Originally published on Bemanistyle

Back when news of this year’s brand new DanceDanceRevolution titles surfaced during July’s E3 event, Konami of America went out of its way to state it was going to feature “major licensed master Latin tracks.” While we were initially ignorant about the impact these Latin tunes would have on the final product, DanceDanceRevolution X2 released in North America on Oct. 27 and it became clear exactly how far Konami was looking to go in featuring Latin-style music in the title. Of the title’s 60 songs, nearly 17 percent of the list features Latin songs and/or artists and it seemed as if the company purposely went out of its way to reproduce Konami originals in this styling in bringing revival songs from previous entries into the mix. It’s hard to deny DanceDanceRevolution is as global as it has ever been, originating from its humble, nine Konami original songs on the original DDR arcade cabinet, evolving to later include European influence with the company’s Toshiba EMI partnership and, finally, breaking out into recognizable tunes made popular in America. While Latin-style songs are hardly nothing new to series, what attributed this focus to load almost one-fifth of DDR X2 with this music genre?

“We believed that the PS2 market in Central America is relatively large, so we decided to implement Latin/Spanish-influenced licensed and Konami original songs that might be better accepted in that region and for the residents in North America who enjoy this type of music,” stated series producer Naoki Maeda in a recent e-mail interview with Bemanistyle.com. Looking at recent events that have unfolded in 2009 between Central America and Sony, perhaps saying the previously untapped video game market in the territory is large could be an understatement.

A February announcement made by Sony Computer Entertainment America officially put the company’s consoles and services available to the territory for the first time(1). Prior to this point, residents of the area had to either swallow heavy-hitting price tags for systems and games thanks to customs taxes and import tariffs or take part in playing pirated copies of games titles. In fact, a 2008 editorial by Pascal Clarysse, who was formerly a marketing manager for Lik Sang, commented on Edge Online that a popular title such as Super Smash Bros. Brawl could cost as much as $110 U.S. at retail in Columbia – a real slap to the wallet when you take into account that Clarysse states the minimum and average wage in the country is $260-280. Because of these limitations, he states the Game Boy Advance and Playstation 2 continue to be the best-selling systems in Central America(5) and when you factor in the huge install base the PS2 has in Brazil – the largest in the territory - it becomes easier to understand SCEA’s decision to officially enter the market(2).

“The significance of the Latin America market is huge. Obviously from a population standpoint I don’t think it’s a big secret that this is a huge opportunity. We will put a number of resources in place to cater to that market,” stated Sony Computer Entertainment America’s Vice President of Sales Ian Jackson one year ago at a BMO Capital Markets Interactive Entertainment Conference. “… We’ve identified the Brazilian market as probably the biggest market opportunity for us, and that will be the third part of our launch which will take place over Spring 2009."(3)

Thanks to the official distribution of Sony product in Central America, the distribution has made the prices of official games a bit easier to swallow for the 13 countries within reach of Sony Latin America, even though the territory has some fierce competition in the form of the regional Zeebo console and pirated discs that provide games at a lower price. Regardless of where players are receiving their games, it can’t be denied that gaming is a huge hobby in Central America and the Playstation 2 is a common system, much as it is worldwide, where it has been cut to a $99.99 U.S. price tag. Konami’s efforts to market DanceDanceRevolution to this territory rolled off of Sony’s momentum in the region as X2 and Hottest Party 3 made appearances the weekend prior to the titles’ release at Latin America’s largest video game event, the eighth-annual Electronic Games Show in Mexico City, which saw more than 30,000 attendees(4). As such, Konami certainly isn’t ready to give up on the system, which still has a full year to follow Sony’s intention to give the Playstation 2 format a 10-year life cycle.

“We still look at the PS2 as a competitive platform in today's global market but the so-called next generation consoles like the PS3 and Xbox 360 have great possibility of permeating throughout the world even more,” noted Konami's Naoki Maeda. “Our goal is to foresee the needs of the market and provide titles with the hardware that best suits these needs.”

Before the attempted penetration of DDR into the Central American territory, however, local players had long been accustomed to Andamiro’s Pump It Up series, a cheaper arcade alternative that served as the go-to dancing title for this territory along with Korea. In 2005, Mastiff CEO Bill Swartz, who was at the time preparing Pump It Up Exceed for a home console release in North America, told Edge Online, “It's insanely popular in Latin America and Korea. Every year in Mexico City there are tournaments. This year's drew more than 15,000 people and they had to open the doors an hour early to avoid a riot. " Interestingly enough, the same interview has Swartz stating the release features “lots of Latin music,” showing the dancing game market has in some form catered to the territory for a number of years(6). According to Maeda, the global appeal of DanceDanceRevolution stems from the art of dance being a global language that is enjoyed by everyone across the world, however, cultural differences are what tend to bring such “market targeting” into play.

“The global appeal of DanceDanceRevolution lies in the fact that the main idea of the game is ‘dancing,’ which is a method used to express oneself that can be seen throughout the world,” he explained. “However, there are several different types of dancing which can come from elements such as the characteristics of a country or what they deem beautiful. We believe that holds great importance in that the recorded music fitting the dance type of a specific region is essential.”

Of course, targeting the Latin music market isn’t an unfamiliar endeavor, with Konami of Japan releasing Mambo a Go Go (which, unfortunately, missed the U.S. market with an intended, but cancelled, release under the name Mambo King) and SEGA developing Samba de Amigo during the Latin pop craze that hit at the turn of the century. Even though neither title had a huge impact, if any, on North America, Maeda noted Konami hasn’t given up on the theme as long as its games are openly available to the region.

“Yes, depending on the location of where we release our titles and the characteristics of the people in the country, we would like to provide content that is geared more toward that region,” he stated. “Music in Southern America has its own characteristics with a very unique history and developing games with these themes are in one of our best interests.”

Will the adjusted focus help Konami and its DanceDanceRevolution series in the long run? Only time will tell in the long run, but, currently, the company is keeping a positive focus on the market for now.

“Our view of Central America is that there are several unknown elements in the market, but features such as their national trait where they look at things objectively and with the way ‘dancing’ is positioned in their lifestyle, we believe that it is a very hopeful market,” concluded Maeda.

[1] Official SCEA Press Release, “Sony Computer Entertainment America Expands into Latin America” - GameSpy
[2] Theo Azevedo, “Produção do PlayStation 2 e jogos no Brasil é aprovada” – UOL Jogos
[3] Staff, “SCEA: Latin America is a Huge Opportunity for PS2” – Playstation Universe
[4] Official Michael Meyers Public Relations press release – “Eighth-Annual Electronic Game Show Draws 30,000” – (received internally by Bemanistyle.com)
[5] Pascal Clarysse, “Gaming in Latin America” – Edge Online
[6] Staff, “Pump it Up” – Edge Online 

It seems a decade of King of Fighters wasn't enough for the flagship SNK series as the franchise now enters its 2006 installment. The last time KOF entered the PS2 arena, the series evolved into the third-dimension, with the lackluster Maximum Impact. And while 2006 improves upon the previous iteration, it still limps away from the fight.

The most notable improvement in King of Fighters 2006 is the bump in the number of features - the roster nearly doubles, new fighting mechanics are introduced and new single-player modes are added.

The entire cast of Maximum Impact makes an encore performance and are joined by four new characters, and 14 unlockables, which are playable in story, versus, mission, survival and, of course, versus play modes.

In the midst of game play, SNK Playmore has implemented two new fighting mechanics that cover both the offensive and defensive sides of the coin.

Super cancels allow for your character to interrupt the final animations of a special move and combo straight into a super maneuver and allow for extended and even more damaging combos. The second addition comes in the form of parries and allows players to turn the tides on overly aggressive players.

While the additions give the game play a little more depth, overall, the game still feels much like the previous edition and falls into the trap of throwing a 2-D game into a 3-D engine. Jump attacks and sidestepping still feel a tad clunky and I just feel like I'm playing Street Fighter EX all over again.

It's not to say King of Fighters 2006 is a bad game, but on the PS2, it hardly matches up against the competition (or even the recent Japanese SNK Playmore released Neo-Geo Battle Coliseum).

Graphically KOF 2006 gets the job done in the hand-drawn 2-D to rendered 3-D transition. The character models, while not as detailed to the degree of a game like Tekken 5, are nicely done and bring the fighters every recognizable characteristic straight from their 2-D romps. Overall, the game animates nicely and runs at a constantly smooth rate with flashes of pizzazz emulating from special and super maneuvers.

Almost all of the environments are fairly generic but do feature some nice subtle touches in the damage to the ground and arena walls. However, the environmental damage strangely doesn't carry over to all the stages. If you can smash the cement with a bone-breaking throw, why wouldn't you be able to do so in a different stage with a concrete surface or even the marble in the mansion?

Perhaps the titles biggest drawback is in the sound department. First, I would like to write a 10-page thank you letter to SNK Playmore for including the original Japanese vocals, but I'll save that for a different time. The selection will spare players from perhaps some of the worst English voice acting that could possibly be conceived.

Aside from the dangers of the game's English (the menus aren't even free of typos), everything else is standard fare. The music lacks the drive to fuel fiery fights and is easily forgettable, plus the sound effects could have been easily ported straight over from any previous King of Fighters game.

Fortunately, the game's strong suit is in its game play, which tries to keep a balance of satisfying longtime fans of the series while keeping a pick-up-and-play feel for those new to the series. All of the characters feature a surprisingly beefy set of signature, special, throw/hold, super and combo moves aside from their standard punches and kicks. Not only have the characters carried over every single one of their special moves from previous games, but 2006 also gives them new moves into the mix.

The 3-D element also includes the ever-popular "dial-a-combo" maneuvers. By stringing together mapped out combinations of punches and kicks, characters will execute a barrage of attacks in succession. The pre-determined combos end in a brutal punch or kick that sends the opponent flying, but players can throw in a special or super move in at any time before the finish of the combo and dish out even more punishment.

Players will need quick fingers to execute high-hitting combos, as the game play in 2006 is fast and furious. True to the series, matches are brief and brutal running at a speed almost comparable to the classic Street Fighter II Turbo fights. Everything definitely has a classic feel and runs as one of the fastest fighting games on the Playstation 2.

Even though there is no online fighting option once again, the mission modes will give those looking for a fight a run for their money. Not only does the mode extend the single-player experience, but it also uncovers a number of unlockables including clothing options and stages apart from the slew of hidden characters.

The hidden characters range from additional King of Fighters characters to those tossed in for some fan service to those who follow SNK - Hanzo from Samurai Showdown, B. Jenet from Garou: Mark of the Wolves, Fio from Metal Slug and more. While, unfortunately, the secret characters do not feature their own segments and endings for the game's story modes, they give players a lot of incentive to dig around in the game.

Obviously the most glaring omission from the game is the three-on-three team-based combat the series was founded on. Even featuring two-on-two battles would be a step in the right direction for the 3-D installments.

The game still feels a tad unbalanced in areas with some questionable super moves executed by the characters. While the level three super moves should be extremely damaging compared to the lower level moves, the damage scaling limits how effective the characters' ultimate super moves should be.

If a level one super does about one forth the damage and a level three super does roughly one half damage, isn't it more effective use three level one supers?

Some characters have horribly unbalanced level three supers, most notably Nagase's were she just turns invisible, and some supers such as Mignon Beart's projectile-based attack take forever to execute and just require a simple sidestep to avoid. While most of the long-time characters balance pretty well, the 3-D additions most notably fall victim to balancing.

There seemed to be a few other game play nuisances that went overlooked such as the inability to move your character into a position of your choice prior to the start of round one. However, before rounds two or three (or higher if you change the options), characters can freely move around before the round commences. The game, much like Mortal Kombat, also has some rough crossovers during jumping attacks.

Overall, however, the game play is solid and still maintains as much of the classic feel of the series SNK could capture in the extra dimension of game play. King of Fighters 2006 offers players a large number of characters old and new as well as numerous one-player modes to keep the game going just a little bit longer.

While it doesn't compare to the Playstation 2's other top-selling 3-D brawlers, King of Fighters 2006 marks the series' most impressive entry onto the system and adds enough to the mix to provide an even stronger basis to work from in future editions.

GemuBaka Final Review Score: 3 of 5

Every once in a while Rockstar will take a break from its proven franchises to take a unique genre in a new, ambitious direction. This is perhaps when I enjoy the company the most as evidenced by the stellar outing the company enjoyed with Rockstar Presents Table Tennis on the Xbox 360 – the releases seem to come out of nowhere, but in typical Rockstar fashion, a lot of thought is put into the release and it stands out among the crowd. The most recent example of this comes courtesy of Rockstar Leeds and Beaterator, which, in collaboration with Timbaland, has released to the Sony PSP.

Right up front here, I’ll want to stress that Beaterator isn’t a game, at least in the traditional sense, but rather, it is an application that serves as a tool to allow its users a streamlined mean in creating music on the PSP. This might turn off people expecting to find a new DJ Max-style game or such on the system, but don’t walk away just yet as anyone interesting in piecing together their own music can still pull fun out of the title even if Beaterator is more of a tool. A gamer’s mileage will definitely vary with this one, but that is entirely dependent on how much patience one has and how much they are willing to put into this title.

Beaterator revolves around two modes, but, surprisingly, both are very robust. The live play mode serves as the entry gates for getting into the title – it is much easier to use and while it doesn’t give users as much freedom and customization as there is to be found in the studio mode, there are still a number of options and functions to utilize with easy-to-understand button icons that are situated around the virtual Timbaland. Users can even record sessions from the live play mode and paste them as loops into the studio mode for tweaking and customization, doubling the usage of the feature. In this initial mode, while there isn’t much to it, it’s easy, accessible and users will be able to pump out some decent tunes in no time flat.

Once users roll over into the studio mode, however, Beaterator becomes a different beast, reflecting more of what you would expect to see in an eJay studio or any other PC tool that costs more than Beaterator. Users will be menu surfing through a string of complex options, which will no doubt intimidate some. There are tutorials tucked away in the game, but given the simplistic PSP layout, users will find the menu navigation to be a tad bit clunky as opposed to a similar mouse-and-keyboard setup that allows commands to be quite spread out when compared to a cramped PSP screen. Navigation and complexity aside, though, the user is given a number of impressive tools that dictate a mass of musical functions that even allow users to control settings on individual layers.

As an application, the modes offered weigh heavily on the quality of the overall package and, thankfully, Beaterator pulls through on these offerings. You can spend 15 minutes in live play fooling around or 15 hours mulling over every single detail of a creation in the studio mode, which tells me Rockstar Leeds understands how to craft a title fit for a portable system. That being said, however, there are some nuances to be had given the limitations imposed by the PSP’s layout that hamper the controls and the nature of the title and its depth certainly won’t be for everyone. Even so, Beaterator meets the goal it set out to accomplish, giving players a solid music application on the system and rewarding dedicated users with the fruits of their own labor.

With the game’s online functionality in tandem with a PC, users can share that fruit with other users, building a sense of community that is missing from the portable system outside of any game with Monster Hunter in its title. With Rockstar planning to host contests and highlight feature submissions, these motivations will intensify the dedication of serious users and if being able to endlessly create your own music doesn’t serve as replayability, this certainly fuels the fire a little more. If you can get lost in music like I can, it won’t be hard to get pulled into the community and it’s hard to put down the system until you finish a song or get a section of a song just right. It also helps that Beaterator is a one-of-a-kind title on the system right now, as while it is hardly the first console creation tool and definitely not the first on the PC, the online functionality and live play mode really brighten the appeal of the title, especially for music fans.

Honestly, while using Beaterator, users will be staring at a lot of menus in the studio mode, making the appearance of the title a standard affair. As a tool, this is generally forgivable as what is provided for users isn’t bad, it just does its part in giving players some visual feedback on what is going on and nothing more. You do get a few videos and Timbaland avatar moments that stand out, but, clearly, overall, the sound takes the full presentation stage in the title. Surely, not every user is going to agree on what genres, instruments, etc., should be represented but there is a healthy mix of samples provided in the game with a chunk coming straight from Timbaland himself. While some users might not find some of the samples useful, the samples do what they should and ring through pretty clearly (although this is definitely a title where headphones or earbuds are a must). You’ll also get a number of standard clicks and such for the menu navigation, but, as expected, the audio is where Beaterator truly shines.

That being said, though, there are some disc access quirks with the title. Samples can take a bit of time to load up, making the previewing process a bit of a pain. I also occasionally received messages stating the title couldn’t locate a sample on the disc and then played or loaded the sample anyway. These are just a few setbacks I encountered with the sound’s implementation, though, as I found the title’s sound to be very solid and I was able to create a few decent tracks just through goofing around and then tweaking the sound in the studio mode. Relying on loops and electronic production, the samples revolve around electronic genres such as D&B and U.K. garage and dabble into others such as hip-hop. Typically, I always make a point to say that tastes in music are subjective, but, perhaps this is one of the few cases I can say if you don’t like the music in the title, it’s most likely your fault for creating it. On that note, however, if you are a hater of the pre-made loops, Beaterator gives you tools to create your own loops as well as to import various sounds. The depth is great, however, again, the only thing holding users back from creating a masterpiece is their patience with the software’s complexity.

GemuBaka Final Review Score: 4 of 5

Beaterator is a cheaper alternative to the great PC music creation tools, yet it still manages to hang with those offerings in terms of customization and content. Gamers will have to know straight up, Beaterator is a tool as opposed to a “game,” but those that stick with it will be able to make satisfying compositions, even if the title is a bit difficult to work with due to the PSP’s layout. The community features for the title will have dedicated users going on the application for quite some time, meaning anyone serious about creating music will get their money’s worth here. The live play mode allows users to jam for a short time, while the studio mode can keep players wrapped up for hours, making it a perfect portable music tool. The title has a couple of setbacks to iron out, for sure, but Beaterator easily hangs with the best of the bunch in the console/handheld music creation group.

It only took the better part of a decade, but, now in 2009 video gaming is finally home to one of the most lucrative and sought-after catalogs of music in modern history. The inclusion into video games was undertaking that was nearly 50 years in the making, with the band originally performing in its five-piece ensemble starting in 1960, but Beatlemania was finally captured by Harmonix with The Beatles: Rock Band, immortalizing the fab four members that carried the name from 1962 onward in a familiar digital format. Given how difficult it was to procure these rights, one would have to assume Harmonix would put every ounce of effort it could into doing the source material justice and, thankfully, the end result should be enjoyable for anyone while serving up a once-in-a-lifetime interactive experience for any Beatles fan.

I’ll just start off by stating up front that I am not the biggest Beatles fan in the world. I appreciate the band’s music and mostly prefer its earlier material, but I am far from being a Beatles fanatic. On this grounds, I am able to look at the game a little more objectively, but, let’s be honest – what we have here is a brand new presentation with Rock Band 2 running under the hood. With this, obviously, the hook of The Beatles being featured in the game is the major draw here and for fans of the band will no doubt be the target audience for the title. However, looking at the title from a pure music gaming focus, the stranglehold placed on the likenesses and content of the game really put forth a good group of limitations that are hard to ignore for those not as enamored with the band and want to enjoy a new rhythm-based game title.

Eschewing the company’s standard of releasing handfuls of content at reduced prices, The Beatles: Rock Band storms in as a full offering, demanding a meaty $60 from your wallet, but, given we won’t see Rock Band 3 this year, it’s hard to suggest that Harmonix is milking the franchise. What players will receive is a stripped down Rock Band 2 experience, customized to accommodate The Beatles, which means features that players are normally accustomed to are absent from the title. The character creation tools are given the boot, which will probably upset some, but, for me, it is a godsend – I can finally just jump into a game without having to wait around because somebody decided they wanted to change the shoes their avatar is wearing. While players can still fail songs, The Beatles can never be booed and the band’s in-game tracks and material cannot be ported over to any other Rock Band offering, which shows the power Apple Corps. holds over Harmonix. A bunch of these omissions come across as minor gripes, as it is a miracle Apple even allowed such a game to come into fruition, however, this serves as another example of how spoiled Rock Band fans will hit a brick wall when the features they expect to see in every installment are absent in The Beatles: Rock Band.

Another question has been popping up in regard to the title’s value. At $60, Rock Band fans, which we no doubt have on a site dedicated to music gaming, may be wondering why they are only being presented with around 40 songs when Rock Band 2 easily doubled the offerings at the same price. If you were to consider each track as a DLC offering at $2 a piece, there does appear to be an evident value in the content, but the shilling of future DLC packs at an extra cost might disinterest some fans and the audience the game is trying to reach out to might not be frequent gamers, tasking them to put down around $300 for a full experience. Obviously, there has been much debate on the game’s value, but the attraction merely hinges on how big of a Beatles fan a potential buyer is.

Cracking into the actual game itself, players will have a quickplay mode and a career-based mode along with a few training features that can isolate the drum and vocal gameplay bits. Everything outside of the career mode works just like any other Rock Band entry, but it is sad to see the creativity of the career mode nerfed so much in The Beatles: Rock Band. This Rock Band iteration merely puts players into chunks of songs with the only “career” additions coming in the form of stylized cutscenes that depict the current phase of the band’s career and dictating the players’ song choices according to what songs the band had crafted at that moment in time. Harmonix creates some cheap replay value for the mode in opening up challenge segments that are nothing more than performing the aforementioned song chunks in a continuous setlist. Also, since the mode amounts to just playing the game’s song catalog, players will blow through the mode in a handful of hours with very little reason to come back to it. The mode still lets you jam to the band’s trademark songs, but the void of innovation and cycle of repetition really makes this entry’s career mode pale in comparison to Rock Band’s previous efforts.

That being said, however, stars earned in career mode go toward worthwhile unlockables for once. Instead of unlocking uninteresting avatar clothing, The Beatles: Rock Band instead unloads exclusive, never-before-seen photos, videos and sound bytes that will fascinate fans of the band and possibly intrigue casual players (I found the Christmas vinyl montage to be quite interesting, actually).
Looking at the gameplay itself, there is only one innovation to see in the harmonized vocals, which allow up to three people to grab a mic and sing simultaneously during a song. The feature works similar to the standard vocal setup, with each pitch determined by colored bars that anyone familiar with how Rock Band operates should be able to naturally follow. This does add a deceptive amount of interesting moments to the gameplay, letting an additional two players get in on the standard gameplay or challenging more dedicated bands to sing and play instruments simultaneously. Outside of this mechanic, however, players are getting Rock Band 2 pound for pound, although a number of the personal freedoms are taken away in order to wholly preserve The Beatles’ content. The overdrive drum fills are replaced by a single green note, misplaying the guitar does not result in a change of pitch and the beginning and ends of songs don’t allow for players to lay into the drums a little. In all, a bunch of minor changes add up to really limit the player in comparison to other Rock Band titles, which is disappointing considering the caliber of quality seen in those titles.

I don’t mean to cast a thunder cloud over everyone’s opinion of the title, though, as the fact the game is essentially Rock Band 2 with a fresh coat of paint means players are getting the foundation of what is arguably the greatest music gaming engine available on the market. Anyone who has had any shred of fun with any of the series’ other installments will continue to do so with The Beatles: Rock Band, with the only determination of enjoyability being the players’ opinion of The Beatles. Even on that note, however, fans of The Beatles might question the song selection slapped into the game, which does omit some classic and notable songs. With the source band and choice of songs included in the title, much of what is encompassed in The Beatles: Rock Band will boil down to subjective, personal tastes that I couldn’t fairly assess in a review. What I can look over, however, is how the tunes are implemented.

Audibly, the title is just as superb as any other Rock Band title – the songs ring through in high quality, which is most likely due to the fact the songs have been remastered, much like they were for the band’s audio CD release that hit stores, also on Sept. 9. The title also enjoys a number of other audible touches such as the crowds going bananas during the band’s touring years and the realistic mode toggle that has the crowd drowning out the band with a symphony of screams are quite interesting diversions and well implemented. With the manner the songs are implemented, though, it should be mentioned there are very few challenging segments to be found in The Beatles: Rock Band’s gameplay, even on the expert difficulty, which may disappoint band game masters, however, on the other side, the ease in difficulty allows for casual players to enjoy a wholly accessible game title. Fans of the band probably won’t care either way, but if you’re looking for the next challenging guitar solo to test your skills, you won’t find it in The Beatles: Rock Band and this may alienate some longtime players that have little to no interest in the band.

On the other side of the presentation, the graphics do the game justice as well. The graphics arguably take a step back with some fuzzy visuals and jaggies, but, somehow, the pastel-laden animated fab four works quite well, which is most likely due to the significantly pumped up animations given to the band. The close-ups of the crowd also give the visuals some juice with a variety of emotions ranging between 1960s girls going nuts and screaming in tears to street goers looking up solemnly to the top of the Apple Corps building, knowing this is the last time they will ever see The Beatles publically perform. For the most part, these animations really lend to the visual appeal of the title, showcasing amusing animations inbetween career sets and creating trippy, creative (although potentially distracting) “Dreamscape” sequences to compliment the band’s studio years. The game’s environments are also very well crafted, accurately reflecting the current time period with clothing fads, 1960s television presentations, hair trends sported by the band members throughout the decade and, of course, the Dreamscape sequences create plenty of interesting environments. If you look closely, you’ll find some graphical snags, but most players will be too wrapped up into the world of The Beatles to notice and, overall, the title is a treat to the eyes.

Overall, the game may rely a little too much on its source material, however, as players that have no interest in the band or are looking for a challenging outing to test their skills should more likely turn to Guitar Hero 5 for a more suitable modern experience. With the advancements made to Guitar Hero 5, the impression is given that The Beatles: Rock Band has done little to advance the series, however, this will probably not matter very much to the game’s target audience. When you put The Beatles to the side for a moment and look at the game as a whole, there are some very evident downsides to the way the game plays out, but, thankfully, the pros far outweigh the cons in this entry.

With the production of the title being all said and done, Harmonix has done well in crafting an experience that any true Beatles fan cannot be without. However, the game limits creative freedoms, provides an extremely shallow and potentially dissatisfying career mode, a lack of difficulty and features a handful of other minor downsides, which may eat away at the interest of music game fans that have little to no interest in the band. That being said, however, it can’t be denied that The Beatles: Rock Band is a very well crafted game overall. The main debate to be had with the title really lies in personal tastes – the player’s opinion of The Beatles, the choice of songs included/excluded, etc. – since the game is built upon the solid foundation of Rock Band 2. I would suggest to anyone on the fence about the game to review its content and if you feel the pros outweigh the cons, I could recommend picking up the title without hesitation.

GemuBaka Final Review Score: 4 of 5

While it's hard to compare Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner to Pokemon, the newly-released Atlus title brings a number of features from Nintendo's classic RPG over to Sony's PSP. Thankfully for players, the game does more than copy and paste and brings a serious, anime-style tale that unfolds through the interesting management of monsters raised by the in-game characters.

Monster Kingdom initially details the ongoing adventures of Vice, who spends his time tracking down a specific winged Abomination (the most powerful of monsters who control other monsters) that killed his mother. Spending his time as hunter, making money by carrying out monster hunting tasks, Vice has the unique ability to utilize monsters with being trained as a jewel summoner. With only a monster jewel left to him by his mother at his helm, he eventually becomes mixed in with a quest that involves a lot more than just him.

Shortly into the game, Vice unwilling joins The Order, a sort of university that houses and trains jewel summoners. There Vice can partner up with two more comrades of the player's choosing, allowing parties of up to three monsters at one time. While each character comes equipped with a default monster, players can capture more monsters through the use of jewel shards and keep up to nine monsters on hand at one time.

The monsters in Monster Kingdom each have an elemental characteristic, with which players have to match up with an appropriate shard to capture when weakened. For example, a baby Kirin is a thunder monster and can only be captured through the use of a thunder shard. Not only do the elements demand specific shards to capture, but they also detail the strengths and weaknesses of each monster – an ice type monster isn't going to like a fire-based attack too much.

Since three party members can tow three monsters each, ultimately, your party consists of nine monsters when you enter battle. The catch, however, is the fact the monsters' souls are bound with the character that controls them. When a monster takes damage, the controller feels the pain too. The strategy of what monster to use becomes even more crucial through this system as merely changing a monster doesn't bring a character's hit points back up to max.

The most straightforward way to power up monsters is by defeating enemies and gaining experience in typical turn-based RPG fare, but the game's unique analgamy lab features really allow players to get down and dirty with fine-tuning their monsters abilities and stats. The game's lab technicians have different abilities that allow you to fuse jewels with other items and use gained ability points to raise stats and abilities in any manner.

By infusing monsters with different elemental quartz, they can learn abilities outside of their element that they would never learn otherwise. For example, a wind monster can now have fire attacks, an option that allows monsters take advantage of multiple weaknesses. By using gained AP, players can artificially raise experience points to boost monsters faster or use them to raise specific attribute levels such as strength, agility or defense or even raise the levels of specific attacks and actions.

Monster Kingdom features a large cast, each featured in large, well-drawn anime-style figures. The characters are all very unique (aside from the ones that appear in multiple towns) and show off a huge amount of detail. Dialogue is a huge part of Monster Kingdom and you'll spend a large amount of time looking at the close-ups of the characters speaking. The backdrops, for the most part, are also well done and are unfortunately covered most of the time by the characters.

By far, Monster Kingdom is one of the most impressive titles I've seen presentation wise on the PSP. Not only are the characters designed and presented well during dialogue, all of the text, which furthers the game's storyline is fully voiced-over. No small feat for a portable since there is a lot of text. While when the characters are in battle or traveling in a dungeon level, some of the models can look a bit on the jagged side, Monster Kingdom does quite a good job of bringing console-style RPG presentation to a portable system.

Audibly, the game features sounds and music very typical to RPG dungeon games. The music fits each scenario appropriately with a number of different battle themes to reflect the severity of the current battle. Much like Pokemon, each of the different monsters in Monster Kingdom have their unique calls and each of their attacks are accompanied by a sound effect most suited to the attacks element. Outside of battle, the game's voice acting is surprisingly well done for the most part, with each of the main characters receiving very befitting voice talent.

Some players may be turned off by the huge amount of dialogue though, which takes up a huge portion of the game. With the story progression and linear battles at the beginning, Monster Kingdom doesn’t go anywhere fast in its waking moments. The over world maps are all point and click navigation so there are no random battles while traveling from town to town, adding more to the linear nature of the game. It should be noted to those interested in picking up the title should have a little bit of patience in order to tough out the introduction and move on to the meat of the quest.

With all the sounds and voices in the game, there is a lot of disc access and while there is little loading to be scene in the transitions between battles and scenes, the access can interrupt dialect and fights. Every time I got into a battle, almost every first hit led to a delay while the game loaded before the damage dealt was displayed. While the access merely leads to hiccups in the game, it is extremely noticeable and happens rather frequently.

The story, while full of its RPG cliché moments, is a refreshing change of pace for games in the monster-breeding genre. Coming from Cozy Okada, creator of the Shin Megami Tensei series, Monster Kingdom is a tad darker and more mature than most of the games in its genre. While there's no huge twists or surprises in store, the story accompanies the game appropriately and makes for interesting play through.

In addition to the single-player story mode, players can also locally link wirelessly with others to utilize a couple of options. Through wireless connectivity, multiplayer battles become accessible and the option to trade monsters is available outside of the battlefield. While the modes don't exactly add a huge amount of substance to the title, they make use of the PSP's wireless functions and give players not only something to do with other players but it also allows access to stronger monsters.

While Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner breaks no barriers in the RPG genre, it lends a number of unique and satisfying additions to the monster breeding genre to warrant giving it a look. The tale is expansive for a portable game and offers a lot of adventuring and customization to players. For those who really get into the monsters they raise in similar RPGs, Monster Kingdom will allow them to have a ball with the number of fusion and ability options available to those who take advantage of it.

Right off the bat, presentation comes across as Monster Kingdom's ace in the hole and it really makes the game come alive. However, once you boil down the actual game play, the title is, at heart, wholly similar to just about any other game in the same genre. Regardless, Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner will give PSP RPG or monster breeding fanatics a lengthy title with plenty of artistic flair.

GemuBaka Final Review Score: 3 of 5