For those of you who missed it’s original release on the Apple Arcade, and I’m almost sure that was just about everyone, you owe it to yourself to download this release on your favorite console and enjoy. Even if you’ve never heard of Space Harrier, you will have fun playing through this, with its great action, soundtrack and tons of unlockables. Air Twister is definitely one that needs to be in your collection. I cannot recommend it enough.

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man who Erased his Name is the second volley in Ryu Ga Gotoku’s year long triple threat (February’s Like a Dragon: Ishin! And January 2024’s Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth are the other prongs of this attack!). While it is not as voluminous as the feudal era title that came before it, I can stay storywise Gaiden is more impactful and frankly I do appreciate its existence (Even though I was squarely in the camp of letting Kiryu walk away into the sunset never to be heard from again…), it lays the groundwork for his participation in the upcoming Infinite Wealth. For fans who have enjoyed any of Kiryu’s adventures you owe it to yourself to take this one on as it further adds to the legend of the Dragon of Dojima…even if that’s not him anymore. Let’s hope nothing bad befalls this man in subsequent titles…hasn’t he suffered enough, perhaps a trip to Hawaii will do him some good!

I have no doubt that some people are absolutely going to love Jusant – but it’s definitely not for me. If you’re a fan of climbing, you’ll find plenty to love here, but I found it all too frustrating to ever get lost in the game.

There’s a weight of history behind Saints Row, and no matter whether you’re comparing it to the more serious early games or the sillier later ones, it’s pretty clear that the Saints Row reboot doesn’t live up to any of them.

RoboCop: Rogue City managed to be one giant leap in the right direction for a property that could never find a proper footing in the video game space. It worked extremely well as a bridge to the 2nd and 3rd films and managed to provide an action packed romp for someone who is looking for your usual power fantasy experience. I hope Tayon gets a second crack at the guy and really lets loose without the confines of the two films holding them back. That and maybe put less cutscenes of Robo watching a car drive off…it happens more than you think. Otherwise if you’re a fan of RoboCop or are Robo-curious, you owe it to yourself to check out Rogue City…and yes spend more than a dollar when acquiring it (This was the best I could do in cramming that line in, anyways go pick up this game…I need to figure out how to do well in the shooting range).

None of this is to say the game is bad, because it isn’t! And to be honest with you, the receptiveness to feedback that the team has shown in the short time since launch, and how quickly they patched out the performance issues on PC (which bear no further mentioning than that, now that they have been fixed) makes me think that some of this will get taken care of in the near future! I can see enemy density being adjusted, I can see some of the absurdly spongy health bars getting knocked down a good bit to help with the flow of combat, I can see some adjustments to checkpoint placements, etc. There is a LOT to love here with Lords of the Fallen, and I am genuinely optimistic about the legs this game has, and the potential it has to really go far.

Perhaps this title might inspire someone to work on a title which aligns more to the property… Otherwise buy it if you want to support the franchise, but if you’re looking for an enjoyable platformer there’s other options available out there. I guess it goes without saying, perhaps we shouldn’t have disturbed these relics of the past…

If you were a fan of the first Ghostrunner, it’s pretty much a sure thing that you’ll love the sequel. It takes everything that made the first game good and ramps it up a few notches – and, thankfully, it does it all on hardware that doesn’t have too many issues running it.

Even if the graphics were perfect, Wild Card Football would still suffer from the fact that it’s not very fun. The Switch has a big, football-shaped hole in its catalogue, and Wild Card Football would clearly love to fill it, but it’s pretty clear that the results fall well short of a first down.

It would be easy to speculate what “substances” the developers were on when they conceived and put this game together, but come on…this is Nintendo we’re talking about here. The only “substance” they have an abundance of is imagination and thank goodness. As Super Mario Bros. Wonder is definitely a timeless classic that will survive the test of time. Let’s hope this isn’t the first time Mario and Co spend time in this foreign land or at least let’s hope the mushroom kingdom imports some of their wares. With that said…Sorry Peter and Miles, I’ve got to finish the Special World before I head back to New York City…looks like this vacation in the Flower Kingdom is gonna last just a bit longer!

Overall, Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 is a pretty substantial collection (even with Vol. 2 in the works) with six games and a ton of bonus content ranging from graphic novels, soundtracks, scripts and more. Metal Gear Solid is really the only game I have any complaints about. Since it’s being emulated, and there are plenty of emulators out there that can smooth out or upscale textures, they could have used or created an emulator that allows for some smoother textures and/or upscaling. This is still a must have for any Metal Gear fan, and even if you are new to the series or have only played Metal Gear Solid V, this is a perfect opportunity to play the games that started it all!

Overall, Haunted House is fun for a while, but it begins to lose it’s charm the further you get into it. The game is okay for a few runs, but you may begin to lose interest quickly and want to stop. It’s a decent remake for sure, though very average overall and just not as compelling or satisfying as other roguelites or even other Atari remakes available. Maybe try a demo before purchasing to see if this will appeal to you.

To be sure, as we’ve established, Oceanhorn 2 isn’t very original. But freed of being directly and easily compared to the original by finally arriving on different systems, it’s much easier to appreciate just how strong of an imitation it is.

Would Ad Infinitum have been better off if it had come out a little closer in time to its influences (rather than a few months after Frictional Games also explored the trenches of World War I with Amnesia: The Bunker, which has to be the ultimate irony)? It’s hard not to feel that way, since as it stands, the game feels kind of anachronistic. It’s a solid enough horror game, don’t get me wrong, but it still feels a little too indebted to the past to really stand on its own.

You still have a cutesy, hard-drawn style that recalls the likes of Scribblenauts. You still have scenes that are a little too overcrowded and filled with too many tiny objects, forcing you to zoom into every scene so that you spend forever searching for one or two dumb little details. And you still have no real way to ask for help, save for clues that are so obscure that they’re essentially useful. Of course, if you’re a diehard hidden object gamer (do those exist?), that may sound appealing. If it weren’t for Crime O’Clock, that might even have described me. But seeing as that other, better, more interesting game is also available, the only reason to get Hidden Through Time 2 is if you’ve already exhausted that and you’re after something that isn’t as fun.

There isn’t much to come back to once you’ve beaten the game, so replay value is basically non existent here. Overall, Pixel Ripped 1995 is a fun and very unique experience that everyone should try. Definitely a good addition to the ever growing PlayStation VR2 Library!

Is Paperman: Adventure Delivered the worst game I’ve ever played? Honestly, it’s quite possible. It has no redeeming qualities, and I got more and more annoyed every moment I spent playing it. You can’t just write it off as one of those dumb meme games that clog up digital storefronts that are intentionally bad, nor can you say that it’s so bad it’s good. It’s just flat-out terrible.

Playing BIT.TRIP RERUNNER has made it clear to me just how much my gaming tastes have changed in the past decade. But that’s very much a case of “It’s not you, it’s me.” RERUNNER shows the series has got as much life in it as it ever did, and if you’re in the mood to be challenged, it’s worth your time and money.

There are many hours of play in Sonic Superstars and whether you play mostly single-player like me, or co-op, there is fun for every Sonic fan and I feel the fans will be happy with this one. Even with Super Mario Bros. Wonder around the corner it’s going to be a great gaming holiday season for platformer fans. Sonic Superstars comes highly recommended.

Still, the occasional bug aside, I absolutely loved Spider-Man 2, and I’m happy to see that Insomniac continues to knock it out of the park with this series. Miles has been a great addition to the Spider-Man universe overall, and if you loved Miles Morales: Spider-Man, I think you’ll be really happy with all the focus he gets in this one as well. While the limelight is sort of shared evenly throughout the game between Peter and Miles, it’s hard not to continuously root for Miles as a character, and he becomes even more central to the overall storyline here in a way that feels pretty impactful overall. So if you’ve been looking forward to the upcoming release of Spider-Man 2, then you can rest assured that you’ve got an excellent Spidey game to look forward to in the near future.

For me Detective Pikachu Returns was very easy, but I could see the appeal to a younger audience, looking for more different Pokémon content. I would like to play in this world of Pokémon again, and if they improve on what they have now, I can see this franchise could have some longevity.

I’d highly recommend checking out Cocoon when you get a chance. I loved my time with it, and the ambient synth soundtrack is absolutely fantastic, and helps really sell the look and feel of the world. Absolutely give it a shot, you won’t be disappointed.

Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs is simple, fun and addicting, and you’ll be hard pressed to stop playing and rejoin the real world. Highly recommended.

NHL 24 remains a pretty solid game if all you’re after is an in-depth hockey game that can be enjoyed no matter your skill level. It may not be worth upgrading if you have last year’s game, but if you’ve taken a couple of years off from the franchise, now might be a good time to jump back in.

As far as I’m concerned, even with the so-so performance, Boti: Byteland Overclocked is still worth playing if you’re a fan of 3D platformers. It’s got fun characters, a vibrant aesthetic, and gameplay that’ll feel comfortable to anyone who’s ever played one of these games in the past few decades. There may be some flaws, but the overall package is solid enough that it’s worth overlooking them.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage continues that run of solid games, without question. It doesn’t break new ground – by design, I would argue – but it shows that around twenty games in (counting spin-offs), there’s still plenty of story for the series to delve into. Assassin’s Creed Mirage is an Assassin’s Creed game, for all the good and bad (mostly good) that entails.

Car handling feels great, it’s a definite step up visually, the tracks are all immaculately designed, the amount of car options are fantastic, and it feels like a true next gen racer all around. But the forced timers/practice restrictions in both Career and online multiplayer really pumps the brakes on my enjoyment of this entry so far, making it a little tougher to recommend to everyone.

The weird thing is, I can see why some people might enjoy this game. It’s strange and it’s random, which might be exactly what certain gamers are after. Personally, though, I just found Freak Crossing to be a vaguely unsettling waste of time – which may be its point, but that doesn’t mean I want to play it.