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Collar x Malice, Final Fight CD and more!

6/8/2017

We're over five years-old already! The Pixel Empire has just passed 375 reviews (400+ if you include all of our interviews and features). We continue to try to strike a balance between modern and retro coverage on the site, and with that in mind...

On the way very soon we've a review of Aksys' and Idea Factory's last visual novel for the Vita in Collar x Malice, and a look back at the definitive console port of Capcom's iconic roaming beat 'em up Final Fight CD, for the SEGA Mega-CD.

Recent review pages have undergone a slight update to accommodate changes to the editing platform, and to further improve the look of the pages. Only a small change really, but we hope you like it.

- Tom

Christmas Pixels

7/12/2015

Phew, it's December already, and another year is almost at an end. We're looking forward to an exciting 2016 that's rich with gaming possibilities, but as this is The Pixel Empire's fourth (!) Christmas already, we've got a bunch of reviews on the way before the year is out.

Tom has already got the ball rolling with a look back at karting favourite Mario Kart: Double Dash for the GameCube. Elsewhere, he has plans to review the GC's Resident Evil remake, and if he's feeling especially brave, a Christmas-specific game too! As ever, Shane offers up our most contemporary coverage with a look at two of 2015's biggest releases: Final Fantasy Type-0 HD (PS4) and Rockband 4 (XONE).

Al's been bitten by the writing bug too; handheld fans should look out for his piece on Heroes of Loot very soon. For retro aficionados, he's also been spending some time with Brutal Sports Football for the Amiga, no less.

We hope you all have a great holiday season, and look forward to covering much more in 2016!

- Tom

August & September on The Pixel Empire

5/8/2015

After all the portable fun of late, we're shifting our attentions back to home consoles (mainly) for the next couple of months, with a wide range of games and formats awaiting our readers. Tom is feeling especially nostalgic as he plans to revisit SEGA's classic beat 'em up lineage, Streets of Rage.

In September, our four writer's celebrate 20 years of the PlayStation's release in Europe with our first Pixel Timeout piece for a good while. We're really looking forward to sharing our memories with you!

...And as if that wasn't enough, we've our usual staple of cracking reviews to get stuck into. How about a modern classic in the form of The Witcher 3? Also on the cards are reviews of Charlie Murder, Saints Row IV, Zombie Army Trilogy and (fingers-crossed), our latest Pixel Q&A - more details to follow.

May coverage and TPE's 3rd Anniversary

3/5/2015

May 19th is our third anniversary! Where did all the time go? To celebrate, we'll be doing what we do best - covering a wide range of games! Tom has got the ball rolling with a second op for Need For Speed: Most Wanted, and there'll be more to look forward to the early part of the month.

We've also reviews of Navy Seals from Alan and Mortal Kombat X from Shane ensuring we bookend our gaming coverage with a period of at least 24 years. Assassin's Creed III receives a thorough playtest from Tom, and he's going all out to have Illbleed on the Dreamcast bested in time for a review too.

March at the Movies!

2/3/2015

We've another running theme for March - games based on films, or film universes. Oft-maligned in recent years for rush-jobs and wide-spread mediocrity, film tie-ins haven't always been this way...

For instance, Batman has enjoyed countless memorable outings, from a gaggle of different developers, in a host of different genres. SEGA and Disney's combinations on the Illusion games and Quackshot were pure magic, and you've all heard of GoldenEye 007, right?

This month, we're reviewing games based on Hook, Alien, Frozen, The Lord of the Rings, The Thing and more besides. We'll also have (fingers-crossed) at least one Pixel Q&A for you to peruse. All you have to do is bring the popcorn!

Christmas Crackers

16/12/2014

Christmas may be just around the corner, but we're not swanning off on our holidays just yet. Oh no, on the contrary, we're hard at work at Pixel HQ, planning to bring you a spate of really cool reviews and features over the holiday period. We're really excited about what we've got lined up!

Shane's review of PS2 classic Ico has just gone live - we felt the system deserved some love after playing host to rather a lot of dodgy budget game coverage in 2014. We've got a great mix on the horizon as well: how about a retro-themed shooter in the guise of Luftrausers (VITA) courtesy of Alan? We've got something more cerebral from Chris with Edge (WIIU), whilst Tom will be covering Medal of Honor: Warfighter (PS3)... We've also got a Syphon Filter 3 double, comprising of a review AND a Pixel Q&A!

No Limits November (and December)!

6/11/2014

After scaring ourselves half to death in the name of Halloween Horrors, November and December will be a more laid-back month for The Pixel Empire. To round out the year, we wanted the opportunity to review what we've been playing, with genre, era or format ties.

And already this seems like a good plan: LEGO Batman 2, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, Edge, Pushing and Risen 2 are among the reviews we'll have coming up over the next few days and weeks. We'll also be aiming to catch up on some request reviews, second opinions (Remember Me, among others) and tidy up some loose ends from earlier in the year. It'll be worth sticking around for, and as ever, we hope you enjoy what we've got in store.

October Cars, Combat and Creepiness

5/10/2014

Cars, Combat and Creepiness you ask? This October sees The Pixel Empire dedicating the first part of the month to those wonderful games that mix driving and combat, before moving on to our annual Halloween celebration - all a thinly veiled excuse to play some scary games of course!

On the way this month we've got reviews of Road Rash SMD, Fire and Forget 2 GX4K, Super Cars 2 AMI and Twisted Metal Black PS2. Plenty of burnouts, thrills, spills and racing thrills to look forward to then, and we don't pull our punches! As per our yearly ritual, we've got a great mix of scary Halloween games covered too, take a look at this eclectic mix:

ZombiU WIIU
Outlast PS4
Amnesia PC
Lone Survivor: Director's Cut VITA

So lots to keep you warm (or give you a chill) during October. Stay tuned!

Stealth September

5/9/2014

Shhh! Be very quiet, and maybe we'll tell you what Stealth September is going to look like on The Pixel Empire. Over the next few weeks, we'll be donning our camo, fitting our silencers and sneaking our way through a host of stealth games.

We couldn't cover stealth without delving into Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear legacy, and our team have pooled resources in order to cover some of the stand-out moments in Konami's great series. Chris takes a look at where it all began with Metal Gear NES, Tom reviews the series' first foray into 3D with Metal Gear Solid PS, whilst Shane chooses one from the many grandstanding moments that the PSone classic had up its sleeve, in our latest Landmark Levels feature.

Metal Gear not your bag? Fear not, we've also got reviews of Hitman Absolution and Dishonored X360, as well as innovative indie Stealth Inc. A Clone In The Dark VITA. That's us about done. Right, back to our cardboard box!

Japanese July (and August)

6/7/2014

This summer we're celebrating all-things (and by things, I mean games) Japanese. We've already written about the delights of the portable iteration of Blazblue: Calamity Trigger and trawled memory lane with a recollection of Corneria from Star Fox, but there's plenty more in store...

And this means Bishi Bashi Special, Point Blank, Dead or Alive 3 and possible-saviour of the JRPG Ni No Kuni all going under the TPE review-hammer over the following days and weeks. Not bad for starters, I'm sure you'll agree. There's plenty more where that came from though, so be sure to stay tuned!