Sturmwind
Developer: Duranik
Publisher: redspotgames
Genre: Shoot ‘em Up
Release Date: 04/24/2013

Every few years we have a Dreamcast revival with multiple small developers putting out games for the system all at once, only to then have the system lie dormant for a few more years. The last big resurgence started in late 2008 with Wind and Water Puzzle Battles and went throughout all of 2009 with titles like Dux, Last Hope: Pink Bullets, Rush Rush Rally Racing and Irides: Master of Blocks. Between the end of 2009 and now, the Dreamcast went silent save for two shooters: Fast Striker and Gun Lord. Now however, the cycle stars anew as the release of Sturmwind is merely the first of many Dreamcast releases for 2013. Other Dreamcast titles planned for a 2013 release include Dux 1.5, Redux, Neo XYX and Pier Solar and the Great Architects. There are three other potential Dreamcast games for this year: Ghost Blade, which simply won’t make it out, Age of the Beast, which is supposed to come out every year for a decade now, but never does and Leona’s Tricky Adventures, whose Dreamcast version appears to be cancelled this year.
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Injustice: Gods Among Us
Developer: Netherrealm Studios
Publisher: Warner Home Games
Genre: Fighting
Release Date: 04/16/2013

For a long time, the Mortal Kombat games were the red headed stepchild of the fighting game genre. Generally poo-pooed in terms of gameplay and balance compared to franchises like Street Fighter and The King of Fighters, Mortal Kombat still had a strong but loyal fanbase. All that changed with the release of Mortal Kombat Vs. DCU. The hardcore MK fans were disappointed by the T rating and the lack of gore and over the top fatalities but the game received more mainstream attention due to the inclusion of DC Comics super heroes while reviewers and the Fighting Game Community found the engine to be the best featuring Mortal Kombat characters yet. Mortal Kombat Vs. DCU went on to win our Best Fighting Game of the Year award for 2008. 2011 saw lighting strike twice as Mortal Kombat 9 showed developers and publishers alike the RIGHT way to do a franchise reboot and it also won our Best Fighting Game of the Year award to boot.

Now here we are in 2013 with Netherrealm’s first fighter to not feature Mortal Kombat characters at all. Injustice Gods Among Us gives us the first all DC Super Heroes fighting game since the terrible Sega Genesis Justice League game. Besides the core console game, we’ve also gotten a pretty damn good The King of Fighters variant of Injustice for iOS and a fourteen issue (so far) digital comic book series that acts as a prelude to the video game that has also been well received. With such a great build up, the hype and anticipation for Injustice: Gods Among Us is like nothing we’ve seen for a fighting game before. The question is whether or not the game lives up to it. Let’s find out together, shall we?
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Voodoo Chronicles: The First Sign
Developer: Space Monkey Games Factory International
Publisher: Sanuk Games
Genre: Adventure/Hidden Object
Release Date: 04/10/2013

Way back in the day before I captain this ship known as Diehard GameFAN, I fought for a lot of things here. Coverage of handheld titles. Coverage of PC games. Cover of indie point and click adventure games. Things that just weren’t being covered by the site under someone else’s watch. As I’ve slowly walked away from the video game end of things for a multitude of reasons, Aaron Sirois has been covering the hidden object sign of things for me. Still, I like to dabble in it now and then and so when Sanuk Games sent us a review copy of Voodoo Chronicles, I decided to give it a review. Unfortunately, this PS3 remake of a PC game by the same name is quite possibly the worst point and click slash hidden object game I have ever played in my life. From a nonsensical story to unresponsive controls and multiple bugs that damage your saved game to the point where you have to restart from the beginning, Voodoo Chronicles: The First Sign simply should not have been allowed to make it on to PSN in the shape it is in. This is doubly true when you realize the PC version costs a fraction of the PS3 version and has far less issues. So what makes Voodoo Chronicles an easy frontrunner for this year’s “Worst Game of the Year” award from us. Read on to find out…
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