E3 2009: Ignition Entertainment

Ignition Entertainment had perhaps one of the most impressive showings of E3, with several strong titles. In addition to their SNK properties–namely King of Fighters XII and Samurai Showdown: Edge of Destiny–Ignition managed to land the license to the Tecmo developed DS title, Nostalgia, and the highly sought license for the Wii exclusive, Muramasa: The Demon Blade. I couldn’t wait to try my hand at these games, all of which looked impressive in their own right.

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The first title I sat down with was their DS RPG, Nostalgia. While I wasn’t entirely impressed with the game itself, the fact that it’s a full featured 20+ hour RPG experience on the DS with a myriad of unique features should be enough to entice players who are looking for a longer lasting experience on their DS. The game also sports in-game cinematic cut-scenes, airship combat, skill trees, and full 3d graphics. The music was actually quite beautiful for what little I was able to hear. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to hear more of it in the upcoming months. Nostalgia is currently set for release in September 2009.

The next title I sat down with was the King of Fighters XII, which is by far the best fighting game I played on the show floor this year. The visuals are an amazing step forward for the series with completely hand drawn renders for each character, replacing the old recycled sprites we saw from the series. The gameplay was incredibly smooth and well balanced. In addition, the music certainly seemed to match up with the updated visuals. While I can’t say it’s the same as the classic Neo Geo CD soundtracks–all of which are worth a listen–I can promise it’s definitely better than what we heard from King of Fighters 2003.

Samurai Showdown: Edge of Destiny was a title I didn’t expect to see the light of day outside of Japan, and I can’t begin to tell you how pleased I am to see the title finally getting an overseas release. It features a number of classic Samurai Showdown characters as well as a cast of 11 new characters made specifically for this title. The new high definition 3d renders are absolutely stunning and the music is quite good. The only major complaint I had was the load time, but frankly it’s something I can put up with. The game isn’t for the faint of heart though, as I experienced my character’s hand being sliced clean off during a match. I adored the gratuitous amounts of blood, but it can certainly catch you off guard if you’re not expecting to see it. You should be able to pick up this title for Xbox 360 later this fall.

Finally, I had the pleasure of playing Muramasa: The Demon Blade. Believe me when I say that this is the most stunning Wii title I’ve seen to date. Vanillaware never ceases to amaze me with their amazing art, and simplistic, yet rewarding gameplay. The music in their titles typically consist of stunning scores by veteran composer Hitoshi Sakimoto, so you know it’ll be good. The game itself plays more like an action based 2d platformer than an RPG, but still maintains some RPG elements.  While the game itself only sports around 10 hours of gameplay, multiple endings definitely provide some replayability. That said, it’s a work of art and worth every penny, so I’ll definitely be picking it up as soon as it’s released this September.