Solar Panic: Utter Distress is a humorous adventure title that uses heavy pop-culture and low-brow comedy in a surprisingly effective way. With a short story, awkward game play features, and some low detailed graphics, many players may be surprised to find that Solar Panic: Utter Distress piles on the laughs enough to ensure most people looking for a chuckle will find a few.
At its very core, if nothing else, it’s good for a few laughs, but at its best, it’s a gift that keeps on giving.
Luckily, both of these together in the Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove makes the collection all the more worth it.
Story of a Gladiator is an action beat'em up from Brain Seal Entertainment that puts the player in the boots of a gladiator that has lost everything. While the title "Story of a Gladiator" may be a misnomer as the actual story is short, with no real impact on much of what you do, Story of a Gladiator manages to pull off a fun action title that will keep players invested for several hours as they bash, slice, and skewer their way to the top.
Avicii Invector is a high intensity rhythmic game centered around the largely praised electronic musician Avicii. The tap-to-the-beat game play coincides with many of Avicii's greatest works, joyfully playing against an illuminated theme park track, that is reminiscent of the EDM scene as a whole. Although the story in Avicii Invector leaves much to be desired, and some higher difficulties will prove too challenging for the fledgling rhythmic gamer, Avicii Invector is a faithful tribute to the late musician and his work.
While the puzzles are mostly enjoyable, the combat is largely uninspired, leading to tedious boss encounters and aggravating 3D battles that quickly neutralizes the fantastic points of AeternoBlade 2's design.
140 on the Nintendo Switch is still the same award winning rhythmic platformer, now on the Switch! 140 provides simplistic controls in conjunction with challenging beat-based puzzle-platformer action that will take players only a few hours of their time to beat. The experience is definitely worth the cost of admission.
Jamestown+ is a strange trip through space-age colonial times. Take control of several ships with dozens of optional load outs and protect Roanoke and Jamestown alongside John Smith from the allied forces of the Spanish and the Martians. While the premise may seem weird and hokey, the gameplay is solid, fun, and is sure to satisfy shoot'em up fans for hours with multiple difficulties, unlockable game modes, and additional challenge tiers.
WarpThrough is an indie arcade gem.
With no true online multiplayer and limited level options, Munchkin: Quacked Quest feels like a starter pack awaiting expansions before it's ready for prime time.
THOTH by Carlsen Games is a geometrical twin stick shooter with an attitude. With a kaleidoscope of killer shapes impeding your progression, twin stick fans will find THOTH a worthy adversary. Despite a few design decisions meant to extend the speed of completion, like checkpoints only available every few levels, and increased difficulty of levels upon death, THOTH still manages to provide an enjoyable experience.
Moons of Madness capitalizes on the Lovecraftian principles that made The Secret World such a great game. Unfortunately, the game play itself can feel tedious, and overly detailed in all the wrong ways.
Autonauts is a fantastic little base-builder that gives players the chance to build and program their own robots. As players progress, the hands off approach may not appeal to everyone, but the ability to make your robots as simple or as complex as you want opens up the game for many hours of fun.
Ninja Saviors - Return of the Warrior is a precious walk down memory lane. For players that did not play the original Ninja Warriors title on SNES, the nostalgia effect may not garner the same interest as with others that remember the original title. Still, The Ninja Saviors - Return of the Warrior still applies some present day additions that may keep beat'em up fans interested for many nun-chuck swinging hours.
Killer Queen Black is a surprisingly superb mix of action and strategy in a 2D arena. Levels, game modes and character choices are rather limited after repeated matches, but the action and strategy are enough to keep players invested simply by having a good time. Killer Queen Black is an exceptional choice for gamers that want quick fun in a 2D space.
OUTBUDDIES is a fantastic homage to Super Metroid, with a few new twists thrown in. With the addition of a robotic BUDDY that can be controlled by a second player, and some challenging content that won't punish players for failing, OUTBUDDIES adds on to the original Super Metroid formula in unexpected and pleasant ways. For fans of the retro action-platformer genre looking for that nostalgia feel, OUTBUDDIES is certain to deliver.
Astellia is a tremendous, full-fledged MMO, with large areas to explore, tons of tiny features to fiddle with, auction houses, end-game dungeons, and more than enough to keep any MMO player busy. Despite some of the great features Astellia brings to the table, the Astel collection system, the detailed world, and a fairly balanced combat system, it isn’t enough to break from the sheer monotony, bugs, and lack of character attachment that would bring Astellia from being just another Korean game to being a bright star in a cloudy sky.
Knights and Bikes tells the tale of Demelza and Nessa as they uncover a story, battle a curse, and deal with the almost inevitable closure of Demelza's fathers business. Luckily for adventure game fans, there is a lot to love in this charming game that pays a substantial homage to some of the best coming of age adventure films of the 80s. Knights and Bikes delivers on an extraordinary experience that is hard to find these days.
Catherine: Full Body is truly a remaster done right. With multiple puzzles, a brand new storyline, and new options that include an auto-play feature for story-lovers, if there are gamers out there that were on the fence about picking up Catherine, this version is a definite must. While more veteran Catherine players and action oriented puzzle fans may get tired of the long story scenes, ATLUS has also included online modes, the remixed story path, and non-story oriented puzzles which are also available to keep players invested.
Heave Ho is still a raucous good time when you are playing with others in local co-op, and for the price, it's worth a couple of nights with friends on the couch.