QCF: Phantom Breaker: Omnia

ack in the day I used to attend several conventions a year, where all forms of gaming, anime and related avenues of fandom would occupy a weekend inside the meeting rooms of an unsuspecting hotel. In those game rooms of my past, I recall seeing Phantom Breaker tournaments and casual play amongst the other 2D fighters. Now over a decade later, Rocket Panda Games has teamed up with MAGES to release an updated and streamlined version of the title for the first time in the West. Does Phantom Breaker: Omnia earn a place in today’s crowded field of fighting games? I think to certain groups of players it very well may have a spot.

Click to read more ...

QCF: Guilty Gear Strive

can remember the energy and excitement in person at EVO 2019 when we first saw the reveal trailer for Guilty Gear Strive, and how everyone in attendance was mesmerized by its incredible graphics and potential for the fighting game scene. Even then at first glance I knew that Arc System Works had something special, and I am happy to report after a few delays and several rounds of beta play, the game that we now have in our hands is better than could has been imagined on that summer evening during the EVO tournament.

Click to read more ...

PPR Limelight: Guilty Gear: Strive Closed Beta

 have been looking forward to checking out this latest installment in the Guilty Gear franchise since it was announced at last year's EVO. The online servers should be live on Friday, April 17 2020 at 11:00pm EST. Come and watch me be absolute garbage online, or maybe just staring at a loading screen while the servers try to connect. Arc System Works are implementing a rollback netcode for the online, so fingers crossed it will work!

Evo 2016: The MIX Indie Showcase

he MIX stands for the Media Indie Exchange which is a colaboration between the MIX and Evo to showcase games from indie game developers to the hardcore fighting game and competitive players. From the offical Media Indie Exchange website, the MIX states "The fighting game community (FGC) is a tight-knit culture who share a lot in common with Indies.

Both are interested in system design, have grassroots community backgrounds; both appreciate well-crafted game design, mechanics and both understand that games are only as fun as the people you can play with and talk to. The MIX and EVO are independent productions who strive to develop their cultures and bring people together to share amazing experiences". We were able to play and speak with the developers of several titles on the Evo floor, a few we enjoyed and some that seemed a little out of place but worth discussing either way. 

Click to read more ...

QCF: Pokkén Tournament

 think it’s safe to say that by this point, no one who isn’t familiar with the concept of Pokémon, even by a little bit, is a stranger to the vast expanses of its giant monster filled world. We’ve extensively covered the various spin-off titles offered by the series, but there was always one particular genre of game that was strangely missing from the lineup of titles billed around battling collectible monsters with another; a competitive fighting game.

In a collaboration with Bandai Namco and The Pokémon Company, one of the most ambitious spin-offs in the franchise has now broken ground onto the Wii U with Pokkén Tournament, a project that was headed by the same force responsible for Tekken. The potential here sounds like a match that’s worthy of Helix Fossil’s praise, but Namco Bandai’s track record with Tekken and other collaborative efforts (*cough TEKKEN VERSUS STREET FIGHTER) has been a little to spotty not be worried.

It’s definitely not as complex, or as deep as the as the source material that it stems from, but the fighting engine at work, but it is built with just the right blend of accessibility and frenetic adrenaline to please both fighting game gurus, and Pokéfanatics alike.

Click to read more ...

Bullet Heaven HD, Episode 146 - Senko no Ronde DUO

n episode 55 of Bullet Heaven HD, we took a look at Wartech: Senko no Ronde on the Xbox 360. As a solid mashup of both a bullet hell shooter and a versus fighter, we enjoyed it quite a bit, despite its clunky controls. Senko no Ronde Duo followed up the original in 2010... but is it better? Let's take a closer look.  

** BECOME A PATRON! https://www.patreon.com/Serraxor **

Click to read more ...

QCF: Super Smash Bros for 3DS

hen a name becomes more and more distinguished over time like Super Smash Bros has, the occasional fumble or two can easily be overlooked, like it never even happened at all; and at the Chagrin of Super Smash Bros Brawl, the expectations for the latest sequels to bear the Smash name have never been higher.

While the 3DS version out of the pair of new games, has quickly gotten the label of being the B-choice release, the experience it has to offer is by no means the case. Everything that’s been jam packed into this port is very much faithful to those very same lofty expectations I mentioned earlier, and dare I say, Super Smash Bros for 3DS went on even further to surpass them.

Click to read more ...

PPR @ Hal-Con - Ralston Arcade

e all love fighting games here at PPR. Whether we're trouncing around in the giant robots of Tech Romancer, wailing on opponents with a hefty stick in Soul Calibur or Shinku-Hadokening our way to victory in Street Fighter, one thing stands perfectly clear; at PPR, Fight is Might.

In Halifax, there are also other groups with very much the same philosiphy, and they have grown considerably in the last few years. At the core of it all is Ralston Arcade. Ralston Arcade is one of Atlantic Canada's premier fighting game streaming organizations, spanning four provinces and covering numerous tournaments, complete with live streaming.

At the head of this group is Micheal Daniels, and Press Pause Radio had a chance to catch up with him for a Q&A on Ralston's origins and future. 

Click to read more ...