Steel Assault is a short and sweet platformer with honestly some of the best sprite work and music I've experience in an indie title.
Instead of a sword or a gun Taro wields a goddamn electric whip and its just the one button and that's it.
Really had me feeling like the games i grew up with, super simple but extremely hard to master.
You can't really hold right and attack and run you gotta learn enemy patterns and spawns tons of trial and error ESPECIALLY the bosses.
Other than tight controls and a double jump what sets this apart is the inclusion of a zip line you can deploy whenever you want in any direction as long as the two ends latch on to a surface. Felt like Bionic Commando + Contra in all the good ways possible. Lots of death pits and stage hazards that force you to start thinking how to approach situations while using the zip line, its a ton of fun really makes the platforming challenging.
If there's any issues i have with it, other than feeling a little -too- short, the second level is a painful difficulty spike. Feels like something that should have been saved for stage 4 or 5.
What makes it all the more painful is the two hardest achievements involve beating each stage with no checkpoints - and the whole game on a single life. If the second stage wasn't such a massive pain in the ass id try for these more but the memorization on the little enemies on this stage really don't compare to anything else. Maybe if i feel like hurting ill try them some more but for now ill be happy with having everything but those lmao.

Unlinked mask is a prequel & DeMake of Linked Mask, another great Kaizo platformer by the same developer.
This game is a frustrating blast from start to finish.
A solid intro to Kaizos id say, difficult enough to be good time but not so much that a newer player would give up straight away like many other Kaizos tend to do.
Normal playthrough might take you around an hour, can't speak on the Kaizomode cause that shit is hard results will vary lol

All in all its a ton of fun, has an incredible soundtrack and i recommend it to anyone who likes a to suffer.
And to those that don't like suffering, try it out you might come out the other end a Kaizo fan.

100%'d in a couple hours, wish there was more. Time to tackle Linked mask(again) and scream at my monitor some more

Also the game launched on 03/29/24 - not sure why its TBD here.

This might be one of the most addicting roguelikes ive ever played, its just so well crafted.
LocalThunk is truly a master of the feel good chemical releasing.
48 Hours played in like 3 weeks plus easily another 15 that dont get counted on the steamdeck cause im playing offline.
I don't know shit about Poker and i feel in a lot of ways i still dont, but i know what card combinations make the points go crazy and thats what the game is about in the end.
Im submitting this cause if i wait until im 'done' with Balatro ill never post it, this game is infinite and im sure the LC will add more jokers as well as some expansions(i hope).
Its a goddamn masterpiece, there wont be another Balatro for ages, its the new Isaac.