Gaming off the Beaten Path

It's been a long time coming. A LONG time. But it's finally here. A character that deservers, nay, needs to be the star of his own game has finally received his just desserts. It's been more than 30 years, but Ultros finally has his own game! I mean, it's right there in the name! Final Fantasy VI's resident octupus, the true breakout star of that legendary game, is finally a leading man (or leading cephalopod, as it were). I can't wait to dive into what I am sure is going to be a tentacle-riffic adventure! But, hey, wait a minute...where's all the stuff from the world of Final Fantasy VI we all know and love? No Serpent Trench, or opera house, or colosseum or anywhere else Ulty likes to hang out? And what about the other characters from the game? Where's Terra? Or Edgar? Or Sabin? Or anyone? Why are there bugs everywhere? And why is everything neon? I'm starting to think that I've been mislead. In all seriousness, this week's game has, unfo...

It's time to keep the GBA Metroidvania train rolling. We started with Castlevania, then moved on to Metroid, and now it's time to make our way back to Dracula's castle. I was pleasantly surprised last year when I, sort of on a whim, decided to take a shot at Castlevania: Circle of the Moon on the Game Boy Advance. I had heard good things about the handheld titles in the series, but never actually took the time to play any of them. And that's a shame, because Circle of the Moon was outstanding. It was truly an exceptional example of just what the tiny but mighty GBA was capable of. It got me excited to dig into the other games in the genre I had missed from that console, both Metroid and Castlevania alike. I moved right along to Metroid: Zero Mission and while I wasn't as high on it as I was COTM, it was still a solid experience that was incredibly well designed and polished. So naturally, the next step in the progression was back to 'Vania with the next in that...