The Long Gate (Switch, PC)
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Posted on September 6th, 2021 by
Explore a mysterious deserted ruined cave and solve mind bending puzzles in The Long Gate. You view the game in a first person perspective as you explore a 3-D cave with all sorts of electronic devices. Early on you’ll get what looks like a Portal gun but it’s actually just a tool that helps you pick up and move things. You’ll use it to drag around battery looking objects as you link wires and such to solve circuit-based puzzles. Kind of what an electrical engineer might do. The game is available on Switch and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective (Switch, PC)
Posted on September 1st, 2021 by
When I was a kid, there was a series of books that were super popular and still are to some degree. I’m sure you’ve all heard of them: the Where’s Waldo books. I didn’t get into them as a kid, since they came out around the time I was just a little too old for them. I’m sure I would’ve still had fun with the books, but you know how kids are when they don’t want to have anything to do with things that are a little too young for them. But I still recognized their appeal. Anyway, back then there were tons of Where’s Waldo books, puzzles, toys, a Saturday morning cartoon, and even video games! Unfortunately, the technology wasn’t quite there yet with the games, as many of the Where’s Waldo game entries were considered some of the worst for the respective consoles. It’s a shame they couldn’t wait for technology to catch up. But luckily today’s consoles are good enough for games based on properties such as this. Enter Pierre the Maze Detective, a series of books very similar to Where’s Waldo in that they combine 2-D maze activity books with hidden picture elements. I’ve never heard of those books before this game, but apparently they’re pretty popular. And now you can play a game based on one of those books, and it does a good job recreating the charm and whimsy of the series. Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective is available on Switch and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Metaloid Origin (PS4, Switch)
Posted on August 30th, 2021 by
Metaloid Origin takes inspiration from classic 16-bit run-and-gun games, especially Mega Man X. Play as one of three android catgirls (kind of reminds me of Samurai Pizza Cats) and blast robots in more than half a dozen 2-D platform stages. It’s available on PS4 and Switch, but reviewed on PS4 here.
CrisTales (Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox X/S, PC)
Posted on August 27th, 2021 by
Crisbell is a young girl who lives in a fantasy world full of monsters and magic. She lives in an orphanage until one day she meets a talking frog. The frog leads her to the local cathedral where her Time Mage powers awaken, which lets her see the past and future and manipulate them. She has a vision of an upcoming war with a powerful Time Empress who is trying to take over the world. So now with her talking frog and newfound friends, Crisbell embarks on an RPG adventure in CrisTales. It’s available on nearly all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
MouseBot: Escape from CatLab (PS4, Switch, Xbox One, PC, Mobile)
Posted on August 25th, 2021 by
Help a robotic mouse navigate through devious trap-filled mazes designed by cat scientists in MouseBot: Escape from CatLab. It’s kind of like a 3-D endless runner where you constantly roll forward, and must avoid and jump over obstacles while collecting as much cheese as you can. It’s available on nearly all current game consoles, PC, and mobile devices, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Kickerinho World (Switch, Mobile)
Posted on August 23rd, 2021 by
Do foot tricks with a soccer ball and nothing else in Kickerinho World. It’s available on Nintendo Switch and mobile devices, but reviewed on Switch here.
Sam & Max: This Time it’s Virtual (Oculus)
Posted on August 20th, 2021 by
OK I’m going to tell you a couple of things about myself that you may or may not already know. First, I’ve been blind in my left eye since birth. It doesn’t keep me from doing much, but I can’t drive because my lack of depth perception and peripheral vision wouldn’t be safe. I also can’t catch thrown objects to me very well, also due to the lack of depth perception, and I can’t see 3-D effects in movies and such. This means I can’t see the full effects in VR games either. Anyway, another thing about me is that I’m a big fan of Sam & Max. Sam is a genial 6-foot tall talking dog wearing a suit, and Max is his maniacal rabbity razor teethed sidekick thing. Together they dispense their wacky brand of justice as the Freelance Police, and have starred in comic books, point and click video games, and even a Saturday morning cartoon! And now they have their own VR game with Sam & Max: This Time it’s Virtual. Even though I can’t use VR to its fullest potential, I just had to play this game since I’m such a big fan of Sam & Max. So thanks to the help of my brothers and their Oculus Quest, I was able to review it!
Out of Line (Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Posted on August 18th, 2021 by
Out of Line is one of those games that tells its story without words. Well I have no choice here so forgive me if this sounds dumb. Anyway, you play as a dude who looks like the kid from Scribblenauts. You’re in a hand-drawn mechanical world trying to escape these giant grabber claw hands. You have to find these glowing blue cubes that attach themselves to trees, and you also meet older versions of yourself. Early on in the game you get a yellow spear of light that you can throw and do other things with to creatively bypass obstacles in this 2-D puzzle platformer. Out of Line is available on nearly all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Bishoujo Battle Mahjong Solitaire (PS4, PS5, Switch, PC)
Posted on August 16th, 2021 by
I’ve seen the word “Bishoujo” before when referring to anime, but I had no idea what it meant until I looked it up for this review. Turns out it means “beautiful young lady” so to speak. Guess that would’ve made for too long of a title for this game, where you play Mahjong Solitaire to unlock outfits for a bevvy of anime ladies, who are also armed with weapons in this one for some reason. It’s very similar to the Pretty Girls Klondike Solitaire game I reviewed recently, and it’s available on nearly all current game consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Streets of Rage 4: Mr. X Nightmare DLC (PS4, Switch, Xbox One, PC)
Posted on August 9th, 2021 by
I loved Streets of Rage 4 when it came out last year. I enjoyed it so much that it won my “Best Arcade Classic Remake” award in my 2020 Game of the Year blog. So I was happy to find out they had some DLC for it, and even more excited that I got to review it! This Mr. X Nightmare DLC adds new characters, modes, and other features to this 2-D side scrolling beat ‘em up, and it’s available on most current consoles, but reviewed on PS4 here.
