A PopCap representative recently confirmed to Joystiq that Peggle is launching on the iPhone in early March which makes one wonder how many gadgets/consoles will we see this game on? Not that it’s a bad game by any means. Even though the theme behind the game was stolen from The Price is Right’s “Plinko”, Peggle creators Popcap still were smart enough to find a way to get Plinko into our homes and hearts and I’ll be buying this game to kill time during my long daily Metro trips.

PopCap was kind enough to bring Bejeweled 2 to your PS3 via PSN download. The game and demo were released today along with word of other PopCap including Peggle and Zuma which will be released later this year. Bejeweled is $9.99, includes trophy support and is available right now so at least check out the demo.

There was a time when SNK arcade systems were the best. Only elite pizza parlors had the four-button machines which sported some of the best graphics in arcade games at the time. SNK Arcade Classics Volume 1 was released last year for the PSP, PS2 and Wii. It features 16 of the classic games including Art of Fighting, Baseball Stars 2, Burning Fight, Fatal Fury, King of Fighters ‘94, King of the Monsters, Last Resort, Magician Lord, Metal Slug, Neo Turf Masters, Samuari Showdown, Sengoku, Shock Troopers, Super Sidekicks 3, Top Hunter and World Heroes. With this many great games released in Volume 1, I wonder what SNK has left for volume 2.

If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch and love Pole Position then Prepare to qualify because Pole Position: Remix is now available on your overpriced Apple device’s AppStore for $10. The features include tilt steering, themed levels and a new track. I’m going to read up on the reviews before I purchase this one but hopefully Namco put time into this game unlike the version of Ms. Pacman I have on my cell phone.

More @ Namco Games.

Street Fighter IV has been out in Japanese arcades for almost a month now and is headed to the PS3, 360 and PC within the next few months. Street Fighter II is arguably the best fighting game of all time so the fact that Street Fighter IV will be similar in certain ways is very exciting. The fighters and backgrounds are rendered in 3D, while the gameplay is on a traditional 2D plane creating a 2.5D effect. In addition, car-smashing bonus rounds may be back in the console versions of the game.

There is currently a poll on streetfighter.com asking users which collectible they’d like to be given away with the collector’s edition of the game.

Returning Characters:

• Ryu
• Ken
• Chun-Li
• Guile
• E. Honda
• Blanka
• Dhalsim
• Zangief
• Balrog
• Vega
• Sagat
• M. Bison

New Characters:

• Abel
• Crimson Viper
• El Fuerte
• Rufus
• Seth

Home Version:

• Dn Hibiki
• Fei-Long

History:

Originally, Qix was released in the arcades in 1981 by Taito. It was ported to a number of systems before it was ported to the Game Boy including Atari 5200, Commodore 64, DOS, Amiga and Apple IIGS. It was developed and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy in 1990.

Gameplay:

In Qix, the player must fence off the playfield piece by piece until 75% of the playfield is fenced off. The player does so by controlling a character that draws lines around the playfield border, and then connects the line back to the border again. Once that is done, the player has won that piece of the board and can travel on it as they try to take more pieces. The player must avoid the Sparx while claiming areas. If the player comes in contact with a Sparx, which travels around the borders, a life is lost. In addition, a Qix travels in the open space inside the border that the player has created. If the player comes in contact with a Qix while trying to complete a block of the playfield off, a life is lost. In the later levels, the game becomes more challenging including multiple Sparx and faster Qix.

Review:

The graphics in the Game Boy version of Qix are very weak but that’s not where the game shines. The game is all about gameplay and lasting appeal. In my opinion, the gameplay is almost as addictive as Tetris. The Game Boy version of Qix features Mario in some cutscenes where he’s in the desert.

Platform: Gamecube

Developer: Amusement Vision
Publisher: Sega
NA Release date: Nov. 18, 2001
Genre: Party
Media: 1 optical game disc 

History:

Before it was released on Gamecube, Super Monkey Ball was playable as an upright arcade cabinet arcade game in Japan. When The Gamecube was launched in 2001, Super Monkey Ball was one of the twelve launch titles. Dole bananas advertise in the game and have their logos on the bananas as well as hot air balloons in a mini-game. The game was developed by Amusement Vision and Published by Sega after Sega shifted focus from making consoles and software to strictly making software for all consoles.

Gameplay:

In Super Monkey Ball it’s up to the player to guide a monkey enclosed in a ball across a series of platforms to make it through a goal within a certain amount of time. The player controls the platform and can tilt it 360 degrees to steer the monkey into the desired direction. The player also controls the camera angle, making it easier to view the monkey character. Along the paths to the goal, the monkey collects bananas that give the player points as well as extra lives which occur when 100 bananas are collected.

The player can choose between four monkeys to help guide them across the levels. Each monkey character, AiAi, MeeMee, Baby and Gon Gon, have certain strengths and weaknesses making them more or less valuable in certain levels. There are three party mini-games included in Super Monkey Ball. Monkey Race, Monkey Fight and Monkey Target. In addition to the party games there are three single player mini-games, Monkey Billards, Monkey Bowling and Monkey Golf.

Review:

The gameplay in Super Monkey Ball is exciting due to the fact that the player controls the platforms, not really the monkeys. The graphics are bright, crisp and colorful. The controls feel good and work well. The rotating camera works well because the player controls the action. The music in the game is catchy. After the game is beat for the first time the game does lose its feel a little and isn’t quite as exciting but they can always come back and play the various mini-games.

Worlds:

• Grassland/Jungle
• Valley/Sky
• City/Mall
• Underwater
• Desert
• Arctic/Ice
• Tempest Storm
• Night Sky
• Space
• Temple
• Clouds
• Gamecube

Unlimited Continues:

First unlock the three mini games. Every 2,500 play points afterwards gets an extra continue. Once you have nine continues, get 2,500 more points to get unlimited continues.

History:

Originally, Final Fight was designed to be the sequel of the original Street Fighter but was later spun off to be its own game in the arcades. The working title for the game was Street Fighter ‘89 but was later changed to Final Fight. When Final Fight hit the arcades it had great success spawning many versions of the game. The Super Nintendo version of the game was released in November 1991 in North America. Because of the limitations and censorship of games on the SNES, Capcom had to change a few things including leaving out a level and leaving out the character Guy. In addition, Capcom made the game single player only and gave the thugs less provocative outfits.

Story:

In Final Fight, Mayor Mike Haggar’s daughter Jessica, has been abducted by the Mad Gear gang to help the gang dominate the street and show their power. The Mayor then calls Jessica’s boyfriend Cody so they can hit the streets and get Jessica back. The player can chose between Cody and Haggar to work their way across a number of levels as they beat up the Mad Gear gang on their way to rescue Jessica. Each character has their strength and weaknesses. Cody is quick but not very powerful and Haggar is slow but large and powerful. In the game’s introduction, there is a famous cutscene that tells the story very well. The game takes place “Sometime in the 1990s…” according to the SNES version.

Gameplay:

The character you play as has an energy meter that goes down as you get hit by the thugs. The characters have a special move that can be done to do more damage to the thugs. It is best to do the character’s special move when there are many thugs around, however doing so will slightly decrease that characters energy. Characters can regain energy from picking up items that they find by breaking boxes and carts during gameplay. Weapons such as daggers and swords that the enemies drop can be picked up and used for a limited time. There are bonus stages where the character gets to destroy a car and another one where they destroy barrels. The bonus levels are found in between stages and give the player more points.

Review:

I played the game a ton in the arcades so when Final Fight came out for Super Nintendo I was very excited to buy it. I was not disappointed one bit with this game despite Capcom leaving out a few things. The graphics are very crisp, detailed and colorful for a SNES game of that time. The control is accurate and fast on Super Nintendo. The difficulty level is perfect, starting off easy early on in the game and getting much more difficult as the game progresses. The music is very simple and works great. There are even a few times on the SNES version that speech is heard which takes up much valuable ROM space. OK, there’s one thing I wish the SNES version had. I always loved that in the arcade version the characters could hang on the handles in the subway and fight people while hanging off them. I also missed Guy a little but still, Final Fight on SNES is one of my favorite games and one of the best side-scrolling fighters on the Super Nintendo.

The Heroes:

Cody

• Birthdate: 4/18/1967
• Profession: Martial arts expert
• Advantage: Balanced power and speed
• Special move: Hurricane Kick
• Favorite weapon: Knife

Haggar

• Birthdate: 9/3/1943
• Profession: Mayor of Metro City
• Advantage: Great power
• Special move: Spinning Clothesline
• Favorite weapon: Lead pipe

The Phone Call:

Mike Haggar: Hello, Mike Haggar here.

Mystery Caller: Hee hee hee, Mr. Haggar. So pleased to make your acquantance. I believe you know who I am. Don’t hang up! We have a little business proposition for you… Your daughter for your cooperation. And we’ll throw in the regular monthly bonus to your salary we offered before.

Mike Haggar: What?! What’s happened to Jessica? Who is this?!

Mystery Caller: Not so fast, Mike. Turn on your TV.

Mike Haggar: You fiend! What have you done to her?

Mystery Caller: Nothing yet…but we will if you don’t cooperate Listen to reason. Why make your job difficult? Just let us do as we please like the mayor before you did.