The Eternal Castle, PC

The Eternal Castle is a stunning platform/action indie game from Leonard Menchiari, Daniele Vicinanzo, and Giulio Perrone, and published by Playsaurus in 2019.

It is a tribute to games such as Another World, Flashback, Limbo, and INSIDE, and features a lone character, running from left to right, moving from puzzle to puzzle, trying to survive in a weird, dark world full of technology, destruction, mystery and death.

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Shadow Warrior, PC

This remake of the classic Build engine shooter, Shadow Warrior, was developed by Flying Wild Hog and first released in 2013.

Like the original, it’s a hectic, balls-to-the-wall shooter that follows the exploits of a guy called Lo Wang and his fight against his boss, Orochi Zilla, and the mega corporation he commands (Zilla Industries).

I’ve played the second game extensively and really enjoyed it, so decided to buy this and see if it was any different. And it is!

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Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor, Nintendo DS

This 2009 ‘spin-off’ in the Megami Tensei series is a turn-based tactical combat game, with the usual demons, magic, exploration and battles – presented in a mix of comic-like panels (for the conversation sections) and isometric landscapes (for the combat sections).

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Dusk, PC

Dusk is a 2018 release from New Blood Interactive, developed by American programmer David Szymanski. It is a horror-themed first-person shoot ’em up with simplistic graphics, atmospheric music, lots of weapons, and plenty of blood and gore.

It doesn’t look like much when viewed as still screenshots, but the beauty of the game comes from its refined controls, interesting level design, and engaging, fast-paced gameplay.

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Pokémon Pearl, Nintendo DS

While I wouldn’t call myself a Pokémon fanatic, I do really enjoy the games because they are so well made, and because I love level-grinders. Pokémon Pearl (and its companion, Diamond) is considered by many as one of the best games in the series, and people still love to play it now.

Compared to previous generations, Pokémon Pearl has lots of new features, and compared to later generations: the series hasn’t yet started to collapse under its own weight.

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Dragon Quest IX, Nintendo DS

The follow-up to the classic PS2 game Dragon Quest VIII is another fine level-grinder, with cheerful, colourful graphics and mesmerising gameplay. Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies was developed by Level-5 and published by Square Enix on the Nintendo DS in 2009.

Getting straight down to it: Dragon Quest IX (nine) is similar to the previous game in the series, but with a few fundamental changes…

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Booty, Commodore 16/Plus4

A 1986 conversion of a hit ZX Spectrum budget game, the Commodore 16 conversion of John F. Cain‘s Booty is about as bad as a video game can get.

The game constantly dumps unfairness on you, and is about as entertaining as being crawled on by a Brazilian Wandering Spider.

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Leprechaun, Arcade

Ugh… Now this is a turkey of a game if ever I saw one… Created by Tong Electronics in 1982, Leprechaun is a dour collect ’em up that was designed for children but in fact offends their intelligence.

In fact: it would probably offend everyone now, except for those people who want to play the worst video games of all time, in which case it is probably mana from heaven…

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Steel Talons, Arcade

Steel Talons is a helicopter action game that uses 3D, polygonal graphics to represent the playing area. It was developed and manufactured by Atari Games in 1991.

This being from the early 1990s: the 3D graphics are quite simple, and Steel Talons does look complicated to play on first inspection, but the gameplay is actually fairly simple.

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