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Rage Against The Wii Machine, And Joanna Dark Returns

impulse weekly
by Matt Miller on March 16, 2010 at 06:55 PM
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The download train is leaving the station, and we've got your ticket.

Gamers nostalgic for the heyday of N64 split screen battles in the dorm room should be ready to stand up and cheer - the original Perfect Dark arrives on XBLA this Wednesday, March 17th for a paltry 800 Microsoft points ($10). To this day, Perfect Dark stands as one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time, and its re-release has an appropriate level of polish to match its important place in console gaming history. Updated graphics, controls, and gameplay modes mean that everything you loved is still there, but polished for a new generation of gaming. Sure, even with some impressive HD upgrades, Joanna isn't competing with today's top notch shooting stars, but a playthrough of the remake should remind a lot of folks why she was popular in the first place. You can read our full review right here.



WiiWare has sent out an invitation to arena fighters everywhere with Rage of the Gladiator, which just released yesterday for 1,000 Wii points ($10). The game copies a number of familiar mechanics from the Punch-Out book, pitting players against a sequence of unique enemies. Instead of punching gloves, the game puts a weapon and shield in your hand. Upgrades and multiple difficulty-scaled playthroughs help to extend the life of the game. To learn more, our review should deliver all the additional details you may need.



A surprising gem can be found among Nintendo's other downloadable offerings for the week. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood is headed to the Wii Virtual Console for 900 Wii Points ($9). Formerly only available outside of the US, Rondo of Blood was remade recently as a PSN title. However, this is the first time that this 10th installment in the Castlevania series has had a stateside launch in its original form.



PlayStation Network appears to be on a bye week as far as PlayStation 3 downloadable games, but it does have a new PSP title available. Patchwork Heroes is a small new PSP game releasing on March 18th for $9.99. The action-oriented title is built around the fun mechanic of using scissors to cut up paper. In the story of the game, you crawl along massive aircraft and battleships to destroy them before they reach your town. Next week, downloadable PS3 games return with the brand new Wakeboarding HD.

Anything catch your eye this week?

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  • by Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 06:58 PM

    ok im sorry but all that stuff looks like total crap...

  •
    by Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 07:03 PM

    Hmm, nothing much this week.

  •
    by Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 07:07 PM

    Seriously guys? Nothing?  How about Perfect *** Dark! The greatest game ever made!

  •
    by Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 07:12 PM

    nothing? really? you get a perfect dark remake, classic castlevania, and a game that (according to the review) can be considered almost like an extension of punch out? come on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  •
    by Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 07:20 PM

    yay perfect dark is finally here! :D  zero didn't satisfy me at all...

  •
    by Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 07:46 PM

    Hm. Perfect Dark looks nice, but I've already got it for N64, so I won't be getting that. Everything else looks pretty bad.

  •
    by Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 08:10 PM

    I've never played Perfect Dark before. Should try it out sometime.

  •
    by Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 09:05 PM

    Classic vania? I'm in!

  •
    by Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 09:21 PM

    If I've never played Perfect Dark before, would it be worth getting without the feeling of nastalga

  •
    by Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 11:25 PM

    Since I have God Of War 3 and Final Fantasy 13 nothing else matters!

  •
    by Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 11:50 PM

    I've never played the campaign for Perfect Dark or Goldeneye (I never owned an N64 but I have played the multiplayer on these games, with friends who had them.) I've thought about playing the campaign on these classics... maybe I'll pick-up this update of Perfect Dark.

  •
    by Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 11:56 PM

    I cannot wait to play Perfect Dark!  I poured so much of my childhood into that game... and I didn't even get achievements.  

  •
    by Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 12:05 AM

    I bought Rondo of Blood, even though I have the superior (in every freakin' way; seriously, it's not even funny) PSP version of Dracula X Chronicles. The uber polished 2.5D remake absolutely KILLS the TG-16 CD version of the game; it's not even funny. Its honestly hard to go back to playing such a stiff Castlevania title; the remake on PSP - heck, Castlevania Rebirth on Wiiware - seem to control much better, yet still true to the way Castlevania plays.

    That being said, I want to see more imports on the VC, so I'll happily drop a mere 9 bucks to support this effort. I won't be happy until we get stuff like Umihara Kawase for SNES, or Gimmick & Ufouria for NES, on the service. And Front Mission Gun Hazard, the "secret" sequel to Cybernator/Assault Suits Valken. That and LucasArts' Metal Warriors are probably the best sidescrolling mech games ever made, and I won't be happy till BOTH come to the Virtual Console! Gotta keep supporting the service, no matter how badly/lazily NOA supports it...

  •
    by Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 12:36 AM

    They need to put GoldenEye 007 on the Playstation Network. That would be nice

  •
    by Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 12:57 AM

    Perfect Dark was amazing! I spent probably 3 years of my life just playing that game multiplayer and campaign over and over again. Such Nostalgia. Will for sure get this

  •
    by Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 01:11 AM

    Man, Perfect Dark was one of the WORST games I 've ever played, I can 't believe they ' re saying its so great!! You couldn 't pay me enough 2 endorse that game, I 'm a hardcore gamer, and could never Sh*t on my gaming reputation like that !

  •
    by Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 02:11 AM

    nope

  •
    by Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 04:32 AM

    I bought the N64 expansion pack just for this game. It enabled high resolution mode I think (or was it required for everything?), but I never enabled it because it killed the framerate.

    I can't wait to play this game again. I don't believe the enemies will feel too different from modern FPS games either, as I feel that enemy A.I. is sorely lacking in current games. I remember F.E.A.R. blowing me away with enemy A.I., and then I played every other shooting game since then and realized that game was just the exception rather than the standard. Setpieces are cool looking and all, but shooting games need to get their act together for enemy A.I. I recently played the Just Cause 2 demo and even though I really enjoyed it, I was appalled by the enemy A.I. (this also applies to other big name releases in the last couple of years but I don't want to get anyone's pantaloons in a bunch)

    So besides my little rant of the modern day shooters, I am super excited for this older day classic. Welcome back Joanna!

  •
    by Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 08:32 AM

    Harkening back to the old school much?

  •
    by Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 09:34 AM
    PD and Castlevania for me!
    Also, ZOMG there's an edit button :-O
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