Don't you guys just hate game delays? They're possibly the only thing I hate about being a vidya gaem fan, aside from the raging fanboy side of things. It's worse when the delay is for a game you've been anticipating for a long time. I mean, can you remember how angry you were when Smash Brothers Brawl was delayed again and again? It was so frustrating, so very frustrating. The point of this article? I dunno, maybe i'm using this as a personal gaming blog a bit too much. One game i've been waiting for is Dementium II. I adored the original and the ending left me begging for the sequal. It's about 2 and a half years since then and Dementium II just keeps getting delayed and delayed. Why has it been delayed? Oh no particular reason apparently. More like they just want to piss off their audience.

The original Dementium took abso-fucking-lutely ages to reach the UK. Almost 2 years if I recall correctly. Hearing that Dementium II was to be released here before the US was one of the best things I had heard this year. Normally the UK gets the short end of the stick when it comes to game releases and let's be honest here. Since when does the UK get a game first? Maybe one or two games every 5 years? Not even that. Then today Jools Watsham (love that guy, he's so awesome <3) announces that DII has been delayed in Europe to around the 7th of May. Now a month delay might not seem like much but you'd be surprised how much waiting extra can annoy you. I'll be lucky if I even show interest in Dementium II by the time its released. No doubt the US version will get a delay too because that seems to be South Peak's specialty. Delaying games. Well I for one are very pissed off. Just another reason why the game industry in the UK fucking sucks.

Now this isn't really a review but more an experience. If i'm to ever purchase Resi 5 Gold Edition i'll do a review on it then. Actually I might do. Anyway to the main point of this entry. Just last night I ended up playing through Resident Evil 5's "Lost in Nightmares" mode on co-op with one of my online friends. Needless to say, we had a hell of a lot of fun. Our main goal throughout it was to find the 18 stars and it was really enjoyable exploring everywhere ... even if we did use a guide. The main highlight of Lost in Nightmares was most likely the area where you have to trick the .. err ... things? into the traps. We didn't know what they're called so we branded them with the name "Fag Face". No idea where it came from but we rolled with it anyway *katamari.jpg*. After several attempts and one case of me accidently crushing Chris, we finally got to the end of the chapter. The battle with Wesker took us a few tries as he kept one shotting poor Jill but we snagged the achievement for defeating him so all was well. I really wish this was included in the game originally because that was the most fun i've had with Resident Evil ever. Or so I believed that until we decided to have a few rounds of Mercenaries.

So we went to play Mercenaries. We got to the character select screen and we didn't know who to go as. So what did we do? WE BOTH WENT BARRY MOTHERFUCKING BURTON. Seriously, this guy is beyond broken. His sniper rifle can take out literally all Majini in one shot, his Magnum is over powered and his stun attack is a HEADBUTT. HE HEADBUTTS MAJINI TO BLOW THEIR HEADS OFF. HOW MANLY IS THAT!? So we continued to blast our way through levels whilst having some amusing commentary involving us calling each other Barry. Thus, a new inside joke was born. After a few levels we decided to change pace so I stayed Barry whilst my friend went Rebecca. For some reason, we started dominating the maps. He went and grabbed time bonuses whilst I stayed and kept racking up our combo counter. I think we even got to the point where the map stopped spawning Majini. We stood for at least over a minute without any more coming. Were we in the same room it would have been the best bro fist moment ever. But sadly we got the facility area and got our asses handed to us by explosives and lickers. Typing it up, it doesn't sound like much. But last night was the most fun i've had in such a long time, seriously. It's true, it really is. Gaming is the best cure for when you're feeling down. Especially when you're playing with your bros, then it becomes awesome.

tl;dr - Resident Evil 5 DLC is awesome, go buy it now :V

Sonic & SEGA Allstars Racing
Publisher: SEGA
Platforms: Wii, DS, PS3, Xbox 360, PC
Genre: Racing

Back when this title was first announced, I really didn't know what to expect. To me, all it looked like was SEGA's answer to Nintendo's Mario Kart franchise. Now that the game is out I can say that I was right. It really is just Mario Kart with SEGA painted over it. However, that's not bad in the slightest. Infact i'd go as far as to say it took Mario Kart and made it better. Right where shall I start? Let's go for the main gameplay. Each character controls very well and its easy to get used to. Right Trigger is for accelerating, Left Trigger is for drifting(?) and the A button is used for items. As with Mario Kart, Allstar Racing has a variety of different items you can pick up and use against your foes. With the likes of boxing gloves, rockets and a pair of Sonic's shoes to speed you up. Where as in Mario Kart these would be green shells, red shells and a mushroom. Amongst the collection of items, each character has an Allstar Move. These are pretty much the same as the character specials from Mario Kart Double Dash on the Cube. These all vary between characters and are a great way to catch up if you're trailing behind. Sonic turns into Super Sonic, Banjo and Kazooie hit the track with raining jiggies, Big takes a ride of a super sized version of Froggy. They all range from amusing to insanely stupid but they work so well amongst the madness.


After the 100th time, Super Sonic just isn't all that awesome anymore. Still works though

The several tracks available are fantastic. Each one is based off a stage or location from SEGA's library of games. Although sadly, most of the Sonic stages are based off of Sonic Heroes and that wasn't exactly the best outing he's had. Something like Greenhill Zone or Chemical Plant Zone would have made better stages. My favourite location is definately the Curien Mansion from the House of the Dead series. One track leads you around the graveyards where as another takes you through the underground sewers. The Tower boss makes an appearence in the sewer stage which is a nice reference to House of the Dead 2. It's just little things like that which make it so much better. Some stages are quite frustrating though, Monkey Island is one. The corners are so sharp that you'll most likely hit it then spin out. I can't count how many times i've been overtaken due to that happening, I really can't. Not much else to really say about the stages, I just wish they took a bit more of a retro approach to some of them.


The Curien Mansion stages have zombies. Win? Yes. Yes it is.

The character roster features a whopping 22 SEGA characters ... a third of them being from the Sonic franchise. Yeah SEGA decided to be lazy bastards and cut corners but what can we do about it? Quite a few series have representatives this time around. Including Samba De Amigo, Super Monkey Ball, Crazy Taxi and Shenmue. Possibly the most surprising addition for me was the appearence of the Bonanza Bros, who haven't really been seen in a new outing since the original Megadrive title in 1990. One of the more bizzare cast members are Zombio and Zombiko from House of the Dead EX, an arcade game which never made it outside Japan. As to why they were added I have no idea but it's really good to see the House of the Dead franchise getting a representative of sorts. Although I would have been more amused with Isaac Washington from House of the Dead: Overkill. There has been a lot of discussion over the current roster and quite a big factor of that is about two certain SEGA stars known as Toejam and Earl. There were some copyright issues but by the time they had something sorted, the game was too far into production so they had to call it off. They're rumoured to be appearing as DLC so we'll wait and see if this ends up being true. Yet another candidate for the roster was old SEGA mascot Segata Sanshiro, who is extremely well known amongst SEGA fans for those bizzare japanese adverts for the SEGA Saturn. Why did they leave him out!? It would have been a hilarious addition to an already amusing cast. Again, there's always DLC ... Too bad the Wii version doesn't get any.


Mobo and Robo certainly made the leap to 3D extremely well. Look how shiny they are!

Sonic & SEGA Allstar Racing has several game modes to keep you busy. First we have the Grand Prix mode which is divided up into 3 difficulties and several different cups. Single Race is for picking a single stage to play, instead of groups of 4. Mission Mode pretty much describes itself. As with Allstar Tennis, Allstar Racing has its own set of missions with special objectives. These range from drifting for certain lengths of time and winning battles to target practise and Chaos Emerald collecting. A nice wide variety and a fun way to take a break from the competitive racing. Now i'm not certain if the Wii version has this or not but Allstar Racing features an online mode. It's very easy to find a game online and even easier to set one up. Gameplay online stays very much the same except for the fact Allstar Moves are disabled online. Too laggy i'd assume. For each race or grand prix you finish, you are awarded SEGA Miles which work as a form of currency in the game. SEGA miles can be used to purchase new characters, new stages and music to choose from. I'd love to say this is time consuming but sadly its not. It won't take you long to rack up enough miles to purchase everything. I guess it can't be helped.


I couldn't find an appropriate image for this section so have a Robotnik instead.

The greatest part of Allstar Racing is undeniably the soundtrack. Apart from a few original tracks, a huge portion of the songs used are from previous SEGA titles. You'll be hearing songs such as Super Sonic Racing, Theme of Magician, Fly Like A Butterfly, E-G-G-M-A-N (Instrumental) and much more. So much more actually... right that was an awful pun. I'll grab my coat. Anyway, soundtrack = brilliant. Very impressed with the collection of songs but only one thing bugs me. There's a huge lack of retro songs on the Sonic side of things. Like with the stage choices, a lot of it comes from Sonic Heroes which in my opinion was a bad move. I do like the fact they added a song from Sonic CD but that's only one. I'm going to use the Greenhill Zone excuse here again because you should not have Sonic without that song. It's like having bread without butter. You just don't do it. Regardless, its still nice.

To wrap it all up, Sonic & SEGA Allstar Racing is a fantastic racer if you don't take it seriously. The racing genre is one I tend to avoid but I had a lot of fun with this game. The SEGA theme and easy to learn gameplay really helped me enjoy it. I can easily say that it's by far better than any Mario Kart game. Even Super Mario Kart. SEGA sure are getting back on track lately. Between Madworld, Bayonetta and now this! Here's hoping SEGA don't slack off and Sonic 4 does just as well. Not really much I can write about a racing game so i'll leave it at that. If you love SEGA, buy it. If you don't, give it thought before buying it. Either way just play it and see what you think.

Verdict - 8/10

There may possibly be some light spoilers in the following review so please take care when reading.

It's not hard to see how insanely popular the Ace Attorney series has become in the west. Debuting on the DS with Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, the series has been thrown into popularity with 3 DS ports, a series sequal and now the latest chapter in the series, a spin off. Incase you've been under a rock for the past year or you have a problem with reading blog titles, Ace Attorney Investigations puts you in the role of Miles Edgeworth, one of the many Prosecutors of the Ace Attorney series. AAI features a total of 5 cases, keeping the series tradition of their being at least one murder in each. With the help of Detective Gumshoe and new character Kay, you control Edgeworth as you explore and investigate crime scenes and cross examine witnesses to uncover the truth. Essentially, it's Phoenix Wright without a court setting.

AAI's main attraction is of course the investigation gameplay. In the previous titles, investigation was done via menu selections and spotting things in backgrounds. This time around you take full control of Edgeworth and explore various locations. These investigation sections are all sprited which is actually somewhat of a new experience to the series. While investigating you can examine objects, deduce contradictions and freely talk to people in order to gain more information. It's all basic Ace Attorney gameplay but with a new coat of paint. In all honesty, its much better than the old investigation method so I do hope to see Capcom using this again in the next installment. A huge part of the core gameplay is Cross Examination which does indeed retain that Ace Attorney feeling. Incase you're new to the series, i'll give you a quick lowdown on what it is. As you listen to testimonies you must press for information and present evidence to uncover flaws and contradictions in the witnesses words. It's all basic procedure but its extremely satisfying to do.

One thing the Ace Attorney series has been quite well known for is its soundtrack. Ace Attorney Investigations keeps up that fact with an impressive selection of new and revamped tracks. With such tracks as the new and improved Investigation~Cornered and a new version of Detective Gumshoe's theme. Overall an excellent selection of both old and new. Voices make a return and oh dear god what is wrong with Edgeworth? Ok we're all used to "Hold It!" "Take That! and "Objection!" but what in the hell is with "Eureka!" !? Seriously Capcom, Eureka? Did you have to make him sound so stupid when he says it too? There are some new voices thrown into the mix but aside from Lang's "Not So Fast!" there's nothing memorable. I just still can't get over Eureka.

As great as AAI is, it has one glaring flaw. Cases tend to stretch out near the end when you're closing in on the culprit. Now its not so bad for the first few cases but it just gets ridiculous near the end of the game. Case in point is Case #5. Now I know its the finalé of the game and all but stretching it out with such means is just pointless. At the point in time we clearly know the culprit so just get it over and done with. The suspense runs out when we find out who done it and its not like Capcom are gonna give us a bad end is it? Well at least its a nice and lengthy game so I guess that kind of balances it out. Just don't be surprised if you lose interest near the end.

To round it all up, Ace Attorney Investigations is a fantastic addition for the series, especially for a spin off. I hope to see Capcom continuing this series. Something tells me we've not seen the last of Edgeworth and his investigation adventures. I'd recommend AAI to those familiar with the series but if this is your first game then maybe its not the best place to start. The original games are being released on Wiiware so if you must, start there before picking up Investigations. Extremely happy with this game, a top contender for DS Game of the Year.

Verdict - 8/10

You Can Find It Here!

Looks like we got the trailer a bit early than expected! Initial thoughts are; fantastic trailer. It's great to see the 3rd Strike cast returning in 3D. Ibuki is looking good, quite flashy. Seems a fast paced character to use so I can't wait to try her out. Dudley looks brilliant, fantastic even. I never really played as him when I used to own 3rd Strike but he seems to be playing quite simular. Judging from the footage, he seems to use a lot of overhead attacks. Infact, most of these new characters do. As for Makoto, I dunno. She seems weird in a way. I know she's a good character but her fighting style is just strange. I can't really comment until I try playing with her but meh. Rest of the trailer just goes on to show the other characters announced. Although at the end it pretty much confirms Hakan. Looks like that rumour list was indeed 100% correct~ Oh and Capcom, I love you for giving me a new reaction image.



As you can expect, there's been a lot of discussion about this new trailer already and one thing I keep seeing is people complaining about Dudley's new voice. Exactly what is wrong here? His voice sounds very british and has a gentlemen-like tone to it. Just because his voice isn't as deep as before it doesn't mean its bad. I really can't see what's wrong. Oh well, at least his music is fucking awesome. Get on the dance floor~

Ok this is probably all over the internet as it is but I want to express my joy. DUDLEY IS OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED FOR SUPER STREET FIGHTER IV. THE ROSE GLOVES WERE RIGHT! Capcom I absolutely love you this now, you listened and gave us what we wanted ;__; Dudley, Ibuki and Makoto are all in Super Street Fighter IV so the rumour list continues to be true. We're getting a new trailer tomorrow (thursday) so i'm going to assume we'l see these 3 and Hakan in action. I'm eagerly awaiting the trailer. LET'S WAIT LIKE GENTLEMEN!