ZIRCON’S ATTEMPT AT HOLLYWOOD STARDOM WITH YOOSTAR 2 IN THE MOVIES

Yoostar 2 is here and yes, it is your chance to experience what it would be like to play a part in some of your favorite movies. But before you start to write your Oscar winning speech, let Yoostar 2 put you through the paces, literally. This review covers the Xbox 360 Kinect version and I am pleased to report that Yoostar 2 is a compelling title that just might help justify that expensive Kinect investment. Yoostar 2 “In the Movies” takes famous scenes from many of your favorite motion pictures and allows you to play the part of the actor in that scene and you can play it real or ad-lib and create a hilarious new approach to your choice of Cinema vignettes.

Once the initial room set up has been done, it’s going to have you set up room for a play area with proper Kinect placement and lighting, and the lighting is a bit tough to get right. Once this is done you can spin the wheel of movie clips from movies such as “Superman Returns”, heck anything you do here will make that clip better…er um sorry, but from dozens of others as well as “Star Trek”, “Tropic Thunder”, and “Forest Gump”. I particularly loved my new take on it, with,”Life is like a box of fish, you never know when it’s going to stink up the place. “The Godfather” was a lot fun, but I make a for a terrible Brando, “King Kong” killed me and let’s just say that nothing was funnier than playing out a flamboyant Arnold in “Terminator “, “Ill be back and I will look FAB-U-Lous!! (If only I had a Feather BOA). There are so many movies that you will certainly find something to express your inner celebrity on and there are a few more available for download on Xbox Live.

Now comes the social aspect of YooStar 2. If you are pleased with your performance you can share it with your friends via Twitter or the Yoostar Facebook app, talk about social suicide, but that’s just me. Got a friend who also has Yoostar? You can view their performance and give your rating on their efforts. So there you have it, depending on if you want to play it straight or have a little fun with it, Yoostar 2 is a great Party Game that will have everyone laughing at some point and maybe a few sad feelings for those whom can’t take constructive criticism. There were a few in my review test group…what Goof Balls.

I do want to take a moment to Applaud this title for the Kinect since it seems that Microsoft and its Video Game Developing partners have sort of abandoned the device as of late with hardly any new Kinect enabled Titles being released. Yoostar 2 In the Movies has proven to me that I didn’t just buy an expensive Air Dance/Fitness Controller. I would also like to tip my hat to all the Movie Studios that allowed for such an undertaking. “Waner Bros.”, “CBS”, “Paramount”, Lionsgate”, “Universal” Heck even “Sony Pictures” and “MGM” got involved.

Now you really are “In the Movies” and maybe, just maybe, your performance can out trump that Beiber kid, seriously. Thanks for reading...Zircon Out.

Top Spin 4 | Review

If you like Tennis, you're going to love this!

2K has sent us their latest Tennis offering with the new Top Spin 4.  I haven't played a Top Spin title before, and I haven't even played a Tennis game (Table Tennis doesn't count) since the Dreamcast days when it was called Virtua Tennis.  That being said, how does the newest entry stack up?  Quite well actually.

Tennis as a video game, is going to have a niche appeal.  It's not going to draw the Madden crowd or the MLB fans; like it's real-life counterpart, Top Spin 4 is for Tennis lovers.  For those that love the sport, the skill and strategy is all here.  For those like me, who haven't played in a while, I swiftly jumped into the Top Spin Academy (training) feature first.  There's a variety of training, from the basics, to more advanced techniques.  I had to get my racket wet a bit before starting any real games.  Once I completed the training, I created a player (there are numerous amounts of customization, or if you're like me, you can just randomize yourself to get started).

Career mode is where the meat of the game is at.  You begin at the bottom of the latter, participating in a series of small tournaments and special training matches.  You earn XP as you play, as well as if you meet certain objectives of a match, you'll get bonus XP.  This allows you to level-up your player.  Like a good RPG, you can't take on the likes of Agassi, or Federer as a first-timer, you need to build your reputation, boost your skills, and use every move in your arsenal to take down the best.  (This is sounding like a lot of fun!).  It's akin to your leveling up in the Tiger Woods series, or the leveling up found in racing titles like Forza 3; as you get better, more events, and tournaments open up for you to conquer, and there's something quite satisfying about that slow, methodical approach to playing. 

The gaming atmosphere is great as well.  In the first few spars, you're playing at a local tennis club, with a few onlookers; but once you make it into tournaments, the crowd reaction keeps is pitch perfect.  Control is great as one would expect from a game that requires the finesse as this one.  Timing has to be just right to pull off the more advanced moves, but the tight controls allow for a natural evolution of one's skills.

Outside of the career mode, there are a few other modes worth mentioning; of course there's straight up exhibition play, when you want to just jump right in with pre-set characters, and not worry about the long process of career mode.  You can play singles or doubles against the computer, or even take on some online opponents.  Speaking of online, there's a wealth of options there as well.  There's the full-on career mode also, where you play against actual human opponents; the skill is harder, but the rewards are that much sweeter.  You can also play exhibition modes of online if that's your thing.

All in all - Top Spin 4 is really the best Tennis game out there; I know there's not much competition, but this one will have you playing for hours.  Graphics are great, controls are superb, atmosphere is recreated perfectly, to give you the best experience available.  Highly Recommended!

Mashbuttons.com gives Top Spin 4 an 8 out of 10

Gamers Digital to release Zombii Attack

I get an email this morning from someone that handles the 2K titles, you know Duke, Spec Ops and other AAA titles. However, this was not about a big release, more so about a WiiWare game, called Zombii Attack, which only costs 500 points.

So what is it? Well you play as a survivor in an infected city full of zombies, but how do you defend yourself I must ask. Well, that is easy, with a slingshot that launches anvils, tires, z-bombs, and of course zombies using the Wii remote.

Zircon's "Gods Eater Burst" Review

“Gods Eater Burst” has now come to America, land of the free, and home of the “Monster Hunter” franchise. Does this new contender to the throne that monster hunting built have what it takes captivate PSP players here in the states as well as it has in Japan? “Gods Eater Burst” has enjoyed an incredible following in Japan where over 1,000,000 units have sold. The “Burst” version that we here in America have a chance to enjoy is an enhanced version with many more missions and yes a very addictive story that will draw the player into this crazy world and compel them to see just what twist is coming next.

In the game “Gods Eater Burst” the earth of the not too distant future has become plagued by tremendously terrifying beasts known only as the “Aragami” (not to be mistaken for delicately folded paper Unicorns). Humanity’s last and sole hope lies in an elite group of hunters called the “Gods Eaters” who have a natural ability to wield a special weapon called the “God Arc”. This weapon which is roughly the size of a motorcycle has an incredible ability to morph from Bastard Sword size blades to a Rail Gun and then change again to a Predatory gaping Maw in which to devour these beasts once they are down. So you hunt down huge mutant beasts, kill them and then devour them for raw materials. Players will create their own unique hero and battle alongside others in your group against many different types of mutant enemies. Players can hunt with an artificial intelligence controlled party or switch to Ad Hoc and invite up to four other friends to work together to free the world of this increasing menace. While battling, the player will be able to craft unique blades, guns, and bullets to customize your loadout to take down the ever evolving “Aragami”.
The furious battle pace will send players through hundreds of missions, some that are story based and some that are considered free play to add to your money coffers and raw material base. The game will demand quick thinking on the behalf of the player for tactical shifting between your weapon types so as to exploit the weaknesses of the current mission’s mutant threat.

So now on to my personal views of this new action role playing experience that has come to our game hungry PSP’s. Quite frankly, in the beginning I found the overwhelming amount of reading required to understand what has transpired in this world to be very cumbersome, I wanted to get out there and kill me some monsters. But no, I needed to go through some long and drawn out tutorials that I later was thankful for as they explained the extensive use of nearly every button on the console. This now leads me to my only complaint on this otherwise fantastic game...THE CONTROLS!!! “Gods Eater Burst” is an action game that demands the use of two analog sticks, alas my PSP has only one so imagine trying to constantly re-orient myself in a three dimensional space by having to press the upper left bumper button on my PSP, I think I wore it out. These monsters that you fight are very, very agile and your character only runs so fast so during battle they are hopping, flying and running all over the place and then I need to turn around and quickly press my left button to shift the camera only to find the monster has just jumped to a new location. That being said (it is what it is) this game had me coming back for more and more as I wanted to complete yet another mission and another to advance the story.

Running around swinging a sword the size of a “Smart Car” to defeat a monster the size of a City Bus had me hooked, yes hooked, line, and sinker. Then the monsters kept coming and kept getting bigger and badder and even more evolved. The story explains that these mutants have no brains rather each individual cell of these beasts has its own intelligence and they continue to mimic what they devour from organic creatures to even machinery. So much like a freakish Chimera, you will come up against a lion, bird, and fish tailed creature with the face of a human and the ability to launch missiles and use other aspects of machinery. The researchers of this world then fear that it is only a matter of time before they start seeing human forms of these creatures that will eventually infiltrate and replace human kind. Time to kill some monsters! So there you have it my fellow gamers. “Gods Eater Burst” is definitely worth the purchase and only your purchase will keep these games coming. So run to your Game store and pick up this game today.
With that, I am off to immerse myself in yet another PSP Treat to review for you loyal readers.

Till then … Zircon has left the blog. Z-man Out.