The Legend of Bum-bo | Another Man's Trash Is ...

Nicalis, in the not so distant past, has moved from their traditional dungeon crawling formula presented in 'The Binding of Isaac' to a more stylized 3D puzzle matching game in the prequel that is "The Legend of Bum-Bo'. This prequel of sorts which was originally released on PC comes complete with a new protagonist, and a new plot alongside turn based RPG mechanics. We are introduced briefly through animated cutscenes to the crudely spoken Bum-Bo who is actually a literal bum. He is a squatter living in a cardboard box outside of a house on a hill with nothing but a bag of trash, and a coin to his name. As fate would have it the monster residing in the house comes calling for Bum-Bo's coin. Making a dive into a nearby hole in the ground with Bum-Bo in hot pursuit. As with Isaac's descent into the demon plagued basement of his home Bum-Bo too faces similar foul fiends in the deep down below. From the decrepit turdlettes to the bigger and badder bosses he must use his trash bag contents to deal with the deadly, and devious denizens.

Disgaea 6 Complete | A Story Of Hope

Formerly known as "Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny" this complete port for the PS4 is a long time coming for fans of the series. It contains all character DLC, all the cosmetics, and new color palettes for customization. That and better graphics than the former Switch version. Intact is all of the game's main plot, and premise as well as the returning 'Super Reincarnation' mechanic tied to the main zombie underling, Zed. 

Zed, his frankensteined pug pal Cerberus, and a whole host of other quirky fun loving characters join his fight against the God of Destruction and the tyrannical overlords. Zed, himself, embodies the fight against all odds. A never give up, and never surrender attitude. By repeatedly doing the damage that he can, dying in the midst of battle, and being born again to repeat the process he whittles away at the competition with increasing strength. Forfeiting stats, and transporting to new worlds as he does so. Still with his mind set on the prize.

Pocky & Rocky Reshrined | PS4

Beautiful, and brutally challenging is the return of this retro classic. In the way of remasters it is more than an HD upgrade this time around, and by design features stage elements not seen in the original 80's arcade release. The game I speak of is none other than "Pocky & Rocky Reshrined". Formerly known in the East as "Kiki KaiKai". At heart it stays true to that original, and is still a manually driven shooter with multi-directional aiming. You take control of one of 5 characters that are gradually made playable, and available through Story mode progression. Each with their own take on gameplay mechanics, and involvement in the unfolding plot. This includes the titular shrine maiden Pocky, and her Tanuki partner Rocky. 

While minding the shrine one day, under a treaty of peace with the local Yokai and the fabled Gods of Fortune, Pocky's shrine maintenance is interrupted by a worried Rocky. Rocky comes calling with news of the Gods having broken the peace treaty. To figure out what's going on Pocky, and Rocky head out to deal with the problem. Unveiling in the process a hooded mystery man who seems to be the culprit ...

Rainbow Laser Disco Dungeon | Nintendo Switch Review

Playing out like a sentient AI's wet dream, 'Rainbow Laser Disco Dungeon' sees you combating a robot army in the year 2084 that has conquered mankind, and is hellbent on outlawing music and dance. A tool which the rebellious Dr. Dysco has weaponized for use against them. You play as a lone disco dancer sent forth to rescue said doctor so that the rainbow laser in his possession can be put to use. Using rhythm and guns you dance, and blast your way through a labyrinth of trap laden, and robot infested rooms which hold the keys to the exit as well as Dr. Dysco himself. 

As the music plays on shuffle so too do the pulse pounding techno-trance beats in sync with all of the moving parts of the elaborately constructed dungeon. Robots shoot to the rhythm, move to the rhythm, and supposing you can keep the beat better than them, will die by the rhythm. Disco dancing, as it were, is your and mankind's only hope for survival.

THE ORIGIN: Blind Maid | PS4 Review

Taking a new angle on survival horror, and mixing it loosely with the Paraguayan folklore tale of La Llorona, the developer Warani Studios, tries through "The Origin: Blind Maid" to earn the respect of genre enthusiasts. Blending the likes of the latest first person Resident Evil titles with alchemist elements, gun play, and modern day sleuthing the pulse pounding action comes to life. Following the lead character, which is a trope in the La Llorona cinematic tales, we find a corrupt Governor of Spanish descent who is running from justice for an undisclosed crime. 

Taking off with a hired hand he hits the road only to find himself in a waking nightmare in the middle of nowhere. The only tools for survival are his smartphone which lights the darkened pathways, some stress pills, and whatever he can find along the way to aid in his escape. Hints on where to go comes initially from tailing the runaway hired hand, Locating a map, and picking up clues that are haphazardly strewn about in the form of paper items, triggered events, and even paranormal recordings called Psychophonies which can be listened to through your headset as if you were the partially deaf protagonist, and be played back to decipher audio clues from key points of interest. It's a mixed bag of survival horror, the supernatural, and endurance elements. Complete with a crafting system, and tacked on corruption level based upon good or bad deeds rendered.

Spacewing War | PS4 Review

What do you get when you mix a side-scrolling shoot'em up, and a 2D puzzle platforming experience from the early Gameboy generation? Spacewing War!!! In a nutshell Spacewing War is exactly that. It is a low-rez horizontal shmup with platforming elements. In the game you pilot what amounts to Earth's last hope against an invading alien army. It seems an alien race who has polluted their own asteroid of a planet to the point of toxicity spotted Earth with hungry eyes. As one looking to escape planetary demise would do the aliens in question make a b-line to Earth in hopes of conquering it, and making it their new home. Humanity won't stand idly by though, and will send their finest to fight the threat ... 

Wonder Boy Collection | PS4 Review

ININ Games, and Ratalaika's joint venture into the world of Wonder Boy is a bold attempt at bringing back the series classics in their truest form with additional settings, and features not available in those initial releases. The collection itself consists of four titles. This includes Wonder Boy, Wonder Boy In Monster Land, Wonder Boy In Monster World, and Monster World IV. The collection of games housing, respectively, the main three protagonists including Wonder Boy himself, Shion, and Asha. All being games and fantasy adventures which hailed from the mid to late 80's. They were each published by SEGA, and created in kind by Westone. Much like the original retro releases the newly updated ports within this collection come complete with all the frustrating elements, and mechanics fully intact. It is, as I've said, a true to the original porting with an emulation that allows for player preferred tweaking. 

Pretty Girls Speed | PS4 Review

If you follow EastAsiaSoft's monthly indie releases you'll have likely heard of a series known as "Pretty Girls". The 'Pretty Girls' series is a series featuring a host of pretty anime girls that act as opponents in various card and board games. There's a few different card spin-offs as well as a mahjong series. Pretty Girls Speed, the game that this review is about, lies with the former category. The card oriented games. 

Those of you like me who have played cards growing up decades ago may have heard of a game called "War". Speed is basically a version of that. Playing it you have to be the first to rid your hand, and deck of all your cards to win. This is achieved by quickly slapping down cards in sequential order upon a growing stack of center cards before your opponent has the chance. Each player starts off with a shuffled half deck worth of cards, and draws four from it. Replacing a used card with a card from the deck every time a card is played. This is done until one player lays down their last card. Subjectively speaking this version of the card game comes complete with ten unique anime girls acting as the players you'll be playing against, Named, and scantily clad. Some sporting ears even. They are your opponents, and through two modes of play they will put your Speed skills to the test ...