Mortal Kombat 11 is like a perfect distillation of the modern AAA game industry. It’s a tug of war between game designers, artists, producers, and distributors. While the gameplay is the best it’s ever been, almost everything that happens when there isn’t a health bar on screen feels like it…

  Back in the days of the 3DS, BoxBoy! was a surprising delight developed by the wonderful people over at HAL Laboratory. Spanning three games, Qbby adventured through hundreds of puzzles using his ability to spawn boxes from his body. The last entry in the series was titled Bye-Bye BoxBoy!,…

My childhood memories of card-based video games aren’t pretty. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories made me want to throw my GBA across the room in frustration — Baten Kaitos went right over my head with its in-depth mechanics, and somehow I went into Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution…

Masocore games and I have gotten quite chummy over the past few years, from humble beginnings beefing up with Meat Boy to cathartic climbs up Mount Celeste. Dipped in the spicy sauce of nostalgia, it’s a genre rarely made for the faint of heart, rewarding only those with the perseverance…

When it comes to Nindies, I can think of no finer how-do-you-do than Cuphead’s overdue debut last month. Rumored and requested plenty, it took the combined effort of Nintendo, Microsoft, and Studio MDHR to pour this one out and meet the frothing demand of run ‘n gunners and animation fans…

If you know me, you probably know that Ace Attorney is my favorite franchise of all-time. Ever since I first played one of the games in 2009, the stories of Phoenix Wright and co. have stuck with me. I’ve played the original Phoenix Wright trilogy countless times across a myriad…

Since Yoshi’s Island dropped on the SNES over two decades ago and became an instant classic, Nintendo’s foremost green dino has had a bit of a topsy-turvy career, with no successors quite living up to that initial game’s glory. Some suffered from age (Yoshi’s Story), others from gimmicks (Touch &…

At last year’s E3, EA surprised everyone by simultaneously revealing and releasing Unravel Two, a followup to 2016’s universally adored Unravel. Despite the delight of the surprise, one thing was missing — a Nintendo Switch release for the game. Later, the developer gave an explanation, stating that a Switch release…

Lately, ‘puzzle game’ has meant falling blocks, what with the likes of Tetris, Puyo Puyo, and Lumines populating the Switch. For others it’s something more like the Layton games, where a gentleman leaves none undone. All of these have lit up my neurons one way or another — but now…

Back in the early ‘90s ToeJam & Earl made waves on the Sega Genesis. Releasing a dungeon-crawling roguelike on console was practically unheard of at the time, let alone one oozing with such style, charm, and raw attitude. There was even a point in time where ToeJam & Earl were…