I remember the day well. It was a quiet Saturday morning during June 2021 when a handful of games were free to play on Xbox over the course of that weekend. Nothing unusual there, but this weekend happened to include the Netflix show tie-in Cobra Kai – published by prolific licensed software purveyors GameMill. I’ve …
No sooner than purchasing TMNT Mutants Unleashed from everyone’s favourite high-street second hand retailer, said pseudo-movie follow-up was available to play for free on Xbox throughout a weekend. Turns out this wasn’t a blow to my wallet, as it was merely a two-hour trial. At around 12-14 hours, this isn’t something that could have been …
When the UK based Fleetway launched Sonic the Comic in 1993 it’s doubtful they realised how popular it would become, finally trailing off into the sunset in 2002 – roughly a year after SEGA revealed plans to go multi-format, and even outliving the Dreamcast. The runaway success of StC inspired another UK publishing house to …
When Aspyr began re-releasing Star Wars games almost five years ago, it was assumed they were going to choose from the best of the bunch. While this was the case for a while, with early remasters including Episode 1 Racer and the former Xbox exclusive Republic Commando, the conversion specialists presently appears to be simply …
Historia’s free-to-play party racer Faaast Penguin finally arrived on the Xbox Store over the festive period, having successfully launched on other platforms a few months prior. While a full review would be of questionable use (free games are regularly updated with new modes and content) it is worth discussing what it gets right and wrong. …
It’s tricky to talk about 2022’s Atari Mania without mentioning the Wario Ware series, so I may as well get it out of the way: Atari Mania is brazenly influenced by Nintendo’s celebrated microgame compendiums. In some ways it’s more diverse, but never any better for it. And it certainly isn’t any better than even …
In this digital age, gaming is almost synonymous with Christmas. There’s no better time of year for the younger generation to ask their parents for a new game console, gaming credit vouchers, or an assortment of new releases. For the older generation, Christmas also represents a time to catch up on games they may have …
It’s easy to forget that the SEGA Dreamcast was the most technically advanced console available when it launched, making the PSone and N64 look considerably dated in comparison. Sonic Adventure initially wowed gamers and critics alike, featuring heavily in marketing campaigns. Later during the console’s short life titles such as Metropolis Street Racer and Shenmue …
Publisher Sunsoft made a name for themselves in the ‘80s by releasing high quality licensed games on the NES and Game Boy, based on such properties as Batman, Gremlins and Looney Tunes. Terminator and Superman games were once in development for the NES too, only to have their licenses revoked mid-development. It seems this played …
Konami’s scrolling arcade beat’em ups from the ‘90s are well documented online, with countless ‘let’s play’ videos available on YouTube and full written histories for certain key entries. Some of these games are even playable on modern consoles, with the likes of Turtles in Time and its predecessor gaining re-releases via The Cowabunga Collection. Nowadays …
Since its debut in 1993, EA’s FIFA series has been a huge commercial success. It arguably hit the big leagues when the franchise first hit the 32-bit formats, with the new CD-based technology allowing for greater realism and presentation closer to what footie fans saw, and heard, on their TV screens during a typical Saturday …
It’s always neat when a demo of an upcoming game has more to offer than just a level or two. I’m not referring to things like ten-hour trials, as beneficial as they are, but rather when a developer turns a demo into a standalone product, such as a prologue. That’s the case with KIBORG: Arena, …
London-based publisher Blast Entertainment was a latecomer to the PlayStation 2, arriving on the scene in 2006. To put this into more perspective, the PS2 was about to enter its twilight years, with the Xbox 360 and Wii already available – and soon to be joined by the PS3. There was a strategy behind this. …
The NSO service updated earlier this week, revealing a distinct theme to Nintendo diehards – the three new titles added to the Game Boy library were all launch titles for the monochromatic marvel, launching 1989 in Japan and the US, with Europe trailing behind in 1990. Glancing over reviews from ‘90s gaming critics, via …
When I play games, I play with the experience gained from other games. I might mess around with the combat system to see how it differs from similar titles. I might look at the responsiveness and intuitiveness of the controls and compare them to genre standouts. With Endless Ocean Luminous things were remarkably different; I …