BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger –PS3
Release date: June 30 (that’s almost July)
You might wonder why we chose a game you’ve likely never heard of as our top pick for July. Let’s drop some truth bombs on you. BlazBlue is a new 2D fighter from Arc System Works, better known as the geniuses behind the ultra-crazy Guilty Gear games. If you were a fan of those, then you know to expect tight gameplay and gorgeous visuals.
BB meshes high resolution character art and breathtaking 3D backdrops seamlessly, thereby pushing the limits of what 2D fighters can achieve. Street Fighter IV made the leap into full 3D earlier this year (and last year in the arcades), which is why we’re almost sure BlazBlue will go overlooked. Do us a favor and check this one out.
WHAT ELSE?
Tales of Monkey Island Episode 1 – Wii, PC
Release date: July 7
Older gamers should definitely be excited for a trip back to when games were legitimately funny with a new Monkey Island adventure. But the best thing is that we get two MI games this summer. First, Tales is an episodic game from Telltale Games. You might remember Telltale from its work on the Sam & Max games, as well as Strongbad and Wallace & Gromit. We know. It’s not LucasArts, but check out this FAQ on the the official site explaining the Telltale team’s hilarious defense [http://www.telltalegames.com/monkeyisland/faq]. Also, The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition will be released at an undisclosed date this summer for Xbox Live and PC.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-shelled - Xbox Live
Release date: July 22
Another throwback to an older game, TMNT IV: Turtles in Time (also known as the best Turtles game ever from the SNES) gets an HD upgrade and looks more than excellent. Seriously, we played that shit for hours. It’s one of the best beat-em-ups ever made and is set up for four players to bound through the Big Apple, laying waste to multi-colored foot clan soldiers and classic bosses like Krang (in the weird human suit), Tokka and Rahzar (from the second movie) and Super Shredder. Buy it.
Wii Sports Resort – Wii
Release date: July 26
As of March 2009, Wii Sports is the best-selling video game of all time with 45.71 million copies sold. ALL TIME. That is insane. And while we at GR have grown considerably cool towards the Wii and its playable disc of tech demos, we can’t deny the unbelievable popularity of the first Sports release. Besides being bundled with the system (in America at least), the game’s charm lies within its simplicity. Sports Resort is kind of a sequel to the first game, contains 12 games this time and comes bundled with Wii Motion Plus, that little dongle that should’ve given the Wii Remote 1:1 capability almost three years ago.
DON'T FORGET
Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do to Deserve This? – PSP
Release date: July 7
A dungeon creator where you play as the bad guy, raising minions to destroy the good guy? Hell yes. A demo is out on the PlayStation Network right now. Try it.
NCAA Football 10 – Probably a bunch of systems, probably
Release date: July 14
Above: Go Trojans!
Not sure why EA Sports games are given such a bad rap by most folks, considering they sell millions each year and bring tons of money into the video game industry. Add to that, but games such as NCAA Football extend the gaming demographic to a higher age (like mid-30s for example) without needing to add silly motion controls to sell well. Oh, NCAA contains the new Season Showdown enabling you to compete against online opponents for credits and TeamBuilder, where team customization hits a new level of extreme.
