Reviews – Games Asylum

Evercade Piko Interactive Collection 3 review

The easiest thing to admire about the Evercade range is how carefully curated each collection feels. The majority feature a well-known hit (consequently giving the packaging a cover star), along with a few lesser-known games – some of which can be considered hidden gems – and a couple...

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Raiden III x MIKADO MANIAX review

This latest Raiden re-release takes us back to the PlayStation 2 era, reviving 2005’s Raiden III. Just like Raiden IV, re-released a few months ago, the original version will set you back a pretty penny these days, with eBay suggesting a good-condition copy will run you close to...

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Aquarist review

Rich attempted to review the Switch version of Aquarist last November, but despite best efforts, couldn’t make much progress. The iffy controls, awkward camera movement, and poor presentation let down what should have been a relaxing experience. The developers had, somehow, made a game involving setting up aquariums...

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The Lord of the Rings: Gollum review

How do you create a large-scale video game solely centered around Gollum? It’s a question the developers at Daedalic likely asked themselves countless times. Unlike other key characters from the works of Tolkien, he isn’t a master of magic, a skilled swordsman, or an adept archer. He’s…Gollum. A...

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Wobbledogs Console Edition review

Do you remember the late nineties trend of eccentric virtual pet sims? The PSone had the Japanese obscurity Pet in TV and conversions of the Creatures series, Seaman left many a Dreamcast owner disturbed, while Nintendo was once working on the innovative sounding Cabbage for the failed 64DD....

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Railway Empire 2 review

It’s difficult to say how good a fit Railway Empire 2 is for Xbox Game Pass. Like the majority of Kalypso’s compelling management sims (Tropico, Port Royale, and the often-overlooked Dungeons) it’s something that can make mere minutes fly by like hours – and it seems countless gamers...

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Death or Treat review

Deviltube, Riptok, Darkchat, and FaceBoo may sound like the names boomers give supposed society-destroying social media apps, but are in fact the districts Scary – Death of Treat’s diminutive hero – must traverse to save HallowTown from sinister conglomerates. The Halloween spirit is missing, while the town itself...

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Cyber Citizen Shockman review

It’s always pleasing to see digital re-releases of PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 games. The system was never officially sold in Europe, making it quite the obscurity. Exotic, even. With Konami’s PC Engine Mini long sold out on Amazon – and the Wii U eShop shuttered – one of the few...

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Murtop review

In recent years, Namco’s seminal Dig Dug has found itself branded as being far easier than other games of the era. I can see how this line of thought came about. Unlike Pac-Man and similar maze games, Dig Dug’s hero isn’t restricted to pre-set paths, instead free to...

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Tin Hearts review

In the mid-’90s, the time came to transport Psygnosis’ loveable Lemmings into the world of 3D. Like a lot of mascots stepping into the third dimension, this foray was slightly misguided, resulting in a game soon forgotten. While it wasn’t the end of the Lemmings franchise, it did...

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Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord review

Developer Compile Heart seems to have set themselves the challenge of making the most quintessentially Japanese role player of all time. Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord features dragons, mechs, monsters, heroes with swords, and a lot of sexual tension. If you’ve seen it before, it’s in this game....

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Zool Redimensioned review

Back in 2021, students at the Sumo Digital Academy were given the chance to remaster and modernise the 1992 platformer Zool, which was then published on PC by Sumo’s Secret Mode division. It’s easy to imagine it being a valuable learning tool for the team, being far beyond...

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