Play Magazine gives Red Star a 9.0!...

[dave4shmups]

Great news, but still much confusion regarding the release date. Play lists Red Star as coming out this month, while IGN and Gamefaqs list it as January 2007. And just to make things even more confusing, it's STILL not listed on XS's website.

Oh well, at least it got a good review.

[tekneekz]

sweet im also waiting for the release of this game. havent had a fresh run n gun experience in a while so im looking forward to red star.

[Sonic R]

I am also waiting for this game. It was originally supposed to be released 11-7 but it is slated for release in January 2007. Game Stop has it with a 1-1-07 release date.

[shinsage]

XS hasn't updated their site since Shiki 2 came out, not to mention for some reason they deleted their boards..
So I wouldn't rely on that at all.

[Specineff]

Play Magazine is made by Dave Halverson. He had this habit of hyping not-so great games back in Gamefan. I'd take his opinion with a pound of salt.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

^ Damn, you beat me to it. I think Play has a tendency to overscore obscure and "old school" games. I'll wait until I hear from other sites before thinking about getting it. It better be cheap too.

[BenT]

Play is garbage because Halverson is a ridiculous laughing stock whose opinions are insane. If any of Play's reviews are accurate it's only by accident. This is one of those cases, as Red Star is pretty cool. I'm not sure it's 9/10 cool, but then, Play also thinks Sonic 360 is a 9.5.

Um. D:

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Play Magazine is made by Dave Halverson. He had this habit of hyping not-so great games back in Gamefan. I'd take his opinion with a pound of salt.

And shall we bash Mr. Halverson's head in with this one pound sack of salt? ^_~

And yes, I do remember Dave H. from his early days in the Diehard Gamefan independent video game magazine...very well known as the only USA game magazine to cover exstensively the world of shmups for the arcades and consoles...and wasn't Gamefan instrumental in getting Capcom to release Gunbird 2 for the USA Dreamcast console?

(Otherwise, it would've remained as a Japanese DC shmup exclusive! -- I do have that coveted classic Gamefan issue that waxs poetically about the JPN DC GD-Rom disc iteration of Gunbird 2 and presented in true 'Tate' magazine article format as well -- a rarity these days in the magazine publishing world except for those hot centerfoldouts in Playboy, etc.) ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Strider77]

OK.... but think about this, most any other game mag gives games like GTA, Halo, and my personal favorite...... Madden 9s.

[dave4shmups]

*shrugs* Well, the writing overall sure beats the heck out of EGM. At least Play pays their writers to write more then one paragraph.

[Specineff]

If Hardcore Gamer gives it a 9, then I'll believe it. But not from Play.

[dave4shmups]

So, what do you guys think about the release date from Play?

What really bothers me is that XS is the only company that I know of that's available to publish these types of games for the PS2. SCEA probably will soften on 2D games, but that does us little good if all we have is one budget publisher over here.

[CMoon]

Well the screens look promising anyway--sort of cannon spike-ish.

Who actually developed this game?

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Some Acclaim studio. I think.

[Limbrooke]

Reminds me of both Cannon Spike and Shattered Soldier.

[captain ahar]

no way. i was positive that this game died with acclaim.

good news. the demo was promising at the very least. it was sort of fun, when the punishment that cannon spike provides was just a bit too much.

hope XS sees it through.

[captain ahar]

i've got a question as well for anyone who might remember.

this game was code complete when acclaim went bye bye, wasn't it?

[Smithy]

If not complete, very close to it. There's a copy on Ebay right now for the cool price of $299 that is dated 8/12/04, its supposed release date was 9/21/04 ... so I'm guessing that copy is really close..

[Ceph]

If not complete, very close to it. There's a copy on Ebay right now for the cool price of $299 that is dated 8/12/04, its supposed release date was 9/21/04 ... so I'm guessing that copy is really close..

Link?

Edit: Never mind, item No. 250052934189

[BenT]

*shrugs* Well, the writing overall sure beats the heck out of EGM. At least Play pays their writers to write more then one paragraph.

That's debatable, but even assuming Play did have better writing, it'd still have little of value to say. I mean, Dave's opinions are worthless, and you can be sure he has a hand in every other writer's articles, too.

So yeah, stop enabling crazy people who should not be writing nationally distributed game mags. Thanks.

[Kiken]

And yes, I do remember Dave H. from his early days in the Diehard Gamefan independent video game magazine...very well known as the only USA game magazine to cover exstensively the world of shmups for the arcades and consoles...and wasn't Gamefan instrumental in getting Capcom to release Gunbird 2 for the USA Dreamcast console?

(Otherwise, it would've remained as a Japanese DC shmup exclusive! -- I do have that coveted classic Gamefan issue that waxs poetically about the JPN DC GD-Rom disc iteration of Gunbird 2 and presented in true 'Tate' magazine article format as well -- a rarity these days in the magazine publishing world except for those hot centerfoldouts in Playboy, etc.) ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Except for the fact that Halverson had nothing to do with Diehard Gamefan around the time you're referring to. He had left and formed Gamer's Republic. ECM (Eric Mylonas) was in charge of Gamefan at the time.

And to be honest, I doubt he had any pull like that with Capcom USA. They were just releasing pretty much everything at the time. Hell, GunSpike (aka CannonSpike) was actually released in the US first.. and at half the price of the Japanese version (plus Zero Cammy is instantly selectable).

[dave4shmups]

*shrugs* Well, the writing overall sure beats the heck out of EGM. At least Play pays their writers to write more then one paragraph.

That's debatable, but even assuming Play did have better writing, it'd still have little of value to say. I mean, Dave's opinions are worthless, and you can be sure he has a hand in every other writer's articles, too.

So yeah, stop enabling crazy people who should not be writing nationally distributed game mags. Thanks.

Well, then, what IS a good gaming magazine here in the US?! Cripes, every source I bring up on here get's dismissed as crap, and it's getting more then a little ridiculous. At least PLAY covers Japan gaming without the sole purpose of mocking it, like EGM does. I also got fed up with the way EGM responds to people who write in; their belitting and arrogant attitudes make me sick. There is a difference between satire and just acting like an idiot; something their writers need to learn.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

No source is 100% reliable for me. I usually wait until everybody releases their reviews and average them. However, if you think Play is safe, go with what they say. I would take their opinion with a grain of salt, though, since they gave Sonic the Hedghog 360 such a high score. Almost every other source rates it as garbage, so it's likely Play got paid on that one.

[Frederik]

I don´t know Play magazine, but they also gave Sonic The Hedgehog 360 a "95" (erm, that is what UFO just said ). Comparing it with other sources, it seems to be a very rubbish magazine:

http://www.metacritic.com/games/platfor ... hehedgehog

The quote says "You simply can't ask for more out of an action game. Mission accomplished. Sonic is born anew." You can´t ask more of an action game? Um, no, I guess I CAN.

I am glad that sites like Metacritic exist. I was also surprised that Gamespot gave Twilight Princess "only" a "88" which was the lowest score of all sources yet. They actually applied criticism to the score they gave. And a whooping 10 sources gave the game flat out 100 percent. Seriously, what games are REALLY worth 100 percent? To me, 100 should simply be a ideal score, but so many magazines and sites slap 100 to every third game. There simply aren´t so many great games around, let alone games that are perfect and flawless on every level.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Twilight Princess is overhyped. A perfect 100 would mean that it's the best in everything and that's certainly not true. Graphics? Really good last gen graphics but still last gen. Difficulty? Cakewalk. An automatic -1 or more in the gameplay department. I was looking at vids and some enemies do 1/4 of a heart damage to you. WTF.

[Frederik]

...not even speaking of those folks that rate games 5 stars at Amazon if they are not even out, as in the case of Doom 3 (and certainly many many other games).

[Strider77]

people who should not be writing nationally distributed game mags

thats covers alot of mags out there, but I can usually gather what a game is like by puttings the reviews together. Like when most magazines gave outrun2 a crappy score due to length. duh..... it's an arcade port. it's actually OK, believe it or not, for a game to be short in some situations.

[dave4shmups]

Yeah, I guess going to multiple sources is the best way to check. I watched some PS2 game reviews on www.gametrailers.com , and I really love their reviews since you can see the game in action during the reviews. Although, they are the only source that I've seen that's given Shadow the Hedgehog a good rating.

Which brings up one other point; you just have to try the games out for yourself sometimes. Gametrailers.com gave Drakengard 2 a not so hot rating, but the gameplay that they showed looks like it would be right up my alley.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

I don't know how cookie cutter story and bad gameplay make a good game but help yourself. It's your cash.

[Twiddle]

Twilight Princess is overhyped. A perfect 100 would mean that it's the best in everything and that's certainly not true. Graphics? Really good last gen graphics but still last gen. Difficulty? Cakewalk. An automatic -1 or more in the gameplay department. I was looking at vids and some enemies do 1/4 of a heart damage to you. WTF.

Wow.

Yep, my money is still going to Milestone in the Wii department.