It says something when you find yourself bringing a game’s protagonist to a standstill just to pan the camera around and gawp at the visuals. Open platformer Duskfade is a fine example of this, with many of its fantasy locations leaving an impression. Spanish developer Weird Beluga has managed to employ every Unreal Engine 5-powered …
Are you terrible at retro sports games, or even sports games in general? Pro Jank Footy is here to make you look like the gaming equivalent of Bobby Charlton. Its main gimmick is a collection of randomised perks and power-ups designed to level the playing field, quite literally, as one of these can reset the …
From New Zealand-based husband-and-wife outfit Eat Pant Games comes Teeto, a fun, brightly coloured 3D platformer that at first glance recalls Rare’s Banjo-Kazooie. A shout-out goes to the misquoted Simpsons reference. The titular Teeto is an amorphous blue lab experiment, technically called T33-T0, while the Kazooie equivalent is Nory – though rather than a smart-talking …
Never take your work home. For young motel worker Emma, who has a pleasing penchant for retro gaming, there is really no choice. After catching the bus home following a long introductory shift, she starts to notice peculiarities in and around her small apartment. The assumption is made that a disgruntled customer, whom Emma called …
At first glance, Viking Frontiers is the kind of game I tend to steer clear of, resembling a typical job simulator. Cut down trees, smash apart stones, tend to your cabbages, etc. Fortunately, it reveals itself to be more of a survival game. You wake up stranded on a distant island among the ruins of …
Here’s a short story. Around the turn of the millennium, when retro gaming was in its infancy, I was at a house party, attempting to mingle with people I barely knew. A few hours in, someone turned up with a bulging carrier bag. It wasn’t full of cheap booze as you may expect, but rather …
The Pokémon series has seen just as many spin-offs as mainline entries, crossing into the puzzle, pinball, fighting and even photography genres. One area untouched by Nintendo and Game Freak is the Survivors-alike auto-shooting genre. The obvious reason behind this is neither wants to be seen as a trend chaser; they’re innovators, not imitators. Here …
Mechaconda comes to us from Brazilian solo developer NATO Games, aka Renato Gomes Marcacini. Do you see? They have a limited back catalogue to use as a barometer of quality, with their one prior game being Deep Deep Deep Nightmare. Going by the lack of reviews online, it didn’t generate much buzz. Fellow Brazilians QUByte …
Capcom’s classic Mega Man series provides unlikely inspiration for this vertical shoot ’em up. After being presented with a brief introduction to a rogue’s gallery of animalistic villains, including a mole known as Toby Topside, you’re shown a familiar stage select screen that uses character portraits. From here, you can tackle stages in any order, …
Whatever fortunes are amassed in this medieval city builder, a cut must go to the king. Somewhat cheekily, this goes far beyond gold, even extending to pieces of the finest peasant clothing from the local tailor, and honey from your hives. Not even the bees are safe from zealous taxation! The time soon comes to …
Sunsoft are arguably best known for their range of quality 8-bit licensed games, second only to Konami when it came to delivering the goods with the likes of Batman and Looney Tunes. We can’t ignore how cherished their own IPs, such as Blaster Master and Hebereke, are either. One thing they aren’t remembered quite so …
Can you recall playing SEGA’s seminal Jet Set Radio for the first time? Don’t worry if you can’t, as Denshattack is here to recreate that glorious experience, more than able to jog your memory. It sports a similar vibrant cel-shaded aesthetic, has identical themes of teen rebellion, and likewise embraces graffiti culture. It’s time to …
Developed by Kalisz-based Polish developer Pixel Perfect Dude, #DRIVE Rally is an appealing arcade racer with rally stylings done in a cel-shaded manner. It’s also a loose follow-up to #DRIVE, which was originally released on mobile devices in 2019 before power-sliding onto the Switch. Now, everyone has the chance to drive recklessly around tight corners, …
It has been said that we’ll never see a generational leap like the one we saw in the mid-‘90s, going from two-dimensional 16-bit games on cartridge formats to polygon-based games on CD-based systems. While that may be true, one leap often ignored is when we progressed from the PS3 and Xbox 360 to the PS4 …
Originating from Spain during the mid-90s, this 2D run ‘n gunner is often compared to Metal Slug due to its fast pace, meaty weaponry, and focus on rescuing hostages. While it’s true that a handful of other games from publisher Galeco were brazen with their inspirations, this isn’t a case of one developer trying to …