PixlBit

This gorgeous remake deserves better controls.

Nights Into Dreams has unquestionably been treated with love in its transformation into HD. The Japanese exclusive PlayStation 2 version of the game has been upscaled and displayed in wide screen, making the once blocky presentation smooth and vibrant. Even the sprites were upgraded to 3D objects, providing some extra visual flair. Heck, Sega even included a trimmed version of Christmas Nights for good measure. However, the port suffers from the same botched controls found in that PlayStation 2 version of the game and the rough patches of the experience persist despite the loving upgrade.

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More than a cookie cutter.

When Sony announced Playstation All Stars, fans of the developer and its long list of exclusive characters let out rounds of applause. Unfortunately, that applause was followed by a mildly depressed sigh of remorse for a game that looked to steal major portions of the Super Smash Brothers battle system. Luckily, players who have been able to get their hands on the beta of Battle Royale have come away with relief all over their faces.

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More of the same is still great, right?

Despite the dry and arid climate and the minor annoyance of rampant psychopaths and killer animals, I can say that I was genuinely excited to revisit Pandora with Borderlands 2. Unsurprisingly, little has changed since my last visit, which is both good and bad. Like its predecessor, traipsing across the landscape, slaughtering dozens of enemies along the way and looting everything in sight is highly addictive; however, despite the numerous tweaks made to the formula, the core experience isn't any better than what you saw the last time around.

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The road to hell is paved with beautiful 2D sprites.

As someone who cut his teeth on Super Mario Bros., Mega Man, and Sonic the Hedgehog, I have a fondness for the 8- and 16-bit sprite art classic style, but I also want to see games that evolve the 2D platformer and bring it into the 21^st century. I often ask myself how things would be if the games industry never moved on to polygons but instead kept refining their sprites for 25 years. What would that game look like? Thanks to Arkedo and their new game Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit I have my answer, and that answer would be “pretty damn sweet.”

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