Josh Speer's Reviews
As a fan of Power Rangers, I especially enjoyed Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind. It’s a faithful and nostalgia-filled adventure full of colorful visual design, amazing voice acting, and challenging arcade action. While I do feel it’s not as well-tuned for single-player experiences, this is a wonderful game to play with friends. If you’re a longtime fan of the iconic characters, you’ll find something to adore in this love letter from Digital Eclipse.
With tight and colorful 2.5D platforming, challenging and fun boss battles, and seven worlds to explore, it's a great time.
Mario & Luigi: Brothership is a colorful and exuberant new entry in the RPG series. It offers dynamic and fun combat, some decent humor, and a surprising amount of replay value in branching choices and side quests. Despite that, there are some poorly implemented features, such as the Battle Plugs and Power Tap, as well as the sometimes glacial pacing of the adventure. Still, fans of turn-based RPGs will absolutely find something worthwhile in this Switch exclusive.
It would have been easy for Berserk Boy to be another disappointing modern platformer trying to relive the classics. Instead, indie developer Zu Ehtisham has given us an exceptional adventure full of heart, with complex and enjoyable platforming, fast-paced combat, and lots of replay value. While there are some very minor areas I would have appreciated refinement, this was ultimately an outstanding experience that shouldn’t be missed.
I didn’t know what to expect when I decided to review Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley. Least of all, did I expect that it would make me a fan of the works of Tove Jansson and help me fall in love with the cozy game genre. While there are a few minor visual issues on Switch, this is still an absolutely charming and relaxing adventure with a good message for generations to come.
As a fan of the rogue-like and monster catcher genres, Dicefolk is a treat. But while I love the design and enjoy the overall gameplay, the challenge could desperately use some retuning. But if you’re a glutton for punishment and don’t mind a ton of grinding, in that case, I can wholeheartedly recommend this challenging hybrid.
I had an absolute blast playing GUNVOLT RECORDS Cychronicle for this review. Not only does it feature fantastic artwork and a variety of pumping tunes to enjoy, but there’s plenty of challenge for all gamers. Plus, if I know Inti Creates, they’ll find a way to totally outdo themselves in any future musical adventures. So, if you love the Gunvolt series and want a refreshing change of pace, this is absolutely the game for you.
More than anything, I feel amazing Metroidvanias need to strike a great balance between combat and exploration, where everything you accomplish is constantly bringing you one step closer to reaching the end of the game. I don’t feel that’s the case in Ultros. The rewind aspect of the game, combined with constantly losing platforming abilities and combat upgrades, makes the entire experience a painful slog. So even though I respect the ambition and creativity on display, ultimately, that’s not enough to elevate this game beyond its peers.
Though I enjoyed the comedy and references in Dungeons & Doomknights, I feel its audience is limited by how inconsistently fun the experience actually is. Not only is it mechanically rough at many times, but the combat itself just doesn’t satisfy. Once I realized all this, I admittedly soured over the adventure. That said, if you’re a hardcore fan of new examples of classic games, you’ll probably find something to justify checking it out.
LogiKing is a novel concept and a fun enough experience, but I can’t shake how barren it feels. In many ways, I think this game would have fared better as a technical demo than a full-fledged game you have to pay for. While I can respect the overall polish and strategy present in the game, ultimately, I was disappointed there wasn’t more to do.
Astrea: Six-Sided Oracles is easily the best game I’ve played from Akupara Games thus far. It’s challenging, beautiful, complex, and an utter joy to play. Not only is it an amazing example of the rogue-like genre, but it’s also one of the first dice-builders I’ve ever played. If you’re at all a fan of the genre, do yourself a favor and get a copy!
It’s rare for a sequel to be better than the original. It’s even rarer for it to so eclipse it that they feel like completely different species. Nevertheless, that’s the magic trick that Cyber Citizen Shockman 2: A New Menace pulls off. It’s a beautiful retro adventure full of great artwork and amazing music, with lots of accessibility options to make it a bit easier. While the goofy story is nothing to write home about, it’s a great adventure and a tribute to a lost era of Japanese-only videogames. If you’re a fan of game history or just enjoy platformers, be sure to check this one out.
Osyaberi! Horijyo! Gekihori: Anna Holinski Saves The Universe, Alright?! is an absolutely crazy Shmup that reminds me of games long past. It’s colorful, hectic, and full of unlockable content and additional modes to keep you playing. If you’re a fan of games that don’t hold back, you’ll find plenty to enjoy here.
Put simply, 30XX is by far the superior Mega Man-inspired rogue-like experience. It oozes style and features challenging gameplay and diverse bosses. I wouldn’t mind more to do in the game, but that in no way changes how well-made the experience is in general. If you’re at all a fan of rogue-like platformers, buying this is a no-brainer. Here’s hoping this isn’t the last such adventure we’ve seen from the folks at Batterystaple Games!
As a fan of the Shantae games, I was delighted to play this sports-themed adventure by the same team. It’s not perfect, featuring some occasionally irritating controls and hard-to-read instructions. But with a bit of patience, you’ll find a solid adventure that reminds you not just why WayForward is such a great company, but why the Game Boy Color was such a classic system. If you’re at all a fan of retro or just want to play a simple and fun collection of mini-games, I’d definitely check Xtreme Sports out.
Slime Girl Smoothies is an engaging, sometimes sexy puzzle excursion from eastasiasoft. While I was initially perplexed to discover it’s not a match-3, I grew to enjoy the puzzle mechanics. It features an eclectic group of rather horny slime girls to interact with, and a few modes to keep things fresh. Despite all that, it’s held back by some translation issues, long load times and some confusing UI issues. But if you can look past that, it’s a solid puzzle experience for mature gamers.
I honestly had a great time playing Mr. Run and Jump. There’s a variety of fun mechanics, solid platforming, and distinct challenge. That said, the challenge may be too much for some folks, and I even considered throwing my controller aside in frustration several times. If you can push through the difficulty, there’s a ton of replay value and a surprisingly humorous adventure to enjoy—a great effort from Atari, Graphite Lab, and Heavy Horse Games.
Sometimes games hold up, and this is one of them. Though I absolutely loved the original, Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes – Definitive Edition brings a classic game to exhilarating modern life. Not only does it feature complex and nuanced strategic gameplay, but has an engaging story and tons of replay value. My only small complaint is I wanted to spend even more time in this world, and would have loved some sort of endless rogue mode. But that said, even if you never heard of the original, all strategy fans still owe it to themselves to check out this amazing adventure.
As someone who’s constantly striving for novelty in gaming, I really wanted to give LISA: Definitive Edition a higher score. But sadly, the game’s perplexing and unpredictable combat, combined with huge difficulty spikes, made that impossible. With that in mind, there’s still a really fascinating and darkly compelling story here and some unique gameplay elements. If you live for strange and unique experiences, you need to pick up LISA: Definitive Edition right now. Just prepare for the unexpected in this harrowing adventure.
I honestly found Garlic a joy to play, steep challenge and all. While the game may be a little intimidating to some, I found it quite engaging. It features a diversity of content, crazy challenges, great visuals, and a style that was quite unlike anything in recent years. If you’re not worried about dying a few dozen times, I’d say any fan of platformers or old-school games should give this a try.