Review Roundup

The first Baten Kaitos game was a bit hit and a miss at the same time. It delivered in spades when it came to having a refreshing battle system, but at the same time the game lacked fairly sorely in the overall plot structure and its characters. Still, despite mostly solid scores in magazines, the game completely failed to sell in Japan and most thought a sequel would never happen. But now a few years later, Nintendo has stepped in and allowed developers Tri-Crescendo and Monolith Software another at their card based battle rpg with Baten Kaitos II.
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Ports of old games are often met with criticism and complaints about companies being lazy and not creating new original content. Yet, sometimes ports actually have good reasons for coming into existence. For instance, when the target system provides a new way to experience a classic. Or when a new audience, is given a chance to explore a great title from before they were gamers. While the PSP version of Suikoden I and II, aptly titled Suikoden I&II, doesn’t really add a new way to experience the titles (besides portability), it does allow gamers new to the rpg scene a chance to experience a classic that defined the Playstation rpg experience.
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The first Shadow Hearts game was a surprisingly good rpg that brought horror elements, comedy, and a unique timing-based attack system to a genre that had become a bit stagnated with crystals standard battles. Unfortunately the game came out in the west around the same time as Final Fantasy X, which in means it sold about 10 copies. A few years later Shadow Hearts 2 came out and improved on every aspect of the original with excellent visuals, an even better battle system, and a long epic quest. This time around the game faired pretty well worldwide and the developers felt this was a sign that a quick spin-off using the SH2 engine would be a good next step in the series. Yet, the step taken with Shadow Heart From the New World isn’t necessarily one that’s going forward. In fact SH:FtNW’s main difference from its predecessors is that the game feels very hit and miss, lacking in the consistent high quality designed that SH2 was known for.
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Just when the PSP was completely lacking a great shooter (Sengoku Cannon was terrible and Star Soldier was just alright), Gradius Portable flies in and gives gamers five complete titles in a single package. Featuring the arcade versions of Gradius I through IV and the Playstation Gradius Gaiden, Gradius Portable is filled with hours of meaty gameplay. But the real question is, how well have the arcade versions both held up and made the transition to the PSP?
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Konami’s Oz is a bit of a strange game. Created by the team behind Suikoden III, Oz is an attempt at branching out and creating a new game experience like nothing else out there. Part action game, part rhythm game, Oz is definitely a unique title.
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