If you like challenging platformers with some minor puzzle elements thrown in, you’ll probably love Alien Spidy. The control issues make it hard to recommend at full price, but it’s an easy recommendation to try out when it goes on sale at some point in the future.

As it stands, initial appeal wears thin rather quickly, and like real squid, the whole thing starts to stink after being flung around for too long.

Much like Contrast before it, We Happy Few shows off plenty of potential with its original and engaging world from a team whose passion and heart clearly shines through. Unfortunately, the random nature of the world ultimately hampers this ambition, and is held back further by lackluster stealth and inconsistent dialogue.

Less a case of biting off more than it can chew, Immortals of Aveum instead serves up a mixed bag of notable creativity, dragged down by issues both narrative and technical alike. While future patches may go some way to iron out the uneven frame-rate and inconsistent visual quality, the same can’t be said for a brand of writing that’s at best tolerable and at worst, potentially off-putting. Minus one or two secondary characters you’d be happy to see stick around for longer, yet are sadly ditched in service of a plot with brief but ultimately unfulfilled promise. If nothing else, Ascendant Studios could’ve done a lot worse given the tone and the design intentions placed here. What’s left is a game that while doesn’t always put its best foot forward, eventually finds a way to loop back round to feeling curious as to what it has tucked away out of shot. Though it may trip over itself one too many times, Immortals of Aveum‘s rewarding level design, puzzle-solving and potential for custom builds still offers a sufficient amount to carry this “magic-shooter” pitch through to credits’ end.

Overall, Radiohammer doesn’t stack up to the other strong offerings in the rhythm game genre on the 3DS, such as Project Mirai DX or Theatrhythm: Curtain Call, but those games also aren’t $5.99 like this one.

Taken on its own, the game is fairly enjoyable — albeit pretty limited — but with games like Smarty Pants on shelves, I really can’t recommend TV Show King.

Dark Rose Valkyrie is a bit of a mixed bag. The hybrid of the visual novel inspired interview system mixed with a traditional JRPG is an interesting idea, and that the traitor is never set does give reason to play through the story more than once. The downside to it is like most JRPGs this is not a short game, and there are enough issues with the gameplay where tackling it once would be enough for most people. The pacing makes it difficult to fully get immersed into the story and outside of the interview portion, the gameplay does not live up to its potential, especially in battle. The result is an overall good but unremarkable JRPG. Compile Heart’s signature charm and humor is present throughout, so fans of their other games will likely be able to forgive its shortcomings and enjoy this title for what it is.

What feels like the foundation for something ideally more substantial lying in wait, Arkanoid – Eternal Battle can only muster up a competent, but unimaginative, spin on the Taito classic in Battle Royale form. That’s not to say that its core mode doesn’t at least find a way to tempt you back for another round umpteen times over, but eventually the more you repeat its disappointingly shallow progression — and worst of all, its egregiously-difficult and frustrating final face-off — the more you feel your time is spent not cunningly plotting a course to victory, but instead merely wasted on a concept that should be better fleshed out. Eternal Battle is not without good ideas in spots, and while the effort on bringing another retro classic into the BR fold is appreciated, it’s far from the most emergent or compelling of takes in the sub-genre.

Overall, Lost on Mars does have several moments of amusement, and while it might not achieve a true level of greatness it is entertaining enough to warrant a visit to Mars when someone needs a change of scenery from Montana.

Drive!Drive!Drive! ticks off all the right boxes on the Awesome Arcade Racer checklist, but somehow never rises up to become the game that it could have been.

Not only does it look perfectly like a modern iteration of the classics, it also provides fast, frantic tank gameplay. The single player mode gives a great space for players to practice before taking a shot at helping others out online. Unfortunately, an already middling amount of server activity makes this mode’s future worrisome.

With some modifications and continuous work, State of Decay 2 could be a great and meaningful experience, but in its current state, it’s far from the best zombie game out there.

Hitman Episode 3: Marrakesh is the least impressive installment thus far, but it still holds up as a decent distraction.

Those looking for a genuinely exceptional JRPG that stands out from the Final Fantasies and Dragon Quests have better alternatives — even within the dungeon crawler niche — to consider first.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants is a decent addition to the collection of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games. It succeeds by playing it safe. The two original arcade games are regarded as great arcade brawlers in addition to being some of the better Turtles games, and the gameplay of Wrath of the Mutants is heavily patterned after Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time. Fans of the franchise and genre will undoubtedly enjoy playing through the game once or twice, but outside of collecting all the trophies, there isn't much incentive for repeated playthroughs. There are no different game modes, no collectibles and the only difference in difficulty levels is the number of lives. Even with the additional content, it takes only slightly more than an hour to put an end to Shredder's plans and rescue April. It's fun enough to kill some time on a boring afternoon, but even the most hardcore Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan would hesitate to say this game kicks some serious shell.

It’s undeniably fun to bolt together some sort of “airplane”-looking thing and watch it crash and burn, but once the novelty of failed construction wears off, the game doesn’t offer an easy or gradual method of entry into the decidedly non-simple world of aerodynamics and practical flight design.

Overall, The Phantom Fortress is a surprisingly captivating portable game, that does well to live up to its popular name.

Telltale’s Game of Thrones series, now over halfway through its first season, has been a huge disappointment so far, but it’s been improving steadily, and Episode Four – Sons of Winter proves there’s real potential in the concept, even if Telltale might not have been the right candidate for the job.

Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return Special Edition is a decent way to experience a unique but flawed platformer from the original PlayStation era. As a simple port with basic features, it doesn’t do much to uplift the experience. Nonetheless, its heart is intact and for anyone curious to play the game, this is a good way to do it.

As pleased fans will be to see Gradius and company (most of said company anyway) return in pristine, faithful fashion in such a welcomingly retrospective admiration — add to this the barebones features and basic presentation — beyond the most embedded of shmup enthusiasts, the Konami Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection doesn’t quite come across as celebratory as you might think.

What it boils down to is that if you have two or more controllers and the appropriate amount of friends to play with, then you should check out Overcooked, but if you’re looking to dine alone, then you had best move on.

The bad part is about Damascus Gear: Operation Tokyo is that there’s just not a lot to sink your teeth into.

Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection comes off more like a series of up-ressed ports than a definitive collection of classic titles. It’s a good thing that the three included games are fun because Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection isn’t that masterful.

BloodRayne Betrayal: Fresh Bites features great-looking animation and creative level designs, but is hindered less-than-stellar game mechanics. No matter how good the style might be, style over substance is generally not desirable. That’s not to say there isn’t fun to be had here as BloodRayne fanatics are bound to enjoy the remastered retelling of her most recent adventure. Fans of the genre are also likely to enjoy this though some of the control issues may hamper the fun. For players looking for a good challenge that offers platforming and beat ’em up combat, Fresh Bites can be a good title to sink your teeth into if you can forgive the technical shortcomings.

The Technomancer in the end, if ambitious, doesn’t quite meet the standards of its seniors it so desperately vouches to meet.

In any case, VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action is still worth a look for the colorful characters it brings to the table and that’s something it gets just right.

As part of the collection for Danganronpa Decadence, Ultimate Summer Camp is a nice bonus in addition to three solid titles. On its own as a digital title it may not necessarily be worth picking up unless players don’t mind the long grind that awaits them along their journey. The biggest single addition this spin-off could have used would be adding some sort of multiplayer support so at least players wouldn’t feel burdened by going at it alone and could instead take it on with a few more friends. It’s still a fine enough experience, but it’s just a shame there’s not a lot here outside of the board and continual fights. The unique little story scenarios are kind of interesting at first, but it’s quickly apparent that they don’t have a ton of actual substance to them either. Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp has a lot of charm at first, but it falls flat when it comes to the actual lack of interesting gameplay it offers.

Although Conclave does require an unusual amount of hard work on the player’s part, as well as the patience of a saint, the expansion is still mostly worthwhile (many of the bad changes were in the free patch, so there’s no way to avoid them without reverting to a previous version).