Pixel art

From boutique developer Ametist and prolific Spanish indie publisher Ratalaika, comes Within the Blade. Previously known as Pixel Shinobi, we’re glad of the name change at least. At the outset you’ll be asked to pick a difficulty level: easy, normal or permadeath. We went with the middle option, though we’re […]

Within the Blade – PS4/PS5 Review

July 22, 2021 in PS4 / PS5 / Reviews tagged ninja / Pixel art / ratalaika / ronin / stabby by Ian

Loot Hero DX is the latest Ratalaika offering and a game that comes by way of Swedish indie casual gaming specialists Varagtp. Now with Ratalaika you generally know what to expect – easy trophies, casual gameplay, retro presentation – but this game is somewhat unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. Sure, […]

Loot Hero DX – PS4 Review

January 20, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged 16-bit / easy platinum / loot hero dx / Pixel art / ratalaika / retro by Richie

PlayStation gamers were never able to play the original 2013 Hammerwatch, a hack and slasher from Swedish (not Danish!) coding squad, Crackshell. They have however just dropped 2018’s Heroes of Hammerwatch on us, a game that takes the original hacking and slashing but builds quite a complex upgrading system behind the action. […]

Heroes of Hammerwatch – PS4 Review

January 16, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged classes / hack and slash / heroes of hammerwatch / Pixel art / retro / rogue-like / rogue-lite / upgrade by Richie

Games of all shapes and sizes come to me in this job. Radio Squid comes from PixelTeriyaki and looks to deliver an experimental look at the twin-stick shooter. Whilst somewhat small in scope, there’s some interesting choices here that at least make the game plough its own furrow. The plot […]

Radio Squid – PS4 Review

June 23, 2020 in PS4 / Reviews tagged arcade / money toad / Pixel art / radio squid pixelteriyaki / sealife / twin-stick shooter by Mike

HyperParasite is a roguelike twin-stick shooter/brawler from Spanish dev crew Troglobyte Games and while it is the latest of a long line of twin-stick shooters to hit PSN after a debut on PC, this one is a little different to the rest. You see, HyperParasite combines an interesting gameplay mechanic with a […]

HyperParasite – PS4 Review

April 7, 2020 in PS4 tagged 80's / hyperparasite / Pixel art / retro / roguelike / twin-stick shooter by Richie

Knightin’+ is another retro-themed indie effort from the ever-prolific peeps over at Ratalaika Games, the publisher best known for singlehandedly keeping the Vita alive while also throwing around cheap platinum trophies like confetti. They’ve explored so many genres (mainly because their MO seems to be to publish pretty much anything that […]

Knightin’+ – PS4 Review

February 21, 2020 in PS4 / Vita tagged easy platinum / hack and slash / indie / knightin'+ / Pixel art / ratalaika / retro by Richie

Block-a-Pix Deluxe is another puzzle game from husband and wife dev team Lightwood Games and follows in the same vein as their recent release Mixups, by offering a large number of simply presented puzzles. Now, we didn’t much like Mixups very much because it offered a style of gameplay that […]

Block-a-Pix Deluxe – PS4/Vita Review

March 29, 2019 in PS4 / Vita tagged block-a-pix / logic puzzles / picross (sort of) / Pixel art / puzzles by Richie

I often wonder why mobile ports attract the wrath they do. Having covered a few, there always seems to be some substance to them, whilst simplified in controls and a little lacking in presentation. I’ve rarely seen it feel so wrong to hold it against a product. Timber Tennis Versus, […]

Timber Tennis Versus – PS4 Review

November 18, 2018 in PS4 / Reviews tagged digital melody / multiplayer / Pixel art / sports / timber tennis versus by Mike

From Woblyware comes a new Metroidvania style game in the form of Omega Strike. It’s got retro visuals, it’s got chiptune music, but it does bring some gameplay ideas to the table. Dr Omega is attempting to take over the world with his army of mutants. It’s up to three […]

Omega Strike – PS4 Review

June 20, 2018 in PS4 tagged 2d / abilitease / chiptune / metroidvania / omega strike / Pixel art by Gareth

Devious Dungeon by Spanish coders Ratalaika Games is a port of their popular 2014 iOS game and is out now as a cross-buy title for PS4 and Vita. This simple rogue-lite platformer tasks you with saving a kingdom from an ancient evil that lurks in the catacombs under the king’s castle […]

Devious Dungeon – PS4/Vita Review

April 29, 2018 in PS4 / Vita tagged 2d / devious dungeon / Pixel art / platformer / retro / rogue legacy / rogue-lite by Richie

We’re huge fans of Hopoo Games’ previous PSN entry, Risk of Rain, and so we were pretty excited about getting our hands on the latest effort from the small American dev studio. The games have little in common beyond being 2D titles with pixel art stylings, the previous title being […]

Deadbolt – PS4 Review

February 25, 2018 in PS4 tagged 2d / crossbuy / deadbolt / difficult / Pixel art / ps4 by Richie

Indie games can often have a single strong idea to carry through the gameplay and that’s just what Let Them Come does. Armed with a sentry gun, a boombox and loads of bullets your task is to destroy a near endless wave of hostile aliens. Riffing on the sentry gun scene in […]

Let Them Come – PS4 Review

December 7, 2017 in PS4 tagged alien / arcade / guns / hard / Pixel art by Steven