As an experiment, even almost three decades later, Live a Live mostly succeeds.

Stray‘s expressive art direction, curious music, stop-and-snap-a-pic lighting, and thoughtful level design coalesce into one of my favorite gaming experiences of the year.

Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium is almost everything I want from a compilation. It not only provides a handsome slew of games, but it pays reverence to the experience, as well. Beyond that, it gives a lot of options that are pretty easy to figure out and configure. Switching between a controller and arcade stick is a breeze, as it should be. Maybe one day I want pixel art, and maybe the next I want phosphor glow. My eyeball-destroying tastes are catered for.

Nothing needs to be reassessed because nothing has been significantly changed. These are still two charming, well-polished platformers. There’s nothing mind-blowing about them, but I enjoy them for what they are and think more people should experience them. More effort could have been made in this collection, but the graphical clean-up is appreciated. I’m shrugging. You can’t see it, since this is a text review, but my shoulders are up.

Capcom Fighting Collection is a no-frills compilation of the pugilistic publisher’s secondary catalog, offering well-aged revisits to Darkstalkers, the gem fighter spin-offs, and some ambitious and intriguing experiments. Outside of its important job as an archival piece, it’s a somewhat barebones collection, hurt by lack of crossplay, and questionable existence given Capcom’s established range of compilations. Regardless, it remains a must-buy for all long-suffering Night Warriors.

Yurukill: The Calumniation Games is greater than the sum of its parts. The bullet hell sections are fun and challenging if a bit drab in design and variety while the escape room sections have good character interactions but are far too simple and tame for what you might expect in a game about an amusement park where people can be murdered with the push of a button. Tear them apart and you get two substandard games that likely wouldn’t be worth anybody’s time. Keep them together, however, and you’ve got a one-of-a-kind experience that’s worth checking out.

After all these years there still isn't anything quite like Cuphead.

With enticing visuals, accessible-yet-deep gameplay, and a roster of varied, exciting characters, DNF Duel rises above its cult branding to offer one of 2022’s most dynamic, explosive slugfests. While its lofty price tag and niche IP might see DNF struggle to get through the ropes, once the bell sounds it easily holds its own against its contemporaries. Time will tell whether this particular entity cracks the scene long-term but, either way, DNF Duel is laser-focused on ensuring its presence is felt… Right on your jaw.

Fobia – St. Dinfna Hotel is worth playing for patient survival horror fans who want something lighter on combat, and can handle budget-constrained rough edges. Monsters wander around in an effort to raise the stakes, but the focus is on meticulous exploration, just-cryptic-enough puzzle-solving, and mentally mapping out the many, many hotel halls.

If you’re looking for a compelling detective adventure with heart and smarts, it’s easy to recommend AI: The Sominum Files – nirvanA Initiative. It feels like the realization of what this world can be, and a promising step forward from its predecessor. It might still have a few wrinkles, but by the final credits roll, it’ll likely win over any investigator’s heart.

Pocky & Rocky Reshrined is exactly as it promises: more Pocky & Rocky.

There are a few situations where you should still jump on Sonic Origins.

The more I played Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, the more I liked it.

If shoving Toonami and the Titanfall 2 Pilot’s Gauntlet into a blender and turning it to the highest speed sounds like a good time, then Neon White might be what you’re looking for. It’s a blood-pumping, speed-infused anime shooter with style and a decent bit of heart. While it’s short and sweet, Neon White gives just enough to get the player keen on shaving off seconds and fractions of seconds until they are, indeed, a speedrunning freak. For anyone who likes to go fast, that’s at least worth the price of admission.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is a delightful celebration of the Heroes in a Half-Shell. More importantly, it’s simply a helluva lot of fun to play. It breaks little in the way of new ground, remaining rooted in old-school cool, but it does offer wild, satisfying combat, packed out with personality and charm. For anyone who ever jumped off a schoolyard wall — tree branch in hand — shouting “Cowabunga!”, Shredder’s Revenge is absolutely worth shelling out for.

It sometimes feels antiquated; a late arriver to a bygone era of JRPGs. An amalgamation of the directness of SNES RPGs and the pomp of the PS2 flavor. I can only dream of what the series would be like with a bigger budget and staff. But even with what we have now, Metal Max Xeno Reborn is something special. Now, you’ll have to excuse me while I go to work digging through the series past. I need more, and I need it now.

I was shocked that Mario Strikers: Battle League had this much going on under the surface.

The Quarry is as good as I was hoping it'd be, and that's a pleasant surprise.

I want to make this clear: without microtransactions in play at all, Diablo Immortal is actually a fun little multiplayer-centric take on the formula, especially on its native mobile home.

If you’re wondering if it’s worth picking up, I guess I’d say that it probably is. If you’ve never played a Sniper Elite game before, Sniper Elite 5 is as good as any to jump in with. You don’t need previous experience to understand what’s going on. If you’ve played every game in the series, then you know if you’re going to like this one. However, if you bounced off the previous titles, this one absolutely isn’t going to change your mind. Not in the same way a bullet to a Nazi’s cerebral cortex does.

You can throw a rock at the Steam Marketplace and hit a pixel art platformer that has heart but misses what made the era appealing. Belle Boomerang is not one of those games. It deserves attention, and I’m hoping that its charming visuals will help it achieve that. Don’t let this one get lost in the mix. It’s a tight experience, with its own unique challenges, and front-to-back variety. It may not completely reinvent the platforming genre, but it hits the target masterfully.

It’s not a ridiculous proposition, but it’s not an outstanding one either. Snow Bros. isn’t exactly a classic, so while I’m happy to see it pop up again, I’m not very enthusiastic enough about the end result to start throwing around recommendations. It’s not a game that has been ported very often, so having it available at all is worth the release.

Evil Dead: The Game is an authentic and passionate recreation of a chaotic, violent, and wildly slapstick classic. Though plaudits are deserved for the title’s atmosphere and fan-pleasing references, a litany of technical hiccups, unstable mechanics, and odd design choices frequently hinder this promising release. In time, Evil Dead can become something very special. But as it stands, it still delivers a fistful of fun for its ravenous fanbase. Shop Smart.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker is successful in just about everything it attempts. Not only is its gameplay extremely replayable and constantly satisfying, but it also manages to stack it all on a very solid narrative foundation. Tangibly, it feels like keeping your head down while forces bigger than you decide your fate. Gross. But if you don’t want all the horrible management talk and resistance to unionization to drag you down, you can just go in and hack some ships apart. It’s a serene zero-g experience while a wasp flies around in your helmet. Ignore it, and maybe it will leave you alone. Except probably not, wasps are jerks.

Evil Dead: The Game is an authentic and passionate recreation of a chaotic, violent, and wildly slapstick classic. Though plaudits are deserved for the title’s atmosphere and fan-pleasing references, a litany of technical hiccups, unstable mechanics, and odd design choices frequently hinder this promising release. In time, Evil Dead can become something very special. But as it stands, it still delivers a fistful of fun for its ravenous fanbase. Shop Smart.

Kao the Kangaroo feels like a game that has more potential that wasn't executed on, but the vibrant visuals go a really long way.

Touken Ranbu Warriors isn’t a game for traditional Musou/Warriors fans. This one’s aimed directly at the crowd that didn’t have to Google the term “Saniwa” when reading this review.

If you’re heavily interested in a vampire-fueled mystery game with some good “a-ha” moments, Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong can deliver. It’ll falter and miss some notes here and there, but it does at least sate my thirst for some vampire storytelling for now.