Adventures at Capcom's Digital Day 08

Lost Planet Colonies Is Rehash With Bonus Material

Gallery: Lost Planet Colonies

Gallery: Megaman Starforce 2

Udon Drawn SFII Turbo HD Remix Looks Amazing

Gallery: Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

Gallery: We Love Golf

We Love Golf Details

Gallery: Plunder

Hands On With Capcom's Piratical Plunder

Gallery: Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3

Hands On With Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3

Gallery: 1942: Joint Strike

Hands On With 1942: Joint Strike

Gallery: Bionic Commando Rearmed

Also diverging from the original is the storyline which takes place during a fictional World War II. All the trappings of the real WWII are there, but Capcom assures us that this WWII takes place in a completely alternate universe from our own. Up to two players locally or over online can play special missions outside of the single player campaign and teaming up has its advantages. Special weapons and power ups are available as well as extra special Joint Strike attacks that will send your enemies into tailspin.

My time with 1942: Joint Strike was entertaining and much like Commando 3, I really enjoyed it despite my initial misgivings. The graphics looked super sharp, nearly photo realistic, and the controls were smooth and easy to get used to. The graphic treatment of the menu system was great too, providing an olde time look that added some nice character to the game. If you are a fan of the original series of 194X titles, this is one that should definitely be on your list of downloads. And in case you were wondering (and I know you were) 1942: Joint Strike will be available in two flavors, XBLA and PSN for $9.99 this summer.

Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 is a throwback to the original arcade hit with updated graphics and controls to suit console play. Up to three players can choose between three different playable characters: Wolf, Coyote and Fox (she's the girl of the group) each with their own special moves. An arsenal of weapons is also at your disposal to help take the enemy down. You can also all pile into various vehicles together and blast your way to victory. The three player mode will be supported both online and on a single console. As a special bonus, the music is being composed by Norihiko Hibino of Metal Gear fame.

I teamed up with the inimitable Hamza from Destructoid and we immediately dove in to the game. The graphics looked great for a downloadable game and the controls were fairly simple. one thumbstick moves you around while the other fires your weapons much in the Robotron style. A simple flick of the trigger will make your character throw grenades which I actually found quite effective for certain situations. A click of the other trigger starts your characters special move which in my case involved a massive explosion, taking out everything around me whether it was buildings or enemies.

Scattered through the game are cut scenes done in a great comic book-like graphical style that I really liked. All the menus we similarly styled and each special move is preceded by a little drawing of your character that fills the screen right before the madness ensues. We plowed our way through about two levels before we finally had to relinquish our seats and move on, but it was enough to have me hooked and along with Plunder, turned out to be my favorite hands on of the day. And don't forget, if you purchase Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 you'll get that invite to the Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix beta!

I sat down and played a very quick, four person vs team game which was really a lot of fun. The controls were easy to pick up and the gameplay was engaging and easy to pick up. However it did require some skill and speed to get quickly upgraded and get to all the places you needed to go to win. My teammate and I managed to soundly trounce the competition and much rum was drunk and wenches were kissed. Well, not by me but that's another story.

We also took a look at the map editor which was very easy to use and is actually one of the things I am really looking forward to with this game. I'm not usually one for level editing as it always seems so needlessly complicated but this was very simple and engaging. Plunder will be coming to PC, XBLA and PSN later this summer.

I think at this point everyone knows how Street Fighter works, so I'll stick to talking about the HD graphics which were all redrawn by the folks at Udon (artists of the US Street Fighter comic). The new sprites looked amazing and almost even more impressive were the backgrounds. Perfect lines, no jaggies, sharp and colorful. They looked simply spectacular.

The particular stage I saw was the one with the people jumping up and down and cheering on the back of a boat. It not only looked great but a fellow journalist and I got a kick out of the fact that even though the art itself had sharpened up, the animations were still olde school rudimentary with each jumping background character only having three or four positions making up their animations. It was a nice nod to the original game while still improving its look. Very retro modern.

The graphics will support a widescreen mode, but there will also be a 4:3 mode for purists who can also revert characters to the original 2D sprites for the full "original" experience. Players will also be able to choose from the original game music or newly remixed versions.

As far as gameplay goes, online versus play will be available along with in-game voice chat, matchmaking, and worldwide rankings. A "Quarter Match" mode has been added which will allow two competitors and up to four spectators to use virtual quarters to buy into two player matches.

There will also be an optional "Rebalanced" mode which makes changes across the board to many characters. The changes were implemented in response to testing by the world's top ranked Street Fighter players. Most of the differences involve a lot of character fine tuning to some of your favorite (and not so favorite) fighters. Balrog, Cammy, Blanka, Ken, T. Hawk and Ryu will all be receiving "character balancing." There is much minutia in the changes that many of the more hardcore SF fans will certainly be interested in. So if this describes you, you will probably want to check out this series of articles by SF tournament player and the new game's design and gameplay overseer, David Sirlin.

All will be revealed when the game hits XBLA and PSN later this year. But for those of you that can't wait that long, the purchase of Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 will come with an entry into the Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix beta test.

The following gallery contains shots from each of the games as well as some character art. Both titles will be released simultaneously in June for $29.95.

As you probably already know, Lost Planet: Colonies is going to be a "Platinum Hits" version of the original game but with tons of added content. For the redux of an old game being sold at a discount price ($29.95) they have really loaded it down with new features. There are three new single player modes, six new online multiplayer modes (including one where a random player gets chosen to play one of the big bugs while the other players try to take him down), four new multiplayer maps, four new player characters including two females and two robots, eight new weapons, new environments, cross platform play (PC and 360) and a the new ability to switch from first person view to an RE4 style over-the-shoulder view. Whew!

To read the details on all the fancy new features of Lost Planet: Colonies which hits May 28, make the jump!

New modes for single player campaign:
Score Attack - Each enemy and destructible object has points assigned to them, with the player being awarded different points depending on how they defeat the enemy.

Trial Battle Mode - Take on each of the game's Bosses, one after another

Off Limit Mode - Go wild with over-the-top, super-charged weapons with unlimited ammunition and increased speed of movement

New online modes
Akrid Hunter - Get the chance to finally play as an Akrid as your opponents attempt to take you down

VS Annihilator - Each team attempts to destroy its opponent's VS while defending its own

CounterGrab - The team with the longest data post activation time wins

Point Snatcher - Take down opponents and collect the most thermal energy points

Akrid Egg Battle - Steal Akrid eggs from the opponent's team and bring them safely back to your own base

Egg Bandit - steal your opponents' Akrid egg, with points awarded for longer capture times
Four new multiplayer maps

Crossfire City - the wide streets provide an excellent opportunity for VS battles, while buildings provide great cover for sharp-eyed snipers

Area 921- Two industrial compounds located in a vast desert and linked by an underground pipe

Lost Arena - The central arena is ideal for VS pilots to act as futuristic gladiators, while those on foot can use the surrounding grandstands as their battleground

Assault Space - Set onboard a space ship and its supply vessel, the blackness of space is sure to make for some interesting encounters

New playable characters
Two female and two robot characters are added to the roster of choices for online personas to choose from, bringing the total to 11

New weapons (human)
Hand Gun - weak in power, but very accurate and easy to use

Revolver - The expert's one-shot kill weapon of choice at close quarters

Flame Launcher - Uses thermal energy to lay down a wall of fire

Hand Cannon - A handgun-like rocket launcher that is very effective against VS suits

New weapons (VS)
Pile Bunker - A long spike fires out at immense speed

VS Rifle - VS-dedicated rifle which has the longest range and loses no power regardless of the distance

Rocket Pod - Shoot off a salvo of rockets to cause immense damage to a specific area

Laser Lance - Attack with a sweeping arc of devastation
New Environments

Snowstorms, arctic winds, towering mountains of ice are all stunningly realized, creating a truly immersive and cinematic event of epic proportions.

New perspectives
Switch to first person view or the over-the-shoulder view from Resident Evil™ 4 for even more intense action

Cross Platform Play
∑ XBOX 360 and PC users can now compete on the same battlefield

NOTE: Lost Planet COLONIES EDITION and the original Lost Planet: Extreme Condition are not compatible. Single-player saves and online rankings cannot be carried over and multiplayer games will be separate.

The remaining five titles (Bionic Commando Rearmed, Plunder, 1942: Joint Strike, Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix) were then revealed and after a little more talk we were all dispersed to check out the games for ourselves. So, armed with my trusty pad and pen, I dove in and explored all Digital Day had to offer. I did my best to get it all down in the few hours I had there and given the amount of things there were to write about, this article will likely already be on page two by the time you read it. So go on ahead and scroll up for all the details.