A must-buy fighting game compilation. For anyone who has enjoyed the franchise before, it puts a large percentage of the franchise’s highest-quality games in one collection and it’s a great way to catch up and see what all the fuss was about for newcomers. As great as it is, the collection could have easily been better simply by including more versions of franchise-favorites like Alpha 2 to provide a more all-encompassing experience.

Ufouria 2 is a fantastic pickup for anyone seeking something different in their side-scrolling action-platformers. It feels like a game rooted in the past with a modern coat of paint and modern quality-of-life improvements and in that light, it's a wonderful experience. Having a feltcraft world offers something no other game has and each of the different playable characters results in an experience that makes replaying stages seem more exciting than it otherwise would.

It’s sad to see the series go but the satisfying revelations and conclusion makes Blackwell Epiphany a must play.

A more intimate affair rather than a blockbuster, it recalls terrific classic elements that have been sorely missed, easily besting the latest main-series entry.

The Pathless is an enjoyable adventure to a serene island filled with satisfying puzzles, mesmeric traversal and gripping boss showdowns. Some small frustrations, including unnecessary stealth sequences and little reason to deviate from the main objective, hold the game back, but the polished moment-to-moment gameplay combined with the inspired soundtrack make for a pleasing and fun experience that’s easy to recommend to fans of open world and puzzle games.

Everything about this game clicks, even though it probably shouldn’t work in theory. Anyone who loves a casual golf game should check it out.

In Other Waters is a great little adventure. While part of the appeal lies with its design, its presentation — its imagining that possible disconnect an AI controller may have in both seeing and not seeing the world around them — it’s the sneaking-in of unease at such large, open bodies of water, where both visuals and tone strike an impressive middle-ground. Some may want to denote this as sluggish, as intentionally slow for some artistic pay-off. But there’s a wonderful amount of emotion to be felt here. Even if it’s merely through some readjusting one’s perception on navigating an alien world — a realization that things aren’t as hostile or as tense as you’d usually expect. Through that clever mix of minimalist color, shape and the vast negative space all around, In Other Waters conjures one of the year’s most surprising and serene recommendations for screen and portable console alike.

By and large, though, this is a game that shouldn’t be missed by anyone who appreciates Sega and/or gaming experiences of the late 80s and early 90s.

Fans of Donkey Kong have long waited for the hairy primate to get a Mario or Link style glow-up. One where he gets to star in his own 3D platforming adventure on the same level as a 3D Mario or The Legend of Zelda. Donkey Kong Bananza delivers on that, giving DK his first 3D adventure in decades and solidifying him as one of Nintendo's top stars, even if the final product is too derivative of Super Mario Odyssey. The narrative is a step in the right direction by focusing on the relationship between the two leads and delivering a truly stellar final act. There's a lot of Odyssey in Bananza's world design, but that does mean there's a lot to see and do across the beautifully rendered layers. Gameplay isn't refined with a lot of issues surrounding the destruction mechanics and the underutilization of the Bananza transformations, but there's still a lot of fun to be had exploring the layers and seeing what you can discover. Donkey Kong Bananza might not reach the same heights as a 3D Mario or The Legend of Zelda, but it remains fun and lays a solid foundation for future 3D Donkey Kong titles. It's alright to go bananas for Donkey Kong Bananza.

Pick a pair of favorite weapons and a modifier for a standard run, attack a hell-mode ship with just a single gun and scavenge what you can along the way or maybe investigate the weird mystery ships that sometimes turn up to see what new oddity it will bring. Each run is a pure action romp through the heart of a robot-infested ship, packed so many bullets, lasers and other mechanical assault critters that it’s a wonder the aliens could lug it all to our solar system.

Rare Replay isn’t without its minor hiccups, understandable in such a vast collection, but it’s something that should be in every Xbox One owner’s collection.

Lonely Mountains: Downhill is easily the best mountain biking game available. True, there’s not a lot of competition, but even if there was it would be hard to top. The terrain is a blast to explore, each bike opens up a different style of play and the atmosphere is about as close to perfect as you could hope for. The progression system to unlock new bikes takes a bit too long, and sometimes the bike physics get a bit wonky, but it’s hard to let that get in the way when the next trail opens up or a new shortcut reveals a path that knocks several seconds off the clock. The wilderness of Lonely Mountains: Downhill seems initially empty because there are no other people to be found, but they’d just get in the way of enjoying the peaceful serenity to be found in bouncing down the trail while holding on for dear life.

Infinite – Beyond the Mind is a finely-crafted game that blends several genres together. It’s reminiscent of Sigma Star Saga from many years ago with its seemingly odd merger of two genres together which winds up creating something that’s not only a great representation of one genre, but two. It’s a smooth-playing action-platformer that also manages to be an enjoyable side-scrolling shoot-em-up with a bite-sized level structure that ensures players are never bored. Those craving a fast-paced game that keeps them engaged from beginning to end should give Infinite – Beyond the Mind a shot.

Hardline may not revolutionize the Battlefield brand, but it fixes many of its biggest problems.

Rifter is a fantastic neon-synth action platformer with a gorgeous, distinctive style and a rewarding challenge. It can be a bit merciless at times, especially when chasing after success on the bonus levels, but the tools to win are available even if they can be a bit tricky to access sometimes. You’ll need to bring your A game to wring the most from Rifter, and the reward is a lightning-fast 2D adventure that sees frustration turn to a satisfying mastery as one goal after another eventually falls to a combination of persistence and growing skill.

Clan Wars is a worthy entry in the series, but even then, it’s good to hear that Team 17 is leaving the series alone for a while to work on something new.

The wasteland of the corpse of civilization is not a forgiving place, but with a little care and a huge amount of perseverance, the fungus’ journey may let it see what lies at the conclusion of the unforgettable journey of Mushroom 11.

One could argue that outside of its creative double-world approach, The Medium isn’t the sort of revolutionary horror game that one might hope for from the start of a new generation in gaming. But you know what? It doesn’t need to be revolutionary. It just needs to be spooky, have fun gameplay and tell an entertaining story, and Bloober Team succeeds on all of those fronts.

In truth the hardest thing about LISA is talking about it because it’s just one of those titles that’s really better experienced. It’s dark and depressing, but has an amusing sense of humor that makes it easy to smile through the suffering. It’s a title that benefits wildly from making frequent saves, so when Brad gets to an unskippable segment where he has to watch his entire party die through a chance of luck, it’s easy to go back and try again with a hopefully better outcome the next time around. There’s slews of ways to approach a lot of scenarios which makes for unique outcomes as well and LISA is a title that really sells itself on replaying multiple times for those that want to get the absolute most out of it. For those willing to take on the dark tone, visuals and story, LISA: Definitive Edition is well worth picking up for those who haven’t experienced it before.

Warriors Orochi 3: Ultimate Definitive Edition is a game that lives up to its definitive edition claim. Story and Guantlet mode can provide hundreds of hours of entertainment. The included DLC content can add up to a small fortune on other platforms, so its inclusion here is appreciated. This is arguably the best Musou game and having owned the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 4 versions, it can be confidently said this is the best version of Warriors Orochi 3. But it’s also debatable if there’s enough content here to justify buying if it someone owns Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate on another platform. Aside from a few extra stages most of the bonus content is either music or character cosmetics which isn’t going to be substantial enough for most people. It seems like having access to it on the go via Steam Deck would be the biggest selling point, but at the current time there’s some stuff that needs to be ironed out for that platform.

The PC port of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance has its share of issues, but it still gets the nod over its console counterparts.

Helldivers II delivers where it matters and leaves us excited to see what Arrowhead can bring to the game next rather than leaving us pondering if the game can be saved. Helldivers II is one galactic conflict players can happily dive into.

Dimension Tripper Neptune: TOP NEP is an easy recommendation for anyone who ever loved Space Harrier. It’s honestly more enjoyable than Space Harrier II was and delivers a fantastic modern interpretation of that kind of rail shooter with a level of color and polish that’s unmatched. It does feel too much like an homage at times, but stands out with things like allies helping on-screen and a completely insane premise that keeps things in-line with the main series while also working as a standalone product. It’s a visual treat and controls perfectly, but does suffer from a less-than-memorable soundtrack.

Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem is everything a Serious Sam game should be in an economy-sized package, and a great game for both returning fans and those who’ve been wondering what it is that’s kept this series alive for the past twenty one years.

Pig Eat Ball is a crazed monster of action and creativity, more than a little bit gross, but hugely entertaining to balance it out.

For a season finale, Hokkaido is exceptionally crafted.

Minecraft: Story Mode strays from the more mature content that Telltale normally associates themselves with and manages to create a fun, family-friendly world for one with no real story.

Trailblazers is a fantastic game that blends racing and a team-based dynamic to craft a memorable experience. It plays like a dream and offers up a surprisingly high amount of strategy to excel. By offering up enough twists on a traditional racing game, it finds ways to create excitement that haven’t been done before in the genre and is a must for anyone looking for an arcade-style futuristic racing experience. If you like F-Zero and/or Splatoon, you will find a lot to like here.