Giant Bomb

We've got puzzles, freaky fleshy enemies, and a pretty neat little portable TV. [Hands-On Impressions]

I just don’t feel much of a drive to play more of Splatoon Raiders. I had fun drowning all of those salmonids in ink. But just like them, I’ve had my fill.

Rhythm Heaven Groove is a worthy successor to Rhythm Heaven and Rhythm Heaven Fever. It occasionally misses in terms of presentation, but it is far from charmless. And its endless parade of excellent tunes (and robust bonuses) will keep you bopping your head to the right beat.

I’m not saying that this is going to replace the Overwatches or Splatoons of the world when it comes to team-based games, but it’s certainly more fun than I expected from multiplayer Star Fox.

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies is weird, beautiful, and dense with characters that I wanted to understand. It plays with its choices and narrative threads with confidence, allowing foundational elements to rot and die in service of the paths the player is willing to take.

Despite the fun I often have with Mina, questionable design decisions like that keep me from falling in love with it the same way I did with Shovel Knight. Even saying that, I feel bad for the comparisons that Mina invites. Shovel Knight, Zelda, Dark Souls… Those are lofty heights. But, well, how can I not compare Mina to those games? I suppose that’s the danger of wearing your inspirations so nakedly.

I’m coming away from Bubsy 4D feeling like this is an excellent way to revive a character like this. The ironic love for Bubsy is one of those things that always felt like it could tip over into an earnest appreciation, and this game stands ready to catch that affection. It excels and even fails in the right places. Fabraz prioritized making it fun to move Bubsy over filling the world with interesting visuals, and I’m happy to take that deal. And Bubsy should as well because he’s never had it so good. And despite my desire to shed the undeserved reputation that I am “the Bubsy guy,” I would love to see more games in this style. What could pawsibly go wrong?

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book comes with a tremendous amount of ideas and a distinct personality, which is more than welcome in a series that has at best evoked vague memories of a game that’s over 30 years old. It’s bound to be a fun time for kids, and it has enough surprises and callbacks to Yoshi’s history to bring plenty of smiles to older fans like me. Other Nintendo platformers settled into their own identities and time-tested formats decades ago. Yoshi’s road has been a little more unpredictable, but with this entry it’s found an approach that feels all its own.

In a lot of ways, this is my ideal video game. Becoming one with the controller and the vehicle in a drop-dead-gorgeous setting that essentially never runs out of content? It’s almost perfect, and I think it’s fair to use that word for the craft that is on display in Forza Horizon 6.

Saros is still a good game. I will never dislike a game that looks this good and plays this well. But the lessons that Housemarque learned from Returnal resulted in a game that is less than the sum of its parts.