Serious Sam’s Bogus Detour is a surprisingly large shooter that takes the long-running arcade FPS and translates it perfectly into a new genre. The gorgeous pixel art is well detailed and animated, and can pack a ton of critters on screen at once without any issues. Blasting through an area, painting the floor red with the remains of a vicious horde that couldn’t quite stand up to a rocket launcher, is basically what I pictured games would turn into back in the Genesis/SNES days. It’s got fast action, tons of weapons, a huge variety of creatures and a handful of bosses to use them against and firepower flies everywhere when the encounters heat up. Serious Sam’s Bogus Detour may look different from Sam’s usual outings, but 2D fans will have as much fun checking out the excellent pixel art as series fans will tearing through enemies both familiar and new.

It doesn't matter how good the rest of a game is, though, if the controls betray you just when you need them most. [May 2007, p.55]

Statistically-minded individuals will enjoy delving into the surprising deep Owner portion of Connected Franchise, while older fans will love the opportunity to play as hall of fame players and the history tidbits of past Madden games shown during loading screens.

Atomic Heart keeps on going and throws everything at the wall, from large set-pieces to quiet moments of exploration, packed encounters or tough single enemies, stealth areas that you can bull on through if sneaking isn’t your thing, and plenty of little puzzles to add more variety to a game that already had plenty. Whatever lies at the heart of Facility 3826, whatever the project ends up meaning, Atomic Heart is an incredible adventure into the retro-future history of a Russia that never existed.

It’s a fun, attractive and surprisingly deep experience, therefore unable to be regarded as anything less than an emphatic success.

The Crew Motorfest is easily the best entry in the series to date and serves as a new launching point for the franchise. It has needed an identity of its own for a long time and while it may seem odd, going back to what made the first couple of Forza Horizon games work well while keeping some of The Crew 2’s vehicle variety intact winds up being a winning combination. Every race type is executed well, with the street racing and open-wheel being true standouts, while the visual design shines and accents the audio with a slick soundtrack and impressive sound design.

While Sayonara is hurt by questionable graphical changes and iffy animations, the final product is true to the source material and worth playing for anyone who enjoys this particular series.

Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series is one of the most oddly-named collections ever, but features two top-notch platformers in their definitive editions. Both the first and second games are wonderfully recreated, with better graphics and audio than ever before. They both benefit from having the same control scheme game to game thanks to being available on the same platforms for the first time ever. Those who missed out on them should give them a shot now, while anyone who enjoyed them before will want to check them out again and experience the best-possible incarnations of them yet. Hopefully, this leads to more full-on remakes throughout the series and maybe a collection of all of the original games down the road.

Watch Dogs: Legion is a bold move with a few highlights here and there, but still a disappointment that will have you going back to Watch Dogs 2 instead.

While it may not have all the whistles and bells of Rune Factory 4 or 5, this delightful remaster of 3 is a welcome addition to the continued trend of bringing back older enjoyable titles for more to get their hands on. It’s well worth playing and sinking a good amount of time into, especially for those who love completing every last element of simulation titles and being offered a meaty challenge for them to take on. Anyone who loves Rune Factory will want to pick up 3 Special, and this is a welcoming and accessible title for anyone who hasn’t ever played one before and wants to give it a try for the very first time.

Typhoon Studios has created an indie title that will capture the attention of the masses. On the surface, Journey to the Savage Planet is an attractive title based on the sci-fi and exploration elements, but it’s the humor, gameplay elements and puzzle solving that pulls you in.

The Wild at Heart is a fun, whimsical and challenging little action adventure game, largely thanks to its nicely-crafted puzzles, but it could have been a better adventure if it wasn’t trying to cram in so much. Clear your mind of the excessive mechanics, though, and it’s still a cute and enjoyable ode to the likes of Pikmin that still might be worth your time. It’s not as traumatizing a journey as the truly classic childhood adventures are, but its spectacular world and impressive graphics make it quite the charming adventure instead.

Ys IX: Monstrum Nox is a great game that maintains enough elements of previous Ys games so that longtime fans will feel at home while the Monstrum gifts breathe new life into the gameplay. This is a must-play for fans of the series or action JRPGs in general, but while the hardware limitations of the Switch do not ruin the game or make it unplayable, they have been sources of frustration that take some of the fun away from the experience. Handheld mode suffers from muddier graphics, tiny text and the occasional massive framerate plummet during a boss battle. If playing Ys IX: Monstrum Nox on the go is essential, the Switch version is serviceable enough where the headaches from the performance issues don’t outweigh the positive aspects, but if it’s an option, the PlayStation 4 version is the superior way to experience Ys IX.

Langrisser is a tried and true return to retro roots. This enjoyable remake is one that long-time fans of Warsong or those who have been interested in the series for a long time finally get the chance to play. While it lacks a tutorial, the mechanics are mostly easy to grasp with a little sleuthing around the menus to understand how everything works. The updated art style is wonderfully drawn, but the inclusion of the original art is what shines most with a wonderful early ’90s nostalgic anime style. The story may not last on most memories, but the combat makes this a fun romp with a good amount of challenge. Any fan of tactics titles should absolutely consider diving into Langrisser I & II.

When it works, Demigod is a game with plenty of fun to be had and at times even rivals its source material.

Bloomtown: A Different Story is a textbook case of a promising start brimming with such wow factor, inevitably undone as soon as you get past the introductory phase. An introductory phase that does a great job at not just setting up the world and its stakes, but making you voluntarily want to remain in said world for more than its obligatory main quest demands. Indeed, the life-sim leanings and simple pleasures of moving out and around the titular setting -- scheduling allotted time to certain activities -- may just be its stand-out element. A fitting accompaniment to the otherwise supernatural, abnormal dungeon vibes, complimented by enemy/sprite work and a soundtrack unashamedly upbeat and confident in its stride. But it's the lackluster, often tedious, execution of combat that lets it down -- faltering at the most critical of moments. Not bad, but not as great as its intro so effortlessly implied, Bloomtown: A Different Story is a flawed, at times frustrating but fascinating-enough blend of role-playing staples, old and new.

While Midnight Fight Express falters when it comes to keeping things fresh, there’s still enough of a nicely-twisted plot, impressive levels with great action setpieces, and a terrific techno soundtrack that goes alongside the fast-paced combat to keep things enjoyable overall. Beat-’em-up and/or fighting game enthusiasts and speedrunners will probably get the most satisfaction out of the game, but there’s still enough here for anyone that’s worthy of giving things a whirl.

While flawed in some places, Tales of Hearts R is still a meaty package that should please dedicated fans.

While it won’t blow anyone away, Mary Skelter: Nightmares is a well put together, enjoyable experience and a worthy addition to any dungeon crawler RPG fan’s collection.

Stray Gods’ unique blend of musicals and video games alone makes it worthy of applause, but it’s the incredible way that the ear-pleasing, player-orchestrated numbers are weaved into such a well-designed murder mystery which deserves the loudest cheers. Backed up by an impressive style with great visuals and an amazing cast of characters, this show is one that can hold its own when compared to some of Broadway’s best (even with the heavy amount of dialogue), so consider nabbing a ticket to go see it.

While a little more realism would make American Truck Simulator more fun, paradoxical as that may sound, there’s no escaping how fantastically playable it is.

Floor Kids is, at its core, Tony Hawk-style action where the beat is the rail and the dance moves string together into one long trick. The art and animation are bursting with personality, and the character design is particularly excellent in that they’ve all got a solid sense of style without being over-designed. The combination of the music and art make what would otherwise be a fairly simple score-chasing rhythm game pop off the screen, lively and energetic with its own unique style.

It’s good to see that new life, by means of bizarre franchise combination, can be breathed into a nearly dead game series.

These are epic adventures and can now be enjoyed on modern-day hardware for the first time. Anyone who loved them before should get them as soon as possible to prepare for Shenmue III, while newcomers to the series have a fantastic starting point to get fully caught up on Ryo and his adventures.

After The Fall is yet another zombie VR shooter in the line of zombie VR shooters. The team that was responsible for Arizona Sunshine tries to build upon that with a cooperative experience that succeeds in that regard, but the overall experience isn’t that satisfying. The gun mechanics with the Oculus Quest 2 mostly work great and the PVP is a nice surprise, but the overall lack of current content and annoying bugs hurt the game at launch. The idea of a VR Left 4 Dead would work better if there weren’t already a ton of L4D clones on the market.

Asterigos: Curse of the Stars combines the style of traditional RPGs with a soulslike template, resulting in a challenging but more accessible game that’s able to forge its own identity without hiding its influences. The final result isn’t perfect as there’s plenty of room for more polish. Despite these shortcomings, the gameplay is still enjoyable and the emphasis on storytelling and world building helps make up for it. The biggest divisive factor with Asterigos is that it tries to appeal to both fans of more traditional RPGs and Souls games by combining elements of both, and as a result doesn’t excel at either. But if Asterigos is approached without a purist mentality it can still be a good time.

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered finds itself in a tough spot because what it aims to do is replicate the original trilogy with all of its content on modern hardware and it does it well. The biggest problem it faces is that the new coat of paint is largely just that -- the core gameplay is still rooted in early 3D jankiness and feels awkward to play now -- and in some ways, it's harder to wrap your mind around it now since no control scheme offered up feelings as natural as anything featured in a Tomb Raider game since the PS2 days onward. The new visuals look good in theory, but have odd clipping problems in motion and the animations being rooted in the PS1 games hurts the modern-day wrapper as well. It very much feels like a lot of effort went into making this feel authentic to the originals -- but to a fault.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game – Complete Edition is an enjoyable throwback to beat ’em up games and having access to the game with all the DLC after its several year hiatus is a welcome return. Its short campaign makes it ideal to whittle away a few hours in a single sitting with friends. It’s patterned after retro beat ’em ups and does a good job of recreating an authentic retro experience. On its own gameplay merits it isn’t as good of a beat ’em up as other recent revivals or the best classics, but the outlandish and colorful game world and characters make the overall experience more enjoyable and memorable. For Scott Pilgrim fans and beat ’em up fans in general, Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game – Complete Edition is well worth your time.