12 Games For Christmas - Game #12

12. Real Racing (iPhone)

 

2009 has been one hell of a year for developer Firemint. The little known Melbourne company released their second, and first original iPhone game, Flight Control, to rave reviews and to an absurd amount of sales, and deservedly so – it’s a great game. However, I find that their other game they released this year, Real Racing, is a much more impressive feat – both in terms of it being a fun game to play, but also on various technical levels.

The most immediately impressive thing about Real Racing is just how good it looks. We’re talking late PS1 era visuals here, and nearing early Dreamcast levels of visual quality. The same goes with the menus, which offer some cool visual design ideas that match the most recent menus done by Codemasters. But then in terms of playing it, it’s even better.

There are five control schemes to choose from, which offer various combinations of automated and manual steering, braking, or acceleration, as well as choosing from various degrees of brake assists and accelerometer sensitivity. All this combines with the general way the game plays as a more simulation based racing game, and you’ve got a winning combination.

Unfortunately, given its status as an iPhone game, there isn’t much else to say about it. While it isn’t as insanely deep or customizable as something like Forza Motorsport 3 or Gran Turismo, the fact that such a game exsists on a platform where you’d never really expect it is just amazing. It looks great, sounds great, plays great, and is surprisingly deep. If you’ve got an iPhone or iPod Touch, and want a great game to go with it, Real Racing is right up your alley.

12 Games For Christmas - Game #11

11. Shatter (PSN)

Let’s face it, the Xbox Live Arcade has a monopoly on the downloadable games service. It’s better organized and maintained than the Playstation Network, even if a disappointingly large portion of games on there are mostly ports of other games or shooters. Whereas on the PSN, sure there isn’t as much – but there’s a better influx of more quirky and interesting games. But what if you combine the best of both worlds – the arcade gameplay mixed in with some quirks? This is where Sidhe’s Shatter comes into play.

Shatter is very much similar to brick breaking classics Arkanoid or Breakout; the goal here to generally break all the bricks without losing your ball. Where Shatter differs is by offering the ability to control airflow. After shooting a ball, you can choose to suck the ball towards the paddle, or choose to blow it away from the paddle. This in turn helps to better strategically play the game and helps incredibly so in the game’s boss battles. It sounds weird, but it totally makes sense once you actually start playing it.

What generally does work about the game is the atmosphere. Shatter looks great, has some cool design choices, but what helps to accentuate the game is the absolutely fantastic music. Put simply, this is one soundtrack that’s worth tracking down. Hell, at one point – the entire soundtrack was being sold digitally for only $1.

If you’ve got a PS3, and want a cool downloadable game to show off to your friends, this is the one to do it. It’s a familiar game, with an entirely new coat of paint.

12 Games For Christmas - Game #10

10. Batman: Arkham Asylum (PC/PS3/360)

Let’s get this out of the way. The last good Batman game was NOT the Batman game for NES. Konami’s Adventures of Batman & Robin was the last good one. That being said, let’s now talk about the best game to be released about Batman – Batman: Arkham Asylum. It’s a very interesting game to talk about, because not only is it the first truly good Batman game since aforementioned Adventures of Batman & Robin, but it’s also only the second game made by UK developer Rocksteady, whom at this rate, are looking more and more like a studio to note.

The premise of the game is loosely based on the legendary “Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth” Batman story, in which via a series of events, Batman is locked in Arkham Asylum and is charged with stopping the Joker from accomplishing his goals. The story and dialogue are particularly great, and the voice acting only adds to this. Put simply, the same voice actors whom voiced Batman, Harley Quinn and the Joker in the legendary 90’s Batman animated series revoice their roles, and do not disappoint. Mark Hamill, in particular, does an amazing job as the Joker – but anyone who’s ever seen the Batman animated series will tell you that.

As for the game, it’s really quite fun. I’ve heard the game best described as a “Batman simulator”, because everything you do never really seems out of place for the character. Sure, you’re beating up on enemies with a rather cool combo system, but you’re also doing your fair share of detective work and exploration/traversal. But another absurdly important element of the game comes in its stealth segments, which really help to make you think like Batman – since getting hit with guns is the only true weakness that Batman has.

But really, it’s something that needs to be checked out – especially if you’re a fan of Batman. The game looks and sounds great, and is a blast to play. The only thing that can kinda suck is that the last parts of the game are the absolute worst – they just become long, tedious and nowhere near as great as the earlier parts of the game. But if that’s the only problem with an excellent game, then I see no true problem.

12 Games For Christmas - Game #9

9. Tekken 6 (PS3/360)

2009 was a hell of a year for fighting games. Not including Tekken, we received the home version of Street Fighter IV, UFC 2009: Undisputed, Blazblue, and while there were some duds (King of Fighters XII), there was little doubt that across the board, if you wanted a good game where you punched someones head in, there were fewer bad games to do it in. Yet why go with Tekken?

Yes, Tekken problems compared to some of these games. Initially, the online mode was janky as all hell and the scenario campaign mode (the big, new story mode) is not a particularly fun mode, and it’s the only way to get endings for characters. And much like Street Fighter IV, characters endings aren’t quite as good as they should be. Yet the one thing that Tekken has over most of these other fighting games is not only a diverse and large character roster, but also a large and diverse range of modes of play.

Where most fighters are cutting down on modes, Tekken has the traditional Arcade, Time Attack, Survival, and the always fun Team Battle mode, in addition to the surprisingly long Scenario Campaign mode and online modes. And the 40+ characters are all well defined and well balanced, and everyone can stand a chance against one another. And then you get to the final boss, whom will make you scream and shout in rage. It’s almost on the same level of frustration that Seth would frequently provide in Street Fighter IV.

And the game itself? It’s still the same Tekken fun. Sure, characters have been tweaked, but that’s all a part of the balancing. The new rage system, wherein once you’re at a critical level of health, your attacks become much stronger, is a great idea and helps to balance out fights and make them much more competitive, especially knowing that one hit can pretty much knock you out.

That being said, Tekken 6 still does have its problems. Scenario Campaign being perhaps the biggest one of them – it’s badly designed, not particularly fun and often frustrating. Azazel, the game’s final boss, is particularly frustrating when it really shouldn’t be, and anyone expecting a full renovation of Tekken is bound to not see anything of worth here – since it’s really just a tweaked version of the already excellent Tekken 5. Otherwise, absolutely worth picking up.

12 Games For Christmas - Game #8

8. Rittai Picross (Nintendo DS)

Not every game on this list was released into English. This is the fate of Rittai Picross – a HAL Laboratory developed entry in the Picross series, which received a major boost in the form of an excellent DS game. The sequel (also on DS) takes the already established formula, and transposes it into the 3^rd dimension. And unlike many games that had to go through this transition, Rittai PIcross works nothing short of a wonder, providing one of the most compelling puzzle game experiences you’ll play on the DS this year.

If you’re not familiar with the series, the Picross games are essentially collections of nonograms; logic puzzles in which cells placed in a grid are coloured in or left blank based on numbers given on the sides of the grid. For instance, a line may feature the numbers “5, 2, 5”, which require you to fill in sets of five, two and five squares in that line, with blank spaces in between. By filling out these squares, you’ll begin to create a picture, which is the ultimate task at hand. Here, you’ll need to whittle down a 3D cube, until you get a shape.

It’s very hard to describe why you’ll keep coming back and playing the game, but you just will. It’s something that once you figure it out, becomes instantly addictive and just plain fun. Creating your own puzzles is also something interesting, and the sheer number you get with the game is also something that’ll keep you going for a while.

The only thing that remotely sucks about the game is the fact that it may not be released in English anytime soon. If you want to get it, you’ll need more of an experimentation knack than a knowledge of Japanese, as you can get by the game without knowing the language. All well and good, but some of the more advanced options you’ll come across are completely locked to you unless you can actually read Japanese.

Despite this, Rittai PIcross is one of the absolute DS gems of the year. It takes an already great puzzle game and finds a way to make it better and much more addictive. Sure, it may take a bit of work to play it in Japanese, but otherwise, it’s great stuff.

12 Games For Christmas - Game #7

7. Rhtyhm Heaven (DS)

What’s the first thing you think of when you think of the term rhythm game? I’m willing to bet most of you reading this immediately thought of something like Guitar Hero or what not. And while you’re correct in thinking that it’s a rhythm game, that doesn’t come close to describing what Rhythm Heaven is, bringing it’s own unique definition of a rhythm game to the masses.

For starters, Rhythm Heaven is a mini-game compilation where rhythm is of the utmost importance. You tap and flick to a beat to complete a variety of goals. For instance, one such instance is in a factory where you’re building  stuff. Two items roll alongside each other to a “Do Re Mi” rhythm. Once you get to the “So” part, you flick a bolt, and you build the item. Any earlier or later, and you don’t build it.

What’s impressive about the game is that for such a simple control scheme, it works well across a variety of different types of mini-game, such as a space shooter, choir practice, forming a cheer squad and so on. Also, the sequences you get into are some of the most insane and just amazing sequences you’ll see in any mini-game compilation this side of the WarioWare ilk.

That being said, the game has an insane learning curve. Rhythm Heaven is among one of the most brutal mini-game compilations you’re bound to play, with the game tolerating very few mistakes. It’s not entirely out of reason for you to fail a mini-game for missing only a small amount of the goal. And while you’re given a hint as to how to improve, it’s always never exactly clear as to what you’re supposed to do. Though if you do fail three times in a row, you can always skip the mini-game and move on to the next one.

Aside from that, there really isn’t much else to say about the game. It’s very hard to actually describe the game, since it’s something that you really need to actually play to properly understand. It’s quite unique, and despite the difficulty, is something that you can get into with the littlest of ease.

12 Games For Christmas - Game #6

6. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II (PC)

The original Dawn of War was such a huge revolution to me in terms of just how RTS’s could work. Introducing elements of cover and a more unique method of getting resources, it allowed many a person to get into the Warhammer 40K universe, and enjoy just how crazy it was. That being said, it took a long time to get a sequel, but when Dawn  of War II rolled around, the wait proved to be worth it.

For starters, Dawn of War II differs mainly due to its complete and utter lack of base building or resource management. The game is strictly focused on unit management, and this is more evident in the single player campaign than anything else. Here, the game has more of an RPG element, which involves you leveling up your characters, finding randomly dropped items and much more. It’s much less of a standard RTS in this regard, but the strategy element is still something  that’s deeply rooted within the game, forcing you to think how to best maximize what little you have. Also helps that many of the additions and improvements present in Relic’s other RTS, the excellent Company of Heroes, are present here.

The single player campaign has also seen some major changes. Instead of being a series of missions (like in the original game) or a Risk-style game (present in the Dark Crusade expansion), the campaign has opened up and become far less linear. Here, you choose you all the missions you undertake, travelling between three planets in order to accomplish them. These could be as complex as completing one of the many story missions, or just a simple defense missions against wave after wave of enemy.

The only thing that does really quite suck is the limited number of races. It goes back to the original four, with the Chaos marines replaced by fan favourite Tyranids; with the Imperial Guard, T’au, Necrons, Chaos and more left open for possible expansions. It’s unfortunate, but when you figure just how different the game is compared to the original DOW, it would take some time to rebalance the races to work with the new engine.

Besides that, Dawn of War 2 is great. The lack of resource management and base building is a refreshing change, and the focus on infantry management and near RPG-like level of gameplay is excellent. A must buy for anyone wanting to play a different RTS.