Stay Cool, Kobayashi-san: A River City Ransom Story (PS4, Switch, Xbox One, PC)
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Posted on December 2nd, 2019 by
The River City Ransom series sure has gotten a lot of games this year! First there was River City Girls by WayForward, then River City: Melee Mach!!, which I reviewed earlier. And now there is Stay Cool, Kobayashi-san: A River City Ransom Story. It’s kind of a side story starring Kobayashi, one of Kunio’s rivals. But who is Kunio? He’s the main character of most of the River City games. In Japan there is a popular series of video games that has gone back since the 80s starring Kunio. He’s a hot-blooded high school student who sometimes gets into fights and trouble, but always stands up for his friends and against bullies. Kunio also likes to play sports and when he’s not beating up baddies, he’s competing in events like soccer or dodgeball. Some of Kunio’s games have made it to the US under name or graphical changes. If you’ve ever played a game like Renegade, River City Ransom, Crash N the Boyz Street Challenge, or Super Dodge Ball, then you’ve played a Kunio game! This new side story game is available to download on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
New Super Lucky’s Tale (Switch)
Posted on November 29th, 2019 by
I have a lot of game consoles, but two that I don’t have are any sort of VR device, and an Xbox One. I don’t have anything against Microsoft, in fact, the 360 was my favorite console of last generation. But game consoles are expensive and there just isn’t enough games on the Xbox One or VR titles that would get me to buy one of those. But one year at PAX I saw a VR game that looked right up my alley. It was a colorful 3-D game called Lucky’s Tale that starred a cartoon fox who looked suspiciously like my favorite SEGA character (minus one tail). And after that, there was an Xbox One title called Super Lucky’s Tale. But now I don’t have to worry about either of those because New Super Lucky’s Tale is now on Switch, a game console I do have! Since I’ve never played the others, I don’t know what’s new or super about it, but New Super Lucky’s Tale is a colorful and cheerful romp that reminds me of the 3-D platformers you could play in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.
SkullGirls: 2nd Encore (Switch, PS4, PS3, PS Vita, Xbox One, 360, PC)
Posted on November 27th, 2019 by
Ever since 2012, I’ve always wanted to review SkullGirls. It’s a 2-D fighting game with cartoony graphics and a cast of very interesting characters. But for whatever reason, I was never able to review it. Until now. SkullGirls: 2nd Encore is now on Nintendo Switch, the first time it’s been on a Nintendo console, and features all the DLC and extras of the original game. Now I get to see what the fuss is all about, and believe me, most of that hype is well deserved.
Squidgies Takeover (Switch)
Posted on November 25th, 2019 by
Squidgies Takeover is a downloadable Switch exclusive that mixes physics style gameplay with Lemmings-like puzzles. Cute little baby alien octopus creatures are venturing out from their mother’s tentacles so they can take over their own planets. It’s up to you to distribute powers to them so they can safely reach portals in each single screen level.
The Games of the SEGA Genesis Mini: Part 3
Posted on November 22nd, 2019 by
Like I said, I saved the best for last. These final Genesis Mini games are the ones that impressed me the most, or at least impressed me that they got put on here in the first place! Most of these games have never been on a Genesis collection before, and some have never been released at all! So let’s take a look at them!
The King of Fighters ALL STAR (Mobile)
Posted on November 20th, 2019 by
The King of Fighters is a long running one-on-one 2-D fighting game series featuring characters from SNK’s other brawlers like Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, and more! And now there is a new game with The King of Fighters ALL STAR. But surprise surprise! It’s not a fighting game, but a 2-D side scrolling beat ‘em up! You’d think that kind of game wouldn’t translate well to mobile devices, but it actually works really well and I’ve had a lot of fun with it. It’s available free-to-play to download on mobile devices, but reviewed on iPad here.
Creepy Brawlers (Switch)
Posted on November 18th, 2019 by
Halloween may be over, but you can still beat up monsters with Creepy Brawlers. The main character in this game is watching a horror movie in the theater, but then gets sucked inside! Now he must box his way to defeat all sorts of opponents, like a zombie, wolfman, vampire, and more! It’s almost like a spooky sequel to Punch Out on the NES! It even looks like an 8-bit NES game. You can even get an actual cartridge of this for your NES, but you can also download it on Switch, which is the version reviewed here.
The Games of the SEGA Genesis Mini: Part 2
Posted on November 15th, 2019 by
In this second batch of games found in the SEGA Genesis Mini, we’ll look at a variety of first party and third party games. Some of these have been on previous Genesis collections, but most of these haven’t. The only other thing most of the games in this section have in common is that most of them didn’t impress me much when playing them now. But don’t worry, like I said, we’ll get to the good stuff in the next blog, I promise!
Heist: One Team, One Mission (Boardgame)
Posted on November 14th, 2019 by
Pass items back and forth as the central safe shouts out instructions in this cooperative real time game of bank robbery. Take on the role of one of four characters and follow the instructions on the battery-powered central cube. Pass items back and forth and then “use” them correctly to advance the timer. Success leads to the big payoff, while mistakes cost you money and perhaps the entire game. Heist: One Team, One Mission is a fast-paced game looks neat, is very family friendly, and plays in just a few minutes.
Doraemon: Story of Seasons (Switch, PC)
Posted on November 13th, 2019 by
This is a crossover game but the two properties featured here may not be so familiar to many Americans. Especially Doraemon. Doraemon is a cartoon blue robot cat with no ears who is especially popular in Japan. You may have even seen him and not realized it. He’s been a star of manga comic books and anime cartoons and movies for decades, and is sometimes even called “Japan’s Mickey Mouse.” Some of his comic books have been translated into English, and Disney brought some of the newest iterations of the Doraemon cartoons to the US under the Disney XD channel a few years back (good on them), but other than that, Doraemon has stayed relatively unknown in the States. Some US gamers may be more familiar with Story of Seasons, though, as it’s a farming sim series that used to go under the name of Harvest Moon. And now the two franchises are together in quite the unexpected crossover game you can download on Switch and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
