I should have been a pair of ragged claws

Well, close, but not exactly. The developers that of X-Com (as well as Laser Squad Nemesis) secured a publishing deal with Namco for a 3rd person squad based tactical game for the Game Boy Advance. The press release mentions a number of multiplayer options offered (hot seat, link play), but I can't help but think this would be suited far better to the DS when internet play is available. Regardless, I'm glad it is getting made. images

Metal Slug Advance is the best possible realization of SNK's run-and-shoot series on the GBA. It is a technical marvel; the rich, over-exaggerated animation that made the series stand out in arcades is achieved with vastly inferior hardware. This portable entry in the series suffers only rare slowdown and a few lost frames of animation. While the game looks like the early arcade entries, the gameplay is modified to fit a handheld. A health bar replaces the arcade's one-hit death system. The arcade versions of Metal Slug can be conquered in less than an hour given a few pockets full of quarters. (Or a PC capable of emulating the hardware.) Metal Slug Advance addresses the inherent brevity of their rich worlds with an adroit card collection system. Cards are hidden throughout the game worlds. Most of the cards are trinkets, but others provide benefits like increasing the armor for your vehicles or doubling your ammo supply for a weapon. The catch is that in order to keep the card...

Astro's dashing dodge mob brawling, boss encounters! bland flight; still Treasure.

I'm a big fan of Nintendo's Intelligent Systems ; who wouldn't be after Paper Mario , Mario Kart Super Circuit , Advance Wars 1 and 2 ? Their latest game is Fire Emblem , a long running series in Japan making its first English debut. Comparisons to Advance Wars are inevitable - turn-based strategy game, grid map, and little groups of units battling it out. At the first play, it may feel too similar to some gamers, but differences emerge making Fire Emblem a completely separate interpretation of how to make a tactical strategy game. The RPG elements included in Fire Emblem provide depth and character without sacrificing simplicity. Characters only use one type of weapon and no armor. When characters reach a certain skill level, they can advance to a new class (i.e. knights to paladins) which allows the character to use another type of weapons, further extending their usefulness. The weapon types follow a rock-paper-scissors approach, or in this case, swords-lances-ax...