An utterly pointless remake of Crazy Taxi which adds nothing new to an ageing arcade game and somehow manages to remove what made the original so playable in the first place. A missed opportunity to improve or update the gameplay renders this instantly moribund.
Despite a dearth of original ideas, Pumpkin Jack is a highly accomplished paean to the classic 3D platformers of yesteryear from a solo developer. It's packed with variety, beautifully designed and highly playable so highly recommended for fans of the genre.
Utterly brilliant lo-fi psychedelics fail to make up for the simplistic and repetitive gameplay which very quickly becomes too difficult and frustrating to hold most players' attention. It's worth dipping into for some wigged out hilarity though, for as you long as you can hold off throwing the controller at the screen...
A gentle and relaxing vet simulator for young kids, with a fair bit of content stretched out over quite a few hours wrapped up in a loveable and bright veneer. If it hooks them, they'll love the playhouse vibes and pet stroking and ignore the repetition and grinding to upgrade the clinic which would normally bother adults.
Waves Out! manages to suck all the fun out of its own potentially enjoyable concept of magnetising balls in order to score goals with fiddly play areas, sluggish gameplay and no sense of competition whatsoever. Stir in a missing four player option and some truly dated visuals and you have a recipe for disaster.
Don't be fooled by the impressive visuals. This dated and deeply unsatisfying arcade shooter manages to make space combat feel flimsy, boring and anything but immersive. Perhaps on a mobile phone, its limitations can be overlooked but on a console it's not worth bothering with.
Using dismembered limbs to solve puzzles has never been this much fun, and aside from a few fiddly control issues, this fresh, original and highly irreverent comic book adventure through an alternative Nordic afterlife is highly recommended.
A brief but mesmerising monochrome puzzler which constantly impresses with its audio/visual brevity, and occasionally stumps you with some impassable brain-teasers. Highly recommended for fans of graphic novels and puzzles, but with the caveat that you'll be on a YouTube walkthrough at least once during your time with Iris.Fall.
Twin stick mayhem which pits your kick-ass scientists against hordes of beasts in a dreary procedurally generated underworld. Long stints reveal the repetitive nature of the maps and challenges, but grab a copy if you're up for some shallow bullet spraying for up to four buddies.
A space agency simulator which overcomes its PC roots and primitive presentation to become a highly addictive and original strategy game. Packed with space facts and sprinklings of humour, Mars Horizon is a joy to dip into for both young and old and your thumbs can rest while your brain takes over.
While CSD3 retains the frenetic pace of its predecessor, there aren't enough new additions to make this an essential update. The huge library of recipes is mightily impressive and the presentation is as good as ever, so if you can handle the crushing difficulty, give your flabby fingers a work out in the back of this mobile food van.
A genuinely scary and intriguing horror portmanteau which overcomes the fiddly inventory system and slightly repetitive environs through its inventive interpretation of its film and game influences. If you're a horror fan who wants to find out how Konami's P.T. may have turned out, you'd be hard pushed to find a more terrifying surrogate.
A surprisingly enjoyable off-road licence which never impresses visually, but manages to combine good handling and a wealth of tracks and arenas to create the right chemistry for a shallow but very playable dip into an ironically droll and niche motorsport.
A highly unsatisfying and directionless tennis game, with an abysmal character creator and career mode. Steer well clear and buy AO Tennis 2, bizarrely made by the exact same team responsible for this monstrosity.
If you're looking for an arcade-sim with buckets of content which combines all the best bits from Gran Turismo, Forza and DriveClub, look no further. If you're a Project Cars 2 fan hoping for an update to their favourite sim, forget it. Key sim elements are now missing and although it's a fine arcade-sim racer, it should have been rebranded rather than gutted for a mainstream audience.
An authentic recreation of the best of the Sega arcade racing classics from yesteryear, but sadly lacking in depth due to the simplistic circuits and repetitive gameplay mechanic. Split-screen or online multiplayer is the way to get the best from the game.
WRC 9 is the complete rally package - tough but rewarding handling, astonishing representations of the real world rally stages, and a wealth of gameplay options. Many hours of non-blinking fun are to be had for racing fans, with a free sexy upgrade to the PS5 version on the horizon.
Descenders offers up some excellent arcade biking thrills in short bursts, with the multiplayer prolonging the fun. The simplistic nature of the gameplay will grate eventually, but it's worth investigating for those who want a two-wheeled adrenaline rush without too many frills.
An excellent premise, a compelling narrative, and an effective atmosphere of dread are scuppered by muddy visuals, an antiquated save system, and stilted gameplay mechanics lacking in new ideas. Multiple endings reward those who persevere though, so fans of folk-horror should sample the wares within Sker Hotel, but for most the game will feel stuck in the past.
Easily the best F1 game ever made, rammed full of content that reads like the fans' wish list. Edge of the seat racing backed up by a hearty team management sim, split screen racing and audio and visuals which are edging ever closer to perfection.