Let’s all remember for a moment here that Sony basically gutted its Japanese game development operation, and the developer behind Astro Bot, Team Asobi, was the only one that survived. Even then it was diminished. Then consider that it created this game, with its abundant creativity and warmth. Where all of Sony’s other studios and development partners are busy churning…
Is it strange that of the four titles in the Castlevania Dominus Collection, the one that was most interesting to me was the bonus? That’s not to say that anything else in the collection isn’t very worthwhile, but it’s a full-scale, total end-to-end remake of Haunted Castle, the classic (and…
Spike Chunsoft is onto a particular theme right now. A few weeks…
Pixel-precision platformer Symphonia was originally set to launch in early 2024, but…
Let’s all remember for a moment here that Sony basically gutted its Japanese game development operation, and the developer behind Astro Bot, Team Asobi, was the only one that survived. Even then it was diminished. Then consider that it created this game, with its abundant creativity and warmth. Where all…
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Is it strange that of the four titles in the Castlevania Dominus Collection, the one that was most interesting to me was the bonus? That’s not to say that anything else in the collection isn’t very worthwhile, but it’s a full-scale, total end-to-end remake of Haunted Castle, the classic (and…
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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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Pixel-precision platformer Symphonia was originally set to launch in early 2024, but that time has since come and gone. Today, Sunny Peak and Headup Games announced a new release window for Symphonia, confirmed launch platforms, dropped a PC demo, and revealed a new trailer. The demo gives you an introduction…
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Just in time for the Game Boy’s 35th anniversary, Nintendo has quietly dropped three more classics on to the Game Boy app on the Switch Online service. The headline of the three is Super Mario Land, the first time Mario appeared on the console. Today, this game comes across as…
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Developer OutOfTheBit definitely has experience with cinematic puzzle platformers: Full Void was all about handcrafted 2D art, innovative mechanics, and atmospheric storytelling. OutOfTheBit is taking on that genre again with Nanuka: Secret of the Shattering Moon. Announced today, the game promises to fuse handcrafted animations, engaging combat, and magical adventure.…
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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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Princess Peach must be a difficult character to work with now. Originally she was the archetypal damsel in distress, which made for a convenient single-line narrative to power Super Mario Bros., but that trope hasn’t done so well over time. Where Princess Zelda has been relatively easy to empower without…
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It’s hard to find innovation in the 2D platformer genre at times. However, “Dig Dug plus Ecco the Dolphin” is certainly a concept that we don’t remember coming across before! That is how the developer of Pepper Grinder describes his debut title, which has been more than seven years in…
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Contra: Operation Galuga was a mistake. It’s not that everyone involved didn’t try, mind you. As much as a certain kind of gamer loves to swipe at Konami, Konami did the right thing here to give this project every chance of success. The publisher recruited WayForward – veterans and legends…
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