How are you digging Multiversus? I hope it’s not a lot, because WB has announced that the upcoming Season 5 will be its last. That means after its run from February 4, 2025 to May 30, 2025, the game will be delisted.

The statement reads: “As of today, January 31, real money transactions will no longer be available for MultiVersus, which means you can no longer purchase Gleamium, but you can still use remaining Gleamium or character tokens to access in-game content until Season 5 ends on May 30 at 9 a.m. PST. Additionally, when Season 5 finishes, the game will no longer be available to download via the PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store, Steam, or Epic Games Store.​”

The statement also mentions that the online services for the game will also cease on May 30. They state that the game will be playable offline, but only if you log in while the season is running. Wow, that’s screwed up. The game is free-to-play, so all you need to do to keep it is download it and log in on whatever platforms you want to play it on, but if you miss that window – even if you paid for anything in the store – then you’re out of luck. I have to wonder why they don’t just release an offline version for it afterward.

I mean, for that matter, they also say, “After Season 5, players will have an option to enjoy MultiVersus offline via the local gameplay mode, either solo against A.I. opponents or with up to three players, as well as the training mode (The Lab), with all characters unlocked and playable.”

So, the moral of the story is that you should download it while you have the chance.

MultiVersus rocketed off to a successful start in its beta, but the player numbers dropped significantly afterward. Despite being in beta, the game already saw multiple seasons, adding new characters and accepting microtransactions. Then, in June 2023, it was announced that the game was shutting down. It was supposedly just going to be a temporary hiatus, but it seemed suspect. Doubters were proven wrong when the game came right back in March 2024 to renewed popularity.

I never played it, but I always heard it was decent. However, when it comes to live service games, it’s been proven that “decent” just isn’t good enough. By design, the format requires people to be fully absorbed and dedicated, and most folks don’t have room in their lives (and their evenings) to just one. Typically, the one their friends already play.

But publishers continue to chase the allure of Fortnite’s success, and we keep seeing the bodies pile up. With recent failures like Concord still in the rearview mirror, it doesn’t even seem like things are slowing down.

One question still unanswered is how this will affect the developer, Player First Games, which was acquired by WB last year. According to the FAQ, “We do not have any announcements or updates on Player First Games to share at this time.” Let’s hope for the best.

The post Another live service dies as WB is ending MultiVersus with Season 5 appeared first on Destructoid.

You’re getting stood up, as Sassy Chap Games has announced that they won’t be making the Valentine’s Day launch date for Date Everything as they had planned. Instead, Date Everything will be coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, and PC on June 25.

This is actually the second time the game has been delayed, as it was originally supposed to arrive on October 24, 2024 before getting moved to February 14, 2025. The Valentine’s Day launch would be very appropriate, but according to the release from Designer Ray Chase, “I was too confident that we could properly test ALL the wild amount of content that exists in this massive game, and unfortunately, we ran out of time on our current release date.” Fair enough.

Date Everything is, of course, the dating sim that allows you to date everything. You wander a house and interact with anthropomorphized versions of, well, everything. From the couch to the icebox. More importantly, you can romance them, because no one understands your problems quite like your bed. I have to wonder if the genre pioneers who worked on games like Tokimeki Memorial thought that this is where things would end up.

The delay is unfortunate, but you don’t want bugs getting involved in your passions. Visual novels can get pretty messy, especially when they branch as much as Date Everything promises to. Even with a lot of planning, every variable you add to the mix has the chance of throwing a wrench into the mix. So, I guess what I’m saying is: I’m sorry your date stood you up, chum. I'm sorry everything stood you up.

Date Everything is now coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, and PC on June 25.

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More good news in the world of tardy translations, Ratalaika Games and Shinyuden are localizing Technos Japan’s 1991 dice-centric Famicom RPG, Sugoro Quest: Dice Heroes. It’s coming February 7 to Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

It’s interesting news coming in the wake of Super Technos World: River City & Arcade Classics, as it will feature the Super Famicom’s Sugoro Quest++: DICENICS, but won’t be providing a translation. I’m not sure if this news makes that more disappointing or less. At least now we’re getting some Sugoro Quest and not none.

Sugoro Quest is something of a cross between a board game and a JRPG. The game world is a series of segmented paths that you roll to traverse. Fights also have you pit your dice against those thrown by enemies. Whoever gets the highest number gets to attack. Somewhat like an actual tabletop RPG. Sort of. Some of them. Maybe.

Was it any good? I’m not sure, personally. I’ve heard good things and have wanted to try it myself, if only because I’m a fan of Technos’ Famicom output. I was a bit bummed that Sugoro Quest++ isn’t being translated in the Super Technos World collection, but I also understand that translating old games isn’t as easy as it sounds, which is why you should appreciate each and every fan effort.

At the same time, new official translations are becoming more common, and it’s great to see. Not only are we getting games like the Shockman series from Ratalaika and Sinyuden, but there are official cartridge releases from folks like Retro-Bit, collections from Arc Systems Works (Sugoro Quest++ aside), and even Nintendo got in on it with their limited-time re-release of the first Fire Emblem game. Great stuff.

Sugoro Quest: Dice Heroes is coming to Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S on February 7, 2025 (thanks to Gematsu for spotting it).

The post Technos Japan’s Famicom RPG, Sugoro Quest, is finally getting official translation next month appeared first on Destructoid.

Multiplayer was a lot harder to pull off on the NES than you may imagine. While the system was designed with two players in mind, the limitations of the hardware threw up a lot of obstacles, and there was never an elegant way around them. Elegance is overrated.

So, while multiplayer was better in arcades and would only start catching up in later generations, anyone who experienced the console in its prime probably has some great memories of sharing the unit with a chum. So, if you’re looking to recapture that feeling, or if you’re new to the console and want to explore it with a friend, then I’ve got some picks for you, in no particular order.

Note that I’m only covering titles that launched in North America. This list would be a lot easier if we were talking about the Famicom as well, but since that’s a whole different world, I’ll stick with the rivers and the lakes most people are used to. For picking games, I’m looking for ones that engage both players successfully, so while there are other great games with two-player modes, I’m mostly showing off ones where a second player feels like they add something.

Micro Machines (1991)

As a single-player game, Micro Machines kind of sucks. It’s awesome for a while, but the AI gains such an unfair advantage later on that it becomes almost impossible. Brutal. Not a problem when it comes to multi-player, where it’s absolutely amazing.

Racing wasn’t an easy genre to fit with multiplayer on the NES since split-screen isn’t really possible. I’d say it’s completely impossible, but programmers can find some pretty funky tricks and workarounds sometimes, so I’ll just say it’s not possible according to my understanding of the hardware. It's not important; Micro Machines worked out a solution. It placed four competitors on screen at one time, and the camera always follows the frontrunner, and anyone who falls too far behind and hits the edge of the screen gets eliminated.

Put this on a bunch of interesting tracks like a bathtub or kitchen table, then keep swapping out the vehicles to fit the theme, and you get something consistently fun. You can even kick things up to four-player if you can find the folks to join you.

River City Ransom (1989)

One of my very favorite NES games is also one of the best two-player experiences. Beat-’em-up is a genre that the console could do reasonably well, but River City Ransom is more than just your standard belt scroller. It also has RPG stats that you could increase by cruising the mall. Enemies drop coinage that you can fill your pockets with. You then take that cheddar and stop at restaurants to down a few courses to pump up your kicks. Actual kicks, I mean. Not shoes. You could also buy new shoes.

Anyway, it’s a lot of fun with another person as you hit the shops and compare notes on what increases what stat. Plus, if your friend gets knocked down, you can pick them up and wield them as a weapon. It’s a unique experience to share.

Contra (1988)

One of the console’s absolute classics, Contra is one of the seminal games in the run-and-gun genre. When it was ported from arcades, Konami was able to retain the two-player cooperative. And it works. It still manages to keep the pacing without too much slowdown. It doesn’t feel compromised at all.

With its one-hit deaths and limited continues, it’s a pretty difficult game unless you cheat. It’s less that any part of it is tricky, it's that it's hard to avoid fumbling occasionally, wearing you down. However, if you and your partner have the patience, learn the patterns, figure out all the tricks, and finally topple the last boss, it’s fulfilling in a way that most games can’t match.

Double Dragon 2 (1989)

Technos’ Double Dragon was a pioneer of the belt-scrolling brawler genre and a massive success in its own right. However, when the game was ported to the NES, it dropped the two-player coop entirely. While it’s still a beloved title for the console, I’ve always felt beat-’em-ups work best with a buddy, and the lack of this is a pretty large detriment.

Truthfully, Double Dragon 2 on NES diverges in quite a few ways from its arcade roots but comes away better for it. Most importantly, it reinstated the two-player coop and, as a result, is one of the best titles on the system. It’s a dumb, fun brawler. You’ll know what I’m talking about when you get to the level where you throw dudes out of a helicopter.

Bubble Bobble (1987)

As an arcade game, Bubble Bobble bends pretty hard in a coop direction, and the NES version retains that entirely. You and a friend fill the shoes of bubble-blowing dragons who encase their foes before popping them, turning them into snacks for some reason. You battle through 100 screens (not counting bonus stages) and take on a disturbing elf-thing.

Bubble Bobble is so geared toward coop that if you complete the game without a partner, it practically chastises you and tells you to play through it again with someone behind the second controller. Way to salt the wound of us lonely folks.

Hollywood Squares (1989)

Hear me out. Game shows typically only translate okay to the video game format. This is because you often need to type in the answer, which takes a while and demands that you input it perfectly, otherwise it’s counted as an incorrect answer. This is true in games like Jeopardy and Family Feud. The game shows that don’t rely on this, on the other hand, fare much better. 

Wheel of Fortune is a good example of this. The only reason it’s not on here is because it’s better with three players, and substituting one for a computer sucks. Instead, I think Hollywood Squares stands out due to its simplicity. If you’re unfamiliar, celebrities sit in a 3x3 grid, and you pick one. They get asked a question, they answer, and then you either agree or disagree. If you agree and they’re right or disagree and they’re wrong, you get a marker on that square. The goal is to get three squares in a row a la Tic-Tac-Toe. Nothing to slow you down, nowhere to slip up with a typo, just good, quick competition. I kind of wish there were more questions, but any amount will always run dry eventually.

Chip ‘N Dales Rescue Rangers (1990)

Capcom was pretty legendary for its collection of Disney-licensed stuff, and while licensed games have a bad reputation, and this was especially true in the early days, Capcom had some pretty solid consistency. Duck Tales, Darkwing Duck, and even The Little Mermaid were great at best and decent at worst. But only one of them allowed for two-player coop, and that was Chip ‘N Dales Rescue Rangers.

Rescue Rangers feels a lot like Super Mario Bros. 2. Dealing with enemies is largely a matter of picking up sturdy objects and hurling them. The 2-player mode doesn’t feel necessary (aside from allowing both title characters to exist at once), but it is a lot of fun. The game is combat-heavy enough for a second pair of hands to feel useful, but simply sharing the joy of a solid game is enough.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Arcade Game (1990)

In the ‘80s, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were the hottest package around. Konami managed to grab the game license and made arcade gold with their four-player beat-’em-up cabs. However, the first NES outing wasn’t based on that. Worse yet, it was single-player. Worser still, it wasn’t very good. Thankfully, instead of trying the formula again with a sequel, they just ported the arcade game. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Arcade Game is technically not a sequel; it’s exactly what it says on the tin.

It’s a decent port. It drops the four-player mode, allowing only two, which is, truthfully, is about all the hardware can handle. Beyond that, however, it is pretty faithful to the original. It’s a decent belt-scrolling brawler that still manages to work well in a post-Final Fight world.

There was actually an NES-exclusive follow-up called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project. It’s another decent title to play with a buddy. It feels like a more-of-the-same holding pattern, which might have been what it is. Nonetheless, it retains what made the previous game successful, so if you’re just looking for something to fill another afternoon, it’s a good fit.

Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)

As much as it’s not my favorite game on the NES, it’s hard not to look at Super Mario Bros. 3 with wonder. It feels like a game that’s a hardware generation ahead and still unlike anything else out there. Beyond just being a well-designed and fun game to play, it’s an amazing technical achievement that pulls off incredible feats of hardware strength while making it look effortless.

Anyway, the important thing (at least in terms of this list) is that it’s two-player. Both Mario and Luigi have a chance to shine. The only downside is that it’s alternating two-player, meaning you and your chum don’t play at the same time. Instead, you swap out after a death or the completion of a level. However, the path through the game’s various worlds diverges occasionally, giving some feeling of agency to the players. Also, unlike the original Super Mario Bros., you’re both working together to push further into the game rather than just playing alongside.

Frankly, if you’re looking to get someone into the NES, Super Mario Bros. 3 is a great place to start. It demonstrates all the possibilities of the console and surprises at every turn.

Life Force (1987)

Scrolling shoot-’em-ups work a bit better than most genres on the NES hardware, but there’s a downside. Allocating a sprite to a second player means there’s less you can put on screen, and a lot of shooters thrive on throwing as much as possible at the player. Gradius, to which Life Force is a sequel (known as Salamander in most other places), used alternating multiplayer, which meant you weren’t playing at the same time as your chum, but Life Force 2 allows you to play side-by-side.

The design works well. A lot of the Gradius formula involves avoiding obstacles rather than just blasting enemies, so the action isn’t affected by having another person on the screen. It’s also creative with HUD elements, which allows both players to view their upgrade track easily. It’s a difficult game for the genre, but if your friend is either already well-versed or willing to learn, then it makes for a great time.

Dr. Mario (1990)

Tetris might be the most beloved and popular puzzle game on the block, but the original NES release didn’t have 2-player (though, Tengen’s version did). But Dr. Mario did and, personally, I prefer it over Tetris.

Dr. Mario was pretty well-tailored for multiplayer. Rather than just having two players race to drain the bottle of viruses, doing well meant dumping trash in the other person’s backyard. This meant that, beyond just trying to eliminate viruses quicker, you were also trying to set up big combos to slow down your opponent. Players could also individually set their difficulty level, which means that if you’re much more practiced, you could crank up your level to make things even.

High-level Tetris play gets a big spotlight and suggests a massive skill ceiling, but have you ever seen someone who is great at Dr. Mario? I didn’t think much about it until I saw my sister play it after she and her university roommates got into a big rivalry. It’s intense.

Tecmo Bowl (1987)

Listen, I’m the wrong person to ask about football. American football, I mean. Actually, football in general. Just don’t ask me. However, I do know that Tecmo Bowl is pretty great. I know this because I had a routine for a while where a friend would visit, I’d pull out an obscure fighting game that neither of us had played before, and then I’d beat him with every character on the roster. Eventually, he got sick of it and reached for a game he figured he could beat me at. The game was Tecmo Bowl.

I won at that, too. It’s like I do this for a living or something. Anyway, it was fun. People tell me it’s not all that much like football, and I’ll have to take their word for it. All I know is that my friend never tried for a rematch. Maybe I should have convinced him that Tecmo Super Bowl was a completely different experience.

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Antistatic Studios has announced that a demo playtest of their four-player cooperative FPS, Phantom Line, is now available on PC via their Discord server. Alongside this is a new trailer to give you a peek at what you’re getting into.

It’s a bit hard to get a good read on what Phantom Line really is, so let’s start from the top. It’s a first-person shooter for 1-4 players, set in an open-world environment. You’re an operative for a megacorporation who has been dispatched into an Eastern European country following a nuclear war. Okay, sounds familiar.

However, there’s also something called the H.U.S.K. that allows you to transfer your consciousness between artificial bodies. The trailer doesn’t really capture that very well, but there’s a gif on the store page that shows it in action. Maybe.

Phantom Line promises an open world full of dynamic events. You and your friends get a derelict ship as a base of operations and can show off your loot. There’s also crafting, because an artificial army runs on its stomach, so you have to eat. The trailer shows a suspicious amount of bear violence, so you may be eating something pretty gamey.

To get in on the Phantom Line playtest, you’ll need to sign up for their discord at this link here. The full release date has yet to be announced. 

The post You can get in on open-world coop FPS Phantom Line’s playtest today appeared first on Destructoid.

Surprise! GOG has released the first two Dino Crisis games on their storefront. That’s today! You can get them now! They’ve also announced the GOG Dreamlist that allows their community to suggest games that they want re-released.

Yeah, sorry, it’s not news of a new Dino Crisis. The series has been dormant since 2003’s Dino Crisis 3, which is something that didn’t happen and therefore didn’t count. I’m kidding. I haven’t actually played the Dino Crisis games, so I’m really just a poseur. However, that could change.

Like the Resident Evil trilogy that GOG lovingly touched up, the two Dino Crisis games have been brought up to modern specs. Beyond just being friendlier with modern operating systems, the company states it “includes Original, Arrange, and PC-exclusive Operation Wipe Out modes. Updates feature enhanced DirectX rendering, ~4K resolution, modern controllers, and fixes for stability, transparency, and save issues. New options like V-Sync, Gamma Correction, and Anti-Aliasing offer a refined experience.”

If you’re unfamiliar (and I’m only partially familiar), the first two Dino Crisis games are often described as Resident Evil but with dinosaurs. They’re fixed-camera survival horror games that play very similarly. One difference is that Dino Crisis 2 has pre-rendered backgrounds like the Resident Evil games, but the first Dino Crisis had real-time 3D backgrounds. Doesn’t make much difference since it’s still fixed-camera.

Alongside the launch, the site is launching the GOG Dreamlist, which is something of a replacement to the Community Wishlist. This allows users to vote on games that they want to get this sort of treatment. The Dreamlist is more streamlined, but the idea is the same. It lets GOG know where they should be focusing, and it also helps them show rights holders that there’s demand for a re-release. As they put it, “Your votes keep the fire burning, even when negotiations get tough.”

Both Dino Crisis and Dino Crisis 2 are available for PC on GOG today.

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Gaming Factory has announced that JDM: Japanese Drift Master, the game about drift racing in Japan, is set to release on March 26, 2025 on PC.

You’d think there wouldn’t be much more to say beyond that, but JDM: Japanese Drift Master isn’t just some knock-off of Need for Speed: Underground. It uses its open world to tell a story told through manga-like cutscenes. According to the store page, you will “Step into the shoes of a foreigner determined to make his mark on the Japanese drifting scene.”

I played the prologue demo, and, from what I can tell, it wasn’t really about that. You played as some jerk rich kid who was going around and being a privileged jerk. Being a prologue, that kind of makes sense if it was setting up the antagonist. I also didn’t complete the demo, so maybe the story had some sense of redemption to it.

Part of the reason I didn’t complete the demo is it’s just not my kind of game. I love drift racing in a Mario Kart or Parking Garage Rally Circuit sort of way. That is to say: very unrealistic. JDM: Japanese Drift Master calls itself “simcade.” Specifically, it says, “with a solid simulation backbone and arcade layers added on top for a fun and enjoyable experience.” 

As it turns out, the arcade layer isn’t enough for it to keep me engaged. The cars feel heavy, like how I would imagine cars do. You can’t drift over the horizon. Yet, worst of all, the cars (at least in the demo) are completely impervious to damage. Listen, I can’t overstate how much San Francisco Rush ruined my expectations for racing games. If it’s not over-the-top wacky, I’m expecting some big, metal-twisting crashes.

That is to say, it’s just not the game for me. I appreciate what it’s doing, and I imagine that drift racing enthusiasts who prefer things to have the whiff of realism. It’s also built in Unreal Engine 5, so it has a lot of technical bells and whistles. It still felt like a smaller production in the prologue, but the new press materials suggest it’s received a lot of upgrades. Even still, it touts 250km in main roads and official licensing for the cars, includings Mazda, Nissan, and Subaru. So, there’s a lot there for enthusiasts.

JDM: Japanese Drift Master launches on PC on March 26, 2025.

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I’ve certainly had worse jobs than the one given to you in Dead Letter Dept. I’ve worked in retail. I’ve worked in I.T. I know a thing or two about cursed computers.

Right there, I connected with Dead Letter Dept, especially since I like typing. I probably would have been happy if I was just playing Data Entry: The Game. But, as it turns out, there’s more to it than the simple satisfaction of a job well done. There’s also some effective but unconventional horror.

Dead Letter Dept. (PC)
Developer: Mike Monroe, Belief Engine
Publisher: Belief Engine
Release: January 30th, 2025
MSRP: $14.99

Cursed computers aren’t necessarily a new thing. Pony Island, Home Safety Hotline, and I know that there’s an obvious one I’m forgetting. Don’t let that dissuade you. While the concept might not be the most unique, Dead Letter Dept still has a lot to offer.

You’re cast as a young person who is moving to the city by themself for the first time. You’ve not only got some new digs, you’ve got a new job. And that job is to examine undeliverable letters and transcribe the correct address if you can read it. These letters are stained and ripped, and some of them are just written by people with horrible penmanship.

But the transcription is what it literally is: busywork. It’s not really a challenge. The letters aren’t small puzzles that you need to decipher. They’re mostly a storytelling tool. Proofreading addresses start giving way to stranger things, like bitter or tragic postcards and odd, alarming messages hidden betwixt. I mean, obviously something is going on underneath. Obviously. This is a horror game.

Before each work day, you start off in your horrible apartment. Your bed sucks, you haven’t finished unpacking, and there’s a locked exterior door that the landlord says leads to the fire exit, but that seems suspect. There isn’t much to do in the apartment, so you leave and take a walk to work. It’s truncated a bit, but the walk still does a good job of building the hopeless atmosphere.

As you go through your workdays, things just get stranger and stranger. At two or three hours for a playthrough, things escalate rather quickly, but the pace feels just right. It doesn’t play coy for very long. A couple days in, and the jumpscares start happening. And when I say “jumpscares,” I don’t mean that monsters start grabbing your ass at the water cooler, I just mean that sudden noises will start occurring offscreen or the computer will glitch out suddenly. It is what it is, but Dead Letter Dept capitalizes on it quite well by gluing you to the computer screen. If a sound seems to be coming from behind you, you can’t just turn your head to look at it, you just have to go on working, and working while spooky stuff goes on around you is one of my favorite styles of gameplay.

And while jumpscares may be cheap, that’s not all Dead Letter Dept has. It also has immaculate environmental storytelling. Its atmosphere is heightened by a disturbing lo-fi fuzz filter, careful use of lighting, and a very selective and surreal color palette. It leans heavily into cool colors that you wouldn’t normally associate with specific environments. Interior hallways, for example, are almost entirely a sickly green color.

It’s hard to fully communicate it in writing, but the visual and audio aesthetic of Dead Letter Dept allows it to drive above the legal limit. At its core, its gameplay is simple; limited, even. It’s clearly the work of mostly one person. However, it nails its atmosphere so perfectly that you can’t see the seams. It’s better executed than most big-budget productions without losing the fingerprints of its creator.

And while a single run is only 2-3 hours, that’s not the whole story. It’s made for multiple playthroughs, thankfully not using a roguelite format. Instead, there are just multiple endings. It’s not simply based on decisions made throughout the game, either. Instead, it’s just up to you to figure out how to derail things in different ways, and that’s a rather interesting wrinkle. There are hints on what you need to do, but nothing overt, leaving you fighting for your life in different ways… But, you know, within the confines of data entry.

The downside is that, while there are some random elements, there perhaps aren’t quite enough letters to keep things fresh on each playthrough. I guess there are only so many ways you can obfuscate an address, but – and I can’t believe I’m complaining about this – this job could use a smidge more variety.

Mike Monroe and Belief Engine really know how to get a lot of mileage out of a simple idea. It would, perhaps, be accurate to say that Dead Letter Dept is better than the sum of its parts, but, truly, I think that fails to illustrate just how great its parts are. The simple joy of data entry is wrapped in a soft tortilla of a well-communicated atmosphere and a well-executed aesthetic. Through its medium, it finds the horror in mundanity and uncertainty. It’s a message worth receiving.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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[Update: Good news, everyone! It turns out that Arc System Works is indeed bringing the collection to North America under the name Super Technos World: River City & Arcade Classics (I've updated the headline, in case you were wondering).

However, there's some bad news here. The games that I pointed out would need translation over here? Sugoro Quest++ and DunQuest? Yeah, not getting translated. Says in the press release, "*Japanese language only." However, that caveat isn't listed behind the Kunio-Kun titles, so it sounds like they're getting localized, which is a big deal in itself. So, yeah, still very exciting. Original story follows.]

Arc System Works has revealed the Technos The World: Kunio-kun & Arcade Collection (thanks to Gematsu), a new compilation of some of Technos Japan’s lesser-known gems. More importantly, it’s bringing some titles that weren’t included in a few later Kunio-Kun/Nekketsu/Downtown/River City titles that weren’t included in Double Dragon & Kunio-kun: Retro Brawler Bundle. It’s coming to PS5, Switch, and PC, on April 24. No word yet on a North American release.

It’s a pretty great list. I’ll go over some of them in a bit more depth, but before we get into the weeds, let’s go over what’s actually in the package.

• Super Dodge Ball (Arcade)
• Kunio-kun no Dodgeball da yo Zen'in Shūgō! (Super Famicom)
• Shodai Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun (Super Famicom)
• Downtown Nekketsu Baseball Monogatari: Yakyu de Shobu da! Kunio-kun (Super Famicom)
• Kunio no Oden (Super Famicom)
• Xain’d Sleena (Arcade)
• China Gate (Arcade)
• The Combatribes (Arcade)
• The Combatribes (Super Famicom)
• Shadow Force (Arcade)
• Sugoro Quest++: DICENICS (Super Famicom)
• DunQuest: Majin Fuuin no Densetsu (Super Famicom)

Groovy. For the Kunio-Kun/Nekketsu/Downtown/River City games, you have baseball, a classic beat-’em-up, a puzzle game (seriously), and two flavors of dodgeball. While I’d say that the Super Famicom Kunio games are decent but not fantastic, the NEOGEO Super Dodgeball is pretty spectacular. It uses a much brighter and more cartoon-y artstyle, which makes it even flashier and more over the top. It’s also something that has never been ported before.

Big ol’ mixed bag with everything else. China Gate is known in Saiyuu Goumaroku: Ryuubouyougi no Shou in Japan. It’s a strange beat-’em-up based somewhat on Journey to the West. It’s kind of short, but it’s interesting. Combatribes is in the same vein. It’s a ridiculously brutal beat-’em-up in the same vein as the Kunio-Kun/Nekketsu/Downtown/River City. You can drive clown faces into the pavement.

DunQuest is a dungeon-dwelling action RPG, which is uncharacteristic for the developer. Similarly, Sugoro Quest++: DICENICS is something of a cross between an RPG and a board game. Xain’d Sleena is a run-and-gun sometimes better known as Solar Warrior or Soldier of Light over here. Shadow Force fits their M.O. a lot better, as it’s an arcade beat-’em-up.

While there’s no word on whether or not we’ll see this collection over in the West. It may seem unlikely because many of the titles didn’t see release outside of Japan and would require different levels of translation, but Double Dragon & Kunio-kun: Retro Brawler Bundle did the impossible and localized a tonne of older Kunio-Kun games, so all bets are off. I know for sure that I’d be thrilled to get my hands on it.

Technos The World: Kunio-kun & Arcade Collection is coming to PS5, Switch, and PC on April 24.

The post Super Technos World: River City & Arcade Classics bringing a luscious mix of the developer’s hidden gems (Update) appeared first on Destructoid.

I don’t know how to tell you this, but PureArts and Capcom have announced a three-foot tall bust of Nemesis from the Resident Evil 3 remake. You can pre-order it today. It’s only being produced in limited quantities, but, uh, I’m not sure what the market is like on this sort of thing.

Maybe you don’t have my problem. I have too much video game paraphernalia. When I was younger, video game-related merch wasn’t nearly as common, but now it’s everywhere for everything. So, I don’t really know where I’d put something like this. Even if I did, it’s a very unique statement piece. Nemesis is grotesque. Just this big melty-dude staring at me from the corner while I’m drinking tea or something.

He’d maybe be good in the entryway. I could put my hats and scarves on him. Maybe him a little hug when I come home. Scare the couriers who make deliveries at my apartment. However, I wouldn’t spend $1899 for something like that. I’m not saying it’s not worth it. That’s an awful lot of resin. I just don’t think that much resin fits in with my budget.

It says how much it costs and that it’s 1/1 scale, but not how much it weighs. Is it hollow. The press release does note that it would pair well with the Lady Dimitrescu 1/4 Scale Statue. I don’t agree with that. Maybe if it was a 1/1 bust of Lady Dimitrescu, but I feel like a full statue would make poor Nemesis feel a bit jealous. When decorating, I feel a room must be dedicated to full figures or busts, but never mix both.

Anyway, if you’re interested in this massive chunk-a-hunk, pre-orders are open today. It’s available worldwide, but I can’t imagine the shipping costs for something like that. The final product ships Q1 2026.

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Not to state the obvious, but bees are an important part of Bee Swarm Simulator. The main part, one might say. They’re right there in the name. So, obviously, you want the best bees. So, which are the best bees?

I’ll warn you up front, all the best bees are the ones that cost Robux or tickets. They’re expensive, either in terms of actual money or in the amount of time they take to obtain. There are no shortcuts, so be prepared. However, if you want to be a real honey-making powerhouse, these are some of the ones you should look out for.

The very best bees

If you want to focus on only the best, a few names will typically bubble to the top. And I’m not referring to the bubble bee. In fact, not the bubble bee. Let’s just start listing the best.

Tabby Bee - A great workhorse, the Tabby Bee has one of the best conversion rates to be found in Bee Swarm Simulator. But only after you increase its stats by using Tabbly Love Tokens. Actually getting your hands on one, however, will cost 500 tickets.

Vicious Bee -  You can only get this little punk by exchanging 250 stingers at the Vicious Bee Egg Claim. In terms of raw attack power, look no further than the Vicious Bee. Actually, that’s a bad strategy, but the Vicious Bee is a great one to add to your stable. Err… Apiary.

Gummy Bee - You’ll need 2500 Gumdrops to snag this gelatanous fellow. Used right, Gummy Bee is an irreplaceable support unit, as its Gumdrop Barrage gives you bonus honey from all flowers affected.

Other bees to consider

While the previously list is a good place to focus your effort, it would be a pretty poor swarm if that’s all you had. With that in mind, here are some more you’d like to consider.

Windy Bee - A bit less straightforward, you’ll need to first donate a Spirit Petal at the Wind Shrine, before then donating Cloud Vials to get the egg. Windy Bee is just a solid all-arounder with some great abilities. Perfect for collecting pollen.

Bear Bee - You could say the main way to get the Bear Bee is to spend 800 Robux, but you can also get them from Tunnel Bears or the Retro Swarm Challenge on very rare occasions. True to their names, they can turn into a bear, which boosts their pollen, speed, and jump powers.

Fuzzy Bee - The only non-event bee, getting a fuzzy bee isn’t much easier, since it’s of mythic quality. This one is just a really good all-arounder, which makes it a great supplement in absolutely any situation.

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It doesn’t matter whether you’re the most organized person in the history of mankind, one thing that everyone could do with sometimes is a little more time. It’s brutal and unstoppable, but if you want to make some time, you can do it in Infinite Craft. 

Of course the time you make in Infinite Craft won’t actually add any to your life. In fact, you’re probably going to waste a significant amount of it trying to craft it, which is horribly ironic. But, wasting time to make time is a weirdly enjoyable experience, and here’s how you can do it. 

3 ways to make time in Infinite Craft

Infinite Craft is a fickle and hard-to-understand beast, and there is no one set way to get to anything. Some of the pairings and their eventual creations are entirely nonsensical, but that’s half the fun, right?

Time is no different, and there are multiple ways to create it. Some make more sense than others, but here are four of the best that I’ve discovered during my own time spent making time. 

Best method: Fire + Hourglass

Of all the ways to make time in Infinite Craft, this one is not only the easiest, but it’s the one that makes the most sense by far. Of course, time comes in the form of an hourglass. 

Here’s the easiest way to make time in Infinite Craft:

1. Water + Wind = Wave
2. Earth + Wave = Sand
3. Fire + Sand = Glass
4. Glass + Sand = Hourglass
5. Hourglass + Fire = Time 

Easy peasy. However, if you want more peculiar ways to make time, then let’s go through three more bizarre methods.

Alternative method 1: Apoclipse + Time

This is technically the alternative method with the least steps, but I can’t help but feel this one is a little dark, considering the fact that you need to bring about the end of days before you can create more time. Then, as if that’s not bad enough, you need to butcher the spelling to reach the desired end result. It seems a little drastic, if you ask me, but grammatical picks aside, it makes a weird type of sense.

Here’s every step you need to take to end the world, forget how to spell, and make more time for activities:

1. Fire +  Water = Steam
2. Water +  Wind = Wave
3. Earth +  Wind = Dust
4. Water +  Wave = Tsunami
5. Dust +  Earth = Planet
6. Earth +  Planet = Moon
7. Fire +  Moon = Eclipse
8. Eclipse +  Tsunami = Apocalypse
9. Apocalypse +  Eclipse = Apoclipse
10. Apoclipse +  Steam = Time

Alternative method 2: Date + Steam

I’m not even entirely sure where to begin with this combination. I’ve all but given up trying to understand how some pairings come up with certain answers, but this one is enough to make my brain hurt. But yes, by adding date + steam together, you somehow end up with time.

If you don’t believe me, here’s how to get there step by step:

1. Earth + Water = Plant
2. Plant + Wind = Dandelion
3. Water + Wind = Wave
4. Wave + Wind = Storm
5. Storm + Dandelion = Seed
6. Earth + Wind = Dust
7. Dust + Wind = Sandstorm
8. Sandstorm + Water = Oasis
9. Oasis + Seed = Date
10. Water + Fire = Steam
11. Steam + Date = Time

Alternative method 3: Steam + Stonehenge

Of all the methods I’ve found to come up with time, this one might be the most bizarre combination of all. It makes no logical sense, because you need to craft up a Steampunk Pirate Ship along the way, which then somehow gets combined with stone to create Stonehenge? I don’t get it, but for some reason, it works. 

Here’s how you can fact check this bizarre combination:

1. Earth + Wind = Dust
2. Water + Water = Lake
3. Fire + Water = Steam
4. Dust + Earth = Planet
5. Lake + Water = Ocean
6. Planet + Steam = Steampunk
7. Lake + Ocean = Sea
8. Earth + Fire = Lava
9. Ocean + Steampunk = Steampunk Pirate
10. Lave + Sea = Stone
11. Steam + Steampunk Pirate = Steampunk Pirate Ship
12. Steampunk Pirate Ship + Stone = Stonehenge
13. Steam + Stonehenge = Time

How to use time in Infinite Craft

Well now you’ve got so much time on your hands, but no idea how to use any of it. If that’s the case, don’t worry, there are plenty of different things that can be made using the new element. 

This is in no way an exhaustive list, not even close, but here’s a few good recipes that include time:

The post Four ways to make time in Infinite Craft appeared first on Destructoid.

I love a good survival city builder, and what could be better than one that combines that beloved foundation with climate anxiety? All Will Fall is a deceptively not-depressing builder that puts that chocolate and peanut butter together. It’s like 1995’s Waterworld with Kevin Costner. Maybe! I haven’t seen it.

It’s also a bit like Timberborn with its emphasis on vertical engineering, but while Timberborn centered around clans of beavers because humans suck, All Will Fall thrives on humans because humans suck. It’s a weird mix, and you’re either going to need to try out the playtest yourself or just hear me out.

All Will Fall sees a scrappy group of humans getting shipwrecked on an artificial atoll consisting of islands of humanity’s garbage. The tops of old highrises jut up from the waves like so many unwanted erections. With not much to go on, it’s up to you to wrangle these hapless jerks and guide them to building a new home.

Resources are obviously scarce, so a lot of emphasis is on trying to collect and store water and food, as well as finding resources floating around in the waters to build new structures with. Because long after humanity is gone, our crap will still be everywhere.

Complicating things are these random events. They are sometimes beneficial, like when another ship of jackanapes floats by and you can either recruit their humans or just rob them. Others are somewhat deceptive, as you may make a choice in one just to have it backfire a little later on. You need to manage your influence and keep your folks happy, otherwise your little rubbage utopia could collapse under the weight of the human ego.

Tying this together is a rather forgiving physics system. All Will Fall is no Bridge Constructor, but structures and walkways are affected by gravity, and you have to constantly keep in mind what is getting stressed out. However, if you want to experiment, or if you just have poor judgment, you’ll merely be shown how things are about to break, and then you can either fix things or delete what you were building entirely and take it back to the drawing board. It’s not very strict, and you’re given a lot of leeway in creating some ambitious designs.

And it all feels pretty great. The tide will come in and out and storms will bring up the water level. Occasionally you get a permanent drop in the sea level, and that allows you to extend your settlement to shorter buildings, as well as whatever was beneath the ones you’ve already built on. Some of your structures, like docks and cranes, work better when they’re closer to the water, so you frequently have to reconfigure things.

But what really feels great is how much optimizing you can do. There are three groups of settlers: workers, sailors, and engineers. A lot of the time, their uses are interchangeable, but there are certain tasks that only one group can perform. Sailors, for example, are the only ones who can work at the dock. And because you can set who is allowed to live at a specific house, you’re encouraged to make districts so that the sailors don’t have to walk as far to their tasks when they wake up in the morning. This means that, even as the water level rises and falls, you’re constantly moving around your buildings to try and optimize your settlement.

There’s always something to do, so long as you have the resources for it, which isn’t always a given. Once you’ve cleaned up all the junk within your reach, you have to wait for the tide to move to expose more. Often, you have to rely on the boats you have in your collection to pick up stuff that’s further out. Even then, you’re often left deciding whether you should prioritize food or wood.

The playtest gives a great slice of the tasty All Will Fall pie, but it’s pretty clear that some things need to be rebalanced. Right now, your main goal is reaching a tower on the opposite end of the atoll. It’s set up in a way that you’ll probably reach it at the point when the water hits its lowest level. Once it does, a lot of the dynamism falls off. I imagine that’s not going to happen in the full release – at least, I hope it doesn’t.

But what’s on display is a good time. In particular, I love how surly the writing is during all the events that crop up. There will be occasions where the settlers tell you that the water rationing is too strict and you have the option to just tell them something to the effect of, “We’re fucking surrounded by water.” Another let me reply, “Are you blind or just stupid?” But one of the funniest was when a worker was injured, and one of the options was, “Shut the door. Okay, here’s a plan,” which resulted in -1 citizen and +120 food, if you catch my drift. It’s an unexpected injection of some pretty effective humor.

The events are often pretty interesting. A lot of options require you to have a certain amount of resources, including influence, which is built up by keeping your settlers happy. And you’re only given a certain amount of time to make a decision. So, at one point, it was reported that a strange fungus was growing on my buildings. There were options to ignore it or harvest the mushrooms, but I wasn’t convinced that would turn out well (I think there’s a random element in how some events play out). The only one that sounded safe was to dump all the building material affected and replace it, so I saved up 200 wood just to make sure my colony remained safe. While random events are nothing new in settlement builders, the ones in All Will Fall feel rather meaningful and your decisions impactful.

It’s hard not to see the similarities to Timberborn with its vertical-focused construction and engineering, as well as the changing states of the game world (Timberborn has drought seasons, while All Will Fall has high and low tides). However, the two games play out a lot differently. All Will Fall has a lot more to do with survival and resource collection, and that, combined with the random chance of the events, makes for something that feels more like “survival” compared to Timberborn’s optimization focus.

Building a colony out in the middle of the ocean is a lot more relaxing than it sounds. While there is the constant pressure of time, there’s a lot of space to just poke around with making new structures to try and please your people. It helps that the soundtrack is low-intensity, and so much of your vision will always be taken up in waves.

A lot still needs to be balanced and polished, however. I never felt that the social systems were all that meaningful. You can change things like rationing on a group level, for example, but I rarely needed to do that outside of specific events. I did have trouble telling whether or not happiness and loyalty were the same thing, and their effects weren’t very pronounced outside of gaining more influence. But as things stand, All Will Fall is a fun and enjoyable survival builder with a unique hook. It takes lessons from the best and adds its own spin that gives it distinction, and if everything comes together right, it might come close to reaching that high water mark.

If you want to try out All Will Fall, there's an open playtest on Steam that runs until January 31st. It's planning a launch sometime in 2025.

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TinyBuild and All Parts Connected have unveiled All Will Fall, which bills itself as a physics-based survival city builder and involves building a settlement atop the flooded ruins of human civilization. It’s planned to release in 2025, but an open playtest for it runs from now until January 31st.

Do you like Timberborn? If you answered “no,” you should probably play Timberborn. It’s great! All Will Fall is a bit like that but with fewer beavers. This would normally be seen as a net negative, but it makes up for the lack of Castoridae by sending you out to sea, where you construct penthouses on the tops of skyscrapers that jut out from the endless ocean.

Like many survival city builders, you’ll have to seek out scarce resources and harvest the bounties of the sea. It’s a good thing humans produce so much garbage because that’s the only source of building material. You have to build walkways to other buildings to access resources there, but be careful, because that’s where the “physics-based” side of things comes into play. Fly too close to the sun, and you may come crashing down, Icarus. Although the game warns you well in advance that your structure isn’t stable and gives you the opportunity to fix it, so you won’t find that the super-mall you worked so hard to build is sensitive to slight breezes only after you’ve completed it.

I got an early hands-on look at the playtest version, and you can read all my messy thoughts here. It’s fun! Still, a lot of screws to be tightened, but an enjoyable experience nonetheless. The Timberborn influence can be easily felt, but it’s very much its own unique experience. Maybe try it out.

The playtest for All Will Fall runs from now until January 31st on Steam. It will release sometime in 2025.

The post Physics-based post-apocalyptic survival city builder All Will Fall coming in 2025, open playtest now appeared first on Destructoid.

The NES library has north of 700 games on it. That’s a lot, but in terms of successful consoles, it’s kind of in the mid-range. It still makes it difficult to choose any number of the best games. That’s probably why no one has been brave enough to make a Top X NES games list. I’m not saying I’m the bravest person in the world, but I am saying I have no shame.

One thing to note is that while I’ve played a staggeringly wide range of the NES library, I haven’t played everything. For example, I haven’t played Bases Loaded 3, and I’m open to the possibility that it’s the apogee of the NES library. This also isn’t about which games were most popular or influential. That’s another topic. These ones are the best for a myriad of other reasons.

I’m also not including Famicom exclusives, though I’d love to. If I was, just know that Metal Max would be stomping all over these games. That and Kunio-Kun. But, alas, here are the top 18 NTSC NES games.

18. Super Mario Bros. (1985)

I mentioned that this is not a list of the most influential games on the console because, if it was, Super Mario Bros. would top it each time. The NES is essentially a console built on the back of Super Mario Bros., and it's impossible to overstate its impact on console games.

Also, it's still an extremely fun game. While its vintage ensures that the gameplay remains rather basic with little variety in enemies and obstacles, it makes up for it with sheer creativity in its level design. From World 1 to World 8, it stretches its mechanics in new and interesting ways. Improvements in the technology within NES cartridges would enable its predecessors to push new boundaries, the original holds its own through sheer craftsmanship.

17. Maniac Mansion (1990)

NES ports of home computer games were often rather lackluster due to differences in capabilities. However, it feels like no compromise has been made with the NES port of Lucasarts' seminal point-and-click adventure, Maniac Mansion.

What makes Maniac Mansion such a unique and exciting game among point-and-click titles is the more freeform nature of solving its puzzles. You select three characters and your path to the finish line changes depending on the combination you put together. The time it takes to get from start to finish in this game is extremely short, but it's unlikely you'll reach it on your first attempt. Maniac Mansion is a game that you'll play over and over, and surprisingly for a point-and-click adventure, it remains fun each time.

16. Mega Man 6 (1993)

You're probably expecting to see at least one or two Mega Man games on this list. If multiple mega men are listed, you are probably expecting two specific titles to be here. I'm not going to spoil it, but Mega Man 6 is my choice for the second-best in the series. To be fair, all six titles are pretty much just one game repeated, but each brings its own wrinkles that either add to or detract from the series.

What Mega Man 6 adds it the ability to couple the blue bomber with his dog in a number of transformations that remain unique to the series. What it detracts is essentially any challenge. It has some great levels with branching pathways enabled by the Rush transformations. However, it also has no teeth. It's up to you whether or not diminished challenge bothers you, but for me, it's not all that much.

15. Duck Tales (1989)

While we have some big-named licensed games these days, most games based on movies or cartoons during the 8-bit years weren’t very good. Some of them were extraordinarily terrible. Capcom, on the other hand, had a good track record for making some terrific games based on Disney licenses. One of their early endeavors was Duck Tales.

There were a lot of directions you could go with a game based on Duck Tales, since it wasn’t purely an action show. Capcom chose to do hop-and-bop with a twist. You play as Scrooge McDuck who can somehow use his cane as a pogo stick, allowing him to eliminate enemies. The platforming was fine, but the real treasure was, er, searching for treasure. Not only were you rewarded with gems for messing with the environments, but there were also secret treasures located in each stage.

14. Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988)

Originally released in 1987 on the Famicom Disk System as Yume Kōjō: Dokidoki Panic, Nintendo tweaked and rebranded it as a Mario game for North America because the real Super Mario Bros. 2 is kind of butt. It’s difficult, but in a really unfair and cruel way.

The Super Mario Bros. 2 that we got is a whimsical game about throwing dudes into other dudes. It doesn’t have much in common with the original game, but if you didn’t know about the Japanese release, you probably wouldn’t guess. It’s a challenging platformer with a jaunty soundtrack. It is, in my opinion, better than even the first game and miles better than the Super Mario Bros. 2 Japan received.

13. Kirby’s Adventure (1993)

I often say that I enjoy the idea of the Kirby, but don’t necessarily love the games. Kirby’s Adventure is an exception to that. It was a late release in 1993, and it kind of shows. Beyond having a lot of technical trickery, Kirby was given the ability to consume his enemies and adopt their powers. It’s not a terribly difficult game but it manages to be entertaining the whole way through.

12. Metroid (1986)

I totally get that some people don’t dig the original Metroid. The floaty controls, annoying enemies, and unforgiving life system can really be abrasive when you first approach the game and don’t get me started on the massive passwords you use to save your progress.

However, if you get acclimated to the enormous friction Metroid puts up front, there’s a lot to like underneath. It’s a challenging game with a great progression. It was also very influential, with the impact of its gated exploration formula being immediately felt on the console. It can be hard to get into today, but it’s still worthwhile.

11. Castlevania 3: Dracula’s Curse (1989)

Not far off from the original is Castlevania 3: Dracula’s Curse. Some would probably rank this one above the original, but I feel it has some areas where it’s not nearly as tightly designed. Difficulty is one such area, as changes were made in the North American version that aren’t in the Japanese version, Akumajou Densetsu. In particular, the damage the player takes is more of a linear increase and is less fair.

Nonetheless, Castlevania 3 contains a lot of the original’s terrific sense of style and control. It adds branching routes to the end, multiple characters to recruit and partner with, and a better variety of obstacles and challenges. All in all, it’s a great follow-up.

10. Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)

This is going to be the top pick for a lot of people, and it’s here because I do love Super Mario Bros. 3; it just doesn’t get my thighs grinding. There’s a lot to love about it, though. For one thing, it plays like something that belongs to another console generation, effortlessly pulling off 4-way scrolling and fast movement. The level of variety on hand is insane, the level design is practically in a class of its own, and there’s a tonne of extras and secrets tucked away. Decades later, it still stands as one of the plumber’s best house calls. The fact that there’s such a night and day difference between Super Mario Bros. 3 and the first Super Mario Bros. while them both belonging to the same console is impressive.

9. Dragon Warrior (1986)

You can feel free to substitute your personal favorite Dragon Warrior (or Dragon Quest) game, but the original still feels the best to me. I prefer its simplicity and open design. Final Fantasy and the three subsequent games in the Dragon Warrior series take the formula in interesting directions, but if this list tells you anything, it’s that I value focus and polish over scale.

I love the twists Dragon Warrior throws at you, and I’m happy it can be completed in, like, ten hours. Its cheerful design makes it a bit more inviting than CRPGs at the time, and its simplicity makes it a great fit for consoles. Really, I love the complete NES run of Dragon Warrior games, but if I had to pick just one, it’s the original.

8. Contra (1988)

In arcades, Contra was a merciless quarter-muncher. It was difficult to see even a fraction of it without giving up most of your allowance. In its home 8-bit form, it’s still extremely brutal, but at least it took all your money upfront. Contra on the NES is the seminal run-and-gun shooter, and it made a home for the series on console. It’s smooth, easily readable, varied, and nicely polished. Plus, its soundtrack is pretty kicking on top of it.

Contra would be followed up by Super C, which is fine but not quite as excellent as the first. This would lead to console-exclusive titles in the series, like Contra 3: The Alien Wars and Contra: Hard Corps. None of those are as good as Metal Slug, but we had to start somewhere.

7. Batman (1989)

Batman: The Video Game has very little to do with Batman the 1989 movie. It has more to do with Ninja Gaiden and Castlevania, but you play as purple Batman and spend most of your time in sewers fighting robots.

The thing about Batman is that it’s like Ninja Gaiden if it was better designed. There’s wall jumping and gadget throwing, but it never resorts to simply spamming enemies at you and completely changing the rules just to screw you over. It’s one of the most difficult games I’ve completed, but I feel like I earned it. Learning to time those jumps in the clock tower, mastering everything on the utility belt, and somehow toppling Joker made for a satisfying conquest.

6. Mega Man 2 (1988)

The first Mega Man title sold in North America about as well as a box of live wasps. Thankfully, Capcom reluctantly green-lit a sequel, and even more thankfully, they tried it again over here. With an easier difficulty and uglier box art. Look, Mega Man 2 is already one of the breezier of the original 8-bit titles, but if you’re playing on “Normal” difficulty, it’s stripped of all challenge. The inappropriately named “difficult” is the way the Gods of Thumbs intended, and I’m not just saying that as a flex. It’s actually equivalent to the Famicom version’s setup.

When you’re on the proper difficulty, Mega Man 2 has it all. Great soundtrack, solid level design, and memorable boss battles. A lot of people prefer Mega Man 3 to this title, but I think that’s bupkiss. Mega Man 3 is too long, and I find it has the visual flavor of wallpaper paste. Awesome opening song, though.

5. Punch-Out!! (1987)

I respect Punch-Out!! because I feel it’s a solid idea perfectly executed. Technically, it’s a port of a game that was released in arcades years earlier, but the mere fact that it was refocused to not just being a quarter-munching monster makes it a lot more enjoyable on console. As long as you’re on a setup without horrendous input lag, the visual cues and timing all make for a perfect challenge. Well, until you get into the top tier of boxers. I still can’t actually topple Mike Tyson, because when my attention span faces off against consistently getting my ass kicked, my attention span never makes it three rounds.

4. The Legend of Zelda (1986)

I often associate the original Legend of Zelda as the game that got me into gaming. I was extremely young at the time, but watching my father play through it gripped my mind. However, there are a lot of formative games from my youth that I rarely return to, and Legend of Zelda isn’t one of them. For whatever reason, I’ve developed a habit of returning to it almost annually for another playthrough.

Zelda had a massive impact on the direction of game development, but, as I’ve stated, this list isn’t about influence. Stripped of that, The Legend of Zelda is an open game that respects your abilities as an inquisitive human. Maybe a bit too much, but somehow I was able to figure out which bushes to burn, and that’s my mind isn’t letting that go.

3. River City Ransom (1989)

With the severe graphical memory limitations of the NES, beat-’em-ups were a tricky genre to pull off. However, we did get a few gems, including some of the most ubiquitous ports of the Double Dragon and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games. Those are fine, but I think Technos’ weird experiment in the Kunio-Kun series stands as the best.

Upgrading your character through food and items, River City Ransom has as much to do with shopping as it does with fighting. When fists go up, it becomes a ridiculous brawl, taking full advantage of its expressive art style. It’s one of the few games I can name that allows you to use the second player as a weapon.

I would include more Nekketsu/Kunio-Kun games on this list if they weren’t Famicom exclusive. Check out the Double Dragon & Kunio-Kun: Retro Brawler Bundle if you’d like a taste of what we missed in the west.

2. Gun*Nac (1990)

The NES had some great shoot-’em-ups in its library, though many of them were ports of arcade titles, and many more didn’t even make the journey to our front-loaders. Gun*Nac is a major exception, and it’s easily the best on the console.

Featuring amazingly fast scrolling and near-flicker-free graphics, it’s a technical masterpiece. To add to that is an unending variety of enemies and a slew of weapons and bombs to clear the screen. Gun*Nac is unbelievably robust, especially considering its 8-bit trappings. If you haven’t tried it or even heard of it, you’re missing out.

1. Castlevania (1986)

There’s no question in my mind that Castlevania is the best game on the NES. From both an aesthetic and design standpoint, it’s flawless. Featuring tightly refined controls, perfect enemy placement and behavior, a stiff but fair challenge, and a surprising amount of variety, I still consider it to be the best in the series and on the system. Considering the Castlevania series already has enough banger titles to fill its own highly subjective top 18 list, I think that says it all.

Don’t think this is an off-the-cuff decision, either. When my NES library explorations finally reached Castlevania, I knew I had reached the peak. Now that I’ve dug even further, I’m even more certain of it. Castlevania is what 8-bit perfection looks like.

Related: View this complete list of all NES games on Listium and below. Save your favorites, mark your wishlist items, and more.

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Oh, Sebastian, what a dreamboat. In Stardew Valley, he’s sort of the motorhead of the game, handy with a wrench and owner of a motorcycle – the quickest way to a woman’s heart. Maybe. Not really. Anyway, if you want to get in good with him and win Sebastian's heart, the best way to make that happen is with gifts or bribes, depending on how you look at it.

While Sebastian does have some pretty particular tastes, and a penchant for eggs that is largely unexplained, there are a few things that you can stock up on and throw at him every day to win his affections.

Sebastian's schedule in Stardew Valley

Before you can start earning Sebastian's love with gifts, it might be handy to figure out where to find him. We have Sebastian's full schedule for the entire year pinned down, but there are some general locations that seem to be more frequented by Pelican Town's resident biker:

• Stardrop Saloon on Friday nights, along with the rest of the villagers. Sebastian can be found near the pool table.
• Smoking by various bodies of water, namely the lake near his house, or the river south of Sam's house in town
• Sebastian is a secret homebody, and chances are that most of the time, you'll find him holed up in his basement bedroom
• Summer 4 is Sebastian's appointment for a check up at Harvey's Clinic, so you can find him there pretty much all day

Universal gifts for Stardew Valley villagers

These are the gifts that most villagers will like. Some of the villagers have particular things that they don’t like amongst the “universal” gifts. Here are all of the Universal loved and liked gifts as they apply to Sebastian.

Universally loved gifts:

• Stardrop Tea
• Golden Pumpkin
• Magic Rock Candy
• Pearl
• Prismatic Shard
• Rabbit's Foot

Universally liked gifts:

• All artisan goods

  • Sebastian does not like Coffee, Green Tea, or Oils

• All cooking

  • Sebastian does not like Complete Breakfast, Farmer's Lunch, or Omelet

• All foraged minerals

  • Sebastian does not like any types of Flowers

• All fruit tree fruits (except Banana and Mango)
• All gems
• All Vegetables (except Hops, Tea Leaves, Wheat, and Unmilled Rice)
• Life Elixir
• Maple Syrup
• Rainbow Shell
• Treasure Chest

That’s a lot of stuff to work off of that Sebastian likes, just remember that he doesn’t like flowers and breakfast food, which makes sense when you take his schedule and apparent love of staying up late and waking up halfway through the day.

What does Sebastian like in Stardew Valley?

In terms of what Sebastian actually likes, this is where we get a bit eclectic. It’s extremely specific, but as a general rule, he likes things on the darker side. There's a reason that Sebastian is known as Pelican Town's resident emo child.

Sebastian’s loved gifts in Stardew Valley

In addition to the listed universally loved gifts, Sebastian is into some pretty unique things. Thankfully, they're easy to get for the most part, and the easiest of all is probably Frozen Tears, which drops pretty regularly within the Mines after reaching level 40.

Here are all of the gifts that Sebastian specifically loves to receive, and how to get each one:

Sebastian’s liked gifts in Stardew Valley

Surprisingly, most of Sebastian's specific liked gifts are harder to get than his loved ones, but the exception to this is Quartz. Like Frozen Tears, Quartz can be found pretty easily in the Mines or even in Garbage Cans.

Here are all of Sebastian's specific liked gifts, and how to get them:

Sebastian's heart events in Stardew Valley

Working on your relationship with any villager in Stardew Valley will unlock "heart events" that can be triggered by taking a certain action after reaching a certain number of hearts. When it comes to Sebastian, it's slow going and, at times, like pulling teeth. However, he eventually warms up to you and his 10 heart event is actually pretty sweet.

Here are all of Sebastian's heart events, how to trigger them, and a brief description of what happens at each one:

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Basketball has never been better in video games than it was in NBA Jam. Unless you count Acclaim’s run in the game around the millennium, which unfortunately makes up most of it, but when NBA Jam is NBA Jam, it’s the best. It’s just unfortunate we haven’t seen it since (holy crap) 2011.

It’s expensive (I assume) to license the names and likenesses of NBA players, so while RoboDunk lacks flesh, it has it where it counts: dunks. 

RoboDunk (PC, Switch, PS4, PS5 [reviewed], Xbox Series X|S)
Developer: Jollypunch Games
Publisher: Jollypunch Games
Release: September 25th, 2023 (PC, Switch), January 21st, 2025 (PS4, PS5 Xbox Series X|S)
MSRP: $14.99

RoboDunk lifts the brutality of NBA Jam’s 2v2 gameplay (technically built off of Arch Rivals) but puts its own twist on it. Most prominently, there is no shooting. I mean, some of the robots have firepower, but they won’t throw the ball unless it’s to pass. The only way to score is to dunk. To make up for the lack of three-pointers, you can charge your jump, and the higher the charge, the higher the jump, and the more points you gain. 

Like NBA Jam, violence has no repercussions, so you’re encouraged to throw elbows and shoulders to dislodge the ball from your opponent’s grasp. Alternatively, when you have the ball, you can also throw up a temporary shield around your robot that shocks anyone who tries to touch your ball. Each bot has its own special weapon that works on an ammo system. Some will drop turrets, others shoot lasers, and some just have a different type of tackle. You get money for doling out punishment, so there’s no reason to not make the competitors go home in tears.

RoboDunk’s central mode bills itself as a roguelite, which essentially means that you take on runs, progressing through harder and harder matches until you eventually fail and have to start over (though you can pay to start from a more advanced stage. With the money you earn from matches, you can buy more bots, upgrade them, or unlock new perks that appear randomly before matches.

The core gameplay is solid. It’s as brisk as its main influence, never really stopping gameplay as you push toward the enemy net and get pushed back in return. The charge-dunk system provides some good risk and reward, as charging up your jump leaves you exposed but allows you to pile on the points faster.

Each match in the roguelite mode has different modifiers, including what hazards hit the court, such as rolling spike logs and random meteors. They also run at different lengths and for a varying number of rounds, making it important to actually look at the setup before diving in and adapting to what’s in front of you. Taken entirely based on the core gameplay, RoboDunk is simple but entertaining.

The actual roguelite framework, however, I’m not all that hot on. It’s presented as a progression where you’re given a choice of three matches, each of which offers two semi-permanent perks and features different rulesets. While this works from the perspective of being a roguelite, it takes away from its feel as a sport. It feels like progression only in the literal sense, but it doesn’t feel like you’re accomplishing anything meaningful.

More importantly, however, the perks are over-crowded, and money comes so damned slowly. You get a payout depending on how high you score, how hard you hit, successful shielding, and your use of weapons, and then this is subtracted or increased by the difficulty of the match. On a good match, I’d see around 50 of the in-game currency. This can be boosted by choosing bots that you don’t use frequently. As the robots sit on the bench, they’ll gain a percentage boost, so you’ll get a higher payout. This is actually an interesting wrinkle since it means you won’t just stick to one robot and pour all your upgrades into it.

However, since you’re spending money on new perks, new robots, and upgrades for those robots, actually making meaningful progress feels extremely slow. What’s worse is that the difficulty modifier is extremely small, so it never feels like you’re getting adequately rewarded for winning harder matches. It really deadens the drive. There’s less compulsion to push harder and further since it feels like everything is at a constant rather than a curve.

There’s one complaint that I feel weird about, but I think I can explain it: robots have no place in basketballs. Hear me out. Part of what made NBA Jam’s more outlandish elements more effective is the fact that you were watching real NBA players dunk from great heights and hit the floor. It’s less effective with robots. I completely believe they’re capable of superhuman dunks because they’re not human. I have no idea whether or not getting shoved into the concrete would hurt these particular machines. Visual feedback was used to communicate impact, but because there’s no skin in the game, I always felt a disconnect in watching things unfold.

The robots themselves, and even the arenas, are supported by a surprising amount of background lore, which does a lot to flesh things out. There's a lot to do and discover, but it struggles to feel worthwhile. It never really feels grounded. Being able to connect is a key part to enjoying sports, not just in video games, but in reality.

Having another player join you really helps things since, rather than being a random assortment of machines, it’s you and your chum playing basketball. As multiplayer often does, it lessens the complications caused by the slow progression and adds more meaning to the matches. You can also strategize better with one player handing defense and the other going in for the dunk. Co-op also demonstrates how well all the mechanics work together.

And that’s kind of the bottom line: RoboDunk works quite well on a functional level. Its dunk-centric basketball is a quick, enjoyable snack. Its toy-like aesthetic and minimalistic stop-motion animation is effective. However, the framework just doesn’t support it quite right. Barring my (possible superficial) thoughts about robo-dunkers, the roguelite setup doesn’t provide a compelling experience. It’s a decent game to pick up and play, but it’s not the slam dunk it should be.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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Judero developers Talha and Jack Co have announced that the Kickstarter (not live yet) for Mashina will start tomorrow, January 22, 2025. Along with the announcement is a new trailer, as well as the estimated release date of June, 2025.

The Kickstarter is intended to raise funds to finish the last stretch of development, as it seems Mashina is well on the way, judging by the trailer. The campaign is aiming to raise £12000. The game was announced with a teaser this past December, but the Kickstarter and gameplay trailer paint a much clearer picture.

You play as the titular character who has a penchant for digging. They’re stranded on an island with a handful of locals that you’ll get intimately familiar with. Digging allows you to gather resources, as well as things to decorate the island and gift to the other characters. Beyond just directly getting your hands dirty, you can also construct machines to help with your work. Looks cozy.

Like Judero, all of the assets in Machina are hand-sculpted. Apparently, if you pledge £500, you’ll get one of the handmade robots. I had the chance to interview one of the developers, Jack King-Spooner, for the Destructoid Changelog Newsletter’s monthly special this month. He tells me that clay getting stuck under fingernails. As to what his strategy is. “To prevent under-nail clay I use a collection of ornate porcelain thimbles.” Incredible. I only ask the tough questions.

I also reviewed Judero back in September. It’s fantastic. I don’t exactly get it, but I can dig those vibes. There’s nothing out there quite like it, and it’s something you have to experience. I think I can grok Mashina a little better, barring any massive curveballs that might be thrown.

The Kickstarter for Mashina starts tomorrow, January 22, 2025. It’s release is planned for PC sometimes in June 2025.

The post Judero developer’s handcrafted follow-up, Mashina, digs into Kickstarter tomorrow appeared first on Destructoid.

Mat Piscatella, who lists themselves as an analyst at NDP who focuses on video games, has posted on Bluesky that he predicts that the anticipated American tariffs on Mexican imports would have a significant impact on physical game releases.

“With 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico on the way, I can see a sharp downtick in the number of disc-based games that get released physically in the US, as much of that production infrastructure is in Mexico,” Piscatella states. “If they do get made, I expect higher prices both phys & dig.”

Further to this, he suggests that the MSRP on digital games may also increase in an attempt to keep parity with physical releases.

The current American administration has stated their intentions to slap 25% tariffs on imports from a number of countries across the world, with special focus being put on Canada and Mexico. Currently, the only country in North America that produces Bluray discs is Mexico, which is where they are procured for most releases, not only in video games, but also for movies.

Piscatella also answers the question of whether or not production could be moved to the U.S., and if it would. “'Can't that production just be moved to the US?' With significant investment, sure. But annual US physical video game software spending is now half what it was in 2021 and declining rapidly.”

Note that, theoretically, this would only affect Bluray pricing. Switch cartridges are produced in Japan and wouldn’t directly be affected by tariffs as they are currently proposed. There are a lot of other unknowns here, and nothing is yet certain, but an increase in the price of physical releases for any reason doesn’t seem that outlandish. Some publishers and hardware manufacturers may see this as a good reason to push harder to digital-only releases, and many consumers won’t see the value in buying physical anymore. It’s unlikely that physical releases will go away entirely, but you may be paying more for them in the future.

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Strange Scaffold has announced that I Am Your Beast is getting one least content update. Titled Cold Sweat, it will include “New Levels. No Story. Just CHALLENGE.” It hits January 23, 2025.

I Am Your Beast describes itself as "he's-in-the-walls" fantasy, and that’s a pretty effective way of describing its over-the-top power fantasy bent. It’s all about always moving while shooting, throwing, and stomping. Certain stages have different objectives, such as hacking laptops, but largely, you’re trying to just take out everyone wearing camo.

I reviewed it back at launch, and what really struck me about it was how readable it was the whole time. Despite all the chaos, you can easily tell what’s going on at any time. Every target, every attack, and every hit is well communicated, which enables you to pull off incredible feats of agility. I had some issues with the storytelling, but the game itself is butter.

Not much has been said about the update aside from what you need to know in general. It’s a challenging new set of levels, though from the original (now deleted) post, there doesn’t seemt o be a new narrative to connect them all, which makes it a bit different than the last one which put the new content in a neat little narrative package centered around survivors of the protagonist’s rampage.

I Am Your Beast is out now on PC. The Cold Sweat content update is out on January 23, 2025.

The post I Am Your Beast gets new challenges as part of its last content update appeared first on Destructoid.

Are you a fan of Accolade’s classic sports games? I mean, it’s not impossible, but I’m not sure I’ve ever heard anyone make the claim before. Well, if you’re the exception, then Atari and QUByte have a collection of five of the developer’s title coming your way. The collection releases January 30, 2025.

I’m not complaining, it’s just unusual. So, to make sure we’re on the same page, here’s what’s coming in the package:

• Hardball! - It’s baseball. Just baseball. Unlicensed baseball. This looks to be the Genesis/Mega Drive version of Hardball.
• Hardball II - It’s more baseball. In case you didn’t get enough baseball the first time.
• Winter Challenge - These are the sports you play when it’s cold out. Skiing, bobsledding, biathlon, that sort of thing. There’s a pretty solid assortment to be found (eight events), and it gets pretty ambitious with 3D graphics.
• Summer Challenge - Similar to Winter Challenge, but for the months where you can wear shorts in Canada. It’s also eight summer-y events and thy manage to throw in some more of that polygonal good stuff. 
• Hoops Shut Up and Jam! - A classic two-on-two street basketball challenge. This one is maybe the funniest inclusions because the name is familiar, but not quite right. That’s because it was released as Barkley Shut Up and Jam, since it featured Charles Barkley. Clearly, re-licensing his appearance is too much for this humble collection, so it was renamed.

Amusingly, the press material doesn’t even mention the original name of Hoops Shut Up and Jam! They’re either assuming you know or that you just don’t know at all. And if you’re the type to just pick up a retro collection of sports games you’ve never heard of, then that’s pretty awesome. You’re my type of person.

The games appear to be the Genesis/Mega Drive version across the board. Hardball 1 and 2 got a PC release last year, but those were the DOS versions. All the games had multiple platforms, normally across home computers, but Bark… Sorry, Hoops, was also on the SNES. It’s a bit of a bummer that the collection doesn’t just provide multiple versions, but also kind of understandable. A collection of old sports titles is always going to be incredibly niche, so it’s hard to go the extra mile within budgetary constraints.

Are any of these games great? I’m the wrong person to ask, as I’m not much of a sports kind of person. As far as I’m concerned, a lot of them are very similar. However, from what I understand, they’re decent.

Accolade Sports Collection releases for PC, Xbox, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Switch on January 30, 2025.

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Load up on energy drinks, because Keep Driving, the road trip sim from the devs behind Post Void, is launching on PC on February 6th.

I played the demo of Keep Driving back in October, and the biggest complaint I came away with was that its difficulty leaned on the easy side, which I largely attributed to its unbalanced economy. I was able to get quite a bit of padding in my pocket, which made it really easy to deal with any trouble that came my way.

The best description I can give of Keep Driving is that it’s a lot like Oregon Trail. It’s set during the early 2000s, with you setting out in your very first car to enjoy the last days of your youth. You don’t exactly drive, but instead, set your car on its journey, then make decisions as various events turn up to complicate your relaxing drive. They range from simple potholes to livestock. Each time one pops up, you use a variety of ability cards to try and mitigate the effects it can have. You can sometimes pick up hitchhikers who can either help or hinder your trip. The goal is to keep yourself and your car together long enough to reach it to your friend’s house to play video games.

I’m pretty excited to see how Keep Driving was improved on over the past few months. It was already in decent shape in October and just needed a bit more meat and a bit of polish. Should be a good time.

Keep Driving releases on February 6, 2025 for PC.

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Hey, gamer, are you ready for some $60 re-releases of old games? I know – perhaps unironically – that I am. I love playing games I’ve already played, preferably when they look slightly better than I remember. Again, totally sincere here. This is something I do more often than I’m comfortable with.

At the time of writing, very little has been said about what games will be coming to the Switch 2. There will probably be new games, but will there be old ones? Also probably! Nothing has really been announced, but we can speculate. So, let’s do that.

Now, Nintendo has said that the Switch 2 will be backwards compatible, and while they say there will be exceptions, I’m going to guess this will be a rarity. I’m assuming, perhaps over-optimistically, that most games will still be supported. So, we’re not going to talk about Switch games we want to play on our Switch. Instead, let’s talk about titles that Nintendo hasn’t given a glow-up to that will perhaps be given a second look when the new console comes around.

Chibi-Robo

My heard breaks for Chibi-Robo. The 2007 GameCube title is among the many that I won’t shut up about, but it’s gotten a raw deal. It wasn’t all that popular at launch, to begin with, but then its sequels kind of failed to follow-up on it. Okay, not all of the sequels. Okaeri Chibi-Robo: Happy Richie Ōsōji for the Nintendo DS was a pretty faithful and enjoyable sequel, but if you can’t tell by the moniker, it never got released in North America.

Anyway, maybe if more people had a chance to play it, more people would love it. A good way to find out would be a re-release on Switch. Unfortunately, it would be too late for its developer, Skip Ltd., which seems to have disbanded. The key staff from there is currently working on a spiritual follow-up, KoROBO, which is just legally distinct Chibi-Robo. So, I guess worst case scenario, we’ll maybe get KoROBO on the Switch 2.

F-Zero GX

A few years ago, I’d opine Nintendo’s treatment of F-Zero in the same way I would with Chibi-Robo, but recently, the company has remembered that it exists. They’ve put many of the classic titles on their Nintendo Switch Online service and even released a (sort of) new entry: F-Zero 99.

However, many point to the 2003 GameCube title, F-Zero GX, as the best the series has to offer. It’s certainly extra, but then, what else would you expect from the crew that would go on to develop the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series? While a true follow-up would be the best-case scenario, a port would also be appreciated. The game deserves more respect.

The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

It was long rumored that the two Wii U Legend of Zelda remakes, Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD, would make their move to the Switch. They didn’t. So, we’re still waiting.

On the other hand, if they do decide to port it to Switch 2, I’m hoping that they, at the very least, allow you to undo the desecration they did to the lighting style. The original version had a striking, unique cel shading that evoked the look of a cartoon, which helped support the stylized art. Wind Waker HD sort of smoothed that over, then added a metric tonne of bloom. It looks, uh, good. It just doesn’t have the same effect. It felt like an HD fan mod, like the art team didn’t really care about artistic intent.

It’s not the end of the world, and I’m not sure if that’s, like, a difficult thing to change. I don’t know how these shaders are implemented. I just know that whenever I think about playing Wind Waker again, I’m left wondering whether I should play the GameCube or Wii U version, and it would be nice to have one without compromises.

Lost Kingdoms Collection

Armored Core VI reminded a lot of people that FromSoftware made games before Demon’s Soul. And while I’d love a King’s Field Collection… There’s no but on that sentence, I’d love a King’s Field Collection. But I’d also love a Lost Kingdoms Collection.

The two Lost Kingdoms games were strange RPGs where you used cards to cast magic. Neither was spectacular, but both are unique in their own way. Unique enough that they should be experienced. Unfortunately, they sold about as well as tires made of bread, so not many people tried them out. Relatively speaking. Now’s a good time. People will eat anything FromSoftware touched. In fact, maybe we should bring back Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor.

Battalion Wars

Speaking of Battalions, I’m sure I’m not the only one who loved that strange little Advance Wars spin-off, Battalion Wars. It was this weird in-between of squad-based tactics and real-time strategy. You could take control of any of your units, and the vehicle controls were a bit like Halo’s.

We got a sequel on Wii, Battalion Wars II, but I swear that game is, like, 95% tutorial for some reason. Every level seemed to be a tutorial. That was kind of the Wii for you. In an effort to make things accessible to everyone, they usually made things fun for no one. So, I’d take a collection, but it’s maybe not necessary.

Cool Riders

Cool Riders should just be on everything. But, right now, it’s not on anything. Unless you count arcade. It is an absolutely incredible perversion of OutRun (seemingly having been intended to be titled OutRiders). You choose from a cast of weirdos on tricked-out bikes and fly through a fever dream distortions of places from around the world. It takes the OutRun formula and tweaks its nipples, turning it into a high-speed blur of over-stimulation. You need to play it, that might not be an option for you right now, so shovel it onto the Switch 2.

Star Fox Zero

Okay, now do it right this time. Star Fox Zero feels like one of the most tragic victims of Nintendo’s need to over-innovate. Or, possibly, it’s specifically Shigeru Miyamoto’s need. So, rather than just being a standard on-rails shooter, it required you to aim with the gamepad screen while flying with the stick. It sucked. 

As much as I detested the waggle rolling in Donkey Kong Country Returns, I got used to it in a small way and could live with it. It wasn’t ideal. The dual-screen controls of Star Fox Zero were cement shoes; they sank the whole game.

The game itself is fine. Somehow, I got through it. Even without the dual-screen controls, it wouldn’t be spectacular, but it would be far better than the series has seen since Star Fox 64. So, it would be nice to get an updated version on the Switch 2. The only upgrade needed would be the deep-sixing of the second-screen aiming.

Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller

Hey, Sega. Instead of making a live service multiplayer Crazy Taxi that no one wants, maybe just re-release the best one. Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller not only included a new level set in a version of Las Vegas, it also took the better levels from the first two games and edited them slightly to balance them for the new skills in your repertoire.

For extra credit, Sega could just include all the levels from all the games. But let’s slow down. Wouldn’t want to distract them from building platforms where they can sell endless skins.

Rule of Rose

It’s tempting for me to put my beloved Chulip on this list, but maybe that’s too predictable. How about Rule of Rose? It’s an incredibly unique take on the survival horror genre during its heyday on the PS2. For its main antagonists, it turns to the real monsters of the world: children. You play as Jennifer, a young woman who gets tormented by a group of orphans.

Its humanity manages to come through all the abstract weirdness of the game. Beneath the grimy horror is a story far more tragic than it is terrifying. It’s less about monsters, and more about what causes a person to become a monster. And I don’t mean some sort of virus. I mean fear of losing something.

Unfortunately, Rule of Rose had a pretty big setback in the fact that its combat is terrible, even by survival horror standards. It’s the hit detection that really drags it down. Even if this was improved slightly in a Switch 2 port, it would go a long way in making the game more palatable than it was at its 2006 release.

Metal Max 2 Reloaded

Metal Max is the best series to have barely touched North American shores. To date, of the series’ mainline seven games (not counting remakes), only two have been localized in English (Metal Saga and Metal Max Xeno). I’d take pretty much any out of the series to hit the Switch 2, but Metal Max 2 Reloaded is generally considered to be one of the high points of the series.

The games are JRPGs that center around tanks. The acquisition, upgrading, and utilization of tanks. You can always get out of your tank, but – and I hope this isn’t news – there are a number of advantages a steel-armored machine of war has over your squishy human flab. Metal Max 2 Reloaded is a DS remake of an SNES game. Yet, despite its vintage, it is an extraordinarily sprawling adventure across a post-apocalyptic world packed to the gills with bizarre monsters. It would be the perfect introduction to anyone who hasn’t experienced Metal Max before.

The post 10 games we want to see get a Switch 2 port appeared first on Destructoid.

The metroidvania genre is all over everything these days, especially in the indie sphere. A dime will get you a dozen. I get the appeal; it’s one of the best ways to tell a narrative in a 2D game. But when there are so many coming out at any time, which one do you choose? It’s easy to feel burned out on them.

So, I’ve been ignoring a lot of titles that boast the metroidvania label in their press releases. I’ve probably missed out on some good ones, but I just can’t look at another rectangle-dominated map screen. Okay, one more, I guess. Blade Chimera caught my attention because it’s created by Team Ladybug and WSS Playground, the folks behind Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth. Not my favorite game, no, but solid and dependable. Plus, it’s cyberpunk this time around, so that’s always a win in my book.

Blade Chimera (PC, Switch)
Developer: Team Ladybug, WSS Playground
Publisher: Playism, WSS Playground
Release: January 16th, 2025
MSRP: $19.99

The plot in Blade Chimera is strikingly boilerplate, but the setting is at least unique. It takes place in a near-future Osaka where demons run amok. 30 years previous, people started transforming into monsters of folklore and legend and caused a ruckus. During that time, The Holy Union, a pseudo-religious group, overthrew the government of Japan and took control in an effort to protect people from the demons.

Now, this is where it gets kind of trite. You play as Shin, a guy recently found cryogenically frozen, and because of his prolonged stasis, has no memory of his life before being frozen. However, he kicks ass, and quickly ascends the ranks of the Venatars, The Holy Union’s enforcers. However, he’s principled and frequently questions if indiscriminately mowing down demons is morally correct, especially after he meets one that can turn into a sword.

So, from the start, you can kind of guess where this all is going. I wish I could say that the characters and situations make up for its predictability, but that would only partially be accurate. There are some fun moments, but it’s clumsy at best.

That’s starting off on a bad note, but that’s the biggest problem out of the way, and it’s nothing huge. The game itself is butter. Like Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth, it’s tangibly Castlevania: Symphony of the Night-inspired. Forget the Metroid part; its entire framework is Symphony of the Night. Its protagonist even sports long white hair.

However, Shin is proficient in firearms. You wind up with three attack buttons, two being whatever you want them to be, and the last belonging to Lux, the aforementioned big sword. The game suggests that you use one button for ranged weapons and the other for melee, and that’s sound advice. Before Blade Chimera even verbalized it, that’s how I designated the buttons in my mind.

Lux is more than just a big sword; she’s also your source of magic attacks. You unlock these through an upgrade tree, and using them effectively can make all the difference in boss battles. As a sword, you can plant her in the wall or ceiling to hold a button or act as a platform. She also had the ability to exploit “time rifts” that were scattered around. These do an inconsistent variety of things. They’re often used for simple puzzles, but mainly, you find them as grappling hooks, bridges, or hidden pathways. It’s all simple, simple stuff, but it works as a way of mixing up things a bit.

Uniquely, Blade Chimera doesn’t really use traversal powers to gate off your exploration. It does to some extent, but mainly for secret areas. You unlock powers like double-jump and dash by leveling up, so it’s up to you how they’re prioritized. Instead, you’re mainly gated off using actual gates that you don’t have the keys for. However, the actual locked doors are rare enough that they don’t have the chance to really feel artificial.

It’s also very good at incentivizing exploration. This is largely through its 56 hidden jigsaw pieces. Throughout the world, you’ll bump into doors that can only be opened if you have enough of the pieces. If you go to the effort of rooting them out, you’ll find some of the best weapons and items behind them. It strikes me as being the bluntest way of hiding such goodies, but it’s strangely satisfying.

It’s maybe the art style that does such a good job of covering such artificialities. I hadn’t paid much attention to the marketing, and the Blade Chimera doesn’t overtly talk about it until later, but just based on the enemies and environments, I could tell it was future Osaka. Considering that, like most metroidvania games, you’re exploring an abstract 2D world, it says a lot that a cities culture can be communicated so clearly, even to someone who has only visited the place once.

But the pixelated sprites are where it truly shines. There’s an incredible amount of detail in every frame of animation, breaking away from its Symphony of the Night inspiration. The same variety of huge bosses that were so prominent in Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth make an unmistakable appearance here and are just as thrilling. But more importantly, to a geek like me, Ladybug doesn’t commit any pixel-art faux pas. There isn’t a mixel to be seen, and everything seems to move on integers, which keeps things looking authentic. It also speaks to the underlying passion when an artist goes the whole mile to present a specific aesthetic, and it’s so well executed here.

To stretch the gameplay out a bit, there are side missions you can take, but it’s here that you find another soft spot in Blade Chimera. I initially went about trying to complete every side mission, but I found they come in two flavors: Interesting story asides and onerous grinding. The vast majority belong to the latter category. It will task you with eliminating demons within certain criteria, such as in a specific area or ones that are a specific color. What this often boils down to is finding a point in the map where these demons exist, then exiting the screen and re-entering to respawn the enemies and taking them out until you reach the goal. Ideally, you take on these tasks alongside your main objective, but these only lined up for me in a few instances.

The other side quests are more worthwhile. They usually involve helping citizens out by seeking out items or investigating crimes. More importantly, they feature moments of character development. The most interesting is perhaps between Shin and a particular rival. You can generally identify the side-story missions because they have a much higher payout than their grind-centric counterparts. I feel like the busywork could have been completely excised without compromising anything since I ended the game with far too much money, and I felt the runtime was appropriate for the genre.

Blade Chimera is exactly as I expected: solid and dependable. It’s not the most remarkable game I’ve played in the genre, nor is it very inventive. Despite its cyberpunk leanings, it perhaps leans a bit too hard on its Symphony of the Night aspirations, which hamstrings its attempts to find its own identity. Not to mention that its narrative is so predictable, the only thing that kept me guessing was whether or not it was trying to be subversive or if it was actually that obvious.

However, it’s done with a lot of skill and a tangible amount of passion. If it’s something of a clone of Symphony of the Night, it’s less plagiarism and more “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It makes itself worthwhile with solid design and enjoyable combat. It hides a lot of its flaws beneath a communicative art style that captures its setting and its characters so well. It’s maybe not what I’ll reach for first the next time I’m in the mood for a metroidvania, but it’s a symphony in its own right.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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World seven, the Factory area in Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is a smidge different from the previous areas. There is a special requirement for getting to the boss that you won’t encounter elsewhere, and that is to find a red button in three of the stages.

It isn’t much of a mystery. The three levels (7-5, 7-6, 7-7) appear on three corners around a big door on the map. More notably, their map icons are square. Even more notably, when you enter the levels, there’s a sign near the beginning that shows a red button with the word “FIND!” (at least in the HD version). Just note that this isn’t optional. In order to proceed, you need to find those buttons, otherwise, you can’t move onto the boss.

The red buttons aren’t the most hidden things in Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, but if you’re not in the habit of poking at the margins to find secrets, you might overlook them. It’s the only time you’re really required to look off the beaten path, so you might need a smidge of help. If so, here’s where you can find them.

Where is the red button in DKCR HD level 7-5 Cog Jog?

It’s not impossible to miss the button in 7-5 of Donkey Kong Country Returns, but it is in a somewhat conspicuous place. Here’s how to find it.

The button is located after the letter O and the letter N – between the first checkpoint and the second. Along the way, you’ll see a big, round object made of red metal. Above it is an arrow pointing downward at it. All you need to do is land on it and use your ground pound. When you do, it will start rotating. Stay on top of it, and eventually, you’ll see a small platform on its surface. Ground pound this (when it stops rotating, preferably. And you’ll drop inside.

You’ll find yourself in a big chamber with a giant electrical plug and socket in the background. Pound on the button, and it will plug in. A barrel will appear, allowing you to leave. That’s one down.

Where is the red button in DKCR HD level 7-6 Switcheroo?

The red button in 7-6 is probably the most missable of the three in Donkey Kong Country Returns HD. If you’ve been digging for all the secrets so far, this won’t be a problem, but if you’re just playing through the levels regularly, you might whiz right past it, which means you won’t be able to proceed to the end of world 7.

The button can be found before you even hit the first checkpoint – after the K and before the O in KONG. The level has you switching between blue and red active blocks whenever you pass over a sensor in the background. The red button is found after a vine-swinging section. There’s one spot where you have to keep blue as the active block by swinging through a very narrow gap between sensors. After which you move back to solid (steel) ground and over a gap that requires you to Switch back to red mid-flight.

You then run over a conspicuous red block that is set above a broken girder just above the bottom of the screen. You can’t get to it immediately, so you have to run past it and you’ll find a sensor at the bottom of a vertical platforming area. Activate the sensor to make blue the active block, then double back. 

Drop down onto the broken girder, slap the ground, and you’ll drop into the room with the red button. Hit it, then watch it plug itself in. A barrel will appear. Jump into it to return to the level.

Where is the red button in DKCR HD level 7-7 Music Madness?

While still missable, the button in 7-7 is a lot more recognizable, especially if you’ve been plumbing for secrets throughout the game.

If you’ve started sweating as you’re coming up on the G in the level, don’t worry. You haven’t missed it. The button appears directly after you pass the G tile. It’s after the third and final checkpoint and near the end of the level. You’ll get to a set of machines that either spurt fire or water. The water doesn’t hurt you (even though it looks like it’s boiling), but obviously, the fire does. You have to navigate a section, jumping across them. You’ll come to the G tile suspended between a fire machine (shooting down) and a geiser (shooting up).

Pass between them and you’ll come to a very conspicuous spot. Two jets of fire shoot downward, two chickens patrol the edges, and two platforms slide horizontally. Between them is a grey panel floor. Ground pound on that and fall through.

You’ll arrive in the red button chamber. Activate it as usual, then complete the level.

What do the World 7 Red Buttons do in DKCR?

When you activate all three red buttons in Donkey Kong Country Returns, a big door opens on the world map and a rocket rises from the ground. That’s just a visual cue, it’s not necessarily important. What is important is that level 7-R will appear.

Level 7-R is a rocket barrel stage, but unlike the usual horizontal rocket sections, you move vertically into the sky. Pressing the thrust button will push you upward on the screen, and letting go allows gravity to take you back down.

I never found this to be a particularly taxing stage. Mainly, you avoid the Tiki airships. It’s a short level, and once it’s complete, you’re onto the world’s boss.

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In a trailer published through IGN, Kaizen Game Works (developers of Paradise Killer) has revealed some of the voice cast for Promise Mascot Agency. I hope you’re ready for some recognizable tongues in your ears.

Most prominently, the leading dude, Michi, is getting vocalized by Takaya Kuroda, the voice of Kazama Kiryu in the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series. What better person to play a disgraced Yakuza? No one. There is no one better, because he plays the best one. I don’t know how else to describe this, but he has a huggable voice. If you’re not a hugger; a high-fiveable voice.

The other revealed cast members are no slouches, either. Pinky (that bizarre severed finger mascot that features so much in the marketing) is voiced by Ayano Shibuya, who was featured in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Princess Peach: Showtime. If you don’t recognize her, it’s probably because you weren’t playing in Japanese. There’s also Eri Saito, who voiced so much in Japanese gaming, but you’d maybe recognize her from Way of the Samurai 3. No? Okay, Chainsaw Man, where she played Aki’s Mother.

On top of the famous vocalists, there are less conventional choices. This includes Swery65, who isn’t really known for voice acting, but did create Deadly Premonition. And then there’s. Wait. Shuhei Yoshida? Haha, really? The former president of Sony Interactive Entertainment.

If you’re not familiar, Promise Mascot Agency is a game about a former Yakuza running an, er, agency for mascots. The big foam costume kind. You have to send them out to various events and help them succeed. You also get to drive around in a Kei truck, which is an important touch.

Promise Mascot Agency is set for release on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, and PC sometime this year (2025).

The post Promise Mascot Agency’s insultingly star-studded voice cast includes Swery65 and the voice of Kazama Kiryu appeared first on Destructoid.

Set some time aside in April, because GungHo has announced that the Lunar Remastered Collection will arrive on April 18, 2025 for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC.

I feel like we keep getting Lunar re-releases, but I looked it up and the last one was actually in 2010 for the PSP. Or 2012 if you count mobile. Still, it’s seen a lot of second chances for a game that original released on Sega CD back in 1992.

Lunar Remastered Collection combines Lunar: The Silver Star and Lunar 2: Eternal Blue, or rather, the PS1 version of those. And while it’s titled “remastered” it largely has the same graphics as those releases with some added effects. It’s still 2D and pixelated, which is fine (or even preferred) by me, but doesn’t feel like it earns the title. Unless you count that gross depth-of-field effect they put on the top and bottom of the screen. I guess the cutscenes seem to be remastered, so it counts. Whatever, I'm not the remaster police.

It looks like you can turn off the gross depth-of-field effects, or, at the very least, play it in classic mode. This might also mean you lose the widescreen mode, but maybe you can tweak things. Either way, you’ll have the same classic games in a new package, so that’s worth a lot.

There will also be a physical version available for $54.99 USD. They will notably feature “reversible covers showcasing two new key arts for LUNAR: Silver Star Story Complete and Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete, both illustrated exclusively for the Lunar Remastered Collection by Toshiyuki Kubooka.”

Lunar Remastered Collection launches on April 18, 2025, for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC.

The post Lunar Remastered Collection set for release in April appeared first on Destructoid.

The console wars were still raging when I was in high school, and while I was on team GameCube, a good friend of mine was on team Xbox. Maybe not firmly team Xbox, as he wasn’t as close-minded as I was. He loved the short-lived Dreamcast and even managed to introduce me to some PS2 titles that stuck with me. However, his enthusiasm for Microsoft’s first foray into the console market has left me with a lasting affection towards the massive brick of hardware.

With just short of 1000 games, it had a larger library than Nintendo’s GameCube, but a much smaller one than the PS2. It sold an estimated 24 million, which gave it a small lead over the Gamecube’s estimated 22 million. Most importantly, it solidified Microsoft as a big player in the console market that endures to this day.

Today, I mostly know it as the era’s console with the best third-party ports. If a game was released on the three major consoles of the generation, you can bet that the best version was on Xbox. However, while that’s a terrific strength to have, the console’s beefy hardware attracted a large number of exclusive titles. Selecting from such a large pool was no easy task, and for all those that I name below, I’ve left out some other great titles.

15. The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (2004)

Listen, I know absolutely nothing about Pitch Black, aside from the fact that it has Vin Diesel in it and he plays a character called Riddick. And the only reason I know this is because of The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay.

When it came out, Chronicles of Riddick felt like something that came back in time from the next console generation. It was surprising in its first-person cinematic qualities and its impactful combat. Plus, it was a great-looking game, even when it was first released on Xbox. My only warning is that you're going to have to be ready to do some stealth.

By 2004, licensed games had a reputation for being garbage, disappointing at best, and shovelware at worst. Chronicles of Riddick wasn't even based on a very spectacular property, and yet it blew away expectations.

14. Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller (2002)

I'm going to wind up sounding like a Sega fangirl by the end of this list, but I swear that's not accurate. Sega just rebounded off the failure of the Dreamcast in a pretty spectacular way before their merger with Sammy. During that rebound, we got a third Crazy Taxi, this time completely exclusive to Xbox (and later, Arcade).

Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller doesn't just add a new map, new drivers, and new crazy maneuvers, it also compiles in levels from the first two games, but edits them to balance them with the new abilities. It's still the same fast and frantic pick-up and drop-off against-the-clock gameplay, but it's at its peak. Heck, it even brings in the classic tracks from Offspring and Bad Religion, and to top it off, all the bizarre, turn-of-the-millenium product placement is there, too.

The only thing that would be better is if it included all the levels from across the series alongside the soundtracks and product placement. Alas, it seems like that just will never happen. Especially not when it seems that Sega is taking an online multiplayer live service model for their upcoming revival.

13. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2X (2001)

Around 2000 was the height of the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series’ popularity. Activision was capitalizing on Neversoft’s golden goose, so the tendrils were being spread in all directions to every platform. 2001 was the same year that Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 was released… on the PS2 and GameCube (and PS1), but the Xbox wouldn’t get it until the next year. Perhaps to keep early Xbox adopters hungry, they released the exclusive Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2X.

2X is mostly a port of THPS2, but also sort of a compilation of the first two games in the series with updated graphics. While you can tell it’s built on the bones of the PS1 classics and the level geometry is pretty much the same in a lot of areas, it manages to look pretty good. It starts only allowing you to play the THPS2 levels, but after you complete it, you're then given a set of all-new levels to kick around in. Then, once those are completed, you unlock all the levels of the first game, which allows you to use the added arsenal of moves introduced in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 in the first game. On top of that, you can unlock a few more levels that are more or less objectiveless multiplayer stages.

The existence of 2X made 2012’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD all the more disappointing since that game didn’t have all the levels, nor did it have the music. 2020’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 is a much better effort but still lacked 2X’s five exclusive levels. This means that 2X still has something to offer all these decades later.

12. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (2002)

I love The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind so much that the only reason it isn’t higher on the list is because the PC version is so much better. Nonetheless, fitting the game on the OG Xbox was a big task, and Bethesda did a great job. One might even say that the console's limitations informed how Bethesda went about building the game.

Morrowind was where the lore of The Elder Scrolls series really got its depth. A lot of things that were introduced in previous games were defined in greater detail here. So much so, that later games in the series have continued to coast by on what was written here without adding all that much of their own. Despite only taking place on the part of a single province in Tamriel, you get to see a clash of cultures and political powers, including the separation of Dunmeri religion and Imperial. It's an insane amount of depth that you just don't see in video games.

It also has the best, most unconventional story in the series. You play as a nameless prisoner who was hand-selected by the Emperor to fit the description of a historical figure in Morrowind’s history. However, by following the prophecy, it becomes likely that you actually are that person, the resurrected Nerevar. It’s an alien and unconventional game that has you gaining loyalty from political groups and other factions as you try and defeat an existential threat to the world.

11. OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast (2006)

I love Sega’s 1986 classic OutRun so damned much. Seeing it move from its pseudo-3D raster effect graphics to polygonal 3D filled me with doubt. How could you possibly live up to the original without just turning it into another generic racing game? I was afraid it would just be Gran Turismo with Ferraris.

As it turns out, you do it by not changing much at all. 2003’s Out Run 2 basically just uses 3D graphics to depict the same basic gameplay as its 2D predecessor. You drive non-stop across a branching map, trying to reach the finish line before you can be defeated by the timer.

Outrun 2006: Coast 2 Coast not only contains the standard continental (?) sprint of the arcade titles, but a slew of side modes. These range from simple races against computer-controlled opponents to weird activities based around trying to impress your possibly sociopathic girlfriend. It’s a terrific version of an already great game and one of the best driving titles on the system. It really demonstrates the creativity pushed by Sega in the wake of the Dreamcast's failure.

10. Godzilla: Save the Earth (2004)

Okay, I know a lot of people aren’t going to agree with me here, but I was a huge fan of Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee on GameCube. However, it was really easy to burn through every scrap of content in that game during a short rental period. Godzilla: Save the Earth is the sequel to that, only it brings with it more content, more kaiju, and more fun.

Yes, I’ll admit that it’s a dumb game about giant monsters throwing skyscrapers at each other, but just saying that out loud reminds me of how awesome that is. Godzilla has had it pretty rough when it comes to video games, but Pipeworks Studios did the license proud. It’s clear that their titles were Godzilla fans trying to make their dream game, and I happen to share in that dream.

I cannot imagine it's possible to translate tokusatsu kaiju movies better. It's just a massively wild showdown that is even more fun when you've got friends to play it with.

9. Jet Set Radio Future (2002)

The biggest win for Microsoft’s Xbox was probably the failure of Sega’s Dreamcast. While Sega went multiplatform after pulling out of the console market, they seemed to favor the Xbox, at least in the beginning, perhaps feeling soured from their rivalries with Nintendo and Sony. If the Dreamcast’s lifespan was cut short, its library lived on through the Xbox. Games like Crazy Taxi, Panzer Dragoon, and Shenmue all found their way to Microsoft’s console.

2002’s Jet Set Radio Future is a good example of this, being a sequel to 2000’s Jet Grind Radio. Well, technically, it’s not a sequel; it exists in its own timeline. It could be called a do-over, as it carries over a similar plot, the same characters, and the same fast and addicting gameplay. The biggest difference is that Jet Set Radio Future has a more open structure and drops the time limit of the original.

It didn’t sell well, unfortunately, which might be why we haven’t received a sequel to this day. It hasn’t even been ported, meaning the only way to really play it today is on the original console. Playing it now gives a real “they don’t make ‘em like this anymore” vibe.

8. Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (2005)

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell is a series about a grumbly man who sasses his way through terrorists. Or around terrorists, I guess. It’s a stealth game, so not being seen is more important than a body count. Although the series was multi-platform, the PS2 and Gamecube always wound up with oddly stripped-down versions compared to Xbox and PC. Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is the best the series ever got while potentially being the worst on the less powerful consoles.

While Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory largely stuck to the classic formula in single-player, it threw in a terrific co-op mode and an asymmetrical competitive mode when asymmetrical multi-player was still an extreme rarity. Both of these multi-player splinters were terrific, while the main campaign is the height of the series. It also looked incredible for its time.

After things transitioned to the next generation, Splinter Cell kind of lost its way. Things became progressively more and more ridiculous, and for some people, that’s probably the way they prefer it. For me, on the other hand, I like my stealth shadowy and my narratives forgettable.

7. Breakdown (2004)

Breakdown feels like a celebration of the first-person perspective. It’s clear that the developers of Namco wanted to take the immersive and much-beloved camera angle and push it to its limits. You never left the protagonist’s eyeballs. When a friend of mine first told me about it in high school, he excitedly described the protagonist eating a hamburger, and while that sounds ridiculous, it really is awesome.

Japanese first-person shooters are a bit of a rarity, even today. Breakdown feels like the perfect embodiment of what you get when you combine the genre with the inventiveness of Japanese games in the early-’00s. There’s a lot of jank, and the story is very bizarre, but its approach makes it stand out despite those issues. While first-person shooters were becoming progressively more interchangeable, its immersion-first approach kept it feeling fresh.

Like Chronicles of Riddick, the focus in Breakdown is in its combat, which feels very physical, but also very diverse while working within a first-person perspective. That's really no small feat in itself.

6. Psychonauts (2005)

Psychonauts has far outlived the console it launched on, to the point where it’s difficult to remember that the Xbox was its primary platform. It did launch on PS2 and PC, but those almost seem like afterthoughts. Regardless, Psychonauts was something of a financial disappointment at a time when new IPs were struggling to be recognized. Despite that, word-of-mouth from its avid fanbase granted it a cult following. Over 15 years later, we’d finally get Psychonauts 2.

The original is still worth playing, however. Featuring surprisingly deep characters, an excellent soundtrack, and solid platforming. You play as a young boy who breaks into a Summer Camp for psychics and finds mystery afoot. You're then given the ability to enter other people's minds, which gives the game its central premise: platforming adventures through various psyches.

Psychonauts is packed with great and memorable moments that will drill into your grey matter and live there. Each mind presents something different, taking you to a battlefield on a board game and a twisted neighborhood packed with conspiracy paranoia. There's nothing else quite like it on the console.

5. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003)

Personally, I played Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic on PC, but it came out a few months earlier on Xbox. Since I missed out on a lot of CRPGs of the era, KotOR was a pretty enlightening experience for me. The companion system was engrossing, and the dark/light-side alignment was an interesting twist that made the experience very personal. Then, of course, there was HK-47, a robot so twisted and evil that I feel rather jealous.

You play as a (seemingly) relative nobody caught up in a war between the Jedi and Sith, set centuries before the events of even the prequel trilogy. In typical CRPG style, you pick up party members along the way, including the aforementioned killer robot. Truly, it was nice to have something Star Wars-related that didn't just drool lovingly over the movies.

It was followed up by Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords by Obsidian Entertainment, which had higher highs and lower lows. The absolute nadir of these lows was the fact that it was clearly unfinished. So, while there’s lots of fun to be had through most of the game, and some of the twists that it pulls are extremely meaningful, the whole thing starts to vibrate harder and harder until the end, to the point where it essentially shakes itself apart. So for those reasons, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is here instead.

4. Halo: Combat Evolved (2001)

This is here mostly due to peer pressure. I’m not in love with the Halo games in general. Every year or so, I’ll boot one up to play through and reconfirm my apathy toward the series. However! I recognize its impact, and it's not like I think it's a stinky game or anything. I was around when it dropped, and it was the biggest, latest thing. It was such a huge success that it became one of the most often imitated formulas, and for a good reason. Its combat was truly revolutionary, tying in a small degree of strategy as you identified priority targets and took them out with a range of weapons.

My lack of enthusiasm for Halo today might be because the game's best features and story beats have been replicated to the point of becoming stale. That's not really the game's fault, though, and back in the day, it was a mainstay multiplayer title for my group of high school friends. We even got eight players together on two connected Xboxes for a few nights. Good times.

And, as much of a curmudgeon as I am, I've always loved the vehicular side of Halo. It tied in various modes of transportation in satisfying ways without having to completely disrupt the action.

3. Ninja Gaiden Black (2005)

2004’s Ninja Gaiden is a title that I feel was significantly over-hyped at the time of release while simultaneously holding the opinion that it’s a fantastic game. An Xbox exclusive at the time, Tecmo and Microsoft pushed hard with marketing, and a lot of people around me ate it up. It was the Demon’s Souls of the time; it was so difficult that completing it meant you were just so skillful and cool.

It was so built up as this transcendental experience that nothing could realistically live up to the hype. And it didn’t. But I still love it.

It was followed up a year later with Ninja Gaiden Black, which compiled in the two DLC packs that were released for the original title, added missions, and rejiggered other parts of it. It was sort of a definitive edition, and that was only solidified when Ninja Gaiden Sigma was released on the PS3 and was considered to be a prettier version of the game, but otherwise flaccid in comparison. Even today, Ninja Gaiden Black is considered by many to be the best version of the stellar title. I can't disagree.

2. Steel Battalion (2002)

“It’s not the game that matters, it’s the controller,” is something I don’t think anyone has ever said. However, in the case of Steel Battalion, that would probably be accurate. Steel Battalion is designed around a controller with 44 inputs. This includes three pedals, two joysticks, a dial, some toggles, and a whole lot of buttons.

There is a game involved here, but I’m not sure how one is supposed to play it with such an assertively arousing controller. Steel Battalion itself is constructed around hardware outside and in. A lot of effort has gone into making its mechs feel like steel coffins with an almost retro-futuristic, cyberpunk feel. There's enough depth to all the systems to necessitate a good read-through of its extensive manual.

However – and this is one thing you need to know going in – it is absolutely brutal. There’s an eject button on the controller, and it’s more than just for show. If your mech starts giving out on you, you’ll need to press that button to preserve your life. Going down with your tin can means Steel Battalion is going to erase your progress and force you to start over. Even if you do manage to eject, you’ll need to pay for that military hardware you let go up in flames, and if you don’t have the cash to cover it, Steel Battalion will blatantly tell you how much you suck and delete your save. Considering that it can be quite a feat to topple even the fourth level, that eject button will get a workout. At least you'll get your money's worth out of that controller.

There was a sequel a couple of years later, Steel Battalion: Line of Contact. It, too, used the giant controller, but it was multiplayer only. However, there are still fans playing it online today, long after the servers were taken down. Hm? 2012's Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor? We don't talk about that one.

1. Burnout 3: Takedown (2004)

If there’s one game that made me particularly jealous of Xbox gamers in the day, and one that I’m begging for a port or remaster of today, it’s Burnout 3: Takedown. I was a huge fan of the wreck-'em-up racers Burnout and Burnout 2 on GameCube. Then EA would get their green-stained hands-on Criterion, and suddenly the GameCube got kicked to the curb. PS2 got it, but my little lunchbox was ignored. That sucks, because Burnout 3: Takedown is easily the best in the series.

It took everything that was good about the first two games (the crashes) and made them better. Suddenly, bumping and grinding felt more impactful, and the game was more chaotic. You were not only rewarded for skillful driving, but aggressive combat. Somehow, Criterion was able to harness the chaos and create mechanical systems that enhance it. A world tour framework brought all the various modes together in one career. It is, to this day, one of my favorite racing games.

Burnout 3 would be followed up with Burnout Revenge on the platform. However, I feel like the “traffic checking” mechanic (allowing you to knock cars traveling in the same direction out of the way) cheapened the thrills of dodging through traffic. Burnout 3, on the other hand, is racing perfection.

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Warm up your tapping toes, Foreign Gnomes has announced that the sequel to Chris Nordgren and Jordi Roca’s 2021 musical RPG, Everhood will be releasing soon on PC and Switch. Everhood 2 is set to launch on March 4, 2025.

Everhood was one of the first games I reviewed as a full-ish staff member at Destructoid. I didn’t love it! While a lot of what I cited as a problem in my review was technical related, the truth is that there was a story thematic later in the game that I found to be, um, problematic. But it’s buried so deep in there that I would have had to spoil quite a lot to have really gone into it in depth.

However, I did mention other problems like weak characters and the fact that it tries to pull the subversive fake ending nonsense way too many times. I don’t think about Everhood very often these days, and I’ve lost quite a few specifics in my memory, but I still remember the general issues I have with it.

On the other hand, I don’t think it was a bad game. It showed promise, and I think that could be delivered on in a sequel. Storytelling is a skill that can be built, after all, and the gameplay was pretty rad. A lot of it was like Guitar Hero, but instead of strumming the notes, you avoid them. Twists would constantly get thrown in along the way, and it could get pretty intense.

The details on the narrative are a bit hard to follow. It seems that you’ll be playing an avatar of yourself, and you’re “on a quest to slay the mysterious Mind Dragon before the world decays.” All right. It promises over 100 songs and will last 8-10 hours. That’s, like, 2 ½ minutes per song. I have a calculator here. Except there’s likely walking and talking to people in between, so that’s not going to be accurate. Or even useful. You’re welcome.

Everhood will release on PC and Switch on March 4, 2025.

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Retro-Bit has announced the next game in its line of retro reproductions, although this one is less of a reproduction and more of just a production. That’s because the game, P-47 II MD, never got released as intended, instead being canceled and never reaching the Genesis/Mega Drive.

That’s not to say it hasn’t reached anywhere. P-47 II MD is based on P-47: The Phantom Fighter (or sometimes P47 Thunderbolt), a 1988 arcade game. It received ports on the PC-Engine and home computers, but they were never received well. I can’t tell you how the Genesis version compares because, well, I haven’t played it. It’s not exactly readily available. 

You can get the arcade version via Hamster’s Arcade Archives series, but I haven’t played it there, either. Do you know how many WWII scrolling shoot-’em-ups there are out there? Me neither, but it’s a lot. It would take an inclusion in a compilation or a really neat gameplay hook to get me interested, which isn’t really the case when it comes to P-47: The Phantom Fighter.

But here’s the cool part: Retro-Bit’s release comes with the normal bells and whistles. It comes on a cartridge (obviously) in a plastic clamshell with an embossed slipcover. Also included is the soundtrack on a mini-CD. But best of all, it’s got some pretty spiffy (reversible) artwork by Tankro Kato. If you haven’t heard of him, you may have seen his art all the same, as he does the box art for the Hasegawa model company. Their models have been imported by various companies over the years, but I can’t provide much more clarity than that because it’s hard to keep track of. I could do more research, but you’ve probably already stopped reading this paragraph if you don’t really care about box art.

I can’t really speak for the quality of P-47 II MD, but I always love it when old, canceled, or unlocalized games get a new lease at life. I can tell you that Retro-Bit’s releases are really great. I’ve held new productions for tonnes of different consoles, but few take the extra steps that Retro-bit does.

Preorders for P-47 II MD start today, January 14, 2025 and close February 16, 2025 at Limited Run Games. It will run you $54.99. The production run will be based off the number of preorders made and will ship out sometime later after the production is complete. If you miss preorders, a limited number will be available from a few retailers: Castlemania Games, Rondo Products, and (if you’re Canadian like myself) PNP Games.

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