For this edition of The Gaming Report (and hopefully future ones as well), the one and only Ren has taken up the reigns to bring you news on what the TNL staff has been playing in the days before E3. It took a lot of interrogation and whippings (which most of us didn't mind... at all.), but she finally got some of us to confess our sins to her. - Reno

Wow, have we ever been busy lately. ...With video games, that is. But how can anyone be expected to resist, especially when tons of new hit titles such as Def Jam Vendetta, Ikaruga, and the new X-men 2 game have recently made their way to retail shelves? As if that isn't enough, E3 is just around the corner. You can expect our editors to have a lot to say once that blissful week of gaming goodness is over. But for now, let's see what the TNL staff has been busying themselves with during the past two weeks.

Reno - Multiple Titles

Wolverine's Revenge (PS2)

Well, I rented this game for the week to check it out since online impressions seemed to give the game fairly positive reviews. While the graphics are nothing to write home about, the gameplay is pretty solid for a 3rd person beat-em-up, and the extras are awesome. Mark Hamill does a great job in his role as Wolverine, and Patrick Stewart is as no-brainer as you can get for Professor X. The extra costumes and challenges were pretty cool, and the boss fights against Magneto and Juggernaut were well done. For a licensed game, it ain't bad. Then again, it ain't that great either.

Def Jam Vendetta (GameCube)

Having just finished my Def Jam Vendetta strategy guide for IGN, I put a ton of playtime into this game to find all of the combos (which aren't really combos to begin with) and to come up with some basic tutorials for the game. While it uses the Aki wrestling engine, it's obvious that it hasn't progressed at all. In fact, I'm starting to enjoy Yukes' engine far more than this. Sure, the Aki wrestlers have better pacing, but at least Yukes is striving to improve their games every year which is something I can't say for Aki. Hopefully the next Def Jam Vendetta game is vastly improved over this one, and they actually add back some of the moves that they mysteriously took out.

Soul Calibur 2 (GameCube)

Yes! The old mainstay returns to me! I've been putting a lot more time into Soul Calibur 2 now that I've finished my Def Jam Vendetta guide, seeing as the latter has really screwed up my performance in the former. Learning new characters has always been fun in any game, and in SC2 it's no different. I've picked up Kilik, Mitsurugi, Xianghua and Ivy all this week, leaving behind my primary characters in Taki, Astaroth and Cassandra. With my main characters I was all about fast-paced offense, but with characters like Kilik who need to stay back and play a more defensive game, it's making me a better player overall now that I can play both styles.

Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo (GBA)

Damn you Capcom! Damn you for making such a wonderful puzzle game with so many damn bugs it's unbelievable. I had unlocked everything in SPF2T two weeks ago when I played the game on the way to school and work, only to discover that the game had wiped itself 4 days later. Needless to say, I was pissed. But I still kept playing. I'm nearly done unlocking everything for the second time, and I hope that this doesn't happen again. If it does... I'll probably just keep on playing. Damn you Capcom, look at what you've done to me.

Hero - Multiple Titles

Burnout 2 - GameCube

The best arcade-style racer since R4 is back, this time on the GC and XBox. So I ran over to Blockbuster and picked up the GC rev, and all I can say is...it's just like it was on PS2. Not that that is a BAD thing; great graphics, addicting gameplay, and a 'twitch' factor that many racing games are sorely missing. Plus I heard that the GC/XB Burnout 2 comes with extras tracks and such. Haven't seen those yet.

Zone of Enders: The 2nd Runner - PS2

I don't know about this; the fighting is the same as the first, albeit a bit faster; the voice acting is laughably bad; and the first Z.o.E didn't win me over. Which is what 2nd Runner is; more of the same. Oh, and it takes not even 10 hours to finish - lengthy cutscenes and all.

Ren - Multiple Titles

Ikaruga (Gamecube)

Oh my God. This is quite possibly the most addictive game I have ever played in my life. It even challenges Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo on the addictiveness scale. All I can say is that I don't really care about the story or characters, but the gameplay is incredibly fun. The concept is so simple, yet also complex at the same time. So far I've made it to the 4th chapter, and things just start getting crazy there. Oh, but that doesn't mean I'll stop playing. I'll keep going until I somehow beat this ridiculously hard (and really fun) title.

Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo (GBA)

Here's another addictive game. I obsessively played the old PSX version ever since it came out years ago, so you can imagine my joy when I discovered that it was being released for the Game Boy Advance. It looks very good considering it's on the GBA, and it plays fairly well, too. My only complaints are the slowdown during big combos and the not-so-great sound quality. I've also had several problems with bugs in the game. I, too, had all of my data erased at one point. Yikes. Aside from that, SPF2T is loads of fun and will probably always be my favorite puzzle game.

Sqoon - Multiple Titles

Legend of Zelda - The Wind Waker (Gamecube)

I've only played Wind Waker for about 5 minutes the entire week, since I'm at that awful part of the game where the momentum of the story completely caves in and you're schooning around looking for pieces of the Triforce. I liked it better when exploring the world was more of an extracurricular activity; now that I'm forced to do it, it just feels like work, work, work, work.

Yoshi - Lunar Legend (GBA)

Lunar the Silver Star has been my favorite RPG since its release on the Sega CD in the mid-1990s. Its magical combination of a unique combat system, fantastic music, and an engrossing story justified my $300 Sega CD purchase. Its sequel, Snatcher, Sonic CD, Dark Wizard, Shining Force CD, Wonder Dog, and Final Fight were just icing. Now, nearly a decade later, Lunar has gone portable. Keeping the min-Lunar mindset, I greatly enjoyed this remake. The graphics have gotten better, and being able to switch from the GBA SP to the GB Player made Lunar Legend one of the best RPG experiences I have had in years. The legend lives on... and without a lousy Working Designs translation.

· · ·TNL Staff