Jump Ultimate Stars

I haven't seen any new cool games on the Nintendo DS since CORE. I'm still feeling lazy to get a copy of the English version of Dissidia for my PSP so I tried out some old DS games (well, not very old).

Here's one of the games I've checked out: Jump Ultimate Stars. Released in 2006, it's a follow-up to the game titled Jump Superstars. It is a 2D fighting game featuring the crossover of Anime characters that's originally seen from Shounen Jump! Magazine. So it's like an anime version of Super Smash Bros. Now how cool is that?

Jump Ultimate Stars features at least 100 playable characters (trust me on that), all from Naruto, Dragonball, Bleach, Gintama, Hitman Reborn, Death Note, One Piece, D.Gray Man and some other Animes that I never knew about.

The gameplay is very simple. You punch, kick, defend and attack to either blow your opponent off the fighting stage or reduce their life bars to zero. There's also this feature called the 'Koma' (Japanese term for 'panels'). The Koma takes up the bottom screen. It's like a deck of cards that you use for the battle and has three types: Battle, Support and Help.

Replay is also necessary if you want to unlock all the characters. Not to mention the Wi-fi multiplayer mode.

The only problem is that Jump Ultimate Stars is NOT released in English but what the hell? It's a lot of fun.

In conclusion, I'd say this game is great. Not just for Anime lovers and Otakus out there but for every avid gamer. If you want to play it, then go on. You won't be disappointed.

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C.O.R.E.

This is one of the DS games in my 'wanted-to-play' list since Feb. 2009. C.O.R.E. is a futuristic first-person shooter game to be released this year in North America (up to now there's no finalized release dates yet. It's been delayed over and over. Sorry but I think the European 03/27/09 release date that is said in other sites are false).


C.O.R.E. (as stated in their official website) will be one of the few DS games with an 'M' rating.
There will also be a local multiplayer feature, both single and multi-cartridge. Multiplayer Features includes Deathmatch,Team Arena, and Capture the Flag. It has support for up to 4 player Single-Card Play. It has 10 Maps and has the usual features of a hardcore FPS, with powerups and weapon spawning.

Let's face it, the graphics and trailer looks real promising but I have to get my hands on the actual game to see if C.O.R.E. is really that great.

Oh, don't forget to check out their official site:
C.O.R.E.

and the debut trailer of the game can be found here

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Shin Megami Tensei - Devil Survivor

Shin Megami Tensei Devil Survivor is a Tactical Role-Playing Game for the Nintendo DS released just recently (The English version, June 23, 2009).

Story:

Tokyo has been sealed by the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force due to a demon outbreak, and it will be seven days before the whole capital is wiped out. The protagonist, a 17 year-old high school student (which the player decides the name), is trapped with his two friends Atsuro Kihara and Yuzu Tanikawa within the city, and is forced to make contracts with demons by utilizing a peculiar device called COMP to survive.

My Views:

First, getting on the concept of the COMPs, it actually looked like a Nintendo DS Unit, except that it is hacked with the "Devil Summoning Program" which is used in fighting demons. Another cool thing about the game is the references to Japanese Pop Culture (Characters like hackers, cosplayers, otakus, high school delinquents and Japanese rockstars are present in the game), The location is in Tokyo and you'll get to go around districts like Akihabara, Shibuya, Shinjuku etc.

Gameplay-wise, It's fun because it is somewhat a visual novel with a mix of tactical and turn based battles. The Cathedral of Shadows function where you fuse demons is a bit of a pain and you'll probably replay the game 3 to 5 times for the alternate endings and the stronger demons.

On the visuals and audio, it's well done, You won't get bored seeing the locations and the character designs and the soundtrack wasn't bad either.

The way I see it, the game is almost similar to Square-Enix's The World Ends With You. It's almost perfect for a modern RPG. So for Nintendo DS owners who love Asian-style RPG's don't miss this, Shin Megami Tensei DS, would be great for you.

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