Month: August 2023
‘Ninja Master’s ACA NEOGEO’ Review – A Tall Man in a Taller Crowd
That apostrophe still bothers me. It has always bothered me. I’m getting that off my chest now. Ninja Master’s ($3.99) what? Sigh. Alright, I promise I won’t bring that up again for the rest of the review. There’s plenty to talk about here beyond that, after all. What we’ve got here is the final fighting…
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‘Samba de Amigo: Party-To-Go’ Apple Arcade Review – No Maracas, No Life
Samba de Amigo finally got its first proper sequel on consoles with the release of Samba de Amigo: Party Central. To go along with it, there is also this Apple Arcade game, titled Samba de Amigo: Party-To-Go (). Given the heavy online and multiplayer focus of many of the modes in the console version, Party-To-Go…
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‘finity.’ Apple Arcade Review – Tying Your Brain in Infinite Knots
While I have my criticisms of the Apple Arcade service, I certainly can’t fault it for its selection of puzzle games. Long time readers will know that Shaun brakes his car without fail for two genres, and puzzlers are one of them. The latest addition to the roster is finity (), which comes by way…
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‘Pizza Hero’ Review – Pineapple on Pizza is Justice
A provocative title is just the thing to get views, I’m told. Well, if there were ever a cause to drag the pineapple-on-pizza topic back into the discourse, Pizza Hero (Free) just might be it. After all, we’re no longer talking about how the sourness of the fruit is a fantastic match for the sweetness…
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‘Luminaria: Forgotten Echoes’ Review – Shadow Boxing
Well, this was a bit of a roller coaster. Publisher Crescent Moon Games is still out here doing its thing on mobile, and I genuinely appreciate that. Its latest release, Luminaria: Forgotten Echoes ($1.99) is an affordable little puzzler with cozy aesthetics, an intriguing little story, and some interesting shadow-based mechanics. It’s not going to…
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‘Kingdoms: Merge & Build’ Review – Prince Eddie Proves Unready
The kinds of games we see come to Apple Arcade has certainly shifted in the general sense over time. I can understand why, as Apple tries to get the biggest engagement bang for its bucks. Why blow the bank on a bunch of games that people will play through once or twice and then never…
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‘Unpacking’ Mobile Review – Best on iPad
While I’m still waiting for a few games from my list of games I’d like to see hit iOS, I’m super happy that Witch Beam’s narrative puzzler Unpacking ($9.99) has gotten an excellent conversion on iOS through Humble Games. Over the last week or so, I’ve been replaying Unpacking on iPhone, iPad, Switch, Steam Deck,…
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‘Kizuna Encounter ACA NEOGEO’ Review – A Lucky Encounter After The Heavy Reign
A few months ago, SNK and Hamster released Savage Reign in the ACA NEOGEO mobile line. In my review, I gave it a bit of a drubbing due to its slap-dash mechanics, poor thematic consistency, and general lack of any real distinguishing features in SNK’s ocean of great fighting games. It was less about it…
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‘Six Ages 2: Lights Going Out’ Review – From Out of the Darkness, Another Ray of Light
It’s been a bit over five years since the release of Six Ages: Ride Like the Wind, a game that I loved just as much as its predecessor The King of Dragon Pass. That might seem like a bit of a wait for a sequel, but the gap between the first and second game was…
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‘Bullet Hell Heroes’ Review – Saving the World Doesn’t Come Cheap
The mobile ecosystem has done pretty alright with shoot-em-ups over the course of its history. Indeed, some of the earliest cell phone games were shooters. When the iPhone launched, we soon had a bunch of great conversions of Cave’s arcade shooters amid a number of indie games. Sky Force, Phoenix, Danmaku Unlimited, .Decluster, and more…
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