New year; old games

It might only be the first week of January, but there are still a few new games out to buy. You’ll need a credit card though – all of this week’s new games are downloads. There’s nothing out at retail until SEGA’s Anarchy Reigns is released next week.

Retro City Rampage is the week’s sole new addition to Xbox Live Arcade. It’s a game that has been a long time coming, having first appeared on PSN October in America and then stuck in development limbo for quite some time before that.

A parody of 8-bit games that has more than a hint of the original GTA about it, most reviewers found that it shares quite an unwanted element from games of yore – a really tough difficulty level. gamesTM also noted the bizarre map system in their 8/10 review. Cost? 800 MSP to you, guv.

According to the developers, European PlayStation 3 and PS Vita owners will finally get Retro City Rampage in the next week or so.

Touch Battle Tank 3D on the 3DS eShop is another one that has had a lengthy delay – American gamers received it back in August. Worth the wait? Nintendo Life’s review suggests not, pointing out abysmal controls and laughable AI. It ended up getting a miserable 3/10.

Thankfully there are two other games hitting the eShop – the NES version of Ghosts’n Goblins for £4.49 on 3DS Virtual Console and Crystal Adventure on DSiware for £1.79.

Ghosts’n Goblins should need no introduction but Crystal Adventure might do. Going by the video below, it’s a Roguelike RPG. For less than £2 it has almost certainly got to be worth a look for fans of the genre.

Then over on WiiWare there’s Vampire Crystals for 1000 Points. Nintendo Life have also cast their critical eye over this twin-stick cartoony shooter, where it was awarded 8/10. “It’s a fun scramble worth playing through over and over again,” they said.

It’s good to see a WiiWare game that doesn’t suck.

Next week: Anarchy Reigns (PS3, 360) and hopefully Retro City Rampage on PSN.

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