March2024
Mini Review Contra: Operation Galuga (PS5) - Run-'n'-Gun Series Back to Its Best
Bill Rizes to the occasion
It's weird that Konami has taken this long to ship Contra: Operation Galuga, which is the classic Contra game fans have been asking for. After the damp turd that was 2019's Contra: Rogue Corps, the publisher handed the reins back to WayForward, the team behind 2008's Contra 4. Turns out that's all that was needed to get a...
February2024
Review Silent Hill: The Short Message (PS5) - There's a Reason It's Free
Ghost this one
Silent Hill: The Short Message is the first product in 12 years to release with the Silent Hill name on it, and picking up where the Silent Hill HD Collection and PS Vita title Book of Memories left off, it doesn't exactly put the series' best foot forward. Instead of a horror experience filled with inventive puzzles and consistently...
October2023
Review Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection (PS5) - Three Classics in One Messy Bundle
A thrill, in some ways
After an era of pachinko machines and sports clubs, Konami is back. Well, its old games are back. The Japanese company is on a mission to regain the fans it lost after abandoning the hardcore gaming space, and turning nostalgia into dollars was always going to be the first thing it did. A more expansive remake of Metal Gear...
September2023
Mini Review Super Bomberman R 2 (PS5) - A Step in the Right Direction for the Series
Ellons on another planet
Super Bomberman R 2 from Konami is a sequel to 2018's franchise revival. This time around the Bomberman Brothers must protect the home planets of the squishy creatures known as Ellons from being destroyed by the evil mastermind Fusel. As with most Bomberman titles, you have the option to play both online and offline in...
February2023
Mini Review WBSC eBaseball: Power Pros (PS4) - Balling Arcade Baseball Costs Less Than a Buck
Swing when you're winning
Konami’s long-running Power Pros franchise – perhaps better known by its Japanese names PawaParu or Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu – has received Western releases in the past, but has generally remained exclusive to Asian territories over the years. The release of WBSC eBaseball: Power Pros is noteworthy because it’s...
August2022
Shell of a good time
Following the fantastic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge released this past June, Digital Eclipse — developer of compilations like Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection — has teamed up with Konami to re-release its TMNT games based on the 1987 series. Cowabunga Collection collates 13 titles from the NES,...
September2020
Mini Review eFootball PES 2021: Season Update - Football, Bloody Hell
Flying without Ings
If you want to know more about eFootball PES 2021: Season Update then you can simply read our review of eFootball PES 2020, as this is almost identical in every single way. To be fair to Konami, it’s been uncharacteristically upfront about the nature of this year’s soccer simulation, pointing out at practically every...
September2019
Review Contra: Rogue Corps - Bargain Bin Isometric Shooter That's Easy to Forget
Corps, blimey
Contra – or the infinitely more extravagant Probotector, as it was originally known in some European territories – is a revered name in video game fame; Contra: Rogue Corps, the franchise’s first non-pachislot outing in almost a decade, does not live up to the property’s illustrious legacy. This artistically inconsistent...
Review eFootball PES 2020 - Same Shirt, Different Name
If it ain't broke, don't match-fix it
Just when you thought PES was getting old and stale, it gets a new name. That’s right, for a franchise that began as International Superstar Soccer, changed to Pro Evolution Soccer, and sporadically adopted and rejected the name of Winning Eleven, Konami has decided 2020 will mark the new era of eFootball PES...
June2019
Review PES 2019: Pro Evolution Soccer - A Good But Safe Update on Konami's Football Sim
Sean Dyche-mann
Republished on Wednesday 26th June 2019: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of July's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. Before even releasing to the public, PES 2019: Pro Evolution Soccer is at a severe disadvantage when compared to last year’s iteration. Konami has...
Review Contra Anniversary Collection - A Good But Repetitive Package of Retro Shooters
If it moves, shoot it
Continuing Konami’s trend of 50th anniversary celebration compilations, Contra Anniversary Collection storms into battle with ten classic side scrolling shooters. Well, five, actually. The collection includes three variations of the original, and three other titles that double up with different console ports. Having the...
May2019
Vampires. I hate these guys
With a series as well-loved as Castlevania, Konami has sensibly approached celebrating the company's 50th anniversary by providing a game selection in the Castlevania Anniversary Collection with a sense of focus and balance. As opposed to Metroidvania games, the focus here is upon the traditional-style, stage-progression...
April2019
Review Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection - Old School Konami Kicks
Back to the 80s
Konami gifts us eight games for the price of one with its Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection. The results are good, but a tad disappointing, based on the other titles the publisher has to its name. The additions of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Simpsons Arcade, and Contra certainly would’ve livened things up and added more...
November2018
Review Metal Gear Solid - An All-Time Classic
Liquid gold
You’ve just infiltrated a highly secure enemy base using only your cunning and the scant equipment that you happened to find on your way. After rendezvousing with your hostage, you’re showered with a stirring speech on the importance of global nuclear disarmament, as well as the horrific impact of an increasingly militarised world...
Review Castlevania Requiem - A Compelling Collection of Two Classics
A memorable little pile of secrets
Unsung heroes are prominent in literature and film. Without spoilers, consider if Frodo had embarked on his quest without Sam's support in The Lord of the Rings, and think about nerdy Neville Longbottom's overlooked role in protecting the wizarding world of Harry Potter. The true heroes behind this Castlevania...
June2018
Review Super Bomberman R (PS4)
Bombs away
With over 30 entries in the Bomberman series, you’d be excused for thinking the formula would be getting stale and running out of ideas. However, Super Bomberman R proves that there are still a few tricks up those bomb-filled sleeves. Recent years have seen a plethora of spin-offs released, but this year’s entry is a return to the...
February2018
Review Metal Gear Survive (PS4)
Not just surviving, but thriving
Arriving with very little fanfare from both its core franchise following and Konami itself, Metal Gear Survive is going to be judged unfairly thanks to the baggage of Hideo Kojima’s exit and what the Japanese publisher has become in recent years. This spin-off ditches what made the Metal Gear Solid series so...
September2017
Review Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PS4)
A diamond in the rough
Republished on Wednesday 27th September 2017: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of October's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. Hideo Kojima's critically acclaimed Metal Gear franchise is known for its showy, fantastical, and often down-right ridiculous mythos –...
Review PES 2018: Pro Evolution Soccer (PS4)
YES
The fact that the box of PES 2018 has a Barcelona shirt-touting Neymar emblazoned on the front may seem like a bad omen for a series that, in the past few years, has often had trouble staying up-to-date. Pretty much every PES game on PS4 has had a troubled launch, taking months to update lineups to reflect the summer transfer window - but this...
September2016
Review PES 2017: Pro Evolution Soccer (PS4)
Klopp of the table
The Pro Evolution Soccer series has always seemed to play second fiddle to FIFA regardless of its quality, what with EA holding all of the licenses to the biggest football leagues in the world. Yet what PES 2017: Pro Evolution Soccer lacks in the licensing department, it makes up for in terms of pure footy fun and passion. An apt...
September2015
Review PES 2016: Pro Evolution Soccer (PS4)
(Un)license to thrill
Pro Evolution Soccer, supposedly Konami's last AAA series, has spent the best part of a decade trying to catch up with FIFA's success. EA's behemoth of a sports game consistently has more licenses, fans, and sales than PES could ever dream of, and the sad thing is that it'll probably stay that way for a long time to come. That...
August2015
Review Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist (PS4)
It's time to d-d-d-d-d-d-d-duel, again
The worldwide phenomenon known as Yu-Gi-Oh! is a strategic battle game originally based on a manga in which players duel with cards. Decks are made of monsters, spells, and traps, and the object of the duel is to reduce your opponent's life points from 8,000 to 0. Each player can customise their deck with forty...
December2014
Review PES 2015: Pro Evolution Soccer (PlayStation 4)
A humdinger
With last year’s PES 2014: Pro Evolution Soccer opting to skip the PlayStation 4, Konami has had an extra year to consider its next-gen debut. Against the much more popular FIFA, PES has tended to trail slightly behind EA Sports’ juggernaut in recent years, catering to a much smaller section of the footballing market with its less...
May2014
Review Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium Duels (PlayStation 3)
Pick a card
Trading card games are everywhere these days, mostly thanks to smartphones and the free-to-play model. Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium Duels looks to present the genre in a more traditional way. With thousands upon thousands of cards available to collect and utilise in battle, as well as both single player and online modes, it’d be easy to spend...
March2014
Review Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (PlayStation 4)
Kept us waiting
Hideo Kojima is one of the most talented and respected developers of all time. The patriarch of the Metal Gear franchise has led us on one Hell of a crazy ride over the course of the last year or so, that saw just as many twists, turns, and red herrings as the plots of the very games that he’s famous for. The end result of this...
