New Releases: September 6th-12th, 2018

From performing the Kessel Run with a steel orb to balancing ‘great power with great responsibility’, a few of this this week’s releases are born from cinematic inspiration. Yet others, with titles that range from Grandpa and the Zombies, Kentucky Robo Chicken, to Sigi – A Fart for Melusina, seem inspired by a fever dream. So, if you’re having trouble separating the commendable from the chaff, we have a selection of the ‘nets gaming connoisseurs ready to make things easier.

Header image: Love’s Sweet Garnish, PC

PlayStation 4
Immortal: Unchained (physical and digital, $49.99)
Marvel’s Spider-Man (physical and digital, $59.99)
NASCAR Heat 3 (physical and digital, $49.99)
NBA 2K19 (physical and digital, $59.99)
NBA Live 19 (physical and digital, $59.99)
Nefarious (digital, $TBA)
Pinball FX 3: Star Wars Pinball – Solo Pack (DLC, $TBA)
Sigi – A Fart for Melusina (digital, $4.49)
SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy SNK (physical and digital, $49.99)
V-Rally 4 (physical and digital, $59.99)

Switch
ACA NeoGeo Football Frenzy (digital, $7.99)
Azure Reflections (digital, $17.49)
Broforce (digital, $14.99)
Chiki-Chiki Boxy Racers (digital, $9.99)
Dust: An Elysian Tail (digital, $14.99)
FullBlast (digital, $5.99)
Gakuen Club (digital, $24.99)
Gnomes Garden 3: The Thief of Castles (digital, $4.49)
Gone Home (digital, $14.99)
Grandpa and the Zombies (digital, $6.74)
Hyper Light Drifter – Special Edition (digital, $19.99)
Kentucky Robo Chicken (digital, $2.49)
Lifeless Planet: Premier Edition (digital, $14.99)
Mummy Pinball (digital, $1.99)
NBA 2K19 (physical and digital, $59.99)
Planet Alpha (digital, $19.99)
Senran Kagura Reflexions (digital, $9.99)
Shikhondo – Soul Eater (digital, $12.59)
Sigi – A Fart for Melusina (digital, $4.49)
SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy (physical and digital, $49.99)
Stay (digital, $11.99)
Super Inefficient Golf (digital, $7.99)
Time Carnage (digital, $12.99)

Xbox One
Construction Simulator 2: Console Edition (digital, $TBA)
Immortal: Unchained (physical and digital, $49.99)
NASCAR Heat 3 (physical and digital, $49.99)
NBA 2K19 (physical and digital, $59.99)
NBA Live 19 (physical and digital, $59.99)
Pinball FX 3: Star Wars Pinball – Solo Pack (DLC, $TBA)
Sigi – A Fart for Melusina (digital, $4.49)
V-Rally 4 (physical and digital, $59.99)

3DS
Breakout Defense (digital, $7.99)
Double Breakout (digital, $7.99)
Yo-kai Watch Blasters: Red Cat Corps (physical and digital, $39.99)
Yo-kai Watch Blasters: White Dog Squad (physical and digital, $39.99)

Vita
Sigi – A Fart for Melusina (digital, $4.49)

PC
Football Heroes Turbo ($12.74)
Foto Flash 2 ($2.54)
Hentai IQ Puzzle ($TBA)
Hop Step Sing! Nozokanaide Naked Heart ($TBA)
Huge Enemy – Worldbreakers ($TBA)
Immortal: Unchained ($44.99)
Love’s Sweet Garnish ($TBA)
NBA 2K19 ($59.99)
Steven the Sperm ($TBA)
Tiny Battle Simulator ($TBA)
Wizard101 (free-to-play)

Robert’s Pick: With both Senran Kagura Reflections and SNK Heroines Tag Team Heroes arriving, a nod for Broforce might seem like an odd choice. But hear me out for a minute. Growing up, I adored Contra. I’d sink at least an hour into the game every day for weeks, maybe even months. Eventually I was able to make it thorough all eight stages on a life or two, sneering at those who relied to use the Konami code to make the credits roll.

And while the Metal Slug series has almost always been a pleasure, it was Broforce that picked up Contra’s legacy and pushed the run-and-gun in an exciting new direction. The game’s characters gently poked fun at Hollywood ‘s action heroes. But more importantly, each controlled differently, necessitating a slightly different approach to the levels. Unlike Contra, which pushed players to memorize the placement of enemies and movement styles, Broforce feels chaotic, with explosions setting off a sequence of chain reactions. But underneath all the spectacle is a remarkably stimulating shooter capable of reconstructing one of the best titles of the NES era.

Matt’s Pick (Editor, DigitallyDownloaded): I mean, clearly Hentai IQ Puzzle is going to be the best game of the decade, right?…

Yeah, okay, serious choice. SNK Heroines. I’ve been playing this pretty heavily, and it’s exactly what I like from a fighting game. It’s light hearted, clean and simple. There aren’t dozens of special meters to pay attention to, and you don’t need to memorise 30-button inputs for special attacks. I know there are a lot of fighting game fans that would dismiss it on that basis, for not being “technical” or “serious” enough, or whatever, but SNK Heroines speaks to why I like to play fighting games in the first place; to have fun.

Also, Athena looks stunning in a bikini.

Ryan’s Pick: *Reenacts Spider-Man 3 jazz scene dance* I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with Spider-Man games since The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin on the Genesis. I must have played it about a hundred times all the way to the Kingpin, only to put the wrong keys into the bomb and to trigger the inevitable game over. If there is an easy way to figure out which keys to input, then please, tell me. It was infuriating, but I kept playing it. Spidey’s Gameboy version in 1990, as well as the SNES version were equally difficult, but again, I still played them. I just love Spider-Man that much. He’s definitely my favorite character in the Marvel Universe, with Carnage coming in at a close second.

Marvel’s Spider-Man for PS4 has me absolutely sold. Graphically, Insomniac has made the game look beautiful. Couple this with the ability to swing through a living sandbox city and seamlessly land on cars, and you have my ideal game. Being able to freely move through the city by web-slinging looks extremely satisfying, and it’s pretty cool that you can interact with the citizens on the street. I equally am eager to see what kind of supervillain boss encounters they have planned in the game with the Sinister Six, mostly because I’m in dire need of revenge against the Kingpin and his forsaken bomb from the Genesis version. I absolutely cannot wait to play this game.

Zack’s Pick (Senior Editor, RPG Site): In an effort to try to prove to others that I play more than just RPGs or just sit around shouting about some incredibly obscure title, this week, I’m going to go with NBA 2K19. Now, fans of the franchise have become increasingly frustrated with developer Visual Concept’s continuous attempts to upset anyone who wants to partake in this annual release. The thing is, NBA 2K18 was a very slow and aggravating experience, partly due to how long it took to build up your character, but also with its always online functionality that really – and I mean, really – pushed microtransactions.

This year, things seem to be going better. For example, rather than your typical story mode where you work your way from the draft immediately into the NBA, you first have to take a detour to China after failing to be drafted, follow by a stint in the minor leagues once you’re back in the States. This actually happens more often than you think in real life, so this could make for interesting storytelling. Also, frickin’ Haley Joel Osment, Sora himself, voices on of the characters! Plus, there’s a ton of changes to The Neighborhood, the online hub, to make it worth checking out. Time will tell whether Visual Concepts will have figured out its online servers (I’m betting no), but for one of the best sports franchises around, I’m certainly looking forward to it. When I’m not busy wrecking enemy soldiers in Valkyria Chronicles 4, of course.