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Wonder Boy Collection is another nice collection of classic games from ININ Games but one that has some downsides. Not only is it missing important entries like Monster Boy III but the physical version releasing later has more to offer than the digital version. If you don’t care about that though you still are getting four pretty good entries here and with some nice quality of life additions like save states and rewind there has never been a better time to experience these titles.
Super Perils of Baking is a fun and family-friendly 2D platformer that can provide hours of enjoyment. It doesn’t do anything new really but it borrows ideas from many platformer greats to create a fun experience of its own. Even if you played the original game back in 2018, I recommend playing this one too as the team did a great job improving the look and adding enough new content to sink your teeth into.
Rage Among the Stars is a solid 2D pixel-art platformer that offers plenty of challenge but one that won’t last you but a brief time. It won’t cost you very much to buy it though so if you have a few dollars to spend on helping this little alien overcome some tough challenges while earning some easy trophies along the way then give it a go.
For a game made by one man, Remote Life is a very impressive shmup that any fan of the genre should check out. The twin-stick controls make it feel quite a bit different from other shmups and using all the different weapons on offer is a blast. The high-octane gameplay is also matched by some of the most impressive 3D visuals I’ve seen in a shoot ‘em up. While it has some issues in level design, Remote Life is still absolutely worth your time.
Pretty Girls: Speed is another casual anime girl card game that can be fun for a brief period of time but that’s all. There isn’t much to the gameplay but clicking a few buttons to place cards and doing that over and over gets quite repetitive. Fans of the card game Speed or trophy hunters will likely be the only ones that this appeals to.
TOKOYO: The Tower of Perpetuity is a challenging 2D roguelike platformer that has some neat ideas going for it. The tower layout changing daily for everyone in the world is cool and ensures that you’ll always have a new challenge to look forward to. It can get repetitive playing the same tower over and over during a day though so best to just dip in and out of this one if you want to get the most enjoyment out of it.
Blow & Fly is an OK physics puzzle game that will give you some brief fun but not much else after that. For a few dollars you’ll get to help this fish leap through some tricky levels and into toilets at the end of them while earning some easy trophies along the way.
If you call yourself a fan of bullet hell shoot ‘em ups then you owe it to yourself to play Rolling Gunner + Over Power. While there isn’t much here for extra modes what is here is an absolute action-packed treat. It’s got challenging gameplay, great art and sound design, and the Over Power DLC makes the game feel completely different to play from the base game. When people talk about what are some of the best shoot ‘em ups, Rolling Gunner deserves to be among them.
Mini Motorways is a puzzle game with a simple premise but one that I’ve grown quite addicted to. It doesn’t have a ton of content to play through but each time I attempted to build out the roads in one of these cities and failed, I was tempted to jump back in and try a different strategy. It’s the perfect type of game to just jump into when you have a few minutes here and there.
Cotton Fantasy is a great new entry in this classic shoot ‘em up franchise that should please any fan of the genre. It’s colorful, fun, and offers up a range of different playstyles thanks to the varied playable characters. My biggest gripes against it are that it just doesn’t have much for extra modes or gameplay features which could be a tough pill to swallow for those who see the current asking price. Whether you play it now or sometime in the future though, Cotton Fantasy is a great time and I hope we see further new entries in the franchise moving forward.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong is a fun and intriguing third-person investigation game but one that is also a tad disappointing in certain areas. The visuals leave a lot to be desired, the voice acting from a lot of the characters is poor, and some patches need to come along to fix some of the more annoying bugs. Outside of those things I really enjoyed how different each of the three Vampires felt and the number of ways situations could play out depending on information you found or how your skills are leveled. If you’re looking for a new game to play that has a lot of player choice then you’ll likely enjoy your time with Swansong.
RESEARCH and DESTROY is a quirky and fun turn-based strategy game but one that needs a bit more work fleshing out its ideas to be great. I really liked the cartoon horror vibe of it and planning out my moves but it just grew a bit too repetitive for me over time and having respawning enemies was a poor choice in my opinion. It’s perfectly playable solo but if you can this is one of those games best experienced in co-op.
Unpacking is a wonderful gem from an independent team that tried something drastically different from their last game and succeeded in the execution. It manages to tell an emotional and intimate tale just by having you unpack objects over and over and that is to be commended. If you’re looking for a relaxing game to spend a few hours with that doesn’t ask a lot out of you then Unpacking is the game for you.
The Serpent Rogue can be a bit daunting to get into but if you fancy an action/adventure roguelike game that doesn’t hold your hand and dabbles in a lot of crafting then you’ll really enjoy it. The world is fun to explore and there is always something new to find or something new to research and craft to use. It has some things that can be improved but overall, I really enjoyed this cel-shaded medieval fantasy trip.
Metal Tales: Overkill’s twin-stick shooting gameplay and metal soundtrack is enjoyable for a short while but it falls out of tune fast. The game is kind of ugly to look at and you’ll likely finish it or grow bored of it pretty fast as I did. The game also needs a patch or two to fix some annoying bugs. It can be a fun time waster for an hour or two either by yourself or with a friend locally but it doesn’t have much to offer outside of that.
Lumote: The Mastermote Chronicles is a challenging and beautiful 3D puzzle platformer but one whose design could frustrate some players out there. I enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere of the game and for the most part didn’t struggle too much with solving the puzzles. For others though, I can see how they could get stuck with not really knowing where to go or what to do and that is worth considering before making your purchase.
Andro Dunos II is a solid side-scrolling shoot ‘em up that should please any fan of the original but one that also doesn’t have a lot going for it. It is very light on content in terms of modes and without it even having online leaderboards, you’ll probably be done with it in a couple hours. My overall stance on it is that it was fun while it lasted but I don’t think you need to rush out and play this shoot ‘em up right away.
This War of Mine: Final Cut is an emotional and meaningful survival game that will give you a really good idea of what people are going through in places where war is raging. This new version is the most visually detailed version yet and the DLC is worth checking out with it. It’s a game that deeply affected me emotionally back in 2014 and now in 2022 has done it all over again with what is going on in the world today. I honestly can’t recommend this one enough.
Marble Maid seemed like a fun kind of Monkey Ball game up until I got frustrated with chasing down those annoying dust bunnies while the clock ticked away. There were moments of enjoyment in it but unless you really want to play it for the fan service material then I’m not sure you are missing out on much by skipping it.
Rogue Lords is another solid roguelike game for fans of the genre but one that also has some issues with RNG and repetitiveness. I really dug the art style and voice acting but the gameplay doesn’t hold up as well over the long haul of these chapters. Altering things in your favor though with the risk/reward essence mechanic did feel pretty unique though and I don’t regret my time playing the game at all. If you’re a fan of the genre and don’t mind it feeling a little unfair at times then you’ll likely enjoy this.