Nostalgia forms the core of this side-scrolling 2D platformer. What we have here is a brand-new NES game – with even a physical NES cartridge release planned – that’s overlayed with cartoon-like HD visuals, complete with the option to toggle between the two visual styles. This two-pronged approach recalls the current state of the toy …
While playing this homebrew NES platform puzzler – available for Switch and on physical NES and GBA carts – I couldn’t help to think what ‘80s and ‘90s gaming critics would say about it. Eventually, I reached a surprising conclusion to my musings. The Meating simply couldn’t have existed back when the NES was around, …
As pleasing as it is to see genuinely cherished retro video games re-released, it can be equally pleasing to see more obscure titles gain a revival too – the kind that few will have heard of, and even fewer will have played. That’s the case with Sunsoft is Back, which brings together three of Sunsoft’s …
Oh, Billy. The loveable blood-stained spawn of Kermit the Frog and Grover, known for his fondness of human flesh, has created a twisted game show and our plucky protagonist just so happens to be the latest contestant. To escape Billy’s compound, you’ll need to avoid sawblades strung to crude DIY constructions, hunt for items and …
Back in 2019, Tengo Project successfully revived the 1994 SNES scrolling brawler The Ninja Warriors. Action platformer Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn is their latest project, this time taking us back to 1990 and the humble NES. Upon release, the original Shadow of the Ninja was praised for its fluid gameplay and simultaneous two-player mode. …
Shortly after that fateful day when SEGA pulled the plug on the Dreamcast, over 100 titles ended up either being scrapped or reworked for other consoles. One of these casualties was Picassio, a promising looking stealth adventure that entailed sneaking into museums and galleries to steal valuable artworks. Development moved over to the PS2, but …
The franchises Konami are known for often vary from one individual to the next depending on which era they grew up in. Today they’re commonly referred to as the publisher behind Metal Gear Solid, Contra and Castlevania. Two generations ago, they were on a winning streak with Pro Evolution Soccer, which yearly went up against …
Any decent video game, especially one story driven, should make you feel something while playing. Anguish, sorrow, joy – any emotion, really. Modern adventure games are pretty good at this, with most having professional script writers and hired voice actors. We’ve come a long way from being told aliens are attacking and to defend the …
It feels a little odd to compare this DOOM inspired first-person shooter to an arcade game, especially considering the genre was barely represented in the world of coin-ops, but I also couldn’t shake the fact that it would be right at home nestled between the likes of Mortal Kombat 4 and Mace: The Dark Age …
The currently popular faux PS1 aesthetic works incredibly well for horror games. PS1 visuals were often distorted by default, and the texture warping synonymous with the system arguably amplifies the fear of the unknown. Silent Hill and similar titles were rife with mysterious shadowy creatures formed of twisted polygons, forcing the mind to take a …
Visit the upgrade screen in this pixel-powered vertical shooter and you may be surprised by what’s available. Alongside the usual assortment of weapon upgrades, you’ll also find a score multiplier extension and the ability to unlock new backdrops; with the action taking place on a sole infinitely scrolling playfield before purchasing a wider range. Working …
While playing this magical realm reviving third-person adventure, a sense of warm familiarity soon emerges. Not so much the fact that Kena first launched on PS5 in 2021 – with this review being of the belated Xbox version – but rather that it feels like an amalgam of similar games. It arguably knows where to …
Around twenty years ago, a fellow gamer asked me to look out for a reasonably priced copy of Tomba. Some two decades later, it’s a request I’ve been unable to fulfil. Since vanishing from store shelves in the late ‘90s, Tomba (and its 1998 sequel) have been tricky to track down. Although they were published …
A few things about this side-scrolling survival adventure are immediately obvious, such as the fantasy setting and its resource gathering/crafting elements. These two features alone are enough to draw early comparisons, with it resembling the 16-bit renditions of Castlevania – even having a vampire-esque character within its playable character pool – but playing more like …
In 2002 the shooter genre was in a pretty good place. We’d just had a double-whammy of Halo and Metroid Prime, while the PS2’s Medal of Honor: Frontline set the foundations for a new wave of WWII based titles. Over on PC, the influences of 1998’s Half-Life were still being felt. The PlayStation 2 was …