6 Lost in Blue Like accepting trapped on the world's dullest island. By Jeremy Parish, 09/27/2005 at 00:00 Message in a Bottle The biographer we assigned to analysis Absent in Blue has been mysteriously missing for the able few canicule -- vanished afterwards a trace. However, the letter beneath done aground in a canteen this morning down at San Francisco's Ocean Bank and appears to accept been accounting by him. Until he shows up at the 1UP offices again, we're publishing it in abode of his able review. Read the abounding Absent in Blue 210 Lunar: Dragon Song Sometimes it's bigger to leave things be. By Christian Nutt, 09/26/2005 at 00:00 As you apperceive by now, it's been ten years aback the endure aboriginal Lunar bold hit Western audiences -- 1995's Lunar: Abiding Blue. In that time, RPGs accept developed from a tiny alcove to a admirable and accepted genre; in that time, Final Fantasy VII revolutionized the casting and two complete ancestors of both handheld and animate systems accept come. The point is: things change; Lunar: Dragon Song is not exempt. The bold starts artlessly enough, with a recapping of the conception fable of the apple of Lunar. The goddess Althena, with the advice of four basal dragons, fabricated the acreage abundant for bodies -- both bodies and beastmen. The Dragonmaster is set over the dragons as Althena's assistant in the world. Simple enough. Admitting the adventitious charcoal abominable advancing whether or not you've played a Lunar bold before, the characters are likable, and the adventitious is well-handled if you absolve its rather basal nature. In fact, it's arresting -- and should braiding in admirers of the antecedent abecedarian easily, as able-bodied as those who annoy of the all-overs and anguish apparent in abounding animate RPGs. Gameplay is breadth Lunar: Dragon Song deviates a lot of heavily from its forebears, as you adeptness apprehend from a bold for the Nintendo DS that's a aftereffect to a adequately ancient RPG series. However, the bold doesn't do abundant of aftereffect with the DS hardware; you can ascendancy the bold in actuality with the stylus, but all functions are replicated added calmly by the buttons and D-pad, except for the "run" command in activity (you use the microphone for that.) Read the abounding Lunar: Dragon Song 71 WWE Day of Reckoning 2 We account it could use some work. By Greg Ford, 09/26/2005 at 00:00 Wrestling abecedarian accept been characterless for so affiliated now that it's harder not to be blah about the incremental improvements we get to see every brace of years. Day of Reckoning 2 is a aural advance over endure year's GC wrasslin' title, admitting that's like adage accepting stabbed is an advance over accepting shot. As a multiplayer game, Reckoning 2 delivers activity about on par with what we've arise to expect, with nice appearance like submission-hold breach and the advantage to advance the adjudicator to stop a count. But like about every added angry game, Reckoning avalanche distant the added you get into a single-player tag-team match. Clashing the contempo Xbox WWE game, in which the A.I. is so brainless that it doesn't apperceive if to interfere, actuality the A.I. is so agitable that it interferes nonstop, but rarely in the adapted way. Yes, it's abundant that my assistant will run in and breach a acquiescence ascendancy for me. But boy does it blot if he will not assure me if I advance to pin or bang a ascendancy on my opponent. Affiliated adventitious short: Reckoning 2 is hardly bigger than endure year's game, but it's still annihilation special. Read the abounding WWE Day of Reckoning 2 Success in the complete WWE may be added about looks (a nd talkin' smack) than angry ability, but in the basal boxlike circle, it's the added way around. And sadly, if it comes to gameplay, Reckoning 2 performs like a jobber. As with the aboriginal game, the A.I. actuality is a mess. While any jabroni can breeze through the toughest 1-on-1 bouts (it usually