There’s plenty to do in Mario Golf: Super Rush, then. And while it may not be a game you’ll want to play every day once you’ve beaten the Golf Adventure mode, there’s enough here to keep things interesting for many solo and group play sessions. And with the prospect of free updates down the line, the future looks bright for this one — here’s hoping the online community takes to it in the long term.
Mario Golf: Super Rush’s adventure mode probably won’t take you a long time to clear — likely somewhere around the 6-10 hour mark, depending on how many times you have to retry the tougher challenges — but it’s a great introduction to what the game has to offer, and a perfect example of how Nintendo is willing to infuse one of the most slow-paced, potentially boring sports in the world with a sense of energy, personality and dynamism.
With that caveat in mind, Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 – The Official Video Game is a fun way to while away a few hours. Its straightforward pick-up-and-play nature makes it ideal for when you just fancy a bit of arcade-style fun — or a bit of friendly competition. Its distinctive Sega polish means that it looks, sounds and plays great, too.
As with the other Zoo Corporation games that eastasiasoft has brought to console, Pretty Girls Klondike Solitaire is a great game to have on hand for when you just have a few minutes to play,don’t want to have to engage your brain too much and are in the mood for a shot of candy-coloured happiness. This makes it an ideal fit for the Nintendo Switch in handheld mode in particular — so if that’s the kind of experience you fancy, this is a safe addition to your library.
As a linear story with no meaningful choices for the player to make along the way, could it have been better delivered through another, more explicitly non-interactive medium? Perhaps there’s an argument to be made for that — but there’s something about the way 7 Years From Now’s abstract presentation and the light degree of player control combine to stoke the fires of the imagination and involve you in its unfolding tale that makes me feel this just wouldn’t quite be the same if it wasn’t a video game.
In short, Vitamin Connection is a game that anyone who mourns the passing of Sony’s Japan Studio owes it to themselves to play. It may not have had the direct involvement of the creative minds behind titles like LocoRoco, but it feels like it did — and I can think of no higher compliment to pay a title like this. It’s a game that wants nothing more than to make you feel good and for you to enjoy yourself — and taking the time to savour that sort of thing is something we should all make sure we’re doing in today’s busy and chaotic age.
To sum it all up, Astalon: Tears of the Earth is a wonderful example of what “modern retro” really means. It captures the look and feel of classic 8-bit games while bringing the gameplay bang up to date with lessons learned from some of the very best titles of the last 30 years. If you’re a fan of open-structure, exploration-centric platformers, this should be high on your shopping list.
If you’re interested in Japanese gaming and you want to know your gaming roots, Space Invaders is a great series to get to know. And the Space Invaders Invincible Collection provides the best possible means to do just that. Shoot ’em up fans should consider it an essential part of their collection.
Sumire is a delightful, heartfelt, honest and genuinely emotional narrative experience. At about three hours long, it’s a game best enjoyed in a single sitting — though it’s also worth noting that the game is very replayable to see how different choices along the way play out, and indeed how the whole thing concludes if Sumire finishes her day having favoured a particular type of karma. Is being a “good person” always the answer? Is Sumire herself justified in doing bad things after how she’s suffered? And what’s with all the crows?
Hentai vs Evil is not a game I’ll be playing all the time. But it is a game I know I will return to whenever I’m in the mood for exactly the sort of silly nonsense it has to offer.
The whole thing is a consistent delight to both look at and listen to — and this side of things in particular is one of the reasons I’m so surprised the game hasn’t enjoyed more buzz online since its release, since as you can hopefully see from the images on this page, it sure takes a nice screenshot!
Let’s make no mistake here, though; what we have at the time of writing is good. It’s a great R-Type game with some well-designed stages, the series’ iconic brutal but fair sense of difficulty, lots of unlockables and customisation and an absolutely banging soundtrack. It’s an excellent investment for any shoot ’em up fan — particularly if you’re a longstanding fan of R-Type — and it’s worth your time. It will be interesting to see how it develops from hereon, for sure.
Rising Hell is a thoroughly lovely coffee-break action roguelike that is friendly to quick play sessions, but provides enough longevity to keep you coming back for more. Its relatively short individual runs make it an especially good game to have on hand for when you don’t have a lot of time but still feel like kicking some ass, and its varied unlockables mean that each run can feel markedly different from the last if you want it to.
For now, Poker Pretty Girls Battle is a nice addition to any gamer’s casual lineup — particularly at this nice a price. While it’s never going to win any “game of the year” awards or anything like that, it was never taking aim for that end of the market — it’s simply an enjoyable game, nothing more, nothing less. And sometimes that’s all you want.
It really is a perfect example of a modern developer completely understanding both the appeal of classic arcade games and their potential pitfalls, and providing us with a new one that is beautifully designed for play at home. It’s one of the best “modern retro” titles out there, and a great addition to the library of any gamer who just wants an experience that is pure fun from start to finish.
As it stands, it’s a good example of how a video game can be used as a form of “interactive artbook”, where engaging with the “game” side of things allows you to explore the “art” side more deeply. I’d love to see more of this kind of thing — and I’d especially love to see this get some form of packaged release. Imagine a nice box set containing a selection of Yom books, perhaps a wall scroll, a soundtrack CD from the anime and this game!
This is the sort of experience open-world games should be aspiring to provide: not endless checklists of pointless busywork, but incentives for players to explore these intricately crafted environments. You should come away from an open-world experience at the very least feeling like you know your way around — and in more picturesque examples, having a strong desire to visit those places if only they were real.
The core gameplay is solid and enjoyable, the optional extras are worthwhile and fun if you’re a retro gaming enthusiast — and they won’t be missed if you’re not — and the whole package is a great addition to the Switch’s library. I suspect people will still be playing this for quite some time to come yet, if Tetris 99’s enduring popularity is anything to go by!
Delicious! Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire is a fun game — nothing more, nothing less. It is, as noted above, pure comfort food — something you can fire up when you just want to play a game to engage your brain a little bit, but you don’t want to immerse yourself in something complicated or narrative-heavy. The nature of mahjong solitaire means that it’s far from a mindless experience, and the dopamine hit from finally unlocking a new costume after several failed attempts is undeniable.
Mad Rat Dead is a prime example of Nippon Ichi doing what it does best between Disgaea titles: putting out weird games that about five people will play, but then those five people will happily talk enthusiastically about those games to anyone who will listen.