Kana Quest (Switch, PC)
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Posted on June 14th, 2023 by
A long while back, my favorite video game company, Namco (makers of Pac-Man), made a puzzle game series in Japan called Mojipittan. If you’ve ever played Taiko Drum Master or Go Vacation, you might have seen characters or music from that game. I really wanted Mojipittan to come to the US, but it used the Japanese written language to make the puzzles, kind of like Scrabble. But because of the way Japanese written language works, there’s no way they’d be able to translate it to English. But now we have something a little similar with Kana Quest. It doesn’t play like Mojipittan, as it’s more of a sliding puzzle game where you must match sounds that Japanese written symbols make with other tiles to solve the levels. It’s available on Switch and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Volley Pals (Switch, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on June 12th, 2023 by
Volley Pals is a arcade style, pick up and play volleyball romp for up to four players. Choose from a selection of wacky characters, like a cheerleader, blob alien, monkey, etc., and play a simple game of volleyball on an assortment of courts. It’s available to play on Switch, Xbox consoles, and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Color Pals (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S)
Posted on June 7th, 2023 by
Color Pals is a single screen precision 2-D platformer where you control a little colored block. You can collect lightning bolts to change to a different color. But the trick here is that you can only touch blocks of your own color, otherwise you’ll die and have to start the level over again. Collect keys to open blocks and stars for points, too. Make it to the portal in the level to move onto the next. Color Pals is available on current consoles but reviewed on PS4 here.
Pretty Girls 2048 Strike (PS4, PS5, Switch, PC)
Posted on June 5th, 2023 by
Pick a pretty anime lady in a uniform to fight other pretty anime ladies in monster costumes and battle by playing a number sliding game in Pretty Girls 2048 Strike. It’s available on PlayStation consoles, Switch, and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Zool Redimensioned (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Posted on June 2nd, 2023 by
Back in the 90s, 2-D mascot platformers were all the rage, thanks to Sonic. There were so many that I got downright tired of them and skipped out on quite a few. Also this was about the time I was really big into 16-bit RPGs like Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger, so yeah. Anyway, one of these mascot platformers I missed out on was Zool. He was a ninja gremlin guy who tromped around 2-D levels based on themes like candy, tools, toys, music, and more. Zool was on pretty much all the consoles at the time, but hasn’t been heard from since. There’s a rumor that the infamously bad Wii game Ninjabread Man was originally going to be a 3-D Zool title, but I’m not 100 percent sure on that. Anyway, now Zool is back on some modern consoles and PC (reviewed on PS4 here) with all sorts of new modes and features.
nPaint (Switch)
Posted on May 31st, 2023 by
With the Switch’s portability and touch screen features, I’m surprised they haven’t made an Art Academy game for it yet. But until that happens, here’s another basic paint program you can doodle with.
Dogfight: A Sausage Bomber Story (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on May 29th, 2023 by
Sausage Bomber originally started out as a 2-D horizontally scrolling mobile game shooter. And now a sequel of sorts is available for all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here. It’s a cartoony shooter with all sorts of hot dog puns and up to four can play at the same time!
Puzzle Bobble Everybubble (Switch)
Posted on May 26th, 2023 by
I freaking love Puzzle Bobble. It’s one of my top three favorite puzzle games, right on up there with Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo and plain ol’ Tetris. It’s actually a spin-off of the arcade classic Bubble Bobble, but this is one case where the spin-off ended up being more popular than the original game it was based on! The series was originally called Bust-A-Move in the US, but I’m so glad they changed it back recently because I hated that name. Puzzle Bobble just makes more sense. Also, this is one type of game that gets heavily imitated on cell phone devices. I bet Taito wished they would’ve gotten some kind of stricter patent or something (not sure how that works), but their game isn’t entirely original itself either. Anyway, the newest game in the series: Puzzle Bobble Everybubble is now available on Switch!
Ayre and the Crystal Comet (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on May 24th, 2023 by
You are Ayre, a dragon rider and the last of your kind. One day you find a glowing gem that communicates to you. The gem says they are part of a massive crystal comet that fell and crumbled into hundreds of pieces. It’s up to you to explore the land riding your flying dragon to find all the crystal pieces and uncover the mystery. Along the way you might discover other secrets in this no-combat, stress-free low polygonal 3D flying exploration adventure. It’s available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Gematombe (PS4, Switch, Xbox One, PC)
Posted on May 22nd, 2023 by
Back in the 90s, there was a popular sub-genre of puzzle games which were usually competitive and had colorful, sometimes anime-like characters. Some of these types of games included Tetris Attack, Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo, Puzzle Bobble, Magical Drop, Puchi Carat, and others. Gematombe seeks to replicate those kind of games and ends up being most like Puchi Carat. The characters featured here are based on the Greek myth about Pandora’s Box, and gameplay is a mix of Breakout and Puzzle Bobble. It’s available on most current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
