Grab the Bottle – Review

Essentially Mr. Tickle: The Game – or Plastic Man, if you prefer – this physics-based puzzler involves guiding a constantly extending arm around hazard-filled environments in order to grab precariously placed bottles. There’s a paper-thin plot in place, covering the nameless lead character’s life story as they reach out to grab bottles as a baby, …

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Dungeon Rushers – Review

Some games are about war. Some games are about exceptionalism and individual struggle. A few games are about fascism. Most games, however, are about numbers going up. It sounds simple, numbers going up, but Dungeon Rushers proves that it’s a subtle mechanic, and one that’s easy to get wrong. Let’s start with the basics. Dungeon …

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Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection – Review

Chances are even Capcom themselves would admit the first Street Fighter was downright terrible. An exercise in sheer frustration, it suffered from jerky animation, unreliable controls, and botched mechanics. Special moves, which rarely worked, could remove 70% of an opponent’s health in one swoop, making the regular kicks and punches almost redundant. It’s a series …

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Forgotten Xbox-exclusive Metal Wolf Chaos is making a comeback

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice wasn’t the only new From Software title to be revealed yesterday. Devolver Digital is also giving the 2004 Xbox-exclusive Metal Wolf Chaos a fresh coat of paint. Fans have long hankered for a new iteration, apparently. A collaboration between From Software and General Arcade, the outlandish mech shooter – which sees …

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New Battletoads comes courtesy of UK studio Dlala

The announcement of a new Battletoads didn’t come as much of a surprise. It was only last month Rare stated they’re open to sharing IP and characters with outside developers, and so it was only a matter of time before somebody took on the ‘toads. That somebody is the Essex-based Dlala, who also lent a …

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Vampyr tops UK chart while Onrush stalls

Dontnod’s Vampyr has given long-running publisher Focus Interactive their first ever UK no.1. It’s also the third new IP to take the UK chart top spot, following Detroit: Become Human and Sea of Thieves. Speaking of new IP, it’s bad news for Codemasters – Onrush has debuted at a lowly #34, despite positive reviews. It’s …

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Surprise! Unravel Two is out now

We were expecting to see at least one new game launch during E3 – those hallowed words “It’s available now” always prompt a cheer. You may even have that phrase on your E3 bingo card. During EA’s conference, the publisher revealed Unravel Two is launching today. This indie sequel has a focus on co-op, starring …

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SEGA Mega Drive Classics – Review

Retro compilations tend to fall into one of two camps. Some are genuine labours of love, filled to the brim with celebrated classics and a bounty of bonus features; a rare chance for long-running publishers to revel in self-indulgence and share their biggest past hits with gamers new and old. Others, meanwhile, are little more …

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Ikaruga – Review

Please pay attention to the following public service announcement: Ikaruga is out now for the Nintendo Switch and you should definitely buy it. Ikaruga is, quite simply, brilliant. In case you’re new to Treasure’s celebrated classic, it takes the form of a vertical ‘bullet hell’ shoot-em-up, where you fly a spaceship around trying to dodge bullets and enemies …

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