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Rabbids Go HD: the ultimate app for rabbid Rabbids fans

Not so much an game this one, but Ubisoft’s Rabbids have invaded just about everywhere else, so why not Digitally Downloaded? Rabbids Go HD is a cute little app for fans of the bunny lunacy.

Review: Pure Chess (PS3)

Hang on! A chess game doesn't need nice presentation to be any good. After all, it's all about the AI, right? Well, no. Pure Chess proves that a bit of effort with presentation goes a long way, even for something as “stuffy” as chess.

The Xbox Live update wears a Fez

Getting a lot of positive word of mouth this week is the 2D/3D platformer Fez. If you don't like that, there's always The Splatters.

Metal Gear Solid, FEAR and Halo devs team up for AAA-standard iOS Kickstarter project

The iOS platforms have a few games that are both exclusive and AAA-quality - think Infinity Blade or Call of Cthulhu: Wasted Land. A new Kickstarter has launched for a game that promises to blow them all out of the water.

Like Square Enix music? Go stream it now. 24/7

I'm not going to write much about this, because the following link is completely, 100 per cent awesome and speaks for itself:

Skyrim gets Kinected

Get ready to shout at your Xbox with the new Kinect-enabled title update for Skyrim.

It's a teensy weensy Nintendo Download

Blink and you'll miss the downloadable offerings for Nintendo's console family this week. There's a total of three pieces of new content up, one of which is a video.

Max Payne Mobile released

Your iDevice is about to slow down, and that's a good thing- bullet time arrives on iOS.

The PSN update... gone sour

A game about the Sour Patch Kids (yes, the candy), Pinball Arcade, and the Skullgirls headline this week's update for Sony's download service.

Review: Warriors Orochi 3 (PS3)

Fanservice. I don't think anyone gets it quite like Tecmo Koei. Warriors Orochi 3 is possibly the finest example of fan service ever.

New MGS PSV screens sneak out

The PS Vita edition of Konami's Metal Gear Solid HD Collection continues to shape up nicely in this fresh batch of screens.

It's a zombie outbreak in your backyard

As long as you have your neighborhood mapped by Google's invasive excellent maps service, you too can bring the zompocalypse home with Zombie Outbreak Simulator on iOS.

Konami cleans up its Puddle

Puddle, the physics flavored puzzler for the Xbox and PS3 has been updated with a few fixes and improvements to make the title flow a little better through the online pipes.

Review: Sonic CD (iPhone)

Most everyone has played one of the original Sonic the Hedgehog games. Ever since Sega went third party, the Mega Drive games have been released on every system known to man. What people did miss was bizarrely from the very same era - Sonic CD. It’s especially unfortunate, because Sonic CD is just as good as the Mega Drive games – perhaps even better.

All the standard makings of Sonic’s platforming games are here. You’ve probably already sped through loop-de-loops, nabbed a large haul of rings, explored special stages, and battled Robotnik in the past.

If you haven’t, things basically boil down to running through timed 2D stages at high speeds whilst occasionally jumping to make your way to the goal. Several nuances are littered throughout each level, such as robotic foes, pitfalls, spikes, and power-ups. Grabbing rings makes Sonic invulnerable to attacks, but getting hit just once will cause him to lose every ring in his collection. Clear two levels and a boss level and you can head to the game’s next zone, featuring a new theme.

However, Sonic CD makes all of these elements more intense and expands on the basic gameplay of the main series titles to form a more appealing package.

For starters, Sonic CD introduces a time travelling system. If you pass by a “past” sign at high velocity, you’ll be sent back to an alternate version of the level. Destroy all of Robotnik’s generators and you’ll change the outcome of the future in that area. This system helps ups the level of urgency in each stage. While potentially confusing to newcomers, you’re still able to bypass the system altogether and still achieve the true ending if you elect to instead play the special stages.

Special stages revolve around destroying a predetermined number of UFO. That’s easier said than done though, as Sonic moves forward on his own whilst in a 3D environment and you only have control over his direction. On top of that, you’ve got a time limit and running through water will rapidly drain your precious time. If you can actually manage to beat some of the tough later levels and collect all six of the time stones, you’ll be eligible to see the game’s true ending (which, by the way, is another beautiful cutscene).

Another noteworthy departure is how totally disorienting the gameplay can be at times. There are certain moments where, if you’re not paying much attention, you’ll get fly all over the place whilst retreading ground you’ve already traversed in an endless nosebleed-inducing loop. Some of the levels may confuse you even if you’re fully alert. You may consider this a nuisance, but it’s accompanied by such a strange sensation that it’s hard to refer to it as a flaw.

The presence of time attack, a save feature, and a handful of extras help solidify the game’s quality. There’s no need to cuss about losing your last life against the final foe or play through the entire game just to see that one cool level. The iPhone port even throws in the ability to play as Sonic’s friend Tails once you’ve competed the game.

You’re probably starting to get worried that, since this is such a good game, surely the process of porting it to a button-free handheld must have tarnished it. Believe it or not, though, I can play Sonic CD just as well as I could with traditional controls. Despite the qualms you may have about a virtual D-pad, the manoeuvring here is top notch even in the busiest of segments. Not a single death occurred due to sloppy controls; I would have died in the exact same spots with a trusty DualShock 3. At the risk of exaggeration, it almost feels as if this game was designed in 1993 knowing that it would one day be ported to the iPhone. 

Visually, the game holds up even better than Sonic’s Mega Drive outings. While it still largely resembles said titles, you’ll appreciate the added detail and graphical trickery. In particular, the fluidly animated opening and ending cutscenes have never looked better.

Like with the graphics, the sound here is far superior thanks to the game being released on disk technology during the cartridge era. There’s been a lot of debate over whether the Japanese or American soundtrack was superior, but you’ll be ecstatic to know that both are on offer here in all their brilliance. To further distinguish CD from the numbered titles, Sonic’s attack sounds differ in a pleasant-yet-familiar way.

Sonic CD is one of those few cases where I can recommend buying both the smartphone version and the console version. It’s not due to superior console visuals or exclusive features in each, but simply because this game is too good to leave at home. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more replayable pocket platformer, even at higher price points.

-Clark A

Our Scoring Policy

Review: Confrontation (PC)

Tabletop strategy games being transformed into the virtual world have had a checkered history. When done well, these are fun and fantastic games - Shadows of the Horned Rat for Warhammer and Baldur’s Gate for Dungeons & Dragons springs to mind, but they are vanishingly rare whilst less faithful adaptations (most recent Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer games) do little more than tarnish reputations.

Have faith, folks, Sony can turn it around

Sony has posted some disastrous financial results recently, with a loss nearly double what it had expected, but it sees light at the end of the tunnel.

Mass Effect 3 Resurgence ready for action

Remember that free Mass Effect 3 content pack we told you about last week? You might want to log onto your online gaming service of choice right about now.

Warhammer Online PvP goes into open beta

Arena style, one-on-one combat set in the Warhammer universe is now open to all.

Review: Combat Mission Touch (iPad 2+ only)

Before I begin, I’d like to clarify my skill when it comes to strategy games. I’m the person who in Chess, thinks it’s a good idea to take the opponent’s king with an army of pawns. So when it came to Combat Mission: Touch, I was way out of my depth. The Combat Mission series focuses around serious, simulated tactical battles. Touch is a smaller version of the Combat Mission series that you would find on PC.

Review: Space Ark (PC)

The 80's. The golden age of the arcade games, where youths wasted many hours and quarters playing the latest releases such as Arkanoid, Pac-Man and Space Invaders. It's from this age that Strawdog Studios has found the inspiration for its newest title Space Ark, where you play as a team of animals called the Arkonauts, who've set out to repair the worlds of the solar system that were ravaged by a black hole. While it comes off rather well, it's not exactly a must-have.

Review: Penguin Patrol (DSiWare)

Penguin Patrol is one of those iOS games. It’s $0.99 and it’s completely throwaway entertainment. The DSiWare version doesn’t magically make it essential gaming, but it’s a quality port, and worth picking out if you haven’t got an iPhone or iPad for the cheaper version.

Mass Effect 3 resurges with Resurgence

Just about ready for release across the PSN, Origin, and Xbox Live; the new Resurgence pack for ME3 is bringing some new multiplayer goodies to the fight for the galaxy.

Please participate in the first Digitally Downloaded reader survey

Digitally Downloaded has grown nicely in the past year-and-a-bit that we've been in operation, and it's all thanks to all our amazing readers that we keep coming back for more. So now we're asking for your help to shape your experience with the site even more.

Review: Anomaly Warzone Earth (Xbox 360)

Anomaly Warzone Earth is a real anomaly to me. There’s been considerable hype behind the game as one that twists the formula of the tower defence genre and therefore is original an interesting.

Review: Pirates Assault (DSiWare)

After reading Zane’s delightfully critical review of Defenders of Ardania, I’ve come to a conclusion about the guy: he has lived a very sheltered life. In giving a game like that a 1-star rating he has clearly not seen the true horrors of the games industry.

Review: Defenders of Ardania (PC)

Tower defence is a genre that needs to be put away. It’s one of those genres that will probably go the way of the flight sim in the 2000’s – over done to the point where the only ones left talking about it in the future are those who still possess a USB joystick that isn’t collecting dust in linen closets in the houses of gamers everywhere.

Play Dungeons & Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online anywhere, anytime with Cloud versions coming

People with low powered computers, or cheap laptops on the go will soon be able to join in the MMO party, with two of the more impressive World of Warcraft rivals soon to begin streaming through the cloud.

The PSN update was worth waiting for

Lots of great content rolled out this week across the Playstation Network. Among the highlights- Wheels of Destruction, I Am Alive, and free Shank 2, NFS 2 Unleashed, and Silent Hill for Plus subby's

Diabolical! It's the Xbox Live update!

Diabolical Pitch, the latest Kinect-ed Arcade release, drops this week alongside a pretty nice selection of sale and Arcade titles.