Spike Chunsoft is onto a particular theme right now. A few weeks ago it released a game designed to evoke a very specific cultural nostalgia that is core to a lot of aesthetics and narrative themes over there. Now, with Bakeru, it is tapping into something very different in terms…
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Violet Wisteria is two things – firstly, it’s a brute of a game that wears its old-school homage on its sleeve. It’s also heavily inspired by the classic Valis series of fanservicey magical girl platformers. Things start off really well with a story sequence pulled directly from the PC-98 era…
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We live in a world where we’re all working harder and longer than ever, and what little free time we have really needs to count. I’ve addressed this in opinion pieces in the past that developers aren’t really competing for people’s money any more. Cost of living crisis or not,…
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The preservation of video games is a subject that’s near and dear to my heart. Not just in some kind of dusty academic sense, either. I’m a keen retro gamer, and I truly do think that there’s huge benefits for all audiences to take in the breadth of gaming history.…
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Like most people, I grew up with Disney being a real part of my childhood. So, while I find the content of modern Disney to be little more than a corporation demanding money, the classic hijinks of Mickey and Donald and co will always tap into deep nostalgia. Case-in-point: Next…
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“Whimsy” is the dominant word to describe the experience across the two titles in the Klonoa Phantasy Reverie collection. In so many ways these two games represent the platforming genre at its most perfect, with intricately entertaining levels wrapped up with a charming efficiency of character and design. It’s a…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. An indie platformer that draws influences from bits and pieces from the history of Nintendo (predominantly) and also SEGA (to a lesser extent)? Say it isn’t so, because I’ve never seen one of those before! The hints of Sonic, Yoshi and Donkey Kong in the level…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. I didn’t enjoy Epic Dumpster Bear 2: He Who Bears Wins. It’s an ugly and trashy (ha!) experience that has been cobbled together with what seems to be a dozen different asset packs, as are dumped on Humble Bundle from time to time. It’s a pacy…
Read MoreReview by Alex Kidman. In the field of zombie cooking platform comedy simulators, there’s never been a game quite like Dungeon Munchies. That is of course because the field of zombie cooking platform comedy simulators is one where Dungeon Munchies represents fully 100 per cent of the category. Nonetheless, here…
Read MoreVideo by Matt S. Ty the Tasmanian Tiger is one of the most overtly Australian games that we’ve seen… across the entire history of video games. The distinctively Australian mascot character, locations, aesthetics and humour has helped the series stick in people’s minds, from as far back as the PlayStation…
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