I write a lot about game preservation when reviewing re-releases, remasters, and the like. I’d say that’s arguably more important than the nostalgia or simple entertainment value—in an industry that’s so bad at preserving its own history, these kinds of releases are one of the better options we have for …
I don’t envy anyone tasked with making a new Metroid game in 2021. Reviving a series that’s so fiercely beloved comes with a heavy burden of expectations that often contradict: to recapture everything that we loved about those classics 20 years ago, but also to carry the series forward into …
Gynoug is far from the first retro re-release to augment an authentic port with handy modern conveniences like save states and rewind tools, but it’s easily one of the better examples I’ve encountered. Amid the endless debate about preserving old classics exactly as they were and making their more dated …
Space Moth DX was already an accomplished CAVE-style shoot-’em-up that put a unique risk/reward twist on the familiar dichotomy of the rapid-fire spread shot and a high-power, focused laser. With a remixed scoring system and new mechanics, Space Moth: Lunar Edition —1CC Games’ answer to CAVE’s Black Labels—takes those same …
There’s a part in George Alec Effinger’s seminal cyberpunk novel When Gravity Fails where the protagonist likens himself to a catalyst: he acts on the world, but is never acted upon himself. That is until—in classic hardboiled fashion—he gets in too deep, and things get very messy and very bloody, …
Don’t be fooled by the cute anthropomorphic cats and dogs or the soft, colourful art style: Fuga: Melodies of Steel is a dark, confronting game. Telling a story about the human cost of war through the eyes of some of a group of children as they fight for survival and …
When I played the original release of Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water on Wii U, I really didn’t like it. It was a game that, on paper, sounded exactly like my kind of thing, but all I found was squandered potential. In reviewing it (for another site that’s no …
There’s a lot going on in Life is Strange: True Colors. On one level, it’s a murder investigation with a supernatural twist thanks to a young woman’s ability to read the minds and memories of people during moments of intense emotion. On another, it’s a small-town slice of life, focused …
As a throwback to the shmups of the early 90s, there’s a certain appeal in Crisis Wing. Its colourful yet moody pixel art and looming, detailed enemy ships call to mind Toaplan classics like Truxton, and it’s got the challenge to match. But it’s also a game that feels a …
The Caligula Effect is one of the most criminally underrated games of recent memory. A deeply intelligent JRPG that turns the familiar “save the world” premise completely on its head, that takes a more nuanced and thought-provoking approach to moral philosophy than just about any other game ever made, that …
