Rogue Cube is a very tough but simple rogue shooter. It is aimed at those who want a quick and aggressive challenge. It encourages you to keep coming back to get further along in-game as you master the cautious approach. But for most, it will either be too difficult to be fun or once you have completed the game it is unlikely you will be back.

It was a struggle to play this game for multiple reasons. It’s weird story and awkward gameplay just haven’t aged anywhere near well enough to hold up. If you’ve always been curious, and didn’t live in Japan in 2004, then you might find some worth here; but somehow I doubt the wait will have been worth it.

Magical Brickout takes that classic Super Breakout formula and attempts to reinvent it. Sadly, however, the end result is one that will frustrate and annoy you far more than it will entice and excite you. The game’s lack of refinement is its main issue, with several poor design choices following closely behind. Die-hard fans of the concept may find some enjoyment, but if you’re looking for quality, look elsewhere.

Disco Dodgeball Remix has a lot of potential, but is massively held back by its awkward sluggish controls, headache-inducing visuals, poor gameplay mechanics and puddle-deep functionality. There’s no denying that it has heaps of interesting and diverse modes on offer, though, this doesn’t really amount to anything when the core formula constantly fails on almost all fronts.

Subaeria could have been fun if it wasn’t for the atrocious loading times, the poor controls, the tedious hit detection and the awkward camera angle. The whole experience just screams of wasted potential, offering up a slapdash game in place of something more refined and better developed. Putting its decent art style to the side, Subaeria simply hasn’t been constructed well enough to merit a recommendation.

The game is described as a feel good RPG, but in truth, and due to the sheer number of poorly implemented mechanics, it’s more like an RPG that looks good, but feels terrible. The combat is all over the place, the pacing is questionable at best, and the core ‘buddy-up’ system just fails to excite. It doesn’t help matters that its random generation is puddle deep, making it overly repetitive as a result. Pass this by.

To its credit, The One We Found offers a fairly interesting horror story to get to grips with. However, much like Outbreak: The New Nightmare, the game is massively held back by a wide range of design issues and incessant technical problems. The majority of its faults are too obvious to go unnoticed, so much so, there’s absolutely no justifying the game being released in the state that it’s in.

With the raft of great horror titles out there already, there’s very little to recommend checking out Yuoni over most of them. The slow paced hide and seek gameplay lacks tension, risk, or any real consequence, and while the visuals can prove quite creepy at times, for the most part this is all too forgettable.

The tech art and art direction deserve commendation as Echoes of the End is frequently breathtaking. The gameplay design is similarly breathtaking but in the way that it sucks all the oxygen out of the room.

Blood Bowl III has nothing here to recommend it for newcomers or veterans of the board game when there is a more complete package available in its predecessor.

Much like it’s predecessor, Drunken Fist 2: Zombie Hangover is capable of providing a few laughs at times, but it wears out its welcome very quickly and feels like it has taken a step or two backwards rather than forwards.

Even as a big fan of open world adventures, I simply could not find any real enjoyment to be had here. There’s nothing particularly wrong with a simpler approach to this style of game, but due to the sheer lack of active engagement with its world and its systems, I daresay that even dedicated players will grow tired of Windscape long before the quest is over.

Smoots World Cup Tennis is a horrendously developed game that will only serve disappointment. The entire experience is full of poor design choices and technical issues. Furthermore, there’s no shot variety present, nor is there any consistency as far as ball movement is concerned. It may look colorful and sport lots of customization options, but in the face of its sheer lack of mechanical depth and overall polish, that’s hardly a saving grace.

Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash lacks spirit and depth and is just Hollow overall. Just because the franchise is popular doesn’t mean fans will mindlessly love the game. Its combat and mechanics are interesting, almost touching the soul, but that flame is quickly snuffed out with poor graphics resembling a mobile game, and a lazy attempt as a arena fighter. Astonishingly, this game has a price tag of up to $100.

There’s not really much more to say about Horatio Goes Snowboarding. Visually it’s passable if hardly outstanding, while audibly I had to shut it off after just a few minutes thanks to some aggressively naff music and sound effects. The experience is slight and seems better suited to mobile or Switch gaming where you can pick it up for five minutes here and there rather than sitting in front of the big screen for any length of time. Fun enough in very short bursts but there are far better titles to stick the Xbox on for.

Sometimes, things are better left in the past, and Dragon’s Lair Trilogy is a prime example of that. The whole ordeal is far too dated, and comes with frustrations that are born through a few poor design choices and shoddy transitions. Whilst the animation on show is commendable even today, there’s no shaking the fact that this compilation comes across as totally unnecessary and utterly boring.

Despite its interesting introduction, My Big Sister falls flat on all fronts. The game seems to be too confused with what it wants to be, and who it wants to appeal to. Whilst the game’s story is mature and tackles some very sensitive subjects, it gets too caught up in its own web of convoluted concepts. On top of that, the gameplay completely lacks mechanical depth, comes with no real difficulty, and is further hamstrung by several irritating bugs.

Agony does a good job at relaying such a disturbing world that’s grotesque, full of obscenity and unapologetically disgusting. It’s a game that’s been making headlines for a number of months due to its dark and somewhat sexual theme. The end result manages to meet those expectations despite its cut content, however, its unforgivable performance issues and its countless flaws almost completely holds it back.

Cilla gives all the right shoot em up vibes from the 90’s, but fails to deliver a promising concept. Enemies feel like they have just been copying and pasted from one level to another, with the same movement type. Power ups are welcomed however they seem to lack the punch the power up should have.

Emoji Kart Racer lacks in content that is offered for the pricing they have selected. The sounds are if not annoying, the best part of the game. The music isn’t too short or too loud, except for the emoji’s sound effects for winning. The visuals are clean, colorful, and work for most levels. There are tracks influenced heavily by bigger, more well known Arcade racers. There are typos in some signage which I don’t think is intentional. The length of the time played is less than four hours and could have been shorter if the karts went a little faster. The AIs and respawning functionality removes all challenges. This title is for beginners and those who are younger. Had there been a better user interface for using items and targeting others and the scaled difficulty wasn’t so low, this could have been a worthy recommendation. The drifting was the biggest let down, or lack thereof. I was simply left wanting more from the control and handling. The design of the game was well done, just not the feel of how the kart rides.

Project Starship was fun the first couple times but got boring very quickly. If you’re looking for a game that you can install quickly and 1000g then this is one for you, but I can’t imagine it’s going to capture the attention of anyone for long. Dodging bullets is fun, but you will just find yourself constantly shooting and hoping.

There’s nothing new, it bears all the visual marks of its dated version with no fresh lick of paint (pardon the pun), and it’s far too repetitive by standards today.

Squad Killer is a fun, if simple, retro platformer/shooter. The action is easy to pick up and play – and the achievements drop easily – but there are a few niggles that can frustrate a little too much. For the low price it might be worth a shot for some, but others will be best off looking elsewhere.

Maybe Akimbot will play as a loving exploration of an old favourite for some. For those without rose-tinted glasses, this is a deeply unrewarding experience with a sidekick that needs to be launched into the sun.

I had hoped to start the year of with a bit of a lighter game, and The Spy Who Shot Me looked to fit the bill. Sadly, while the jokes and presentation are fine enough, the terrible feeling aiming ruins what could have otherwise been a fun take on retro FPS action.

Alteric, despite its very generous price tag, fails to standout in an already overcrowded genre. The visuals are bland, the core gameplay loop becomes tedious, and the lack of evolving mechanics ultimately drags this experience down. Indeed, it may play well, but in the face of its competition, Alteric just doesn’t tick the boxes it needs to.

If you enjoy the very hard ‘old school’ style of platformer, you might find something to like with Trophy. For me though, it just went to show how far we’ve come in gaming, with too many quirks and annoyances we’ve long moved past rearing their unwelcome heads again. There are better ‘modern-retro’ games out there to play.

One Piece: World Gofer would have been a much more befitting title to put to this dull adventure. I’ll credit the game for its gorgeously detailed world, but this splendor is merely superficial. Most of your time spent here will consist of taking on generic missions, picking up fetch quests, and constantly battling against the game’s few boring enemy variants. The end result makes for a repetitive slog that fails miserably to excite on almost all fronts.