Publisher Hamster has announced that sci-fi shoot ‘em up Senjyo is now available on Nintendo Switch and PS4 as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released in Japanese arcades by TEKHAN (now Koei Tecmo) in 1983, Senjyo is a vertical shoot ‘em up where players control a futuristic space tank (!) to destroy a ferocious alien menace. The
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Sim Submarine Publisher PlayWay has unveiled Nuclear Sub, a new submarine simulator coming soon to Steam PC. Developed by Nuclear Games, Nuclear Sub is designed with a focus on realism, where you must maintain the boat, its life support system and nuclear reactor, and manage supplies and resources for the crew. Of course, the game is set in the Cold
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“Twisting turning through the never!” Indie game developer SneakyBox recently announced that their twin-stick shooter Void Prison is set to release on 19 January for the Nintendo Switch. Described as a “fast-paced, endless arcade game” where players must survive waves of enemies in “an ever-shrinking void ring.” Fortunately, you have plenty of guns and power-ups available to defend yourself. In
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He doesn’t look like he’s smiling to me… Game publisher CFK recently announced that the new side-scrolling action game, Smilemo, is available for pre-order now on the Nintendo Switch eShop. It is already available on Steam PC. Developed by REXECHO STUDIO, Smilemo is a retro-inspired platformer featuring a throwback pixelated art style and a challenging difficulty that old school gamers
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Sounds like the story of my first car. On Monday, Microids Indie released the retro-inspired Scrap Riders on the Nintendo eShop and Steam (both PC and Mac). Developed by Games for Tutti, Scrap Riders is a truly unique spin on the beat ‘em up formula, adding point and click mechanics into the mix, complete with a throwback 16-bit soundtrack and
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On Friday, KEMCO released Alphadia Neo for the PS5, PS4 and Nintendo Switch. The game was released last year for Steam PC and Xbox platforms. Developed by Exe Create, Alphadia Neo is a fantasy RPG that prides itself on its retro-inspired presentation. Here’s the official breakdown of Alphadia Neo from KEMCO, followed by a recent trailer: Alphadia Neo for PS5/PS4
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Feeling horny? …like a rhino, ya’ dirty bird. On Friday, Sewohayami released its puzzle platformer Sekisai for Steam PC. Sekisai (maybe “Coughing Rhinoceros” in Japanese? I’m still learning) features 2D gameplay with retro-inspired aesthetics. Here’s the official breakdown of Sekisai from Sewohayami, followed by a recent trailer: What’s game Sekisai? This is an action game where you control a rhino
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Today, game publisher Amata K.K. has released Backpack Twins on the Nintendo Switch eShop. The game is already available on Xbone, PS4 and Steam PC, Developed by Ima Bryn, Backpack Twins is described as a “hard but fair single-player puzzle platformer.” Players swap between both of the twins as they work in tandem to solve puzzles. Here’s the official breakdown
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Welcome back to Jolly Jinglings, The Splintering’s celebration of all stars of royal beauty bright. Today we’re going to pick apart Big Dipper, a visual novel “game” published by Top Hat Studios and developed by Zimno Team for the Nintendo Switch and Steam PC. Why the quotation marks around “game”? Because Big Dipper isn’t a game in any sense. Zero. It is merely
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Why did it have to be mannequins? 100 GAMES has announced that their upcoming horror game, Anthology of Fear is coming to Steam PC on 17 March 2023. Co-developed by 100 GAMES and OhDeer Studio, Anthology of Fear is a psychological horror mystery “that will focus on human subconsciousness.” Plus, there appears to be more than an adequate amount of
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Publisher 110 Industries and developer Soleil have released a side-scrolling shoot ‘em up Space Runaway on Steam PC… and it’s completely free. Yep. Free. Frei. مجانيًا Why free, though? Because it’s only part of the upcoming third-person action/adventure game Wanted: Dead, which is due out in February. According to 110 Industries, Space Runaway is more than just a mini-game turned
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Just a few months ago, I decided to bust out my old copy of Chrono Trigger and relive a bit of my youth. As I played I was reminded why it is considered by many one of the best games ever made. The music, the gameplay, and the innovative ideas put Chrono Trigger into a whole new category of what
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On Wednesday (or Tuesday, depending on where you fall on the date line), the developers at Luna’s Tail Creative released the elaborately titled Luna & Monsters Tower Defense: The Deprived Magical Kingdom on Steam PC and mobile. As the name implies, Luna & Monsters Tower Defense is a tower defense strategy game starring a demon-battling black cat named Luna. Here’s
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PLASMAAAAAAA! I mean, MAGMAAAAAA! Nellyvision has announced that their 2D action game Magma is now available for both PS4 and Nintendo Switch. Magma is a procedurally generated bullet-hell shooter that is heavily inspired by retro arcade-style games of the 90s. Good stock, there. Here’s the official breakdown of Magma from Nellyvision: Frantic action and challenging foe all the way in
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“I want to be an airborne ranger!” Atari has released Airborne Ranger for modern PCs via GOG, with a Steam version coming on 22 December. Originally created by MicroProse in 1987, Airborne Ranger is a war game known for its realism and the inclusion of stealth elements. Here’s the official breakdown of Airborne Ranger from Atari, followed by a handful
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It may be a bit early for Attack Helicopter Week, but indie game publisher Tendokore is already getting into the festive spirit by officially releasing 2D shoot ‘em up GyroBlade for the Nintendo Switch. Developed by H.T. Project Games, GyroBlade is a vertical scrolling shooter inspired by the classic games of the 8-bit era (Tiger Heli comes to mind), complete
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PikPok recently announced the latest entry in the Into the Dead series: Our Darkest Days, which is planned to launch on Steam early access sometime in 2024. Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days is a sidescrolling zombie survival game set in God’s blessed land of Texas in the glorious year of 1980 (yeah, editorializing a bit). Are you prepared to
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There was clearly a lot of love that went into the making of Jitsu Squad – love for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game, that is. Aside from the obvious inspirations and comparisons to TMNT, there are a plethora of other video game and pop-culture references throughout Jitsu Squad.* Naturally, some light spoilers will follow. Much like the aforementioned TMNT arcade game, Jitsu Squad lets you pick from four
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How are you gentlemen! All your Toaplan shooters are belong to Bitwave. Publisher Bitwave Games recently announced that the first wave of four classic Toaplan shoot ‘em up titles is coming to Windows PC on 14 February 2023 (Yep- St. Valentine’s Day). Here’s the list of the games and Bitwave Games’ official announcement trailer from Steam: Today we’re pumped to
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Game publisher Phoenixx recently announced that twin-stick shooter NeverAwake will be released on 19 January for PS4, PS5 and Nintendo Switch. A PC version is already available via Steam. Developed by Neotro Inc, NeverAwake is set in the psychological horror world of a young girl’s nightmares. I wish I could turn my dreams into twin-stick shooters… I’d shoot so many
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It’s short for Isabelle, methinks. Publisher Ratalaika Games recently released the retro-inspired 2D platformer Intrepid Izzy for modern consoles.* Developed by Senile Team, Interpid Izzy started its life as a small-scale indie project for the SEGA Dreamcast successfully crowdfunded in 2017. While the game is fairly light on plot, the titular “Intrepid Izzy” seems to be some kind of explorer who happens
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A totalitarian government has taken control of its people’s lives (not based on actual events)… time to start slashing! Game publisher The Arcade Crew recently announced that action platformer Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is planned to release on 12 January 2023 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and PC. Developed by JoyMasher, Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is inspired by the 2D action games of
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Welcome back to Jolly Jinglings, The Splintering’s month-long celebration of all dancing sugar plums, fairy type or otherwise. In 1992, “Batmania” was in full effect. The success of Tim Burton’s Batman film in 1989 had reignited mainstream interest in the Dark Knight, what followed was a marketing blitz of toys, school supplies, breakfast cereal, and every other piece of cinematic synergy that
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A “mostly peaceful” rampage across the city. On Friday, publisher Digerati released the retro-inspired monster destruction game Terror of Hemasaurus for Xbox consoles. The game is already available on PlayStation and PC, and a Nintendo Switch version is planned for 12 January. Developed by Loren Lemcke (Super Blood Hockey), Terror of Hemasaurus is inspired by the arcade “smash ‘em ups”
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I don’t know what she’s saying, but she’s speaking my language!
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“Dodge his punch, then counter punch!” Vanilla Gaming Company has developed a free demo for their upcoming boxing parody game VanillaBeast: Retro Knock-Out! To get access, you need to join the VanillaBeast Discord Channel here and type the command “!BetaKey” and a demo key will be dropped in your Discord DMs. Inspired by Nintendo’s 80s classic Punch-Out! (or Mike Tyson’s
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Why does Santa always need saving? #TropesVsSanta Indie game developer and publisher Dionous Games recently released their 2D adventure game Watch Over Christmas for Xbone, SeXbox, PS4, PS5 and Nintendo Switch. The game was released on Steam PC last holiday season. Inspired by classic PC adventure games, Watch Over Christmas features point-and-click controls, a colorful, 2D art style, and fully
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Deus Vult! On Monday, the development team at Hell Yeah! released their strategy game Voyna: Virtual Holy Wars via Steam Early Access. A turn-based PvP strategy game at heart, Voyna’s most unique selling point is an original gameplay mechanic called “Contrarium.” Here’s the official breakdown of Voyna: VHW from Hell Yeah! Voyna is set in a distant future where fragments
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Death by a thousand paper cuts! On Monday, publisher Thunderful has joined forces with the developers at Space Lizard Studios to release Paper Cut Mansion for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation consoles. The game released on PC and Xbox this past October. all of the well-kept secrets in this roguelite horror puzzler. In Paper Cut Mansion, players must use their wits
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Grappling. Hook. On Monday, publisher Playism released the final demo for Rusted Moss, a “grappling hook based metroidvania game” (or “grapplevania” – kill me). Developed by faxdoc, happysquared, and sunnydaze, the full game is expected to release in February 2023. Despite the wait, the good news is that your save file for the Rusted Moss demo is fully transferable to
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