Before Final Fantasy Tactics, there was Tactics Ogre. It’s hard to overstate the significance of Yasumi Matsuno’s Super Famicom epic—not just in how heavily its ideas drove the iconic FF spinoff, but in how it influenced a whole breed of tactical RPGs. Even if you set that legacy aside, Tactics …
I’m just going to say this up front: I don’t really care about Batman. To me he’s always been a vehicle for stylish action movies or cool open-world video games. Aside from that, he’s just a libertarian power fantasy—a moneyed man that will do what that state can’t. And it’s …
I’ve never paid much attention to stance in a skating game. Riding switch–what’s normally your back foot in front, and vice versa—might get you a few extra points, but beyond that, in every game I’ve played, it’s superficial to the point of being unnoticeable. My skater faces whichever way they’re …
To say that the shooter market in 2022 is bursting at the seams would be an understatement. Call of Duty, Apex Legends, Fortnite—all are household names at this point. But despite the visual and mechanical differences, most still boil down to pointing an AK-47-adjacent-looking weapon at a target and pulling …
Rhythm Festival is classic, timeless Taiko no Tatsujin rhythm action, but with a new track list, new minigames, and an expansive Music Pass. Ah, Taiko. A taiko drumming arcade rhythm game with an eclectic mix of music and the utterly adorable artwork of Yukiko Yoko is the gift that keeps …
Wonder Boy has a bit of an odd history. It sits alongside Alex Kidd as one of Sega’s more iconic second-string platformers (behind Sonic the Hedgehog, of course), yet inconsistencies with naming conventions, numbering, localisations gave the series a bit of a disjointed canon. Spotty appearances in other Sega compilations …
Metal Max Xeno isn’t something I’d expect to see getting a major overhaul. The original is just a few years old, met with middling reviews, and never really made much of a splash despite an intriguing premise and some unique ideas. A rebirth might be just what it needed, though: …
In a lot of ways, Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers is a very different beast to its predecessor. The first was a funny, heartfelt, optionally romantic visual novel about the daily lives of a game centre operator and their eccentric regulars; The New Challengers is all about arcade esports: competition, …
I know I’m not alone in my preference for vertical shmups, especially of the bullet hell variety. It’s hard to articulate well, but tracking bullets, reading patterns, and positioning your ship just feels so much more intuitive in a vert. But every now and then, a game will come along …
At first blush, Cotton Fantasy feels a lot like last year’s Cotton Reboot. It’s got a new story, new levels, new enemies and boss fights, but the same cute, playful vibe, same general approach, and similar (if slightly simplified) scoring mechanics to Reboot’s wonderfully exuberant revamp. It’s a sequel, after …
