Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX feels like a game tied down by its predecessor. The game is a faithful recreation of the original, but the problem is that it's too faithful. Many of the faults of the original peek through the updated look.

The original game had many problems which haunt the DX version of the game. It is difficult to telegraph Alex's attacks as the punch hits at the end of the animation. There have been plenty of times where a mistimed punch resulted in a double KO with the enemy. Platforming is also slippery, as Alex will sometimes slide when landing, causing me to jump into an instant death pit through panic. It's difficult to change trajectory mid-jump, with the movement being only slowed by pushing in the opposite direction.

I have played the original Alex Kidd in Miracle World on the Master System II, but I wouldn't complete it until the release of the Sega Vintage Collection in 2012. That version had save states, which allowed me to circumvent many of the harsher design elements of the original game (like limited continues and instant-death puzzles). Unfortunately, Miracle World DX does not have save states.

The quality of life improvements are fleeting, as there is a new addition of unlimited continues and infinite lives at the cost of certain achievements (for the latter). There are new HUD elements, but these have proven to be more of a hazard than a benefit. Most of the time, I found myself with only a power bracelet (due to the constant death), making the interface redundant for the most part. But the HUD element remains, blocking the view of the top right corner of the screen. Later levels make use of this obscured space. In one area, the flashy prompt that notified me of the area blocked the view of the right side of the screen. This area has an instant death shower that required speed to break through blocks and escape.

This game sorely needs a redesign, as the areas that flow quickly can be rather fun. I've had great fun tearing through blocks on a motorcycle and working my way through well-designed areas that mix platforming and punching through blocks.

Unfortunately, the game is too frustrating for me as it currently is.

On its surface, Beyond Blue appears to be little more than an educational sim.

But as the game progresses, a profound story about family and the state of the planet creeps in. Providing an emotional backdrop to relaxing underwater exploration.

Beyond Blue is very well polished, with some fascinating documentaries as extras. Sea creatures provide a fun collectable element, as they provide viewable models when scanned. Many will leave this game with an appreciation of ocean conservation.

Although the game is rather short, it did not feel rushed. There is no "game over" or action, it's just a relaxing experience with a narrative. It does what it does well.

A fun little game that makes good use of its weather mechanic in various ways. The craft-like aesthetic makes for a charming experience.

Short enough to not outstay it's welcome, but with some frustrating glitches tied to the mechanics. There were times when I had to restart because objectives were pushed out of the play area.

Recommended as a fun weekend blast, but little else.

I really wanted to enjoy this game. I love the art style, and the positive take on the afterlife and the gameplay fits the theme rather well. I love the idea of filling a drawn world with light and colour as an indication of progress.

Sadly, it felt too slow and restrictive to be enjoyable. I found myself logging in every day for 30 minutes of gameplay before being told to come back tomorrow. This format does not fit a console very well, especially when it takes a few minutes to load. I had given up on the game after a week.

The NPCs share dialogue with lines like "It’s really important to make friends. What if you get sick and need to crowdfund your appendectomy?!" being shared by multiple characters, thus removing all humour and character.

The fetch quests felt monotonous with minimal rewards or progress. The system felt broken and unbalanced, when I could sell quartz gems for a fortune but I have to upgrade the shop for a boiled egg. I dug up a rare item and gave it to the museum, only to discover that it was required for a task after the fact.

I'll probably revisit the title after a few patches, as I have played the game quite close to its release. But in the state that I played it, I found it quite disappointing.

A brilliantly done puzzle game with some very inventive mechanics. The puzzles often require lateral thinking, and trying similar things together until something works.

The game is visually pleasing, with some beautifully rendered environments, hypnotic patterns and different styles working seamlessly together. The art of a train station map fits perfectly with the intricate carvings of a building.

There were a few annoying moments. Having to spin something in the right direction felt tedious, especially when something so quick is in a game that's methodical.

A short but fun experience that does not outstay its welcome. Recommended as a filler between bigger titles.

A cozy mail delivery sim with romance and drama elements. The town captures idyllic scenery with a hit of 80s nostalgia. It pushes all the right buttons when it comes to capturing a quiet and almost mediative life and routine. Quirky characters break up the delivery elements, and the game is so short that it doesn't feel monotonous.

But, if you're expecting some grandiose revelations or plot twists in the final act, you're not going to find anything. The game is very much "what you see is what you get".

The Mummy Demastered is excellent. It's almost a joke; the derivative being better than the product it's based upon.

Games based on movies tend to be awful, so much so, there are very few that stand out as great. The Mummy Demastered has no right to be as good as it is, being based on a heavily panned movie that flopped so badly that it killed the cinematic universe it tried to jumpstart.

The soundtrack is also full of bangers, with some nostalgia-feel songs that work well with the surprisingly plumbed environments which blend seamlessly. The graphics are great and blend Egyptian mythology perfectly into a contemporary British setting that worked around the limits of the movie. It genuinely feels like Ahmanet is invading, with London streets covered in sand. Mummies rise alongside contemporary zombies, templar knights and skeletons. Locusts make for great fodder enemies as well as a means to work in a persistent Egyptian theme, and bosses are based on Egyptian deities and myths.

The metroidvania elements blend perfectly with a rogue-lite system. Dying results in a new agent being sent out and having to recover upgrades from the zombified former player character. The later in the game things get, the more deadly the predecessor becomes. Upgrades feel like upgrades, with a variety of weapons, artifacts and subweapons. Finding a new weapon in a barricaded room feels so satisfying, especially when it comes to learning what works effectively on different enemies.

Do I have any gripes? Not particularly. The metroidvania elements are superb, but there aren't any hidden rooms in the standard sense. The sealed rooms are closer to Metroid's doors that require a missile or beam. An upgrade later destroys walls, but as a means of creating a convenient path with very few secrets to be found like this.

The relics felt a little tedious, as they are little more than a rising number found in random containers, with no real variety or lore tied to them (but, then again, the movie it was based upon was as deep as a soup spoon, so...)

I feel a little sad that the franchise is dead in the water and dragged down any hopes of a sequel to this game with it. I would've loved to have seen different mythologies being tackled and how this would effect gameplay.

The game is short, so it definitely does not outstay its welcome. But it's an excellent experience, especially with challenges like trying to get through the game with one agent.

Wholly recommended as a game to blast through in a few short days, and it's worth going back to after a few years.

Tetris Effect: Connected introduces interesting twists to a winning formula; a reactive environment and fluctuating gameplay.

In Journey Mode, some of the areas are relaxing whilst others are upbeat and quick. However, I found this to be hit-and-miss as there were spikes in difficulty due to suddenly maxing the speed. Sometimes, the flow into a more challenging game felt steady, whilst other times it felt like a punishing difficulty increase with nothing to learn from.

Whilst the music and visuals were charming, it did feel loaded with redundant elements, accidentally shifting the camera mid-game is annoying and serves no real purpose. I could complain that the visuals were somewhat distracting, but I guess that was the point of some of them.

Whilst free to play on Game Pass at the time of writing this review, I can't recommend it at full price. I can only recommend it to those who feel like the occasional lazy game of Tetris, but other (cheaper) options are available.

A charming puzzle game that's short, sweet and unique.

Donut County has a similar charm to that of the Katamari games, but instead of adding objects to a mass, they're being taken away. This mechanic is well used, as causing objects to fall down the hole will grant the hole certain properties like a furnace that provides heat and lift.

The Trashopedia is hilarious and worth reading for the wisdom of the raccoon writing it.

Donut County is a fun distraction for a weekend, and something worth revisiting just for the charm of it all. Recommended.

Kind Words isn't really a game, just a very well executed idea that takes the form of a game.

It's relaxing to send wholesome messages to a chill soundtrack. The community appears to be well moderated, as I've never experienced griefing in the two years I've played this game.

The stickers provide a nice incentive to share positive messages, whilst receiving unique options to decorate a chosen room.

Recommended as a nice distraction.

Infernax has been a pleasant surprise. The art style made me expect a linear experience, so I was delightfully thrown off guard when I discovered how open the world is. It’s a loving homage to Castlevania 2 and improves upon many of the shortcomings found in that game.

The game has light Metroidvania elements and exploration, but where the game excels is the player choice and morality system. Most games suffer from presenting superficial choices that only nudge the player toward a specific ending at most. Infernax truly shines when choices lead to interesting consequences, and morality has an impact on gameplay.

For example, the first choice the player is presented with is to slay or help a possessed villager who is in pain. Mercy killing the villager results in the game continuing as normal. Try to help the villager, however, and he transforms into the first boss monster of the game. The decision may seem obvious; put the man out of his misery and avoid the apparent punishment of a boss fight. But things aren’t as clear as they first seem. Killing the villager ends the questline then and there. Trying to help him will introduce the player to the combat system and nets them XP for success. Later, the player can continue the questline and learn more about the boss they fought.

The morality system is highly impressive. Not all choices are vague, and it’s possible to deliberately make evil decisions. Do enough evil deeds, and Alcedor will switch weapons and gain access to new variants of spells. The endings also provide a nice reward in the form of cheat codes, which add fun modifiers to the game, as well as surprisingly fleshed-out alternative characters with their own choice of weapons.

The graphics, music and overall style of the game are fantastic. Infernax truly captures the classic elements of NES/8-bit games with modern conventions. There is a dark twist running through the game, with excessive gore and body horror. The shrieking sound effects are surprisingly effective in how disturbing they can be. The death screens are brilliantly done, with an ominous tune that halts when the silhouette of Alcedor meets a grizzly end. The environments have a nice variety to them, and every location feels like it has its own story.

Do I have any gripes? A few, but they are admittedly petty, given how much I’ve enjoyed the game. The potion system is weird, not broken, but weird. Upon death, HP and mana are fully restored but potions aren’t restocked. I found it better to spend mana to drag out my current life until I reached zero lives where I would crack out the potions to continue on a boss. I couldn’t help but feel that potions should be bought like spells and restocked at a save point for gold, instead of tediously going to an inn for a restock.

Progress felt a little confusing at times, but not massively so. The key system felt hit and miss, with the somewhat cruel punishment of a locked door for daring to go the wrong way the first time. Getting rewarded with a key for story progress made something of a mess early game, as it’s possible to spend it in the wrong dungeon. This forces the player to backtrack for an additional key so they have the correct amount. Love the exploration, dislike the punishment for exploration. On that note, a certain keep is summoned with a spell, this would’ve been great as a secret rather than a mandatory dungeon.

But as I said, this is petty when compared to the enjoyment I got from the rest of the game. It’s a fun experience with lots of replayability to get the alternative endings and fill the Demonology book. Wholly recommended for fans of Castlevania and folks looking for a gruesome Metroidvania to tear through in a week.

A lovingly designed sequel that takes the best parts of the original games, and polishes its core mechanics to competitive fighting game standards.

Although a single playthrough is short, unlockable characters and modes add to the replayability. Every character has a unique feel to them, and playing through once will lead to missing out on characters that are a better fit. The points system is well thought out and rewards damage instead of just a long combo.

I have very few gripes with this game. The pacing of normal mode is questionable, as I was practically tripping over small health items and weapons in shorter stages. Some of the recoloured enemies lack a noticeable difference aside from a longer health bar, but some do have varying strategies.

Overall, a pleasing experience that many fans of the original games will appreciate. It's a pick-up-and-play kind of game that satisfies but is open enough to keep players coming back. Recommended.

Fun, short and filled with cutesy humour.

The gameplay is very basic, with the easiest comparison being that of Zelda. It's mostly puzzle solving with the occasional fight along the way, and bosses that require a gimmick to defeat.

The humour is consistent but plays it safe, the title alone is enough to gauge the atmosphere of this game. It may feel monotonous towards the end, but it did make me chuckle along the way.

Recommended as a nice weekend distraction while it's still on Game Pass.