Sonic Shuffle

In Sonic Shuffle, the player can select one of the main characters of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. The game supports 1 player in Story Mode and up to 4 players simultaneously in Versus Mode and the Sonic Room. The four players can play in teams and play against one another on a giant game board, going around and playing mini games to collect Emblems. Whoever has the most emblems at the end of each board wins. The overall goal of each board is to collect the most Precioustones, out of a total of 7. There are 5 boards in total: Emerald Coast, Fire Bird, Nature Zone, Riot Train, and Fourth Dimension Space.
The game also features 8 playable characters (four of which need to be unlocked), each with their own unique abilities. The available characters are Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Knuckles. The unlockable characters are Super Sonic, Big the Cat, Gamma, and Chao.
The game features around 50 mini games and around 30 mini events. Mini games ranged in variety and challenge and they were divided by Teams of 2, Teams of 3 versus a Single Player and a Free-For-All. The mini events generally involved a little story, or event, and usually a choice given at the end to determine your prize or punishment. As well as having a single-player Story Mode and a two- to four-player Versus Mode, the game had a “Sonic Room” where you could play your favorite mini-games, after unlocking them, with your friends without starting a full game in a place called the "Toy Box", as well as a stereo to play your favorite soundtracks. Both of these must be unlocked by buying Photos from the Photo Album.
The game play involves playing randomly given cards. The deck of cards has four of every card numbering 1-6 and four wild cards. Three of the wild cards have an “S” and the remaining card is the “EGGMAN” card. Playing the cards would dictate the distance your player would move on the board. The S cards could be played as a 7 if you had decent timing as the card changed from 1 to S. The "EGGMAN" card was bad fortune for one or all of the characters and would generally cause trouble for the players in myriad ways. A full game could take anywhere from 20 minutes to two and a half hours, depending on how many Precioustones you decided to be available to you at the beginning.

Sonic Battle

About 4000 years ago, a sentient weapon called the Gizoid was created by an ancient civilization. After being lost for millennia, the Gizoid was unearthed and researched by Prof. Gerald Robotnik. It remained dormant for another half century before being discovered by, of all people, resident would-be ruler of the world and Gerald's grandson, Dr. Eggman. Frustrated at his inability to get the dormant Gizoid to work properly, Eggman dumped the contraption at Emerald Beach... where it was discovered once again, this time by legendary hero Sonic the Hedgehog. The Gizoid, which Sonic names Emerl, gets wrapped up in the affairs of Sonic's friends, allies and rivals. Through his encounters with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, Rouge, and Shadow, Emerl grows and evolves from a soulless robot into a fun-loving mech with lots of personality. But while the gang is having fun raising their new mechanical friend, there are those who recognize Emerl's true power. Now that the Gizoid is working again, Eggman's got his eye on it, Rouge wants to turn it into a master thief, and Shadow senses that, despite their efforts to humanize him, Emerl is still designed and programmed to be a weapon of mass destruction (and he also believes the same for himself). This is proven in the last fight, where Emerl fights Eggman and reveals his dark side. He is about to destroy the world when Sonic comes and destroys it. Emerl tells everyone that he was thankful for meeting them, and how such good friends they were. Emerl mechanically combusts, and leaves an Emerald Shard behind as his remains.

Ape Escape

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Apescape tells the story of a monkey by the name of Specter that comes into ownership of a Peak Point Helmet (Pipo Helmet), which greatly increased his intelligence but also gave him evil intentions. He obtains helmets for the less intelligent monkeys (not identical to his own) to assist him in his plan for world domination by travelling through time, and it's up to a young boy named Spike, with the aid of the Professor - the original inventor of the Peak Point Helmet - and his granddaughter, Natalie, to chase them through time and capture them all. He must also rescue his friend, Jake, who has been brainwashed into being Specter's slave. Spike travels through various places in time (presses red button and levitates), from the Dinosaur Ages to the Age of the Celestial Empire, in order to catch Specter's legion of apes. He also runs into the hypnotised Jake during his adventures, and must defeat him in bonus levels that involve racing to complete an obstacle course. {C}{C
Spike soon comes to the Present Day, where Specter and his monkey army have retreated due to their failed attempts to rewrite history. After defeating him at his factory, where he is trying to create more Peak Point Helmets, and the TV Tower, Specter creates a malevolent theme park, where he challenges Spike to find his imprisoned friends, the Professor and Natalie. Spike finds his old friend, brain-washed, blue-haired Jake, along the way, and defeats him in a final battle, then races to a large castle, which takes off into space. In a final effort, he traverses through the castle and Spike finds Specter, who before the fight, tries to persuade Spike into being his slave, now that Jake has been returned to normal. He shoots a blue ray at him, delivering the boy pain, and tells him that if he doesn't surrender, "the pain that you're feeling will only get worse". However, Spike disobliges, and destroys the barrier surrounding him, making Specter flip out of his chair. Spike then tells Specter that "power alone isn't the true strength", as he tries to regain himself, meaning that it takes more than power to win the fight. Specter, however, is furious with Spike, and then hops into a large robot to destroy him. (The robot would later be known as the Goliath Armor.) Spike destroys the robot, but Specter escapes. The castle floats back down to Earth, where Spike is reunited with his friends.
But the battle is not over yet. Specter is found again, hiding in a mysterious dimension called the Peak Point Matrix. After rounding up all the remaining monkeys, Spike travels there and engages Specter in a one-on-one final showdown. Spike finishes the battle by catching the villain in the Time Net and removing the Peak Point Helmet, ending his evil crusade.

Blitz Sonic

Blitz Sonic is, as the summary of the project says, and attempt to create a Sonic the Hedgehog fangame that recovers the feel & gameplay of the first instances of the franchise. All over the years, the franchise has been evolving into something far away from it's roots. On the transition between the side-scrolling 2D to 3D, a lot of the values of the previous games were lost.
Sonic stopped empathizing on exploration and gimmick interactivity. SEGA decided to emphatize only on speed and linearity. The player eventually kept losing control over the character in favor of automated paths, and loosy gameplay (pit falls of death ahoy).

Shadow The Hedgehog

Shadow the Hedgehog is a 2005 video game developed by Sega Studio USA, the former United States division of Sega's Sonic Team. Featuring the titular fictional character Shadow the Hedgehog from Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series, the game was revealed at the March 2005 Walk of Game inauguration of Sonic, the series' main character. Shadow the Hedgehog is the third game developed by Sega Studio USA.
Following the trend of recent Sonic games such as Sonic Adventure and Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog is a 3D platform game. Most levels have three possible missions – "Hero," "Dark," or "Normal" – that the player may choose to complete; some levels have only "Hero" and "Dark" missions. The missions completed determine the game's plot and subsequently playable levels, a feature referenced by the game's tagline, "Hero or villain? You decide." The plot centers on the attempt of Shadow, a creation of Doctor Eggman's grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik, to learn about his past after suffering from amnesia. To defeat enemies, Shadow can use various weapons and special attacks.
Shadow the Hedgehog was created for the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox video game consoles, and it was released in 2005 in North America on November 15, Europe on November 18, and Japan on December 15. Upon release, the game received mixed to negative critical reviews; critics criticized its "dark" theme, especially the addition of guns and other weapons to traditional Sonic gameplay, but praised its replay value.

Ape Escape 3

Ape Escape 3 is a platforming video game published and developed by Sony for the PlayStation 2 video game console and also partially based on the Gex series. It was first released in Japan on July 14, 2005, and was later released in North America on January 17, 2006, in Europe in May 5, 2006, and in Australia on May 18, 2006. It was re-released in Japan under the PlayStation 2 on November 2, 2005.

It begins when Specter, the Pipo Monkey'sLeader, finds a pipo helmet, and hires the human scientist Dr. Tomoki to aid him in his evil plans. They establish TV stations protected by the Freaky Monkey Five where they plan to broadcast TV shows worldwide. The television shows that are broadcast on every television put every human except the twins, Kei and Yumi (called Satoru and Sayaka respectively in the Japanese/European versions), their aunt Aki, and Natalie into a mindless trance. When Natalie informs Kei and Yumi that Spike, Jimmy and the Professor were all infected by the television show, Kei and Yumi go out to catch the monkeys and thwart Specter and Tomoki.
Their mission was to go to every movie set and capture all the monkeys there and destroy the satellite there. Kei and Yumi easily capture Monkey White, Monkey Blue, and Monkey Yellow. When they reach the TV Station where Monkey Pink is, Kei and Yumi's attempts to capture her fail and she escapes. They manage to capture Monkey Red afterwards.
When they reach Tomoki City, Tomoki challenges them to a battle in his giant robot. Tomoki, after being defeated by Satoru and Sayaka, and being humiliated by Specter, he lets them take his rocket to space to defeat his former partner. Once they reach Specter's Space Station, they capture all the monkeys and deactivate the movie sets on their way to Specter. When they reach Specter, he tells them his plan about how he'll use his space station to cut the earth in half and keep half of it for the monkeys. Afterwards he gets in his new Goliath Mech and tries to activate his plan. He is defeated and the two escape from the satellite, leaving Tomoki to give his life to deactivate the Double Paradise Plan. Strangely, he survives with no explanation. After Specter is defeated, Monkey Pink releases him and the rest of the Freaky Monkey Five, leaving them to be caught again in extremely similar missions. To complete the game one hundred percent, all the four hundred forty-two monkeys have to be caught, all the time trials have to be completed with a gold time, and all the items, CDs, Video Tapes (except 28), Car Skins, Genie Dance tracks, books, etc. have to be bought. The game holds a total of four hundred thirty-four monkeys if the secret code monkeys are not caught.

Sonic Shuffle

The story involves Sonic and company getting caught up in a mess in a world land called Maginary World, which they inadvertently stumble upon one day. A villain named Void has shattered the Master Precioustone into many pieces, resulting in chaos in every part of the world. Lumina Flowlight and the rest of Maginary World are counting on Sonic to restore it and bring Illumina back, who mysteriously disappeared after the disappearance of the Precioustone. At the end of the game it is revealed that Lumina and Void both are Illumina, and that Illumina doubted herself. Sonic and friends leave Maginaryworld knowing that it is safe.

In Sonic Shuffle, the player can select one of the main characters of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. The game supports 1 player in Story Mode and up to 4 players simultaneously in Versus Mode and the Sonic Room. Further to the simultaneous play, the game allows for players to play in teams and play against one another on a giant game board, going around and playing mini games to collect Emblems. Whoever has the most emblems at the end of each board wins. The overall goal of each board is to collect the most precioustones, out of a total of 7. There are 5 boards in total: Emerald Coast, Fire Bird, Nature Zone, Riot Train, and Fourth Dimension Space.

The game also featured 8 playable characters, each with their own unique abilities, and 4 of which needed to be unlocked. The available characters were: Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Super Sonic, Big the Cat, Gamma, and Chao.

The game featured around 50 mini games and around 30 mini events. Mini games ranged in variety and challenge and they were divided by Teams of 2, Teams of 3 versus a Single Player and a Free-For-All. The mini events generally involved a little story, or event, and usually a choice given at the end to determine your prize or punishment. As well as having a single-player Story Mode and a two- to four-player Versus Mode, the game had a �Sonic Room� where you could play your favorite mini-games, after unlocking them, with your friends without starting a full game in a place called the "Toy Box", as well as a stereo to play your favorte soundtracks. Both of these must be unlocked by buying Photos from the Photo Album.

Sonic and the Secret Rings

Along with icons like Mario or, if you're a TurboGrafx-16 fan, Bonk, Sonic the Hedgehog is remembered even today as one of the greatest 2D platformer franchises of all time. However, the transition to the third dimension has not been kind to SEGA's mascot extraordinaire. The speedy blue one jumped into 3D almost a decade ago on Dreamcast with sloppy level design and an even clunkier camera system and, despite several sequels and spin-offs, the Sonic games have not changed since. Dazzled by 3D so many years ago, critics and gamers were more forgiving of these issues - hell, we even went easy on the GameCube iterations, which had their share of problems. But in today's market of polished 3D experiences, there is just no excuse for anything that falls short. Case in point, recently released Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 hedgehog games boasted next-generation graphics, but were regardless ruined by the same design and technical shortcomings that have cemented Sonic firmly in mediocrity for years - and they received incredibly low ratings to prove it. Now, the hedgehog has made his way to Nintendo's new Wii console in Sonic and the Secret Rings. There is thankfully some good news to report. The fresh play, which capitalizes on the fundamentals of the Wii remote, is sometimes a success, which makes this the very best 3D Sonic ever created, in our opinion. But with that noted, the mascot still has a very long way to go before he can once again take his place next to competitors like Mario.
Developed by Sonic Team, Secret Rings thrusts players into a new storyline that revolves around the pages of the classic Arabian Nights book. The pages from the story are being erased by a villain known as Erazor Djinn and Sonic must literally travel into the book in order restore the tale. The theme, which seems inspired by everything from Sinbad and Aladdin to The Neverending Story, marks a fresh departure from the franchise norm. Although classic allies like Knuckles and enemies like Eggman are still featured in the storyline, they are at least initially playing the parts of different characters. The title features an impressive opening cinematic, which comes to life through CG animation. Unfortunately, the story sequences that follow are all designed to look like pages out of a book, which is far less aesthetically appealing. Still, Sonic fans looking for a tale will find one in Secret Rings that is deeper than average, and to be fair the mission-based cinematics, while not grandiose, are plentiful.

Smugglers Run warzones

With the advent of next-generation consoles, developers are able to continue to push the technical barriers forward. There's this industry mantra that goes: graphics don't matter. As noble of a philosophy as that is, we all know it's not true. In the broader sense, more advanced visuals mean you're able to do more in the gaming world, because everything you see is a part of the interactive experience.

With this in mind, California-based developer Angel Studios set out to develop a landscape engine that could draw huge, wide-open environments on the fly. The company began its work on the PlayStation 2 several years ago with the creation of the off-road driving franchise Smuggler's Run, and has since upgraded the technology for the sequel Smuggler's Run 2: Hostile Territory, also on PS2. Now, Rockstar, most famous for publishing Grand Theft Auto III, is bringing the improved semi-sequel Smuggler's Run: Warzones to GameCube. Featuring a new vehicle, more countermeasures, four-player support with all-new modes, and optimized visuals, this is undoubtedly the best in the series yet. Equally notable is that Warzones is the only of its kind on GameCube, delivering a mission-based off-road driving experience, complete with support for some frantic multiplayer. In short, it's worth a look by most every GameCube owner, and certainly by those who have never experienced the series.

Tekken 6

Fighting game fans have had quite a few things to be happy about this year. Street Fighter IV, Soulcalibur IV and BlazBlue all found their way to consoles these past several months and each game was very well received. If those fantastic fighters weren't enough for you -- or they just didn't float your boat -- a little game called Tekken 6 might be what you were waiting for. Following in a long line of arcade fighters, Tekken 6 continues the one-on-one, 3D tradition with the franchise's biggest roster yet, and some nice gameplay refinements.

Tournament-level players won't have much to learn, mechanics wise, from this article besides the fact that this is a great game and it works well on consoles. For Tekken newcomers, however, I'll tell you that Tekken 6 -- like its predecessors -- combines a pick-up-and-play mentality with the potential for seriously in-depth strategies and mind games. While Tekken is not for everybody, Tekken 6 should appeal to a fairly wide variety of fighting game fans.

Although the Campaign Scenario story mode might seem like the primary mode in Tekken 6, it's no more than a simple distraction from the real fighting at hand. What's most important here is the offline modes and online multiplayer, which all use the standard Tekken fighting engine in one way or another.

If you're planning on playing Tekken 6 on your own, you'll be able to enjoy the Arcade, Ghost Battles, Time Trial, Survival and Practice modes. The only things here that might be unfamiliar to fighting game fans are the Ghost Battles. This mode is actually one of my favorite elements in the single-player equation, as you're pitted against a steady stream of new AI opponents, or ghosts, that possess different ranks. At the end of the battle, you can use the D-pad to select your next opponent out of a list of three, or you can opt to end the Ghost Battle session. This mode is made even more palatable thanks to the monetary reward you receive after every victory.

Jak 3

Jak 3 is set after Jak II, in which Jak and Daxter saved the city from the Metal Heads, and defeated the tyrannical Baron Praxis. Haven City was thought to be in paradise and utopia under the rule of Ashelin Praxis, but this was soon to turn out wrong. Sono a war in Haven City between 3 factions - the Freedom League, the Metal Heads, and the KG Death Bots (although the Metal Heads and the KG join forces later on in the game) - breaks out, causing chaos.
Jak 3 begins with Jak being banished from Haven City by Count Veger for his supposed crimes towards Haven City, that caused the war. Ashelin gives Jak a beacon before she leaves with Veger and the guards. Pecker and Daxter stay behind with Jak as he is left to die in the Wasteland. As they trail along the painful deserts, they all pass out from the heat and lack of water. They are found by a group of Wastelanders due to the beacon, and they are taken to the city of Spargus. Jak and Daxter then meet Damas, king of Spargus, who has an important missions for Jak; if Jak completes these missions, Damas will allow Jak to stay in Spargus.

Jak 2

Jak II is the second installment in the Playstation exclusive Jak and Daxter series. Released on the Playstation computer entertainment system October 14, 2003 Jak II is the sequel to Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy and is followed by it's sequel Jak 3 a year later. The techincial timeline for the series means that Daxter is technically the prequel to this game. This story introduces a major use of the Zoomer, instead of using it to cross various areas.