Double Dragon Revive, the slick 3D reboot of the classic co-op beat 'em up, looks better every time we see it. The game is still several months from release, but Arc System Works continues to release exciting new details. Most recently, the developer revealed new designs and details for many of Revive's enemies. Additionally, the preorder bonus game, Double Dragon Dodgeball, has an enticing trailer that shows off plenty of retro charm.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate is one of the best TMNT games around, and a really fine co-op roguelike to boot. The only thing that has held it back from greater mainstream success is availability. Namely, it hasn't been available on the two most powerful consoles: Xbox and PlayStation. That will finally change this summer, thank goodness, because Super Evil Megacorp has announced that Splintered Fate is coming to PlayStation on May 20 and Xbox on June 24.
Wrapping houses is a common prank in which people throw rolls of toilet paper at a house at night. So far, there's never been a video game about this time-honored pastime. Imagine being able to safely wrap houses from the comfort of your own home! Well, Wrap House Simulator from Broken Lyre Entertainment and PlayWay is not that game. Instead, it's about running a restaurant. Does the restaurant get wrapped in toilet paper? Probably not. On the plus side, it does have online co-op.
Spring is an excellent time for retro games, and Arc System Works knows it. That's surely why they've recently released Super Technos World: River City & Technos Arcade Classics, a collection of 12 classic Super NES and arcade games. Technos games always held a cult appeal, and retro gamers will love the chance to revisit games like Super Dodgeball, The Combatribes, and River City Renegade. Five of the included games feature local and online co-op too.
April saw a whopping 150 new entries to our database, 15 of which are versions for the hottest new thing in town: the Nintendo Switch 2. That's a good start for a new platform and we're sure there are many, many more titles to come. For comparison, we currently have over 1,800 entries for the first Switch, and there's no sign of the new releases stopping any time soon.
Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics debuted on most platforms last year, followed by an Xbox release this year. Right out of the gate, it was a really impressive collection, hence the high rating in our Co-op Review. Still, it seems that the collection had some room for improvement. This week's update adds local versus modes to each fighting game, graphical enhancements for Marvel vs. Capcom 2, new artwork and music, and more.
Back in the good old days, baseball games were fairly simple and easy to play. One of the more popular NES baseball games was Bases Loaded from Jaleco. A sequel called Super Bases Loaded was later released for the Super NES, offering much improved graphics and sound. Rather than allow the series to be forgotten, Sickhead Games and Rock It Games have just released a collection called Jaleco Sports: Bases Loaded on PC.
Warside is a freshly-released, turn-based strategy game for Steam from Lavabird and First Break Labs (makers of Cthulhu's Reach). We've been excited for it not just because of its lovely Advance Wars-style graphics and intuitive gameplay, but also for its promised co-op support. Well, now that the game is here, it turns out that co-op won't be arriving until the console ports come along. That's a shame, but the currently-available solo campaign and competitive multiplayer are nothing to sneeze at.
In the time before bullet hells, shoot 'em ups featured sharp level design and more deliberate gameplay. Konami's Gradius is undoubtedly one of the finest shoot 'em up series of the 1980s and 90s. Players will finally be able to enjoy many of those games on modern hardware thanks to GRADIUS ORIGINS. The upcoming compilation collects 7 arcade Gradius titles, most with multiple versions to choose from. What's more, four of them will support 2-player local co-op!
As loyal readers know, Earth Defense Force 6 is one of my very favorite games. My wife and I have collectively put hundreds of ours into it, mostly on the Steam Deck, Valve's portable gaming device. Many of those hours were spent in online co-op, a key selling point of the EDF series. Sadly, however, we can no longer play together fro...
PowerWash Simulator is a sleeper hit (other than the unfortunate VR version), so it makes sense that other developers would draw inspiration from it. That's clearly the case with Spray Paint Simulator from North Star Video Games and Whitethorn Games. As the name implies, this one involves painting environments instead of washing them. It will support 2-player online co-op, and it's due out in May.
Honestly? There is not much to say about March. Our release calender was filled but not overwhelming. So we got the usual mix of new releases. Like the ones entering (Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone) or leaving (Time to Morp) Early Access. The retro-inspired (The Phanom, Kemono Heroes) ones as well as re-releases of old classics (Castle of Shikigami III). The surefire hits (Split Fiction) and the ones that were expected to be hits but didn't quite make the landing (Rise of the Ronin on PC). And of course tons and tons of indie release (Party Club, Astroloot).
