PixlBit

No matter your political stance, you would think that a president that flew around and shot missiles would be awesome. Turns out it’s boring.

I thought we had moved past the era of silly touch-screen controls early in the lifespan of the DS, but apparently it still has its proponents.  Grasshopper Manufacture and Level 5 have teamed up to make sure that the dying art of crappy stylus futzing stays around a little longer with their joint downloadable venture, Liberation Maiden.  Maybe the controls themselves wouldn’t be so objectionable if there was some other entertainment value in the package, but as it is, Liberation Maiden is just a boring series of stylus rubbings in an anime wrapper.

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Grasshopper and Digital Reality deliver a one-of-a-kind shoot-'em-up.

Sine Mora is a fascinating specimen, which should be no surprise to anyone familiar with Grasshopper Manufacture's other work. Once again, the team behind No More Heroes and Shadows of the Damned has delivered an experience that shakes up the established norms of a genre and provides a crazy, convoluted story that will have most players scratching their heads. This horizontal scrolling, bullet hell shoot-'em-up introduces a unique upgrade, special move, and timing system that drives the boss-intensive quest. While Sine Mora suffers from a few minor issues, its ingenuity and originality make it one of the best titles in the genre.

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“OK” just doesn't cut it this time.

No More Heroes looked like an intriguing game when it came out on the Wii, but after playing it I wasn't too impressed. You play as the badass Travis Touchdown and your simple goal is to kill everyone in your way until you are number one. The gameplay was interesting and the story and characters were entertaining, but these just sugarcoated a fundamentally flawed game. Upon hearing about this remake, subtitled Heroes Paradise, I hoped that it would all be smoothed over. Again I walked away disappointed.

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