SEGA officially announced the next sequel in the Sonic the Hedgehog series with Sonic the Hedgehog 4.  The first trailer for the game was revealed on GameSpot last night and it’s very telling.  Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is dropping the 2D sprite graphics for a more HD-friendly 3D look, but it looks like it will keep the gameplay elements that we all know and love.

The title is set to be released this summer on the Xbox LIVE Arcade, Playstation Network, and WiiWare as a downloadable title.  ’Episode 1′ in the title leads us to believe SEGA has future DLC plans for Sonic the Hedgehog 4 for future episodes in the series.

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It’s true, Mega Man 10 will not be exclusive to the Wii like some thought.  In fact, it will be coming to the big 3.  Nintendo’s WiiWare, Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE Arcade, and Sony’s PS3.  Keeping the same 2D graphics, Mega Man 10 screens do resemble previous Mega Man titles and their retro look.  But rest assure, these graphics were done purposely in keeping the tradition going with our side scrolling hero.

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After numerous delays and disappointed people, myself included, Trine finally launched on the PSN but does it deliver? In one word: yes. Simply put, Trine is a 2-D side scrolling RPG/Action adventure in a 3-D environment. Throw in a mix of secret treasures, upgrades, and some interesting teamwork and you have yourself quite a downloadable game. Coming in at a steep $20, the price may turn off some people but don’t let the price deter you.

Trine’s story isn’t heavy but rather simple in a good way. A thief, wizard, and warrior all become transported into a new world and must work together to find a way out. In between levels you are introduced to the game’s narrator who fills in some gaps with the story and gives some insight to each character. The three controllable characters do speak to each other briefly normally at the beginning and end of the levels and their interactions grow when they rely on one another to escape. And that’s where this game shines, the teamwork that must occur in order to conquer each level.

Whether you are playing a single or multiplayer game, you must use each character’s unique abilities to win. Each of the three classes start off with small, minor abilities but over time learn more and can be upgraded after leveling up. For example, the wizard can conjure a box that can be used as a stepping stone or to crush enemies, as you level up you can conjure up to 4 boxes when maxed out. The warrior is your main attacker as all his weapons and abilities are designed to handle the enemies. The thief (my personal favorite) is a balance of an attacker and supporter as she can attack with her bow and arrow and use her grappling hook to cross large gaps or avoid traps. The wizard is your supporting character as he is able to conjure bridges, boxes, and levitating steps and manipulate certain objects. Each character has their own benefits and mastering their skills is key to success.

How and when you want to use each character is entirely up to you. With a quick press of either L1 or R1 you can toggle between the characters. Wizard created items are still present if you switch to the thief or warrior when you don’t want to press on as the wizard but just need his skills. An onslaught of enemies can be easily fought off with some quick thinking and use of your team. If one or two of the team members die, you are obviously unable to use them again until you reach a checkpoint. Here’s an early tip, don’t let the last person on your team be the wizard; just easier if it’s the thief or warrior to be your saving grace.

There’s about 15 beautifully created stages to play through and each stage has its share of experience and secrets to collect. Experience is gained two ways: one through green vials located throughout the stage and the other way is through killing enemies. Each stage has its own cap for both collected and battled experience that is needed in order to level up and upgrade your characters. It takes 50 forms of experience to level up and your characters level up as the same time so it doesn’t matter who collects the experience. Almost all stages have two secret treasure chests that, when found, will enhance your characters through customizable equipment. Some equipment will give you more health or higher defense and who you want to give the gear to will be up to you. There is a limit to how many pieces of gear each character can wear so be weary when customizing.

Final Thought: Overall, Trine is a great purchase. The graphics are colorful and vibrant for a downloadable game. The enemies become repetitive since it’s mostly skeletons and bats but that can be overlooked. The teamwork aspect is really fun even playing alone but if you are playing with a friend, I’d advise using a mic. Replay value is increased if you are the kind of person who wants to go back and collect everything and beat it on higher difficulty levels. It’s also one of the few downloadable games to feature a platinum trophy if you are a trophy (ahem, whore) enthusiast. Trine may have been delayed over and over but better late than never.

9/10

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Nervous? With this!

In the last of our Caption Contest for a Zombie Apocalypse XBLA code comes this gem of a pic.  We’ve done a bunch of these Caption Contests but this pic has so much potential.  Funniest caption wins a XBLA code for Zombie Apocalypse.

Let’s see all the funny ones.  Multiple entries are also accepted but know if one of them is really bad you’re canceling yourself out

1. Multiple entries will be considered

2. Bad captions will enter you in our Hall of Caption Shame

3. Funniest Caption below wins.

4. Press the “Retweet” button to the right –->

Funniest caption will be selected on Saturday, November 7th at 12PM EDT.  And I better not read anything about the Yankees in the comments…

Update: Hodsey is our Caption Contest winner.  Keep you comments coming, since Caption Contests are always funny.

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The previous album cover of 'Abbey Road'

In the spirit of Halloween, we got a treat for you guys with our first ever Halloween Caption Contest.  Thanks to our friends with benefits, we got a couple of Zombie Apocalypse Xbox Live redeemable codes to hand out.  This Caption Contest will feature our ‘Trick or Treat’ edition with our very simple entry rules below.  Our Zombie Apocalypse review should shed some light on what to expect in the game.  I could ruin it and tell you there’s a lot of blood, gore and a resemblance to Left 4 Dead but I’ll let you tell me what you think.

1. Funniest Caption below wins.

2. Press the “Retweet” button to the right –>

This Caption Contest winner will be selected on Sunday 8PM ET.  Good Luck!!  For those fans following on twitter @PerezStart keep telling your Twitter peeps, since we’ll have another Caption Contest beginning on Monday.

-Make sure to enter in your email address so the winner can be notified-

UPDATE – Winner has been notified.  Continue to caption if you like

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It’s no surprise that a game featuring Zombies right before Halloween is getting the attention of gamers.  But, developer Nihilistic Software’s “Zombie Apocalypse” has the ability to be a very successful XBLA & PSN game thanks to Konami.  Resembling Left4Dead in many ways, it’s hard not to compare the basic gameplay to the Xbox 360/PC counterpart.  As a mater of fact, on the Left4Dead back box cover, it reads “Can you survive the Zombie Apocalypse?” hmmm, see the similarities?  With 4 players you kill as many Zombies as you can and survive each day as you progress to the next all the way up to 55 gruesome levels.  I say if Smash TV can did it, so can Zombie Apocalypse. Just in time for Halloween too

Choose your human. You begin the game with selecting one of four characters.  While there is no advantage to each player you can choose from: Harlan, Natalie, Jimmy and Ed. Hmm, haven’t we seen a similar multiplayer with 4 players before?  Do the names Louis, Zoe, Francis, and Bill! ring a bell? On each day, you’ll also try to save the civilian for extra points. After each day, the survivor with the most kills will give their celebration dance.  Pretty funny the first time you see them.

• Harlan Woods - Heavily inspired by George Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead”.
• Natalie Flores – The tough but mentally unstable female lead; used to be a bartender.  Celebrates by spanking her own butt.
• Ed Fragsen – The lonely and broken security guard with nothing left to lose.
• Jimmy86 – The arcade rat-geek who’s really a reflection of the designers themselves.  Does a great Robot dance.

Top down gameplay. Zombie Apocalypse doesn’t wow you with fantastic graphics but it provides decent top down visuals for a game that puts forth all it’s effort on annihilating Zombies.  You control your Zombie Killer character with dual sticks.  The left stick moves your player while the right stick shoots in that direction.  Keep the Zombies away from you or they’re grapple you.  Shake them of by shaking your stick, bu if they grab you the “non-grapple bonus” is lost.

Upgrading weapons isn’t the answer. You’re equipped with an automatic rifle.  Pressing R1 (PSN) or RB (XBLA) unleashes your chainsaw.  When swarmed with enemies, the chainsaw will kill the close Zombies and give you a better chance to survive when you’re in the middle.  Every player also has a pink teddy bear that’s filled with C4.  Throw the bear when the wave of Zombies gets too hectic and watch them chase the bear as it blows up anything surrounding it.  You’ll want to avoid the Molotov cocktails and the sniper rifle.  They’re timed attacks which is good if they walked on molasses — not the case. The dual automatic sub-machine guns is by far the best with the gatling gun (featured in Predator) and flame thrower in close 2nd and 3rd.  You’ll get a chance to use the environment for kills, but with a swinging car and car grinder in one of the 7 levels, I found this harder than just killing them with weapons.

Not all Zombies are equal. As you progress, the types of Zombies will get more difficult. Some will run around you, obese construction workers will instantly take you down with a simple grapple. There’s an old granny Zombie that tosses insta-kill knives.  Pregnant Zombies giving birth to killer bugs.  Sheriffs with a short range shotgun. Kamikazee Zombies that… blow up of course.  All builds up to The Fresh Pile that vomits Zombies and shoots lasers at you.  It’s a good variety of Zombies to keep the waves of them challenging.

Pros:
Multiplayer with 4 friends online
Simple controls
Variety of Zombies
Left4Dead similarities

Cons:
Repetitive play
Repetitive waves of Zombies
Repetitive… do you see a pattern here?

Final Thought: Zombie killing is all the rage these days. Call of Duty: World at War did it. Left4Dead is doing it. And Burn Zombie Burn is equivalent but got a better reception with only 2 players killing Zombies. Zombie Apocalypse is a fun 4 multiplayer with friends. It’s a game that will be fun for a few days, but it’s not a game you’ll be playing past Halloween or even a week after purchase. But for the price of $10, you’ll get your moneys worth.  Who doesn’t enjoy liquifying Zombies?  And competing with friends for hi-scores will earn you many trophies/achievements.

6.5/10

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So it’s been a while since E3 and what have we found buried in between our couches?  Receipt for Crystal Pepsi Six Pack, a left pinky toenail and a little rumor that has your favorite 1982 classic title, Choplifter, making it’s way back onto the gaming scene.  For those too young to remember, Choplifter was a game that featured..you guessed it… a chopper lifting poor civilians from the ground and transporting them to a safe zone marked with an “H” symbol and a building with an American flag.

Fun Factor for Choplifter… Were you saving these people from the Cold War?  Could it be the Korean Conflict?  No, it had to be from the poor graphics that made people scream “Wow” from the Commodore 64.  This title could very well hit the PSN, Xbox Live Arcade, WiiWare or even the iPhone.  So as long as it’s a rumor, let the comments fly.

Developer InXile Entertainment filed a trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office for the title “Choplifter.” The filing locked down use of the title for “downloadable electronic games via the Internet and wireless devices,” raising the possibility of a digitally distributed version of the game for consoles, handhelds, or possibly the iPhone.

source

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I remember visiting an arcade in the early 80’s and seeing Tapper first hand. I didn’t know much about bars or Budweiser at the time, nor did it really matter. I remember being impressed with the graphics at the time and the feel of the game.

The game consisted of a bartender, filling mugs full of beer and delivering them to thirsty patrons by sliding the mug down the bar. Reminds me of that scene in Back to the Future, when George McFly asks for a milkshake, “Chocolate”

Anyhow, back to the game, It starts off easy enough, with just a few, slow-moving patrons. You move up and down between the four different bars, filling mugs of beer and sliding them down the counter as patrons enter. You’ll occasionally run down the bars to pick up tips or to grab empty mugs being slid back your way, since a mug that’s allowed to slide off the end of the bar and break will cost you a life. Unattended patrons will slowly make their way down the bar, and if they’re able to get all the way to the end without being served, they’ll grab you by your freshly starched collar and slide you along the bar, right out the door.

The game is available on Xbox live as Root Beer Tapper, which substitutes the bartender with a soda jerk serving root beer instead of beer. The Budweiser endorsement is also absent to make the game more kid friendly. The emulation is true to the arcade and they also added an online mode to challenge a friend.

Here at PerezStart.com we like to emphasize underappreciated arcade classics. We all love the Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr. and Qbert’s of the world. But why doesn’t Steve Wiebe take on the world record in Tapper? Currently, Michael Przybocki has the current record for fastest time to beat five boards on Tapper with a time of 1′20″43.

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Right this moment, Capcom is holding a press-only event in Monte Carlo where they’re showing off some unannounced games called CAPTIVATE09.  During the event, a mysterious website was announced via Capcom’s Twitter account, tu4ar.com.

As you can see by the image above, there seems to be a mysterious countdown that is currently counting down with a 2 in the background.  The only thing that’s on my mind at this time is the possible announcement of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 being released in HD (similar to how Super Street Fighter II HD Turbo Remix).  Only time will tell what the announcement will be.

[Ed. Note: Don't try to decipher why I took the image at that precise day, hour, min, & second. I tried to do something meaningful, but due to my impatience, I just took a screenshot without any meaning behind it.]

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For fans of Sega’s 1986 racer game, Outrun is back!  Upgraded in HD quality, and a chance to play against online racer, OutRun Online Arcade looks magnificent and players will take notice.  Available now on the Xbox 360 for 800 Microsoft Points, why not make your PlayStation friends jealous.  That’s because in the US, OutRun is only available for the XBox Live Arcade.

Up to 6 online players can join you for this Arcade classic title, as you race through historic landmarks.  Voicechat is enabled and playing in 720p HD quality, completes this racing experience.  OutRun Online Arcade will also feature a leaderboard, so racing times WILL count!  Sunday Drivers need not apply.

source

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