Garbage Pail Kids: Mad Mike and the Quest for Stale Gum is everything we have all dreamed about. It plays on the classic game system with a true to the era difficulty, graphics, and sounds. The control system makes this possibly one of the best 8-bit games out there and I absolutely loved this trip down memory lane when I used to purchase GPK cards as a kid, complete with stick of stale and hard gum.

Out of curiosity I went online to see what a physical cartridge copy of Gynoug and Wings of Wor are currently going for. Needless to say I was quite surprised, and the mere $6 CAD to play this digital version is a minor fraction of the cost to get a physical copy. I really enjoy finding old classics that I never got to play growing up, and I hope that the trend continues with weird and unique games like Gynoug.

When I first checked out Dustoff Z, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this game, as I had never been introduced to the Dustoff line of games previously. The first time I played Dustoff Z though I got so caught up in it that I played it for about 4 hours before I had realized that much time had went by. It has enough of a challenge that I can continue to play and not get bored, but I also get frustrated because I can't get past a certain boss until the chopper and shooters get a bunch of upgrades, so there’s a bit of grind to it. That being said, after playing for a few days and losing a handful of hours playing it, it dawned on me that I rather enjoyed Dustoff Z more than I expected.

ConnecTank is cute, fun and a little bit stressful, also reminding me of being at work, only I’m not getting paid. I really like the character of Finneas Fat Cat the XV and the other big wigs that give you gigs to do because of the tongue-in-cheek sense of humour, like when Finneas mentions that he could destroy a scratching post out of frustration.

In terms of a recommendation, I feel like if you like beat-em-up games already, it's an easy sell, and bonus points if you like the retro genre. Even those who aren’t huge fans of retro, I feel if they give Terror of Hemasaurus a chance would like it too. If you like the same thing over and over again with a simple premise of destroying everything, Terror of Hemasaurus is your game. The sound, the graphics and the overall gameplay has me hooked and I just want to destroy everything in my path. If you'll excuse me, I need to take out that helicopter and smash a skyscraper because I can.

Transference is an interesting, haunting and disturbing game that is short but spooky. The themes that it evokes can be somewhat confusing, because there’s not a lot of explanation there, but they are disturbing and innovative nonetheless. If you are looking for something scary to play this Halloween, SpectreVision has a pretty solid, albeit somewhat overpriced, option for you in Transference. You don’t need VR to play it either, because it’s still pretty good without.

Togges excels at placing you in its colorful and whimsical world, and those that enjoy taking the time to explore every corner of the levels will surely get dozens of hours out of it. Those that want a little more guidance might become a little frustrated, especially once you unlock the later levels that are much larger and can be a bit overwhelming at first. Surely to twist your mind and puzzle solving skills, there’s plenty of longevity in Togges, all while placing hundreds of adorable cubes.

If you’re a twin-stick or roguelike fan, Dead End Job is worth a look, even if it’s not perfect and does suffer from repetitiveness quite quickly. While I enjoyed my time with Hector busting ghosts, it’s a fun little title to play on a long weekend with its variety of enemies, items and levels. A completely serviceable title that fans should be able to sink a few hours into before moving on from their dead end job.

Even with its very short length, Dark Souls vets will find some entertainment here with its unique bosses and increasingly difficult gameplay. If you’ve been shy to try the genre because of its difficulty, this may be a good first step into it, as you’re not weighed down by hours of gameplay and exploration, and simply get to experience the best portions back to back, even if that does make for a slightly shallow experience with little payoff.

A second helping of same-same for those who truly grooved on the first installment – which is available as a $29 Platinum Hit bargain-title.

The campaign missions do get a little repetitive.

Tribes of Midgard did a great job of transitioning to console, feeling natural on a controller without feeling overwhelming like many PC to console ports. There’s a mountain of content to get through for the most dedicated but you’ll have to get over the learning curve hurdle before it all makes sense. While playable solo, I highly recommend finding some friends to play alongside with, as I wasn’t enjoying myself playing alone, but with some friends it made a world of difference.

Serious Sam reminds me of a great cult movie hit; the fans get it and love it and the rest don’t see what’s so special or understand. Don’t go in expecting anything innovative, just turn off your brain, blow tons of aliens up and enjoy what a mindless shooter Serious Sam excels at being.

So, what's the verdict? While Masters of Anima has a couple flaws, I believe this game is worth trying. It may not be my kind of game per se, but I know there are gamers out there that like DOTA-like games, and this has a similar feel to it. If you like strategy based games I would give this one a try. The story is good to follow and I didn't mind the the overall concept of Masters of Anima at all, even though it wasn't my cup of tea.

Overall, I had a lot of trouble learning to play Fishing: North Atlantic early on, but I still had a lot of fun being out on the water and catching fish. I was pretty excited to give this game a try and do the review because I really enjoy going fishing in real life. I primarily go lake fishing though, so this was a whole new and completely different experience for me, and I did feel like I really was there fishing on the boat at times. Even my wife started to get seasick while sitting on the couch and watching me play. Commercial fisherman will no doubt find enjoyment in the simulator aspect, a niche genre for a specific audience.

While Vaporum does post some entertaining puzzles, they quickly become more of a change of pace tactic than actually something worthwhile. This sad reality combined with the previous disappointments and letdowns means that in all good conscious, I cannot recommend purchasing this game for $24.99 when you can get better dungeon crawlers for less money. When your game thrives on a quality story and entertaining gameplay mechanics, and both of those areas become lackluster and suffer, thus hindering the enjoyment, then it's time to move on. Vaporum may be set in a steampunk environment, but the game itself ran out of steam.

It almost goes without saying that I cannot, in any way, shape or form, recommend ever buying The One We Found. Don’t buy it if it’s two dollars, don’t buy it if it’s one dollar, and don’t buy it if it’s fifty cents. The frustration that comes from its dated gameplay, terrible AI and poor level design isn’t worth it, even if there’s an easy 1000 achievement points to be found. Stay far, FAR away from this one.

As it stands, 8-Bit armies is a decent overall package that gets held back tremendously by its awkward controls. As with anything, despite my displeasures, I did improve my game with time and effort, but at no point did playing ever start to feel natural. 8-Bit Armies is a game best played by the most passionate gamers, and even more specifically, ones that have a deep love for RTS games. It's fun art style makes it a standout member of its genre, that while not necessarily appropriate for all ages, is much more in line with something that older children and young adults may find more appealing than it's typically darker, more melancholy or even violent cousins.

I really can't put my finger on it with this one, It just seemed...eh, Vanilla.

Overall, there are aspects of this game that I thoroughly enjoy. I enjoyed learning how to play the game decently and can see how it tailors to racing gamers like me, and the die hard motocross fan who knows what they are doing, and how to adjust their bike settings. I'm not the best at racing games, and I'm no expert in Motocross by a long shot, however, in playing MXGP Pro, I can at least say that it gave me some insight on the mechanics of a motocross bike and how the bikes operate. As for my recommendation, I would recommend this game solely on the gameplay being as decent as it is.

The Great Escape game had a hard time recreating what made the movie so great. Although my guess is not many gamers are going to be familiar with the movie, it should have been a better representation. Which I think would have made the game more enjoyable.

While I wasn’t sure what to initially expect from Blightbound, I quite enjoyed the 'Holy Trinity' class setup and addictiveness when it comes to playing alongside some friends, trying our luck on the harder difficulties as we slowly improved our characters and skills. If you have a friend or two that you’re able to grind for quite some time with in some dungeon runs you’re going to have a decent time with Blightbound. If you’re going to rely on random online players or AI bots, you’re going to have nowhere near as rewarding of an experience.

Expand the world a bit, and find a new wrinkle in the development or strength and talents of your characters.

A nifty 3D interface showing the arcade cabinets themselves is a nice touch, giving you an impression of browsing the arcade looking for the best spot to dump your quarters, and the soundtrack (licensed eighties rock) is a nice touch, but I still want more.

For such a minimalistic game, Circle Infinity is probably one of the more challenging ones you’ll play, requiring dedication and a whole lot of concentration if you want to make any meaningful progress across its 50 levels. I suspect it will frustrate many, if not most, but finally making to the end of a level feels ever so satisfying after dying repeatedly, provided you have the mettle to stick with it.

Overall, I think this might be the game that has come the closest to the real-life re-creation of fishing tournaments I have played to date. It certainly has the best tutorial explanation of what to do, easing you into the experience. Aside from the few glitches that I ended up having fun with, like yelling at drunk fish to straighten their lives out, this game is simple to learn and just a little bit more than your next boring fishing game. Don’t get me wrong, I still might nap while playing, but I’ll still have fun!

I’ve never really experienced anything like Cosmic Top Secret before; part game, part documentary, where I actually learned quite a lot of fascinating information about the Danish Intelligence and Cold War. This makes me think that gaming could be an interesting format and medium for teaching history to gamers, but in a unique way that could resonate, as even days after completion Cosmic Top Secret still lingers in my head and I'm glad to have experienced it. Ending Transmission...

Having a robust online leaderboard that separates every mode and ship is welcome, providing plenty of replay value if you want to top the numerous high scores online. Having nailed the classic 90’s style, gameplay and aesthetic, Sophstar is a decent shump overall, and although it doesn’t reach the heights of an Ikaruga, it’s certainly worth your time if you’re a shmup fan.