Category Archives: Articles

All the non-Cover Game articles and features in one place.

Essentials

PS2 Essentials: Fitness Fun

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Ah, what could possibly be better than the charming jank of the Simple 2000 series on PlayStation 2? Why, the Simple 2000 Ultimate series, of course!

Yes, indeed, not content with 123 volumes of low-budget, experimental and weird titles, D3 Publisher decided to put out another range of 34 games under the “Ultimate” branding. Exactly what makes these particular 34 games “Ultimate” isn’t terribly clear, although they are prime examples of what the Simple Series has always been about.

And, just like the main Simple 2000 series, we got a random selection of Simple 2000 Ultimate games in Europe, once again mostly published by 505 GameStreet. Here’s a particularly fine specimen: Fitness Fun, also known as Love★Aerobi or Love★Aerobics in Japan.

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Essentials, SNK

SNK Essentials: Psycho Soldier

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Athena’s name is magic, mystery is what you see.

Her crystal is the answer, fighting fair, to keep us free. She’s just a little girl with power inside, burning bright. You’d better hide if you are bad, she’ll get you!

She’ll read your mind and find if you believe in right or wrong…

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Announcements, Community

Around the Network

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Another week comes to a close! I hope you’ve all been having a lovely time. I’ve definitely been having a lovely time as I haven’t been at my day job. Holidays are great.

Anyway. Being on holiday from work doesn’t mean I’ve been on holiday from MoeGamer and Atari A to Z! Quite the opposite, in fact; I’ve been getting all sorts of exciting goodies prepped for the coming weeks and months.

In the meantime, though, let’s take a look at what you might have missed this week.

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One-Shots

OMG Zombies: In The Middle of a Chain Reaction

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Prejudice is an ugly thing, but it’s important to acknowledge it when you allow it to affect you.

Consequently, dear reader, I don’t mind admitting that when I was presented with the opportunity to take a look at a new Switch game called OMG Zombies that, at its launch, cost just 99p (it’s now £3.99 after the initial discount) I was… shall we say, a little skeptical about whether or not this would be a worthwhile experience.

Internet slang in the title? Check. Use of zombies, arguably the most overused foe in all of video gaming history? Check. A distinctly “mobile-tier” price point? Check. This game would certainly have an uphill struggle to impress me.

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Waifu Wednesday

Waifu Wednesday: Lucil Filarete

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Death end re;Quest’s cast, like many other Compile Heart ensembles, is designed in such a way that pretty much everyone will find someone who appeals to them.

If you’re the type who likes the kind of girl who speaks in a wispy, seemingly emotionless, far-off voice, then you’ll probably get along with Lucil Filarete. If you like petite elf girls with honkin’ great boobies, you’ll probably also get along with Lucil Filarete.

In short, she’s a very appealing character for many, many reasons!

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Essentials, Puzzlers

Puzzler Essentials: Take It Easy

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I don’t play a lot of games on my phone these days, because a lot of them are touchscreen-controlled garbage, bad knockoffs of games that I didn’t really want to play in the first place or microtransaction-infested pits of misery and despair.

However, once in a while a game comes along with none of those issues. A game where you can pay once and just play it; a game where you’ll never see an ad, never be asked to pay again and not be bugged every ten minutes to “rate 5 stars on the App Store”.

And sometimes that game is even good! Here’s Take It Easy, by Ravensburger.

Continue reading Puzzler Essentials: Take It Easy →

Announcements, Community

Around the Network

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I’m officially on holiday! Well, from the day job, anyway. That means you can expect lots of fun things around here and over on YouTube over the course of the next couple of weeks and beyond. Hoorah!

I hope you’ve had a pleasant week. Spring has sprung here, so the weather’s a bit nicer, the days are a bit brighter and the overall “mood” of things seems to have lifted somewhat; blessed relief after a rather bleak-feeling winter, to be sure.

To cheer you up further, let’s check out what you might have missed this week!

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Delving Into...

Delving Into Dynasty Warriors 8 Xtreme Legends Definitive Edition – #6

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After a little time away from the game, I’ve been spending my lunchtimes at work hacking and slashing my way through Ambition Mode in Dynasty Warriors 8 Xtreme Legends Definitive Edition on Nintendo Switch.

I’m nowhere near finished with this sprawling, grindy mode, but I have picked up a few interesting tips and observations along the way, so I thought we could spend today talking a bit about those things. They may well help you on your own journey to build a big ol’ Emperor-impressing temple.

Let’s dive in!

Continue reading Delving Into Dynasty Warriors 8 Xtreme Legends Definitive Edition – #6 →

Essentials, Shmups

Shmup Essentials: Exzeal

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Triangle Service is not exactly what you’d call a household name in the shoot ’em up sector, but over the years they’ve been quietly beavering away to produce some enjoyable, addictive games.

Probably their most well-known output is their Zeal series, which consists of XIIZeal (actually a port of a PS2-era shoot ’em up called XII Stag), ΔZeal (pronounced “Deltazeal”, not “Trianglezeal”, as I referred to it for a long time), Trizeal and Exzeal — but you may also have stumbled across their more unusual titles such as Shmups Skills Test and Minus Zero at some point in the past.

Today we’re going to take a look at Exzeal, released for Xbox 360 as part of the Shooting Love. 200X compilation (which, pro-tip, is not region-free in its physical incarnation, unlike many other Xbox 360 shmups — including its stablemate Shooting Love. 10-shuunen) and subsequently for PC via Steam.

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Waifu Wednesday

Waifu Wednesday: Clea Glaive

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Everyone’s sure to have a favourite from among Death end re;Quest’s all-female cast. And I imagine a popular choice will be Clea.

A great example of how the game sets and subverts expectation with regard to character tropes, Clea might initially seem like your common-or-garden ohohoho-ing ojou-sama, but over time it becomes abundantly clear that there’s more than meets the eye here.

Let’s take a closer look!

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