Players Pulse
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A Collection of Quirky References Found in Guacamelee! [PS3 and Vita]
As soon as I saw the first images of this game, my love of professional wrestling and lucha libre made it a day one purchase — all these Internet and gaming references I found within are just an extra layer of weirdness that I’m enjoying.
![Duke Nukem: Planet of the Babes Advert - PlayStation [June 2000]
I stared at this advert for a couple of seconds after coming across it just trying to figure out whether or not this game was real or not. I’d never heard of it, but my knowledge of PSX games is nothing compared to all the dumb titles I can recall for Nintendo’s system.
Turns out, this game was actually released for the PlayStation system as a sequel to Duke Nukem: Time to Kill, but it went through a slight name change. Apparently, the moniker Planet of the Babes was too similar to a particular movie reboot that was in development and (supposedly) lawyers saddled up and threatened 3D Realms and GT Interactive.
You’d think that they’d be protected under parody laws, but for whatever reasons, the game ended up being shipped as Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes. The developers even went as far to completely drop the Planet of the Apes stylized font as well.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/dc39d0feb8bf5b029c77e0019ea019f8/tumblr_mhu62oXeoB1r15h74o1_1280.png)
Duke Nukem: Planet of the Babes Advert - PlayStation [June 2000]
I stared at this advert for a couple of seconds after coming across it just trying to figure out whether or not this game was real or not. I’d never heard of it, but my knowledge of PSX games is nothing compared to all the dumb titles I can recall for Nintendo’s system.
Turns out, this game was actually released for the PlayStation system as a sequel to Duke Nukem: Time to Kill, but it went through a slight name change. Apparently, the moniker Planet of the Babes was too similar to a particular movie reboot that was in development and (supposedly) lawyers saddled up and threatened 3D Realms and GT Interactive.
You’d think that they’d be protected under parody laws, but for whatever reasons, the game ended up being shipped as Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes. The developers even went as far to completely drop the Planet of the Apes stylized font as well.
![Ni no Kuni Pixel Art by DrewWise [Tumblr | Twitter]
Fun artwork for a game that I only recently became aware due to high praise from several of the gaming podcasts I listen to. I might not have the time to get to Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch right now, but that doesn’t mean I cannot appreciate things like this OR even go through and order this on a t-shirt from RedBubble.
[Via NeoGAF]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/a195cab5a4bc52227f44a2d41c8b8f24/tumblr_mhq1cvfnNB1r15h74o1_500.png)
Ni no Kuni Pixel Art by DrewWise [Tumblr | Twitter]
Fun artwork for a game that I only recently became aware due to high praise from several of the gaming podcasts I listen to. I might not have the time to get to Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch right now, but that doesn’t mean I cannot appreciate things like this OR even go through and order this on a t-shirt from RedBubble.
![Dino Crisis Advert - Sony PlayStation [July 1999]
In another universe, Dino Crisis 6 was released this year. I think I’d much rather live there.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mefnjy0XNt1r15h74o1_1280.png)
Dino Crisis Advert - Sony PlayStation [July 1999]
In another universe, Dino Crisis 6 was released this year. I think I’d much rather live there.
![Resident Evil 3: Nemesis Advert - PlayStation [September 1998]
I’ve beaten this game, I know I’ve beaten this game, I can remember the final boss fight that happens in this game; that’s about it, though.
…
Nemesis was pretty cool in that Resident Evil: Apocalypse movie, I guess.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mb6sk2hGuY1r15h74o1_500.png)
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis Advert - PlayStation [September 1998]
I’ve beaten this game, I know I’ve beaten this game, I can remember the final boss fight that happens in this game; that’s about it, though.
…
Nemesis was pretty cool in that Resident Evil: Apocalypse movie, I guess.
![Resident Evil: Director’s Cut Advert [Playstation 1997]
I’ll be honest — I’ve never played the original Resident Evil game properly.
The Gamecube remake was one of the first titles I picked up for Nintendo’s system, but I’ve never actually experienced the original entry in the survival horror series in it’s true Playstation glory. I wonder how it still holds up (beyond the terrible “tank” controls that people love to bitch about).](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mb6vd4zPNf1r15h74o1_500.png)
Resident Evil: Director’s Cut Advert [Playstation 1997]
I’ll be honest — I’ve never played the original Resident Evil game properly.
The Gamecube remake was one of the first titles I picked up for Nintendo’s system, but I’ve never actually experienced the original entry in the survival horror series in it’s true Playstation glory. I wonder how it still holds up (beyond the terrible “tank” controls that people love to bitch about).
With the release of Resident Evil 6, I thought it’d be fun to make today nothing but Resident Evil posts! Beyond that though, I wanted to give people a heads up about the two console-exclusive special edition packs that are available in stores today as I was completely caught off guard with this release.
In the PS3 exclusive Resident Evil Anthology Set, you get Resident Evil 6 along with digital copies of Resident Evil: Director’s Cut, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Resident Evil 4 HD, and Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition.
In the Xbox 360 exclusive Resident Evil Archives Set, you get Resident Evil 6 along with the film Resident Evil Degeneration and digital copies of Resident Evil 4 HD, Resident Evil CODE Veronica HD, and Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition.
Both sets retail for $89.99 but there’s only one actually worth picking up, in my opinion. Not too sure why these things differ so much from one another, but it is what it is. Just something to ponder while you’re at the store.
![“Actual PS2 Graphics!” - Playstation Magazine #33 [May 2000]
God, I love covers like this especially when the amazing thing that’s being touted was nothing more than a bold-faced lie. The WCW 2000 game that’s being mentioned here ended up being WCW: Backstage Assault, a title that had one of the worst receptions for a wrestling video game.
WCW as a company might have been cooling down at this time, but EA’s decision to make a wrestling game that didn’t even have a wrestling ring probably had a lot to do with the poor sales. Also, the game was never released for the Playstation 2, only the Nintendo 64 and Playstation AND it looked nothing like the “amazing graphics” you see above.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ma3xu9aXoJ1r15h74o1_500.jpg)
“Actual PS2 Graphics!” - Playstation Magazine #33 [May 2000]
God, I love covers like this especially when the amazing thing that’s being touted was nothing more than a bold-faced lie. The WCW 2000 game that’s being mentioned here ended up being WCW: Backstage Assault, a title that had one of the worst receptions for a wrestling video game.
WCW as a company might have been cooling down at this time, but EA’s decision to make a wrestling game that didn’t even have a wrestling ring probably had a lot to do with the poor sales. Also, the game was never released for the Playstation 2, only the Nintendo 64 and Playstation AND it looked nothing like the “amazing graphics” you see above.
![When I decided to come up with The First 24, I wanted to push myself to write more without necessarily reviewing a game. By only allowing myself to type out what I liked about a title after spending one day with it, I thought that it could lead to some interesting cases where my original words would be completely void once I finished a game. I never once thought about what would happen if I actually beat a title on that first day.
Well, shit.
[[MORE]]
Early impressions and photos all leaned toward Double Dragon Neon being an absolute stinker, but I’m glad to say that I was pleasantly surprised at how great it turned out. To be fair, the fact that the game was absolutely free for Playstation Plus members COULD be clouding my judgement, but I’d like to think that I genuinely enjoyed spending my Tuesday night burning through this title. I mean, rebooting a classic beat-em-up could very easily turn out terrible if you stay too faithful to outdated gameplay and ideas, but Way Forward managed to avoid this by recreating the Double Dragon formula in the goofiest of ways.
That’s not necessarily a negative as Neon is such a strange hodgepodge of classic video games and 80’s pop culture. You collect cassette tapes that grant you various special powers or help level up your character’s stats. You gain health by drinking cans or liters of an unnamed Cola that sometimes shows up as in a Clear Cola variant. You’ll fight through a Space Dojo, only to come across the boss that’s clearly supposed to be a take on Capcom’s Mega Man. It seems that Way Forward gave the series the same treatment that they gave Contra 4 by crafting something that’s a love letter to the old fans of the franchise all while injecting their own absurd humor into it.
[Sidenote: Seriously, Way Forward had Lance dress as a woman to infiltrate an enemy base in Contra 4]
WAT
You’ll end up realizing how ridiculous this game is by level 3 when the main villain is revealed to be a a towering demon named Skullmageddon, a baddie with a voice that’s very similar to Skeletor from the He-Man cartoons. Beyond the oddball humor though, there’s a game that’s actually fun to play with a combat system that rewards you if you keep away from mindlessly button-mashing. Successfully dodging an enemy attack will grant you an instantaneous power bonus to your character for a few seconds, making your own attacks twice as deadly. Getting this pattern down for each enemy type is key to surviving but thankfully the game is extremely forgiving by making extra lives plentiful throughout the levels and super-cheap if you choose to purchase them at a store.
Behold — the Deadly Spin Kick!
Double Dragon Neon is polished enough with several different beat-em-up tropes included to make it an entertaining title for those who grew up on these types of games, but I was disappointed at the lack of pieces from previous entries of the Double Dragon series. It might be a weird complaint to make but there seemed to be more gameplay nods towards the Konami Arcade beat-em-ups than the actual Double Dragon games. While I enjoyed the remixed classic tunes from earlier Billy and Jimmy Lee adventures and seeing the 8-Bit NES sprite on the map page, I really was hoping that Way Forward would have kept all of the original fighting techniques intact. Double Dragon Advance did this perfectly, even down to double tapping forward to run — why couldn’t this downloadable title have done the same?
Also, where the hell is my ability to grab an enemy and knee him repeatedly in the face?!
8-Bit Billy Lee!
Even though I managed to complete Double Dragon Neon in a little over two hours, I still feel compelled to stick with it for a while to try out the harder difficulties that I’ve unlocked. Getting through them might require level-grinding by repeating beaten stages, but that’s part of the fun to be had. With each run-through, it feels like I’m building towards being able to understand how to survive the game’s “Double Dragon” difficulty mode, the hardest challenge that forces you to know the enemy patterns and levels inside out to survive.
Fun title — absolutely worth paying the ten dollars if you have any love in your heart for these kind of games.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_manz0oQhEA1r15h74o1_500.png)
When I decided to come up with The First 24, I wanted to push myself to write more without necessarily reviewing a game. By only allowing myself to type out what I liked about a title after spending one day with it, I thought that it could lead to some interesting cases where my original words would be completely void once I finished a game. I never once thought about what would happen if I actually beat a title on that first day.
Well, shit.
If you’re not already aware of the deals that Playstation Plus has to offer you over Xbox Live, here’s just another example of Sony doing some amazing stuff for their customers. Both Scott Pilgrm vs The World: The Game and Double Dragon Neon were both put out today as free downloads. While Scott Pilgrim was released in August of 2010, the latter is a brand new downloadable title that retails for $9.99.
With things like this, Sony’s making a good argument for killing off my Xbox Gold account.
