Paul Bryant

“To get the most out of Phantom Spark, you’ll have to love time trials. If you’re a diehard racing game fan who prefers racing against yourself rather than others, that may put the game squarely on your radar, but if the allure of racing games is facing off against other people – be they bots or a Player Two – then this game may leave a lot to be desired.”

“Quintus and the Formidable Curse’s one saving grace is that it an odd, off-kilter color scheme that gives the game some eerie vibes — always a good thing in a horror game — but ultimately, those aren’t enough to distract from the fact that the scariest thing about this game is that it was released in this state.”

“Corsair’s Madness won’t make you forget about classics from the NES era, but it’s fun enough that you could easily imagine playing right alongside them.”

“As Metroidvanias go, it’s fine, but if you want anything more than just average, you’re not going to find it here.”

“The more you play, the more it feels like Raccoo Venture misses the mark just enough to make it feel like a bit of a letdown. It’s a solid game, but with a few tweaks it could’ve been a lot more.”

“If you just focus on the fun and the joy of movement, there’s definitely something in Neon Tail worth experiencing. It may not be a GOTY contender, but as I said, if you like JSR and its ilk, you’ll want to check this out – just make sure you don’t get bogged down in its tutorial first.”

“The Switch has plenty of fishing games on offer, so there’s no need to waste your time with one as frustrating and dull as Pocket Fishing.”

“Before we get the rush of “Ultra Deluxe Summertime Fun Editions” that are surely in its future, I’ll say that golf fans could do a lot worse than checking Golfinite out.”

“You could quibble about how little Train Traffic Manager differs from Urban Flow, but that would be missing the point of the game. Like any good puzzler, Train Traffic Manager is easily approachable, and it knows how to sink its hooks into you quickly.”

“If you want to turn your brain off and play a game in the background while you’re doing something else that requires more of your attention, I could see why you might be interested in My Little Universe. It’s a game that seems tailor-made for turning on and ignoring it even as you play, like a slightly more demanding clicker game.”

“DreamWorks All-Star Kart Racing is still a decent racer overall. Much like the studio that inspired it, it’s not going to make you forget the genre’s king, but there’s fun to be found here if you give it a chance.”

“Ad Infinitum very much feels like the kind of horror game that would’ve come out five or ten years ago: lots of slow-moving stealth and light puzzles, with a heavy dose of walking simulator-style exploration on the side.”

“It’s an enjoyably challenging platformer that’s sure to scratch any Mega Man or roguelike itches you have. Factor in Maker Mode, and you’ve got a recipe for a platformer that’s a huge – and hugely fun – time sink.”

“Tenebris Pictura is part-puzzle game, part-beat-’em-up, and the two halves never come together in a way that’s remotely fun.”

“Sephonie is one of those games that’s absolutely bursting with ideas. Its Steam page called the game a “Tony-Hawk-esque 3D platformer”, it’s got lengthy dialogue sequences that are basically just philosophical musings, and one of the core parts of the game is cataloguing all the flora and fauna of an underground cave network – which you do via minigames that look like Tetris reimagined as a match-3 puzzle. Unfortunately, it also doesn’t have any notion of how to turn those ideas into a particularly interesting game.”

“Tiny Thor is an excellent love letter to retro games not just because it looks and plays like a game from decades ago, but because it’s still highly playable in the here and now.”

“That’s the kind of game Patrick's Parabox is: it worms its way into your brain and sticks there, and if you’re a fan of deceptively simple puzzle games, you owe it to yourself to check this one out.”

“That’s the best way to describe Nocturnal: it’s a neat game. It won’t take too much of your time, and it’s similar enough to other metroidvanias that you’ll probably only want to play it if you’re already a fan of the genre, but if you like the genre and want something that has enough spark of inspiration to carry it through a few hours, it’s definitely worth investigating.”

“The bottom line is that both Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris and Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light are good games, regardless of whether you’re playing solo or (locally) with a friend. They were a breath of fresh air for the series when they first released a decade ago, and The Lara Croft Collection is a great opportunity to discover them, whether it’s anew or for the first time.”

“Soccer Story could’ve been a lot of fun, as other games like Golf Story and Sports Story (both from an entirely different developer, I’ll note) have demonstrated. Instead, it just leaves a lot to be desired.”