Most Played: Antstream Arcade (Xbox)

This month has been busy for ol’ Games Asylum, bouncing from one new release to another. After plugging twelve hours into The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island, I invested roughly the same amount of time into Penny’s Big Breakaway, followed by playing Cartel Tycoon and Highwater for a good eight hours each. This, understandably, hasn’t …

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The UK retail chart sees four new arrivals within the top ten

The UK’s retail chart is a hubbub of activity, especially within the top ten. In fact, we almost saw an all new top five. Despite four new entries in the top ten though, the UK’s no.1 remains unchanged, with the top spot occupied by the currently discounted EA Sports FC 24. Capcom’s very well received …

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Out this week: South Park: Snow Day, Planet Zoo, Open Roads, Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles, Grandia HD Collection, more

It’s a modest week for new releases, with a handful of titles to consider playing while devouring chocolate eggs over the upcoming long Easter weekend. That’s if you can tear yourself away from the potential GOTY candidate Dragon’s Dogma II, which appears to be drawing a lot of people’s attention currently. THQ Nordic are back …

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A Little to the Left review

Just two decades ago, publishers wouldn’t touch anything that wasn’t heavily action orientated, with even puzzle games occasionally struggling to secure a publishing deal. Indeed, the landscape is very different today, where games fall into every genre imaginable. And perhaps some even beyond the typical imagination – A Little to the Left is based around …

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Contra: Operation Galuga review

In all my years of gaming, I’ve rarely heard a bad word about Contra – Konami’s 1987 hard but fair run ‘n gun shooter. It’s the game that often headlines dubious NES-based plug ‘n play consoles, no doubt much to Konami’s infuriation. Even today, when a new run ‘n gun game is announced it’s usually …

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Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story review

You never forget your first. This is especially true for anyone who has played a Jeff Minter game. I was introduced to the mind of Minter in 1993, discovering Llamatron 2112 on an Amiga shareware disk. The use of llamas and goofy enemies made for a memorable experience, putting a nonsensical spin on the seminal …

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Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection review

Star Wars games trailed off in quality during the 32-bit era, with the likes of Jedi Power Battles, Demolition, Masters of Teräs Käsi, and the Phantom Menace tie-in failing to offer more than a couple hours of entertainment for even the biggest of Star Wars fans. A couple of these duds even spilt over to …

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Highwater review

When it comes to games based around climate change, ergo melting ice caps and rising oceans, the first bar was set astonishingly low. Ocean’s Waterworld games were, ironically, no better than the movie – and I struggle to think of anything before 1995. Since then, numerous developers have given us flooded worlds to explore, usually …

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Cartel Tycoon review

Presumably to prevent angering an entire continent, it’s never revealed where Cartel Tycoon takes place – even though it’s glaringly obvious. The same applied to the Tropico series, clearly inspired by the Cuban lifestyle but instead falling back on the term ‘banana republic’. There’s fair reasoning behind this, with the writers of The Simpsons once …

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