June 2019 Part 1 LIVE Magazine

IVEJUNE ISSUE PART 1 2019
©2019 CTMG. All Rights Reserved.
MEET THE CHARACTERS --- DOUBLE PASS GIVE AWAY --- SOME FUN FACTS

Go to page 20 for more details on MEN IN BLACK INTERNATIONAL and how you could win some double passes (Australia Only)

From the Editor
Hello and welcome to the June edition of Gametraders Live!
We have a smaller issue again for you but this time that is because
we are splitting the magazine into two. As you may have noticed this
one is Men in Black TM : International themed but the next one, which
comes out in two weeks, will be themed based on our next giveaway.
Inside part one we have some fun facts about Men in Black TM :
International as well as a meet the characters and information on how
you could win a double pass. We also have an article about Godzilla
to discuss how Godzilla came about, as well as plenty of interesting
articles and reviews.
We hope you enjoy the magazine and as always if you are interested in
writing for our magazine please email live@gametraders.com.au
Emily Langford
Emily Langford,
EDITOR

What’s inside
MEN IN BLACK TM : INTERNATIONAL pg. 16
LONG
LIVE
THE
KING
REVIEWS:
CASTLEVANIA
&
MORTAL KOMBAT 11
pg. 8
pg. 26 & pg. 44

THE LIVE TEAM
EDITOR & DESIGNER: Emily Langford
WRITERS:
Scott F. Sowter, Entertainment Review and Opinion
Paul Monopoli, Interviews / Retro Editor
A LOOK BACK AT ACQUIRE’S
GAMES FOR PLAYSTATION
Pg. 54
Adam Cartwright, Evan Norris & Ben Dye,
VGChartz
VITAS LOST GAMES:
A LOOK AT THE DIGITAL FUTURE
Pg. 32
MEN IN BLACK TM :INTERNATIONAL
GIVEAWAY
Pg. 20

MOVIES
MEN IN BLACK
LONG LIVE THE KING

,tv&
ANIME

In 1954 Gojira was released in Japan.
Toho Studios created the giant monster
film to keep up with a popular trend in
sci-fi horror that was sweeping the world.
However there was something about
this monster that made him special.
Something about this film that worked
perfectly. Something about this monster
that would lead to a sixty year legacy that
includes thirty-two films, video games,
comic books, countless merch items and a
lifetime of pop culture references.
force of these weapons. It remains the
only country in the world to have had such
horror released upon a civilian population.
The atomic bomb was dropped on
Hiroshima at 8:15am. From where the
bomb fell a 1.6km radius was totally
decimated. It left fires and destruction
for a further 11km. 80,000 lives gone in
a blink. Days later a bigger bomb was
dropped on Nagasaki. Japan surrendered
days later. Obviously Japan committed
some atrocities during the war. Many felt
that dropping the bombs was the only way
So why sixty-five years later are we still
obsessed with this giant lizard?
to guarantee their surrender. This has been
debated for years. Regardless of that, the
power the allies displayed ended WW2
In the 1940’s mankind cracked the secrets
and changed the world forever.
of the atom. Like the good murderous apes
we are we fashioned these monumental
discoveries into the most diabolical
weapons ever made. On August sixth and
August ninth 1945 Japan experienced the
Japan is left with this psychic and physical
scars. There is no way they couldn’t be.
Atomic power was unleashed upon them.
Nine years later director Ishiro Honda

was hired by
Toho Studios to
make a monster film.
Honda served in the
Japanese military and was
plagued by vivid nightmare of his
service. As horrible as it sounds, he was
perfect for the job. He created a giant
lizard that was created or awoken by the
use of the atomic bomb. The monster
eventually entered Tokyo Bay and over
several attacks he destroys much of the
city. Towards the end of the film a noted
scientist named Serizawa creates a
no one will
ever be able to
replicate its
destructive power.
weapon more powerful than the atomic
bomb called the oxygen destroyer.
Serizawa then sacrifices his life using the
weapon on the monster to ensure
Honda infused the film with as
much horror as he could. If you watch
the film now, some of it seems corny, sure.

But the scenes of burn victims in their
thousands, laying on stretches in make shift
hospitals, it’s chilling. You have to think to
the Japanese, just nine years ago, this was
a reality. The monster wasn’t of flesh and
blood but a plane, raining radioactive fire
down on them. Its jaw dropping on the pulse
filmmaking. Commentary of a countries pain
in the disguise of a monster movie.
the Japanese words for gorilla and whale.
Not the most pleasant of nicknames to
live with but it worked for Honda. Thus
Gojira was born. In 1954 the film was
re-cut and released in the United States,
adding American actor Raymond Burr into
the film and changing some of the scenes
that made America look more or less like
the bad guys. They westernised the name
Gojira to Godzilla.
His monster needed a name. Thankfully
that name came from the most unlikely
of sources. One of the crew on the Toho
Studios sets, was a larger man and he had
a nickname. “Gojira”, the combination of
Gojira was a massive success and from
there the whole monster genre just took
off. There was no stopping the new king of
the monsters.

Fast forward to 2019. The new Hollywood
film Godzilla King of The Monsters just hit
cinemas. The film stands as an amazing
love letter to the original Japanese source
material. More faithful than any other
western reboot or remake to date. It
captures the over the top feeling and
love of its giant monsters. Sixty-five years
later and Godzilla is still stomping all over
cinema screens. Only now he’s brought
to life with state of the art digital effects
rather than puppets, rubber suits and
model cities. So why does this lizard still
capture our imagination? I believe it all
comes down to spectacle and escapism.
Godzilla is a giant being that we helped
create and it has turned against us. He’s an
animal out of control. He’s Frankensteins
monster and Jaws all rolled into one. He’s
massive. He’s the force of a hurricane and
weapons of war. He makes us feel small.
And maybe that’s it. Sometimes it’s nice to
feel small. Godzilla stands as a reminder
of our place in the world. Nature will
always beat us. The weapons we create,
our bodies and our buildings are simply
no match. He stands as the ultimate
reminder that we will ruin this world and
it will not be so forgiving with us. It’s a
cautionary tale. Like fairy tales of old, don’t

go into the woods because the wolf will
get you. Well, keep making weapons and
destroying the earth and the big bad lizard
might come and royally ruin our day.
symbol of trying to cope with their grief to
cartoon monster smashing buildings there
will always be a place and a meaning for
this giant lizard. Long live the king!
Godzilla has endured so long now, and
he will continue to endure. He’s a staple
of pop-culture. He’s been in snicker bar
By Scott F. Sowter
Twitter: @ScottFSowter
commercials and the Simpsons. You don’t
get much bigger than that. From a nations

meet the characters
Agent H
Agent M

CHRIS HEMSWORTH AS AGENT H.
ONE OF THE MOST ADMIRED AGENTS AT THE MIB LONDON OFFICE, AGENT H
SAVED THE WORLD ONCE, FROM A EVIL ALIEN RACE CALLED “THE HIVE.” HE
WILL FIND HIMSELF AT THE CENTER OF THE INVESTIGATION INTO A MOLE AT
THE AGENCY.
TESSA THOMPSON AS THE NEWLY MINTED
AGENT M.
AFTER A CHILDHOOD ENCOUNTER WITH AN ALIEN AND SOME STRANGE MEN IN
BLACK SUITS, SHE SPENT THE NEXT 20 YEARS TRYING TO TRACK DOWN AND
JOIN THE “MIB”, THE SECRETIVE ORGANIZATION THAT POLICES ALIEN ACTIVITY
ON EARTH. SHE WILL FORM A PARTNERSHIP WITH AGENT H TO ROOT OUT THE
MOLE IN MIB LONDON.
KUMAIL NANJIANI, PLAYS PAWNY
A PINT SIZE ALIEN WITH AN OVERSIZED PERSONALITY WHO LIVES ON A CHESS
SET. WHEN THE QUEEN HE SERVES IS MURDERED, HE PLEDGES HIMSELF TO
AGENT M, MUCH TO HER CHAGRIN, AND H’S AMUSEMENT.

Agent O
EMMA THOMPSON AS AGENT O,
HEAD OF MIB NEW YORK.
HEAD OF MIB NEW YORK. IMPRESSED BY AGENT M’S
TIRELESS EFFORTS TO FIND AND JOIN MIB, SHE SENDS THE
ROOKIE AGENT ON HER FIRST MISSION TO LONDON WHERE
O HASBEGUN TO SUSPECT SOMETHING ISN’T RIGHT.
LES TWINS PLAY LETHAL ALIEN
ASSASSINS FROM THE PLANET
DRACO.
AS AGENTS OF THE HIVE THEY SEEK AN ALIEN SUPER
WEAPON THAT HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO EARTH THAT
COULD CHANGE THE BALANCE OF POWER IN THE
UNIVERSE.
RAFE SPALL PLAYS AGENT C
AGENT H’S COLLEAGUE AND ARCH RIVAL
AT LONDON BRANCH. C IS JEALOUS OF H’S SKILLS,
LOOKS, RELATIONSHIP WITH HIGH T... YOU GET
THE PICTURE. WILL THIS SEETHING RESENTMENT
TRANSLATE INTO BETRAYAL?

LIAM NEESON AS HIGH T, THE HEAD OF
THE LONDON BRANCH OF MIB.
A LEGENDARY AGENT IN HIS OWN RIGHT, AND A FATHER
FIGURE TO AGENT H. HE WAS WITH H THE NIGHT THEY SAVED
THE WORLD FROM THE HIVE. HE’S JUST DISCOVERED THAT
HE HAS A MOLE IN LONDON BRANCH. HE TASKS AGENTS
EM AND H TO HUNT DOWN THE MOLE AND SAVE THE
ORGANIZATION HE LOVES.
High T
REBECCA FERGUSON
PLAYS AGENT H’S ALIEN
EX-GIRLFRIEND
RUTHLESS ALIEN ARMS DEALER. H ONCE WENT
UNDERCOVER TO BRING HER TO JUSTICE,
BUT ENDED UP FALLING FOR HER INSTEAD.
SHE STILL HAS FEELINGS FOR H -- DECIDEDLY
NEGATIVE FEELINGS. THE PATH TO FINDING THE
MOLE RUNS THROUGH HER BEAUTIFUL, AND
DEADLY, ISLAND REDOUBT.

DOUBLE PASS GIVE AWAY
The Men in Black have always protected the Earth from the scum of the
universe. In this new adventure, they tackle their biggest, most global threat to
date: a mole in the Men in Black organisation.
Starring Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Rebecca Ferguson, Kumail Nanjiani,
Rafe Spall, Laurent Bourgeois, Larry Bourgeois with Emma Thompson and Liam
Neeson.
Directed by F. Gary Gray. In cinemas June 13.
WIN A DOUBLE PASS!
In cinemas December 13
Thanks to Sony Pictures and Gametraders you could win a double pass to see
the new Men in Black TM : International.
All you have to do is go to the Gametraders Facebook page and like the
competition post, tag who you’re going to take and comment why you want
to see Men in Black TM : International! - For a special double entry also let us
know which fun fact from our magazine you found most interesting!

©2019 CTMG. All Rights Reserved.

FUN FACTS & TRIVIA
Paul Smith plays a cameo in the
movie as the proprietor of the type
writer shop which hides the secret
entrance to MIB London.
The Art Department produced
610 technical drawings for this
MIB movie. In total, they printed
44 miles of technical drawings,
which were issued to all the
key departments.
The MIB London set was built to be
exactly the same size as the MIB
New York set in Men In Black III –
25,000 sqft.
For the scene in the Moroccan Kasbah,
where MIB agents try to corner M & H, all the
agents on the roof of the Kasbah Mosque
had to be of the Muslim faith. It was the first
time anyone had filmed a scene with people
on the top of the mosque.

H’s vintage Jag hides a multitude of alien
busting fire-arms; one in the door handle, the
front wing mirror, the rear bumper, the hubcap,
the exhaust pipe, and the rear wheel.
130 tons of red sand was
transported from the Peak
District to Leavesden Studios
to make the sand dunes of the
Merzouga Desert on E Stage.
55 white-card scale models
of the set builds were made
and used in planning camera
angles and lighting.
Les Twins, who play the alien
twins, were once backing
dancers for Beyonce.
During the flash back sequence, the
neuralyzer used on Molly’s parents was
an original prop from the first Men In Black
movies.
The original neuralyzers are
12 inches long, whereas the
2019 version is slightly smaller
at 10 inches.
The graphics team created
four different alien languages
for the signage in the MIB
London arrivals hall.

gameS
VITA’S LOST GA
A LOOK AT THE
DIGITAL FUTUR
A LOOK BACK AT ACQUIRE’S GAMES FOR
PLAYSTATION VITA

REVIEWS
MES
E

Evan Norris
REVIEW NS:
CASTLEVANIA
ANNIVERSARY
COLLECTION
While Castlevania’s future may be in doubt
there’s no denying the greatness of its
past. Enter the latest Konami 50th birthday
compilation, Castlevania Anniversary
welcome quality-of-life features, and a
digital history book that covers the origins
and early life of one of Konami’s signature
series.
Collection, which captures the slice of the
franchise before it veered toward nonlinear
action-adventure. Featuring titles
from 1986 to 1994, it’s a near exhaustive
look at the foundational action-platform
games that defined Castlevania before the
advent of PlayStation. Disregarding one
glaring omission, it’s a worthy collection,
with several good or great games, some
Altogether, the Castlevania Anniversary
Collection hosts eight games, all perfectly
ported by M2 (Sega Ages) from original
platforms like NES, Gameboy, SNES,
Famicom, and Sega Genesis. These include
the original NES trilogy, two Gameboy titles,
Super Castlevania IV, Bloodlines, and, for
the first time in North America, Kid Dracula.

Every one is available immediately from the
main menu, where scrolling text introduces
the back-story for each.
black sheep of the early franchise, can be
frustratingly cryptic, but its experiments
with RPG systems, open-world elements,
and a day-night cycle are intriguing.
Every single title in the collection is
noteworthy, if not excellent. The premier
Castlevania, despite its age, is still a
fun, atmospheric adventure through
Dracula’s castle. It’s sequel, Castlevania
II: Simon’s Quest, often considered the
The most beloved of the original trilogy
is the prequel Castlevania III: Dracula’s
Curse, which returned to the first game’s
straightforward gameplay but added
branching paths and unlockable characters,
to which players could swap mid-level.

Castlevania: Bloodlines, the youngest
game in the collection and the only
one from a non-Nintendo platform, is
remarkable also, thanks to two starting
characters, wild level design, unique
primary weapon upgrades, and secondary
movement and fighting mechanics
combine with staggering level design,
thick atmosphere, amazing graphics
(bolstered in spots by Mode 7), and some
of the best music and sound design in
video game history.
and tertiary attacks for sub-weapons.
Due to its speed and missing Castlevania
staples, it’s the most atypical of the
compilation, but it’s a welcome addition
nevertheless.
Regrettably, that other great Castlevania
game of the era, Rondo of Blood,
is conspicuously absent from the
compilation. Leaving out titles like
Symphony of the Night or the GBA/DS
The best of the bunch—and one of the
two greatest Castlevania games released
before 1997’s Symphony of the Night,
which changed the rules forever—is Super
Castlevania IV, a reimagining of the first
game in the series. Released in 1991, this
SNES title turned the series’ stiff, weighty
platforming and inflexible whip controls
adventures makes sense here, if Konami is
attempting to capture a set of games with
similar templates and mechanics—and,
honestly, the franchise is so rich it could
support two more collections on top of
this one—but there’s no excuse to leave
out the last great “classic” Castlevania
game.
upside down, granting players control
over hero Simon Belmont mid-jump
and the power to manipulate his iconic
whip in eight directions. These liberating
Aggravating the decision to exclude
Rondo is the inclusion of an inferior
Gameboy title, Castlevania: The Adventure.

While interesting from a historic
point of view—it introduced brand
new whip power-ups—it’s a slowmoving,
clunky, monotonous
game with no sub-weapons. Its
portable follow-up, Castlevania II:
Belmont’s Revenge, is surprisingly
enjoyable however. It reintroduces
sub-weapons and allows players
to choose in which order to attack
several castles, a la Mega Man.
It would be easy to call Belmont’s
Revenge the hidden gem of the
anthology if it wasn’t for Kid Dracula,
which launched in Japan in 1990 on
Famicom but never saw an official
English translation until now. A
parody of the series, it’s a bright,
unserious ride through the usually
grim, gothic world of Castlevania.
This is still an action-platformer at
heart, but in tone and structure it’s
more Kirby than Simon Belmont.

In terms of special features and
customization options, Castlevania
Anniversary Collection is solid, although
not comprehensive. Players can choose
from three different borders and six
different screen settings (e.g. pixel perfect,
scan lines, etc.), and save replays of the
most recent action. Crucially, the game
allows a single save state for each game,
which is almost mandatory for some of
the more punishing entries. Unfortunately,
multiple save states and the ability to
remap buttons are unavailable. So too are
the Japanese versions of the anthology’s
games, although Konami has promised
these in a free update sometime soon.
It’s nice to see Konami celebrate the early
history of arguably its greatest franchise.
Minus Castlevania: The Adventure, easily
the weakest entry in the compilation, the
games on display are great, good, or, in
the case of titles like Simon’s Quest, at
the very least mechanically interesting.
Moreover, every one is brought faithfully
back to life by the technical wizards at
M2, and buttressed with some modern
quality-of-life features. The absence of
Rondo of Blood hurts, and there’s an
opening for more bells and whistles,
but taken as a whole this second part of
Konami’s year-long birthday celebration is
a worthwhile trip to the past.
Finally, just like Konami’s Arcade Classics
collection, this bundle includes a “Bonus
By Evan Norris, VGChartz
Book”, with design documents, concept
art, and interviews with important figures
like composer Michiru Yamane.

BEN DYE
VITA
A LOOK AT THE

’S LOST GAMES:
DIGITAL FUTURE
Ever since the advent of
full-game downloads on
consoles, it seems the market
has slowly been shifting
towards a digital future
where games are delivered
through internet connections
rather than physical disks.
While the convenience
this brings is undeniable,
and plenty of gamers have
embraced having a stuffed
memory card in their Vita,
there are major pitfalls that
are slowly beginning to show,
one of which is that games
can be delisted without
any prior warning, leaving
them lost to time unless you
bought them before they
disappeared.
It’s these that I’m aiming
to examine in this article
- games which have been
removed from the PlayStation
Store, both those that are
digital-only (meaning they’re
gone forever) and those that
have physical releases that
you’ll need to hunt down.
Why have they been delisted
and what does this mean for
the Vita’s digital future?

Digital Delisted Games With Physical Releases
Of course, the best case scenario for the
games that will be featured in an article like
this are those that have had both physical
and digital releases, because this means
that although they’ve been removed from
digital storefronts you can still hunt down a
physical copy, so you’re not completely out
of options.
and Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth. Both of
these received physical English releases in
Asia, meaning you can still get them, but
prices are insanely high for both – Digimon
regularly fetches upwards of $90/£90 on
eBay, while Asterisk War is commanding
more like $250/£250. Others, like Dragon Ball
Z: Battle of Z, J-Stars Victory Vs+, One Piece
Pirate Warriors 3, and One Piece Unlimited
Sadly, some of these have become hugely
pricey as time has gone on, the main
offenders being anime licensed titles from
Bandai-Namco like A.W. Phoenix Festa
World Red also received physical releases in
Europe, making them slightly easier to hunt
down, but even for these titles prices are only
going to increase as time goes on.

Given the aforementioned titles’
sudden disappearance from digital
storefronts, I would also be on alert
for other anime games suddenly
disappearing from the store without
notice. Things like Digimon Story:
Cyber Sleuth – Hacker’s Memory and
Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs
Force could well be next. Again, Asian-
English physical versions are available
for both, but with cart production
ceasing this year these are only going
to get rarer and rarer.
Licensing is a common issue
among delisted titles. The Marvel
licence in particular seems to
be problematic. This means
games like The Amazing Spider-
Man and Ultimate Marvel vs.
Capcom 3 are long gone (sadly
so too is the DLC for the latter, a
problem which has also affected
LittleBigPlanet as it offered
Marvel-themed DLC), and so too
is Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel’s
Super Heroes.

Speaking of Disney, its Star Wars IP formed
part of Angry Birds Star Wars, which is
now delisted, but so too is the Angry Birds
Trilogy. This is a bit baffling since they were
both originally mobile titles.
Disney also licensed Epic Mickey 2: The
Power of Two to Sony and this can only
be played via a now-expensive physical
release.
The SpongeBob licence also seems to have
expired for publisher Activision, meaning
SpongeBob Heropants is gone and physical
copies are beginning to shoot up in price,
despite the game being a bit of a dud. Three
more games which can’t be picked up for
a reasonable amount anymore are Ben 10:
Galactic Racing, Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen,
and New Little King’s Story, the latter of which
only got a physical English release in Europe
A similar thing happened with both LEGO
Lord of the Rings and LEGO The Hobbit,
with both disappearing mostly overnight
from all digital storefronts, not just Vita.
Thankfully, pre-owned physical copies can
be found at fairly cheap prices; something
and Asia, meaning it’s pretty rare and getting
rarer by the day. WRC3 on the other hand is
delisted but easy enough to find. Whether
you should or not is another matter, given it’s
effectively obsolete with the much better WRC4
having released.
also true of Virtua Tennis 4: World Tour
(although prices are starting to creep up).
Speaking of sports titles, all three of the
four FIFA games have been delisted, with
only FIFA ’15 remaining (surely a ploy to
get you to buy the most recent version,
although it barely matters since they all
play the same). Football Manager Classic
2014 is also gone too, despite some of the
PSP Champion Manager games still being
up!
Oddly, despite being produced by mobile
gaming giant Gameloft, Asphalt Injection and
Dungeon Hunter Alliance have been delisted
on Vita. The former sort of makes sense
because it includes licensed vehicles, but the
latter is baffling considering the PS3 version is
still available. Perhaps it has something to do
with Ubisoft publishing the Vita ports, which
caused some kind of contractual issue (Ubisoft’s
licensed rhythm game Michael Jackson: The
Experience is also gone).

Digital Delisted Games Without Physical Releases
The other key class of games here is, of
course, those that only received digital
releases and had no physical counterparts,
meaning they’re lost forever if you didn’t
grab them while they were up on the
store.
any English text, making it a fairly useless
import unless you want to muddle
through. Thankfully, the developers
warned of the delisting in advance and
even sold the game for $0.99 for its final
few weeks, meaning it was easy to grab
as long as you had a PlayStation Network
The one semi-exception to this rule is
account.
Adventure Time: Secret of the Nameless
Kingdom, which oddly received a physical
release in Japan but not the west. Sadly,
this physical version does not include
Other titles weren’t so lucky. For example,
games like Sony’s music festival simulation
BigFest disappeared once its online

servers went down, even though the
game is still fully playable without them.
Duke Nukem 3D: Megaton Edition is a
title that went without much warning
too, likely due to an upcoming PS4/XB1
port, which meant that publisher Gearbox
didn’t want gamers playing the older
version (oddly it contained slightly more
content than the newer release).
Journey (I didn’t realise it myself until
randomly browsing the other day. The
loss of this one is a shame as it was highly
recommended by a user on a forum I
browse) and Superfrog HD, both of which
had no real reason for being removed
given they’re self-published indie titles.
They go to show the volatility of the
digital-only future.
One of the first games to be delisted
that really made headlines was Plants vs.
Zombies, one of the console’s western
launch titles that was a shining example
of digital distribution done right...
until it mysteriously vanished from
the store without warning (likely to do
with the licence given to Sony Online
Entertainment expiring). Another game
that received a surprising amount of
attention for its delisting was The Pinball
Arcade, which lost a large number of its
tables (offered through DLC) late last year,
effectively gutting it in terms of content.
The biggest offender in this regard is
the whole of PlayStation Mobile, though
– a now-defunct service which allowed
developers to create small games for
a nominal fee and put them up on the
cluttered PSM Store. The whole initiative
was shut down in 2015 and, worse still,
you can’t actually re-download any of
these titles anymore, meaning games
like Forevolution, Rymdkapsel, Sword
of Rapier, and Tokyo Jungle Mobile are
potentially lost forever (I have the games
on my OLED Vita, which is probably going
to die at some point, and then they’ll be
gone for good for me).
Less fanfare was made about the
disappearance of things like Jazz: Trump’s

Free-to-Play Games
The final group of games I want to
touch on here are free-to-play titles,
which rely on micro-transactions to stay
viable, meaning that once the servers go
down the games go down with them – a
terrible result for those of us who want
to preserve titles we love into the future.
but I still enjoyed my time with it and
would recommend people try it out for
something different on the handheld.
In fact, Sony-published F2P titles have a
habit of disappearing. Destiny of Spirits
went down less than a year after being
released, Ecolibrium is being shutdown
in May alongside Invokers Tournament,
The main one that stands out for me
is Invokers Tournament, Vita’s first and
only MOBA. Although it’s not gone
yet (server shutdown is the 15th of
May), there’s only a month and a half
left to play it. It’s not the best game,
and Fat Princess: Piece of Cake was
swiftly removed from the store too. I
feel like it’s only a matter of time until
Run Sackboy! Run! is gone, so if you’ve
ever been tempted to try it out the time
is now.

A few third-party developers also tried
their hands at the F2P market. One of the
strangest was Square-Enix’s effort with
Deadman’s Cross, a shooter mixed with a
card game that seemingly didn’t do very well
as it was shut down within a year. Treasures
of Montezuma Blitz seemed to last a lot
longer, but sadly even that’s gone now too (I
don’t even remember hearing about it being
Compile Heart named NepNep Connect:
Chaos Chanpuru which mixed in characters
from a variety of its Vita titles, including
Monster Monpiece, Neptunia and Trillion?
Well, it’s delisted now, alongside things like
Picotto Knights, a side-scrolling brawler
from GungHo, Tri-Ace’s cover-shooter card
game Judas Code, and both Chain Chronicle
V and Samurai & Dragons from SEGA.
removed).
Square-Enix also released a new entry in its
One of my biggest regrets with Vita gaming
was not getting a Japanese account sooner,
as there were a tonne of fun-looking F2P
titles on the Japanese store that are now
long gone. Did you know, for example,
that there was a crossover card game from
Mana series, entitled Rise of Mana, which
was supposedly pretty well received, but the
service was shut down in 2016 (apparently
Square-Enix is looking to re-tool the game
as something else, but that seems unlikely at
this point and it definitely won’t be for Vita).

Two Gundam games – Gundam Conquest
V and Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle
Fortress - were also released in the region
but went before I had chance to try them
out. The fact these titles all disappeared
so quickly means I’m probably going to
have to hurry up if I want to play things
like the Yakuza F2P spin-offs on the
Japanese store, before they’re gone for
good too.

Conclusion
As you might have gathered
from the tone of this article, I’m
a massive advocate of physical
media, because it gives me the
opportunity to preserve my games.
I’m still planning on playing my
Vita for years to come and having
this matter is to make sure that
you don’t wait too long to buy
something if you’re interested,
especially if there’s some kind of
licence involved (the recent news
about Driveclub is a fantastic
example of that).
a copy I can put in a drawer to
come back to later means I don’t
have to rush to grab things before
they’re gone. Sure, physical carts
won’t last forever either (although
they don’t suffer from disc rot,
there are other problems with flash
memory), but they at least offer a
better solution.
Thankfully, there are companies
out there like Limited Run Games
that are working hard to preserve
games (even if they’re not always
entirely succeeding, with things
like Night Trap being full of bugs
and Ys Origin launching without
the patch on the cart), so there are
more physical options than ever
The financial advantages of digital
distribution mean we’re seeing
more and more games opt for this
route. Many indie titles wouldn’t
be possible if physical production
before. Vita’s digital future has
offered many advantages, but I’m
certainly glad that carts exist and
I’ll be playing mine for years to
come.
was the only way to release, for
example. But it also means we’re
By Adam Cartwright
at risk of seeing many more games
lost to time. My only advice on

REVIEW ps4:
MORTA

L KOMBAT 11
Evan Norris

NetherRealm Studios is the best thing to
happen to Mortal Kombat since Ed Boon and
John Tobias. After successfully rebooting the
famous fighting franchise in 2011 following
publisher Midway’s bankruptcy, the studio,
headed by series co-creator Boon, turned in
arguably the best installment yet in Mortal
its immediate predecessors with an hourslong,
big-budget, cinematic campaign, which
exploits the franchise’s rich mythology. With
multiple playable characters, several stunning
set-pieces, lots of unlockables—including one
fighter, Frost—and plenty of fanboy fodder, it’s
absolutely worth playing.
Kombat X. Now, NetherRealm has produced
another great entry with Mortal Kombat 11
(MK11), a technically-superior 2D fighter rich
in content and customization options.
Picking up where Mortal Kombat X ended,
the story in MK11 follows an unlikely alliance
of Earthrealm and Outworld combatants that
forms to combat a new divine enemy, Kronika.
For a lot of fighting games, story mode is an
afterthought; for Mortal Kombat, it’s a source
of pride. MK11 continues the tradition of
Using her powers of time manipulation,
Kronika seeks to reboot the universe in order
to restore harmony between light and dark.

To this end she manipulates multiple time
streams, in the process bringing modern
versions of series’ heroes into contact
with their younger selves, and resurrecting
characters long dead. The fan service
possibilities are self-evident, and Boon
and company waste no time giving longtime
fans all the dream match-ups and
encounters they can handle.
Here players can hone their skills against AI
opponents, practice executing fatalities—
the franchise’s grisly finishing moves—or
learn the ropes in a deep, expansive tutorial.
Featuring basic, advanced, and characterspecific
lessons, it’s a terrific primer for the
complex rules and mechanics of the game.
One particular lesson, “Frame Data”, is a
brilliant breakdown of the anatomy of a
move—beginning, middle, and end. Anyone
Story mode takes up a sizable chunk of the
game, but it’s only one of many modes.
MK11 falls into four main buckets: Konquer,
confused by the invisible science of fighting
games should absolutely visit this lesson; it’s
revelatory.
Fight, Kustomize, and Learn. While “Learn”
comes last, it’s probably the best place to
start, particularly for fighting game rookies.
The heart of the game is “Fight”, where
players fight locally or online. In the online

arena, players can participate in highstakes
battles against human opponents
from around the globe, or try low-pressure
“kasual” battles. Finding a match or creating
a “kustom” lobby is quick and easy, and lag
is virtually non-existent. The programmers
at NetherRealm have worked wonders with
netcode in MK11.
Overall, the game plays tighter and slower
than Mortal Kombat X, thanks to some small
but meaningful changes. NetherRealm has
slowed walk speeds, shortened combos, and
removed run altogether to create a more
deliberate fighter focused on spacing and
punishing opponent misses. In addition, the
developer has split the Super Meter into
separate offensive and defensive meters—the
They’ve also turned in an entertaining,
tactical fighter with support for a large cast
of characters and many different play styles.
former used to enhance special moves, the
latter deployed for special wake-up attacks
or to “fall out” of an opponent’s combo.

Another new, less welcome addition is the
bone-cracking Fatal Blow, which essentially
replaces X-ray attacks from the last game.
Where X-ray moves required a full Super
Meter, the Fatal Blow works independently,
becoming available once a player’s health
is below 30%. These cinematic, gory
attacks can deal up to 35% damage to an
opponent, swinging the tide of battle in
favor of the losing player. You can only
opponents each, and a unique ending
for each character. Towers of Time is a
constantly-changing rotation of challenging
themed towers, e.g., “defeat an assortment
of foes when random Modifiers are active.”
Finally, the Krypt is a giant dungeon filled
with chests that require one of MK11’s
many currencies to open. Together, these
destinations are the best way to collect the
game’s ubiquitous, excessive loot.
use your Fatal Blow once per match, which
limits its effectiveness across a best-twoout-of-three
contest. However, if the
super-move is blocked or misses, it will
become available again a short time later,
which is overly generous. Ultimately, it’s an
emergency move that seems a little out of
place in a game that goes out of its way to
reward smart, thoughtful play.
If MK11 has a flaw, it’s that it has too
much stuff. With several currencies—
time krystals, koins, soul fragments, and
hearts—daily challenges, daily rewards,
konsumables, objective rewards, and
customization assets like skins, intros,
victories, augments, and end of round
taunts, it’s simply overwhelming. The game
allows you to create custom characters
Once you’ve figured out the basics in
“Learn” and visited pain upon human rivals
in “Fight”, you can take on AI fighters in
“Konquer”, which, in addition to story mode,
boasts Towers and the Krypt—two staples
of the series. Klassic Towers are traditional
arcade single-player modes with several
with unique outfits, moves, and gear in
“Kustomize” (player-made characters are,
wisely, ineligible for ranked matches and
tournament play), which is a wonderful gift,
but it’s an exercise in futility to keep track of
your latest unlocks or even to differentiate
the good loot from the bad.

A lot has been made of the game’s excessive
all others are earned via in-game activities.
grind—and to be fair Towers are still a stiff
challenge despite a recent patch—but it’s
not clear MK11 was designed uniquely with
micro-transactions in mind. Featuring online
connectivity requirements, daily challenges,
and rotating items in the Premium Shop, it feels
more like a game that wants to be booted up
every day, not necessarily a title that demands
additional monetary compensation. Only one
form of currency, Time Krystals, is available for
purchase in the PlayStation Store, for example;
Now, if you desire a particularly rare or specific
piece of gear, and can’t win it in the Towers
of Time or find it at random in the Krypt, you
might need to spend real-world money in the
Shop—assuming that item is in daily rotation.
With 1,500 unlockable skins, 75 unlockable
intros, and 2,250 gear pieces, however, you
might just throw your hands up and focus on
fighting. If you’re a cosmetic completionist, well,
Elder Gods help you.

MK11 sports a solid roster of 25 base
characters—one of which is unlocked in
story mode, one purchasable in the game’s
virtual store—although there is a shortage
of new faces. The game includes only three
new combatants (not including a nonplayable
boss), where Mortal Kombat X
introduced eight. Stages, however, are a
different story. There are 21 in total, each
boasting detailed, dynamic backgrounds
and plenty of interactive pieces. Kharon’s
Ship, an ancient galley on a sea of blood,
is especially memorable. So too is Kotal’s
Colisseum, with its circling charioteers and
NetherRealm has done it again. Mortal
Kombat 11 is an outstanding fighting game
with new, more deliberate mechanics,
a spectacular story mode, and loads of
online and offline content. Technically
and graphically, it’s a huge success, and
content-wise it will keep you covered for
weeks and months to come. Its relatively
small roster of new fighters is disappointing
and its ubiquitous, often incomprehensible
loot (and corresponding grind) a source
of frustration, but its exceptional fighting
fundamentals and substantial modes shine
through.
monstrous beasts.
Its large list of pros and small list of cons
By Evan Norris
notwithstanding, MK11 is the prettiest game
in the franchise. With smooth graphics,
real-time damage, detailed and expressive
models, 60 FPS, and the aforementioned
dynamic stages, it looks noticeably better
than Mortal Kombat X—which looked pretty
darn good only four years ago. Music is
similarly a highlight. “Kronika’s Hourglass”,
a mix of hip hop beats and Middle Eastern
trills, is one of the more exceptional tracks.

FOR
ADAM CARTWRIGHT
A LOOK BACK AT

ACQUIRE’S GAMES
PLAYSTATION VITA
This is the second entry in a
series of articles I’m writing that
look at the output of a number
of Vita-supporting developers
from launch through to the
present day. I’ll be examining
their history in the games
industry, the games they
released on Vita, how those titles
performed, what games they
could have released but didn’t,
and finally I’ll provide an overall
conclusion on their Vita support.
Just like Artdink, Acquire is a
quirky Japanese developer with
a history of experimentation
and big ideas, but has
unfortunately been at the mercy
of low budgets throughout
the years, leaving gamers with
some fantastic titles that suffer
from a large amount of jank.
Acquire worked on Vita from its
launch in Japan through to early
2017, injecting a nice level of
variety to the console’s library
despite some of the technical
shortcomings of its titles,
making the company a prime
candidate for examination here.

History – Big Ideas, Small Budgets
Acquire’s entry into the gaming world was
through the sandbox stealth-action title
Tenchu: Stealth Assassins on PS1, which
became a shining example of what would
be its trademark style going forward. It
featured a traditional Japanese setting
steeped in mythology and focused on
open-ended gameplay allowing you to
take down targets however you saw fit. It
was successful enough to spawn a number
of sequels, including the moderately wellreceived
Tenchu: Shadow Assassins, which
as of the time of writing is the last entry in
the franchise we’ve seen.
Despite its history with Tenchu, Acquire
effectively ditched the franchise to work on
a rival ninja series known as Shinobido in
2005, which saw entries land on both PS2
and PSP. The games felt like a continuation
of the original Tenchu ideas (which at
the time was being handled by other
developers, most notably K2 of Valhalla
Knights fame), although critical reception
to the Shinobido titles wasn’t particularly
positive, with critics often noting their
poor animations and stiff movement
mechanics.
Another relatively famous franchise
created by Acquire was Way of the
Samurai, an open-world samurai
simulation that contained a number of

similarities to Tenchu, including a historical
setting and very open-ended gameplay
(although it focused much more on the
sandbox elements). Again, reviews were
middling, with critics tending to praise
its ambition but chide its execution. Still,
it spawned a number of sequels on PS2,
PS3 and PC (as well as remakes of the
first two games on PSP, which can be
played on Vita if you have a Japanese PSN
account), although WoTS seems dormant
at present (publisher Spike-Chunsoft
somewhat replaced it in 2015 with the
Ukiyo duology). Another series created
by Acquire which landed on PSP was No
Heroes Allowed, designed in conjunction
with Sony’s Japan Studio (showing what a
positive relationship Acquire had with Sony
during the 2000s). No Heroes Allowed was
designed as a reverse dungeon crawler
– your goal is to protect the demon lord
Badman from invading treasure hunters
by digging out an elaborate underground
labyrinth and populating it with monsters.
It proved popular enough to birth a
number of sequels and even a VR remake
in 2017.
Elsewhere, plenty of Acquire’s titles
were seen as so niche that they only
released in Japan – things like Akiba’s
Trip demonstrated yet again a focus on
open-ended gameplay, recreating Tokyo’s
Akihabara district and mixing it with
brawler mechanics in which the player
must strip vampires to expose them
to sunlight, while Dekavoice was a PS2
adventure featuring gorgeous cel-shaded
graphics built around using a headset to
issue commands to supporting characters.

Vita – A Continuation of Acquire’s Successes
Given its storied history with development
on Sony hardware, it was unsurprising to
see Acquire commit to the Vita early on,
although a lot of what the firm released
was a continuation of series and ideas
that we’d seen before.
The best example of this is the launch
title Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen,
a direct sequel to the events of the
previous two entries in the franchise. It
still contained the same sandbox stealthaction
gameplay Acquire had become
well known for, bringing back things
like the grapple hook and wing suit for
movement, but also provided little tweaks
to the formula to take advantage of the
hardware’s inputs. I personally loved it,
although in general reviews were pretty
down on the game due to its short length
and sometimes obtuse explanations of
mechanics.
Acquire also expanded on the ideas
that were debuted on PSP with Akiba’s

Trip in its sequel Akiba’s Trip: Undead &
Undressed, which landed on the handheld
in 2013 and came west a year later thanks
to XSEED Games. Like Shinobido, it
contained the same base gameplay seen
in its predecessor (an open-world brawler
about stripping vampires) but expanded on
it massively alongside a new story and set
of characters.
different gameplay, taking the form of an
action-RPG not dissimilar to the Tales of
series. It marked yet another gameplay
experiment for the company that didn’t
work for the majority of players (it was
criticized for being bland and rather
pointless), although there was definitely
still fun to be had with it.
It received a middling critical reception
overseas, with reviewers tending to criticise
its technical shortcomings but praising its
originality.
Oddly, for the next entry in the Akiba’s
franchise Acquire steered things in a
completely different direction. Akiba’s
Beat was set in the same location as Trip
(Akihabara) but featured completely
The company also worked on two entries
in the Wizardry series named Wizardry:
Labyrinth of Lost Souls and Wizardry:
Town of Imprisoned Spirits that were
ported across from PS3 to Vita in Japan in
2016 (although sadly the pair never came
west, despite the former having already
been translated into English), as well as
a PlayStation Mobile-exclusive entry in
the No More Heroes franchise called No
Heroes Allowed: No Puzzles Either!.

New Experiments, Same Old Acquire
Of course, Acquire didn’t just rest on its laurels
when it came to Vita development and continued
to explore new ideas on the new hardware, which
(as ever) met with a somewhat mixed reception.
gameplay base. Both were part of the early push
for digital-only releases on Sony’s handheld with
lower-than-average price tags, better reflecting
the level of development Acquire worked at
(although this perhaps wasn’t reflected in the
The first of these came very early in the console’s
review scores they received).
life – Sumioni: Demon Arts is a 2D platformer
with a striking sumi-e artstyle (similar to that
seen in Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines) that uses
the touch screen to paint bridges which are used
to progress through levels. Released in the west
again by publisher XSEED, it was followed later in
2012 by another experiment called Orgarhythm
that mixes god game elements with a rhythm
They also tried something new with Aegis of
Earth: Protonovus Assault, an extremely unique
tower defence game that landed on Vita in 2016
in the west. In it, you control a city that is being
attacked by giant creatures and must construct
defences then literally rotate the urban area to
defend from the oncoming waves, making for a

wholly unique experience that perhaps wasn’t for
everyone, but was certainly memorable for those
who played it.
Conclusion
Acquire is one of those developers that people
will either love of hate – the developer’s output
Unfortunately, Aegis of Earth and Akiba’s Beat
were the last games Acquire developed for
Vita, but in terms of missed opportunities there
were very few games that could have come to
the handheld but didn’t. That’s because in 2011
Acquire was purchased by GungHo, the company
behind the hugely successful Puzzles and Dragons
mobile title. This meant a shift in focus for the
is certainly ambitious, but often held back by a
lack of polish and high level of jank due to the
miniscule budgets involved. This has led to some
mildly popular franchises over the years – things
like Tenchu and Way of the Samurai managed
to find sales success in both Japan and overseas
despite their shortcomings, but in recent years the
company has moved on to a range of new ideas.
developer which then went on to work on a
number of phone games such as Divine Gate
and Road to Dragon. Such titles just wouldn’t
have made a lot of sense on Vita with their F2P
monetization systems.
It would have been nice to have seen the third and
fourth Way of the Samurai titles make their way
across to Vita, as their predecessors had done on
PSP (they would have filled a great gap in terms
of sandbox-style open-worlds on the handheld),
but I suspect that the company’s purchase by
GungHo put a stop to any plans like this. Acquire
also worked on Rain, an atmospheric adventure
On Vita, Acquire continued to work to its “big
ideas, small budgets” mantra, with games like
Akiba’s Beat and Shinobido 2 being filled with
good ideas, but somewhat lacking in terms
of execution. They’re nonetheless surprisingly
enjoyable games if you’re willing to give them
a chance. Others like Orgarhythm and Sumioni
offer some nice variety to the Vita’s library and
embraced new delivery methods. Acquire may
have now moved on to bigger things (recently
working on Octopath Traveller for Switch), but its
Vita support is something I’ll always appreciate.
published by Sony itself, but this only landed on
PS3, which seemed like a bizarre decision given its
By Adam Cartwright
October 2013 release date.

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