PlayStation

Game Description: The popular arcade game RayCrisis has come to the PlayStation. What separates RayCrisis from other shooters is the unique lock-on targeting weapon system. Each ship has two weapons, a main gun and a lock-on missile system. You can move a targeting reticule over as many ships as possible and when you are ready, you can fire a barrage of missiles to destroy every bad guy that locked. Dish out mass destruction in RayCrisis.

I know that neither my playing experience nor playing acumen with side-scrolling shooters can compare with Ben's, but I know a below average shooter when I see one, and RayCrisis: Series Termination is such a game. It does have a few things going for it. I found Taito's gimmick to give players a say in determining the length of each level to be an interesting one and the graphics were quite nice.

A prequel to Galactic Attack in the overall storyline, RayCrisis combines blazing-fast gameplay and great graphics to mark a fitting end to Taito's best shooter franchise. Unlike the generic Darius series, the "Ray" games are inventive in their approach to action.

If done right, the combination of cel and CG animation found in the opening intro might have garnered comparisons to visual innovators like Jet Grind Radio and Fear Effect. Unfortunately, it is so badly done that it only deserves scorn.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Animated Blood, Animated Violence

Gekido is a shameless rip-off of Sega's Genesis classic, Streets Of Rage 2. It also steals gameplay elements from Treasure's amazing Saturn game, Guardian Heroes. Despite the fact that Gekido offers 3-D graphics, in no way is it nearly as fun as the two games that inspired it. In fact, the two games that basically started this genre—Double Dragon and Final Fight—are 10-times more fun than Gekido. I'd even go so far to say that Sega's Dreamcast game, Zombie Revenge, is a better game (although I hated every minute of playing it). It's certainly a better example of the genre, which is why I gave Gekido a lower score.

Game Description: Kintaro, an evil crime lord, kidnaps a young girl. You play the role of Travis, who has been hired by the girl's parents to find her and stop Kintaro. Aware of the difficulty ahead, Travis recruits Michelle, Ushi, and Tetsuo to help him rescue the girl and defeat Kintaro. Battle through Kintaro's minions in six different modes: Urban Fighters, Arena Battle, Shadow Fighter, Street Gang Battle, Team Battle, and Survivor. If you're feeling sociable, get together with three friends and try to save the little girl in Gekido.

In an industry that can't seem to distinguish the fine line between mature and immature, the sexist T & A ad campaign for Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix was very troublesome to me. By alienating women and targeting the more sexually depraved and adolescent minded part of the male population, Fear Effect 2 signals a dangerous trend that may eventually condemn videogames to the same narrow ghetto culture that plagues comic books.

According to the ESRB, this game contains: Animated Blood & Gore, Animated Violence, Suggestive Themes