Tech-Gaming

• PC
• 3.3 / 5
• États-Unis

Yars Rising delivers a notable deviation from the original Atari 2600 title. Here, Howard Scott Warshaw’s classic is imaged as a hacking mini-game placed inside a metroidvania adventure. While these transitory throwbacks and their variations are absorbing, the principal play between them is too lifeless.

• PC
• 77%
• États-Unis

Games built around item collection often succumb to tedium or a level of challenge that’s more exasperating than engaging. Caravan SandWitch lets you roam its sunny, sandy local without the inconvenience of enemy encounters or the threat of a ‘game over’ message.

• SWITCH
• 3.4 / 5
• États-Unis

While titled Firework Thrower Kantaro is undoubtedly entertaining, SUNSOFT is Back’s other offerings probably won’t hold your attention for long. If you’re obsessed with owning a trio of localized Eighties-era oddities, Retro Game Selection might be worth a look. But for most players, there’s other eight-bit titles more deserving of your time and money.

• SWITCH
• 72%
• États-Unis

Miku and her Piapro peers inject personality into Fitness Boxing’s workouts. But like the previous entries in Imagineer’s series, a pair of Joy-Cons can’t provide much feedback on your form. As such, Fitness Boxing feat. Hatsune Miku is diverting but probably won’t become part of your routine.

• PC
• 3.6 / 5
• États-Unis

Although Gori: Cuddly Carnage is built from an inventory of familiar concepts, it doesn’t feel like most contemporary games. Instead, Angry Demon Studio’s title feels like one of those underdog PlayStation 2 games that publishers would take the irregular chance on. Sure, the title has its flaws, but grindy combat to dull dialog. But if you’re in the mood for some claws-out bloodletting, where enemies pop like piñatas, give Gori a go.

• PC
• 81%
• États-Unis

Skillfully, Shadow of the Ninja Reborn captures the essence of its source material. Scrambling and striking foes across the game’s six stages captures the feel of yesteryear’s celebrated action-platformers. Meanwhile, improvements to visuals, enemy behaviors, and Mizutani’s soundtrack ensure these ninjas don’t feel obsolete.

• SWITCH
• 40%
• États-Unis

Elrentaros Wanderings’ core tension comes from its depiction of parallel worlds and the uncertainty of which one is real. But time spent in both realms proves uninteresting, with monotonous combat in one and insubstantial exposition in the other. There’s a very real sense of dread when the game asks you to repeatedly descend into its insipid dungeons.

• PC
• 3.5 / 5
• États-Unis

Some scale Mount Everest, others swim across the English Channel. Much like its predecessor, Volgarr the Viking 2 extends the same kind of intimidating challenge, daring you to memorize the hundreds of different dangers laid out across six masochistic stages. This time out, there’s a novice mode, accompanied by a bit of playful humiliation. Just don’t expect entry into Valhalla on easy.

• PC
• 4.5 / 5
• États-Unis

Much like the SteamWorld Dig sequel, Heist II ditches the drab procedurally generated stages for hand-crafted battlefields designed around collaboration and the game’s new class system. While these changes might sound minor, they feed into so many different components that the follow-up feels fresh, at least until the run-up to the game's finale.

• PC
• 3.8 / 5
• États-Unis

If you appreciate the kind of retina-searing, adrenaline-emitting action found in intense bullet hell shooters, there’s a strong chance you’ll get hooked by CYGNI: All Guns Blazing. Sure, it can be unflinchingly tough, demanding your complete attention for each of its fifteen-minute-long stages. But the thrill of dangling from the precipice of survival as you struggle against swarms of enemies makes CYGNI indispensable for shooter junkies.

• PS5
• 3.8 / 5
• États-Unis

• PC
• 3.7 / 5
• États-Unis

• PC
• 3.5 / 5
• États-Unis

With its metroidvania-style backtracking and shootouts that hinge on careful timing, Exophobia isn’t your typical boomer shooter. It’s engaging and thoroughly challenging if you decide to take on the game’s alien lobsters on the game’s default difficulty.

• SWITCH
• 4 / 5
• États-Unis

The third entry in Taito’s Bubble Bobble series is built around a multiple of techniques, as you use your parasol to stun, fling, guard, and gather power-ups. As such, there’s a slight learning curve associated with the learning how to use the device. But pleasingly, the decision endows Parasol Stars: The Story of Bubble Bobble III with longevity. Gliding through the game's stages individually or with an optional co-op partner remains engaging 33 years later.

• PC
• 58%
• États-Unis

Like a competitor inching up notorious Col de la Loze, Cyanide’s Tour de France franchise is demonstrating serious fatigue. Beyond bringing actual cyclists to Pro Team mode and the inclusion of a real-time competitive mode, largely this year’s outing isn’t all that different from the 2023 iteration. If you’re truly yearning for some simulated road cycling, Tour de France 2024 does an adequate job at reproducing the complexities of stamina management. But beyond that, this is a series that’s taken too many rest days.

• SWITCH
• 81%
• États-Unis

Much of Sweet and Spicy Darling is a continuation of Cupid Parasite tasty storytelling, offering epilogues with the game’s six bachelors and the likable lead. Like most fan-disks, a reading of the original visual novel is essential, establishing the foundations that are devotedly built on here. If you appreciate quirkiness, Cupid Parasite’s wit and whimsy might just be an arrow to the heart.

• PC
• 68%
• États-Unis

Battles in Crown Wars: The Black Prince can be determined by minutiae. If you’ve properly kitted out your soldiers and created a well-balanced party, victory is always within reach. Likewise, if the game can mend some of its imperfections, success seems likely. As long as the Artefacts Studio’s battle plan involves a long-term commitment of listening to feedback and making necessary modifications, Crown Wars has the potential to become a minor hit.

• PC
• 80%
• États-Unis

If you’re looking for some pulpy sci-fi with a likable cast, Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER beats most of its contemporary peers in film and television. Like some of the genre’s best works, it’s an exploration into what makes us human. Smartly, the blend of visual novel story-telling and light puzzles balances seriousness with the intermittent instance of childlike playfulness. Likely, this one could generate some positive memories.