TWiG 2008-07-21:  The E3 Hangover

It’s not particularly surprising, nor should it be surprising, that the week after E3 is just as sparse as the week of E3 (which we will briefly wrap up later this week) when it comes to the depth of the game release schedule.  It’s tough to concentrate on the releases of yet another entry in the Kidz Sports series when you’re concentrating on, say, new screens for MadWorld.

STILL—some of us are simply not inclined to want to enjoy the fresh air that comes with this time of summer, and so, to the release list we must LOOK:

Fans of idea recycling will no doubt be rather thrilled at a couple of the bigger releases for the week, including the one that I’m most likely to end up with at some point: namely, the Nintendo DS remake of Final Fantasy IV.  Back when Final Fantasy IV was known to us Americans as Final Fantasy II (you know, before Final Fantasy VII went and confused everybody for a while), it was winning hearts and minds as one of the most influential RPGs of its time.  The fully-developed story, an active turn-based combat system that probably seemed as close to perfect as you could imagine at that point, and some of the baddest baddies in role playing at the time made for a play experience that somehow managed to make 30 hours seem short.

For the sake of the DS, the entire world of Final Fantasy IV has been given a complete and utter overhaul, with character models that move far beyond the sprites of the SNES version (or even the Game Boy Advance remakes), complete with three-dimensional modeling and completely redone towns.  While it’s still the same game, it looks completely different, which may well be all we need to give this classic another playthrough.

Also on the recycled material front is 1942: Joint Strike for the Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network, which scores bonus points not just because it’s a shmup but because 1942 is a classic (total classic!).  Hopefully the updated version can live up to its name, and hopefully those big planes still take an obscene number of shots to down.

MLB Power Pros 2008 could be a nice alternative to the baseball sims that pervade the sports market, because really, all we want is R.B.I. Baseball for a new generation, right?  Dungeon crawler fans may well flock to Atlus’ latest as well, as Izuna, the unemployed ninja herself, gets an improbable second go on a new portable.  That’d probably be a nice second step in the genre for those attracted to the genre by those Pokémon dungeon crawlers a couple months ago.  Otherwise...well, there’s just not much to speak of.

Looking forward to anything this week?  Let us know!  The full release list and a trailer for the new Final Fantasy IV are after the JUMP:

Wii:

Pirates: The Key of Dreams (WiiWare, 21 July)
Super Fantasy Zone (Wii Virtual Console, Genesis, 21 July)
Gley Lancer (Wii Virtual Console, Genesis, 21 July)
Kidz Sports: Crazy Golf (22 July)
Order Up! (22 July)
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (22 July)
MLB Power Pros 2008 (28 July)

PSP:

Shut down ‘til Madden

PS2:

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (22 July)
MLB Power Pros 2008 (28 July)

DS:

Final Fantasy IV (21 July)
Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns (22 July)
New International Track & Field (22 July)
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (22 July)
Nancy Drew: The Mystery of the Clue Bender Society (23 July)

Xbox 360:

1942: Joint Strike (Xbox Live Arcade, 23 July)

PS3:

1942: Joint Strike (PlayStation Network, 24 July)

PC:

City Life 2008 Edition (21 July)
Ubersoldier 2: The End of Hitler (22 July)

—Mike Schiller