It’s nothing fancy, but if you’re in the mood for a simple yet engaging puzzle game, Match Village might be what you’re after. It suffers from having very little identity of its own and it gets a bit repetitive once you’ve worked out the basic flow, but I’d imagine at this price point people are willing to accept a game that will only provide a temporary and quickly forgotten engagement.

The story is unfortunately forgettable, and raises the question of why Square Enix did not tap into its sizable library of popular licences to provide something more of substance.

The equation for NOOB – The Factionless probably changes a bit if you’re a fan of the NOOB web series. Speaking as a Spider-Man fan, I know all too well how an average game with the right license can be elevated for those who like that property. So if you dig NOOB and the people behind it, I can give this a small recommendation. For everyone else, this is just another average RPG on a platform that probably has a few too many of those as it is.

The overall plot of Wonderland Nights is reasonably interesting, but the stunningly poor voice acting and simple gameplay mechanics make it hard to stick with long enough to reveal that whole story. It reminds me a lot of one of those old flash games where you combined various items to see the results, playing over and over again until you got the ending you were after. The art has a unique and striking style, but the rest of the presentation is quite weak. It’s a mildly amusing game to poke at, but it could have been a lot better.

There's merit in a game where the buttons are integral to the world. It's just too bad that didn't quite happen here.

Star Trader is an interesting piece of gaming history, showing a developer working outside of the lane we usually associate them with. Unfortunately, what joy could be had from poking at this curio is severely dampened by the fact that there is a ton of Japanese text in here that most Western players won’t be able to read. You might still get something out of messing around with it, but it’s hard to recommend it with much vigor.

For most people, the game is a really enjoyable pick-up-and-play little app that will likely give those who download it something to do for a long time.

For all its charm and cleverness, Party Wave falls on the wrong side of the line between originality and accessibility. There's promise and style to be found here, but not nearly enough entertainment.

Huge fans of FFIV will probably want to check it out After Years regardless, but honestly, I don’t think you’re missing much.

Tomb Raider 2 is a great game, probably the best of Core's Tomb Raider titles. From a technical standpoint, this is an excellent port, and it includes all of the official content ever released for the game.

In trying to place one foot on each side of the line, the game ends up falling into the divide between the two. In a genre that is among the most fiercely competitive on the platform, it's a fatal mistake.

The controls are passable, but nowhere near the likes of Street Fighter IV Volt, King of Fighters-i, or SoulCalibur on iOS.

Check it out only if you're a die-hard runner fan or want to see what it feels like to get sick from playing a so-so game.

There’s a fun wrestling game at the core of AEW: Fight Forever. Probably the best licensed one in a couple of decades. I greatly look forward to seeing where this franchise goes in the future. I can’t say I didn’t get some enjoyment out of this Switch version, even. But the technical performance here really is below-par, and not just in the usual ways we’ve come to expect on the platform. Hopefully some updates can get things running the way they should, but I can’t guess at the future. I can only see how things are right now, and my advice would be to seek this one out on another platform if you can.

The games are fun and this collection is appreciated in principle, but it’s hard to recommend in its current state.

In the end, I'd say Songs Of The Mystics is probably most likely to appeal to gamebook veterans who are willing to put up with its somewhat messy design and appreciate what it's trying to do, even if it doesn't quite pull it off.

Unfortunately, the massive amounts of input lag leave the game feeling unresponsive, which adds a layer of frustration that Cotton 2 certainly didn’t need. It doesn’t make the game unplayable by any means, but it hurts the playability whenever the action gets hot. There aren’t many options for playing this game at a reasonable price, so I don’t blame anyone for choosing this one. I just wish the emulation had been better handled.

A game with well-done visuals and a system in place that at least keeps you coming back.

As a result of the overall high difficulty, the games meager eighteen stages don't go by quite as fast as you think they might.

The humor hovers on that level, a mix of pop-culture references, tough guy 'tude and "Jackass" worthy stunts. Maybe that, combined with shooting punks and rudeboys, coshing juves, and riding a AI motorcycle equipped with machine guns and a laser, is enough.

Overall, Hero in Residence didn't deliver the same kind of entertainment Season 1 did, and I'm hoping the rest of the episodes give us a stronger narrative and fewer fight scenes. Telltale games are at their strongest when they give us entertaining and challenging narratives rather than puzzle and fight scenes, so I'm hoping to see more of that kind of a Telltale game in the next episodes.

Cyber Citizen Shockman 2 is, to me, clearly more enjoyable to play than the first game. The problem is that to get there it had to ditch everything unique about its predecessor, and it still ended up being a rather middling affair. Was it worth it? I’m not sure. That’s a question for the past. Here in the present, the question is whether this rerelease is worth it for you. It’s too different from the first for me to fall back on the reliable “if you liked the other one, you’ll like this" spiel. So instead I’ll rely on the old faithful “this one is really only there for the students of gaming history, and those who have nostalgia for it". I’m glad Ratalaika is releasing these, but they’re hard to recommend in the modern age.

The truly unfortunate thing about Warheads is the lack of any kind of online scoring.

The serialized story idea is tough to wrap your head around in a RPG and figuring out a way to balance gameplay with variety and story is going to be a serious challenge moving forward. If they can pull it off, Emissary of War could be something truly special.

The main gimmick Skautfold: Usurper has going for it is that combat is highly lethal. Like, a single mistake can be devastating and it doesn’t matter how deep into the game or upgraded you might be. Your defense is temporarily weakened when you attack, so the more aggressive you are, the less damage you can survive. That’s something, but that’s the only real trick the game has up its sleeve. Otherwise it’s thoroughly average in every other respect. If you really need a new Metroidvania-style game right now, Skautfold: Usurper will do. Otherwise, it’s hard to find much enthusiasm for this one.

I also have no doubt that a lot of gamers will simply glance over this game for its lack of gameplay. However, the sheer psychedelic nature of the game is worth noting and at least struck a chord with me.

It's a great experience, but I think you need to be in the proper state of mind to enjoy it, and even then I'd lean more towards describing the game as "this is really neat" rather than "this is really fun."

Despite some interesting extra modes and a basic level of competency in most aspects, the places where Shinorubi falters really hurt the whole. The claustrophobic play field, muddy visuals, framerate issues, and overall bland design all add up to a game that feels like it wants to hang with the big dogs but has trouble keeping up with the chihuahuas at times. Shinorubi has a lot of heart behind it and it shows, but I really can’t find my way to recommending it with much vigor.