If there’s one thing you can count on in life, it’s that Namco will release a new Pac-Man collection at least once per console generation. As the name suggests, this latest compilation is an updated version of 2014’s now delisted Pac-Man Museum, including content from that collection plus a few new entries. While the £16 …
Sometimes, first impressions stick. That initial thought upon seeing screenshots or a trailer – they never really leave you. But sometimes, they’re utterly bogus; and I’m really glad this was the case with Raven’s Hike. Screenshots looked rather Celeste-esque, suggesting the devs played Celeste Classic 2 – Laniâ’s Trek and decided for themselves, yeah let’s …
A couple of years ago we were in the middle of a 3D platformer renaissance, with all manner of dormant franchises being given new leases of life. It’s a trend that has either come to a standstill or an abrupt end, as this year has seen very few platformers so far. This makes Kao the …
Word on the street is that Cotton’s back, and it’s better than ever. Given that the series hasn’t had much exposure in the west, I wouldn’t be surprised to find that western gamers who didn’t survive on a diet of imported Saturn shmups were even aware of this series’ existence. Yet here we are in …
This wasteland survival adventure introduces us to Reid, a grizzled half-zombie with a troubled past. While being half-undead has obvious setbacks, it has a few advantages too. Turns out fellow zombies are quite happy to follow Reid into battle – useful for when it comes to standing up against the wasteland’s thugs. These aren’t any …
Turns out console bus simulators really are like buses – two have turned up at once. Whereas last month’s Bus Driver Simulator Countryside was a clapped-out banger, Tourist Bus Simulator offers a smooth and easy-going ride. It’s a PS5/Xbox Series only release powered by Unreal Engine 4, allowing for realistic weather effects and lighting. The …
2015’s Evolve may have died a tragic death, largely at the hand of publisher 2K, yet its spirit lives on. It so transpires that the asymmetrical multiplayer structure is ideally suited to movie licenses – especially those with villains known for brute force. Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead trilogy is the latest franchise to be squeezed into …
It’s Monday morning and Ethan is reluctant to go to work. With his first child due any day, he doesn’t have much of a choice. Being a game developer may sound like an easy living, but with emails from irate gamers to answer – in addition to hurriedly programming an uninspired pixel art platformer, just …
The greatest compliment I can give Trek to Yomi is that it looks and feels as if it came from a Japanese development studio. In reality, it was developed by Polish outfit Flying Wild Hog, best known for the Shadow Warrior series. It’s so respectful of the country’s history and culture that some of its …
If you rented games back in the day, chances are there’s one you hired multiple times. For me, it was Capcom’s Goof Troop for the SNES. It played quite differently from other Disney games, using a top-down perspective, and it featured a jaunty musical score. It was reasonably challenging too, hence why it was rented …
Out of curiosity alone, I recently purchased Cooking Mama Cookstar. The controversy surrounding it made me interested to see how the final product fared – it isn’t every day a big-name release is yanked from the eShop. Turns out it was harmless, if a little soulless. Now, another curious cooking game lies before us – …
For all the talk (and there’s a lot of it) present in Pro Wrestling, sometimes, what you actually want is to pick up a dude and slam him repeatedly on a tightly stretched canvas until you can pin him for three seconds. There’s a gladiatorial purity to the spectacle (which I’m hesitant to call a …
If you’re in charge of the weekly shop, you may have come across boxes of wonky veg – oddly proportioned vegetables that supermarkets once snobbishly shunned. Presumably, it was believed that the vegetable buying public wouldn’t want to eat crooked carrots and peculiar-looking parsnips. The cast of this top-down action-adventure wouldn‘t look out of place …
What’s the difference between so-bad-it’s-good and just plain bad? When do bad voice acting, bad translation, and weird capitalisation choices stop becoming a mistake and start becoming an aesthetic? Hundred Fires brought those questions to mind very quickly. Set in ’60s Cuba, you play as Valero Montenegro, a Cuban mercenary who has more than a …
Heavy metal and video games go together well. From the synth-guitar riffs of Thunder Force IV, through Rock ‘n’ Roll Racing’s licensed SNES replicas of some classic bangers, to the mighty DOOM’s ‘D_E1M1’ (oh, okay, At Doom’s Gate, if you insist) itself, the genre has been the sonic accompaniment to more than a fair few …