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While this doesn’t have as long of a tail as Infernax and other great modern NES inspired games, Prison City is a damn fun time with a solid soundtrack, excellent graphics and some truly fun gameplay. Developers who show what’s possible to pull off with the designs of old have a special place in my heart, and I really had a blast as the game got more and more bananas. There’s a great time to be held whether you’re slowly trudging through or actively trying to speedrun, and anyone who grew up loving Commando and Heavy Barrel will have a blast.
Unfortunately, despite me really wanting to like and recommend NORSE: Oath of Blood, it seemed to fight me at every turn. There is something here that I hope will eventually be great. Perhaps in a few more months, after a handful of patches, this can be something good, because the foundation is there. Combat is fun, and there is a nice variety of moves and combinations with the attacks. While I would like a bit more freedom with the base building, I can see how a more streamlined version would appeal to some. However, none of this can shine in the state it is currently in.
Saying that Tokyo Xtreme Racer feels like I’m playing a niche, mid-tier title from the PS2 era is not a point of criticism in this case. Even if it’s not aiming for the same kind of realism and impressive scopes seen in more recent racing gaming franchises, I can easily say there is nothing else like it out in the market. It perfectly oozes the easygoing vibes from that era of consoles without the graphical or resolution limitations from the period.
My verdict for this re-release of City Hunter is similar to pretty much any other subpar licensed game I have ever tested. If you’re a fan of the source material, as niche as it might be nowadays, you might enjoy it for a few minutes, as this is the only City Hunter game that has ever been developed and released. If you’re not part of this very specific demographic, then there’s nothing about this game that will either make you enjoy it, or turn you into a fan of the manga.
Reigns: The Witcher is superbly well-written, and masterfully integrated into the world and lore of Andrzej Sapkowski and CD Projekt Red’s works. It doesn’t feel like a cheap cashgrab. On the contrary, you can clearly see that Devolver, CDPR and Nerial worked together in order to come up with an engaging random story simulator that feels right at home in this world full of liars, deceivers, and terrible outcomes for everyone.
Revolgear Zero is the quintessential example of game feel being the most important aspect of an interactive piece of software: it doesn’t innovate in terms of visuals, sound, or controls, but knows how to appease players with how powerful your weapons are, and with the sheer insane amount of rewards you acquire whenever you defeat hordes of enemy ships or a giant boss.
Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition is an odd collection to talk about. On one hand, I was shocked at how well its visuals have aged, and I love how the addition of a rewind feature makes these once-frustrating games a lot more bearable to deal with. I also love the fact this absolute classic of a game is now preserved to posterity. But I also expected more from it. In terms of side content, the only neat inclusion worth speaking of is the 1992 SNES prototype. No interviews, no extras, no art galleries, no nothing.
Romeo is a Dead Man is a weird, wacky, and insane work of art in all the right ways. Where it lacks in combat depth and enemy variety it more than makes up with a plethora of other gameplay ideas and a hilarious and fun Bastard system. With the constant visual treats and new ideas it constantly threw at me, as well as a time and space jumping story with an interesting twist on Romeo and Juliet, it kept me hooked to the very end.
The Rumble Fish 2 is a fun fighting game that will definitely click with the old school crowd. It is niche, it is weird, and it feels great to actually play. Once you start running sets with someone, it is hard to complain because the combat really does carry it. That said, the DLC still feels a bit cheeky, and the whole package comes off as pretty dated. It might have made more sense to bundle both games together as a collection and throw in some extra bonuses to really make it worth diving into. As it stands, this Switch 2 port is a fun but pretty barebones experience.
Jaws: Retro Edition does exactly what you’d expect it to do and more. You’ve got the original Jaws NES game, and then a version that is superior in every way for someone who doesn’t have neural roots in playing it as a child.
The overall effect is just…mediocre to poor. This would have been better remaining as a DS memory.
God of War: Sons of Sparta is a very interesting prologue to the series as a whole, and a welcome return to the franchise’s original Greek setting, but as a metroidvania… I mean, it’s good, but it’s nothing I haven’t seen and played dozens of times before, especially in a post-Silksong and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown world.
There’s probably going to be weeks, if not months, of fans running numbers, dissecting builds and figuring out the best way to succeed, and that will be exciting to unpack…once it’s done. In the meantime, dedicated players who really enjoy SRPG combat with a massive dose of oddball aesthetic will find something truly unique and engaging with Mewgenics. It’s got plenty to experience, so don’t dismiss it right away. But please note that it is a learning process, and, if you don’t get it immediately, it might take all nine of your lives.
Having said that, my quiet, peaceful experience with Fighting Fantasy Classics Vol. 1 was perfect for these cold winter days. I don’t want to venture outside and go do something active and frostbitten. I want to hunker down with a flagon of mead (Mellow Yellow) and get my exercise by turning pages and reading about busting heads. I don’t have to worry about losing my dice underneath the kotatsu, I can just push a button and then keep pushing it if I don’t like the numbers. I’m my own dungeon master, and this is a fantastic, tight and wonderfully replayable solo adventure.
It makes me feel the same way I felt about the Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King collection. We were young and didn’t have many better options for games centered around licensed IPs back then, so we were more patient and willing to look past the glaring flaws within these games. Now that we have countless better options at our fingertips, I think it’s better to leave some relics from our past in the past.
Tokyo Scramble isn’t a bad game by any means. It’s very much middle of the road. It does look exciting at times, with some areas standing out more than others, and overall it’s a pretty good-looking game. Anne and the Zinos are well designed, and some of the tactics you use to progress are genuinely interesting. That said, the AI doesn’t always behave the way it should, and once you get the hang of things, the experience can start to feel repetitive. The story is easily the weakest part, unfortunately, but when your premise is basically “sinkhole leads to dinosaurs,” there’s only so much you can expect.
If you are a fan of Little Nightmares, you will most likely love Reanimal as well. Whilst it rarely breaks the formula, delivering a fairly predictable gameplay loop, yet a wildly creative horror experience that had me hooked from the moment I hit play to the end credits. In the end, I was hoping for just a little bit more.
Crisol: Theater of Idols is an immense collection of great ideas, good intentions, tons of sources of inspiration, and an interesting setting, but hampered by trying to bite way more than it could chew. I loved its setting and atmosphere, but it’s not scary enough to be called a fully-fledged horror game, it’s not action-packed enough to be considered a first-person shooter, nor is it explorable or full of gameplay elements like an immersive sim. The game sits right in the middle of all these elements, clearly showcasing its sources of inspiration, and having enough ideas to make it stand out as something unique, but never being more than just that: a good, well-intentioned, creepy, but flawed game.
Blood: Refreshed Supply was always a highly anticipated title by the boomer shooter crowd, and it was seemingly an impossible task due to some copyright issues. Now that the proper paperwork has been taken care of, it’s time to rejoice.
Super Bomberman Collection may only cover a very specific slice of the franchise’s more than forty-game history, but it works perfectly as a reminder of why Bomberman became such a beloved series in the first place. Every single title included here is a blast to play, no pun intended. The visuals are charming, the music os fantastic, and the core gameplay loop is just THAT good.