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...
September2019
Review River City Girls - Retro Brawling With a Twist
Girls about town
Dishing out knuckle sandwiches as either Kyoko or Misako in couch co-op brawler River City Girls is immediately fun, with the combat comparing favourable to the genre favourites of yesteryear. As tends to be the case with this sort of title however, fighting the ever growing hordes of enemies on your quest to rescue the duo’s...
January2017
Review Shantae: Half-Genie Hero (PS4)
I whip my hair back and forth
The Shantae series is an odd one, isn't it? It's been around for quite some time, but never made a huge impact. The Metroidvania style gameplay and quirky writing are adored by fans, but despite being quietly very good, the games remain ignored by most. Funnily enough, you can play three of the four titles right now on...
April2016
Review Shantae and the Pirate's Curse (PS4)
It's y'arrrrrrrrlright
Shantae and the Pirate's Curse is a 2D side-scroller in the classic Metroidvania vein, but with a whimsical story and an anarchic sense of humour that helps separate it from the pack. Taking on the role of a half-genie named Shantae, you'll spend approximately ten hours exploring various islands, solving puzzles in dungeons,...
October2015
Review Goosebumps: The Game (PS4)
Say cheese and die
The title screen for Goosebumps: The Game issues a warning to players in a cute nod to R.L. Stine's corny but effective "reader beware" slogan – but there's more than just Monster Blood to fear here. Novels like It Came from Beneath the Sink and Stay Out of the Basement were enormous in the early to mid-90s, and this author...
July2015
Review Shantae: Risky's Revenge - Director's Cut (PS4)
Risky business
Shantae: Risky's Revenge – Director's Cut is a PlayStation 4 port of the 2010 Metroidvania game by WayForward Technologies. Originally released on the Nintendo DSi, the title belly danced to the PC this time last year, and now it's finally the turn of Sony format fans to get their hands on the release. This is actually the second...
November2013
Review Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON'T KNOW! (PlayStation 3)
We can't recommend a reason either
Adventure Time is ridiculously exuberant. Its characters are eccentric and weird, its storylines are convoluted and odd, and its humour is a mix of silly, low brow, and exceptionally well timed. It's a show of complexity and deep lore based on the insane. Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON'T KNOW!...
August2013
Review DuckTales: Remastered (PlayStation 3)
A-woo-hoo
The original DuckTales waddled onto the NES in 1989, and for over twenty years, it has been remembered fondly by those that played it. But it isn’t just the game that has lingered in the darkest recesses of a generation’s memories, as so too has the television show. From the infectious theme song to the original voice actors,...
Review The Smurfs 2: The Video Game (PlayStation 3)
Feeling blue
One may assume that the business of producing low-budget movie tie-ins died with the untimely self-destruction of THQ, but Ubisoft has boldly picked up the slack with The Smurfs 2: The Video Game, and, as is normally the case with these sorts of releases, the results aren't particularly positive. The evil Gargamel and his two...
September2012
Review Double Dragon: Neon (PlayStation 3)
Hurry Up, Broseph!
It isn’t often that you get to use the words “franchise”, “80s”, and “reboot” in the same sentence these days, without feeling a little bit like you’re constructing a joke and that the developer of the title in question is going to provide the punchline. In an era where popstars are turning up on Blu-ray and DVD in...
