• Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
• Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
• Sim City DS 2
• Dissidia: Final Fantasy (1, 2, 3)

Plenty of other classic titles have made their way over to the Nintendo DS after being largely successful on the original consoles. So it’s no surprise that the classic city builder SimCity has made its way to the Nintendo handheld too. Although it features the same addictive gameplay all the previous versions do, the experience isn’t quite the same with SimCity DS.

First and foremost, Electronic Arts didn’t mess with the formula that makes the game successful, allowing players to take on the role of mayor and giving you the opportunity to build a city as you see fit. Just like in every other version, players are responsible for building residential, commercial and industrial properties and keeping everything in perfect harmony. Of course it’s much more detailed than that as you must build roads, power lines, water towers, hospitals, schools, police, fire stations and much more. Accomplishing that feat and keeping the city vibrant while still balancing the budget and making your citizens happy is what makes the game addictive and thankfully EA didn’t mess with that formula.

In addition, the game features an extensive tutorial in case you aren’t familiar with the city building experience. SimCity DS features 15 lessons that break down everything you need to know before getting to work. It was a solid inclusion as the game can overwhelm some players if jumped into too quickly.

Finally, there are some unique minigames thrown in to make things a little more interesting. These include blowing into the microphone to put fires out, using the stylus to do fireworks and more. One final item of note is the mail system, which enables you to communicate with other mayors. It’s a nice touch, although not utilized much.

Although SimCity does bring the city building experience to your handheld, there are a lot of issues that weren’t quite dealt with. The biggest is the controls which utilize the touch screen for a majority of the game. Players can move with the d-pad, but selecting items and building the city requires the point and click interface. It seems like it’d work well, but the grid is so small that you often find yourself building in the wrong area. It is a nuisance and very frustrating. Thankfully EA at least put in an undo button to fix any mistakes you may make although if you demolish something it is gone; there is no do over.

The controls aren’t the only issue though as the graphics for SimCity are poor. The character design of your citizens and advisor are simplistic and then the actual city looks like a dump. There are some details in buildings, but more often the textures and color scheme make most of the environment uninteresting. This is particularly frustrating when you consider the impressive graphics in other games on the handheld.

Meanwhile, the sound isn’t much better, but at least that’s understandable. There are some sound effects that are ok and the music isn’t irritating, but it’s hardly interesting either.

Finally, it’s hard to see who this game is actually geared towards. It’s too complex for younger children, but it is on the Nintendo DS and still is SimCity. Not exactly the game most children are lighting up to play.

Although there’s a lot of potential here, Electronic Arts didn’t quite hit the mark with SimCity DS. The game brings the popular city builder experience to the Nintendo handheld, but it comes at a cost. The controls are much less desirable as are the graphics and sound. Simply put, SimCity doesn’t seem to work well on the DS and makes you realize that a good idea can be implemented unsuccessfully.

The gameplay is solid although frequently the stylus is more trouble than a benefit.

The characters and city are unappealing.

The sound effects are mediocre and the music is generic.

The problems hurt the experience, but otherwise it is just as addictive as any other

The one thing is that SimCity DS will keep you busy for a long time.

]]> Sun, 29 Jul 2007 17:14:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/rockstar_registers_new_gta_game http://www.gamebump.com/go/rockstar_registers_new_gta_game http://www.gamebump.com/go/rockstar_registers_new_gta_game# Rockstar has plans for another Stories game most likely for the PlayStation Portable in the future.

The company today registered the trademark for Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. It's not too surprising considering there was an expectation for another game already on the PSP. Of course at this time, Rockstar hasn't officially confirmed anything and we'll have to wait for more details as they come about.

The game will allow players to build Rome from the ground up. The city will start out as a small settlement and it is your goal to build it into an imperial power. Along the way you'll be given the opportunity to build the city up with various buildings including amphitheatres, legionnaire forts, gladiatorial schools, weapons workshops and more.

"Firefly has a long history with the city building genre," said Simon Bradbury, Director at Firefly Studios. "CivCity: Rome is our latest take on the theme and with the influence of Civilization, it's certain to be the best yet."

CivCity: Rome is scheduled to release summer 2006 for the PC.

The game according to SPOnG is scheduled to hit retailers April 15th. No other details were given on the game, but what is known about Grand Theft Auto PSP is that it will be based in Liberty City and will be a 3D free-roaming third-person action title.

We'll have more details on GTA PSP when Rockstar releases them.

After multiple delays, Namco has announced that the company has cancelled Frame City Killer.

Namco Bandai went on to say in a release, "We are sorry to say that we have decided that Frame City - the Xbox 360 game which our company had planned for a spring 2006 release - will not be released. Our company will continue to develop high quality software for the Xbox 360 next-generation console, from a new RPG to others." 

Currently Namco is working on another Xbox 360 title, Mobile Ops: The One Year War. At this time there is no word if Frame City Killer will be picked up by another company. ]]> Fri, 12 May 2006 21:40:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/true_crime_new_york_city_images_added http://www.gamebump.com/go/true_crime_new_york_city_images_added http://www.gamebump.com/go/true_crime_new_york_city_images_added# Mon, 27 Feb 2006 12:55:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/tycoon_city_new_york_is_gold http://www.gamebump.com/go/tycoon_city_new_york_is_gold http://www.gamebump.com/go/tycoon_city_new_york_is_gold#

New York City is recreated in highly detailed 3D and features such famous landmarks as the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and Times Square. Over two dozen in-game partners, including TIME Magazine, Toys’R’Us, Virgin Megastore, Staples, Olympus, Marquee, Nokia, Tag Heuer, and D'Agostino's, to name a few, lend the game added realism. As a result of the partnership with TIME Magazine, players that reach the top of their game will see their likeness promoted on virtual TIME Magazine billboards throughout the city.

Videogames have increasingly become the medium of choice for offering variety in entertainment. If you want to be a thug shooting cops, there’s (eventually)

Even with its problems, the basic mechanics are functional. Physics needs some serious work.

The city itself is well detailed, but the rest – and the graphical problems – is just ridiculou

The voiceacting for some of the characters is done well. Cliché dialogue. Typical hip-hop music

It gets points because if you start it, you might be pulled in enough to finish. Maybe.

Some parts are enjoyable and entertaining.

]]> Wed, 21 Dec 2005 11:29:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_grand_theft_auto_liberty_city_stories_psp http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_grand_theft_auto_liberty_city_stories_psp http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_grand_theft_auto_liberty_city_stories_psp# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Brian Mohr.

Grand Theft Auto has been one of the most successful videogame franchises in history and finally Rockstar is bringing the open-ended gameplay, extreme violence and everything else you’d expect from the series to the streets, literally, with the release of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories. The PlayStation Portable exclusive title takes you on a trip back to the haunts of Grand Theft Auto III.

In this story, players assume the role of Toni Cipriani a few years before the events of GTA III. In this version, you again start out at the bottom after being out of town a few years and must kill your way to the top of the mafia underworld.

The entire presentation for Liberty City Stories is amazing. The cutscenes are long, intricate and very well done as it looks like you’re watching a movie. If that’s not enough the game features a full-fledged city with buildings you can go into; a nice variety of vehicles including playable motorcycles, cars and boats; full weather effects; and even some new and interesting characters. Rockstar didn’t just port over GTA III, but instead rebuilt Liberty City from the ground up with a completely new storyline.

The actual in-game graphics are gorgeous too and look even better than our first time to Liberty City on the PlayStation 2. The graphics are smooth, running at a solid 30 frames per second and extremely detailed. An example of this that you wouldn’t expect in the PSP version is completely destructible vehicles. You can literally tear cars apart.

Besides stunning graphics, the game’s audio is wonderful too. The voiceacting is solid, but it doesn’t have the celebrity talent of previous versions. Liberty City Stories also includes radio stations while you drive; there are approximately 10 stations included and each one has about seven songs, a personal DJ and of course the wonderfully comedic commercials that GTA is known for. The radio music spans genres including opera, rock, rap, hip-hop and even boy-bands, all of which are very engaging and keep the game moving. If that isn’t enough already, Liberty City Stories also gives players the option to play their own custom tracks in the game.

A major problem with many PSP games is the awkward controls especially in relation to the analog stick. Thankfully Grand Theft Auto doesn’t suffer at all from these as you can either use the analog or D-pad and both are very reactive. Controls can also be modified slightly if you feel the need. The lock-on targeting system isn’t the best, as it can be difficult to switch between enemies, but works very well on the limited PSP controls. Overall the controls are intuitive and if you’ve played any Grand Theft Auto before you’ll be able to pick this up in no time.

Finally, the actual game is wonderful in every respect as the load times are short; there are plenty of missions and even a multiplayer option. The load times in Stories are approximately 15 seconds long for cutscenes and less than 10 seconds when entering buildings.

As for the missions they are a little shorter as Rockstar wanted to appease those on the go. Missions take approximately five-ten minutes, but there’s plenty to do as the game offers at least 50 hours of gameplay spanning Portland, Staunton Island and Shoreside Vale. Of course like every GTA game, there is plenty to do just by driving around and causing havoc on your own.

Finally, the multiplayer ad hoc mode is a wonderful feature added to Liberty City Stories. This allows you to play six people in seven games including race, deathmatch, tanks-for-the-memories, hit list and more. Tanks-a-lot has players battling for a tank in the level while hit list has everyone attempting to knockoff one of the players. Surprisingly Rockstar made the multiplayer mode a very deep experience and it certainly gets you excited for what may be offered in the future.

Though Grand Theft Auto certainly is the highest rated game for the PlayStation Portable to date it doesn’t come without a few drawbacks. Probably the most serious problem with Liberty City Stories is the camera. While on foot, the camera can get a bit out of place and to realign it you must press the left trigger. This isn’t as much of a problem if you’re just walking around, but if you’re in a firefight good luck.

Occasional slowdown was another issue present in the game. This happens randomly throughout the game and is only a minor distraction, but is worth mentioning. It seemed to be worst when you would have too much happening on-screen with cars and pedestrians. The battery life also wanes a lot faster for Liberty City Stories. For a fully charged battery you can expect approximately four hours of play.

Finally, one other issue in the game isn’t a problem, but rather a disappointment. As mentioned above Stories features multiplayer ad hoc, but we really wish Rockstar would have included infrastructure mode as well for the multiplayer experience. It’s pretty rare for six players to come together in person, but an online game would have instantly been a hit.

Overall it’s hard to imagine that any game in the next year for the PSP that could get much better than this. We are just over six months after launch and to have a game that looks, sounds and feels as impressive as Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is amazing. I was stunned by how well made this game was. Stories certainly is a wonderful achievement for the PSP, but it does have a few drawbacks with the slowdown, camera issues, battery and a lack of online play, but you still can’t be that disappointed as this is the best game on the PSP.

The controls and game in general are wonderful.

Liberty City Stories looks nearly as good as any version on the consoles.

The soundtrack, voiceacting and sound effects are very impressive.

GTA is just as fun as previous titles in the series.

The game has a good amount of missions. Plenty of unlockables and hidden items.

]]> Sun, 30 Oct 2005 20:24:00 -0600 Tim Grube http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_city_of_villians_pc1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_city_of_villians_pc1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_city_of_villians_pc1# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

We had a chance to sit in on a demonstration of City of Villians during E3 and it looks to be shaping up quite well. City of Villians is the follow up title to City of Heroes that was released last year. This time around you play as a villian instead of a superhero. Many graphical improvements were fixed such as reflectiveness, bumpmapping on water, and many other textures. The game will take use of the Ageia PhysX engine that can produce amazing particle effects.

City of Villains will now start in the island called, Rogue Isles, an archipelago in the 17th century where it is called the home of supervillians. At launch, gamers will be able to play in four PVP and seven PVE servers. According to the senior designer behind the title, there will be more launching after the title hits stores. Players will also be able to customize their costume in several ways.

Many of the missions will involve stealth, blowing up various targets, hijacking, and infiltration. Main of the trainers from City of Heroes will return and not only do players face heroes, but they will also face villains. So you could be in a villain versus villain battle.

To top it all off, base customization will play a big role for the guilds. NCSoft has done a great job so far of allowing the gamer to customize their base to their likings. You will be able to add furniture, the type of interior structure such as brick and the like, paintings, and you can even include turrets that sit at each entrance. The customization screen is very easy to use and the learning curve isn’t all that high.

The graphics were really improved compared to City of Heroes and the whole base customization is very interesting. Many gamers who are in guilds will love that aspect of the title. The game is due out later this year with the beta going live this July. Gaming Horizon will have more on this title as soon as we get in on the beta very soon.]]> Sat, 21 May 2005 12:54:00 -0500