Rhythm Heaven (NDS) – Review

Rhythm Heaven, a DS game that is a sequel to Rhythm Tengoku, a Japanese-only release on the GBA, has come to the states and provides a nice alternative to standard rhythm games while still providing that quirkiness factor that such games often bring with them. While the core game is pretty easy to get [...]

Guitar Hero: Metallica (360) – Review

Guitar Hero: Metallica is the second band-specific game in the series, and given how woefully flat that Guitar Hero: Aerosmith came across, it’s very reasonable to have certain cautions about how well this game will be.  Fortunately, Neversoft did a lot of extra work to spit and polish this game up, paying a much [...]

Flower (PS3) – Review

Flower, a downloadable title for the PS3 from thatgamecompany follows up on their previous flOw game, making it less a game with objectives and more an experience to relax with. It’s a very simple game to learn, and won’t take much time to complete, but it’s a game to take in its beauty, visual [...]

Rock Band 2 (360) – Review

Harmonix’s and MTV Games’ Rock Band was a stunning success last year, beating the Guitar Hero to the punch at incorporating several more instruments besides just guitar into the music game set.  Now, less than a year later, we’ve got Rock Band 2 (at least, those of us on Xbox 360s), and while it’s denoted [...]

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (360) – Review

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is the second expansion/spin-off of the Guitar Hero, the first being the rather dismal Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s.  This time around, RedOctane and Neversoft have focused the game on the career of one of rock’s more influential bands, Aerosmith, providing a song list with more than half the titles [...]

Boogie (Wii) – Initial Impressions

This is definitely a weird game.  A first blush, it’s a combination of Karaoke Revolution and something like a free-form DDR – fortunately you don’t do both at the same time.  The KR part is pretty much as you expect, though the game feels quite generous in what it counts as correct.  You do get [...]

Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s (PS2) – Review

Once Guitar Hero II came out, Activision suggested that they would continue to develop the series, not only into Guitar Hero III, but also as genre-specific expansions. Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s is the first of these expansions, and while it delivers the strong gameplay that the series still has, it feels like [...]

Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 (NDS, Import) – Review

With the success of Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!  in both the Japanese market as well as an import title to English parts of the world, iNIS, the developer of the game, worked with Nintendo to bring Elite Beat Agents to the Western world based on the same gameplay and approach.  It comes as no surprise then [...]

Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! 2 (DS, Import) – Initial Impressions

A followup up to Ouendan 1 from a storyline perspective while taking most of the improvements that Elite Beat Agents had to offer is what makes up Ouendan 2.  The gameplay is the same as both these games: tap the screen as colored markers come up in time with the music to cheer on [...]

Guitar Hero 2 (PS2) – Review

There’s very little to say about Guitar Hero 2, produced and distributed by Harmonix and Red Octane, beyond that it a truly outstanding sequel, exceeding the original title by having a better selection of guitar-ripping tracks, tightening up gameplay in favor of the player, and adding more multiplayer modes.