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Atari has returned to their classic Haunted House game with a major facelift and other than the story it doesn’t resemble the original title.

When Atari isn’t Recharging their classic titles they are doing them again from the ground up and that’s what they’ve done with Haunted House. You play as Lyn, a female teen who’s uncle has vanished inside this haunted place and you’ve been tasked by one of the many ghosts to find him but also put together a magic vase that will entrap the other restless spirits. The game features procedurally generated stages so no two runs will be the same. As you complete objectives you move from room to room collecting powerups and solving puzzles to unlock the next door. Guided by a friendly ghost, you must use the tools he provides to disable and eliminate the other ghosts. From what I’ve played, this is the ONLY friendly ghost in the game. Each time Lyn is knocked out, the game starts over with an entirely new map, so try not to let that happen.

Gameplay looked like you were playing through the old Scooby Doo cartoons but with actual ghosts instead of people wearing costumes. The scare factor is minimal so this is one that can be enjoyed with the family as I wouldn’t consider the jumpscares to be jumpscares. Sure a ghost may jump out of a painting or two and try to grab you but the surprise is minimal. Controls are simple to learn but the tutorial feels like it takes longer than necessary because of this. The graphics for this remastered Atari classic look better than any recent remaster or recharged title I’ve seen with vibrant colors and immense details. The stealth mechanics are great without feeling overpowered as are the flashlight combat ability. Overall we found the game far exceeded our expectations and look forward to playing it again.

From the mind of Yu Suzuki, creator of iconic titles like Virtua Fighter 4, Out Run, Hang On and Afterburner (to name a few), he is back with his latest creation- Air Twister!

Yu Suzuki is known as the creator of so many gaming classics it’s unreal. These include Virtua Fighter 4, Out Run, Afterburner and even Shenmue. Teaming up with ININ, the genius behind Space Harrier has returned for Air Twister. I have not played a game like Space Harrier or Afterburner since the 80’s and they were awesome. Still are. You can’t convince me otherwise. Air twister plays EXACTLY like Space Harrier, only real difference if you play a female fighter that rides a giant swan to battle. Odd choice, sure, but epic all the same. I’m referring to mechanics and gameplay of course but that doesn’t mean you won’t have anything new to enjoy.

Compared to Space Harrier, the graphics have been massively improved, while keeping to the classic gameplay that will have us 80’s gamers cheering. The one thing I don’t remember from Yu’s older titles was the ability to target-lock on your enemies and this time we have it. It works surprisingly well albeit a little slower that you would like compared to how fast some of the enemies move. Controls are fluid and so simple that without playing a tutorial you’ll have the commands down almost instantly. There’s not much to talk about in terms of story as the game is almost entirely traveling from area to area and killing enemies and that’s enough. I was literally telling some friends about wanting to play Space Harrier again but with modern graphics and this is the EXACT experience I was looking for. If you’ve played any of Yu Suzuki’s classics and enjoyed them or looking for a bit of the familiar the this game is a must for you. May your aim be true and your foes fall at your feet.

Check out the official trailer below:

Dreamworks and GameMill have teamed up once again to deliver a racing game that uses only their vast intellectual properties with Dreamworks All-Star Kart Racing!

Racers, are you ready? GameMill and Dreamworks sent us a copy of their new All-Star Kart Racing game that exclusively uses many of the Dreamworks characters we know and love. Some of those characters include the Trolls, Hiccup, Po and Donkey, just to name a few. It even has BOTH Boss Babies. All kart racing games can’t help but the classic and wildly popular Mario Kart franchise. There’s no point avoiding it but we’ll keep it to a minimum.

Like many racing titles you start with a list of characters and vehicles, more are available to unlock though by playing challenges or races. Most of the achievements are lifetime gameplay based where some are based on completing specific challenges. For the most part those challenges are mostly default matches where you must win the race AND usually perform a specific goal. For example one of the challenges you play as Puss in Boots and must perform 15 trick jumps and win. As long as you followed the tutorial and hit the magic paths this shouldn’t be too difficult- unless you land the jumps out of bounds. I did that a bunch and took me several tries to complete it.

Visually the game is solid but shines when the effects and magic paths are flying everywhere. Most games force the AI to stick to the prescribed track but this one sends them down the secret and magic paths, giving them an edge that increases the challenge without unfairly boosting their stats. That means improving your own skills will be important. Controls are a little sticky at times and lack the sensitivity needed to weave around some of the cars but the controlled drift mechanics help by adding boosts once you learn to use them regularly. Overall this was a solid contender because of the IP and details in the stages but lack the polish and battle modes of Mario Kart. If you are looking for a racing-centric kart game or don’t really enjoy the battle then this will be perfect for you but if you want something to rival MK then this one is the closest we’ve had but still falls short.

Dreamworks and GameMill have partnered together to release Trolls Remix Rescue, an adventure game through the vibrant world of the Trolls.

Just in time for the upcoming Trolls film, Dreamworks and GameMill have partnered to release Trolls Remix Rescue. You start the game by choosing or creating your own custom Troll and after grabbing your headphones you are ready to show off your DJ skills. Like any Troll custom you must complete a dance battle before you can show your music skills. Those familiar with films will instantly recognize the game’s villain- Chaz the smooth jazz troll. Even in the films and show Poppy was always quick to forgive and forget. Chaz has convinced her that he lost his mojo and wants to play music at the Pop Troll’s music festival to try to find it. He then uses smooth jazz to brainwash all of the trolls but you, because you are the only one wearing headphones.

Both films had some of the best graphics I’ve ever seen in an animated film and as such my expectations were a little high. Sadly the game fell short in a big way there. The water effects were quite similar to those in the films but the glare at times was too intense that my kids had to leave the room as it was giving them a headache using the default settings. The story feels like it is truly from the same world as Poppy and her crew but the graphics just fail to live up to the same quality. Controls are simple to learn for an adult but mastering some of the combos with the unforgiving nature of some of the enemies can be overwhelming for a child. The game quickly became too difficult for my 8-year old daughter. Overall I enjoyed the game but I think the controls made it too difficult for my children to enjoy for their overall experience. Basically the best options if your kids want to play is to play for them and have the younger ones watch.

Murder is Game Over is murder mystery title from Ratalaika Games the features a detective and his dog but they aren’t part of Mystery Inc.

Ratalaika Games brings another graphics-nostalgia title with Murder is Game Over. You play as Detective Guy and his dog Cleo. You’ve both been summoned to a castle in rural Vermont to investigate the murder of a famous game designer. This is the first of three games in the franchise and the first to come to consoles. The copy provided to us for our review was for the Xbox One Series X.

As you play the game you can swap between Guy and Cleo on the fly. This is essential to the gameplay because when questioning suspects you need to be in control of Guy and when looking for clues you need Cleo. Hidden throughout the map are not just clues but also doggy bags. To get the best ending you need to find all thirty doggy bags and as long as you do most of your walking as Cleo you won’t have trouble finding them all. There is also a hidden treasure you might find that helps towards finding the true ending as well. The officer on scene tells you at the start to return to her when you are ready to make an arrest but you are blocked from doing so until you find all the clues.

Once you have all the clues you go through a list of the suspects and their motives, like watching Hercules Poirot or Sherlock, as you explain why each suspect couldn’t have done it and then in detail explain who the real culprit was. There are a few missable achievements so I suggest reviewing the descriptions FIRST. The two easiest are petting the cat and finding the bear in the woods.

Visually the game looks and feels like the classic Zelda: A Link to the Past. The controls are simple and work well with the game. The overall experience interesting. The story begins with an excessive amount of dialogue that must be read and is quite dry. I admit that I was tired when I started and fell asleep during the intro twice (at least). Once I got control of the character tough and started interacting with the story it started to pick up and kept me awake until completing the game in a single sitting. The complete story and the whodunit at the end made it worth the experience and overall I enjoyed the game, I just suggest not being sleepy when you start it because you might have some difficulty at the start.

The Behemoth has released their first title in 7 years and takes them back to their roots with Alien Hominid Invasion.

Each game from The Behemoth has brought an entirely different playstyle to gaming compared to their other titles, each bringing their own unique experience. Alien Hominid was a side-scrolling action game. Castle Crashers was a Streets of Rage style brawler featuring adorable knights. Battle Block Theater was a hybrid of the side-scrolling action game that place major focus on level building. Pit People was the most recent release that took the Behemoth art style and applied it to tactics gameplay. Each game after the original Alien Hominid featured easter eggs from the prior games. All of their titles are known for their sophomoric humor, like the diarrhea deer or guns that shoot blobs that sound like wet farts. Alien Hominid Invasion though is the first time they have returned to one of their game worlds for a second helping. This time is a little different though.

Both Alien Hominid Invasion and the original allowed you to play as a small yellow alien that causes incalculable damage. You face off against members of the FBI and all manner of machines, each drawn in an adorable manner. For the old school players this is essentially Contra on a kilo of speed but instead of playing a human commando, you are an Alien that is fighting the FBI and the mad science of Doctor Robotnik. The original was by far the hardest run and gun title I’ve ever had the pleasure to play.

What makes this game really stand it, besides the vibrant art work and plethora of customization options, is that the game has a variable difficulty. The longer you play, the harder the game gets. As the difficulty ramps up the visuals get absolutely insane. There were several moments I thought it would be too much and the game would start lagging. It never did. The Behemoth has yet to make a game that wasn’t worth the price tag and they aren’t starting now. If you like the run and gun format or their art style you will love this one!

The Kingdom franchise from Fury Games takes on it’s newest, and most unique, genre yet- the 80’s in Kingdom Eighties.

As one would expect, Kingdom Eighties is the latest edition of the Kingdom franchise from Fury Games and is based in the 80’s. That means no cell phones, playing outside and lots of neon. Feels like home, even though I have trouble disconnecting from my devices. Just like in the eighties, as a kid, if you went anywhere without your parents it was on a bicycle and in this game it is no different there. The overall aesthetic feels very much like you are living/playing within the right-side up version of the Stranger Things world. Maybe it’s just the eighties vibe or the fact that everyone uses bikes. Either way I got major Stranger Things vibes. My question is, was that intentional or a happy accident?

Mechanics are quite simple utilizing very limited buttons that repeat the same command for various results. Graphics are simple but draw you in with either eight or sixteen bit character models but a world that is much heavier in pixels, resulting in detailed environments that can distract from the action at times. Especially the reflection on the water.

The game follows your rise to power as you fight to protect the town from the Greed. You don’t have to do it alone either. Using kids to farm and build for you, there are also three members of your party the come to aid you along the way.

Overall I found the game to hit the nostalgia buttons in all the right ways while mixing in the new. Having never played a Kingdom game before I didn’t know was to expect and was pleasantly surprised by how simple and enjoyable the game was.

Usachev Nikolai and USANIK STD have published Fusion Paradox, a roguelite bullet hell where you must take on a goddess of war and her minions.

The Supernatural Threat Reduction Agency, in Fusion Paradox, discovers an entombed woman who was laid to rest with a spear. Naming her after a war goddess, she soon wakes and enthralls everyone but you and the AI that guides you. The AI tasks you with defeating your fellow Agents in order to defeat her, each death bringing you closer to winning but unleashing further hell. You must rely on quick reflexes to avoid the seemingly unending waves of bullets so you can reach the goddess and end her reign. The AI starts you through some basic training, teaching you to dodge, switch polarity and even teleport. The polarity is a great feature, adding a unique mechanic that forces you to swap between different colors to defeat matching enemies. If the enemy is blue, you need to be blue. Yellow to defeat yellow. With a tap of a button you can toggle between the two.

Graphically the game looks similar to other indie titles like Crossyroad with that chunky block style. The “bullets” shine bright, almost neon at most times. This makes spotting them easier but due to their speed it isn’t much easier to avoid. Those are flying fast and often, hence the labeling bullet hell. Controls are simple to get down but remembering some of the abilities like dodging or teleporting are difficult to remember when the bullets are unleashed. The story is rather straight forward, nothing terribly original but not overly played out either. If I wasn’t prone to panic in bullet hell styled situations I wouldn’t die so often so patience is key. Overall, it was a difficult but enjoyable experience.

Airo Games and Daedelic Entertainment are the team behind Life of Delta, a post-apocalyptic tale of a robot searching for his surrogate father.

Airo Games designed Life of Delta and Daedalic Entertainment published. The story focuses on a robot, Delta, who was scheduled for decommissioning but was saved before he was destroyed. He was saved by a robot that then treated him like his son, but the fairytale doesn’t last as the father is taken. The abductors took him in hopes of finding the robot main character, never realizing you were hiding in a cabinet near the door where they were standing.

Once the captors have left, you crawl out of your hiding spot and start your quest to find him. First though is to recharge. There are multiple puzzles at the start with very littler instruction. The complexity of them, like using the radio waves to determine the combination of the lock, were quite ingenious. The game was surprisingly light in terms of a tutorial and that honestly made the puzzles much more rewarding. You and your character are discovering this world together and like the real world, it is void of instructions. The fact that all of the puzzles require some actual thought to figure out instead of just giving you the answers make finding the solution so much more rewarding.

The art style is a beautiful blend of robotics and nature as it grows over the world that was. Controls are quite simple as a point and click adventure but on consoles the pointer lacks the finesse of a mouse. Hitting the exact button or item on the screen can be quite frustrating because of this. The story was intriguing but not enough to make the clunky controls worth the effort. Overall I would love to spend more time exploring the world itself but the controls made this a hard pass.

Hero Survival is a top-down shooter where you fight hordes of movie monsters from the team at PigeonDev, creators of Paladin Dream and Kill Fish.

You have been transported into the video game world of Hero Survival at the hands of an evil wizard. This wizard wants nothing more than to use his army of monsters to kill you but that doesn’t mean you have to let him. You control one of nearly a dozen heroes to take on the hordes, each with their own perks. As you slaughter the monsters, you earn experience points and eventually level up.

Each time you level up you unlock a skill or item/weapon. These range from improving your attack or damage to a temporary boost your skills. You also collect various weapon options that are randomly chosen like a knife or a sniper rifle. The downside is that you are only able to carry four weapons at a time. Choosing the right weapons and items can mean the difference between life and death. Imagine how easy this game would be if you could carry more than four though, it would be bonkers but I expect a ton of fun. After enough mayhem you will eventually have to fight the devil to unlock the next world/level. I have never survived long enough for this to happen.

Utilizing 8-bit graphics, the game looks quite simple but with the sheer mayhem and number of sprites on screen at the same time, I imagine this was a necessity for system resources. Controls are simple but with all the enemies appearing all the time there is still a significant challenge. If you enjoy games with a simple concept, easy to play but still challenge you at every step you will definitely enjoy this one.