Castlevania II: Simon's Quest by developer and publisher Konami—Nintendo Entertainment System Retro Reflections by Nick.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Showing posts with label Konami. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Konami. Show all posts
Watch the First Gameplay Trailer for V Rising’s upcoming Castlevania crossover DLC
Prepare for an epic brawl with iconic vampire hunter Simon
Belmont, Cosplay as Alucard and build your own Castlevania-style domain
Skövde, Sweden - April 10th 2024 - Swedish game developer Stunlock Studios with Konami Digital Entertainment (KONAMI) have today released the first gameplay trailer for V Rising — Legacy of Castlevania. This crossover collaboration is set to release on May 8th alongside V Rising’s much-anticipated full release on Steam; with the PS5 version launching later this year. The trailer was also part of the Triple-i Initiative showcase, a digital event founded by Dead Cells developer, Evil Empire.Wielding his legendary whip and an infamous arsenal of holy weaponry, infamous vampire hunter Simon Belmont is infiltrating V Rising
to challenge all of Vampire kind. As the trailer shows, facing him
won’t be easy, with his righteous crusade through Vardoran posing a
threat to all that stalk the night. If you are somehow able to defeat
him, the secrets of his iconic weapon will be yours, offering new combat
abilities that embody the grace and precision of a deadly Vampire!
Watch the trailer and get your first bloody taste of the battle to come!
As well as the free content coming to the game via the Legacy of Castlevania DLC, vampire enthusiasts will be able to purchase the Legacy of Castlevania Premium Pack cosmetic DLC for 19,99 EUR/USD, allowing players to construct their own castles inspired by Castlevania’s
classic gothic aesthetic. The pack also contains further additions and
customizations, allowing you to traverse the open world with the Soul of
the Wolf, don Alucard’s elegant outfit, embody the prodigal Maria
Renard to move unnoticed among the realms of man, or spring through the
air as the mischievous Flea Man! There are also two classic Castlevania themes to unlock in your castle: “Simon’s Theme” and “Bloody Tears”, reimagined by V Rising composer Aleksandria Migova.
Read into all the juicy details in the “Legacy of Castlevania” blog post:
https://blog.stunlock.com/the-legacy-of-castlevania-premium-pack/More on V Rising:
Survive as a newly awakened vampire in a world ruled by humans and rise to become the next Dracula. Feed on blood to gain new powers, hide from the scorching sun, and engage in real-time PvE and PvP combat set in a dark fantasy realm. Raise your castle and invite friends to join as you explore a vast open world, pillage villages, skirmish with bandits, and delve into the lairs of supernatural beasts. Attack other players’ castles or become a diplomat in a game of blood, power, and betrayal.
utm_source=press
Survive as a newly awakened vampire in a world ruled by humans and rise to become the next Dracula. Feed on blood to gain new powers, hide from the scorching sun, and engage in real-time PvE and PvP combat set in a dark fantasy realm. Raise your castle and invite friends to join as you explore a vast open world, pillage villages, skirmish with bandits, and delve into the lairs of supernatural beasts. Attack other players’ castles or become a diplomat in a game of blood, power, and betrayal.
Buy now on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1604030/V_Rising/?utm_source=pressWishlist Legacy of Castlevania Premium Pack DLC:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2833600/V_Rising__Legacy_of_Castlevania_Premium_Pack/?utm_source=press
Wishlist now on the PlayStation store:
https://store.playstation.com/concept/10007965V Rising on Socials
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About Stunlock Studios
Stunlock Studios is one of the leading independent Swedish game developers in Skövde, known for vampire survival game V Rising and arena brawler Battlerite. Out now in Early Access, V Rising’s gothic world has already attracted more than 4 million vampiric initiates and Battlerite was one of the most popular free-to-play games on Steam with over 6 million unique players entering the arena. With a passion for multiplayer action games, the studio crafts groundbreaking and community-driven games, always with their players in mind.
Visit: https://www.stunlockstudios.com
Stunlock Studios is one of the leading independent Swedish game developers in Skövde, known for vampire survival game V Rising and arena brawler Battlerite. Out now in Early Access, V Rising’s gothic world has already attracted more than 4 million vampiric initiates and Battlerite was one of the most popular free-to-play games on Steam with over 6 million unique players entering the arena. With a passion for multiplayer action games, the studio crafts groundbreaking and community-driven games, always with their players in mind.
Visit: https://www.stunlockstudios.com
Article by: Susan N.
Ninja Five-O - Retro Reflections - TBT
Ninja Five-O by developer Hudson Soft and publisher Konami—Game Boy Advance (GBA) Throwback Thursday review written by Hamza. 2003.
Without any hesitation whatsoever, Ninja Five-O should be among the first names to recommend if someone were to ask you of any worthy GBA games. This game truly deserves to be called one of the best, if not the best. This nifty handheld is home to a-great many side-scrollers and platformers- namely MegaMan Zero, Lady Sia, and Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow - but Ninja Five-O in my view is probably the best of them all.
The gist is the terrorists and rogue-ninjas have taken over and captured hostages all over the map. The story is minimal and the objective simple: Rescue all the hostages, kill all the terrorists, go one-on-one with the rogue-ninjas, collect keys, exit. Rinse and repeat. This is not to imply the gameplay is repetitive: You never know when the enemy ninja is going to appear onscreen; you never know when a terrorist might turn their hostage in your direction the moment you send flying your shuriken or other projectile, thus resulting in an accidental killing of said hostage.
The aforementioned chief objective is given another layer: If a speech bubble appears over the hostage’s head exclaiming “Don’t shoot”, then you really want to listen, because there’s a chance you might end up accidentally killing them. The game will mark this as ‘rescued’ and won’t deduct any points. However, it is still better to finish a stage without any casualties. If not for the fact that you’re a morally decent human being who believes in doing the right thing, then at-least do it for the cute way they shout “thank you” and run away.
With only a few levels to crab-walk through and with each broken down into small sections, the fun of Ninja Five-O will last for about an hour. Thirty-five minutes if the player is super experienced. But since Ninja Five-O is quality over quantity, the game doesn’t overstay its welcome. Scattered throughout the levels are bolts that the player can pick-up. They serve as power-ups.
Throughout the levels our ninja can collect colour-spectrum-cycling bolts which can further enhance his powers and give him cool projectiles, like multi-shot flames. Obtained either through a box or fallen enemy – usually the rogue-ninjas – these bolts will change the colour of your costume and that’s how you will know what upgrade level you’re currently in. But the thing that sucks is one shot or strike from a sword eliminates that power and you’re pushed back to the previous one. During boss battles this is hardly a thing of concern, but before one I want my ninja to be well stocked, with that special lightning-speed ability and not a rookie with a saber.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Without any hesitation whatsoever, Ninja Five-O should be among the first names to recommend if someone were to ask you of any worthy GBA games. This game truly deserves to be called one of the best, if not the best. This nifty handheld is home to a-great many side-scrollers and platformers- namely MegaMan Zero, Lady Sia, and Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow - but Ninja Five-O in my view is probably the best of them all.
The gist is the terrorists and rogue-ninjas have taken over and captured hostages all over the map. The story is minimal and the objective simple: Rescue all the hostages, kill all the terrorists, go one-on-one with the rogue-ninjas, collect keys, exit. Rinse and repeat. This is not to imply the gameplay is repetitive: You never know when the enemy ninja is going to appear onscreen; you never know when a terrorist might turn their hostage in your direction the moment you send flying your shuriken or other projectile, thus resulting in an accidental killing of said hostage.
The aforementioned chief objective is given another layer: If a speech bubble appears over the hostage’s head exclaiming “Don’t shoot”, then you really want to listen, because there’s a chance you might end up accidentally killing them. The game will mark this as ‘rescued’ and won’t deduct any points. However, it is still better to finish a stage without any casualties. If not for the fact that you’re a morally decent human being who believes in doing the right thing, then at-least do it for the cute way they shout “thank you” and run away.
With only a few levels to crab-walk through and with each broken down into small sections, the fun of Ninja Five-O will last for about an hour. Thirty-five minutes if the player is super experienced. But since Ninja Five-O is quality over quantity, the game doesn’t overstay its welcome. Scattered throughout the levels are bolts that the player can pick-up. They serve as power-ups.
Throughout the levels our ninja can collect colour-spectrum-cycling bolts which can further enhance his powers and give him cool projectiles, like multi-shot flames. Obtained either through a box or fallen enemy – usually the rogue-ninjas – these bolts will change the colour of your costume and that’s how you will know what upgrade level you’re currently in. But the thing that sucks is one shot or strike from a sword eliminates that power and you’re pushed back to the previous one. During boss battles this is hardly a thing of concern, but before one I want my ninja to be well stocked, with that special lightning-speed ability and not a rookie with a saber.
Speaking of which, your attacks are basic. You get to perform a single slash with your sword that proves, er, handy in hand-to-hand combats and opening suitcases and crates. Your character can jump but I think he’s struck with the same disease of Cannotjumpititisthat afflicted Bionic Commando from the NES title of the same name. Luckily, the ninja has with him his trusty kaginawa, a type of grappling hook used by ninjas. He can use that to perform acrobatic-themed stunts and raid on the foes like lightning. The last part may not be true, but who the hell cares, this is Ninja Five-O!
In conclusion, Ninja Five-O is a solid title on the GBA and no, it’s not a ninja-version of Hawaii Five-O, but however despite its similarities to other platform games, I deduced that this game has more in common with Virtua Cop than anything else. Why don’t you give it a try and decide for yourself?
Score: 8.5 / 10
Note: Screenshots from all platforms that were available at the time can be found here at Moby Games.
Suikoden IV - Retro Reflections
I thought all Japanese RPGS have charming graphics, exciting storylines, lovable characters and fun to learn combat mechanics but Suikoden IV on PS2 is an exception. Although it belongs to a well-known series, it offered me a shallow experience.
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness - Retro Reflections
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness is a member of a long line of games that started on Nintendo Entertainment System during the eighties. The hero was an intrepid hunter of supernatural threats who set off to find and defeat Dracula. These games, combining hack’n’slash action with platform negotiation and exploration, were loved by many people; unfortunately I haven’t tried any of them. Besides Curse of Darkness, the only Castlevania game I have played is Chronicles on PlayStation.
Suikoden III - PS3 Review
Louis this one is for you!
Years ago my above friend did something that I’ve never looked back on or once regretted. He sold me his PS1, which was my move away from Nintendo based consoles for quite a while. Sometime after this he introduced me to what is pretty much a cult classic: Suikoden II. Fast forward another few years and I bought my brother’s PS2, making it my own. Louis came over throwing Suikoden III at me before he was heading out of town for a weekend. While I enjoyed Suikoden II, it to me didn’t hold a candle to Suikoden III, which was my favorite entry in the series until the release of the fifth. Back once again, Konami have re-released Suikoden III on the PSN, making it playable for both the PSIII and the Vita. While physically sitting on my shelf, it has been too long since I’ve picked it up. Being able to review it now is an honor.
Years ago my above friend did something that I’ve never looked back on or once regretted. He sold me his PS1, which was my move away from Nintendo based consoles for quite a while. Sometime after this he introduced me to what is pretty much a cult classic: Suikoden II. Fast forward another few years and I bought my brother’s PS2, making it my own. Louis came over throwing Suikoden III at me before he was heading out of town for a weekend. While I enjoyed Suikoden II, it to me didn’t hold a candle to Suikoden III, which was my favorite entry in the series until the release of the fifth. Back once again, Konami have re-released Suikoden III on the PSN, making it playable for both the PSIII and the Vita. While physically sitting on my shelf, it has been too long since I’ve picked it up. Being able to review it now is an honor.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist to arrive this summer
I have had a love for playing collectable card games since stumbling onto Magic: The Gathering nearly two decades ago. One of the biggest names in the genre, Yu-Gi-Oh! has a new title launching for the current generation of consoles this summer.
Gradius V - PS3 Review
Horizontal shooters have been around forever now it seems, but the Gradius series has long been considered one of the best franchises in the shooter genre, and for very good reason. Recently Konami released Gradius V, the PS2 classic, on the PlayStation Network for PS3 owners. If you enjoy insanely hard shooters? Gradius V is worthwhile blast from the past.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 - Xbox 360 Review
I have long been a huge fan of the Castlevania series, dating back to when I was jumping over maddeningly quick Medusa heads and whipping iconic horror monsters to death. The series has evolved over the years, with the RPG elements found in Simon's Quest and masterpiece titles like Symphony of the Night. If you hate spoilers and have not yet played the first Lords of Shadow game, you may want to stop reading here. There are no spoilers for this title, but for how the first game ended just below.
Metal Gear Solid V - E3 Trailer
Microsoft kicked their Xbox One conference off by showing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and with good rason.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 - E3 Trailer
Here is a nice long six-minute trailer for the follow-up to the first Lords of Shadow, which I liked quite a bit when I reviewed it.
