Ikaruga is great—everyone should play it unless you're fundamentally opposed to the genre. It can be frustrating but I found that I got a little farther almost every run. Maybe someday I'll even try to get through Arcade Mode with the default settings (on Easy) so that I can actually post a high score!
All that said, Curse of the Moon is a very enjoyable old-school Castlevania homage that's well worth the price of admission—as long as you have nostalgia for those games. Those of you who have no patience for the first three Castlevania games in particular may want to give Curse a wide berth, but I daresay there are systems in place here that may tickle your fancy.
However, the game is addictive in its own charming way and it's something I've popped on once and awhile ever since it originally came out on 3DS. If you have any nostalgia for Cannon Ball/Pang/Buster Bros., Pirate Pop Plus is a welcome addition to your crew.
If you like meta-commentary in your video games, ICEY might be right up your alley, but I found the narration to be overdone, overlong, and overly aggressive. I appreciate ICEY's attempt to differentiate itself but…not like this. Not like this.
I also wish the game had used a bigger selection of puzzle pieces to craft more true-to-life prehistoric oddities. One of the blueprints I found was of a sea serpent, but I couldn't help but wish it was a mosasaur or a plesiosaur. It's a little bit sad that a DS game from 2008 is still the best paleontology-based video game on the market—Fossil Hunters does not scratch that itch.
Runbow is a fantastic, colorful, energetic platformer with great style and plenty of content for both solo and group players. At the very least, it is definitely worthy of a spot in your "great multiplayer games" folder.
I can't much fault the Mega Man X Legacy Collection Volume 1 for what it is. All four of these games are varying degrees of good and it's nice to have them on my Switch. I just wish it wasn't quite so sterile.
However, the problems Bunnylord faces are the same as any other character. It feels wrong to end this review on such a tired phrase, but your mileage may vary regarding Not a Hero. I enjoyed it but it didn't grab me like similar games such as Mercenary Kings did. If you like comically-violent, pixelated shooters, you might try this out, but I suspect it's playing to a crowd that doesn't necessarily include me.
Iconoclasts is one of the biggest surprises of the year. Despite occasionally suffering through the story sequences, I found that I couldn't stop playing (it's about 10 hours long). I can't recommend the game highly enough--go play it.
I do [overall like it]. It harkens back to the first three games in a big way. They even brought Vile back.
**You want to read Crime and Punishment? I have a suggestion: read The Tell-Tale Heart. There. I saved you a hundred hours.
This is a fun, accessible fighter that casuals can jump into that also has depth that more seasoned fighting fans will appreciate. It's definitely worth checking out.
*I've been stuck in a hospital room for the last eight days and of course the hospital WiFi is from the Bronze Age, so online multiplayer was not in the cards. Thanks to Daan for the assist!
Reflexions is not great. There's not much content, there aren't enough massage mini-games, there aren't enough dress-up options (at least, not yet), and the voyeuristic tone is creepy. And then there's the fantasy involving Asuka being your "little sister," which almost makes me want to nuke the game from orbit. For the Senran Kagura superfan, it's probably required reading but everyone else can just wait for Peach Beach Pinball.
I'm excited to see more Williams tables, as they are consistently praised, but of these four initial releases, I only fell in love with Medieval Madness. Hilariously, you cannot escape Fish Tales, because it will be distributed for free to anyone who already has Pinball FX3. Perhaps they knew nobody would actually buy it?
If you really long for those days of playing Street Fighter II and Metal Slug while you wait for your Book It group's pizza to come out, you might want to give Eternum EX a look. I feel like it needs a two-player mode to keep things fresh because otherwise it runs out of steam pretty quickly.
The music is also surprisingly catchy. The Bug Butcher is a fun Pang-style romp that works in bursts or in longer play sessions—I found it a good game to play while catching up on TV shows. If you like this arcade game style, The Bug Butcher should definitely be on your radar.
This is not something I usually do with racing games. I kind of wish online multiplayer was in here (it does have persistent global and friend leaderboards), but it's a small price to pay for this lovely package. Horizon Chase Turbo was a very pleasant surprise--go play it.
Despite those complaints, Sundered has turned out to be a fun, addictive game that I can't get enough of. This gameplay loop really works for me, and while I sometimes wish I wasn't doing so much backtracking, it's not a big enough deal that I'm dissuaded from playing. If you, too, like this kind of loop, I think you'll get a kick out of Sundered.
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter Remastered is the best possible way to experience this N64 classic, either on your TV or in Handheld/Tabletop Mode (where it performs flawlessly). Turok influenced a lot of first-person shooters that came after it, and it's still very enjoyable in 2018—thanks in large part to Night Dive's boatload of options. You don't wind up hunting a lot of dinosaurs, but you do manage to fight a Dimetrodon that has a minigun strapped to its back, which makes up for a lot.