Trackmania Turbo is a giant, gorgeous world of arcade stunt-racing action.
While the story can be a bit much at times, The Witch and the Hundred Knight's gameplay makes returning to Metallia's swamp a tempting prospect.
While it takes a bit to get all its gameplay elements into place, Return to PopoloCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairy Tale is thoroughly charming from the very start.
While a little more realism would make American Truck Simulator more fun, paradoxical as that may sound, there's no escaping how fantastically playable it is.
Starward Rogue is easily the best arcade roguelike since Binding of Isaac: Rebirth and while it doesn't stray too far from its inspiration's influence, it makes up for this by executing its formula incredibly well.
If the story is nonsensical, the fighting and platforming are great fun.
Gravity Rush Remastered is close to perfect.
All these elements come together to make an arcade-style game that easily lives up to its Pang/Buster Bros.
In order to get the most from Turok, it's important to approach it as a remnant of the '90s, rather than a modern game.
It would be easy to blow off Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair as just another HD remake, but that wouldn't give it credit for how much better it plays now that it's got appropriate processing muscle behind its enemy-packed levels. Simply put, Earth Defense Force has never looked or played as good as this, and while the framerate still drops a bit when the action gets particularly intense, it's never anything but playable.
DariusBurst Chronicle Saviors is a massive shooter with seemingly endless gameplay in its multiple sections.
Kromaia Omega is a giant hyper-saturated burst of color, speed and heavy firepower, as stylish as it can be difficult, and it's impossible not to forgive a few questionable design elements when the enemies are swarming and the action takes off.
Last Horizon is a beautifully minimalist game of exploration and survival amidst the planets. It's simple enough to be easily pick-up-and-play, but with enough challenge that a brief run still feels satisfying. The drifting universe and ambient soundtrack are properly relaxing, while trying to land on a planet for desperately-needed fuel while it slowly rotates beneath you and you try not to drift into the ocean or a mountain makes for a nicely tense moment of piloting. Unfortunately, bugs hold it back from its full potential at point in time. The void is filled with asteroids and other cosmic hazards, aliens wander between planets, the sun is not only burning hot, but in possession of a worryingly strong gravity well, and stray comets briefly light up the sky. The quest to find and create a new homeworld has plenty of room for disaster to strike, but it's also a lovely journey through a vibrant night sky.
The sheer volume of content is fantastic, making it as easy to replay a mode over and over again for practice as it is to bounce from one game type to another for the shooter version of Short Attention Span Theater. Mushihimesama is a phenomenal arcade game and an indispensable addition to any shooter fan's library.
Downwell is a fantastic arcade game from the '80s transplanted into a modern-day computer. The pixely art style and minimal color palette reinforce its influences but the animation and number of different moving parts on screen at once are nothing 80s hardware would have been able to keep up with. The interlocking gameplay elements are far smarter than they look at first glance, teaching you how to play and get better while also not being shy about killing you dead.
Whether it's figuring out how to land on a platform so that, when it starts swinging, you don't get dumped into the acid below, or guiding a rocket up an angled shaft so it carries you to the plants above, or sacrificing a chunk of mass so that it can get fried carrying electricity from generator to door, Mushroom 11 demands each area be looked at with the lessons learned from previous sections. The wasteland of the corpse of civilization is not a forgiving place, but with a little care and a huge amount of perseverance, the fungus' journey may let it see what lies at the conclusion of the unforgettable journey of Mushroom 11.
The Talos Principle: Deluxe Edition is a fantastic package of two great first-person puzzlers. It's basically identical to the PC version, so if you've got those already there's not much need to double-dip, but otherwise it's a must-own.
Pixel Galaxy is a clever little non-shooter where your only ability is to move and convert enemies into helpers, and as simple as the endless squares that make up its art are, they look great in motion. There are a lot of creative weapons and bullet patterns to dodge through, and constant tug-of-war with the enemy swarms is a lot of fun until it becomes a constant beatdown.
Death Ray Manta is pure '80s arcade, but the way we'd like to remember it rather than how it actually was. Quick, accessible gameplay with not an ounce of fat on its bones is backed up by an art style that's more about design than intricacy.
Eschatos merges the classic vertical shooter with a modern style of action while avoiding bullet hell, making for a fast, accessible and incredibly fun dose of pure arcade goodness