All in all, life in the waters is good these days. I swim with the grace of a dolphin and the speed of a cheetah. However, when it comes to attacking fish and humans and itty-bitty baby seals, I will confess I am quite clumsy.
But Streets of Rage, as a series, is a time capsule from a different, simpler era. While it's blunt and repetitive, it also manifests a relaxing social space with ease. Call it video games as loitering. The music is as good as it's ever been in the series. The stages and characters are beautiful, reimagining the original trilogy's '90s locales and punk-inspired band of baddies in a way that stands up to those games without scarring modern eyes. The action itself is so simple that you can get lost in a conversation about, well, anything as you play.
Every so often, The Foundation produces a spark of what made the original campaign so memorable.
Doom Eternal’s power fantasy is funny, playful, and a welcome break
The magic, when it really materializes, is punctuating a perfectly executed stealth maneuver with a quack.
Astral Chain is the best new Nintendo franchise since Splatoon
The game has over 200 puzzles, and I’m roughly 50 deep. I plan to make my way to the finish line, not just because it’s a great game — and it is! — but because its obsession with rules has me rethinking the rules in every other game I love. It’s selfless in a way, a game that lets you bend its rules to appreciate the rules in everything else.
If Super Mario Odyssey is the culmination of 3D Mario games, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is the same for 2D Mario
After Red Dead Redemption 2's story concludes, a huge epilogue begins, and the game's already gargantuan map grows even larger. I'm eager to dig into this postgame, where it seems I'll be free to focus on taking in the beautiful, meticulously simulated world, rather than hurling myself into the middle of it.
Eventually, Shadow of the Tomb Raider succumbs to the darkness, repeating many of the series' usual mistakes, but along the way it shines a thrilling and refreshing light.