Recent reviews by Mike Stu

Superb Halo-like featuring actual fart mechanics[www.gamesradar.com].

Matter of fact, game so good I don´t even care they put a battle pass in their beta. Game so good I don't even care the devs are doing the exact kinda stuff they were clowning CoD for.

$20 quid for a skin? A battle royale no asked for? Sure I'll take it, no questions asked. Don't even flinch.

...GOD I miss arena shooters.

Have you ever played Crash 2 and thought to yourself "man, this is alright, but I really wish it got very hard at random. Also can we get some invisible boxes up in here?" No? Well here's Crash 4 anyway.

Easily the biggest, most refined, feature rich and varied Crash to date, gameplay wise. ...It is also very much bloated with junk and struggles with basic 3D perception.

A definite get if you're a casual Crash enjoyer™. If you're the kind of a freak who likes to 100%+ these games though, I can assure you will grow to hate it/yourself - I'd seriously look into the N.Hanced mod[www.nexusmods.com] at that point.

game so good I could blaze my chrome all over it

Kinda boring and (mercifully) short compared to the original game, if I'm being honest.

...BUT - and this is a massive, juicy but - the final sequence is easily one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in a videogame. That alone makes it worth picking up and pushing through it (especially on a sale).

I live, laughed, straffed, tatted. Simples as. ...Then I bought the DLC to further the tattening (which has insane value btw).

Anyway, tenattaten. Highly recommend if you miss the early 2000's and/or or if you're handsome and cool and smart.

(Add 4:3 support please? Pretty please?)

Man HEBEREKE getting a rerelease was definitely not in my 2024 bingo card. The original is a serious contender for best NES game, and easily the one which has aged the best in my book.

As for the rerelease itself, it`s not too shabby: love the fact that this comes bundled with high-res scans of the original boxart and manuals, and the overall presentation is slick and super cute - as it should be.

...I do have a few nitpicks though. Namely the fact that: (i) Sunsoft did not bother to implement the english translation directly into the ROM - which is especially weird when a fan translation patch[www.romhacking.net] has long been available; (ii) this does not include the (very different) PAL release; (iii) having only 1080p and 720p as resolution options for this sub-240p NES game is wild.

Overall though, I'm just stoked this exists at all. Hebe/10, easy recommendation (on a sale).

In the early 2000's, Deus Ex creator Warren Spector famously stated that his dream project would be a game taking place entirely within a single, expertly crafted city block, where you`d go around interacting with its people and their stories.

In 2024, a stranger will relentlessly offer you sausages through a fence hole in Coal Supper`s "Thank Goodness You're Here!" - a game where you assume the role a lil' british goblin-manchild, who goes about solving the problems of the jolly townsfolk of Barnsworth entirely by means of slap.

It is beautiful, it is aggressively Northern England and it just might be the funniest game I`ve played. Buy this.

"Pepper Grinder"? I BARELY KNOW HER!

Great lil' action platformer with lots of charm. Bosses can get a tad annoying and it`s definitely on the short side - wouldn`t mind an extra world or two.

Overall, solid 8/10. Would love to see the concept expanded in a sequel.

OG Tomb Raider absolutely slaps. Played it for the first time in 2024 and yup, it holds up.

In fact, this game from 1996 affords the player much more freedom of movement when compared to basically any modern AAA release. Navigation is not a mindless activity here, but a challenge in and of itself.

If you`re curious to try it out (do it), a few PSAs:

• This release runs on DOS Box and it`s not great - the color palette is all weird, the cutscenes look bad and there`s missing music. You can solve all these issues by simply applying the Automated Fix[github.com], which does what the name implies.
  
  
• There`s obviously no support for modern controllers in the game itself, but Steam Input does work perfectly. Played this from start to finish using an Xbox controller. Which reminds me...
  
  
• ...Honestly, if you`re not allergic to tank controls and don`t mind the PS1 aesthetics, there`s not much reason to get the recent Remaster instead of OG Tomb Raider - especially since this goes for dirt cheap on sales.

Anyway, easy 9/10 - one of the first and best to ever do it. Say what you want about the British, but they sure are experts in murdering ancient civilizations with machine guns.

Ah, yes. The game with the "Pray/Bike" button.

Really unique piece of work right here - and one that`s best experienced going in blind.

If it looks interesting to you, go for it, 100%.