From developers Maschinen-Mensch comes a puzzle platformer, Mother Machine.

You are a gremlin like creature, filled with cuteness and determination, printed by Mother, who needs her satellites back online.

Using the force of burps and explosive farts you control your creature through the varying labyrinths of caverns and caves which are procedurally generated and multi tierred, powering up cables that activate satellites and more.

You can climb to reach those tricky areas, but your climbing is timed, so don’t try and climb to the heavens.

Swing, run and power up your abilities gaining some serious gas to help you through as you gain the ability to’ heal fart’, ‘power puke’, fire spikes from your body and more.

There are two vitals you need keep up, your stomach and health.

You will find berries to eat, or throw as a projectile. If your stomach is empty you won’t be able to use your additional abilities.

Health can drop surprisingly fast too. You’re not the only living critter in these caves, so there are moments of short combat bursts. Also if you’re climbing and the timer runs out prepare for some serious pain as you fall.

Mother Machine is a puzzle platforms done well.

While gameplay can get a little repetitive the puzzle element keeps you hooked as you develop a serious  determination to finish off the objective for the cave that you are in.

Mother Machine can be played solo, but it is best played with others as you both help eachother out, heal eachother and solve the satellite activations together.

Your creature can be customized to your liking, but this will cost you energy and you’ll need to find a machine on your adventure to actually apply those custom looks.

Mother Machine is a cute game with a tricky and complex play through.

Eat, burp, climb, swing and power fart your way through with friends or go it alone in this sophisticated yet simple game that’s as much fun as it sounds.

The post Mother Machine (PC) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

To celebrate the 35th anniversary of the beloved 1990s anime Samurai Pizza Cats, a brand-new video game is officially in development.

Alongside this announcement, a special trailer featuring the original voice cast has been released.

The show first aired in Japan on February 1, 1990. Kyatto Ninden Teyandee is a sci-fi, action-comedy animated show set in Edoropolis, a city inhabited by anthropomorphic robotic animals. The series gained international recognition in the early 1990s when it was localized as Samurai Pizza Cats and broadcast worldwide and has maintained a dedicated fanbase to this day.

English cast from left to right: Sonja Ball (Polly Esther) Dean Hagopian ( Seymour “The Big Cheese”) Rick Jones (Speedy Cerviche) and Terrence Scammell returning as (Guido Anchovy, Narrator)

The new game, Samurai Pizza Cats: Blast from the Past, is being developed by Dutch studio BLAST ZERO (creative team behind Jitsu Squad) and will be globally distributed by Red Dunes Games from the United Arab Emirates.

Designed as a 2D Action RPG, the game allows players to seamlessly switch between members of the Pizza Cats, utilizing their unique abilities to solve puzzles and engage in thrilling battles within the world of Little Tokyo.

The newly released trailer shows a stunningly faithful recreation of the anime’s cel animation style, along with a sneak peek at in-game footage.

Notably, the Japanese trailer’s script is being supervised by Satoru Akahori, the original screenplay writer.

The trailer below also features an impressive voice cast reunion from both the English and Japanese show.

The English cast includes Rick Jones (Speedy Cerviche), Sonja Ball (Polly Esther), Terrence Scammell (Guido Anchovy,  Narrator) and Dean Hagopian returning as Seymour “The Big” Cheese.

The Japanese cast includes Kappei Yamaguchi (Yattarou), Ai Orikasa (Pururun), Ikuya Sawaki (Kitsunezuka Ko’on-no-Kami), Naoki Tatsuta (Karasu Gennarisai) and Kenyu Horiuchi (Narrator). Seiichirō Yamashita joins the cast as Sukashii, taking over the role from Jurota Kosugi, his senior at the same talent agency.

Further details on the game’s release and development are still to come.

The post Party like it’s 1991 – Samurai Pizza Cats are back! appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

An original release for Nintendo’s Wii console all the way back in 2010, Disney’s Epic Mickey took the interactive Wii wands and turned them in to paint brushes.

Fast forward to 2024 (yep 14 years!) Epic Mickey is back, Rebrushed with a new coat of paint.

Narrated by the Sorcerer Yen Sid, Mickey finds himself in a cartoon wasteland.

It’s desolate, sad place for forgotten things, and as Mickey explores this world with a magic paintbrush he brings colour, light and substance for all.

But it’s not just a platformer where you go about and paint stuff, there is a bad guy. The Blot prefers things as they are and likes to reign with terror.

Each level, environment is a mix of puzzle and platform.

You play as Mickey, and you’ll have the ability to splash colour on otherwise ‘invisible’ areas, or erase, as you need.

Painting over areas either reveals the way forward, opens additional paths and even secrets.

It’s fair to say that this game, the original release was gold on Nintendo Wii, as you could wave the Wand controller about to play.

Now remastered and released on every platform, it has taken that virtual interactive control and placed it in to a standard gamepad or keyboard – which actually works well.

Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is a substantial play for kids, or big kids.

Family friendly but also tricky enough to add longevity to gameplay.

Built with remastered visuals, Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is an interactive work of art in its own right.

The post Epic Mickey: Rebrushed (PC) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Timewarp back to 1993, when the Sega Genesis (Megadrive II) was in it’s prime, releasing games that graphically, shouldn’t even be able to run on the 16BIT cartridge console.

One of the heavier hitters of that era was Aero the Acrobat.

Fast forward to now, and indie game developers Ratalaika Games has given Aero a modern refresh.

Still the same 2D gameplay you may remember from your younger days, but now in 4K and way less pixels.

The catchy soundtrack has also had a rework, swapping out it’s 16BIT blips and beeps to a more synthesized sound.

Gameplay has you running and jumping about through maze like levels in the worlds craziest and most deadly circus, taking out enemies and using environmental contraptions to get yourself through as you escape.

A hard yet satisfying puzzle-like play at times and Aero will gain differing skills as you play through.

Given that Aero the Acrobat is now a 31 year old game, but is more challenging than some current Triple AAA titles.

Ratalaika Games have generously added in the original cheat codes. For those that were not around in the 90’s, gameplay was a stressful affair, as you only had so many lives, once those were gone (unless the game was able to generate a password) it was permanent death and you had the cold hard reality of starting over at the beginning.

Cheats can be toggled on or off, and if you really want to take a trip back to the days of 16BIT you can, and change the graphics to the original.

Aero the Acrobat was one of my favs back in the day, and it was a late comer to the console, as it was being phased out in favour of CD consoles.

Still as fun and super challenging now as it was back then, Aero the Acrobat is the ideal game to introduce a whole new generation of players to a long-standing classic, or relive your childhood.

The post Aero the Acrobat (Xbox Series X|S) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Astro Bot is a quirky old-school style 3D platformer polished to a shine via the power of the PlayStation 5.

The game builds upon the Astro Bot Playgrounds digital game that comes pre-installed on new PS5s. As with the free game, Astro Bot harks back to simpler times, charging players with the rescue of fellow Astro Bots whilst dipping into the nostalgic waters of the PlayStation brand’s iconic history.

Astro Bot continues from Astro Bot Playgrounds, with the little bots flying through space in a spaceship that looks suspiciously like a PlayStation 5. After being attacked by an alien creature and having vital components stolen, the PS5/spaceship crashes, its bot occupants scattered.

The game’s objective is to locate the stolen parts of the PlayStation 5 spaceship. Along the way, players collect coins and save the lost bots. The game world is divided into sections containing several levels, the final level being a boss level with the stolen part. You don’t have to collect the bots, many of which are hidden, to complete the level. There are also puzzle pieces to collect and optional hidden levels to uncover.

Your Astro Bot can punch, jump and use a jetpack to slow its descent. Special equipment adds a bit of variety to the levels. Some of the equipment is based on famous PlayStation games, but most just add abilities like punching fists, a rocket pack and slowing time. The abilities only last for the level they were obtained in, but some make appearances in more than one level.

The crash site serves as the game hub, and it’s here that the PS5 is reassembled and rescued bots congregate once rescued. The crash site is also where you get to put your collection of bots to work. Whilst rescuing bots is not compulsory, there are tasks in the hub area that require a specific number of bots to access. The reward is usually the rescuing of another bot or a puzzle piece, making this part of the game kind of optional as well.

The game uses the power of the PlayStation 5 to bring huge levels to life with incredible visuals. Everything that you’d expect from a AAA game has been incorporated into the game, making it the best-looking platformer I’ve ever played.

The more of a veteran PlayStation fan you are the more you will likely enjoy Astro Bot. There are references to the brand’s entire 30-year history in the game. You’ll see nods to games going all the way back to Tomb Raider, with a few levels based on iconic PlayStation franchises, such as Uncharted and God of War, including the game mechanics.

Once the bread and butter of video gaming, platform games become out of vogue in favour of the 3D shooters and open environments afforded by dedicated 3D graphics cards. Whilst Nintendo held the fort, with its ever-popular Mario games, the rest of us moved on. With Astro Bot It makes a nice change to play a game that is suitable for the whole family without reaching for the Switch.

Astro Bot is an absolute delight to play. The animations give the game a lot of heart drawing you into a rollercoaster of a platformer that you’ll have difficulty putting down.

The post Astro Bot (PlayStation 5) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Don’t walk, run!

Pre-orders for Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn begin today for Xbox and Nintendo Switch. As a little treat, ININ also announces the release of a playable demo of the game, available for Xbox today and coming soon to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. Grab the exclusive sneak peek into the futuristic, adrenaline-fuelled world of Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn.

The game features an arsenal of deadly weapons, including caltrops, shuriken, and more. Departing from the NES original, Hayate and Kaede will have an expanded variety of weaponry.

There’s five completely recreated stages featuring devious traps and challenging platform puzzles. Plus, a 6th entirely new stage.

Two ninjas are better than one. Grab a friend and get ready for couch co-op within a fresh new look, beautiful modern in-game sprite art as a faithful update to the 8-bit original.

Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn takes us back. to the 90’s: as you feast your eyes on the key visuals and characters illustrated by Dynamic Productions, the same remarkable illustrators of the original 90’s title.

Available on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch, and Steam on August 29th, 2024, and for the real retro game music aficionados, Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn will also release a Digital Deluxe Edition for PS4 / PS5, NSW, and Steam, that includes the electric digital soundtrack by legends Iku Mizutani and Hiroyuki Iwatsuki.

Don’t miss your chance to be one of the first to play the first level (in single player or with a friend!) of Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn! Play the demo, and then secure your copy by pre-ordering directly from your regional Xbox and Nintendo eShop.

The post Emerging From the Shadows… appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

The Prince started it all.

Parkouring, swinging, wall climbing and running with challenging melee combat.

The Rogue Prince of Persia is a 2D near-to cell shaded platformer that has released hot off the heels from The Lost Crown.

Infact the two releases are so close together, that initially I thought The Rogue Prince of Persia was a mini-game or side game to the latter.

It’s not.

A full adventure within it’s own right, it takes us back to the roots of Prince of Persia where you take on the role of ‘The Prince’ in the city of Clesiphon, which is systematically being destroyed by a warlord known as the Hun.

The Hun sends out legions of possessed soldiers to take down the Prince and you must traverse through the multi-tiered procedurally generated levels saving the city and bringing down the wrath of the Hun.

Think you know and area, think again. Next time you’re there it will be slightly different.

The Prince will use a range of weapons, both melee and ranged, but picking up. a better or different weapon, whether bought or found in a chest, sees you losing the one you just had. Collecting or earning Medallions is a sure way of enhancing your weapons.

The Prince’s skills can also be levelled up as well.

Enemies will drop coins when they are killed. These can be cashed in for health augmentations and newer weapons.

The Prince is also in possession of a magical artefact. This enables him to time travel, something that you will definitely do when either you die or within gameplay.

Dying sees time pass and you will wake up in an area called the Oasis. This is a safe place and also an area where you can restock up on potions and other in-game items before you tackle the adventure once again.

The Rogue Prince of Persia has a Memory Board built-in to gameplay. This tracks your interactions with NPCs. Many of whom will provide narratively important information to get you through.

While the game looks like a watered down Prince of Persia experience, it’s far from it. The Rogue Prince of Persia is a challenging side scroller, that will test the skills of even the more seasoned Prince of Persia gamers.

Brightly coloured and an adventure platformer not to be missed I fully recommend spending some time saving the city of Clesiphon, whether you’ve played a Prince of Persia game before or not.

The post The Rogue Prince of Persia (PC) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Slave Zero was an old 3rd person action game from the Dreamcast era.

Having never owned a Dreamcast, I had never heard of this series. So I figured what better way to check it out than the new retro style 2D side scrolling prequel that just dropped on the Switch.

Shou is a warrior who belongs as part of a resistance group in a dystopian world held under the control of one big baddie.  Shou manages to get his hands on a prototype slave unit which is a suit. He pops it on and fuses with the suit and goes to help fight the baddies controlling the city. There is heaps of dialogue presented on the screen with some decent voice acting underpinning it.

When it comes to gameplay Slave Zero X is a 2.5D hack n slash that is shockingly complex.

The combat relies on you learning a lot of combos, and if you don’t learn them and resort to button mashing you can expect to get your ass kicked. In that way it is hard in the best possible way.

When you get a rhythm going you shouldn’t have too many issues with the bulk of the game, but if you just want to hit every issue with a jump or two, then you will definitely be punished, and punished hard. There is some light platforming which  is average at best and pretty clunky.

The art style is interesting. The lines have the janky edge to them like many PS1 era games did and that makes it uniquely feel like a game made back then. The backgrounds are nicely detailed but again, with that dirty PS1 era jankiness, that makes it both beautifully charming, and jarring at the same time.

This is all on the backdrop of an excellent soundtrack.  It feels like an amazing techno 80’s movie soundtrack.

Slave Zero X is a solid game, and a pretty awesome achievement for an indie team. It really feels like a game from 30 years ago in the best possible ways, and sometimes in the worst.

If you want some solid hacking and slashing and want a nice slice of nostalgia in a unique new game, then this is for you.

The post Slave Zero X (Switch) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Devolver Digital seems to find some of the best indie games to publish, that’s why when Pepper Grinder popped up on my radar, it immediately rose to the top of my wishlist.

Now I have played it, I can confirm it’s yet another hit!

Pepper Grinder has our main character Pepper who washes up on land with her treasure.  It is quickly pinched and as a fan of treasure, she goes after it. That’s about the extent of the story and I am perfectly happy with that as it’s the gameplay you are here for.

When it comes to said gameplay, the game is a 2d platformer with a twist.

The twist is that Pepper has a giant drill to grind through rocks. Hence the Pepper Grinder name.

Anyway, there are areas you can drill through which propels Pepper forward. Very quickly you find yourself having to jump to a wall, grind through it, and then jump out the other end. It’s so damn fluent and so fun. You can also press a button to rocket out the other side of the rock which is needed to get some sweet air in some puzzles.

The game doesn’t want you to get complacent though.

It progressively adds mechanics that make the grinding platforming action harder. There is a lot of fun in the discovery, so I will only spoil one early one which is a grapple point which you can spin around. These can be as easy as swinging from grapple point to grapple point, but gets harder when you need to grind through a rock, immediately grapple, and then grind through the next spot of rock before you fall to your death. It can be really hard to get your rhythm, but when you get it the game is oh so smooth.

Each area of the game has a bunch of platforming levels, followed by a boss.

Bosses are very cleverly designed, and the game doesn’t walk you through how to beat them, so I won’t ruin heaps of them here.

Instead I will use the early boss to explain how great these are. You have an enemy who is riding a giant beetle.  The beetle will walk back and forth and eventually walk up the walls at which point you need to be grinding under it to slam into the beetle’s belly. Doing this knocks the enemy off and you need to hit him with your grinder.

A few phases of this isn’t too easy, especially as the boss’s gun gets much more powerful and your life bar starts to feel incredibly limited. It took me more turns than I want to admit to get through the first boss, but when I got it I was so damn happy.

The game has a stunning pixelated style that absolutely pops. Each area has its own backdrop and they have been designed to absolute perfection. There were the odd issues like an early lava waterfall section that I thought was just a background in a vertical section, until I went to jump past it and got burned alive by the lava. This is minor as hell though as the game looks so damn incredible.

Pepper Grinder is an incredibly fun and incredibly creative platformer. If you want something stressful but fun to play on your Switch, you’d be silly to look past this gem.

It kicked my ass plenty, but it always felt fair as I had to just get my rhythm or actions right to nail a section I was struggling with

The post Pepper Grinder (Nintendo Switch) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

A literal blast from the past, Contra is back from the late 80s with a fresh look, bringing the guns and action in a 2D platformer on present day consoles.

From Konami and Way forward, Contra – Operation Galuga sees you take on one of two unlocked characters; Bill Rizer and Lance Bean in Story mode on a small island where a terrorist faction called Red Falcon is creating anti-gravity weapons.

Gameplay is simple but tough.

Contra – Operation Galuga is a run and gun with classic platforming action. The screen moves as you push forward through the endless waves of enemies with no option to go back.

The environments are multi-tier and also has its fair share of hazards too.

You’ll equip two weapons at once and can toggle between as you need. You can also super-charge your current weapon for a mighty take down, this will sacrifice that particular weapon though, but that’s okay, weapon drops are frequent.

Super-charging your weapons is ideal when you’re swamped with foes, or for boss fights.

Contra – Operation Galuga uses a character life system. You’ll have a few lives, but when that last one runs out and you die and your dead. There are checkpoints of course, these are a bit questionable, as you never really know when you’ve reached one… until you all of your lives are gone. Any cool weapons you have do not ressurrect with you either. So if you die in a Boss fight. Good luck.

There are a few unlockable characters and perks (upgrades and abilities) where you can use in-game credits and additional game modes on offer.

Story is exactly its namesake, you’ll forge your way through the narrative. Arcade, although is the secondary option is likely the best place to start if you have not played Contra before. It plays very similar to Story and is just as unforgiving, but you do get two additional characters to play as.

Multi-player sees up to four at a time.

A perfect pick up and play title, Contra – Operation Galuga is a hell of a lot of fun to play. It retains that old school flavour from the 80s and 90s Nintendo classics while offering a challenge that will test even the more experienced of us gamers.

The post Contra – Operation Galuga (Xbox Series X|S) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.