SCRIBBLENAUTS UNMASKED

One of the constants in the Scribblenauts series has been that the portable versions aren’t as good as the console versions. It's not like they're bad. They're just better on consoles. And surprisingly, not even Batman can change that. Must be Bat-fleck. So less than a year after the fantastic Scribblenauts Unlimited, we get Scribblenauts Unmasked. And the idea sounds promising, right? This is basically just Scribblenauts combined with the iconic characters of DC Comics. And actually, it's kind of like the LEGO games how they can give almost any franchise that LEGO charm.

Scribblenauts does the same thing with DC in Unmasked. It’s, just you know, Scribblenauts kind of had enough charm on its own. Now, I'm not saying this is a bad idea but isn't there something a little contradictory about this? Putting the restriction of one particular franchise on a game that's about not having restrictions? I mean, it's cool, but it also feels slightly out of place.

Prior Scribblenauts games were designed for a very broad audience. But this one? Mostly just for DC fans. Which makes it the first Scribblenauts game to limit itself? So if you've never played a Scribblenauts game, it's a really simple premise. You have this magical notebook, and anything you write in it...just appears. And it's literally almost anything. Write marshmallow, you get a marshmallow. But recent Scribblenauts games took it a step further.

So you can write giant purple marshmallow, and holy crap, the game gives you a giant purple marshmallow. And you use this power to solve puzzles. In fact, Scribblenauts is really just an elaborate word game, only with 2D character sprites. And freaking...large yellow vampire monsters. And once again, that liberating, addictive interactive thesaurus gameplay is the foundation of Scribblenauts Unmasked. But again, this is also the first Scribblenauts game to limit itself...and its audience. See, the draw here is the concept.

 It's only an awesome idea if you know the characters. And I mean know the characters. This freaking thing is a DCencyclopedia, with over 2,000 items and characters. I mean, you don't just have Catwoman. You get to pick which decade's Catwoman. And that’s awesome...unless you don't give a crap about Catwoman.In which case, you should watch Batman Returns. And you know, it's weird, but...the game also seems a little more vague and unclear than prior versions.

Like, I was stuck way more in this game than prior Scribblenauts titles, so the puzzles feel a bit more obtuse than they did in Unlimited, for example. Which is kind of a bummer. In fact, honestly...unless you're a huge DC fan? There’s no reason to buy Unmasked if Unlimited is sitting next to it. And certainly not for the 3DS, at least. Believe it or not, playing Scribblenauts in HD makes huge difference. Try some difference here.

 The game looks gorgeous on the Wii U, like an interactive cartoon. And yet again, the handheld version also loses some features that are on consoles. So...Defang, loves Scribblenauts, doesn't have a Wiki Unify you fit all three, you'll love Scribblenauts Unmasked. Otherwise Unlimited is always better than limits.

THE KING OF FIGHTERS '94

Sure, there had been kings of fighters before, like, say, in the subtitle to the original Fatal Fury. But it wasn't until 3 years later, in... Well, you guess the year... when Undecided to throw their franchises in a blender and frappe until they had a tall, refreshing, fighting-game smoothie. It's an idea that's been rather played to death in the modern era, but back then it was SOMETHING.

Thus, The King of Fighters '94, the first installment in one of the pillar series of 2D fighters. The invitations have been sent, the teams have been assembled. But Kula's not on 'me, cut she won't be introduced for another 6years and that makes me sad.

Apparently, when drug kingpin and arms trafficker Regal Bernstein gets bored, he summons the best fighters from around the world (or SNK's catalog) to battle for his amusement. Because that can't go poorly, can it, having the strongest, fastest, fiercest, and yes, bounciest combatants, exactly the kind of people who might just have a really strong, heroic sense of justice, and who would think nothing of pummeling a drug kingpin and arms trafficker.

Or, alternately, they just beat the hell out of each other because that's fun too. Bucking the one-on-one trend of fighting games up to this point, though, KOF'94 introduced three-fighter teams, representing nations around the world that really didn't make all that much sense. The classic Fatal Fury cast is the Italian team? What, did they clean up Southdown then gout for gelato? But that's all tangential plots and doesn't really have much to do with VIOLENCE.

Good, classic, quarter-circle, 2D fighting from the guys who tried to do Street Fighter better than Street fighter (and succeeded in some respects). You've got four attack buttons, your standard back-is-block configuration, and a dodge command that lets you take a step into the background to let that fireball pass by. KOF94 also folded in concepts like a power meter for unleashing stronger "lethal" attacks, taunts that deplete the opponent's power (thereby giving them a tactical use as opposed to just being a jerk), and defensive attacks by you rallies on the sideline.

Let's be fair, there were a lot of games trying to ride on the success of the Street Fighter II concept, but SNK were usually the ones taking those ideas another three steps further, culminating in the - again, I go back to the image of the refreshing fighting-game smoothie. Fortunately, this landmark step in the history of fighting gaming has been remade and emulated number of times, from a direct virtual console ports on the Wiki and PS3 to inclusions in compilations like the SNK Arcade Classics collection and the King of Fighters: the Orochi Saga bundle.  ( best video games )

 A premastered version called The King of Fighters '94 Re-Bout (yes, "re-bout") hit the PS2 in Japan, and was planned for a US release on the original Xbox, but disappeared in the middle of night like a fart in the wind. And that's unfortunate, because KOF'94really feels like one of those fighting games that you can actually go back to and that still holds up. More than I can say about Clay fighter 2: Judgment Clay let me tell you.

ALL-STARS BATTLE ROYALE for PSN

You know, sometimes there’s no shame in taking an existing idea and putting your own spin on it. That’s fine. That’s the wheel that drives, like, 90 percent of this whole industry. It’s not fair to pick on this student when the entire class is doing the same thing. See, I have a real problem with this idea that...oh, PlayStation All-Stars is a bad game because it’s just a Smash Bros. clone.

As if every other major, big-budget game isn’t copy of something else. That’s ridiculous. But at the same time, there are also people, either too immersed in the details or living in a bizarre fantasy land, who are saying, “No, no. This isn’t anything like Smash Bros. It’s more complex than that.”Yeah, because if I put different Piz in the dispenser, that changes everything. The point is both sides are wrong...and frankly, sound foolish. This game doesn’t suck just because it’s a Smash Bros. clone.

And yeah, from the presentation to the dramatic voiceover guy to the very premise itself, seriously, are you f*caking blind...PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is a Smash Bros. clone. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills. Of course, within that obvious fact, there is obviously nuance. Just released to the PlayStation 3, All-Stars strives to be the Sony equivalent to Nintendo’s Smash Brasseries.

The difference is it does try to be more of a serious fighting game, as well. And largely, that’s where it succeeds. All-Stars has a more technical fighting system beneath all the chaos, one that makes it feel like more of a fighter than a fighting party game. But the bigger change is one of objective. Offense generates orbs, which fill up your meter once collected. And once it’s full, you can do these crazy super attacks. That’s how you get kills, but you have to weigh your options.

You actually have three super attacks, each one more powerful than the last. But to use them, you have to fill your meter multiple times. So yeah, it could be a risk to just empty your meter on a lesser attack that might not even connect, but can you afford to wait for this one? That said, All-Stars shines brightest where it breaks from the Smash Bros. games, like the more advanced fighting, the changes in objective.

You even level-up the characters individually, which unlocks new costumes and poses. And that’s all awesome. But when you do copy a game this blatantly, comparisons are inevitable. And frankly, this doesn’t match the original. It’s a bummer to see Sony’s Smash Bros. fail to deliver the same amount of content and enthusiasm, but it does offer some great fighting. And any game that creates drama between a Big Daddy and Sack boy is fine by me. You can enjoy more PSN games related by following my link and site.