It’s not every month you get classic game revival worth talking about. Then again, it’s not every month that you get something like Taito’s Space Invaders Extreme. The Square Enix owned company has been churning out Space Invaders games for a long time now, but not one managed capture my attention. I know what Space Invaders entails, but it never piqued my interest. With the release of Space Invaders Extreme, they managed to not only grab my attention, but also impress me. The question is: ‘How did they do it?’

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Square Enix’s Compilation of Final Fantasy VII games were either ill received or too difficult for me to acquire. Thus, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII was my first FFVII spin-off. And having played through it: it is by far the only spin-off that matters. This is a game for its fans and full enjoyment requires that you have played Final Fantasy VII first despite Crisis Core being the prequel. I am a fan of Final Fantasy VII, but don’t misconstrue that as high praise for it. It may be one of the most beloved RPGs of all time by many, but I found its prequel to be more enjoyable. And before you send your hate laced e-mails, allow me to elaborate.

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It hasn’t been very long since God of War 2 arrived for the PlayStation 2, but here we are, 12 months later with another epic anger filled adventure with our pale friend, Kratos. Developed by the talented folks at Ready at Dawn, this PlayStation Portable title hopes to capture what we all love in God of War and cram it into a handheld. Was the task too much for them? No, I’m very pleased to say they succeeded. And more.

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How do you squeeze a music rhythm game into the real-time tactics game? Ask PaRappa the Rapper developer, Interlink/Pyramid, who created the lovable Patapon for the PlayStation Portable. Patapon treads uncharted territory and does so with unwavering resolve, but do the quirky visuals and unorthodox fusion of genres yield a game worth playing? A resounding: “Yes!”

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Remember Megarace? That was the last futuristic arcade racer I actually sat down and played. After many years of neglect and missed opportunities, I finally got my hands on another game of its kin: Sony and Studio Liverpool’s Wipeout Pulse for the PlayStation Portable. Obviously, the series has been around for awhile since there have been seven installments prior to Wipeout Pulse. However, since I am a relative virgin to the Wipeout series, my views on the latest iteration should be as genuine as they come. What did I like, love or hate about Wipeout Pulse? It’s all here for you, folks.

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LTTP or late to the party pieces are opportunities for us to catch up and write about games we missed out on the first time around. They may contain spoilers.

I am no stranger to the Tomb Raider and Lara Croft phenomenon. Lara’s debut in 1996 with the original Tomb Raider for the PC, PlayStation and the Sega Saturn sent shockwaves throughout the gaming industry. At the time I was stuck in the limbo of being a PC gamer without the necessary hardware to play the game. I also lacked a PlayStation and thus Tomb Raider’s revolutionary visuals and gameplay were a stranger to me. The Tomb Raider-esque experience would remain a mystery me until late November of 2007 with the release of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.

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LTTP or late to the party pieces are opportunities for us to catch up and write about games we missed out on the first time around. They may contain spoilers.

I have been trying to play Final Fantasy Tactics for about a decade. I believe I made 3 actual attempts at it and every time I would leave before finishing the first act. The reasons for quitting? I would either get bored out of my mind or sidetracked by some other “superior” game.

Years later, Square Enix, decided to rerelease Final Fantasy Tactics for the Sony PlayStation Portable with a retranslated script, improved presentation and a handful of other additions. What better way to play this game than through an updated release? I decided to return to Ivalice’s strategy world once again. Unfortunately, I did not finish the game again since I was stonewalled and grew bored by the number of retries I was attempting.

I am an open gamer and enjoy a vast variety of genres, but one genre which I neglect regularly is the turn-based strategy RPG genre. The last strategy game I played and truly enjoyed was Shining Force II for the Sega Genesis. (I have to go back and beat that one as well). In a sense, Final Fantasy Tactics is my first turn-based strategy RPG and I did not enjoy it very much at all. Perhaps I am not made for strategy turned-based RPGs or perhaps Final Fantasy Tactics is a broken? I am unsure.

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