Enough cannot be said about the ridiculously cool design work of Fernando Reza, a graphic artist from Los Angeles. Just taking a look at his site, you will notice a variety of posters and other illustrations on the subject of various movies, television shows, video games and everything else related to pop culture.

This particular set of Mario Propaganda illustrations highlights the patriotism being promoted to residents of the Mushroom Kingdom, mainly a call to action to fight the dangerous menace known as Mario. You will see Goombas, Bullet Bill, Boo and a variety of other Super Mario enemies portrayed as heroes as they continue to battle the evil mustachioed plumber.

King Koopa must have his hands full cranking the propaganda machine in order to keep the Mushroom Kingdom united against Mario. Reza’s work was also used within the popular First Person Goomba video that details the typical life span of a Goomba.

Check out the full set of Reza’s Mario Propaganda Posters below:

10 Amazing Mario Propaganda Posters

Looking for the best deals before your next trip to the store with the big red bullseye on it? We’ve identified some of the best products that you can find on sale at Target as well as some of the worst that you will want to avoid. These picks are based on the average discounts as well as the potential for additional coupons.

Target’s Five Best:

1. Toys

5 Best / 5 Worst Products to Find on Sale at Target

Developed by Evan Daniels of Atlanta, Georgia, this collection of stained glass artwork will be very familiar with anyone who grew up with an old-school Nintendo. Up for sale on the Etsy store MartainGlasswork with prices reaching up to $5,000, Daniels creates stained glass pieces of popular video game characters such as Master Chief, Samus Aran from Metroid, Mario and Mega-Man.

He also creates pieces using iconic symbols from games like Portal, Half Life, Warhammer, Pokemon and Legend of Zelda. In addition, there are a couple movie pieces in the collection that make reference to the Iron Man and Star Wars series of films. If you are interested in how Daniels creates these items, take a look at this Reddit thread he created as well as some more pictures of his work in action.

If you are interested in purchasing one of the pieces, here’s the Esty store. Check out some of our favorite stained glass pieces below:

Half-Life

Halo

The Legend of Zelda

Super Mario Brothers

Mega-Man X

Metroid

Star Wars

Iron Man

Pokemon

Portal

Warhammer

Stained Glass + A Love of Gaming =

Several years deep into the latest console releases, you’d think it would be easier to discuss the many options available at the hands of video game shoppers over the holidays. Heck, maybe there’s even a new inexpensive bundle box or two that’ll have items includes alongside the console, making for an attractive box and perhaps a free game or two to spark excitement. Alas, it’s the year 2022, where we’re stuck in the tidal shifts between supply-chain production issues and rising costs due to inflation (disproportionate as they might be). Instead, we’re left with a different sort of exciting aspect of shopping for video game systems over the holidays, one folks haven’t been able to enjoy for several years: if they shop early, they should be able to get a system this year without all the hoops.

Will this actually be the case this year? Who knows, but more and more retailers have been able to put stock of the ever-elusive PS5 on shelves over the past few months, and more online retailers have made pockets of stock available in one way or another. If you’d like a few hints on how to keep tabs on stock of the various systems through trackers, please check out Ben’s Bargains 2021 Video Game Hardware Guide about halfway down. Beyond, give this year’s guide a look and see what’s new in the landscape of consoles and accessories for the players in your life.

For Fans of Kratos, Comfy Controllers and 4K Horizons, Gift This.

PlayStation 5 Console – God of War: Rganarok Bundle

Pros: 4K Gaming, PS4 Compatibility, HDR Disc Playback, GAMES | MSRP: $559

But wait! Look! Is that a bundle I see before me? As someone who’s been covering the most unique, all-inclusive ways to give video game hardware as awesome gifts over the years, it’s admittedly been quite a bummer to see the snazzy All-In-One Bundle dry up and become such a scarce item.  This year, however, despite the rampant demand and chip supply/production complications, Sony will be offering a brand-new bundle that coincides with the release of the hotly-anticipated God of War: Ragnarok. How easy this will be to find remains a mystery; however, the optimist in me seems to think that if they’re designing specific PS5 retail boxes to draw attention to the bundle and, of course, will be including the digital info in the paperwork included with the system … then they’re going to be reasonable available.

Opinions about the power of the PS5 over the Xbox Series X have largely become moot, as they’re quite similar under the hood and will play most of the games anyone’s wanting to play, so the topic once again gravitates towards other factors: exclusive titles and the strength of supplemental features. PlayStation added several noteworthy games to the PS5-only roster this year, notably the sequels to sprawling action franchises like God of War: Ragnarok and Horizon: Forbidden West, to which their execution of both gameplay and aesthetics result in not-to-be-missed adventures. There’s also the remake of PlayStation darling The Last of Us, and that’ll become relevant at the beginning of next year when people are wanting to replay the game before the HBO series gets started.  Couple those things with an outstanding, comfy controller and continuously reliable 4K disc playback, and you’ve got the makings of a console that’s moved ahead of the pack in desirability.

Check Price/Availability on Amazon Or Search Ben’s for PS5 Console Deals

For Fans of High-End HD Tech, Legacy Gaming, and Bethesda, Gift This.

Xbox Series X Console

Pros: 4K Gaming/Media, Multi-Gen Back Compatibility, Not THAT Big | MSRP: $499

Both primary systems have been a pain to buy over the past few years, and that conversation usually lumps the Xbox Series X and the PS5 together as simply “hard-to-find” without much need to emphasize which is more difficult. When it comes to power under the hood, the specs may give the Xbox Series X a slight processing advantage, but if they’re viewed side-by-side it’s about as close as you can get … and outside of exclusive titles and compatibility choices, there aren’t many factors giving the edge to either one. Truth be told, it’s been a quieter year on the Xbox side of things, without much in the way of attention-grabbing exclusives that might push this decision any further in their direction; heavy hitter games like Bethesda’s Starfield and Arkane’s Redfall were pushed to 2023.

Instead, the Xbox Series X continues to rely on the pillars from which it was built: rock-solid operation, stunningly up-to-date graphics, and a dedication to backwards compatibility.  While it’s true that the Xbox team halted its efforts this year to add any further backwards compatible titles, this BC dedication resulted in the current generation of Xbox consoles being able to play close to 5,000 games across the platform’s history: 600+ of them being Xbox 360 titles and several dozen being original Xbox classics. It also shouldn’t go without saying that the process of unplugging the previous generation of Xbox peripherals from the One system and reconnecting/resynching them with the new Series console is a generally seamless process, all of which makes the choice of upgrading someone’s console as a gift pretty much a no-brainer. And it’s still a perfectly fine 4K disc player, too!

Check Price/Availability on Amazon Or Search Ben’s for Xbox Series X Deals

For Those Who Want Available, Reliable, Family-Friendly Fun, Gift This.

Nintendo Switch OLED Edition

Pros: Improved, Larger OLED Screen, Metal Body, Available | Cons: $50 More | MSRP: $349

Rumors have circulated over the past 2-3 years that Nintendo might be working on a beefed-up version of their Switch console – a higher-end “Switch Plus”, if you will. Given the age of the console’s life cycle, one would expect for this to be coming in the not-so-distant future; the Switch launched in 2017, after all. Instead, what materialized is an OLED screen model of the console everyone’s come to know and love, providing a dose of disappointment to those who expected improved graphics or performance … but also a satisfying new version with improved hardware all-around.   

Released last October, the Switch OLED model obviously boasts an improved screen, jumping from a 6-inch LCD to a 7-inch OLED for improved on-the-go play. A further adjustment to this comes in the widened stand for the screen that assists with Tabletop mode, further making this an appealing portable system even in comparison to their Switch Lite models. On top of that, the OLED model doubles up on the internal storage available, giving it 64GB of available space, and encases the system in a metal alloy body. Yes, these are upgrades to a system that’s 5 years into its product cycle – the Gamecube stuck around for 6 years and the Wii U lingered for 5 – and there’s a $50 upcharge, but there are a lot of great things still going for it. For instance, the Switch library has grown into an impressive range of both Nintendo franchises and third-party heavy hitters — Skyrim, The Witcher, Dark Souls and Minecraft are all options – and the upticks in material build quality suggest forward thinking for the Switch’s future.

Check Price/Availability on Amazon Or Search Ben’s for Switch Console Deals

For Those Who Light Up at Steam Sales And Want Their PC Library Mobile, Gift This.

Steam Deck

Pros: Play Steam Game Library on Strong Mobile Device | Cons: Battery Life | MSRP: $399-649

A specific piece of equipment designed to play PC games from a user’s Steam account on-the-go isn’t the easiest sell, because you’ve got to explain why this isn’t essentially a laptop and what it does that, say, a Switch wouldn’t. Once you’ve worked yourself into the conversation and learned that the Steam Deck does exactly what’s being described, focusing on the nuts-‘n-bolts of gaming instead of other PC noise and making it straightforward to play computer games on a ready-to-go device, the question kind of answers itself. The mastermind at Steam/Valve, Gabe Newell, has stated that he’s always wanted this product as a gamer and further wanted it for PC developers, and it’s easy to see why. Broad questions like “When will this game come to consoles?” and “Why is it worth it to build a gaming PC?” could reach an end with a device like the Steam Deck that makes it all … easy.

With a processor named after one of the main characters from Final Fantasy VII, a Linux-based version of the Steam desktop client, and a team of people curating and ensuring that games are “verified” to run on the device, the Steam Deck has a lot of thought poured into its power and accessibility.  Consoles have been priced relatively affordably — $399 for 64GB of storage; $520 for 128GB; $649 for 256GB – and the anticipated delivery dates have been trimmed down to just 1-2 weeks.  There’s also a peripheral charging and connection dock now available, which makes it easier to plug-and-play the system into conventional TVs and hook up other devices via USB-C ports. If someone has ever seen a PC gamer get all googly-eyed over the prospect of the “Steam Sale” and its heaps of cheap games, and wanted to revel in the good times, the Steam Deck might just be the way they finally take the plunge.  

Click to Buy Steam Deck Or Search Ben’s for Steam Deck Deals

For Those Into Getting Lots of Gaming For Their Buck, Gift This.

Xbox or PlayStation Branded Gift Cards – Pre-Paid Subscriptions

$100 Xbox Card on Amazon $110 PS+ Wallet Funds on Amazon

There has been lots of talk over the past few years about when and how the subscription services would ultimately change, moving into their next evolutionary step as the old, simple paradigm of “free downloads + online gaming” reaches its end. Sure enough, that finally happened this year as PlayStation Plus transformed into a 3-tier subscription service: the $9.99/month tier is the “free games + online” as it’s known; the $14.99 tier unlocks a gaming library similar to Xbox’s Game Pass; and the $17.99 tier unlocks an extensive retro gaming backlog. The change isn’t as drastic, but the team at Xbox also did a bit of restructuring by scrapping any further 360 and original Xbox freebies – and backwards compatibility – while keeping the number of free titles each month to 2, doing a heavy number of the perceived value of the Gold-only tier. The two lowest $10 sub tiers are looking … old, and obsolete.

 The $15 tiers, on the other hand, have risen more and more in value, and that’s where our gift recommendation comes from this year. Instead of the year-long Gold or bottom-tier PlayStation Plus subscription cards that we’ve generally recommended here, it’s probably best to go ahead and splurge on the more expensive $15 subscription programs for either the Xbox or the PlayStation to better maximize the dollar value. The Xbox has previously made Game Pass Ultimate prepaid subs available in up to 3-month increments; PlayStation hasn’t done the same yet, but they have a clearly labeled “PlayStation Plus” digital gift card / “wallet funds”. Best bet? Find a way of wrapping up a printed Sony or Microsoft gift card for them to apply to their accounts, or just hook them up with an Amazon gift card with a specific purpose in mind (hint: they may not use it for that).

For the Gamer That’ll Appreciate a Touch of Personality and Usefulness, Gift This.

Exquisite Games “Cable Guy” Character Device Holders

Pros: Holds Controllers, Holds Cellphones, Adds Personality to Game Space | MSRP: $20-40

There are 2 aspects to these statues that’ll appeal to gamers. The first should be obvious: these are awesome ways to represent one’s fandom in a functional way. Unlike, say, Funko Pop figures that merely sit there for the sole purpose of proclaiming one’s appreciation for a franchise, these will actually hold your favorite controller and wait patiently until it’s picked up again. The designers of these products – represented here by Exquisite Gaming’s Cable Guy brand – have figured out the right height and character arm distance to comfortably hold most modern controllers, at the perfect level for maximum stability and character recognition.  Keeping controllers safe from fluids or Cheeto dust? Let Sonic or Vault Boy hold ‘em above such hazards.

The other fun aspect of these “device holders” for gamers is, perhaps oddly enough, how they also function as mobile phone stands. If the player’s trying to pull off a certain combo of skills in a fighting game (or looking at a map or tutorial), they can have Claptrap hold up their phone with the button connection loaded up on the phone screen while brawling it out on the primary one.  Or, maybe there’s a sports event on and they’d like to flip it on while in the middle of a gaming session.  Just fork it over to Spyro or Ryu to hold for a while. Yes, it’s a simple concept with other, simpler solutions, but if there’s someone in your life who even mildly appreciates one of the available popular characters – which extend beyond gaming; Wolverine, Spider-man, and  they’ll get a charge out of these device holders.  Not a literal charge, mind you: a charge cable may be included, but actual cables aren’t looped through the statue itself.

Check Price of Vault Boy on Amazon Check Price of Sonic on Amazon

For Those Nostalgic For the Retro Arcade Glow But With Limited Space, Gift This.

Arcade1UP’s CounterCade and PartyCade Models

Pros: Retro Gaming That Occupies Small Spaces | Cons: Tight Control Spaces | MSRP: Varies ($150-300)

By now, even the significant others and family members of starry-eyed gamers have probably seen a photo or video of someone who’s transformed their basement or spare room into an arcade, thanks in large part to the affordable, fit-to-scale cabinets from Arcade 1Up. They’ve made it pretty easy to replicate the lovely neon radiance in any dedicated space, but they’ve also made it possible to just slide one near full-sized arcade machine into a corner for a splash of functional enjoyment, as the Arcade 1UP machines are also significantly above-average quality than one might expect for a pint-sized replication. Thing is, even that might occupy too much for space for some, but why should they be left out of the nostalgia?

Recently, Arcade 1UP introduced something new for that crowd: their PartyCade and CounterCade line. The Countercade is somewhat self-explanatory, compacting the scale of an arcade cabinet into a structure that both fits on a countertop and captures the retro feel of old-school machines. PartyCades are slightly different but essentially go in the other direction, condensing the cabinet into a long, slim profile that can be mounted to the wall (or, with the stabilizer feet attached, also placed on a tabletop surface). Sure, these smaller retro cabinets may be getting a little brave with what they’re doing – after all, the actual games can be bought and saved on most game consoles and any PC for a fraction of the price – but these scaled-down cabinets still capture enough of that vintage magic to be worth it.

Super Pac-Man PartyCade at BestBuy NBA Jam CounterCade at BestBuy

2022 Gift Guide: Video Game Hardware and Accessories

Another year, another complicated shopping season when it comes to buying that videogame system they want wrapped up in a bow. Much like 2021, this has also been something of a brutal year for gamers because some real banger titles have hit shelves this turn around the sun. One thing separates this year from last, though: one game has absolutely dominated the gaming conversation this year, and it’s one that can be played on either of the tough-to-find systems. Elden Ring has essentially existed in the same space that Skyrim occupied in its release year almost a decade ago, becoming something close to a mainstream pop culture beacon, a real achievement for its developers and their penchant for … uh, let’s just call them tough games. But Elden Ring is far from the only exceptional game released this year.

In fact, it’s been a long time since so many tremendous titles have come out in a short time, ranging from a new God of War to long-awaited sequels and a free-roaming game where you get to play as a … cat. It honestly doesn’t get much better than that, and we’re here to take you through some of the big ones to grab for those loved ones who’ve been fortunate enough to either get one of the new systems or will be getting one this holiday season. Below, you’ll find a dozen games in our Video Game Software Gift Guide, with links leading out for easy purchases. Let’s get started.

For the Open-World and Fantasy Fanatic

You’ll notice that a few of the games in other categories throughout this gift guide could’ve also fit into this section, and that’s because the fantasy and open exploration subgenres saw a tremendous amount of action this year. The three below are bound to thoroughly tickle their fancy, though, for the breadth of their realms and the extravagance of their fantastical ambitions.

Elden Ring

• The textual world-building of George R.R. Martin comes together with the literal open world-building of now legendary developer FROM Software in the creation of Elden Ring. Much ado may have been made about this partnership before its release, potentially setting it up to be another overhyped disappointment, but what’s become obvious since release is that it wasn’t just a bunch of talk
• Players take control of a fully customizable character who chooses a class at the game’s beginning to focus their skillset, and then they embark on an action-RPG exploratory journey through the Lands Between and its focal realms. From there, those with experience with FROM’s Souls series and Bloodborne will have an idea of what to expect: the deeper the player delves into the lavish world’s many caverns, woods, dungeons, and other hazardous areas, the tougher the challenges become and the more they’ll produce helpful rewards. And boy, there’s a lot of gear available to make ‘em your own.
• FROM Software knows their reputation, though, and they found a way with Elden Ring to both make it accessible for a wider audience and preserves their signature challenge. They’ve done so by smartly crafting the fantastical atmosphere in a way that’s both gritty and mythical, making the player want to explore its nooks and crannies instead of it being a masochistic endeavor. Skyrim may provide more of a free-roaming RPG playground, but Elden Ring has taken the throne for the most multifaceted, absorbing, and rewarding playground for combat and puzzle-solving RPing.  

Click to Order on Amazon

Horizon: Forbidden West

• Horizon: Zero Dawn proved to be one of the breakout hits from the PS4 era, delivering a new franchise and heroine in Aloy that explores a unique post-event world, one where ancient machines post threats to humans of varied levels of technological advancement who have reverted to tribal dynamics.  Forbidden West takes Aloy to another region of the US on a journey that’ll save the world.
• Further west in a region in the space of California, Utah, and Nevada, the protagonist explores a beautiful, verdant, yet hostile open world populated with aggressive weather and volatile machines. In search of the source of an infectious plague and means of survival along the way, Aloy ventures beyond just land discovery this time, utilizing underwater diving and free-form rock climbing to reach the bottoms and tops of the land. Coupled with the Assassin’s Creed-meets-Batman-meets-Tomb Raider style of gameplay and light armor customization, this atmospheric expansion is most welcome.
• Where Elden Ring poses deliberately frazzling challenges, Horizon: Forbidden West lays out its more traditional open landscape as an enjoyably manageable alternative with grand storytelling, thrillingly crafted heroics and a fine heroine, despite the weird controversy before release about Aloy’s appearance. It’s a meticulously crafted sequel to the first Horizon.

Click to Order on Amazon

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands

• The Borderlands franchise features a separate one-shot DLC featuring Tiny Tina and her attempt at being a Dungeon Master (DM) for the characters in the game, transporting the player into a raucous fantasy take on the loot-‘n-shoot atmosphere of the base game. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands takes that same cheeky fantasy energy and expands it into a full shooter-RPG experience.
• With Tiny Tina again showing up to DM a round of Bunkers and Badasses, the player gains control of The Newbie as they enter a mythical realm that could morph at the whims of the storyteller. Luckily, the player can customize their character and choose a class that works best for them, and from there the summary of “Borderlands mixed with Dungeons and Dragons” begins to take shape. Either solo or in a 4-player co-op scenario, the gameplay reworks the gear system of the popular franchise into one that utilizes fantasy concepts with spell slots and melee weapons … and doesn’t take itself too seriously.
• There’s a story involved with dragon lords and swords and armies of skeletons, but the player needs to remember that there isn’t a reliable narrator here, and that’s part of the massive appeal of Wonderlands. This is Borderlands gameplay embracing a lot of the meta potential and silliness factor at its fingertips with a tabletop role-playing game, not unlike Saints Row 4 or Far Cry: Blood Dragon with how players get wrapped up in the twisted novelty and sink hours into it.

Click to Order on Amazon

For Those Who Love A Great Story Above All

Certain games don’t require a great story to be successful; conversely, there are certain gamers who don’t require a great story to enjoy their gaming entertainment. While that’s perfectly understandable, the titles below are specifically built up for their story and how it makes its audience members think and feel, sometimes sacrificing pure gaming adrenaline for the subtleties of a narrative and the invitation for the player’s input.

God of War: Ragnarok

• Old Man Kratos returns for another outing as the revamped protagonist for this retooled take on God of War, this time expanding the storytelling’s reach to all 9 realms of Norse mythology in telling a story of destiny, predetermination, and preventing the end of the world. All that alongside the continuing story of father and son against the backdrop of Norse mythology.
• God of War has had the luxury of being able to see its gameplay evolve across many titles and generations, so while Ragnarok may feel different in terms of camera angles and landscapes, it continues a similar gameplay energy of mild action-RPG systems and brisk combat as its predecessors. With Kratos’ son Atreus providing support, the duo traverse the more open-world layout of this sequel, which incorporates an increase in mini-boss challenges and allows for light gear customization.
• Most importantly, God of War: Ragnarok yearns to tell another grand, momentous story in the same vein as the other grandiose installments in the franchise, and once again the folks at Santa Monica Studio seem to have succeeded in that pursuit. Critics have so far been very kind to it, heaping almost exactly the same amount of praise on it as the 2018 reboot.

Click to Order on Amazon

The Quarry

• Supermassive Games have established themselves as one of the best in the tight gaming niche of “interactive drama and horror” titles, reaching a peak with Until Dawn several years ago and shaping their legacy with the Dark Picture Anthology. They’ve gone back to a more straightforward storytelling place with The Quarry, a tale of hunted teenagers and mysterious monsters lurking in the shadows.
• Like the studio’s other games, the experience isn’t hinged on engaging combat or other fun gameplay aspects, instead finding its satisfaction in the immersion of the storytelling and the complexity of the branching storylines and possible endings. From that standpoint, The Quarry aims to capture the tension and eeriness of classic ‘80s horror movies, incorporating a surprisingly star-studded cast of voices for the various characters in the narrative.
• What takes The Quarry to a place beyond other “interactive dramas” can be found in the technical execution from Supermassive Games, who understand how to utilize the format to maximize atmosphere, character authenticity, and ultimately dread. It’s a gaming experience that builds upon what the studio has done correctly up until now, with added bits of quality like couch co-op mode to deepen the fun with friends as each person takes control of different characters and makes choices.

Click to Order on Amazon

A Plague Tale: Requiem

• Few games have surprised with the capabilities of their setting quite like the original A Plague Tale did a few years back, discovering a way to make the medieval plague and hordes of rats into a fascinating setup for compelling stealth gameplay and harrowing dramatic horror storytelling. The gamemakers at Asobo Studio hope to sink their teeth into the concept again with a sequel, A Plague Tale: Requiem.
• Many aspects are similar from the first installment, in which the lead older sister Amicia employs stealth tactics to maneuver between locations with her brother Hugo while he, with a dose of mysticism, can intermittently gain control of waves of rats for his benefit.  In the trappings new location Provence that the developers selected to give the visual tone a livelier demeanor against the bleakness of the plague, the siblings from the first game exercise more refined versions of their skills, which opens the door for Amicia’s stealth and ranged attack abilities to be a more versatile gameplay facet.
• As with the first Plague Tale, there’s a lot of potential for heaviness in the storytelling for Requiem, hinged on the progression of disease and the unyielding protectiveness of brothers and systers. Most who’ve played it so far are more impressed with how Asobo Studio have one again brought videogame life to such a dour concept and improved upon the execution from the ground up.

Click to Order on Amazon

For Those Who Enjoy Smaller-Scale, Smaller-Price Gems

Whether you need something a little less expensive or are looking for a budget-minded stocking stuffer, these budget titles pack a lot of punch for a smaller dollar value.

Stray

• Speaking of unlikely concepts for a video game: what if all humans were stripped away from an open-world exploration environment, and instead, the player starts to control the everyday activities, puzzle-solving, and dangers of a cat? That’s exactly what happens in Stray, the latest title from BlueTwelve Studio and AnnaPurna Interactive.
• Trapped in a city where all human life has ceased to exist, only sentient robots remain, and a lethal mutated bacteria looms that can destroy both organics and synthetics, our stalwart kitty must find ways of solving puzzles to locate data banks and progress through the environment so they can get to safety. For the most part, the cat does this by leveraging its body mass and jumping from rooftop to rooftop, almost as if someone were thinking that “Assassin’s Creed, But With a Cat” was a good idea.  Turns out, they were right.
• An impeccable cyber dystopian atmosphere provides a unique backdrop for the impeccably captures motions of the cat’s movement throughout the city, and there’s certainly an interesting impetus to follow along with the story in Stray.  That said, there are certain free-roam areas in the game where you can just … waltz around and be a cat in a neon robot city, and who can argue with the splendor of that?

Click to Order on Amazon

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

• There are many older gamers out there who’ll shiver with pleasure at the mention of retro Ninja Turtles video games, whether it’s the ones at the arcade or the ones they played on home consoles. These are the people who will be elated to see that there’s a brand new game released in the exact same vein, entitled Shredder’s Revenge, but the beat-‘em-up gameplay should grab more than that.
• All it takes is a brief glance at a screenshot, let alone any gameplay footage, to see what this TMNT title’s all about, sporting the familiar looking ability for 4 players to get together, pick their favorite character, and put their talents to work against the Foot before they overtake the Statue of Liberty. The pixel art style gets the vintage feel down while also strengthening the characterizations and landscapes, and it’s bound to make any gamer who’s experienced the older titles get giddy with excitement.
• Turns out, the game doesn’t stop there.  Shredder’s Revenge allows for up to 6 players through online multiplayer, and also makes the other TMNT good guys available as playable characters. Two different modes allow for an arcade one-sitting playthrough or a story-based continuation mode, to which the second mode also incorporates side content. From the graphics to the content, there’s a lot for the inner TMNT fan to love here, and at a respectable price tag.

Click to Order on Amazon

For Those Who Relish Quality Exclusive Gaming

Keep in mind that a few other exclusives appear earlier in this list, such as Horizon: Forbidden West and God of War: Ragnarok, but here are a pair of others that’ll be sure to make the receiver feel special about having their particular system.

The Last of Us – Part 1

• Joel and Ellie’s journey through the zombie-ish infested urban landscape, in which they struggle to survive in the face of horrors both supernatural and human alike, remains one of gaming’s most consequential and emotive narratives. Now, HBO’s about to take a crack at adapting the story in a television (mini-)series format, and what better way to relive it than through a brand new remaster?
• Obviously, the fine folks at Naughty Dog have no interest in making big changes to the experience of The Last of Us, either on the gaming design front or in terms of story, so it’s easy to appreciate that yet another version of this game has been created with the though that it’ll be the definitive one, the one that’ll preserve it for another handful of graphical upgrades across generations. What they have done, however, is given the whole experience a once-over to get it in line with modern expectations, resulting in more tactile character models, tightened shooting controls, and other adjustments that abide by a clear objective: don’t alter the way it feels, because it feels right.
• Does yet another version of The Last of Us need to exist, and should it be at full price? Those questions are hard to quantify, but the time and effort spent to keep this game fresh on people’s minds in the midst of conversations about the validity of video games as art will ultimately be justified.  If you know someone who hasn’t played it, regardless of their preferred genres, it’s undoubtedly worth it.

Click to Order on Amazon

Bayonetta 3

• If there’s no such thing as bad press, then the people caught in the sphere of the release of Bayonetta 3 must’ve been quite happy. Following a long, strange saga involving the replacement of the main character’s voice actress, now we have the latest from PlatinumGames.
• With the iconic Jennifer Hale in the driver’s seat as the titular black-clad, shade-wearing witch, the third installment in the over-the-top action franchise finds Bayonetta engaged in yet another particularly crazy mission: she’s jumping between universes and looking for alternate reality versions of herself. From there, however, the game should be as comfortable as an old sweater to those with experience with the franchise, hinged on the evasive Witch Time mechanic, the summoning and cooperation of demons, and lots of Wicked Weave action.
• What ensues is yet another of the craziest franchise in gaming to date, a vibrantly colorful and unabashedly vulgar streak of decadence that’s matched only by the challenges posed by PlatinumGames’ now legendary penchant for incredibly difficult games.  

Click to Order on Amazon

For Those Who Need a Gift The Whole Fam Can Dig

Good family-friendly games are those where players both young and old can grasp the controls and

Lego Star Wars: Skywalker Saga

• Hard to believe that it’s been over a decade and a half now since Traveller’s Tales made yet another of their franchise tie-in games: LEGO Star Wars. This time would be different, of course, in that the execution of enjoyable all-aged gameplay and delightfully characterizations of the Prequel Trilogy crew would spawn a franchise and, essentially, an entirely new niche of family friendly gaming.
• As one can expect, Traveller’s Tales went down the line and covered all of what’s known as the “Skywalker Saga” – all 3 of the Star Wars trilogies – and they just kept getting more entertaining and humorous each time they went back to the well. This Skywalker Saga release brings together all those efforts into a single game package, but it’s not as simple as calling it a collection.  Traveller’s Tales have revamped the gameplay to a moderate degree, adding new point-of-view tweaks to both lightsaber wielders and those who use blasters, while also allowing players to select whichever Star Wars trilogy they’d like to begin with. The graphics are entirely new, too.
• From explorable hub worlds and mini dogfights with LEGO-ified versions of the spacecraft to a roster of 380-ish different characters to (eventually) choose from, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is absolutely loaded down with content in a very attractively spruced-up package.

Click to Order on Amazon

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope

• Quite a while before the little yellow minions were stumbling around and spouting gibberish, the Raving Rabbids from the Rayman universe were doing something quite similar, only with more effective slapstick humor. They’ve once again moved up to the big leagues by sharing a title with Nintendo’s Mario, teaming up with him for the turn-based strategy and management game Sparks of Hope.
• A sequel to Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Sparks of Hope models its combat largely off its predecessor, but it also makes a few adjustments to give the player some added freedom. Rabbid-ified versions of some of Nintendo’s signature characters get embroiled in a zany story involving flying manta rays, an ominous presence called Darkmess, and adorable little star-shaped Rabbids called Sparks that need saving. Out of a tight roster of familiar Mario and Rabbid characters, the player develops a team and progresses through obstacles and battles in charmingly over-the-top fashion.
• Critics can be tough on tactics games, especially sequels, but for the most part both players and pros seem to really appreciate the raucous attitude and addictive, accessible energy of the gameplay.   

Click to Order on Amazon

2022 Gift Guide: Video Games for the Holiday Season

All it takes is a few short months for subscription services to enact rumored, some might say “feared” choices that will pave the way for larger overhauls in the programs. The key one on the Xbox side of the coin being, of course: when will Games With Gold be phased out? For quite a while, Microsoft maintained that their original Gold subscription program would remain a component of their strategy for the foreseeable future, but that foreseeable future may be coming into sight with the elimination of legacy Xbox 360 and OG Xbox games in October as part of the subscription benefits. In contrast to the newer Game Pass titles, which remain eye-catching even if they aren’t high-profile, the energy has been dramatically slumping with what’s being offered through Game Pass – both Xbox One and legacy games – and seems to be slowing down as a way of approaching this discontinuation.

Let’s take a closer look at this month’s Gold titles and some recent Game Pass additions, but before doing so, head over and Grab a 3-Month Game Pass Ultimate Subscription to get the benefits of the Game Pass titles, the regular Gold sales, and of course online gaming.

XBOX Game Pass Ultimate — New and Upcoming

Inside

Many elements went into the success of LIMBO, the grayscale platformer from developers PLAYDEAD, chief among them being the stark shadowy aesthetic that gave it the visual tempo of a classic horror film. The studio had something to prove with their second project, though: that their talents extend beyond the slick gimmick that certainly accentuated the violence of a young, silhouetted protagonist repeatedly meeting their demise in gloomy shadows. INSIDE proves that there’s plenty more to them than that.

The second game from PLAYDEAD scraps the stark silhouettes and brings depth and dimension to their familiar side-scrolling gameplay mechanics, in which another young boy navigates a terrifying dystopian environment. While there might not be much color in INSIDE and the platform mechanics will feel similar, the sights and sounds come across very differently in this textural stream of nightmarish tableaus. Both critics and players have been absorbed by the insistently grim and grotesque experience, engaged by its tense levels and exploring interpretations of what its dual endings actually mean.  

Watch Dogs 2

Ubisoft’s first run at the Watch Dogs concept ended up being marred by potential that couldn’t quite be satisfied, delivering a surveillance tech stealth game that lacked the expected innovation and freedom boasted by its creators. Once the player cuts through those aspects, however, the overall experience delivers familiar stealth action game design with fresh tools at its disposal, eventually earning a reputation after a few years for being somewhat underrated. With expectations more in check and a list of things to improve, Ubisoft Montreal took a second crack at the concept with Watch Dogs 2.

Armed with a superior protagonist and a more engaging narrative that borrows a little from the likes of Minority Report, this sequel centers on a hacker wrongly accused of committing crimes by the predictive aspects of San Francisco’s electronic infrastructure. From there, Watch Dogs 2 takes the general outline of the first game and juices up the mission structure, the flexibility of the user interface, and the general openness of the game design. Both critics and players acknowledge the focus on those improvements while also dinging it for not refining its suspension of disbelief or not letting go of certain things that just didn’t work, landing on a generally more positive impression than the one left by the original.

Torment: Tides of Numenera

There was a glorious period in the mid-2010s where isometric RPGs made a serious run at a comeback in the absence of many other fantasy-RPing options, largely on the energy of wildly successful Kickstarter campaigns that proved the interest is still very much there. Alongside Pillars of Eternity that provides a “spiritual successor” to the likes of Baldur’s Gate, Torment: Tides of Numenera focuses on doing the same as a love letter to Planescape: Torment, concerning itself with dense, layered storytelling that molds to player choices throughout the adventure.

Taking place far into a future where civilizations have risen and fallen, Torment refocuses on the world in a less-advanced state full of scattered settlements and lingering mysteries from before the setting’s “Ninth Age”.  The protagonist has been constructed as the “vessel” for an ancient man who has discovered how to transfer consciousness from body to body, and it’s up to the protagonist to stop the chain and to defeat a force called “The Sorrow” before it consumes them both.  As expected, the narrative and choice-and-consequence versatility in Torment: Tides of Numenera have been widely celebrated and deemed worth playing for any RPG fan interested in those aspects; however, many critics and players view the clunky mundaneness of its combat and encounters as a big obstacle.

Xbox Games With Gold

For those still riding on the Gold train, we’ve got a foursome of middling, yet decent titles that can certainly be described as eclectic. Over on the Xbox One, we’ve got Calico (August 1-31), a management sim in which the player runs their own … cat café, or more accurately reconstructs one within a town and repopulates it with new furry residents. Some who might be drawn into the pastel, magical aesthetic and cat collection and management might want to give it a go, but critics and players have struggled with glitches and bugs since launch. The other title is ScourgeBringer (August 16 – September-15), a colorful and retro-infused roguelike platformer that delivers the kind of fast-paced challenge and rinse-and-repeat learning gameplay that devotees of the genres adore.

In one of the last months of legacy titles to be offered, at least Microsoft’s going out with a banger or two. This month, they’re offering folks the chance to have Saints Row 2 (August 1-15) — yes, the game that’s routinely priced lower than $5 through digital sales — ready to go on their hard-drives for free. As the middle title between the franchise’s slightly more serious first game and the balls-out humor of Saints Row: The Third (my personal favorite), the second one strikes a pretty satisfying balance between those two spectrums as it imitates the open-world gangster gameplay of Grand Theft Auto with a satirical edge. Finally, there’s Monaco: What’s Yours is Mine (August 16-31), a top-down heist management and strategy game noteworthy for being developed by the sole designer behind Pocketwatch Games.

Xbox Game Pass, Gold Freebies for August Keep Excitement on Inside

In just a few months, the PS+ program will be receiving a much-anticipated overhaul. As far as one can tell, for now, the $10 Plus subscription tier will exist as it always has as the “Essential” tier; similar things were said about keeping Xbox Live Gold alive and it’s clearly been given the cold shoulder for a while now. Then, the other new prestige tiers come into the picture. The middle-of-the-road “Extra” level obviously includes all the benefits of the baseline service, but also grants access to 400 PS4 and PS5 games to be freely downloaded. Then, the “Premium” subscription level unlocks 340 legacy PS-to-PS3 titles, cloud streaming of select PS4 and below games on PS4/5 consoles and PC, and time-limited game trails. Extra will be $14.99/month or $99.99 yearly, while Premium will be $17.99/month or $119.99 yearly.

It’s a big shift that obviously aims to directly compete with Xbox’s Game Pass in some capacity – the $15 tier lacks certain features to offer a direct comparison, while the $18 tier does a few extra things to earn the higher price tag – and I’m sure it leaves subscribers with feelings of both excitement and anxiety. The question remains: will PlayStation keep up the quality of their baseline service’s offerings for those who choose to stay at that tier? Well, if the answer lies in April’s PS+ free offerings, there’s reason to be nervous. An admittedly charming remaster of a classic franchise tie-in platformer, an aggressively poorly-received free-to-play action title, and a niche deckbuilding fantasy game doesn’t instill confidence that they’ll be upholding the base tier’s substance. But, maybe they’re holding the good stuff in the reserves for once the new PS+ framework kicks into gear.

PS5

Hood: Outlaws and Legends

With the likes of Assassin’s Creed, Thief, and other medieval stealth games being around, the absence of a good, dedicated Robin Hood game makes a lot of sense. If someone wants a theft or bow-‘n-arrow simulator, they’re able to scratch that itch in those games alongside their added storytelling differences, covering most of the simulator bases outside of embodying the actual folklore character himself.  At this point, direct comparisons would even be drawn if someone attempted a traditional third-person style of game featuring Robin Hood.

Perhaps those reasons are why Hood: Outlaws and Legends veers away from the norm. Instead of a traditional adventure game that’d essentially adapt one of the many movies about Robin Hood’s fall and rise with the Merry Men, this game from Sumo NewCastle takes an even more straightforward, purely action-based approach by pitting “Hood” and his merry team against rival thieves in a stealth-based race to steal the Sheriff’s key, raid a vault for riches before the others, and escape with the loot. In theory, this kind of light, pick-up-and-go online title that merely uses the familiar characters for a dose of flavor could work, but both critics and players alike have struggled with its shallowness, clunky controls, and monotonous mission design.

PS4

Spongebob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated

Back in 2003, Battle for Bikini Bottom suffered the fate of countless tie-in games like it, where a subpar critical reception really didn’t matter to both young and old audiences who just wanted to enjoy the characters in a videogame format.  More than that, it’s also an original story in the Spongebob world and most of the original cast voiced the characters, so fans will inherently play and at least partly enjoy the story of Plankton’s robot invasion of Bikini Bottom. Over the years, the game’s level design and attitude has invited a new outlook, and the combo of Spongebob’s fanbase and that the game has built popularity among the speedrun community – I know, right? — has given it unexpected longevity.

Is that enough to earn a remastering? The folks at Purple Lamp Studios certainly think so, and it seems as if they knew what to do to craft a satisfying “Rehydrated” version of a PS2-era title. They’ve preserved the original creative intentions and re-recorded the dialogue – the original recordings are also available; no, the missing cast members from the original didn’t come back – and they’ve specifically mirrored the feel of the controls and gravity for an authentic reconstruction with an audiovisual facelift. This will inherently make the title feel like it’s a family-friendly adventure game from the early 2000s, but it also works in overdrive to satisfy the nostalgic and the speedrunners out there.

Slay the Spire

It’s tough to strike a proper balance between the strategy, selection, and in-action combat of deck-building videogames: titles typically of the fantasy variety that incorporate a deck of “cards” as strategic special abilities to use during turn-based combat. Too much focus on the player collecting, refining, and implementing these cards could result in a decrease of momentum in the combat, whereas too little collaboration with the cards might make them feel like an unnecessary step in what’s otherwise a standard turn-based battle system.

Slay the Spire works really hard to make sure that all those elements coexist with one another for a complete, absorbing gaming experience, taking the expected but welcome paths of making it a randomized roguelike dungeon crawler. After selecting one of 4 characters, the player progresses through the spires of a castle and randomly encounters various creatures with a range of strengths of weaknesses, which the player exploits by choosing what types of attack, defense, and special ability cards to use on a turn by turn basis. Both critics and players have heaped praise upon Slay the Spire’s execution of the tricky concept in videogame form, remarking on its sneaky addictive properties despite the inherent sameness of battles and progression.

April’s PS+ Freebies Sneak, Speedrun Through Month In Leadup to June’s Big Changes

There’s a storm coming on the horizon for Xbox’s Game Pass and Games With Gold subscription service, in the form of relatively even competition in the monthly game subscription arena. By the time June rolls around, the comparisons will become much more evenly balanced. Who knows whether a new sub service arms race will kick into gear – here’s hoping both really push it to make their services extra appealing – but until then, it’s unsurprising to see the Xbox take a step back from huge titles at this point.

April is a relatively normal month for Game Pass and Gold, in which the biggest titles are an interactive adventure game and a repeat of a day-and-date sports title that came to the service last year to much more fanfare, and once again with very little attention paid to the waning Games With Gold section of the program.  Let’s take a closer look at the games, but before doing so, head over and Grab a 3-Month Subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate at Amazon.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate – New and Upcoming

Life is Strange: True Colors

The development teams at Dontnod Entertainment and Deck Nine Games have gradually crafted a franchise of meaningful interactive adventures with the Life is Strange series, which incorporate meaningful relationship, political, and sexual identity themes into alluring mysteries. Responsibility for the series moving forward seems to be in the hands of Deck Nine, though – Dontnod plunged deeper into challenging character mysteries with the middling-reviewed Tell Me Why – with Life is Strange: True Colors standing as Deck Nine’s first fresh creation independent from the established characters.  

Players gain control of Alex Chen, a young woman with supernatural “empathy” powers whose traumatic family history looped her into the foster care system, but who later gets to reconnect with her brother in the town of Haven Springs, Colorado. When her brother ends up being murdered shortly after, Alex has to use her powers to help connect with those in connection with Gabe and bring her closer to answers to what happened. Both critics and players appreciate the substance of Alex’s character, the ways that graphics and facial animations enhanced small dramatic conversations, and the intimacy of the supernatural powers, though Life is Strange: True Colors does get dinged for being too effortlessly pleasant and for the branching paths all seeming like they arrive at the same destination.

MLB The Show 2022

Last year around this time, The Show made its debut onto Xbox consoles for the very first time, marking the end of a very long exclusivity deal that kept licensed MLB simulation games locked onto its competitor’s devices. Also at this time last year, the decision was made to also include The Show 2021 through the Game Pass program, a significant move from the growing premium subscription service. With those things together, expectations naturally grew with how San Diego Studio would elevate the quality for this new generation of video game consoles.  Turns out? Not significantly enough to be celebrated by critics or players, who acknowledge its continuing high quality and lack of advancement.

Well, the folks at Xbox have once again made this year’s installment of The Show available through their subscription program, with the game arriving just in time in April for the MLB lockout to end. This iteration changes things up a bit more – a beefed-up stadium creation feature, new play-by-play announcers pulled from ESPN Radio, an expanded version of the shorter career mode – but for the most part critics and players acknowledge that the gameplay’s about the same as it was from the previous iteration.  This isn’t a bad thing exactly, as it remains a deep, engaging and up-to-date sim that can scratch the itch either for a quick game or a lengthy customized career experience.

Weird West

As players continue to get the itch to run through a new Fallout experience – one that isn’t online, mind you – they continue to pursue alternatives, whether it’s similar first-person survival exploration games or top-down, storytelling-rich dystopian RPGs in the vein of Wasteland 3 or Disco Elysium. Weird West, the debut title from WolfEye Studios made up of creative heads from Arkane Studios, aims to tap into the attitude of the latter with some of the vigorousness of the former. The key difference? If you screw up in this warped frontier, you might not be able to fix it.

Weird West allows the player to explore a dark western landscape and gives them the freedom to interact with the environment in a multitude of ways, though the gameplay itself hinges on twinstick shooting action that’s faster-paced and more reactive than similar isometric games. Certain aspects are randomized in the world, yet if something’s destroyed or killed, it stays that way in the game.  That can also apply to the player character, as there’s also a permadeath mode available.  As with many games from this subgenre, both critics and players heap praise upon the world-building, character interactions, and the ambitions of the gameplay systems in Weird World, but have taken issue with the execution of the gameplay and aesthetics, leading to imbalanced RPing and polarizing combat through tech issues.

F1 2021

The most recent season of F1 racing turned out to be one of the most high-stakes and controversial on the books, which was already made complicated by the cancellations of several races due to the pandemic. There’s obviously no way for the team at Codemasters to predict the future when developing their videogame adaptation of F1’s 2021 season, so this title ends up being unique in a bunch of ways, most prominently in the fact that players are still able to engage in the races that were cancelled in Australia, Canada, Japan and China.

On top of that, F1 2021 is also noteworthy for being the first title released after EA acquired Codemasters and took over publishing duties. The move didn’t seem to hamper the developer’s ambitions for this latest title, though, as the inclusion of new career storytelling, multiple player modes, playable professionals, and improved graphics bring the franchise into the new console generation with a fresh coat of paint and a few new parts under the hood. It’s what folks have come to expect from Codemasters, though, and hope to continue expecting it from them in the years to come.

Xbox Games With Gold

The Games With Gold aspect of the subscription service remains a footnote, unfortunately, sporting 2 Xbox One titles and 2 legacy Xbox titles that generate very little enthusiasm for a download … yet still hold some mild intrigue for the fastidious subscriber. Over on the Xbox One, there’s Another Sight (April 1-30), a puzzle-platformer about a blind girl and her cat as they use their strengths and weaknesses to get through challenging environments. While it earned praise for a unique concept, it doesn’t offer enough focused execution or challenge to be regarded as highly as others. Then there’s HUE (April 16 – May 15), another puzzle platformer that merges gameplay concepts from the likes of Outland and Braid, creating a silhouetted play experience based on how the player changes the background shade and interacts with it. Players and critics have been warmer to HUE, praising its aesthetic and polished execution.

On the legacy Xbox side of things, there’s Outpost: Kaloki X (April 1-15), in which the player gets to channel their inner Elon Musk and dream up new living space stations in a fashion similar to SimCity. The more revenue generated by the type of station created by the user, the more they can expand and improve, and the better they can balance their resources.  The other title is MX vs ATV Alive (Apri; 16-30), a middling-reviewed dirt bike and 4-wheeler racing game that players and critics have dinged for being a superficial title that’s got extreme racing across a limited number of courses and little else.

April’s Xbox Game Pass, Gold Newcomers Not Putting On a Big Show

In a now rare example of a high-profile gaming studio coming through in the face of massive hype and pressure, FromSoftware’s Elden Ring continues to captivate video game audiences nearly two months after release, and doesn’t show any signs of that going away any time soon. Those who enter the open, captivatingly unguided realm of the Lands Between remain immersed in both the quality and frustrations of the fantasy dungeon crawling, so much that attention largely fell away from other releases in March … and will likely continue to do so in April. Instead, the spring month embraces the arrival of baseball season and sports activities, as well as a remake of a classic rail horror shooter and a full gathering of arguably the most popular of the LEGO releases to date.  Let’s take a look at the games.

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga — April 5 (PS4,5; XBox O/S/X; Switch; PC)

Most people remember the first time they saw or played the new generation of LEGO games. Sure, other LEGO-themed titles were released prior to this, but it’s hard to forget what it was like seeing the block versions of Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and the rest of the cast of the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy come to life through a straightforward, family-friendly, yet exciting and fun game. Regardless of how one feels about those movies, the pure joy of LEGO Star Wars became a staple among gamers who interact with younger players or those who just don’t play a lot of games, to such a degree that the folks at Traveller’s Tales have turned the concept into a template for dropping countless other franchises into the same third-person action gameplay.

After a long wait from numerous delays, Traveller’s Tale is finally releasing The Skywalker Saga, completing the series of films in the LEGO format with adaptations of The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, while also revamping the other seven installments into an entirely “new” game. The studio has also juiced up the gameplay, adding more interesting lightsaber and force battle commands to liven up the game for those who’ve likely already hammered through it before. The Skywalker Saga also allows for players to start at whichever cluster of Star Wars movie adaptations they liked to play at, so if they want to begin with the Original Trilogy – or even straight up avoid the Prequel Trilogy – they can do so. Skywalker Saga seems engineered to be more of a gamer’s game without sacrificing its accessibility.

Order LEGO Skywalker Saga at Amazon

MLB The Show 2022 — April 5 (PS4,5; XBox O/S/X; Switch)

For many years, one of the surprising and enduring sports exclusives across video game consoles was the officially licensed baseball simulator and its home on PlayStation. While other, arguably superior baseball games emerged on the other consoles – Super Mega Baseball gradually transformed from a riot bobblehead baseball game to a surprisingly deep and engaging sim – there was only one way fans could play with the stars of the MLB. That is, until 2021 and the lapsing of the exclusivity agreement, which finally brought The Show to Xbox One an Xbox Series X. There was freshness and excitement there, and with that also came new aspects to the game, like stadium creation.

Now that the shock and enthusiasm has settled, MLB The Show 2022 has to show that they can keep the energy going by adding and improving upon the formula instead of letting it grow stale and repetitive. For starters, this iteration comes with brand new play-by-play commentators, with Jon Sciambi and Chris Singleton from MLB on ESPN Radio taking over duties, and it also receives interface changes to the stadium creation feature and expands the non-Franchise career mode, March to October, to last multiple seasons. There’s little denying that on paper, MLB The Show 22 isn’t a dramatic change over the previous year’s version, so it’ll be up to gameplay stability and the minor tweaks to earn its keep.  

Order MLB 2022 The Show at Amazon

House of the Dead: Remake — April 7 (Switch)

Ever since 1996, the folks at SEGA have kept a steady stream of titles coming out from the House of the Dead franchise, whether it’s the arcade-based rail lightgun games or spinoffs that include the fast-paced, oddly popular Typing of the Dead reimagining of the core titles. While there’s something resembling a narrative connecting the game and driving the players through the experience, the fun obviously rests in the blitzed action of the on-rails shooting, though alternate endings do crop up based on how many zombies the player’s killed and what pathways they decide to take throughout the titles. Interest in the House of the Dead franchise saw some revitalization with the compilation of House of the Dead 2 and 3 released on the Wii, which made ample use of the Wii-Mote motion controls and the Wii Zapper.

Since, however, the House of the Dead franchise has stagnated – partially due to the lack of interest in on-rails shooters – leaving the world without a new proper game for about a decade. The optimistic designers at Megapixel Studios aim to rejuvenate interest in the concept with a hard remake of House of the Dead, and it remains to be seen exactly how successfully it can be reconstructed AND appeal to modern gaming audiences. Part of that will largely fall on the success of the motion controls: obviously the graphics will be overhauled to such a degree that the game will be near unrecognizable, but the fluidity of the aiming and shooting in the modern era of VR and motion controls will make or break it.

Order House of the Dead: Remake at Amazon

Nintendo Switch Sports — April 29 (Switch)

The Wii ended up being one of the more unique video game console success stories: it released numerous popular games that used its innovative motion controls across heavy-hitting franchises, yet the most essential of them all came with the system itself at launch. Regardless of the games that were either bought with the system or given as gifts during that chaotic holiday season, every Wii came bundled with Wii Sports, and that alone proved to be enough for many. From baseball and golf to boxing, tennis, and the ever-popular bowling, the game managed to get people moving and redefine what party games were like, positioning the Wii as a console everyone wanted to own alongside their other hardware.

Obviously the Switch has been out for a long time now and has built its own popularity, so it’s not likely that the newest version of the motion control sports compilation, Nintendo Switch Sports, will capture quite the same popularity. It does, however, know what it’s doing in terms of capturing the original enthusiasm generated by Wii Sports and adding innovations with new sports. Those looking to get in some frames of bowling and volley the tennis ball around will once again be able to do so – unfortunately, boxing isn’t making a comeback – while the addition of a leg strap makes soccer possible alongside new Joy-Con motion games volleyball and badminton. It’ll take some real mistakes with the motion controls to keep Switch Sports from once again becoming immensely popular.

Order Nintendo Switch Sports at Amazon

Also available this month are a number of under-the-radar ports of some classic games, such as Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition for Xbox, PS4, Switch, and PC on April 7 and The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe for just about every current modern console on April 27. The Switch continues its theme of Star Wars and zombies this month with ports of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed on April 20 and Zombie Army 4 on April 26, while the Switch and PlayStation finally gain access to the unexpected hit action-fantasy dungeon crawler Nobody Saves the World on April 14. Finally, those starving for new horror titles will be able to check out the survival title Chernobylite on April 21 and the battle royale tabletop adaptation Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodhunt on PS5 and PC on April 27.

April’s New Video Games: Jedis, Zombies, and SPORTS

To say that February’s a big month for video games would be an understatement, so it stands to reason that gaming subscription services like PS+ would keep from including high-profile free games in their monthly offerings since they’ll likely get overlooked anyway. All points considered, however, this still ends up being a pretty brave month in terms of what they’re offering and an inability to offer them later, from a noteworthy recent sports title – one that’s essentially locked into being a freebie on the competition’s service — to the precursor-slash-inspiration game behind one of the larger titles to be released in March. Let’s take a closer look at what’s in store, but before doing so, remember to head over and Grab a 1-Year Subscription to PlayStation Plus at Amazon.

PS5

Planet Coaster: Console Edition

Despite having the name “coaster” in the game’s title, Planet Coaster shares just as much in common with the classic SimCity games of yesteryear as the outlandish ride creation game Rollercoaster Tycoon. While this game does allow for the player to cook up elaborate, chaotic coasters, there’s an entire other side of this management and creation sim that’s far more laid-back, relaxing, and therapeutic in tone, found in how the player designs their ideal theme part to accommodate for guests. In Planet Coaster, the player can really invest themselves in the minutiae of the park’s aesthetics, from the color of booths and types of light sources for ambience to the placement of benches, bathrooms, and garbage cans.

Sure, there’s also aspects of this in Rollercoaster Tycoon, but it’s hard to ignore how the semi-realistic 3D graphics of Planet Coaster lend themselves to being incredibly enjoyable through the lens of someone who’s lovingly crafting their ideal theme park. The general tone of Rollercoaster Tycoon comes across as keeping guests satisfied enough so they’ll stay engaged with the outlandish coasters being created, whereas Planet Coaster’s first priority seems to center on providing a satisfying amusement park atmosphere and then building the rides that “fit” said atmosphere, similarly to fitting bigger structures into a smaller developing city in SimCity. Obviously, the comparisons are tough to avoid as Planet Coaster has been labeled the unofficial successor of Rollercoaster Tycoon by both players and critics, and this Console Edition tries admirably to bring the mouse-and-keyboard intentions to the PS5 … with mixed results, in terms of control user-friendliness.

PS4

Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep

It’s a big deal when a piece of spinoff downloadable content for a base game makes the transition into being a standalone downloadable title, as was the case with Far Cry: Blood Dragon and Red Dead Redemption’s Undead Nightmare. But it’s an even bigger deal when the content’s so appealing and holds so much potential that the creators decide that the DLC isn’t enough, and it deserves further development into its own full-scale game. Saints Row IV is kinda-sorta an example of this, where a piece of fleshed-out DLC skipped the add-on phase and became its own thing. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands occupies yet another area, though: it’s a full-sized game that takes the concept of the spinoff DLC, a wild high-fantasy extrapolation from the looter shooter Borderlands, and develops it into a standalone campaign.

So, what’s it about Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep that makes it so appealing? For starters, it takes the general dungeon-crawling and loot-management joys of Borderlands and transforms them into something much more literally inspired by tabletop RPGs, as audience favorite character Tina get the Vault Hunters together to play “Bunkers and Badasses” – yes, Dungeons and Dragons – after the events of Borderlands 2, with her as the dungeon master. The perspective then shifts from the post-apocalyptic wasteland setting to a full-fledged fantasy realm, and you gain control of one of six premade characters that have modified, wacky weapons and abilities to confront a new roster of dark and whimsical baddies. With Tina as narrator and game master, Assault on Dragon’s Keep becomes a fantasy spin on Borderlands of which players couldn’t get enough, hence the coming full-sized game.

UFC 4

What started as a wacky, taboo cage-fighting event in the early ‘90s — probably orchestrated to capitalize on the popularity of Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter, as well as of Bloodsport and Kickboxer playing on cable all the time — has transformed into a highly authentic, skill-based combat sport. UFC stands as the legitimized face of mixed martial arts, where methods of essentially any hand-to-hand combat discipline are allowed in bouts so long as they follow within the sport’s carefully crafted loose ruleset, ranging from wild punching and kicking strikes to grueling wrestling and grappling. There’s still a “wild west” aspect to the matchups based on the range of disciplines, but between rules, weight classes, and the competitive tactics that consistently work in the octagon, UFC has moved almost entirely away from shock value and into the space of competitive sport.  Almost, as fighter personalities are still key.

Therefore, one shouldn’t go into the UFC games with the expectation that it’ll control like a traditional arcade fighting game, as it’s just as important to get the technical aspects of the sport right as it is to make the fights exhilarating to play. Past installments have struggled with this balance, but UFC 3 and now UFC 4 seem to have gotten much closer to the sweet spot, telegraphing the intense striking and grappling of the sport in a polished and entertaining package.  Critics are quick to point out that while UFC 4 tightens up the gameplay and delivers one of the better MMA games out there, it still leaves a lot of room for improvement, especially in the more technical submission and ground aspects of fights. Players, on the other hand, expressed their distaste for advertisements and copy-and-paste game design between UFC 3 and UFC 4 (not unlike Madden), knocking the franchise on the ground and in trouble.

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