Split Fiction is one of the best genre crossing, action packed, adrenaline rushing, heart wrenching games both Jason and myself have ever played. A few hours in, we were dodging ogres and shooting down ships. By the end of the game, our friendship became stronger, our hearts grew three times larger, and we realized that Split Fiction is one of the best games of this era. Anyone saying otherwise, is spitting fiction.
Eternal Strands has potential to be a great action adventure game, but it is weighed down by eternal fetch quests. It's beautiful to look at, but hard to withstand the hand holding hinderance. I know who this is for, but there are better entries to scratch your magic weaving itch.
Trombone Champ: Unflattened takes cues from it's predecessor, and is maybe too difficult at first. Once you get the hang of it, it picks up rather nicely. It's not the pick up and laugh uncontrollably game it used to be, but it's definitely one of those get friends in the room, and watch trombonic chaos ensue.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Revenge leaves a lot to the future. If the DLC and future patches make the game faster, and more enjoyable, then you'll have a solid game on your hands. In it's current state, it's slow, it's repetitive, and some features are admittingly missing. A wise man once said "A delayed game is eventually good, a rushed game is bad forever." MMPR: RR is somewhere in the middle.
Tetris Forever is a pretty slick package. You learn a lot that you didn't know, and it's cool to know that Tetris will definitely be around if all other games were to go by the wayside. With so many ways to play it, and so many systems, I would've loved to see more of a variation, or versions of Tetris. "Play Tetris, My Friends" is the quote in the opening by Mr. Pajitnov himself. I would, but there's so much Bombtriss blocking the way.
Retrorealms pays homage to two of the biggest horror franchises, and their respective fan bases here. I suppose if you're a hardcore fan, and you like video games, this is kind of cool. If you meet one of these criteria, maybe play a demo first. Great pixel art, great music, but definitely comparing it to the Halloween with Busta Rhymes.
Maestro puts the hand tracking of the Meta Quest 3 to the test, and nails it. With song familiarity, unlocks galore, and a simple, yet fun and challenging interface, this is a game you don't want to pass up. Even if you're not a musician, you'll be pleased with the hand tracking by itself, and that's going to get Maestro a lot of roses. Bravo.
Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is a sandbox collect-a-thon that pays homage to the earliest eras of Disney creations. This no risk/no reward game looks good from the opening, but just seems like an animated feature that went on for 12 hours too long. With too much chatter, not enough fun, and literal pocket thinner, Epic is not the word I would paint here.
Yars: Rising is an ambitious spiritual sequel to Yars' Revenge, and will give you a challenge; Wayforward and Atari worked their magic all through this one. Not so much in enemy variation, but Emi keeps the combat exciting and fun, and the hacks are that old Atari 2600 difficulty. Samus and Megaman would be proud. You will be too.
Super Evil Mega Corp may have struck gold with their take on the TMNT franchise, but with an empty story, a myriad of audio problems, and the same difficulty as an actual turtle flipped over, a game that wants you to play it over and over makes it impossible to play it over and over. I guess everything that turtles, ain't gold. Splintered fate, indeed.
Spin Rhythm XD is a straight forward package. It knows it's humble origins, and isn't trying to reinvent the wheel. Better still, this is a game that shines a new light on several artists and songs you may never have heard. Challenging and unforgiving at times, in all the best ways. The only drawback is that there is zero multi-player. Still, while I am late to the party, I'm now within the spin cycle. Pick this up.
Minishoot' Adventures is a non hand holding, bullet hell, Legend of Zelda like shoot-em-up with Smash TV elements. If you want a game with all that thrown in, then this game is for you. Don't sleep on this one. It's so good. You're guaranteed to lose your ship.
Though I am so far impressed with these Gold Master Series, this one is ranked 3rd out of 3, if I include the amazing Atari 50. I respect the hell out of Jeff Minter for being THE indie game creator. There are some games missing that may come at a later date, and some that I'll never play again. But I think that's what Jeff wants. Stay weird, Mr. Minter. Stay weird.
WWE2K24 is more of the same. The added matches are a nice addition, but there are some caveats made here. The visuals seem off-putting, and some of the single player modes are overkill. If you're looking to slam someone to the mat with a near current roster, grab this. But be wary - it may need a little bit more time in the ring.
Cricket Through The Ages isn't much about Cricket, and that's ok. It starts slow, but with a pretty cool payoff in unlocking the other modes. It's way more entertaining to watch others play it, but you playing at home, alone, trying to convince other people to play it, is useless. Fire it up, hand your friends the controllers, and watch chaos ensue.
Tekken 8 is not just a return to form, it's a Tekken masterpiece. Without question, this is the most fun I've had playing a Tekken game in a very long time. It's only a matter of time for people to call this one scrubby too, and I am here for it. Harada, hat tip to you. Beautiful and very fun game.
Cookie Cutter is a good Metroidvania, elevated by some pretty stellar graphics. Don't expect to walk through this one - the game raises the difficulty in response to your character powering up. A lot of value here for the asking price.
Sanabi is a secret masterpiece. I don't know why it's a secret, but it is. It's a platforming clinic, with extremely tight controls, and the story hit me in the center of my heart. You'll probably play it one more time to speed run it, but I wont. Some games are better left one and done. This is one of those games. Unbelievable.
Everything you wanted to know about Karateka, but was afraid to ask, is here. Digital Eclipse has done it again. The bonus reimagined games are cool too. Go save the girl, and shoot down some alien bats. If this is the first in the series, I'm ready to get kicked in the face, multiple times.
Wrestlequest has a cool idea on paper, but the battle system is clunky at best. That mixed with unlikable characters, and legends that deserve a better video game, make WrestleQuest very hard to care about at all. Like a certain wrestling companies PSA, "Please, don't try this at home."