Tank! Tank! Tank! is a simple and fun idea that is hindered by some poor gameplay design which ultimately leaves a lot of potential unrealized.

If you're into these types of heavy management and sim games, Nobilis has put together a potentially compelling package for you at a good price.

Dangerous Driving bets that spurned fans of Burnout still want more Burnout made by the only people they would trust to make more Burnout. It’s a skilled recreation, albeit one that forgets wild innovation and grinning novelty were as important to Burnout’s identity as racing and smashing up outrageous cars. Dangerous Driving, ironically, is defined by familiarity and comfort.

Korra's fiction and Platinum's development lineage impart a veritable dream team of narrative and design, but neither party seemed to bring the necessary hardware to live up to their respective and respected standards.

PlayStation VR Worlds is intended to raise belief in its accompanying hardware. And it does; once for each of its five technical showpieces. Afterward that high is only reached through a vicarious transfer from newcomers, positioning VR Worlds' potential as a dramatic flash instead of an imposing statement.

Call of Cthulhu is an emphatic character sheet fed to a game deficient of opportunities for self-expression. Imagine if, instead of a dramatic exploration behind the power and poison of enlightenment, Lovecraft only wrote a flat outline. Call of Cthulhu is eldritch horror without emotion or agency, and its madness is entirely mundane.

Tennis World Tour 2 isn’t necessarily the most robust or enticing offering when it comes to tennis games, but it’s one of the only simulation games out there. If you’re a die-hard tennis fan, it’s worth a shot to see if it can keep your attention. But casual fans should consider looking elsewhere.

ooka-Laylee’s full use of the color spectrum, Grant Kirkhope, David Wise, and Steve Burke’s endearing score, and its relentless positivity are boons to its medium. It’s also firmly disinterested in twenty years of forward progress, doubling as a paean to Banjo’s banal challenges, mushy control, and distressing tedium. It’s tough to feel bitter—Playtonic delivered what was promised—it’s just awfully easy to feel chafed and bored, too.

Ultimately, God’s Trigger’s grindhouse kitsch is effective because you can believe it was made by deeply inspired people who barely knew what they were doing. Blundering adrenaline has an unconscious authenticity which, by its nature, translates to a gnarly player experience. Misadventure is technically still an adventure.

Yoshi's New Island follows a similar formula as previous Nintendo remakes/reboots but ultimately falls short of recreating the magic we expect from Nintendo platformers.

It's fun, but the fun is short lived. Dreamkiller is a copy-cat game that tries to emulate Serious Sam but places Sam in a cube.

Overall, Vancouver 2010 is an okay game, but it's very shallow. It borders on just being a collection of mini-games in some regards, but it is more than that -- just not a lot more. Good for a weekend rental, but very hard to recommend, even at $50.

While Team Sonic Racing makes a statement with its collaborative squads of racers, its identity is lost in the amorphous complexion of a conventional kart racer. Worse, its gorgeous locales and myriad customization options aren't quite enough to support a despairing imbalance between luck and skill. Silver the Hedgehog's presence is one of many indications Team Sonic Racing is burdened with deadweight and light on inspiration.

Despite another year of development, EA FC 26 remains plagued by bugs. The main menu continues to give me issues. At times, I’m unable to navigate it at all because it simply bugs out. Considering how often this issue has been raised across multiple installments, it’s frustrating to see so little progress.

Sixty frames per second in 3D is indeed a marvelous technical achievement and Tekken 3D: Prime Edition deserves praise for reaching that goal. It's just too bad the game never bothered with building a deck around its ace.

Taiko no Tatsujin’s return to the western hemisphere should have been cause for celebration. Instead it’s a capable but antiquated rhythm game that feels lost and out of place without its natural hardware.

By tying humor and outrageous context to its moving parts, Saints Row The Third and Saints Row IV became viable systems in the modern open-world paradigm. Gat out of Hell (mostly) forgets all of this, sheds (mostly) all of its psychotic humor, and bolts on (mostly) dated mechanics.

Superfluous violence and clumsy gameplay soil much of the goodwill made by Warp's inviting premise and clever ideas. It's not that Warp is an especially weak or offensive game, but rather its coarse missteps leave a stronger impression than its careful and crafty moments.

A mediocre experience made a little better with co-op play. Possibly a good weekend game with a friend or two, especially during a new game release lull often seen in December and January.

I commend 2Dark for tackling a tough premise, but it’s one I could have just as well left alone, too. The gameplay combined with the presentation just click with me, and it made this one a chore to play. If you’re into stealth and horror, especially top-down, retro-themed ones, there could be definitely be something here for you as some of 2Dark’s mechanics are sound. Otherwise, it’s probably safe to wait for a deep sale or a pass on this one.

Uncanny Valley thrives in the unknown and dies in the familiar. Playing is a push and pull between two opposing conditions, and in time perseveration shoves mystery over the edge and becomes a dominating force. Consequence, the commanding authority of Uncanny Valley, is resistible when it's ultimately undermined by routine.

I Hate Running Backwards is a challenging shoot 'em up with roguelike elements that will keep you up late into the night with it's one more round gameplay. Although the game is fun, there could be several changes to the special weapons and perk system to make each round feel more unique and enhance the replayability. If you are a fan of the Serious Sam series, you will enjoy playing with familiar characters in the same chaotic environment Serious Sam is known for.

To say that Warp Frontier is a letdown would be mostly glossing over how it succeeds as a point-and-click, but saying that it’s an indie gem would be overlook some of the more critical issues that exist in-game. The world and story of Warp Frontier are well developed, yes. The voice acting and soundtrack are icing on the imaginary cake. But, this sci-fi cop drama of a point-and-click is best saved for a PC-playthrough, as the Switch’s hardware and controller limitations make some of the game’s annoying puzzles into frustrations. I would highly recommend you play this on PC, as your experience will be marred by the Switch.

I wouldn't call Adrenalin Misfits a must own, but I would strongly recommend a rental for any Kinect owners looking for a decent board racing experience, especially if you have some young gamers in your household.

In the end, Heavy Fire: Red Shadow definitely harkens back to a time period where point/shoot had a different meaning in an arcade experience than it does now. The game maintains a nostalgic design, which certainly makes sense for the experience, but the experience’s longevity will be questioned depending on player expectations. This goes back to what you understand about a game’s intentions. If you know going into it that you’re going to get an arcade shooter, then you may not be disappointed. If you’re expecting a deeper experience than just point/shoot, then you may not find it here.

All in all, this Secret of Mana HD remake is a mixed offering. Opportunities to take an aged classic and keep the best parts and refine the not-so-great parts were largely left undone. The result is a game that still carries a lot of merit, but has enough flaws and setbacks that hold it back from realizing it’s full potential, and it makes it a frustrating choice for consumers. Perhaps if the budget and desire are there — and I’m not sure they are — some patching could go a long way to making this remake more robust.

For all but the most passionate Spider-Man fans, TAS2 is one you can safely skip or get by with on a rental.

Not A Hero absorbs Resident Evil 7's discordant third act and recasts it in the mold of a conventional action shooter. While a sharp focus (and a welcomed protagonist swap) aid Not A Hero's general coherence, it's a vision of a life the seventh Resident Evil chose to leave behind. A safe move isn't often the strongest.