Episode 87
Timecode: 6:54: The trailer for Eureka Seven: TR1 New Wave (PS 2, 2006), a genre-blending game based on the unusual anime series. The trailer advertises three styles of play: “RPG”, which, judging from the trailer, is just running around and interacting with characters; X-Sports, racing on characters' hoverboards and also in their giant robots; and “Variable Action”, which includes third-person shooting on foot, or in vehicles/giant mecha. The game featured new characters in an original storyline with original animation, along with expressive in-game cutscenes that are more than acceptable for PS 2 quality. Despite this, the game was not successful, in North America, at least. Wikipedia claims 
were two more New Wave games released, but only lists Vol. 1 and 2; only the first saw release over here.
9:33: The CG intro sequence of Blood Omen: Legacy Of Kain (PS 1), the tale of a then-virtuous vampire in a medieval world called Nosgoth. The CG has not aged very well, and animations look goofy, but it clearly tells the story of an evil vampire named Vorador preying on members of the Circle of Nine. You can tell he's an evil vampire because he looks like a man/bat hybrid. He sucks the blood out of people from afar, which is pretty cool.
16:58: They're baaack! The creators of Bikini Karate Babes (PC) strike back with Warriors of Elysia (PC). Judging from the live-action intro, it would appear to be BKB with a medieval theme! It even uses some of the same models as BKB. No weird, inconsistent censorship is required for this trailer.
Episode 88
6:33: The All*Star Fighting Festival (PS 2), a cel-shaded, Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny fighting game featuring some of the weird characters from D3's budget games. The mind boggles! As the intro demonstrates, this one must have had a higher budget than most of their games. They spent whatever money earned from their dozens of budget games into a pleasantly animated intro that appears to be motion captured. Stars include the Giant Beauty, girls from The Onechambara, the pumpkin-wearing freaky kid from The Splatter Action, and the guy from Earth Defense Force. The game was actually released in Europe.
Episode 89
General: The intro and some gameplay from Get Backers (PS 2) by Konami, based on the manga/anime of the same name. Judging from the artwork, it appears to be based more on the former. I only have a couple volumes of the anime, but I loved it.
14:44: The intro of DJ Max Emotional Sense Portable 2 (PSP), a Korean rhythm game. The song used in the intro is absolutely gorgeous.
Episode 90
General: Could it be? It is! A 2D fighting game based on the classic postapocalyptic Shōnen anime, Fist Of The North Star (PS 2), which was one of my favorite early anime from the days of Streamline Pictures. I always admired how realistic the art style was compared to other anime/manga, even then. The cliffhanger ending of the original anime movie was great, too, because, or in spite of, how it left one character's fate completely up in the air.
Oh yeah, the game. The introduction of the battles is similar to Guilty Gear and Blaz Blue (justifiably so, since the game was made by the same developers, Arc System Works), where the announcer says something pretty weird before the battle begins:
- ”THE TIME OF RETRIBUTION – ROUND (NUMBER)/FINAL ROUND – DECIDE THE DESTINY”
Characters featured include: Kenshiro, the Fist of the North Star; Shin, Kenshiro's bitter rival with an unrequited love for Kenshiro's true love, Julia, who is also the Fist of the South Star; Toki, Raoh's brother; Jagi, a bad guy who narrowly survived an attack from Kenshiro that kills most of his opponents by activating certain pressure points – his head is barely kept together by his distinctive helmet; Mr. Heart, the Gonkish Fat Bastard; Rei; Juda, Rei's nemesis who tormented Mamiya, a female fighter; and Souther, a sadist who tries to rule over the wasteland without even a hint of stability, making him even worse than Raoh, the Big Bad.
Needless to say, the game looks a fair sight better than the Famicom '''FotNS''' beat-'em-up, which was considered a major case of The Problem with Licensed Games.
Timecode: 3:33: A very dark interlude from Twisted Metal: Black (2001, PS 2) featuring the character codenamed Dollface. She was an assistant to a cruel man named Dr. Kriel, who locked her face away behind a mask after she accidentally spilled coffee onto his papers. What's sad is how she feels he was justified:
- Dollface: I should've done what I was told. I should've been more careful! I shouldn't have defied Mr. Kriel. That's why he did this to me. I've been alone for so long...
She was sent to an asylum after Kriel disfigured her. Then, Calypso, a man no less evil, but in a different way, came to offer her an invitation to the Twisted Metal tournament. If she won, one of her wishes would be granted.
After years of Sequelitis, the original creators of TW came together to make TW: B. And The Fandom Rejoiced. The game was fun, albeit Nintendo Hard (no different from TW and '''TW2''', really), and it was subtitled Black and had the Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black" play over the credits for a reason. The cast of characters were all disturbed and disturbing. The continuity that Black inhabited had no kindnesses to offer.
17:16: The trailer for the Japanese Legend of the River King (2007, Nintendo DS) game, from the creators of Harvest Moon. As such, the characters are all incredibly adorable and super-deformed.
I remember when Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the River King game for the Game Boy the “award” for being a sleep aid.
18:38: A trailer for Kabu Trader Shun (2007, Nintendo DS), about trading in the Japanese stock market. Of course they didn't make the game without some flair; the character designs are anime-styled. This game attempted to do for stocks what Ace Attorney did for lawyers, only less successfully.
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