S.C.G

PSO2 on PS4??? Finally! This had better come to Europe. Also just make it subscription based like the original PSO or free but not "free to play" I'll play it either way but I just prefer to pay up-front for these kind of things. Bring back the Hunter's License!

Back due to *popular demand... *or the demand of @flameboy anyway Rare Replayed #3 Welcome to Rare Replayed, N-Europe’s guide to the wonderful works of Rare detailing the games contained within the recently released Rare Replay. Written by Sam C Gittins Taking a break from deep space and into an entirely different place, as you journey around a castle quite unlike any other. Anyway enough from me and on with the game! Available in this edition we have... Atic Atac Publisher: Ultimate Play The Game Developer: Tim & Chris Stamper Released: 1983 System: ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, Xbox One In creating Atic Atac I don't think the Stamper Brothers fully realised just how much of an impact it would have, aside from becoming the main inspiration for the popular TV show Knightmare, this would turn out to be the main game which became the blueprint for the rest; of course by that I don't mean it to sound like every other game is a carbon copy because that's not the case but this top-down perspective "Maze Adventure" featuring a style not to dissimilar to the dungeons of the Zelda games is nothing short of impressive. All of this somehow had to work with just 48KB of RAM as well, feats of technical wizardry were no doubt performed in order to achieve this as this was still relatively new technology at the time yet somehow Ultimate were about to output these games at a phenomenal rate. Placed in a strange environment the main goal is to escape from a castle through the door directly behind you at the starting point, to do this you need to assemble the gold master "ACG" key - standing for Ashby Computers and Graphics, Ultimate's more corporate moniker - from three separate parts within your inventory, to get to those parts you need to use the other coloured keys to open doors with the corresponding locks but the catch is that you can only carry three items within your inventory so it becomes quite tricky to juggle all those keys while just trying to survive. You will come across many different regular enemy types including Spectres, Wizards, Bats, Ghosts to name but a few - many of these would be recycled in later games - all looking to nibble away at your health which already depletes automatically at a reasonable rate represented on the right-hand side of the screen by a large Roast Chicken which rapidly rots away meaning you need to eat to stay alive at every opportunity. Three character classes are available to you from the start including Wizard, Knight or Serf all of which have cosmetic differences, control differently in addition to taking different paths in the game, the Knight can pass through clocks, while the Wizard can go through bookcases with the Serf being able to move through wine barrels. Certain larger monsters can only be beaten with specific items or rather distracting them would be more accurate, use a yellow crucifix for Dracula for example, there are other recognisable creatures as well which I won't spoil or tell you how to beat because half of the fun is finding out for yourself but all I will say is that if you happen to run into the devil just escape the room as quick as you can! It took me a while to find my footing in this game as despite its simple premise it can actually be rather tricky until you figure out the layout of the castle in what is essentially a reverse-roguelike dungeon-crawler, every room is the same but it's just certain item locations which change depending on your character class; you should notice improvement over time though as on my first playthrough I didn't really have a clue what I was doing so my final play time ended totalling more than two hours which was swiftly reduced to only forty-five minutes while using the Wizard as I managed to adopt a more methodical approach in addition to having some fun by way of amassing multiple items in the main room. Amusingly playing as the Serf for my third playthrough it still took me around an hour as you can never quite tell how each run through the castle is going to go, bouncing swords of the walls into the paths of enemies is certainly enjoyable though, also if you get stuck then you can also opt to turn on infinite lives in the options as it's still a challenge to get through the many rooms across the multiple heights of the castle. Utilising a top-down perspective enabled Ultimate to create some really fantastic environments again within a limited amount of space, so although many of the rooms appear to have an angular form you can still only move within the boundaries of a pre-defined square or through the doors but it still looks like a large enough area; falling down trap-doors will initiate a looped "falling" animation which is simple but effective as are the sections of stairs, beyond that though it's the small details which bring the castle to life such as skeletons hanging from chains or varied paintings and signs on the walls some of which are helpful, again there's still an abundance of black background but it just makes the use of colour particularly within the concise status bar all the more striking. Again there's no real music to speak of apart from the excellent "theme" made for it on the game selection screen from the Rare Replay menu, so you'll be largely listening to your character walking along with a two-tone sound as you make left or right footsteps, plus your projectile sound effects, an excellent "falling" sound and of course your character death which can become a common event as you hear an almost flat-line sound before hearing the reverse when being brought back to life; personally I found listening to Castlevania music in the background while playing this to be oddly appropriate given the similar setting in addition to it being an excellent aural accompaniment. An incredibly important entry in Ultimate's catalogue of masterpieces, one of the first "Action, Adventure" titles which wasn't afraid to give everything else out there a run for its money while making use of the player's muscle memory and quick reactions to provide a truly engaging experience where the reward is simply playing to reach the end. Such devious dungeon design which would have probably never been seen before back in the day, now it becomes a challenge to be beaten by even the most seasoned of gamers; it never claims to be one of the hardest games ever made or even gets proper credit for what it has actually achieved, but what this title does offer is a completely unique experience which is unlike anything else out there even from within this very collection. To play is to understand, I hope more people get to know this charming game a little better over time, hopefully with all three characters. Verdict : Atic Atac is an assault on the mind with marvellously malevolent results. That's it for this instalment of Rare Replayed which will hopefully return again soon. So until then, enjoy whichever titles you decide to play and Game On! (All logos and images used are properties of their respective owners)

More fun than should probably be allowed.

Thanks to my brother going to the car boot today I now own one of these beauties... Yes... a PaRappa the Rapper alarm clock! I never even knew such a thing existed until today, apparently it was only released in Japan - wouldn't you know - but it was complete, had only a couple of light scuffs on it after cleaning it up, battery compartment intact, clock mechanism and alarm all fine too unless you fiddle with the switches too much which sets the alarm off but once it's all set you just leave it and it's fine. Cost only £3 at a car boot, seems it's worth a bit more than that but we worked out a good trade, so he's happy and so am I as I actually wanted to buy a new alarm clock but I never imagined I'd end up with something like this. Also got a few PS1 games including Final Fantasy IX in good condition but no manual, paid him a fair price for those - we often end up finding stuff that either of us want so we work out a fair deal or a straight trade - plus he found a few things he was looking for as well. I guess the car boot season is still very much on, if the weather is good next week I'll head up there as well I think as its been a little while now since I last went.

3D Streets of Rage II says... "Grand Upper!"

After thinking about this logically and doing a quick search I've found that it's entirely possible for me to copy my original Wii save over to my Wii U and continue playing with the digital version. I suppose this should be obvious being that it's the same game but still, it would mean that I could continue my 50 hours in save from years ago, I really should endeavour to finally finish it sometime before December.

Noooooooooooooooooo...ooo..oo.o... But at least they are doing the right thing by delaying it, game looks phenomenal just from the demo so it will be glorious when it's finally released.

If it helps your decision, I seem to remember the Mario Kart trophies being worth a fair amount on auction sites the last time they were released. £50 - £100 per trophy isn't a bad return. : peace: @Hero\-of\-Time didn't you do rather well out of these when they first came out?

Put it this way... If the price difference between a 500gb PS4 and a 1TB PS4 is something like £20 or if it's non-existent price difference due to getting a good bundle deal then I would go with that as it gives you more to play with.

You'll be needing one of these if you go for a 500gb PS4... http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00I8O6OQ4/ref=pe_385721_51767431_TE_dp_1 Or just buy a 1TB PS4 and see how things go... : peace: All of the increasing sizes of games have effectively forced me to up my storage for all three consoles, 2TB internal for PS4, 2TB external for Wii U and most recently a 3TB external for my Xbox One. 'Dem games! :p

Personally I'd say it's best to only go digital when you absolutely have to, Plus games? Fine. Downloadable only? OK then. £49.99 digital but only £19.99 retail? Not a chance in hell! (Sale prices are fair enough, most of the time the digital "retail" games are a rip-off though) If physical games disappeared for good then we'd certainly mourn their loss - I would anyway - besides even when you get a physical PS4 game you still need to install most of it, buying it digitally just means you have to install the rest as well plus you wouldn't be able to sell them, which is what I'm considering doing with a few titles I have already; keeping most of them though.

Being that it's digital only, I'm going to wait and at least see what others think about it first, it'll be a Plus title eventually... which I know isn't really the best way to look at it but with everything else I have on my backlog it would be pointless me buying this right away. Now that I've read a bit more about the game, understand the reasoning behind the name a bit more and admittedly drooled over the visuals while being intrigued by the story; I'm certainly interested. It might not be a game that I originally bought the PS4 for but after having one for a while, the steady flow of retail titles plus downloadable experiences such as this definitely make me glad to have purchased one. : peace:

From your perspective in that you seem to be mostly buying digital games due to the extortionate prices where you are on physical games - if I'm understanding your situation correctly - I would say that Darksiders II is almost certainly worth buying for £9.99 as it is a good game. But go into it with the perspective that it will be a one-off enjoyable experience because sadly we won't be seeing any more games in the series as THQ went down the pan a while ago, I have both titles on the Xbox 360, otherwise I'd have considered this as well. Also regarding Legend of Kay Anniversary, I have it, plan to review it but haven't unsealed it yet as I'm working on other reviews but I'll see about playing it within the next few weeks, by which time it will probably be cheaper anyway. Hope this helps. : peace:

Splatoon £21.99 http://www.rakuten.co.uk/shop/go2games/product/VWIIUSW48/?l-id=gb_search_product_8

Played Splatfest for an hour, had my fill... Nothing wrong with the game, I just sometimes have to feel in the mood to play it, Splatfests just makes me feel obligated to play, they are fine though, it's nice that they go to the effort of putting them on but I just don't feel compelled to keep playing for ages when I've other games to play. : peace:

Raining I'm truly sorry to hear about Betty. I can't imagine how heart-breaking it must be for you and your family. *hugs* We lost one of our cats to the road when he was just two so I have some understanding of what it's like, but still, awful news, I'm genuinely saddened to hear it.

No words... just the summation of my reaction by usage of Dave Grohl gifs. Congratulations! : peace:

I ordered it because it was cheap - in relative terms anyway - but haven't got around to unsealing it yet, but I am planning on writing a review for it at some point, it's just not top of the list at the moment. It does look good though so I shall no doubt investigate it further soon... : peace:

I reckon we'll see them in places like WH Smiths, I seem to recall them selling Kid Icarus cards and the binder as well, so there's no reason why places like that wouldn't be able to sell them if they are supplied in boxes of 36 packs or whatever the standard amount is these days for booster packs. I can remember buying two boxes of Twilight Princess trading cards direct from an online supplier back in the day, cheapest way to buy them.

Time for another edition of... Rare Replayed #2 Welcome to Rare Replayed, N-Europe’s guide to the wonderful works of Rare detailing the games contained within the recently released Rare Replay. Written by Sam C Gittins So where does a developer go after creating Jetpac? One seemingly small step for the Stamper Brothers in a bold new direction which would prove to be a giant leap for an emerging industry, that's where. Anyway enough from me and on with the game! Available in this edition we have... Lunar Jetman Publisher: Ultimate Play The Game Developer: Tim & Chris Stamper Released: 1983 System: ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, Xbox One When it came to making a sequel for Jetpac it seems that the core mechanics from the original title were taken, then incorporated into something bigger which involved travelling either left or right across an alien landscape - namely the Moon - upon which your objective is to destroy their base before it obliterates Earth! You'll need to use everything at your disposal in order to complete your mission including piloting your Lunar Lander vehicle to get you there in addition to using bombs to blow up the base when you're within range; but even as you succeed in this task don't stop to celebrate for there is another base to destroy elsewhere on this hostile planet. Essentially the gameplay revolves around getting the vehicle to a certain point but you will find yourself falling back on the gameplay mechanics when it comes to clearing some enemies out of your way when you need to get out of the Lunar Lander in order to clear the way for it, because being that this is an alien planet there are lots of craters so you'll need to get out frequently so you can place some metal girders down to cross the gap but rather amusingly you can actually exit and enter the vehicle repeatedly which does actually nudge it forward ever so slightly eventually getting you over the hole anyway if you're persistent; I don't know if this was intentionally left in the game but I was certainly glad to have the extra exploit available as it adds to the charm as well. It is believed that there are no less than ninety-nine levels in Lunar Jetman if I understand it correctly as it seems to loop after a point yet supposedly you can keep playing though the counter won't go any higher, as for how long you decide you play well that's up to you but it's clear that Ultimate liked to give their fans value for money, if it helps there is Milestone - seemingly five for each title in Rare Replay - for reaching level ten so I would say you'd be doing well to get that far especially without assists, then you have the snapshots which add in even more fun by putting you in predetermined situations with a set target to beat, these are really well put together complementing the main game perfectly. There's a decent variety of enemies as you destroy more bases, some come in the shape of rotating discs while others resemble flying square slabs, amoebas plus more besides, in fact as the complexity of the enemy designs increases the game is prone to slowing down particularly at the bases which becomes evident the moment you manage to bomb one making the action revert back to normal speed. It's evident that this is a game which was pushing the hardware to its limits at the time, it might not look like much now but the fact that it's perfectly programmed means that if you get hit by an enemy then it will usually be down to you making a mistake which makes accepting it easier before trying again; alternatively because this is Rare Replay you can hold down the left trigger to rewind the action a few sections and if you really can't handle the imposed limits then you can even take the timer off in the options which might seem like cheating to some but when putting together this collection it was obviously a valid consideration that some of these titles might prove a little too taxing to gamers who perhaps hadn't grown up with this early era of gaming so at least it gives everyone a chance to at the very least experience it in one form or another. Maintaining that clean graphical style fuelled by technical limitations, all of the background is black which suits the space theme while Jetman along with his vehicle is rendered in white - save for the top part and the bomb which are light blue - with all enemies clearly identifiable by colour making it easier to see when new foes arrive on screen; it's all of the small details which make this game so charming though such as the rotating wheels on the Lander or the rotating array on top of the enemy base which shows the extra lengths the Stamper Brothers went to as they clearly took pride in their work. No music to speak of but I found using custom soundtrack worked nicely, interestingly the works of Yuzo Koshiro seemed to go really well with the frenetic on-screen action with the laser blast and enemy kill sounds serving as extra percussion on some of the tracks; otherwise though most of the sounds from Jetpac are still here plus the phasing sound effect used when you step through a portal is very pleasing. Lunar Jetman doesn't just represent an important part in development history for the early days of these pioneers, but it also led the way as you can see how many other developers of the same era would be influenced by some of the amazing feats of programming and graphic work achieved here; you can even see how many of the visual cues which were first seen here then went on to be used in later games no to mention the life symbol which I can vividly recall later being used in Knight Lore from when I played it back in the day. This game is certainly well programmed with controls that have real weight to them, it's still very enjoyable as well and personally I ended up sinking a good few hours into it including all of the extra challenges though your mileage may vary depending on how you choose to play; however you look at it though this is certainly a title which shows extraordinary progress in a relatively short amount of time being that it was released in the same year as their previous work, not to be complacent though Ultimate didn't just stop there as this represents merely the very beginning. Verdict : Lunar Jetman succeeds in surpassing Jetpac by providing a progressively natural evolution to a revolution in gaming. That's it for this instalment of Rare Replayed which will hopefully return again soon. So until then, enjoy whichever titles you decide to play and Game On! (All logos and images used are properties of their respective owners)

Annnd I'm in! Three software restarts and a console reset later...

I've added you on Skype @Cube just updated the game, hopefully see you all online in a minute. : peace: Updated, reloaded game, not online for some reason, trying again now. Error still, time to turn the Wii U off and on again...

I might join for a bit at 8PM as it looks like there will be a space available at that time, if I do then I'll probably play for an hour or so before going off to play other games.

Admittedly I haven't played Rocket League yet, but even I made sure I got it purchased via the website in time. I suppose if a game doesn't appeal to you at all then even having it for free possibly won't sway you but the way I see it is... I'm paying for Plus, the games are a free with plus so I might as well at least get them while they are available even if I don't download them or feel like playing any of the titles immediately. : peace: The other side of it though is I see plenty of downloadable titles come out, take one look at it and think to myself... "It's good... but... it'll be on Plus within a few months, maybe I'll just wait." It has proved to be a good tactic thus far.

It has indeed, the Wii U VC has five at last count I believe... Donkey Kong 64 Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards Paper Mario Super Mario 64 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time While now on the Xbox One has seven thanks to Rare Replay... Banjo-Kazooie Banjo-Tooie Blast Corps Conker's Bad Fur Day Jet Force Gemini Killer Instinct Gold Perfect Dark Crazy times we're living in! But a good time to be a multi-platform gamer, in fact I'd go as far to say that my Xbox One purchase is now justified, for me at least. : peace: