red tape and shitloads of dollars just to get permission to localize the game. So if you want to get some of these games on the PS2, which, by the way, has the most visually impressive battle animations, you'll need to tweak your PS2 to play Japanese games or buy a Japanese PS2. Fortunately, the Nintendo DS has no region coding on their systems, allowing you to play Japanese games without any hassle. There are a couple of SRW titles available for the system, but the latest one seems to be giving no love to the original three series that started it all. No early Gundam, no Getter Robo, and only Mazinger Z is available (no Great Mazinger) is there to represent the old school. But there is hope. Atlus got the rights to release a few of the SRW games in the States that are under the Original Generation title. The first two, Original Generation and Original Generation 2 for the Game Boy Advance, do not include any characters or giant robots from any of the anime series, but features an original cast and new robots. While it does not have the appeal of pitting your favorite giant robots against each other, it still has great battle animations and is still a satisfying fix for any giant robot aficionado. Atlus is soon releasing their first SRW game for the DS. Entitled OG Saga: Endless Frontier, it actually takes a departure from the rest of the games. It was co-developed by Monolith Soft, the guys who made the Xenosaga games. Instead of a strategy rpg, this one is more along the lines of Monolith's other game, as it plays like a standard rpg, but each character individually does combo attacks to beat the bejesus out of the enemy. I never played Xenosaga, but I did play Xenogears and it sounds a lot like the gameplay in that. Also, no giant robots. They're all a little taller than people, but no giants. There is, however, a few characters from other games that do make an appearance. Reiji Arisu and Xiaomu from Monolith Soft's other awesome game, NamcoXCapcom, show up as well as KOS-MOS, the robo babe from Xenosaga, as playable characters. Now that you know about the series, see what you can dig up for it. Check out places like Play-Asia.com, where you can find the imports. The Original Generation GBA games you can find on Amazon.com and OG Saga: Endless Frontier comes out the end of the month (already got mine pre-ordered). And if you already know about this series, then take comfort in knowing that, somewhere out there, there is a kindred soul who knows about the awesome games that are out there, waiting for people to look past the veneer of tried (sometimes tired) and true established franchises on the shelves and be daring enough to try something different for a change. For only when we decide not to buy the same old shit again and again, do we challenge game companies to bring us these overshadowed titles that you should know about (but probably don't). Until next time, Kaiser out