Toby: The Secret Mine isn't a bad game because it's so similar to other titles. It's bad because it can't even come close to matching the strength of releases from five years ago.
The combination of tired "retro" design choices and brief length make Exile's End a tough game to recommend, even before recognizing that the Metroidvania genre is full of better options.
The Bug's Life meets Contra premise of MilitAnt is promising, but unfortunately the experience is marred by questionable design decisions and an unreliable targeting system.
Almost a carbon copy of last year's release, R.B.I. Baseball 16 is a simplistic and dull looking take on America's pastime. While Xbox gamers are kind of screwed, there are simply too many options on the PS4 to make this one worth your time.
The idea of becoming a party-hating Jason Voorhees is one that could work. Unfortunately though, far too much of Party Hard is spent waiting for something to happen, instead of letting players be the one who trigger the action.
Small Radios Big Televisions has visual style to spare, but the lack of depth in both narrative and gameplay make this oddball experience worth skipping.
Mighty No. 9 has all of the annoying traits that buried the Mega Man franchise, but none of the personality or charm that made it so beloved in the first place.
Lacking the personality and precision of its platforming contemporaries, No Time To Explain is a brutally unfair and embarrassingly humorless entry into the genre.
Despite being an improvement upon last year's release, R.B.I. Baseball 15 is a glitchy and lacklustre effort that lacks any passion for the sport it is trying to replicate.
Unless you're a hardcore fan of the genre, Sneaky Sneaky is too frustrating and controls too poorly to be worth $4.99.
There's a promising idea at the core of Albedo: Eyes From Outer Space, but this potential is unfulfilled thanks to logic breaking puzzles, clumsy combat and a plot that doesn't live up to the B-movies it tries to ape.
Despite the colorful graphics and excellent audio, Whispering Willows' plodding gameplay and under-developed plot make it hard to recommend.
The intriguing world of Lifeless Planet can't quite make up for the shoddy gameplay and frustrating glitches that accompany it.
As a visual novel and piece of fiction, NERO is an absolute treasure. As an actual game, though, it is almost a complete disaster, with slow, boring gameplay and technical hiccups abound.
While the Escalation mode remains as fun as ever, Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark is nothing more than a cheap rush job that boasts poor graphics, boring gameplay and a borderline incoherent story.
While CounterSpy's unique aesthetics and fun plot are sure to intrigue some, its frustrating and unfair gameplay make it hard to recommend to anyone but diehard fans of the genre.
Although mechanically sound, Natural Doctrine is too unfairly difficult and slow-paced to be worth recommending to anyone but the most hardcore gamers.
Despite a wonderful premise, How To Survive: Storm Warning Edition is hampered by a forgettable plot and a lacklustre combat engine.
Unfairly difficult and technically incompetent, Project Root is a classic example of a good idea gone horribly, horribly wrong.
Strafe has the look and style to stand out, but Pixel Titans should have been focusing on making sure the game was not only fully functional, but actually fun to play, as well.