Shooting Stars!

Shooting Stars!

Save the world from evil aliens disguised as celebrities in this classic arcade-style shooter. It is perhaps a little too fond of memes for its own good, but the gameplay is addictive, and the large assortment of bosses will keep you coming back for more. Since you face a random assortment of bosses during each run, the game also stays fresh, unlike its memes.

Gameplay: Classic arcade-style shooting with waves of enemies and wacky bosses.

Graphics: Shooting Stars features nice retro-style visuals, and the pixel art celebrities are actually very good likenesses.

Sound: The game has a very catchy and upbeat soundtrack

Facebreaker

Facebreaker

This game is really not worth it if you plan on playing the single player mode. Fights boil down to luck and button mashing more often than not. Multi-player is its sole redeeming feature, but even then it becomes boring quite fast. Definitely one to avoid.

Gameplay: Fast paced, but unfortunately not a lot of fun.

Graphics: The best part of the game.

Sound: Typical EA Trax

Dead Or Alive

Dead Or Alive

Dead Or Alive has a few nice tricks up its sleeve to make it appealing to fans of the genre. The characters are interesting enough and the fighting is quite fast. Overall not a bad title for your collection.

Gameplay: Fast and frantic.

Graphics: Sparse backgrounds, but good character models.

Sound: Unremarkable

Bleach: Heat The Soul

Bleach: Heat The Soul

Despite the fact that this game is Japanese only there are more than enough western fans of Bleach. While the story is all in Japanese the rest of the game is easy enough to understand. The fighting is fast and the visuals look good, but with only a total of six characters the game is rather limited. It is fun while it lasts but unfortunately that is not very long.

Gameplay: It is a decent enough button basher, but the limited amount of characters is a drawback.

Graphics: The 3D cell shaded visuals capture the look of the series perfectly.

Sound: Authentic voice acting and good tunes

Advance Wars

Advance Wars

The Gameboy Advance is the last place I would have expected an engrossing, turn based war game, but once I started playing Advance Wars I was hooked. The visuals and audio is rather minimal, but the gameplay is addictive enough that you will hardly notice this. Even if you are not a fan of strategy games, this one might just change your mind.

Gameplay: Deeper than your average GBA game and incredibly addictive.

Graphics: Very minimal, but very cool unit designs.

Sound: Catchy but very repetitive

BIT.TRIP BEAT

BIT.TRIP BEAT

Bit.Trip.Beat is a great game for when you simply want to test your Arcade skills and put up some highscores. It takes the basic idea of classic titles like Pong and Arkenoid, but puts a fresh modern spin on them. Depending on how much you enjoy Arcade titles you will either love this game or find it way too limited and frustrating.

Gameplay: Pretty challenging but fun once you get into the “zone” while playing.

Graphics: An appreciation of retro visuals is definitely required.

Sound: Nice 8bit sounding and chiptune songs

Tiny Barbarian DX

Tiny Barbarian DX

Tiny Barbarian DX does not set out to revolutionize the genre but instead offers a solid and enjoyable platform romp steeped in 8-bit nostalgia. The game is a joy to play, especially if you can remember the heyday of the NES platform era. It also packs quite a challenge but remains fun throughout.

Gameplay: The game features platforming action with a hefty dose of nostalgia.

Graphics: The visuals look like they are straight out of the 8-bit era.

Sound: Tiny Barbarian DX features a rocking chiptune soundtrack

LOST ORBIT

LOST ORBIT

Hang on to your jetpack and dodge the perils standing between you and your home system in this action packed game from PixelNAUTS. The controls are responsive, the story interesting and flying through gauntlets of obstacles is simply exhilarating. The game is also quite easy on the eyes and features a great soundtrack to boot. Unfortunately, the 40 levels on offer fly past way too fast, but overall Lost Orbit is an easy game to recommend.

Gameplay: Boosting through space while swerving around obstacles and making use of whatever you can find to increase your speed is a lot of fun.

Graphics: Colorful and very polished.

Sound: Great voice acting and an even better soundtrack

The Mysterious Cities of Gold

The Mysterious Cities of Gold

Nostalgia obviously plays a huge role when it comes to such a classic license, but this game is good enough to stand out on its own. The basic gameplay is engaging, but with a gentle difficulty curve that makes it suitable for younger players. Experienced players can aim for all the optional goals to up the challenge.

Gameplay: The puzzle solving provides a challenge for players of all ages.

Graphics: The visuals stay true to the animated series.

Sound: Authentic voice acting and catchy tunes

Grimm

Grimm

Grimm offers a very unique look at some classic fairy tales and with 23 episodes there is something for everyone. The episodes are short enough to remain fun despite the repetition and the gruesome visual transformations are still impressive. The budget price also makes it an attractive package for players who missed the original release.

Gameplay: Very easy to pick up and play.

Graphics: The way everything transfers from light to dark is pretty impressive.

Sound: Good voice acting and some very suitable music