Stupid Never Dies reminds me strongly of a late-PS2 era AA title or mid-360 era titles like Neverdead or Splatterhouse. It has a strong heart, but it is just missing a few things, making this an experience that isn’t going to hit for everyone. Even if it does land for you, it will likely still feel like it has some rough, jagged edges. It’s a very strong visual package and will no doubt garner something of a cult following in its wake. With a strong development team of ex-Capcom staff, it may feel slightly disappointing that the combat isn’t as smooth as it needs to be given the high standards of their previous action game experience. If you can come to grips with that, you’ll be treated to a fun dungeon-crawling experience with a punk-rock attitude.
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 is essentially the perfect sequel. As much as I enjoyed the original, this old boomer shooter veteran had a few gripes with how loosely it adhered to the genre’s conventions. Boltgun 2 not only addresses those issues, but practically John Romero’d me for ever questioning whether it would just be more of the same. It’s a loud, brutal, gloriously gory experience, packed with excellent level design, surprising set pieces, and an enormous branching campaign that had me jumping straight back in the moment the credits rolled.
Silver Pines is an excellent addition to the horror genre and a great choice for Halloween 2026. It’s quirky, immersive, terrifying, and thought-provoking. It succeeds where many games with larger budgets fail, earning its place among the best recent survival horror titles. The only horrifying aspect of the game is that it doesn’t have a more distinct identity and chooses to lean a little too strongly on its inspirations. The upside, however, is that it serves as a fantastic gateway drug into the surreal world of David Lynch’s brand of horror. The owls may not be what they seem, but Silver Pines absolutely is: it could be the next great horror game in your collection.
Outside of the above-mentioned tweaks to the games, the emulation really hasn’t been touched that much, meaning the games all have differing levels of “rough” to them visually. Minimal options to tweak this and a lack of online matchmaking do hold this package back in the end. Fortunately, the museum area of the game is exceptional, and if you happen to vibe with the gameplay loop of the series, you’ve got four incredibly solid (albeit basic by today's standards) titles, plus two curious FPS games that are best considered extras. I enjoy Alien Breed 35th Anniversary Collection as a package. There is a lot of fun to be had here, and it’s worth the asking price for putting these classic titles into a much easier format to play. This isn’t going to be for people who aren’t as into retro games that feel of their time to some degree, as the gameplay is firmly stuck in their original era, so your enjoyment of arcade titles like Gauntlet and Smash TV are really going to gauge how well you take to this celebratory title. With some great additions and a few baffling omissions, I can ultimately recommend Alien Breed 35th Anniversary Collection for retro enthusiasts. For more casual modern gamers, it might be worth waiting for a sale.
Control Resonant is an exceptional reminder that Remedy are the masters of their craft. After the misstep that was FBC: Firebreak, there were some legitimate concerns about how “Control 2” would play out. From the second you step into the shoes of Dylan Faden until the end of your third or fourth playthrough, Control Resonant will offer you a truly immersive, fun, and unique experience that you can only get from the developers at Remedy and their ever-expanding “Remedyverse.” 2026 has been a solid year for game releases, and honestly, I was apprehensive when it came to Control Resonant. I didn’t initially click with the original, and the missteps of FBC: Firebreak as well as Resonant’s change in genre felt like warning signs. Thankfully, I chose to bet it all on black with this game, and it paid off with what is my strongest candidate for Game of the Year yet, and another solid entry to the wall of absolute bangers Remedy produces. The sign of a truly great experience is how much I want to discuss it with like-minded fans afterward, and I can see myself having a lot to say about Control Resonant for a long time to come.
As someone who prides himself on loving boomer shooters, I wanted to love the original SPRAWL, but it just didn’t hit the right notes for me personally. SPRAWL Zero, on the other hand, was such a pleasant surprise. It hit every note, invented a few new ones, and then cranked the volume all the way up to 11, delivering a heavy metal opera of death in the process. More importantly, it serves as a welcome reminder that the FPS genre is much broader than Modern Warfare and movement shooters like Doom Eternal.
From the moment I started Birdcage, I knew there was something special about it. It just has all the style and substance you could want from a shmup, to the point that you’d never guess such a small team made it. It comes so close to matching genre classics that I was genuinely surprised that more shmup fans aren't talking about it. For a really reasonable asking price, you’re getting what I would suggest is an ideal shmup for any skill level. It’s an ideal title for those new to the genre to dip their feet in or for genre veterans to enjoy. It’s stylish, rewarding, and will keep clawing you back long after you’ve taken on the true last boss, whispering at you to keep your place on the scoreboard and prove that you are the leader of the Birdcage.
I’ve always had a deep love of the SiN franchise, while still being very aware of its shortcomings. With SiN Reloaded, there are far fewer of them, and plenty more here to love. The tweaks across the difficulty, level pacing, and weapon changes really help shine up this diamond in the rough and give the game the best chance to win over a whole new audience of Boom Shoot enthusiasts. If you’re a long-time follower of SiNTEK or just a curious bystander caught up in the war on drugs and corporate conspiracy, SiN Reloaded is the best way to experience this underdog collection and see why it, despite being overshadowed at the time, has maintained a strong cult following among classic first-person shooter genre fans. It would be a complete SiN to miss out!
Onimusha: Way of the Sword is a home run for Capcom. It’s an amazing way of bringing the series back into the forefront of gamers' minds. The series has always had a bit of a struggle with its identity, often just resembling a samurai version of Resident Evil or even, confusingly, a Smash Bros clone at one point. I think Capcom drawing influence from the soulslike style of game couldn’t have worked better; it has all the cinematic flair you would come to expect from the developer while not doing the obvious thing of just copying and leaning on a certain Dante-led series. Much like a rose, Onimusha: Way of the Sword is a beauty with a few barbs. The difficulty is going to be mixed for some, and the fluff of the open world can really do a number on the pacing. But all in all, Capcom has once again put the gaming world on notice with a very strong contender for Game of the Year 2026 and has done an amazing job of resurrecting another long-forgotten franchise. I can only hope that one day I can see them bring back another of their dormant series as spectacularly as they have with this one.
The real hook, however, was just how eager I was to keep exploring, discovering new dungeons, and challenging myself against whatever the game threw my way. Angeline Era kept me thoroughly engaged throughout the fifteen hours of my first playthrough, and with a plethora of difficulty modes to choose from, I can easily see myself returning time and time again to push my skills even further.
When Apidya’ Special landed on my desk, I had no idea who this package would be for. After playing it for a handful of hours, I can wholeheartedly say that it’s a game for me! It’s a loving remake of a cult Amiga classic with enough tweakable options to make the game enjoyable for gamers of all skill levels. It looks fantastic in both its original and enhanced modes, and those visuals and quirky stage design help separate it from the other Shmups on the block. I don’t think it’s going to attract much of a new crowd given how niche a title it is, but for you retro enthusiasts out there, Apidya’ Special is absolutely worth it. It’s a loving remaster of a unique title from yesteryear, when games didn’t really need a reason; they just took an idea and ran with it. Or, in this case, turned into a wasp and flew with it!
The Sinking City 2 is a solid survival horror and a great way to lead into the spooky season of gaming. What it lacks in identity it makes up for in providing a genuinely tense and challenging game, lovingly wrapped in the blanket of H.P. Lovecraft. It provides a tight narrative and gameplay experience, but loses some of the stronger investigative mechanics from the original game in exchange.
Fans of MMOs and loot driven games will feel right at home here. There’s an enormous amount of content to sink your teeth into, and the additional Endless Ragnarok expansion only adds to that. The addictive Conflux roguelike mode is an absolute highlight, providing yet another compelling reason to keep coming back for “just one more run.”
70s-style Robot Anime Geppy-X isn’t going to quite match the shmup genre’s elites, but it is absolutely a quirky, unique, and fun experience with an average, if janky, shmup attached to it. I, for one, feel it is absolutely going to resonate with its target audience of classic anime fans and those who crave something a little more unusual in their life. Like a dynamic time capsule from the 1990s emulating the 1970s, 70s-style Robot Anime Geppy-X does a fantastic job of being a playable and fun Saturday Morning Cartoon, with enough content and spirit to keep even the most casual of fans engaged in the battle of Geppy-X and the Space Devil Empire. Go, Geppy-X, win the war and inspire the hearts of the world!
I enjoyed my time with Truxton Extreme and appreciated the effort put into the story mode. It mostly feels feature-full as well. Though once you peel that layer off, you realise a lot of it is just the same content. A dedicated practice mode wouldn’t have gone amiss, and maybe some alternative enemy patterns or visuals for differing playthroughs of the Story Mode would have staved off the feeling of repetition. Much like the original Truxton, I have no doubt this game will garner a cult-like following, and I feel this title is strongly aimed towards them while trying to bring in the wider shmup demographic, albeit with mixed results. The bland visuals and initial few stages don’t help matters, so while this is a damn fine shmup in its own right, I just feel that more could have been done to truly make this title a little more extreme and less extremely bloated.
I didn’t hate my time with Amnesia: Rebirth. It was nice to see the series continue on Nintendo consoles, but the game feels far more dated than it really should. Between the disappointing performance and the step backwards in gameplay, it ends up feeling older than some of its predecessors. Perhaps it’s just a speed bump on the road to Amnesia: The Bunker. If that’s the case, then at least Frictional Games clearly learned a few valuable lessons along the way.
I really enjoyed my time with Dark Scrolls. If I’m being honest, dear reader, it took a few runs before everything finally clicked, but once it did, I could really see what Doinksoft was going for. In fact, I ended up finding it noticeably easier than Demon Throttle. It’s still a fairly niche game, though, one aimed squarely at players who love the NES era of gaming, and don’t mind a healthy dose of roguelike progression. If that sounds like your kind of thing, the variety between runs does a great job of keeping you coming back for more.
If you don’t have access to the Special Edition of Devil May Cry 5, or just want another banger of a port for the Nintendo Switch 2, Devil May Cry 5: Devil Hunter Edition is another miracle port that makes you realize that Nintendo’s second hybrid has quite a lot of horsepower under the hood. Either that or the RE Engine really is capable of reaching for the moon and creating wonders. Either way, Devil May Cry 5: Devil Hunter Edition is in my opinion a must play for fans of action games and owners of the Nintendo Switch 2.
FZ: Formation Z is a damn fun shoot ’em up, even if it feels a little light on content for its asking price. Yes, it offers several difficulty options and plenty of unlockable mechs, but there are still only five stages, which won’t take much more than an hour to clear. Even less once you start flying through them and learn where all the ship fuel pickups are. It definitely has the feel of a lower budget AA release, but I think Granzella has done a great job crafting a shoot ’em up that’s simply fun to play while still offering a decent challenge at times, unlike a certain R-Type Dimensions 3. It’s a great experience that’s ultimately let down by its price.
Gothic 1 Remake is a special title. It bottles all the magic of the original game and has managed to tinker with it enough to keep it authentic but accessible to an entirely new fanbase. It’s still rough as all hell, but this only helps make it captivating. And in a world of gaming where stories are often told through cutscenes, the Gothic Remake makes you tell your own story through its actions, setting, and sense of challenge and immersion. It might be a bit more on the niche side thanks to its rough parts and difficulty, but for you masochists and immersion seekers, Gothic 1 Remake is going to take you right into the Prison Colony, beat you up, steal your ore, and by the Sleeper, you are going to thank it and go back for more!