CalmDownTom

Soldner-X 2: Final Prototype is all about playing over and over to perfect your runs. A series of unlockable challenges task you with goals like “finish the first four stages without losing a life”. You’ll probably knock these challenges off the list without being aware of them, because replaying Soldner-X 2: Final Prototype is not a problem.

The graphics are just as great, the game plays the same way and it’s basically a new adventure with new puzzles to solve, so it is what you would expect from a sequel to a brilliant game.

The original Shelter had me instantly replaying it, just to see if I could keep my babies alive. This time though, despite the bigger levels and excellently-crafted simple gameplay, I put the game down. It’s worth experiencing, but on this evidence the Lynx will flourish in wolf-free Britain.

In short bursts, or for younger gamers, Gravity Ghost is worth a look, but considering the style and polish applied to such a basic central concept, I’m far more excited to play Ivy Games next game rather than this one.

I could go on all day about Cities: Skylines, much like I could go on all night playing it. It has restored my faith in the City Building Simulator genre. It’s everything that fans of the genre were hoping for and more.

Glaring flaws aside, Flame Over just isn’t much fun. With just one enemy (poorly modeled fire), effectively one weapon and a whole bucket of poorly explained, poorly chosen gameplay ideas, Flame Over is a real disappointment. Game over.

It is a great game that makes its simplicity work for it. It doesn’t try too hard to do anything spectacular, but I can only respect that. The gameplay is easy enough for new people to pick up and play and it is strangely gratifying to watch your horde galavant through enemy land with ease.

Switch Galaxy Ultra is a fun game to play in small bursts. When you are whizzing through the tracks at great speed it is exhilarating. However, it loses its focus when it adds gameplay barriers that detract from the quick paced nature of the game.

The graphical style is reminiscent of 90s cyberpunk game Speedball, the rules of the game are Bloodbowl-esque American football lite, but the turn-based strategy is as deep as a glacier, only with a ball and a clock to watch.

République is a game made with clear direction and passion, and is largely competent in matters of gameplay. Remastered is a good upscale that adds clarity and control, but loses something of what made the original sparkle. To me, the iOS version holds a slight edge because the concept works better in that context.