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Gears of War: Reloaded is a welcome introduction to the universe for PlayStation players who never played it before but it not being a remake causes it to show its age. The campaign is still fun but the dated enemy AI is frustrating and the visuals, while improved, don’t impress in a lot of areas.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is a remake that remains faithful to Kojima’s masterful original vision while also making it look stunning and play like a modern day game.
Konami and M2 have crafted a fine collection here that any fan of Gradius should check out. With three Gradius titles, three Salamander titles, and Life Force here there is a lot of shoot ’em up gameplay to enjoy even if it is hard as heck.
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 + 4 is a solid remake of the original games. It’s fun to play and a great way to experience both titles for the first time. The THPS3 portion, in particular, is strong and feels faithful to the original, making it well worth your time. While the THPS4 side of the game does take a bit of a step down mainly due to the changes in structure and missing content, it’s by no means bad however.
It hurts to say this, but The House of the Dead 2 Remake is not the amazing return that I, and so many other fans, had been hoping for. There is definitely fun to be had here, and I would not call it a bad game by any means. It does its job as a remake of HOTD2, but it falls way short of being a great one.
College Football 26 has worked to improve in most of the right areas over the product that was put on the field last year. Dynasty Mode has brought back a lot of missing features from older entries, the gameplay has been expanded and tuned to give you more options and more fair, and the visual and audio presentation immerses you in the game day experience more than ever.
Sonic x Shadow Generations on the Nintendo Switch 2 is an experience far closer to say the PlayStation 5 version but it isn’t worth double dipping for.
Mario Kart World is hard to not recommend for those who pick up a Nintendo Switch 2 but at launch it doesn’t surpass Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the podium.
Yakuza 0: Director’s Cut is probably still the best place to start if you are new to Yakuza but previous players won’t be missing much. The new story scenes and Red Light mode aren’t worth it in my opinion to pay full price again for this if you played Yakuza 0 before. If you are new though I can’t recommend it enough and the new English voices are a nice addition.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is the best version of the game you can play, that is undeniable. This version cleans up all the performance issues that were present on the Nintendo Switch while also giving a nice resolution boost with HDR. The Zelda Notes feature is kind of useless to me but others may find it helpful.
When I think over my few hours spent with Sunshine Manor, I can’t think of a lot I didn’t like about it. It has a great retro presentation that makes good use of creepy imagery, the sound design is well done, and solving the puzzles never was frustrating. Some may wish it was longer or more challenging but if you just want a spooky adventure to last you a night this is one worth going on.
Gastro Force wears its DOOM inspirations on its sleeve but it doesn’t do anything to elevate itself to being as memorable. It plays well and looks good but doesn’t have enough variety in the visuals, enemies, music, or weapons to really stand out.
Days of Doom has an appealing comic book presentation and some nice ideas but it doesn’t do enough to standout from other tactical roguelites.
Smurfs Kart is a family-friendly kart racer that makes good use of the Smurfs license but runs out of gas a bit too fast. The controls are easy for anyone to pick up, the tracks have some nice layouts, and the characters feel different enough but there just isn’t enough here for modes to make this a must-play for kart racing fans.
Sephonie is an interesting puzzle-platformer but one that didn’t leave a lasting impression on myself. The sci-fi story didn’t do much for me, the platforming and puzzles needed more work to make them more enjoyable, and the visuals aren’t very detailed. There is plenty of options to make it so anyone can get through it but I think there are many better options in the genre out there to spend your time on.
Moving Out 2 provides more variety and adds some new features to improve on what the first game did so well. There is some fun level design across the different dimensions, the writing is funny once again, and there is plenty of ways to play with friends locally or online regardless of their skill level.
Sword and Fairy Inn 2 is a relaxing management game but one that didn’t make the transition from mouse and keyboard to console very well. Navigating menus with the controls here is annoying and while building up your inn is fun for a while, the repetition of tasks starts to set in later on.
Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is a platformer straight out of the PlayStation 2 era and whether that is a good or bad thing is up to you to decide. While the gameplay and visuals are pretty basic, I enjoyed running and jumping through these levels for the few hours that they lasted.
Ray’z Arcade Chronology is a great collection of vertical shoot ‘em ups but one that could’ve been even better. The games here have great emulation quality and will provide plenty of hours of shoot ‘em up fun for any fan of the genre. It’s just that it could’ve been even better if all the titles were included in the digital version and if there was more extra content like Museum type stuff.
Enclave HD provides quite a bit to do across its two campaigns but as an HD re-release it sadly disappoints. The visuals didn’t get enough of a touchup and the gameplay and mission design very much show their age.