Whatever happened to the brawler genre? One day, every game was a brawler, and the next it was gone. It had become retro, with new content consigned to stylised sequels like the incredible Streets of Rage 4. 9 Monkeys of Shaolin is an attempt to bring those old titles back in something feeling a little fresher – and it mostly succeeds. But not just that. 9 Monkeys of Shaolin is a perfect combination of ...
Crash Bandicoot 4 continues Activision’s string of resurrecting old IP into something that feels both fresh and familiar. The game — developed by Spyro Reignited devs Toys for Bob — strikes the perfect chord between throwing back to the original trilogy and adding new bells and whistles to differentiate the experience. In Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, Crash and Coco are sent on an adventure to track ...
The remake of the first two Tony Hawk Pro Skater games — recently released on Xbox One and PS4 — continues the recent Activision trend of stellar updates of classic games from the 1990s. This package, more than any remake or remaster in recent memory, speaks almost directly to me. The original games were among my favorites on the original PlayStation. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1+2 perfectly captures the ...
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is a spin-off/companion game outside the main Final Fantasy series. Released in 2003 for the Nintendo GameCube, it marked the first return of Final Fantasy to a Nintendo console since Final Fantasy VI. This Final Fantasy game features many new gameplay elements previously unseen in Final Fantasy, like real time fighting, as well as being the first RPG to incorporate GameCube-Game ...
Having previously played Doraemon Story of Seasons on the Switch, it was wonderful to also be able to experience it on the PS4. I have thoroughly enjoyed our time in Natura, engaging with the various citizens, solving problems, and working on finding a way back to the present. Now we dive into the nitty gritty of this experience, and spoilers…it’s really good! When asking Bandai Namco for an opportunity to ...
Who knew that a TV series following gangsters with Brummy accents could have such selling power? Birmingham has become the unlikely setting of Peaky Blinders, one of TV’s most popular British shows, giving our second city a focus outside the meat market and that funny shaped shopping centre. It only makes sense that a game was going to follow, and Mastermind has come along to fill that gap. What you end up ...
What do you get when you take Harvest Moon, take out all the RPG elements, add some really simple puzzles and then charge £17 for it? Well, you get Harvest Moon: Mad Dash, and you might well wish you hadn’t. Here is a game that’s almost entirely the opposite of what Harvest Moon is all about, but with the name splashed all over it and the familiar sprites front and centre. It’ll almost make ...
As a gamer we are often analyzing the value of a game by it’s length. We want the most bang for our buck, however at times games can overstay their welcome and become a fetch-quest driven chore of a time to complete. Giraffe and Annika is not that type of game, it is a charming fairy tale of an adventure game that can be beaten in 6 hours or less. A magical, mystery-filled adventure awaits! When a young ...
Fingerboarding, along with having really, really good Pokemon, was one of the main ways of proving you were cool when I was in school. I remember it well – wearing a leather jacket and awesome sunglasses, armed with a stick used to beat off the girls, I’d flick my way through the schoolyard with my tiny skateboard. It wasn’t the size though, dear reader, it was what you did with it, and that ...
Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack includes two side-scrolling action games (Azure Striker Gunvolt 1 & 2) that appear comparable to the Mega Man platformer series. However, with Mega Man as such an established franchise, is there a need to add another series of pixelated run and gun games to your library? We'll take a look at how these games stack up and give you our best advice - take a read and let's see how ...
The original Destroy All Humans came out in 2005, and became somewhat of a cult game for many players, myself included. The crazy sandbox that was created that allowed mass carnage, mayhem, and fun wasn’t common in games during that era. So when THQ purchased the rights to the IP a few years back, I genuinely got a little excited over the thought of Crypto making a return in an all new adventure. Hopefully ...
Set on Tsushima Island in the year 1274, the game revolves around one of the island's last samurai, Jin Sakai, during the first Mongol invasion of Japan. The armies of the Mongol Empire, utilizing weapons and military tactics unknown to the Japanese, have conquered and devastated many countries and Tsushima is all that stands between them and the mainland of Japan. The island was devastated by the first wave of ...
If you are one of the many sword art online fans around the world with an interest in gaming, chances are you have been anticipating the release of Sword Art Online Alicization Lycoris, yet another addition to the Sword art game universe. Bandai Namco and the developers at Aquria have returned to take a different spin on this particular SAO game.
The same complaint that a lot of annual sports video game franchises receive is (mostly) true with NASCAR Heat 5. This year’s game feels basically like a roster and car paint update compared to previous versions. The driving model feels a lot better — my cars don’t just spin with the slightest contact, and I’m finding it easier to get involved in drafts and pushes. The game also just looks better, though that ...
In this modern age of gaming where remakes and remasters are a standard, ONE SPONGE stands alone (not really Patrick and Sandy are there too) to try and breath life again into the platformers of yesteryear? But does this one get the job done or does SpongeBob just leave us all wet? The original game was developed for PS2, Xbox, and Nintendo GameCube back in 2003 believe it or not. While a major commercial ...
Back on June 14th 2013, The original The Last of Us game came out and changed what video games could be forever. With groundbreaking graphics, writing better than many blockbuster movies released today, outstanding acting, outstanding sound design...it goes on and on. From my very first time playing it I was hooked, and it quickly landed in my top 3 games of all time despite it's gut wrenching opening that ...
It’s the bottom of the 9th inning. The Sirloins trail by 2. Men (well, 1 man and 1 woman) on 1st and 3rd. 2 outs. Hammer Longballo steps up to the plate. Yes, you read that right: Hammer. Longballo. The slugger is well known in the minds of Super Mega Baseball fans. A hitter of epic proportions, both in his head size and on the stat sheet. He’s older now. Has been in the Super Mega ...
Fury Unleashed is a 2D-action-platformer-roguelike set in a comic book. That’s a lot of different genres thrown out there, but in reality, the game is similar to others already on the market, most closely resembling games like Enter the Gungeon or Rogue Legacy. Players explore a hand-drawn world, spanning four different procedurally-generated comic worlds, fighting off themed enemies as the titular Fury, ...
Stranded Deep, originally released in Early Access on PC in 2015, has brought its island-hopping survival experience to consoles. It’s an addictive and enjoyable experience, but one that still feels several steps away from greatness. The game, like many others in the genre, drops you on a deserted island and requires you to craft, explore, and survive, while hopefully advancing the barebones plot. That ...
Very few icons of 80’s action movies continue to drive mainstream appeal, but when someone mentions Predator to me. I instantly thing of high action, lush jungles, bullets flying, and Arnold telling me to GET TO THA CHOPPA! Over the years Predator maintains a decent popularity whether in their own films or having some cross overs with Aliens its always a brutal bloodbath of action. Can Predator Huntring ...
One Piece is a Japanese anime television series adapted from the manga of the same.. The story follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a boy whose body gained the properties of rubber (Think Mr. Fantastic doing martial arts) after unintentionally eating a Devil Fruit. With his crew of pirates, named the Straw Hat Pirates, Luffy explores the Grand Line in search of the world’s ultimate treasure known as ...
I was not familiar with what One Piece was other than seeing the occasional artwork, cover, or game released every once in awhile. So for those like me not used to the source material, as best I can tell, it goes like this.
The sweet smell of grass in the spring. Flowers starting to bud and bloom. The crisp evening air. The crack of a baseball bat, and the roar of the crowd. It’s Springtime — well, in any other year than 2020. And in MLB The Show 20, it’s still baseball season. In many ways, this year’s Show builds upon the games that have come before it. It features roughly the same gameplay and roughly the same modes, just ...
So there I am, a battle scarred worn down warrior, face to face with a giant horse-like creature easily 5 times my size. In his right hand a massive cleaver larger than myself, easily capable of taking me out with just a few hits. I have a choice to make, do I go after him with my massive Scythe or do I go after him with Dual-Wielding swords… I choose the Scythe and I charge into battle, within 30 seconds I am ...
I’m going to take a step back from reviewing Monster Energy Supercross 3 on the PS4, and let my 3-year-old give her thoughts on the latest game in the series from Milestone. “The obstacle course looks beautiful!” Insert “track” for “obstacle course” and you can see where she’s coming from. The game is a looker, as each of its predecessors has been. The tracks look great from the beginning, whether you’re ...
Dreams, a brilliant game creator, social experiment, quite literally what may be the best example of games can be art that has ever existed. At face value Dreams has you take control of an “imp”, basically your avatar that is used to interact with the environment in Dreams, it can be used to move objects, possess characters to take control of them, use as basically a mouse to help create stages, so ...
It’s a warm Saturday night in the summer. The dirt is flying as 20 sprint cars slide around the track in a perpetual left-hand turn, jockeying for position in front of local fans and family members. The motors are a constant drone, leaving your ears ringing while the dirt and dust gets in your eyes; leaving a gritty feeling in your teeth. In video games, that smalltown dirt-track feeling has been missing for a ...
When I was younger, I actually remember my father of all people, enjoying DBZ. I would often see him watching them on Cartoon Network, to be honest I was intrigued but never quite a fan. Many folks have told me it’s better to not watch them on TV, etc etc. But that was the exposure I had, I did like the action and story, however it was painfully slow and dragged out in twenty minute bursts of people ...
Few games this generation have been as ambitious and disappointing as Death Stranding. The title had a ton of hype, as it was being developed by Hideo Kojima, and was starring the Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus. Just on those two points, and knowing there would be an epic world to explore, I was hooked from the day it was announced. Sadly – in my opinion at least – Death Stranding became enamored with itself, ...
What is really great about PlayStation VR is that Sony and other publishers can release less expensive titles onto the platform that are simple, but have a great impact on those playing. BOX VR is one of those games, a great rhythm based experience that really is a solid workout. While not as deep of a rhythm game as Beat Sabre, this gets pretty darn close for those looking to get a solid workout while playing a ...
