Latest Reviews
Review Hot Shots Golf (PS1) - Utterly Iconic Arcade Golf
Our cup of tee
Japanese studio Clap Hanz may be the developer best associated with the Hot Shots Golf series, which is also known as Everybody’s Golf in Europe. However, it was Camelot Software Planning that teed off the original entry on PS1 back in 1997. That team – having helmed the Shining Force series for SEGA throughout early 90s under the...
Review Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course (PS4) - Another Delicious Serving of Hard-As-Nails Action
A great slam and then some
It’s been almost five whole years since Cuphead finally burst onto the scene after years of development hell and delays. Cuphead took the gaming world by storm, followed by waves of merchandise, cameos in games like Super Smash Bros, a Netflix series, and even a kids meal at Arby’s. Now here we are at the launch of its...
Mini Review Tour de France 2022 (PS5) - Tactical Sports Sim Is Overly Familiar
It's two tired
While you may expect a title based on the historic three week, 3,000km Tour de France cycling tournament to be a little like a racing game, this adaptation is actually much more of a strategy experience. Those already familiar with Nacon and Cyanide’s biking excursions will know that, of course, as Tour de France 2022 is largely...
Mini Review Yurukill: The Calumniation Games (PS5) - Zero Escape Meets Bullet Hell Mystery Madness
Virtue's Blast Reward
Oh no. You've been convicted of murdering 21 people and sentenced to 999 years in prison. Now you've been kidnapped by a super-rich megacorporation so you can take part in a series of games against other teams and the ultimate prize will be your freedom. You're fitted with a collar that can inject you with lethal poison at the...
Review The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan (PS4) - An Unexplosive Opening
Until yawn
Republished on Wednesday 29th June 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of July's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. Maybe it's just because our Dad let us watch Jaws when we were six, but we've always been skeptical of the sea. It's wet, and there's weird things in there...
Review Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time (PS4) - Madcap Marsupial's Return Is N. Sanely Good
Positive spin
Republished on Wednesday 29th June 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of July's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. After Naughty Dog parted ways with Crash Bandicoot, it's fair to say the quality of subsequent games has been inconsistent. However, Activision finally did...
Review Wild Arms (PS1) - Distinctly 90s JRPG Still Sparks the Spirit of Adventure
A man and his rat walk into a ruin
Wild Arms is a classic Japanese RPG — a PS1 release from when the console was at the height of its popularity. Unfortunately, at least here in the West, Wild Arms was overshadowed by a little game called Final Fantasy VII, and the property — which would go on to spawn four somewhat divisive sequels and a couple...
Review Disgaea 6 Complete (PS5) - Once More Unto the Netherworld
A statistician's dream, a completionist's nightmare
Disgaea has always stood out among strategy RPGs due to the sheer spectacle of the thing. Ludicrous characters, absurd tactics, and insane damage numbers: it's a franchise that has always taken things to the next level. Disgaea 6: Complete, we're glad to say, continues that trend, and somehow even...
Mini Review Best Month Ever! (PS4) - The World's Heaviest Road Trip
Okayest month ever
Created by the Warsaw Film School’s Video Game Directing department, Best Month Ever! is the story of Louise and her biracial son, Mitch, living in 1960s rural America. Having been diagnosed with a terminal illness and told she doesn’t have long to live, Louise takes Mitch on a road trip for summer, promising him the best...
Mini Review MX vs. ATV Legends (PS5) – Scrap Metal
Legends never die, until they do
Since the end of the seventh console generation, the MX vs. ATV series has been foundering. Both of the titles to hit the PS4 were generally maligned, and things aren’t looking much better on the PS5. The main part of the game – races with dirt bikes, ATVs, and UTVs – functions as both a blessing and a curse...
Review F1 22 (PS5) - Another Solid Sim Racer, But Room for Improvement
Fit for porpoise
In some ways, F1 22 feels like quite a different game compared to its predecessor, though that's not a huge surprise. The current season brought with it some serious regulation changes, not to mention a drastically altered car model, so Codemasters had its work cut out in order to echo all that in this year's racing sim. On the...
Mini Review Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel (PS5) - Hotel Hell Makes for Effective Survival Horror
Hotel Califobia
If we were reviewing the St. Dinfna Hotel for Tripadvisor, then it would be a bit of a mauling. Old fashioned décor, a serious damp problem, monsters, rubbish WiFi, and a smug receptionist that didn’t even offer to carry our bags to the room. We simply couldn’t recommend staying there. But here at Push Square, we’re in the...
Review Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee (PS1) - Dark, Bizarre, and Packed with Personality
Slimy, yet satisfying
Republished on Sunday, 25th June, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee's inclusion in All PS Plus Games. The original text follows. Originally published on Tuesday, 6th November, 2018: True to its name, Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee is one of the oddest games ever created, with...
Mini Review Astro Aqua Kitty (PS5) - Retro Style Shooter Leaves Us Feline Good
Kitty kitty bang bang
Can deep water exploration as a cat possibly be more furr-tastic and wacky? Tikipod wants you to know that it can with its sequel to Aqua Kitty: Milk Mine Defender DX, Astro Aqua Kitty. Recently enhanced to take advantage of the PS5, Astro Aqua Kitty improves and expands on the original arcade shooter in every single aspect...
Mini Review Fall Guys (PS5) - Free-to-Play and Still a Blast Despite MTX Meddling
Free fallin'
Fall Guys exploded onto the scene in 2020, immediately rocketing to stardom thanks to its lovable jellybean characters, simple premise, and addictive structure. While enthusiasm for the 60-player party platformer has cooled, it's remained popular the last couple of years and Mediatonic has supported it well with multiple seasons full of...
Gaps in the Wonder years
In Retro Gamer Issue 124's 'A Westone Retrospective' feature, Westone co-founder Ryuichi Nishizawa stressed that he wanted to create a feeling of pressure for the player when developing 1986's arcade game Wonder Boy — the first of four retro games in Bliss Brain Corporation's Wonder Boy Collection, which compiles two...
Review Pocky & Rocky Reshrined (PS4) - Retro Revival Is More Reimagining Than Remake
Shinto fine
What if 1992’s cult Super Nintendo shooter Pocky & Rocky had been re-released for Sony’s more powerful PS1 console? That’s a little how Pocky & Rocky Reshrined feels at first blush: cute, colourful, and unmistakably retro, yes – but tapping new, previously unavailable power reserves to add Metal Slug-esque chunkiness to...
Review Resident Evil: Director's Cut (PS1) - Iconic Survival Horror
Jill sandwich, please, petrified with mixed herbs
Republished on Thursday, 23rd June, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following Resident Evil: Director's Cut's inclusion in All PS Plus Games. The original text follows. Originally published on Sunday, 25th November, 2018: Spencer Mansion, set deep in Raccoon Forest, looming...
Mini Review Tekken 2 (PS1) - Broken and Awkward, But Still a Classic Fighter
Tekken it to the next level
The original Tekken was Namco's first attempt at a 3D fighting game, and boy did it show. There was undeniable potential at the 1995 title's core, but the game as a whole was incredibly raw, both on a visual and mechanical level. It wasn't until Tekken 2 that the now record-breaking franchise would find its footing. The...
Review Jumping Flash! (PS1) - Unique 90s Platforming from a First-Person Perspective
Buy it, don't Robbit
Republished on Wednesday, 22nd June, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following Jumping Flash!'s inclusion in All PS Plus Games. The original text follows. Originally published on Sunday, 4th November, 2018: The 16-bit console wars were merciless. During the early concept stage of the PlayStation...
Review Intelligent Qube (PS1) - An Iconic PS1 Puzzler
Blockstar
Republished on Wednesday, 22nd June, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following Intelligent Qube's inclusion in All PS Plus Games. The original text follows. Originally published on Monday, 3rd December, 2018: You run around on a floating platform in the middle of a void, swallowing cubes into the ground one-by-one...
Mini Review OlliOlli World: VOID Riders (PS5) - Extraterrestrial Expansion Is a Fun Return Trip
A skate odyssey
We suppose you could argue OlliOlli World: VOID Riders is simply more of the same. That's not really much of a negative, though, when the game is already so great. This is the first expansion DLC for OlliOlli World, the wonderful skateboarding side-scroller, bringing a whole bunch of exciting new levels that spice things up with a...
Mini Review Redout 2 (PS5) - Eye-Meltingly Fast Racer Can Be Finicky to a Fault
Stick it
Redout 2 is a futuristic racer that demands perfection. It's basically WipEout if WipEout was even more difficult, and had a control scheme that, at times, made you want to punt your DualSense off the nearest wall. This is just about as hardcore as anti-gravity racing games get, and while we can appreciate the challenge — and the joy of...
Review Shadowrun Trilogy (PS5) - Great Value RPG Collection Is Rough and Ready
Let's run it
There's an awful lot to like about Shadowrun Trilogy — a chunky collection of three sci-fi-fantasy role-playing games available on PlayStation platforms for the first time. At its launch price of $39.99 / £34.99, you're getting good bang for your buck here, even if you'll have to endure some especially rough edges throughout all...
Review Capcom Fighting Collection (PS4) - A Superb Compilation of Classics and Oddities
A monster bundle full of little gems
Is it a little unreasonable to say that Capcom loves to dangle a carrot in front of Darkstalkers fans? A trailer promising 'Darkstalkers Are Not Dead' showed up in 2012 featuring a full 3D Lord Raptor, though the subsequent PS3 Darkstalkers Resurrection compilation didn’t live up to that promise at all. Outside...
Review Sonic Origins (PS5) - The Genesis of SEGA's Mascot Revisited with Style
Past, way cool
Sonic the Hedgehog is like a 16-bit Skyrim: SEGA has re-released the Mega Drive classics on just about every platform you can think of, and it shows no sign of stopping. The latest effort is Sonic Origins, a collection that brings Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and Sonic CD to modern consoles under one banner. Even if we've...
An AI for an Eye
AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative [Good grief - Ed] is the sequel to the 2019 detective-themed adventure game and things are just as crazy and weird as ever. This time around you play as a detective called Ryuki as he tries to solve a series of gruesome murders known as the Half Body Serial Killings. Ryuki is a rookie but...
Mini Review Gravitar: Recharged (PS5) - Good Glow Up for Iconic 80s Atari Shooter
It pulls you in
For as infuriating as it is to play today, no one could label Atari’s 1982 intergalactic excursion Gravitar – also known as Lunar Battle – as unambitious. Utilising the same “rotate-and-thrust” control system as the iconic Asteroids, designer Mike Hally – making his debut – added real gameplay depth, allowing you to...
Mini Review Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (PS5) - Basic Upgrade for a Great Game
Bayou glow up
Of the three recent Resident Evil PS5 upgrades, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is the most interesting. While the original PS4 version had very little in the way of graphical issues, it was the first title to utilise Capcom's RE Engine. The publisher really stepped up its game in later iterations (Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3), and...
Mini Review Final Vendetta (PS5) - Brutal Beat-'Em-Up Will Kick Your Ass
Oh my car
To be honest, there’s something comforting about a game that knows exactly what it is and who it’s aimed at. Final Vendetta doesn’t pull any punches: there’s been a kidnapping, and the title’s trio of rough-and-ready heroes are here to save the day. Replace notorious gang Syndic8 with the Mad Gear and you’ve basically got a...