Somos (iOS, Android, PC)
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Posted on December 12th, 2018 by
The idea behind Somos couldn’t be any simpler. You are a dot. Tap the left side of the screen to move your dot to the right, and tap the right side of the screen to move your dot to the left. You must do this to avoid obstacles and try to keep your dot from being hit. Sometimes you must tap on objects to clear them away from your dot’s side as well. And that’s all there really is to it. It’s available to download on mobile devices and PC free to start, but reviewed on iPad here.
Save Me, Mr. Tako (Switch, PC)
Posted on December 10th, 2018 by
With titles like Shovel Knight and The Messenger, 8-bit NES styled games are all the rage. But you don’t see too many retro revivals in the style of the old black and white Game Boy. Which is a little strange since that handheld produced a lot of classics like Super Mario Land, Tetris, Kirby, and even Pokémon! Heck, my number one favorite Zelda game: Link’s Awakening, was on the Game Boy. But now comes Save Me, Mr. Tako, which is styled just like a Game Boy game and could’ve been a real classic had it been released back then. You play as (mostly) an octopus named Tako (Tako is octopus in Japanese). The humans and octopuses are at war, but when Tako rescues a human girl, he must decide which side to stand for, and save the world in the process. The game plays like a 2-D platformer, similar to titles like Kirby or Starfy (but much harder). It’s available to download on Switch and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Starlink: Battle for Atlas (Switch, PS4, Xbox One)
Posted on December 7th, 2018 by
Skylanders, amiibo, and LEGO Dimensions pioneered the whole ‘toys to life’ game genre, but Ubisoft is taking it out of this world with Starlink: Battle for Atlas. Customize different spaceships with pilots, wings, and weapons, and then play as them in this sci-fi space battle action adventure game. It’s available for Switch, PS4, and Xbox One, but reviewed on Switch here. And I think the game is best optimized on the Switch, as you’ll see why if you keep reading!
Bunnymare: Circus Escape (iOS, Google Play)
Posted on November 28th, 2018 by
A troop of weird, bunny puppet things live at a circus, but a cruel ringmaster mistreats them when they don’t perform well and locks them up in a cage at night. One night, one of the bunnies finds a magic hat with a portal to some kind of happy candy farm. Now you must help the bunnies escape in this Lemmings-like action puzzler. It’s available free-to-play on mobile devices, but reviewed on iPad here.
Night Slashers (Switch, PS4, Xbox One)
Posted on November 26th, 2018 by
Back in the 90’s, side scrolling beat ‘em ups were a dime a dozen. Most of them had a modern day street gang theme, but some strayed from the norm with sci-fi or fantasy tropes. But I don’t remember too many horror themed beat ‘em ups. But here comes Night Slashers, which is just that. It’s from the now defunct Data East, but I don’t remember it in arcades back then. I would say it was Japan only, but there is English text. So I guess the arcades around me just didn’t carry it. Anyway, now you can download it on the Switch (and later other consoles).
LEGO DC Super Villains (PS4, Switch, Xbox One, PC)
Posted on November 23rd, 2018 by
In one of the early LEGO Batman games, one of the best parts was that after you beat the main story mode, you could go back and play as the bad guys. And now there’s a whole game featuring a cascade of DC Comics villains in LEGO form. In many comics, like Batman, oftentimes the bad guys are more interesting than the heroes themselves. In the new LEGO game, Lex Luthor is breaking out of prison and the Joker is on a crime spree. But when the Justice League try and stop them, the heroes mysteriously disappear, only to be replaced by new ones called the Justice Syndicate. But are these new heroes really all they seem to be? Either way, Lex Luthor, the Joker, Harley Quinn, and the rest of the bad guys are going to have their hands full in this new LEGO game. It’s available on nearly all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Heavy Fire: Red Shadow (PS4, PSVR, Xbox One, PC)
Posted on November 21st, 2018 by
In the not-to-distant future, North Korea and the United States are at war. You play the part of a US army gunner, and you must defend your post with your turret armed with machine guns and rocket launchers. Heavy Fire: Red Shadow is available for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. It’s also compatible with PSVR, but since I don’t have any VR equipment, it’s just reviewed on PS4 here.
Catacombs (3rd Edition) (Boardgame)
Posted on November 20th, 2018 by
Catacombs takes the basic idea of flicking wooden discs around a game board and transforms it into a competitive role playing game of players vs a game master. Played over a series of boards, players journey into a dungeon in hopes of becoming powerful enough to beat the final boss in the game. A fun mix of disc-flicking, tactics, and a fantasy theme create a very unique, and enjoyable, boardgame. The newest edition (with fancy new rubber playmats rather than cardboard) is currently finishing up a Kickstarter campaign.
Heavy Burger (Switch, PC)
Posted on November 19th, 2018 by
When I was a kid in the early 80s, there wasn’t very many games that could pull me away from Pac-Man. But one of those games that did was BurgerTime. I enjoyed that game so much as a kid, that when I got home after playing it for the first time, I cut out a chef hat and pepper shaker out of paper and played ‘pretend’ BurgerTime around the house. Yeah I was a weird kid, but at least you can’t say I didn’t use my imagination! BurgerTime was made by Data East, a game company that isn’t around anymore, but they made some memorable games in the arcade back then. A few years after BurgerTime, another arcade game they made was Heavy Barrel, a top down overhead army shooter. I always thought of it as just another Ikari Warriors clone, and don’t have many memories associated with it. But I did see it recently at a retro arcade bar I went to. So taking a cue from combining other arcade games like Arkanoid vs. Space Invaders, what happens when you mix BurgerTime and Heavy Barrel? You get Heavy Burger, of course! It’s a super awesome multiplayer twin stick shooter featuring many of Data East’s arcade classics. It’s available to download on Switch and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Just Dance 2019 (Switch, Wii U, Wii, PS4, Xbox One)
Posted on November 16th, 2018 by
The Just Dance series of games is one of the more popular console dance music games out there. So much so that there’s a new release annually, and it’s time for the 2019 version to hit with more songs and other goodies. It’s available for nearly all current game consoles (and even older ones), but reviewed on Switch here.
