I enjoyed my time with Undisputed. It features a wealth of licensed boxers but also allows you to create your own and take on a career. The Career mode is detailed enough to be exciting but could have used a few tweaks such as letting us hit the gym to practise our moves before the scheduled matches. Without that ability, this title does feel a little empty. Especially given that it has been in Early Access on PC for a while now. That said though, the presentation, overall, is excellent; the characters look great, and battle arenas cover everything from gyms to full-on television with commentators calling the shots as we fight in the ring. Undisputed is an admirable piece of work, but just needed a little more than in-ring action to make it the king of the hill.
Overall, EA Sports FC 25 is another solid entry in a franchise that has now spanned three decades. It still offers something for everyone, whether that be casual fans or more passionate fans of the sport. It still has that classic accessible gameplay, but also has the meat on the bones for the hardcore to really dig into. You can manage your favourite team, play for your favourite team, or start from scratch and live your dreams as a professional footballer. The multiplayer aspect of playing football against another human, for me, is up there with the most exciting (and frustrating) tests of patience and friendship. This series has always been the gold standard for that experience, despite throwing a controller once or twice this time around. I still want to go back for more.
I have a lot of respect for Monster Jam Showdown, this is the kind of title that a lesser developer might have just gone through the motions with. But this time around the full force of Unreal 5 is unleashed, creating a frequently stunning and impressive-looking game. Despite their size, the superstars of Monster Jam handle brilliantly the different environments and challenges on offer. Given that most fans who attend the real-life shows or watch on TV will have their favourite truck and driver it is a bit of a shame that pretty much all of the trucks need to be unlocked via play time and challenges. Other than that though, believe it or not, I have played a tonne of Monster Truck-themed games in my lifetime and the bar is higher than you might think. Monster Jam Showdown gets a pass from me.
Overall the remake of Riven is an excellent effort on all fronts. The original Riven was already an exceptionally high quality title that is still playable even today. This new ground-up remake takes that epic title and introduces it to a new generation. This is definitely its final form and stands on its own as an excellent release. I highly recommend it, not just to fans of the original but to any gamer who enjoys puzzle games.
Penny's Big Breakaway is big on ambition, for a studio the size of Evening Star they have turned in a title that is a cut above the 3D action adventure norm, most of the time. At its best, Penny's is vibrant, colourful and packed with imaginative ideas and mechanics. The use of momentum feels natural and the level design feels intuitive. The overall presentation is excellent and is backed by a banging soundtrack that brings the game to life. That said, there are moments where Penny's Big Breakway crosses the threshold from difficult/tricky and into frustrating territory. Whilst not bad enough or frequent enough to ruin the experience, it did create moments where I felt I needed to put the controller down and take a break. Overall though, in a genre flooded with competitors, if you are looking for something different, Penny's Big Breakaway could be just the ticket.
Top Racer Collection does what it says on the box, it contains the three SNES games from the series, pretty much unchanged. The collection provides the bare-bones quality-of-life options that are usually expected including changing screen size and playing with filters. Some new gameplay options such as online play are present as well. Unfortunately, given the number of better alternatives in this genre, both past and modern, this collection is a bit of a hard sell. However, I acknowledge that the series does have a huge following in some parts of the world, and for those that simply want to play Top Racer again, in their original form and on modern consoles, then this collection will sort them out.
Compared to the original, House Flipper 2 is a more than decent renovation and sale. Built from the ground up it features crisp, clean, better graphics. It features more attention to detail for the little things such as cleaning up, taking out trash and so on. It also features no less than three different environments with houses to match. The client jobs are time well spent, interesting and with decent rewards. After doing my first few 'flips' I felt like I did not want to let my creations go. But on the flip side, I miss the assembly and the features added to the original game over time like proper gardening and pets in particular. Those should have been implemented here as standard, but House Flipper 2 still manages to scratch the same satisfying itch as its predecessor.
EA Sports WRC is definitely not a let down and is a more than worthy successor to Dirt Rally 2.0. Even though I had some concerns about a new game engine and wondered if that gameplay would translate, thankfully those fears were unfounded. Make no mistake, this is a solid racing game featuring plenty of cars, plenty of locations (plus loads of stages within them) and excellent gameplay be that via wheel or pad.
Make no mistake, Forza Motorsport is a couch racer designed for a gamepad so people looking for a simulation experience need not apply. Overall, Turn 10 has got the job done, delivering a title that looks fantastic and is an enjoyable play. Unfortunately, Forza Motorsport lets itself down in a few areas, mainly the career mode which is very basic as well as (arguably) a focus on road cars which makes it feel more like a track day rather than a serious racer. Forza Motorsport is pretty good, it's just not yet at the level of its competitors, nor is it as fun as Forza Horizon which puts it in a very difficult position. It's just not different enough; even the menus are the same and so are the majority of the cars on offer. The online experience was a highlight, and will probably be the key part of the game that will keep me coming back for more.
RIDE 5 sets the bar for motorbike simulation on a console in the same way that Gran Turismo 7 does for cars. In my view, GT7 is this game's nearest neighbour, and that is good company. The level of detail present here is admirable, not just in the high-quality visuals for the bikes and environments but also in the detail, the little things like the handling, the options available to tweak your experience and the like. It's clear a significant amount of effort, care and love has gone into RIDE 5 – this is not everybody's cup of tea by a long shot, but this is an impressive title nonetheless.
Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise Of The Dragons does a reasonable job of bringing back a classic series, but it's unfortuantely hit and miss. Some imaginative stage design, a fantastic soundtrack, and stages changing dependent on the order you pick are all satisfying additions. But a focus on making money to earn tokens, some nasty difficulty spikes, and what feels like forced replayability detracts from the experience. This is close enough to a classic Double Dragon title that it'll likely attract some fans of the originals. However, it's also an example of a game that could have gone a little further and perhaps should have considered taking some inspiration from other successful recent revivals in the genre.
Put simply, Sonic Frontiers is the best 3D Sonic game ever made, and a fantastic step in the right direction that bodes very well for the future of everybody's favourite blue hedgehog.