I believe this marks the further point on the calendar year where we have to worry about Frosty the Snowman. Let's celebrate with some video games!
So let's begin with one of the oldest rivalries in the medium; the original console wars with two of the very first mascot characters were created. They're both back with two WILDLY DIFFERENT modern reinventions that both look to have my exact number. First up is a Pac-Man in the form of a cosmic horror troid-em-up; Shadow Labyrinth.
You're a futuristic cyber-soldier who awakens in the labyrinthian ruins of a long dead war torn planet... with Pac-Man by your side. Do a bunch of Troid-y stuff to upgrade your arsenal and traversal abilities... and Pac-Man in order to discover the truth behind this blighted world of fallen Namco properties.
It is... precisely the right kind of bonkers to appeal to me.
Next up is certainly the big dog release of the week. Or should I say... The great ape! Yes I SHOULD say that because it's Donkey Kong: Bananza, baby! It's the first Donkey Kong game I've been excited for since... I want to say 1994 and BOY HOWDY am I jazzed for it! It's from the Mario Odyssey peeps who said "Hey... what if we just did that again; Mario Odyssey was fun as hell" and then they also said "And what if you could go apecuss".
And here we are.
You're the Kong of All Donkeys, you have a Small Child steering you and you have an entire open-ish world of weird, banana stealing animals to BRING TO RUIN.
Go beat every ape you see, from Chimpan-A to Chimpanzee and reclaim your nanners.
Speaking of weird societies on the brink of ruin, in The Wandering Village, you're on the side of the weird society rather than the side of ruin. This here is a 4X city build-em-up where the peeps got themselves a MITE BIT of an issue with the whole of the planet being infected by an invasive species of lethally toxic plants so the last remnants of society collectively decide to jump on the back of some giant dinosaur things and start a new society living in symbiosis with that. Or else by harvesting its life as a parasitic invasion which will help your guys thrive but cause the dinosaurs immune system so say "Well, gotta get rid of these jerks".
Anyway; either help or hinder your guys or a big dinosaur while plants try to kill you both.
Moving on to new releases of old games, we've got Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Edition, the gussied up re-release of a game with very polarizing opinions. Technically at least, of everyone I've asked, I've received a universal "Oh, the games *bad* bad, but the DLC is really *really* good". I have no idea what the actual complaints are, mind or if they're something that the remaster could, let alone has, addressed, but you need something to tide you over if you've already finished Divinity 2 and need something to tide you over until they announce a port of Baldurs Gate 3 on Switch 2.
I mean, they *could*.
Next up is one of the most beloved arcade fixtures; Golden Tee Arcade Classics, a collection which includes 6 variants of Golden Tee Golf AND ALSO bowling and airhockey. However, modern controllers lack a trackball, which was, like, the most fun part of the Golden Tee games so... uh...
Major fundamental problem right from the jump there, guys.
And finally we have another retro game compilation entirely made of games you've never heard of before from a publisher of games that you do not care about; Qubyte Classics: Beat 'em Up Collection, including such beloved classics as First Samurai, Second Samurai, Gourmet Warriors, Iron Commando, Legend, Sword of Sodan and The Tale of Clouds and Winds.
Every game is the dollar store equivalent of the Final Fight we have at home.
OKAY, GO TO BED
So let's begin with one of the oldest rivalries in the medium; the original console wars with two of the very first mascot characters were created. They're both back with two WILDLY DIFFERENT modern reinventions that both look to have my exact number. First up is a Pac-Man in the form of a cosmic horror troid-em-up; Shadow Labyrinth.
You're a futuristic cyber-soldier who awakens in the labyrinthian ruins of a long dead war torn planet... with Pac-Man by your side. Do a bunch of Troid-y stuff to upgrade your arsenal and traversal abilities... and Pac-Man in order to discover the truth behind this blighted world of fallen Namco properties.
It is... precisely the right kind of bonkers to appeal to me.
Next up is certainly the big dog release of the week. Or should I say... The great ape! Yes I SHOULD say that because it's Donkey Kong: Bananza, baby! It's the first Donkey Kong game I've been excited for since... I want to say 1994 and BOY HOWDY am I jazzed for it! It's from the Mario Odyssey peeps who said "Hey... what if we just did that again; Mario Odyssey was fun as hell" and then they also said "And what if you could go apecuss".
And here we are.
You're the Kong of All Donkeys, you have a Small Child steering you and you have an entire open-ish world of weird, banana stealing animals to BRING TO RUIN.
Go beat every ape you see, from Chimpan-A to Chimpanzee and reclaim your nanners.
Speaking of weird societies on the brink of ruin, in The Wandering Village, you're on the side of the weird society rather than the side of ruin. This here is a 4X city build-em-up where the peeps got themselves a MITE BIT of an issue with the whole of the planet being infected by an invasive species of lethally toxic plants so the last remnants of society collectively decide to jump on the back of some giant dinosaur things and start a new society living in symbiosis with that. Or else by harvesting its life as a parasitic invasion which will help your guys thrive but cause the dinosaurs immune system so say "Well, gotta get rid of these jerks".
Anyway; either help or hinder your guys or a big dinosaur while plants try to kill you both.
Moving on to new releases of old games, we've got Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Edition, the gussied up re-release of a game with very polarizing opinions. Technically at least, of everyone I've asked, I've received a universal "Oh, the games *bad* bad, but the DLC is really *really* good". I have no idea what the actual complaints are, mind or if they're something that the remaster could, let alone has, addressed, but you need something to tide you over if you've already finished Divinity 2 and need something to tide you over until they announce a port of Baldurs Gate 3 on Switch 2.
I mean, they *could*.
Next up is one of the most beloved arcade fixtures; Golden Tee Arcade Classics, a collection which includes 6 variants of Golden Tee Golf AND ALSO bowling and airhockey. However, modern controllers lack a trackball, which was, like, the most fun part of the Golden Tee games so... uh...
Major fundamental problem right from the jump there, guys.
And finally we have another retro game compilation entirely made of games you've never heard of before from a publisher of games that you do not care about; Qubyte Classics: Beat 'em Up Collection, including such beloved classics as First Samurai, Second Samurai, Gourmet Warriors, Iron Commando, Legend, Sword of Sodan and The Tale of Clouds and Winds.
Every game is the dollar store equivalent of the Final Fight we have at home.
