SNK has been the home of many great franchises over the years. Any list of those would have to include Metal Slug, the hit 2D platforming/side-scrolling shoot'em up. Metal Slug has been on a variety of platforms in the last twelve-plus years, most recently making its return to the PSP with Metal Slug XX. Featuring an all new campaign, six playable characters, wireless two player co-op, and dozens of challenges, Metal Slug XX is fun, although very familiar entry to the series.

Heavy Rain wasn't the only PS3 exclusive released on February 23rd. There was also NIS America's Last Rebellion, a JRPG which casts players as Nine and Aisha as they attempt to restore peace and balance to their world. The quest took me just under fourteen hours according to the timestamp on my save game, and I had a lot of fun throughout. However, Last Rebellion's casual difficulty and lack of any side quests may ultimately make this a tough purchase decision for the JRPG crowd.

Back in 1992, I was introduced to Mechwarrior running on an IBM 286 (it didn't have a hard drive connected to it, it ran off of 3 1/2 disks (with a 'k')). I was enchanted and absorbed into mech gaming forever after that experience. Since then, there have been several variations of mech titles, including an Xbox title that cost $299. On top of this, I've also been to the Battletech simulators in Chicago and at your local Dave & Busters, more than once. Fast-forward into the 2000's and a series called Armored Core raises its head and the bar when it comes to mech gaming. I always thought that Mechwarrior was detailed, but MW has nothing on AC. More recently in February of 2010, FromSoftware releases Armored Core: Silent Line (SL) for the PlayStation Portable. Could the PSP version maintain and retain the amount of detail that the Playstation 3 (and previous versions) toted? Only a review will tell.

Get your Japanese on.

The long running Dynasty Warriors franchise got its newest entry last week with Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce. Strikeforce has been on PSP for sometime now, but the console version offers a variety of additional features while simultaneously pushing the franchise to new boundaries. In many ways Strikeforce is the same Dynasty Warriors game we've come to know, but fans of the series and newcomers alike should be both pleased, and maybe a little letdown, with what's offered here.

SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3 is arriving on the PSP and PSPgo on February 16th and SOCOM fans have a reason to be happy. Armed with a short, but sweet, single-player mode and some nice co-op and online modes, there's enough here to keep a gamer entertained. Is it well armed, though? It is, but there are some jams here and there in the weaponry.

Vandal Hearts was first released on the Playstation in the mid 90s, and was well received. A sequel was made and enjoyed by many, but the series has been quiet until a prequel was just recently released on XBLA and the PSN. Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment is a competent and traditional strategy RPG that should appease fans of the genre who aren't expecting anything more than a typical gameplay experience.

Get your stuff on.

Almost a year ago, I was reading up on this title through a Famitsu review. I know that Japanese have a different taste than Americans when it comes to gaming. That taste has been different since the video game industry was born. Different expectations and different ways to play have always led to this difference in opinion with final product. So, when Famitsu published their score for White Knight Chronicles as a 29/40 it didn't give me any reason to be concerned. Quite frankly, what the Japanese like we usually don't like as Americans, and vice-versa.

THQ's popular and successful Smackdown Vs RAW series was released for the first time on the iPhone earlier this month. WWE fans looking for a wrestling fix on the go will want to look elsewhere, however. I've spent a few hours with this iPhone version and truth be told, it's got a lot of problems. I can't recommend this even to die hard wrestling fans.

Dark Void looked and played so well at E3 2009. It had all the potential in the world and it left a dark void of mystery (yes, pun intended) about how the rest of the game went. Capcom was only running the flying/battle sequence at the show and all of us were in awe of how cool it would be to land on a flying ship and kick the crap out of the alien inside of it, thus taking control of the ship. Should have realized something was up at that point, but it was too cool to think beyond that moment.

It’s Final Fantasy, but it’s hardly RPG. That doesn’t make it bad, though.

Publisher Aspyr and developer Big Blue Bubble recently got together for a Nintendo DS game based off of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's popular book series, Fighting Fantasy. These books from the 80s blended classic D&D style universes with the creative possibilities of being able to choose multiple story paths (not unlike the Choose Your Own Adventure books). I haven't read any of these books but I've been impressed with this video game adaptation. So is Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain worth your attention? That largely depends on if you like (western) RPGs, but if so, don't miss out on this one.  

Tower defense games, we've all played them at work, during class or at home when we're bored out of our mind. Prior to the days of free flash based tower defense games, you had to shell out your hard earned money for them on the PC. The Stronghold games have much more going for it then having your men defend a castle from wave after wave of enemy soldiers. Since all the Stronghold games have similar game play and recycle a lot of the audio (or at the very least use new voice actors to record new lines) I'll just explain it once and mention any new additions or deviations in the following titles.