Most game franchises don’t achieve immediate, unreserved success. Instead, properties are conscientiously cultivated, with each subsequent iteration demonstrating an interchange between developers and fans. Case in point: when Hyperdimension Neptunia emerged stateside in 2011, the ...
Read More »Vortex Attack review
It’s generally agreed up the Golden Age of Shoot’em Ups came and went. Many still fondly remember the 16-bit days when gamers were treated with new entries within this genre every other week. Still, some ...
Read More »Swords & Soldiers II review
Typically, the industry employs an additive approach, with developers layering new gameplay mechanics onto pre-existing genres. But with the release of Sword & Soldiers II for the Nintendo Wii, Dutch developer Ronimo Games pares down ...
Read More »DiRT Rally Intent on Carving its Own Careening Path
Like most Americans during the mid ‘90’s, I was distressingly unaware of the virtues of rally racing. Fortunately, that obliviousness was eventually upended by a procession of games like SEGA Rally Championship and Rally Cross, ...
Read More »Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed review
On console, the Hyperdimension Neptunia series has provided a consistently engaging experience, blending amusing allegory, comical banter, and engaging play mechanics that are rooted in role-playing convention. But far more remarkable are the Console Patron ...
Read More »A-Train 3D: City Simulator review
Much of the world uses watches and clocks to anticipate the appearance of a train. But in Japan, the railway system operates with such precision that timepieces can be set by the arrival of its ...
Read More »Toren review
Modern hardware has the ability to render fantastical worlds. Yet, all too often that power is used to generate homogenous battlefields, dungeons, and cityscapes. Fortunately, that’s not the case with Toren, the inaugural effort from ...
Read More »Yorbie- Episode 1: Payback’s a Bolt
Across the late ‘90s and early 2000s, I was an unapologetic Insomniac devotee, purchasing every single Ratchet & Clank game on release day. Amidst this era, the annual iterations weren’t quite frequent enough to satisfy ...
Read More »Zen Pinball 2: Star Wars Rebels+Age of Ultron review
For years, Budapest-based Zen Studios has cultivated a near-faultless formula. Beginning with 2007’s Pinball FX and continuing through Pinball FX 2 and Zen Pinball 2, the developer strove to simulate the steel-orbed pastime, with each ...
Read More »Westerado: Double Barreled review
Quality games featuring a wild west theme are few and far between. While Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption and Konami’s Sunset Riders respectively recreate the freedom and shooting frenzy of Hollywood’s classic blockbusters, no title has ...
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