Kimono Cats (iPhone): COMPLETED!

Kimono Cats is a very bad game. That’s it. That’s the post. Oh, you want a reason? Tch. Don’t you trust me? Ridiculous. Fine. Reasoning: You know those terrible mobile telephone games where you can only progress if you grind the same repetitive tasks over and over again, for no real reward, unless you pay for in-game currency with real-world money? Well, this is one of those games, only without any of the real-world money purchases, because it’s on Apple …

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog (Steam Deck): COMPLETED!

What was obviously an April Fool, not least because of the release date, it turned out that The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog was, in fact, a real actual game that genuinely exists. And was free on Steam. Who wouldn’t want to play a game where Sonic the Hedgehog is murdered? Minor spoiler (because obviously, c’mon): Sonic wasn’t murdered. In this mostly visual novel game, it’s Amy’s birthday and, as you do for such events, a murder-mystery-onna-train party has been …

Figment (Steam Deck): COMPLETED!

From the outside, Figment looks like the sort of game I’d really want to play (and, of course, is why I did). Interesting graphics style, the promise of puzzles, some weird story about being in a person’s subconscious, great voice acting. All of those are true. But, it’s just so, so dull and tedious. The main issue is the puzzles are often of a disguised Sokoban nature. You have to flip a switch to activate a thing, but you have …

Vostok Inc (Switch): COMPLETED!

Apparently, it was more than FIVE YEARS AGO that I last played and completed this. That’s not possible. The Switch itself is only 18 months old, right? Well, Toby off of the ugvm Podcast mentioned he’d started playing it recently, and that reminded me what a great game it was, and so here we are. I won’t go into all the details of the game itself because I did that last time. What I will say, however, is that on …

Bionic Commando (Evercade): COMPLETED!

I’m pretty sure I’ve only ever played the NES version of this before, and my understanding is that it’s very different. Perhaps you can even jump in that? You can’t in this, the original arcade version, in any case. (EDIT: You can’t jump in the NES version either. Curious.) So, as I’m finding with these Capcom arcade games on the Evercade EXP, Bionic Commando is another money-eater. There’s no way in hell you’re supposed to be able to finish this …

Kirby’s Dream Land 2 (Switch): COMPLETED!

After completing the first Kirby’s Dream Land (again) recently, Nintendo were kind enough to put the sequel up on their Switch Online service for me to play. And oh my did they add a lot to the game. In Kirby’s Dream Land 2, Kirby now has his trademark enemy ability duplication capabilities, but there’s also an overworld, way more levels, and three “animal friends” for Kirby to ride. A fish, a hamster and an owl, who have their own abilities …

Ori and the Blind Forest (Switch): COMPLETED!

You’d think I’d have hopped on this earlier, what with it being a Metroidvania and having a great reputation and stuff, but for some reason it took until I saw it for about £6 on the Switch eShop before I bought it. And oh boy is it pretty. Sure, so it’s a 2.5D game and not the next Call of Duty, but it’s still very impressive for a Switch game. The lighting and colouring effects are amazing, and there are …

Forgotten Worlds (Evercade): COMPLETED!

Aside from a demo for the Spectrum version of this scrolling shoot ’em up, I don’t think I’ve ever properly played Forgotten Worlds before. I know Your Sinclair raved about it, but the controls (which are crying out to be twin-stick before that was a common thing) always seemed too fiddly to bother with, so I never really tried. Turns out, that I was right. OK, so in the arcade you have a stick to move, and a rotary dial …

Metroid Fusion (Switch): COMPLETED!

Like Minish Cap, Metroid Fusion is a GBA game I haven’t played for a very, very long time. Also like Minish Cap, I have it on my 3DS, also unplayed. But let me not talk of what I haven’t played, for this appeared on Switch Online and I did play it. Metroid Fusion is a more linear than usual Metroid title. That’s not to say there isn’t any backtracking or hidden things, more that it’s very hand-holdy and you’re told …

Final Fight (Evercade): COMPLETED!

You know, I’ve realised there’s a flaw in playing arcade games on a non-arcade device. You just keep piling virtual coins in until you win. Sure, you can do this on MAME, and yes, the EXP does have a credit limit option, but still – completing a game is as much an exercise in pressing “insert coin” as it pressing punch and kick. Because ain’t nobody limiting themselves to 3 credits unless they’re masochists. The game is as it ever …

MERCS (Evercade): COMPLETED!

Is it MERCS not Mercs? Everywhere seems to say it in all-caps, but why? It’s not an acronym. In this TED Talk I’ll be explor… Not really. I don’t care. What I do care about, however, is that this, a three-player game, is one of the Capcom games built into the strictly single player Evercade EXP. Seems an odd choice to me, but then I suppose it’s another title to show off the EXP’s tate (or TATE? Answers in the …

Lightning Swords (Evercade): COMPLETED!

Oh would you look at that. My Limited Edition Evercade EXP finally arrived! And with it, a big pile of games – some built-in, and two Arcade cartridges. So, what will I play? Why, Lightning Swords, a game I’ve never heard of, of course! Imagine if Revenge of Shinobi was Rolling Thunder, and you’re most of the way towards what Lightning Swords is. A sideways scrolling swordy-slashy game with hundreds of identical foes and a few bosses. You can pick …

Reel Steal (Playdate): COMPLETED!

I may have been neglecting my Playdate of late. Mainly because it’s hard to see the screen when it isn’t sunny. However, Panic released a big update this week with a new on-device store and a couple more free games, so I had a look. And then ended up completing this. It’s a fishing game (hence “Reel”) where you ride a hook down into a building, winching up and down with the crank, whilst avoiding magnets, lasers and drones. You …

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (Switch): COMPLETED!

Another Nintendo Online Service game. I have played this before, but maybe only once? I didn’t remember any of it apart from the bunny ears and the deformed Wario sprites. It was so, so easy though! I didn’t die at all! Every boss was easy. Every level a cinch. I ended up with more lives than it’s possible to ever use. But, it was enjoyable. A bit jerky, but very impressive when you consider this was a Game Boy game …

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (Switch): COMPLETED!

Even though I owned this for the duration of my time with a 3DS as my primary form of handheld video gaming entertainment (it was free because I was a 3DS Ambassador), I never actually played it on there. I also have the original, for the GBA, which I did complete at the time (EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO!?) and very much enjoyed it, so no idea why I never played it again. Until now! It’s another one of the GBA games …