Stuart Gipp
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Is it a little unreasonable to say that Capcom loves to dangle a carrot in front of Darkstalkers fans? A trailer promising 'Darkstalkers Are Not Dead' showed up in 2012 featuring a full 3D Lord Raptor, though the subsequent PS3 Darkstalkers Resurrection compilation didn’t live up to that promise at all. Outside of the odd comic or Street Fighter V costume pack, it’s been pretty slim pickings. Wait for it – until now.
Dawn of the Monsters stumbles into some of the more common pitfalls of belt-scrolling fighters, but it has enough flair, polish and excitement to be a more than worthy offering, particularly played in couch co-op with a friend. We wish there were a few more playable creatures, but the ones on offer here are all very distinct and enormous fun to get to grips with. It's a richly rewarding game, with higher ranks unlocking new skins and upgrades from the in-game shop (don't worry, no microtransactions here) which offer an incentive to keep playing — though the real reason you'll stick with Dawn of the Monsters is that it is, quite simply, very good indeed. While it has a few problems, they're nothing that will stop you having a blast with this Brobdingnagian beat-'em-up.
Let’s begin the review with a stark personal story. We promise this is 100 per cent true: we fell asleep playing Babylon’s Fall. Multiple times. Sat there in an office chair, DualSense in hand, fast asleep. That could almost be the end of the review, surely? A new game from Platinum of all people, patron saints of hardcore gaming — some of the fastest-paced and most demanding combat in the medium. Responsible for Vanquish and Bayonetta for goodness’ sake! And now it's put out a game that we’d market to insomniacs. And we don’t mean the Marvel's Spider-Man and Ratchet & Clank kind.
While Infernax is tough, it's resolutely fair — you can't really make the game 'easy', but you can absolutely mitigate the difficulty or take a break doing something else when you get stuck. Don't expect a simple ride, though, and don't expect to take the right decisions on a first playthrough - not that anything seems particularly 'right' in this beautifully bloody little world. It's only familiarity that lets Infernax down — there's nothing really new here, but it's all done and delivered so well that you won't really care unless you're desperate for a completely fresh experience. In which case why play a faux-retro NES throwback to begin with? A cut above most efforts in the subgenre, Infernax both demands and requires attention.
A bit of an interesting paradox, then; it's difficult to recommend Shadow Man Remastered to those who haven't played the game before, while — at the same time — if they do wish to check it out, this is absolutely the only way we'd recommend doing so. It's a sterling port, rich with new and restored content, improved visuals, copious customisation and almost-flawless performance; it runs at 60fps locked with only the very occasional hitch. Shadow Man has never been a masterpiece, but it is a clear labour of love with plenty to offer those willing to endure its more aged mechanics and structural curiosities. We can only hope that plenty will have the patience to do so.
We were, as you can tell from the body of this review, consistently frustrated with Beautiful Desolation, another ambitious and lovely-looking game whose Switch incarnation just wasn't an acceptable way to experience it - shades of Genesis Noir's port (though that was better). It's especially unfortunate because this is exactly the sort of different that the Switch needs, but it needs to run better than what's on offer here. If you can muscle past the problematic controls, excessive loading and weak performance, you may be able to get into Beautiful Desolation. There is a lot to like in its worldbuilding, gorgeous backgrounds and interesting premise. But we felt like it just asked us to overlook way, way too many problems for the privilege.
Hurt only by the Switch's take on its visuals, Mundaun delivers above and beyond its appearances and offers a robust, constantly compelling adventure game. It isn't particularly scary, but it is rich in atmosphere and hosts plenty of gameplay variety and good ideas. We found that it never compromised its tone or fell foul of any gameplay glitches, although as mentioned the visuals aren't quite up to snuff. It's a minor thing, though, as Mundaun should keep your attention from beginning to, well, one or more of its multiple endings.
There’s something just a tiny bit cynical about the “please like me!!” cutesiness of Rain On Your Parade, but despite our best efforts we ended up doing so. Just. It coasts on “what will they do next?” novelty rather than any kind of meaty, significant gameplay, but sometimes that’s okay. It’s something new, which is appealing, and the toybox feel of the proceedings lends itself to a broad appeal – we can see young kids and people who vibe with its twee presentation getting a kick out of it. If you've had your fill of 'cutesy', though, you might find yourself hoping for a break in the clouds.
One of those rare titles that takes inspiration from the classics but manages to forge its own identity, Smelter is a breath of fresh air that uses its influences very wisely, assisted to excellence by generally pretty terrific level design with only a handful of lesser segments bringing things down just a tad. The proceedings feel confident, original and polished, with gorgeous graphics and an outstanding soundtrack that calls to mind the likes of Mega Man X4 for its action stages and evokes Yuzo Koshiro's majestic ActRaiser score for its side-scrolling levels.
An absolute pleasure from start to finish, what Kaze and the Wild Masks lacks in originality it makes up for in the strength of its level design, responsive controls, kinetic move set and attractive visuals. Excellent, action-packed platforming through and through, with great gameplay variety and gimmicks that don’t compromise on what the game is best at – challenging, fast-paced obstacle courses and deviously-hidden secret areas. Easiest sell? Kaze and the Wild Masks is to Donkey Kong Country what Freedom Planet was to Sonic the Hedgehog. Don’t miss this one.