Vita Wednesday: Third-Party Launch Titles

Welcome the second and final Vita Wednesday.  Last week, we took a look at Sony's three biggest offerings for their new handheld.  This week we are taking a look at the three biggest offerings from the third party publishers like Ubisoft, Capcom and EA.  If you look at the majority of the games launching with the Vita from third-party publishers land in one of two categories.  They are either a port of a recently released console game or a portable entry of an existing franchise that does not do much to make itself stand out from other entries in the series much like Dynasty Warriors Next and Touch My Katamari.  While I personally wanted to stay away from highlighting one of these two categories in this Vita Wednesday post, I will have to due to the lack of anything relatively new released at launch for the Vita.

Just as Street Fighter launched with the Nintendo 3DS, another Capcom fighter launches with the PlayStation Vita.  This time around Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 gets the portable treatment.  As the definitive version of Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 includes 12 new characters, new modes, new stages, re-balanced gameplay and a more robust online mode.  Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 for the Vita has all the modes and features that the console game has with one new mode exclusive to the Vita.  This mode is Touch Mode.  In Touch Mode, you control your fighter through tapping and swiping the touch screen.  If you are looking for a great fighting game for your Vita, no doubt Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is your game.

From the ever-creative mind of Michel Ancel, Rayman Origins landed on consoles with not much of a splash.  Released in the middle of the insane holiday season, this great platformer was fed to the dogs as juggernauts like Modern Warfare 3, Skyrim and Assassin's Creed dominated the last quarter of 2011.  Sad considering Rayman Origins is in my opinion much better game than those just listed.  If you missed out on Rayman Origins back during the holidays, Ubisoft has brought the lovably limbless hero to the launch of the PS Vita.  This Vita version of Rayman Origins has all the features of its big console brother with a few additions exclusive to Sony's next generation handheld.  Rayman Origins for the Vita has a Ghost Mode, which uses the Vita's Near functionality to receive ghost data from friends and race them in game.  Also Rayman Origins for the Vita features touch controls for the game.  With Rayman Origins coming to a handheld near you, it would be foolish to miss out on this excellent platformer yet again.

At the launch of the PSP, there was one game that caught the eyes and ears of all who played it.  It proved to many the potential of the PSP and quickly became it's killer app.  This game was called Lumines, a puzzle game similar to Tetris that perfectly blended music and rhythm with addictive block-dropping action.  Seven years later, Lumines graces the launch of the Sony's newest handheld with Lumines: Electronic Symphony.  Playing with the title, Electronic Symphony features a soundtrack filled with great electronic music.  Electronic Symphony is more focused on straight arcade puzzle action as you vie for the high score and then upload to online leaderboards.  New to Lumines, Electronic Symphony includes avatars that can gain experience, level up and has abilities that can be used to improve your score.   If you are looking to play with others, Electronic Symphony has online multiplayer.  Like every Vita game, Electronic Symphony has touch controls that can be used instead of the d-pad and face buttons.  For all the puzzle game fans out there, Lumines: Electronic Symphony is a game you should not miss if you pick up a Vita.