The Jimquisition

Slots & Daggers is one of the breeziest roguelites out there, but it’s no less absorbing. Its slot-based combat is both terrifically conceived and executed, and there’s some fun humor attached in a vaguely defined story between boss fights. It’s a low cost and cute genre entry that I would love to see more of, but I very much appreciate what’s there. Plus you can fight egg men.

007: First Light is a high quality experience that easily supplants GoldenEye 64 as the quintessential Bond game. Delivering every required component of the classic spy series and delivering a truly relevant storyline, it’s the very picture of what one might call a romp. Now that the origin tale’s out of the way, I’m very much looking forward to seeing more from this particular take on James Bond.

Even when more effort than normal has been put in, Bubsy is still a joke that you have to pay for, a punchline with a price tag. Bubsy 4D stops more than a kilometer short of an extra mile compared to the orange bollock’s usual outings, going further than usual to produce a tolerable but starved experience. If only the effort spent trying to validate a lack of material was spent on material, this could have been something. Maybe not something good, but something.When you get down to it though, “lol Bubsy” is the ultimate reason for its existence. As usual...Bubsy 4D is the best Bubsy game ever made.

Everything is Crab is brimming with so much potential and I genuinely hope it keeps evolving alongside its menagerie of critters. The concept is wonderfully flexible but it’s been realized with such rigidity as to trap it in the shadow of its own immense promise. Still, it manages to provide plenty of fun even if it does get predictable, and the premise alone is clever enough to make it a worthwhile genre entry.

If only its laudably permissive tools were supplemented with more substantial material, it would be a top tier production. A weirdly large selection of unlockable fences just doesn't put any gas in the tank, but it really is a fun ride while there’s fuel.

It’s got “Part One” slapped onto its title, threatening further installments, and it does feel like a threat. My advice? Cut your losses, and I say that to the developers and paying customers. Play Isolation for scares, play Dark Descent for something buggy but unique, play Fireteam Elite for straightforward (thankfully patched) shooting, but don’t bother with this thing. Following the past few years of Aliens games, for all their flaws and foibles, Rogue Incursion is just sad.

Marvel MaXimum Collection is a decent little package, as far as compilations of old ROMs go. There are a couple of genuine classics and even the lower quality stuff is historically interesting enough to be worth a look.

As entertaining as Toxic Commando can be, I dare say the next time I want to replay a Horde Shooter I’ll go back to something with a proper structure like WWZ or even Aliens: Fireteam Elite. In fact, my enthusiasm for replaying it is petering out already and that’s a real shame. The shooting and driving feel really nice while the bigger battles are genuinely great, but they’re framed in an overall package that fails to stand out, has no real identity, and few compelling reasons to keep returning. A classic case of being equal parts good and forgettable.

Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War shows incredible promise for an Early Access game so it’s a shame Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War is not an Early Access game. The fact it’s very short is just one part of an overall problem - it feels like a lot is missing, and whatever made the cut falls far short of its potential. This one truly hurts because I had such high hopes, but I must bitterly continue to wait for the Starship Troopers game I’ve always wanted.

This is exactly the kind of adorable, sweet natured, and engrossing experience Pokémon should always strive for. It’s completely revitalized the series’ waning magic and I’m unbelievably happy it exists.