Strider, EDF 2025, Three Classics Hit PlayStation Consoles This Week

It's another busy week on the PlayStation Network for new games, featuring a red scarf-wearing ninja, some giant insects, a massive fantasy and even a few PSone/PS2 classics for gamers to sink their teeth into.

This week's big story is Strider, launching Tuesday on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. According to Sony Social Medial Specialist Ryan Clements, this reboot of the beloved action/platforming series has been a long time coming and, early on, it's looking like it might have actually been worth the wait.

“The world has fallen under the tyrannical rule of Grand Master Meio,” Clements begins the weekly new games announcement. “As people suffocate in his steely grip, Special A-Class Strider Hiryu is sent into the wintry winds of Kazakh City to assassinate the director.”

Well, the setup certainly sounds like what you would expect out of a classic action game. With any luck, the gameplay will prove to be just as old-school-perfect, allowing players to leap, climb and flip around the screen with grace as they dispatch one enemy soldier after another. I'm hoping this new version of Strider reaches the same heights as the Bionic Commando: Rearmed, a game that proved a little bit of a graphical overhaul, a few new twists and plenty of polish could allow a classic game to shine even in modern times.

If you'd rather be shooting giant insects in a B movie-style action game, then perhaps you'd like to give Earth Defense Force 2025 a look-see, launching this week for the PlayStation 3 in both physical and digital formats. This third-person shooter might strike series newcomers as a bit odd. The graphics aren't amazing, the gameplay isn't particularly refined and the dialogue is atrocious. That's all part of the charm for EDF, though, a series that many hail for being so bad it's downright good.

Forest Legends: The Call of Love brings its unique blend of puzzles and adventure to the PS3 this week while Gunslugs slithers onto the Vita with a heaping helping of run-and-gun action wrapped in classic aesthetics.

Rayman Legends finally completes the PlayStation trifecta this week, launching on the PS4, while three new classics are also added to the PlayStation Store. Mr. Driller visits from the PSone era to hook gamers with its crazy, drill-infused puzzles while Neo Contra lets players experience the series' PS2 offering in all of its over-the-top, bullet-flinging glory. Finally, classic platforming fans have a heck of a lot to be excited this week, as the pink-haired caveman makes his triumphant return as a PSone Import in Tomba! 2.

Forest Legends and Strider will each have a demo this week while those who yearn for epic questing on the PS4 will be happy to know that the Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn beta is finally ready to go live. No need to sign up or wait for an invite, as anyone with a PS4 can jump in on this beta once the client goes live Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 18.