Although not a prolific developer, Pigeon Dev Games is still well-versed with 2D platformers, with half a dozen – including 2019’s Awesome Pea – to their name. There are telling signs this is the case as the fundamentals of a run ‘n gun platformer are all present. The controls are responsive, death always feels just …
On first glance, the character roster for this long-running one-on-one brawler series seems largely uninspired, featuring a cast of pointy-haired individuals copied from the pages of any random anime light novel. Spend just a few minutes with each, however, and you’ll soon discover that the majority couldn’t be further apart. Some characters appear diminutive in …
Horror games usually become more twisted and depraved as the story progresses, often pushing the lead character to breaking point as they do whatever it takes to survive. This Switch exclusive takes a different approach. As the story unfolds it becomes increasingly ludicrous, to the point where it becomes impossible to take it seriously. Well, …
This follow up to Dual Brain Vol. 1: Calculation made me think of Radiohead, in the way that both make me think everything is pointless. Vol. 2: Reflex is a brain training game that makes absolutely no effort to justify its existence. Dr Kawashima would sell you some snake oil pseudoscience about making sure you’re …
Developers gleefully boasting about what they’ve managed to achieve with the humble Switch pleases us greatly – it’s the adulthood equivalent of running out the school gates while proudly clutching a piece of paper smothered with dry pasta and glue. Pineapple Works are one such developer, pleased as punch with their Switch conversion of Rise …
Football games can be compared to clubs. FIFA is obviously Manchester United. A commercial juggernaut off the pitch, but a bit aimless on it. PES is Arsenal. Once great, underinvestment has turned it into a postcard of managed decline. Football Manager is Borussia Dortmund. It shouldn’t have the resources to compete in the big leagues, …
The intro to this side-scrolling cyberpunk adventure features the most unlikely protagonist imaginable – a glowing spark of electricity. This makes for an opening full of intrigue, as you traverse the cables strewn across a futuristic apartment block, disabling security cameras and overloading systems, all the while wondering where the story is heading. As the …
Low-key PlayStation 2 budget title Mobile Light Force 2 wasn’t quite what it seemed. The box art suggested an explosion-packed shooter starring third-rate Charlie’s Angels, when in fact it was a heavily butchered version of the hardcore Japanese shooter Castle of Shikigami. When word began to spread – this being a time when arcade shooters …
During their skint as the James Bond license holder, EA released the deeply flawed 007 Racing on PSone. Much to the amusement of the gaming press, it featured no racing whatsoever, being a mission-based affair. Some twenty years later, developer Abstract Art is trying to pull a similar trick – Music Racer features cars, bikes, …
The Warhammer 40K universe is brilliant. Set in a world rippling with esoteric detail, it’s so quintessentially British. It brings together living-dead Emperors, weird Roman Christian iconography, and a bunch of eccentric green-skinned Orks. Moreover, there are no good guys and everyone’s a fascist. It’s just a shame that the tabletop game itself is finicky …
Maths and puzzles are great. Sudoku? Fun. Garam? Fun. Calculations? Fun. Dr. Kawashima knew this, and that’s why he put his name to Brain Training on Nintendo DS, which went on to sell over 19 million copies. That caused a lot of people to sit up and notice, including researchers who found the effects of brain …
Travel Mosaics puts a Parisian twist on Picross. For the uninformed, Picross puzzles are logic puzzles (also known as Nonograms) which provide a grid and a set of numbers to create a picture. The interaction of these numbers allows you to fill in the puzzle, before sitting back happy and smug while marvelling at the …
Even though it’s a straightforward horizontal shooter, UIG’s Space Blaze is an odd proposition. It prides itself of being a retro throwback – a delightfully old-school experience inspired by the classic shooters of the ‘80s. The product description does its best to hammer this home, promising “retro cool†old-school action. “Let’s start your travel back …
Imagine, if you can, that you’re an escaped convict who comes across an abandoned house in the dead of night. If you’ve ever played a game, watched a movie, or read a book you know what to do: run away fast. No good story started with finding an empty house. Even the abandoned abode in …
I can’t remember the last time a graphical effect made me double-take. But the light of the setting sun filtering through the palm trees on Ybiza did exactly that. The characters and scenery are pleasantly chunky, but belie what I assume is significant technical whizz-bangery to make it all pop in quite the style that …