Monthly Archives: April 2023

Nuclear Blaze is a 2D fire-fighting puzzle-platformer that is notable for being the new project from Sébastien Bénard, the lead designer behind the critically-acclaimed Dead Cells and the game has an interesting history. In its earliest form, Nuclear Blaze was coded in just two days as part of a ‘game […]

Nuclear Blaze – PS4 Review

April 26, 2023 in PS4 / Reviews tagged dead cells / fire / firefighting / nuclear blaze / platformer / puzzle by Richie

Religion and videogames has always felt like an odd combination. Other mediums have had their religious epics but gaming just struggles to pull one together. Saga of Sins hasn’t quite got those lofty ambitions but this effort from Bonus Level Entertainment does use a Christian backdrop to deliver a decent […]

Saga of Sins – PS5 Review

April 25, 2023 in PS5 / Reviews tagged 2d platforming / 7 deadly sins / angels / bonus level entertainment / crusaders / Devil / germans / metroidvania / religion / saga of sins by Mike

Developed by Repixel8 (aka London based collector and coder Andrew Jefferys) and CGA Studio Games with we assume multiplatform ports handled by the latter, we have Formula Retro Racing: World Tour. Very much the throwback to the halcyon days of Sega’s Model 2 arcade heyday and the blue sky gaming […]

Formula Retro Racing: World Tour – PS4 Review

April 24, 2023 in PS4 / Reviews tagged blue skies in gaming / daytonaaaaaaa / g a m e o v e r / local multiplayer / namco-ish / repixel8 / retro racing / sega-ish / TIME EXTENSION by Ian

It’s confusing enough when a game with ‘Final’ in the title gets a sequel and 2021’s R-Type Final 2 certainly was an unexpected turn for the series, especially as it arrived some eighteen years after the previous Final title. But this release is stranger still. R-Type Final 3 may have […]

R-Type Final 3: Evolved – PS5 Review

April 23, 2023 in PS5 / Reviews tagged final / horizontally-scrolling / r-type / shoot em up by Richie

Cannon Dancer is a 2D platform/beat ’em up that has quite the enigmatic history. It was an arcade title that came out in 1996 and was the spiritual successor to Capcom’s famous Strider. Albeit without Capcom’s involvement. Kouichi “Isuke” Yotsui, the lead designer of both games, had moved onto the less […]

Cannon Dancer Osman – PS5 Review

April 19, 2023 in PS5 / Reviews tagged arcade / cannon dancer / coin-op / port / retro / strider by Richie

I often wonder with gaming narratives how to truly judge them. There are entirely story-driven games where the focus shifts from gameplay which ultimately diminishes the interactive element of the medium. Melon Journey: Bittersweet Memories by Froach Club is another one of these games. With the gameplay reduced, I often […]

Melon Journey: Bittersweet Memories – PS5 Review

April 15, 2023 in PS5 / Reviews tagged animal town / corporate espionage / crime story / froach club / gameboy aesthetic / melon journey bittersweet memories / narratively-driven / puns by Mike

Murderous Muses is another FMV infused game from D’Avekki Studio after their previous release two years ago, Dark Nights with Poe and Monroe. This isn’t quite as FMV heavy as their previous game, the video mainly cropping up in the form of interview footage with the six suspects of the […]

Murderous Muses – PS5 Review

April 14, 2023 in PS4 / PS5 / Reviews tagged d'avekki / fmv / gallery / murderous muses / nightwatchman / not cluedo / there's been a murderrr by Ian

Atari Mania is the latest game to show up as part of the ongoing 50th anniversary celebrations of legendary software publishers, Atari. We’ve recently seen Atari 50, a huge compilation spanning Atari’s time in the industry, and a whole heap of remastered games in their Recharged range, Atari Mania is something else altogether. Essentially, this […]

Atari Mania – PS4 Review

April 13, 2023 in PS4 / Reviews tagged atari mania / mini games / retro / warioware by Richie

Dogfight: A Sausage Bomber Story (not to be confused with Dogfight) is a horizontally-scrolling shoot ’em up from casual North Carolina coders, Katsu Games that, unusually for the genre, supports up to four players in local co-op and sees you, and your buddies, taking up the roles of bomber pilots who are […]

Dogfight: A Sausage Bomber Story – PS4 Review

April 13, 2023 in PS4 / Reviews tagged dogfight / horizontally-scrolling / sausage bomber / shoot em up by Richie

From first party Sony dev San Diego Studio and published by Sony themselves, we have MLB The Show 23, just in time for the opening day of the Major League Baseball season on 30th March. Somewhat unusually, we notice this is included on Xbox Game Pass on day one, but […]

MLB The Show 23 – PS5 Review

April 12, 2023 in PS4 / PS5 / Reviews tagged baseball / beisbol / los marineros / mitch garver is from new mexico / mlb the show 23 / negro leagues / rawr rawr like a dungeon dragon / san diego studio / SeaUsRise / the di-dawg is first up to bat by Ian

Hyper-5 is a side-scrolling shoot ’em up which comes to us from the mysterious Hyper Productions (well, mysterious in that they don’t seem to have a website) and prolific publishers eastasiasoft (their lack of capitalisation, not ours). In terms of getting us down to a sub-genre, this is very much a […]

Hyper-5 – PS5 Review

April 12, 2023 in PS5 / Reviews tagged 2d / 90s / horizontally-scrolling / hyper-5 / shoot em up by Richie

Curse of the Sea Rats is a metroidvania type game and it comes to us by way of Barcelona-based coders, Petoons Studio, the team behind Petoons Party and part of Sony’s Spanish initiative PlayStation Talents. The story focuses on a crew of British sailors who are raided by pirates under […]

Curse of the Sea Rats – PS5 Review

April 7, 2023 in PS5 / Reviews tagged curse of the sea rats / metroidvania / petoon studio / pqube by Richie