Despite an utterly confusing announcement trailer, I was intrigued by the cross-platform online multiplayer game Knockout City. The game has a neo/futuristic 50's vibe, which is novel, and unlike a lot of games it's actually not free to play. It's nice that you don't have to worry about buying game passes regularly, and the game is also free to try. The seasonal game pass unlocks random cosmetics, which are fun and give the game a good amount of personality.

The core gameplay of Knockout City is surprisingly fresh and robust. At its core this is 3v3 dodgeball, but the design avoids so many issues compared to a game like, say, Fortnite, that make them either overly complex or have long stretches where nothing much happens. In Knockout City matches are timed or to a certain number of wins (e.g. 2 out of 3), whichever comes first, and instead of having to avoid bullets that you can't even really see let alone react to as in typical games of this genre, the balls in Knockout City are easy to spot when they're coming towards you. As with real-life dodgeball, there's this really unique mechanic in this game where you can catch a ball being thrown at you and then hurl it back, and this boomerang type of action really makes the game feel completely unique. There are different types of throws (straight, curved to the sides, or curved vertically) and speeds depending on long you charge your throw, and each match features a different type of special ball (e.g. bombs that explode or "moon" balls that make you jump with less gravity), along with the regular balls. Managing the balls is a big part of the strategy, and in a pinch your teammate can curl up into a ball and you can throw him/her, which has its own risks but is a fun new twist. The stages are really well designed and have fun gimmicks like a train that appears occassionally and will kill anyone it touches, and they strike a really good balance of being big enough to have a number of features, while also small enough to enable you to quickly get back to the action.

In the end after our free trial was up, my friends and I decided to buy the game and keep playing it, and we've been continuing to have fun through season 1. Even though it's a crowded field, Velan Studios has absolutely succeeded in creating a new IP that's great for newcomers and casual players, and also clearly has a lot of depth for more hardcore players. I agree with the NintendoLife review that the game at launch feels slightly light on modes, but I'm sure they have a robust long-term plan to keep players engaged and Season 2 starts later this month. Happy to have this one in rotation, and I will definitely be keeping tabs on how it develops in the future.

Last year I played through Picross DS, and as I'd expected it have very little in the way of surprises. I was really getting it out of the way with an eye on getting to its successor, Picross 3D, also for DS. I'm happy to be able to say that even though I got to it a decade after its release, Picross 3D does actually feel like a worthwhile evolution of the tried-and-true Picross formula.

The Wikipedia article on the game goes into extensive detail about its features, but basically at the core the game requires all the same kind of logic and reasoning that the 2D games do. Since the numbers are printed on a single cube on the sides, there's some shorthand (a number in a circle means the marked blocks are in two sections with one or more space between that adds up to that number, whereas a number in a square means the marked blocks are in three or more sections with one or more space between each section), but otherwise it's pretty familiar territory for Picross vets. The transition to 3D puzzles is done pretty flawlessly though. The touchscreen controls are accurate and feel great, although there's a new "slice" mechanic, where you can strip back layers of the puzzle in order to mark or remove internal blocks, that takes a bit of getting used to.

As with the other games the larger puzzles get a little more unwieldy, and it's annoying that you have to complete every single puzzle sequentially, including the seemingly endless series of tutorials, and you can't skip to the harder puzzles. This also the first Picross game made by HAL Laboratory (of Kirby fame), and the game just oozes with charm. There's a real tactile sense of chipping away the blocks to uncover the figure underneath, which is probably the closest I'll get to feeling like a sculptor, and there are little animations when you complete a puzzle. Each puzzle is categorized into "collections", and these sets get completed as your progress (although there's also this weird cubical chicken-like thing that runs you through the tutorials and is kind of creepy). The game's awards system is also kind of annoying in that you get a bonus star for completing a puzzle within the par time, and you get another star for completing it without any mistakes at all, but that's all to be expected in this kind of game and adds to the replayability. There are also "one chance only" puzzles where even one mistake makes you have to restart from the beginning, which is probably the game's worst feature, but those only pop up every once in a while.

Overall Picross 3D was a really well-executed and fun twist on the previous Picross formula. The 365+ puzzles will keep completists busy for months, and the ability to download additional official puzzles isn't really missed. Its direct sequel, Picross 3D Round 2 was only released digitally in the US on the 3DS's eShop, but it looks like it added a couple of new mechanics and I'm looking forward to seeing how the puzzles look in stereoscopic 3D.

It's been more than ten years since I slogged my way through the original Ghosts 'n Goblins on NES, and, sad to say, my impression of Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts for SNES didn't end up being much better. The game is very similar to the original in terms of the setup, but it's clearly superior for many reasons. The graphics are much better, and there's a lot more variety in the stages, but the bigger upgrade is that the weapons system has been enhanced. Like the original game, there's a variety of weapons you can make use of such as a spear-like lance weapon, a dagger, torch, and an axe, but in this game you also can gain bronze and gold armor which dramatically enhance your weapon. Much like the spread gun in the Contra games, the bow and arrows gives you double firepower and was an easy favorite for me, but the one-hit penalty that is the series' trademark and that causes you to lose your armor and the power-up is a major bummer. This unforgiving life system and the high level of difficulty which oftentimes just seems unfair end up really sucking out all the enjoyment from the game. The game does provide an options menu that lets you adjust the difficulty level and increase your number of lives as well as a level select cheat code, but even with limitless save states when playing it via Switch Online the game rarely felt more than just a pain to make any sort of progress through.

For its time I can see why it was well-received by some gamers, but from a modern standpoint there just seem to be so many better ways to spend my time than replaying the same stage over and over and over again just to make a tiny bit of progress. To top it all of, as with the original you have to beat the game twice to see the actual ending, and to add insult to injury you have to beat the final bosses with a powered down weapon. Ugh! This is a game that I really wanted to like, but in the end I have to lump it in with its predecessor as games that I'm glad I'll never have to play again. Too bad! Other games in the series have gotten good reviews, including the most recent release from February of this year, but as for me it's going to be quite some time before I feel compelled to face another dose of this particular brand of pain.

Yup, it's another indie release from the Switch eShop. I actually like having all these games that are only a few hours long but that offer unique experiences, and Gris was another one of those games that was on my radar because it looked interesting and had gotten generally really positive reviews. The game's title means "Gray" in Spanish (the developers are from Spain), and the tone actually reminds me of another recent indie Switch game I've played recently, The Gardens Between. That game was a puzzle game whereas this one is a light platformer, but both of them have a similarly melancholy atmosphere. It's a bit pointless and churlish to compare the two, but I have to say that even though The Gardens Between has more unique gameplay, I would have to give Gris the edge in terms of its overall impact: it has some of the absolutely best art and sound design I've seen in any video game, let alone an indie game (this is the game you should point to if anyone ever doubts that video games are art). But both are fun games and really memorable, and I would highly recommend both.

There were occasional moments in Gris where I wasn't sure which direction to go and there were some occasionally tricky jumps and some mechanics that were a little underused, but overall it's a great experience. Gris includes a few optional challenges which I mostly didn't bother with because I wanted to see more of the game, but those do add to the replayability. As with The Gardens Between, after playing Gris I'm left impatient for the next release from its developers, Nomada Studio. Hopefully we won't have to wait long!