http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/games/popular/month/handheld/?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=rss ]]> This Month's Most Popular Games Tagged 'handheld' on The Great Games Experiment http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/css/logo.jpg http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/games/popular/month/handheld/?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=rss ]]> en-us For a lot of people there's quite a bit of appeal to games like The Sims. One can play make believe in a reasonably realistic world, without having to deal with the crap that comes with real life. Buy into consumerism, and forge relations all you want, and if you make a mistake, just start a new game. Simple. However, these games couldn't really be enjoyed by younger people, or be played together by families since the games have content more suited toward an older audience. A few years ago, Animal Crossing took the core elements of these sorts of games, and slapped them into a fantastical world full of talking animals, cute goodies to collect, and let people play at a leisurely pace, just enjoying the environment, and doing things as quick or slow as they liked. It worked on the Gamecube, and it works again now on the DS with Animal Crossing: Wild World - assuming you don't have a firm anti-consumerism stance.

]]> 25 Nov 2006 08:27:58 In Killzone: Liberation, two months after the events of Killzone, most of southern Vekta is still under Helghast control. The rules of war have been cast aside with the Helghast General, Metrac, employing brutal measures in order to seize the initiative and strengthen his position further. Returning as Templar, players will be sent on a mission to undertake a covert operation to save hostages captured by Metrac, while ISA troops continue the fight for liberty.

KEY FEATURES


Unique Third Person Camera: This new intelligent camera system gives the player the best overview capturing all of the intense action, enabling them to make tactical decisions before engaging in a firefight.
New and Returning Characters: The player reprises the role of the battle hardened Templar (although other familiar characters appear including Rico) as he attempts to save ISA hostages taken captive by the evil General Metrac and leads the battle to gain the liberation of Southern Vekta. The player will have to overcome all new Helghast enemies including bodyguards (complete with riot shield defence) and trained killer dogs.
Missions: The fight against the new, sinister General spans over 16 missions in a variety of new environments.
Weaponry: Players will be able to utilize a wide range of weaponry including sniper rifles and a crossbow with explosive tipped arrows and more.
Tactical Command System: At specific points in the game, players will be able to use a new Tactical Command System to give orders to an AI buddy during frantic firefights.
Vehicles: Killzone: Liberation also allows players to drive vehicles including tanks and hovercrafts to help defeat the powerful and intelligent enemy.
Challenge Games: Players can compete in challenge games to sharpen their skills and earn new abilities.
Multiplayer Functionality: The multiplayer functionality in Killzone: Liberation takes full advantage of the wireless capabilities of the PSP hardware, with two distinct styles of gameplay: 1) Two player cooperative gameplay in the single player mission 2) One to six player games over six multiplayer maps.
Gameshare Mode: Killzone: Liberation will feature gameshare mode where players can share demo levels of the game with other PSP system owners.

]]> 27 Nov 2006 10:23:19 A trading game in an RPG realm. Trade between 8 cities of 4 races, travel the realm and defend your cargo from bandits. Lots of fun for such a small game...

]]> 02 Jan 2007 03:46:41 Age of Empires: The Age of Kings ® for the Nintendo DS is based on the best-selling PC RTS title of all time: Age of Empires ® II: The Age of Kings. Players command five different civilizations, build armies and take them on scores of campaigns. Boasting turn-based strategy game play, Age of Empires: The Age of Kings ® allows players to move from the Dark Ages through the Middle Ages with one goal in mind: domination of the known world.

Features:

Command one of five different civilizations: the Britons, Franks, Mongols, Saracens, and Japanese.

Take control of special ‘Hero’ units like Richard the Lionheart, Minamoto Yoshitsune, Joan of Arc, Genghis Khan, and Saladin among others who command special ‘hero’ powers affecting the entire battlefield.

Command over 65 different types of units from bowmen and monks to hand cannoneers, mercenaries and samurai.

Turn-based combat, new to the Age of Empires franchise, keeps the battle moving at the player-preferred pace.

Players construct & upgrade buildings like town centers, mines, universities and ‘wonders’ to help units learn new skills and create resources for their civilizations.

Players research over 50 different technologies like chemistry, ballistics, siege craft and spying among others to take their civilization into the next age.

Get help from the new Combat Advisor who provides advice on certain campaign strategies and an indication of how the battle will go.

Multiplayer scenarios allowing up to 4 players to battle each other wirelessly.

Gain Empire Points to unlock maps & units and improve Emperor Rank.

Original music and sound effects from top-selling PC version.

* Based on Ensemble Studio’s PC mega-hit, Age of Empires ® II: The Age of Kings .

]]> 04 Feb 2007 12:32:45 We have mini forum competitions at Retro Remakes every now and then. At the time of writing (6/2/07) theres a calculator b+w jobby on the go. Some cracking stuff coming from that too... anywho, a while back we had one to create oldschool LCD handheld remakes. Well, this is my personal effort. Turned out pretty neat i think, and it shows how super amazing my leet coding skills are :)

Catch the falling poops and protect your 5 sims. Miss a poop and you lose points. And all the while it gets faster and faster :)

5 minutes of fun and a diggy tune.

]]> 06 Feb 2007 05:47:43 Megaman Battle Network is the first game in a spinoff series
released for the Game Boy Advance. It was released in October of 2001, a few months after the launch of the Game Boy Advance in North America.

Megaman Battle Network (or commonly shorted as MMBN) takes place in the year 20XX, where everything is interconnected via the internet. You play as Lan, a school kid with a semi-famous scientist father. Your best "friend" is Megaman, a "Net Navi" (AI program build with emotions and body for exploring the net). People spend their time on the net by "jacking into" computer connected to the internet. The phrase "Jack in, Megaman" has become a trademark for the series (whether that's a good or a bad thing...).

Gameplay is standard RPG fare, with a few differences. Movement is done in realtime on an isometric grid, both on and off the net. You control Lan in the real world, and Megaman on the net. While jacked into the net, Megaman may run into a random battle with some sort of virus, and that's where Battle Network gets it charm.

Battles are done in a 2D environment, a 6x3 grid. Typically, Megaman owns the left 3x3, and the viruses own the right 3x3 (but conditions may change this). Before you start a battle, you are given a list of "chips", battle data that you can choose to upload to Megaman before the fight starts. Once you choose them, you duke it out with the viruses until the time comes that you can choose more chips. It's this battle system that's garnered 5 and 1/2 sequels for the series, and a half-spinoff of the series itself.

]]> 08 Feb 2007 08:01:32 Megaman Battle Network 2 is the direct sequel to Megaman Battle Network. It was released June 17, 2002, for the Game Boy Advance.

MMBN2 takes place 3 months after the end of MMBN, after the downfall of WWW and their leader, Dr. Wily. Peace is had for awhile, until an increase in Netcrime starts, all thanks to a NetMafia organization known as Gospel. Once again, it's up to Lan Hikari and his Navi Megaman to end Gospel's plot to destroy society.

MMBN2 plays like MMBN, recycling most graphics from the previous game, but with certain game changes. The armor system was removed, now replaced with a "style" system, Megaman doesn't autoheal after every battle, and Subchips (chips that can be used outside of battle) have been added to balance that. Only a maximum of 10 chips will be available in battle, and an extra 100+ chips have been added (with some original ones removed or having their name changed). Battles are the same. Gameplay is the same. The core "search the towns/search the net" style remains.

]]> 09 Feb 2007 07:06:07 This is the sequel to the hit Genesis title Gunstar Heroes. You are a Gunstar Super Hero, your job is to destroy the rising evil empire and collect mystical gems from 4 moons.

There are two playable characters and 3 difficulties for each, and with every character and degree of difficulty there is a different ending, giving you 6 different endings and amazing potential for replayability.

This is a Shoot 'em up to the highest caliber, enemies will rain from the sky and boos battles are beyond epic. Some changes from the original game, such as the removal of throw moves, addition of auto-fire, and weapon combining have left some fans of the original game feeling betrayed, but the core fast-paced action elements have remained intact and as intense as ever.

]]> 18 Feb 2007 02:49:08 The King of All Cosmos and the Royal Family decide to take some time off from their celestial construction and travel to Earth for a well-earned (for the Prince at least) tropical summer vacation on their own sunny island. Unfortunately, the King's over-exuberance creates a tsunami that strikes and devastates nearby Paradise Commonwealth Island. One of the residents, a turtle, washes ashore next to the Royal Family and tells them his tale. The King then decides to make new islands for the animals of the Commonwealth with several katamari. Similar to the previous Katamari titles, the King sends the Prince to the Sunflower Continent, which is full of the paraphernalia used to create new landmasses.

Gameplay is much like that of the previous Katamari titles. Controls differ from those of the PS2 games given that the PSP lacks the DualShock 2 dual analog sticks. The player uses the D-pad and the four face buttons to imitate the analog controls. Often forgotten, as the creators added this only for the American release, is the ability to use the thumb-nub instead of the D-pad (the previous Japanese version only uses the thumb-nub to move the camera). The L and R buttons are used for tight turns.

Each player has his or her own island, which they name. A maximum of three of the player's friends can visit the island, via ad hoc network. The visitor can challenge the player in a contest of rolling the most valuables, like the Saving Red Panda stage in We ♥ Katamari.

]]> 03 Mar 2007 08:39:41