Though the unforgiving moments where I watched my followers drop like flies wore on me at times, I loved how each scenario challenged me to balance all of these factors to accomplish a set of goals. Outlanders can be challenging and frustrating, but I rarely felt overwhelmed. Outlanders doesn't deliver on the grand scale of the large city simulations many associate with the genre, but its small-scale approach appeals to the task-oriented part of your brain, creating an immensely satisfying experience that brought me back time and time again.
Despite some disappointing options and feature exclusions, Super Mega Baseball 4 is a strong alternative to the annualized sim-facing MLB game from Sony. Fans of retro-style arcade baseball games will find a lot to love, and roster customization enthusiasts have their new gold standard.
Following Get It Together and Game & Wario, Move It is the WarioWare game I’ve been waiting for over the last 15 years, and it mostly delivers. The motion-controlled madness gives you plenty of fun and novel experiences, even if a few stinkers are in the mix. Regardless of those, WarioWare: Move It’s catalog is full of microgames I look forward to revisiting for months to come.
Though the gameplay is familiar and the decision-making is still lacking, Episode 7 delivers one of the strongest stories yet
Full of fun exploration, exciting encounters, and tons of collectibles, Yooka-Laylee is a modern take on a classic genre
Whether you're scouring the overworld for secrets or delving into the dungeons, Blossom Tales is a delightful take on a beloved genre
Hob delivers meaningful, wondrous exploration in an alluring and enigmatic world, but the combat and technical issues hold it back
By adding a second Yarny, Unravel Two ups the fun and adds much-needed variety to the experience
The Messenger is a terrific throwback to action platformers like Ninja Gaiden with welcome twists. While a mid-game identity crisis detracts from the experience, it's still an adventure worth taking
With fun discoveries galore, I was always excited to step back onto the surface of this uncharted world
Whether you grew up with these games or this is your first time partying, Mario Party Superstars is a fun way to celebrate the series
Mr. Run and Jump may look unassuming on the surface, but the challenges that await will have you screaming in frustration until they have you shouting in triumph. Though the trial-and-error style of each difficult room sometimes wore on me, after each success, I couldn’t wait to see what hurdles I needed to clear next.
Even with its shortcomings, EA Sports UFC 5 delivers an exciting MMA experience regardless of the mode in which you compete. Fighting your favorite UFC stars never gets old, and the adrenaline rush that comes with knocking your opponent out in a fierce back-and-forth battle makes it hard to resist the allure of stepping back into the Octagon for one more fight.
Though the stages are much longer than their original forms, sometimes clocking in at around 15 minutes, playing through Story Mode only takes a couple of hours. Still, Contra: Operation Galuga packs a whole lot of action into those hours. When you add the more flexible Arcade Mode and difficult Challenge Mode, Operation Galuga is an admirable modernized reimagining of one of the most influential games of the late '80s.
TopSpin 2K25 aptly brings the beloved franchise back to center court, showing that not only does the series still have legs, but so does the sim-tennis genre as a whole. Though its modes are somewhat repetitive and it’s missing several high-profile pros at launch, TopSpin 2K25 serves up a compelling package for tennis fans.
Though the gimmick eventually wears thin and the complexity sometimes outpaces the simple concept by the time you reach the puzzles in the triple digits, Please Fix The Road shows that creativity and clever puzzle design are more important than a robust toolset or wide-ranging player freedom. It delivers a tight, curated puzzle-solving experience that hooks you from the very first puzzle and, through steadily evolving mechanics, delivers satisfaction around every turn.
Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble aptly demonstrates that the franchise still has something to offer in 2024 beyond nostalgia. With an eclectic mix of platforming levels and party games, Banana Rumble holds little back, offering a robust package that effectively announces the series’ true return.
An enjoyable experience, but it needs more content and some streamlined design
We Happy Few delivers an intoxicating experience, rife with dark mysteries to unravel and exciting missions to complete, but some annoying mechanics and scarce resources keep it from reaching greatness
The process of learning new things with each playthrough is rewarding, but the repetition takes away from the experience