30XX is one of the best roguelikes out there, combining the tight platforming action of the Mega Man X series with the challenge and randomization that roguelike fans crave. Batterystaple Games has done lots of refinement through updates since 30XX first appeared on Steam Early access a few years ago. The latest such update adds a new character for free, one who combines the best attributes of the two existing characters. Also, the Steam version is on sale, making it a great time to travel to the distant year of 30XX!

When Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons arrived in July of last year, we were blown away by its exceptional stage design, fast and simple gameplay, and large array of unlockable characters. The only thing it really lacked was online co-op, but that has now been rectified. Today's "Sacred Reunion" DLC (which is really a title update) adds online co-op, Survival and Versus modes, and three new unlockable characters. It's a big update, and it's free, baby.

What's up with the gaming industry ? Seems like most of the hyped up releases in the last year hit the streets and got immediately dumped in the "Mixed" (at best) reviews category for everyone to soon forget. We won't name any names, but it is sad to see - especially for co-op titles that depend so much on an active player base.

Shoot 'em ups come in many shapes and sizes. One of those is Crystal Comet, an upcoming Steam-exclusive shooter from a new developer called Rewdan Sprites. This one will feature 4-player local co-op, AI teammates, a story mode with full voice acting, and a very indie art style. The freshly released demo shows off all these features and more.

Arcades might have dwindled in the United States, but they still exist. Companies like Raw Thrills even make new arcade games such as 2017's TMNT arcade game. Seven years later, Game Mill is releasing that game onto consoles and PC as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants. It will support 4-player local co-op, and it's due in late April.

After a surprisingly quiet January, our release calendar was once again filled with quite a bit of co-op fodder this month. Our team's favourite was by far the democracy-simulator, Helldivers 2. Despite the initial server-issues, we just keep coming back to it time and time again. Also of note, quite a few titles like Sons Of The Forest, Smalland: Survive the Wilds, and Timemelters finally left their Early Access state behind, which is always nice to see. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Skull and Bones, on the other hand... well, although they also finally hit store shelves, it doesn't seem like the wait was really worth it. Always sad to see - especially for co-op titles.

Deathwish Enforcers Special Edition arrived on Steam this month, bringing some good, old fashioned arcade-style run-and-gun shooting to PC. While the game's reception has been quite good, developer Monster Bath Studios is already pumping out updates to fix the minor issues that players have discovered. It's great when a developer cares about their product!

G.I. Joe is a franchise that seems very well-suited to video games, but the games have been few and far between over the years. The upcoming G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra from Maple Powered Games and Freedom Games looks to rectify that scarcity. Wrath of Cobra will be the Joes' first beat 'em up. It's due out this year on Steam and Switch. To ease the wait, be sure to watch the new trailer.

January 2024 was a... strange month. We've counted only 20 co-op releases across all platforms. Yes, this time of year is usually a bit more on the lighter side with all publishers and developers preparing the big spring push. But still: This is the lowest amount of new titles we've seen in a January in a long time. Perhaps everyone was just too afraid to launch in the same month as Palworld? A bit less Pokémon with guns and more traditional open-world-survival-crafting as it turns out but still a very huge success with players.

Here it is: 2024. And with it, we're leaving behind 2023: a year that is already considered by many to be the best 365 days for gaming in at least a decade. Granted, not all expected blockbusters hit the mark. This was especially hard on us when the title featured a solid co-op option (Redfall anyone?). But there was way too much good, cooperative stuff released to keep us complaining for too long about these mishaps.

In the early 1980s, it was not uncommon to find console games that were heavily inspired by arcade games of the time. One such game was Astrosmash for the Intellivision console. It combined gameplay elements from Space Invaders and Asteroids, and was apparently well-liked by Intellivision players. This year, BBG Entertainment, makers of Dynablaster...

November saw a mind-blowing 76 new releases across all platforms! It seems like every publisher once again wanted to make sure to hit that precious buying-window for Christmas. That doesn't make sense anymore considering most of the stuff is only available for download anyway. What if the only thing under the tree is a gift card for your favorite online store? But old habits die hard, as they say.