by norm stovall norm@904skate.com
Konami - For Xbox 360
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is one of the best Castlevania games to date, without question. While the Xbox 360 version of this game doesn’t include the 2 extra characters to choose from right at the beginning that you get from the classic Sega Saturn version, it seems pretty consistent with the classic releases otherwise. In SOTN, it is your mission to investigate Dracula’s castle, which has been overtaken by a Possessed Richter Belmont, the Hero from the previous game. As Alucard, the son of Dracula, you can run, jump, attack and eventually double jump and fly while making your way through the castle, trying to discover what is going on in the castle. Symphony of the Night features on-point controls that vary quite significantly from previous Castlevania games, in that you can change directions mid-air while jumping, and you can cancel out of attack animations with a back dash much like you could do in a fighting game. This allows for extremely precise controls that make the game more fun to play. The enemy characters range from tiny to absolutely monstrous, and the graphics really do impress.
With plenty of areas to explore and one of the best soundtracks to ever grace a videogame, Symphony of the Night is one of the best titles available for Xbox live arcade. Costing only 800 points, I can’t think of any reason not to get this great game. In a sea of next-gen, high-tech games, Symphony of the Night really shines, and that says a lot.
Sega - For Playstation 3 and Xbox 360
If you haven’t played a previous version of Virtua Tennis, you may think you aren’t missing much. Run left or right, smack the ball. How could it be more complicated? Well Virtua Tennis 3 really isn’t much more complicated than what I mentioned just now, but somehow, it manages to be amazingly fun and addictive. The controls in both versions of the game are extremely responsive, and the Xbox 360 version has added online play, which is a bonus to those looking to play over Xbox Live. In the graphics department, VT3 is capable of running at a 1080p resolution, which is pretty amazing to look at if your TV is equipped for it. Along with the plethora of minigames, character customization, and online play options mentioned above, Virtua Tennis is one of those have-to-be-played titles that you really should give a chance. I’m pretty sure you’ll be hooked right from the first serve.
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