Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon: Party Edition (Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
I’m a big fan of stop motion and clay animation. I even took a class on it once back in my college years so I have a lot of respect for the folks who do that stuff for a living. One of my favorite stop motion animation studios is Aardman. They’ve done stuff like Creature Comforts and the Chevron car commercials, but probably their most famous work is the Wallace and Gromit series. One of the side characters in Wallace and Gromit was a sheep named Shaun. He was so popular that he got his own spinoff TV show and movies about his adventures on the farm with his barnyard friends. Heck, even the youngest sheep on that show got his own preschool spinoff show called Timmy Time! So yeah, a spinoff of a spinoff. Anyway, now Shaun the Sheep and his fleecy friends are in their own video game: a 2-D action puzzle platformer on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Feeble Light (PS4, PS5, Switch, PC)
Feeble Light is a randomly generated vertically scrolling bullet hell shooter. It features retro style aesthetics with four color graphics like what you’d see on the Game Boy. Avoid everything and shoot crazy planets and stars with angry faces as you try and get as far as possible and maybe even unlock some new color palettes you can use. It’s available on PlayStation consoles, Switch, and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
In the 80s and 90s, Double Dragon was HUGE! It wasn’t the first side scrolling beat ‘em up, but it was the first one to really dictate what these types of games would be like in the future. It was definitely one of the first two player co-op beat ‘em ups, though, and that’s what made it so popular in arcades back then. The arcade game got countless ports, sequels, and even cameos in other games. There was even a Double Dragon cartoon and cheesy live action movie! And they keep coming back, even to this day! The newest entry is Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons, and it’s available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Fitness Circuit (Switch)
Here’s another motion controlled fitness game on Switch! Use the JoyCons to perform cardio and strength actions to give energy to a virtual fitness trainer. You can pick from three female and three male trainers. The energy you give them by doing the exercises correctly lets them perform extreme activities like climbing buildings or swinging across bridges in a virtual world that makes me think of TRON. Oddly enough, this game was published by Spike Chunsoft, who specializes in a lot of niche RPGs, and developed by Jupiter, who makes a lot of Picross titles!
Catgotchi (Switch)
Ray’z Arcade Chronology (PS4, Switch)
Game maker Taito has been around for more than half a century, and they have as much history behind them as Namco and Nintendo. They’re probably most famous for creating the iconic Space Invaders, but they’re also responsible for other arcade greats like Operation Wolf, Bubble Bobble, Elevator Action, and many, many more. In the 90s, they made a series of 2-D vertically scrolling shooters with similar gameplay in each, and they all had “Ray” in the title. These games were RayForce, RayStorm, and RayCrisis, and now you can play all of them in this collection. It’s available on PS4 and Switch, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Spooky Spirit Shooting Gallery (Switch)
Robolt (PS4, PS5, Switch)
Trinity Trigger (Switch, PS4, PS5, PC)
Long ago in a fantasy world, behemoth gods had a war and their giant weapons were scattered across the land. These weapons could affect their surrounding areas, which is how they explain a desert area right next to a snowy place. Eons later scavengers explore these huge weapons like dungeons, extracting any relics they can find for money. You play as Cyan, one of these scavengers who ekes out a living with his sister. One day a mysterious assassin tries to kill you, and you learn that you have some connection with the giant gods of yore. Now with your newfound adventuring friends, you’ll go on a globe trotting adventure to explore all the giant weapon dungeons to learn about your past and save the day in Trinity Trigger. This game is an action RPG that plays a lot like Secret of Mana (three can even play at the same time), with graphics and presentation that reminds me of the GameCube days. And that’s not a bad thing here. It definitely does the throwback thing well, and it’s available on Switch, PlayStation consoles, and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Boo Party (Switch, PC)
One of my guilty pleasures is watching those ghost shows on TV where investigators try and find spirits in haunted places. So I usually jump at the chance to review games where you get to do that, especially if they’re as cartoony as this one. In Boo Party, you are a paranormal photographer who has been commissioned to take pictures inside a haunted house. But when you enter, you find that ghosts from all over are having a giant house party! So now you must mingle with the ghost guests and talk with them, and maybe some will let you take pictures of them if you do some favors and requests. But this game isn’t all what it seems. You’ll find out why by reading this review. Boo Party is available on Switch and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.