It seems fair to say that games based around caring for animals are aimed at a younger audience, specifically those looking to pursue a career as a vet. With this in mind, and using the likes of Nintendogs as a comparison, you’d expect a game titled ‘Pets Hotel’ to be filled with bright colours, fun …
Over the past few months prolific indie publisher Ratalaika has been re-releasing games in the 16-bit platformer series Aero The Acro-Bat, including spin-off Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel. We’ve duly arrived at the last entry in the franchise, and it’s something of a departure. Whereas the previous games were for Mega Drive and SNES, Aero The Acro-Bat: …
A snow coated cyberpunk city provides the backdrop for this top-down twin-stick shooter. Although our gruff private investigator protagonist Yanus – who has a penchant for strong liquor, along with anything else he can get his hands on – carries a machine gun, I don’t think we’ll be debating whether SlavicPunk: Oldtimer is a Christmas …
A few generations ago horror games were seldom seen, especially on Nintendo platforms. Even something low budget such as Cursed Mountain – a forgotten survival horror from 2009, published by a fledgling Deep Silver – gained a reasonable amount of press coverage, at least during launch week. Skip forward some fifteen years later, and things …
Several developers are currently working on the next evolution of Vampire Survivors-style auto shooters, aiming to refined, expand, and put their own stamp on the genre. The creators of Vampire Hunters are arguably ahead of the curve, presenting the world with a first-person roguelike auto-shooter in which our hero carries numerous weapons at once, populating …
Christmas games were seldom seen a few generations ago and it’s easy to comprehend why. Development costs swiftly rose around the time the Xbox 360 and PS3 launched, and creating something that would only have a shelf-life of a month or two in the run-up to Christmas would be an extremely risky proposition for any …
In his free time, police officer Rick enjoys exploring houses allegedly haunted. His latest pursuit, however, sounds more like a case for the boys back at base. Screaming has been heard coming from an abandoned house once belonging to a late ventriloquist. If that wasn’t enough, the last person brave enough to investigate never returned. …
This 16-bit style vertical shooter has been crafted with a very astute eye for detail, borrowing graphical tricks from both the Mega Drive and SNES and employing them with surprising authenticity. It also uses elements from Truxton and Axley as inspiration, using demonic imagery but never fully committing to full hellishness. It perhaps helps that …
The animal simulator sub-genre continues to generate a buzz, along with surprisingly high sales figures, with numerous sandbox games centred around specific creatures available. These titles aren’t as random as they may initially seem, as there needs to be a sturdy foundation to build upon. Developer Dee Dee Creations has settled on the formula of …
Talk about a tricky act to follow. Milestone’s Hot Wheels Unleashed and its sequel were both very good uses of the license, helping cast aside memories of the shoddy Hot Wheels games we had to endure in the days of the PS2. Whereas Hot Wheels Unleashed had surprisingly wide appeal, this tie-in from GameMill is …
This 2.5D side-scrolling platformer may have a name akin to something Ned Flanders would say, but had it launched in the ‘90s it would doubtlessly be called something lame like Max the Mongoose. That’s because our heroes here are a pair of high-spirited mongooses, known as Niko and Luna – not Niko and Riko, as …
Have you ever wished you’d discovered something sooner? Perhaps a game that altered your perception on what the medium can offer, or with a story able to change your outlook on life? That was my experience with 2017’s Aaero, which eluded me at launch. A transcendent experience, it featured a lone spacecraft flying over eerily …
The only thing able to suppress Ahro’s anxiety is a calming herbal tea. When the village herbalist runs out, Ahro makes the decision to find a permanent cure. It’s a journey that takes him to the neighbouring villages and beyond, following mountain trails, walking across rickety wooden rope bridges, and even pitching up in a …
Turns out a typically lazy Sunday afternoon during the ‘80s was no different in Japan than in England. After hanging out with his school friends in the park, twelve-year-old Ayumi heads back to his small yet cosy homestead for a home cooked meal. Then it’s a case of bathtime and an early night – although not …
After escaping from her music box, clockwork majorette Miss Rosen sets about travelling the world in search of people to help. This doesn’t so much involve finding lost items, retrieving cats stuck up trees, and preventing petty crimes as you may expect but rather something rather specific. See, our blonde-haired heroine is a dab hand …