Epic Dumpster Bear 2: He Who Bears Wins
If you haven’t played the first Dumpster Bear, you should know that it’s not just a meme game. It’s a fast-paced, actually pretty good platformer. Each level has 3 hidden red coins to collect and speedrun medals to achieve. There are optional, more challenging levels that are unlocked through secret exits and spending the yellow coins you collect while playing. And there are goofy boss battles and over-dramatic cutscenes. The soundtrack is actually original and composed specifically for Dumpster Bear, and it’s a real highlight of the game.
– Real player with 171.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best 2D Platformer Games.
Such an awesome platformer, and the soundtrack is all bangers.
– Real player with 147.6 hrs in game
The Messenger
Just a heads up:
So after 100% completion of the game, i decided to write a review. This will contain spoilers for both gameplay and story. I recommend you should go in blind, because the game has a nice twist around 2-3 hours in the game. The story is not the best, but it is interesting anyway. This my opinion, so you can disagree with me, and that’s fine. So let’s begin!
Gameplay:
The Messenger is a pretty good platformer. In the second half of the game, it transforms into a metroidvania. But you probably knew that.
– Real player with 20.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best 2D Platformer Games.
The Messenger is a great platformer / metroidvania with retro aesthetics but a very modern level of polish, fluidity and user-friendliness. It features a rather unique take on a typical double jump called “cloudstepping” that recovers your jump when you hit an enemy, a projectile or an object before landing, allowing to jump again and again and again if you manage to, thus staying in the air for a long time and feeling like a cool ninja.
Another unusual trick of this game is that it consists of two distinct halves (though it’s not a 50/50 split in terms of runtime, more like 40/60 or even 30/70, but it’s still sort of like Act 1 and Act 2). The first one plays like a strictly linear, “keep moving to the right” platformer, while the second one lets you freely roam the old locations and discover their new secrets (as well as paths to some new locations). Metroidvania elements are still pretty light here, and you’re unlikely to get lost or to discover something wholly unexpected, but it does add a fair sense of exploration. I would agree with a common complaint about mild repetitiveness, though, as fast travel points are scarce and the map is not very interconnected, which leaves you to go through some parts over and over again.
– Real player with 18.7 hrs in game
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2
Demons are running a muck once again and the demon slayer Zangetsu is up to the task. This time around, he’s going to need all the help he can get to defeat this new army of demons and bring peace back to the world. This is Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2.
The Good
Lots of characters to choose from and have fun with.
So, something that I liked from the first that I didn’t note in my review at the time, was the diverse abilities each characters had at their disposal. In the sequel, that trend continues.
– Real player with 37.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best 2D Platformer Games.
Bloodstained Curse of the Moon 2 is the follow up sequel to the original 8-bit nostalgia trip we all know and love. It brings more of the same to the table… now with CO-OP!
What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse… Again! AH AH AH!
So here we are again, back in to the 8-bit fray. If you enjoyed the original game, there’s more fun and alternate paths to be had here. The game starts you off being hand glided on to some mysterious floating demon castle and Zangetsu must slash and dash his way through hordes of monsters, golems and other assorted creatures of the night… all with a new support cast, and I must say, some of them are down right broken.
– Real player with 19.7 hrs in game
Brathian
Brathian feels like a game straight from the beginning of 90’s. Literally. It means, it’s hard, frustrating, unfriendly to newbies and forgives no errors in player’s moves, but still brings satisfaction to those who managed to finish it.
Description like this is often appears to be a marketing trick, but in this case it’s completely valid: this game have simplistic gameplay mechanics, relatively high difficulty and relatively low play time (if you’re not new to the genre you will meet the final boss in 2 hours or less). At the beginning of the game players will feel constant frustration, but the more they play, the more skills-of-how-to-play-it-right they will gain. This project is not as hard as a NES-inspired rage games like You Have to Win the Game (from Minor Key Games), but at some moments you will definitely want to perform a rage quit – and I can’t say that it’s bad, because the genre itself means it.
– Real player with 2.7 hrs in game
It was short but fun. Worked well with remote play together.
There is a bugged screen where player two starts inside of a wall, locking the camera in place and forcing player one to try to progress while offscreen. Fortunately, you can use the downstab to bounce on the other player and reach higher platforms than a normal jump would let you. This allowed us to sequence break past the buggy segment and skip one of the bosses. Felt like a retro classic. I appreciate it.
– Real player with 1.9 hrs in game
Bzzzt
Bzzzt is a beautiful pixel-art platformer highly inspired by games from the ’80s.
Experience a story-rich adventure with unexpected twists and help your creators Norbert and Emily to stop evil and completely mad professor Badbert from taking over the world.
Game features
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Various environments with ever-changing game mechanics.
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Possibility of transferring your energy lifeform into other robotic bodies.
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Precise and accessible controls.
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Traps and enemies more insidious with every new stage.
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Intense boss fights.
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50 stages with their own records to beat.
Pick a difficulty and choose a gameplay style that suits you the best. You can just enjoy the story without any rush or you can try insane mode with the authentic 80’s permadeath feature and check your gamepad ninja skills.
You are the only person who can save the world!
Catovania
I have been watching a lot of AVGN and GDQ lately, so I was naturally attracted by the title “Catovania”. I mean, Castlevania, but with cat! What could go wrong?
There are some good things about this game, but the bad outweighs the good. In short, this game pretty much captures a lot of the strengths and weaknesses of the early SNES action games, and even plays like one. As I was playing it, I couldn’t help but imagine I am James Rolfe collecting material for an AVGN episode. I couldn’t even help writing this review AVGN style.
– Real player with 2.9 hrs in game
Nice game like the old games on the NES. It’s a pity that is not yet supported gamepad. When using the keyboard, you need to press left shift to make the character run.
– Real player with 1.3 hrs in game
Crystal sword
Alright, so it’s Pac Man… BUT instead of getting the super pill to eat ghosts you have to power your Crystal Sword with all the Crystal… Dots… to start thrusting it into things. Like enemies. Who are not immune to being stabbed.
Because everything can get stabbed if you try hard enough. It also helps that your health is replenished once you finish charging the sword.
A Boss Fight every 5 levels, with their own way of doing defeating them, though 2 of the bosses are easily cheesed.
Alright so hear me out, this game feels very unpolished but I am going to recommend it for 2 reasons.
– Real player with 0.7 hrs in game
While very short, being only 20 levels long, it’s a charming little project with an interesting concept.
You essentially have two phases for each level. One where you run from enemies and collect crystal shards to restore the power in your sword, and the other where your sword is powered up and you need to kill all the enemies on-screen, then get to a door to continue.
I haven’t seen anything like it before, it’s short and sweet, and the boss theme accompanied by lyrics at the end was really nice and made me really happy to have played.
– Real player with 0.4 hrs in game
Kells
Try the Free Demo Today!
Kells is a retro puzzle game similar to the original Lemmings except instead of issuing specific commands to your Kells, you manipulate their movement using special Gravity Tiles instead. These tiles change the direction of gravity as Kells walk or fall over them, allowing you to manipulate your Kells in crazy ways like making them “fall upwards” to clear obstacles, “fall forward” to avoid dangerous spike pits, and even walk up or down walls!
Objective
The objective seems deceptively simple! All you have to do in each level is figure out how to get your Kells from the entrance to the exit flag. The thing is, you can’t control them directly and unlike in Lemmings, you can’t issue them commands either. What you can do is place tiles around the level to change the flow of gravity! Can you figure out how to make use of careful Gravity Tile placement to guide your Kells on a journey through 100 levels and 8 themed islands to find the mysterious Last Level?
The Kellective
As you progress through the game, you’ll find many lost Kells on your journey to build up The Kellective and make it stronger and stronger. You will care for your Kells - you can rest them when they are injured, check in on them between levels to see how they are feeling and mourn them when they die.
Uncover many secrets and hidden treasures
Kells is full of secrets and unexpected twists and turns! There are secret coins that initially seem impossible to reach. There are secret passageways and areas to uncover. There are mysterious competitions and game modes to unlock. Rumour has it, apparently there is even an entire secret island hidden away somewhere on the world map!
Other Highlights
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There are various routes to the Last Level - will you opt for the easier, longer route or risk the difficult route in order to reach The Last Level quicker?
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There are 100 Levels in total scattered across the World Map. Can you complete them all? Better still, can you PERFECT them all?
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Can you track down all the missing Kells and fully restore the Kellective?
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For completionists, there are 10 Purple Kellectibles scattered around the levels in difficult-to-access locations. Can you kellect them all?
METAL SLUG XX
METAL SLUG XX, despite being released after all the other METAL SLUG titles on Steam, arguably delivers the worst game experience out of the 5 currently on Steam.
Where you could start up online co-op lobbies to easily play with your friends online and with relatively little lag between the two of you, there is no such co-op lobby to be seen in this game. It’s either local or you make do with Remote Play with increased lag input and somewhat poor video response for the person without the game. For a co-op game like METAL SLUG to have input lag introduced to the extent that METAL SLUG XX has, this is seriously underwhelming.
– Real player with 12.5 hrs in game
I adore the Metal Slug games… I’ve been playing them for the better part of 20 years on a variety of different platforms, from MVS arcades to the Neo Geo CD to various console ports.
While XX represents a great Metal Slug game, it’s simply not a great (or even good) version on PC at the time of this writing. On initial release, only a language selection and a few other scant options were available to tune the game. Many complaints abounded regarding the choices made for which keyboard keys performed which functions, as well as the inability to remap the keyboard to ones liking. Screen tearing was (and still is) another fairly large issue. Nearly every contemporary game I’ve played has a VSync option available in-game. XX forces you to do this through the control panel of your graphics card.
– Real player with 11.2 hrs in game
Pompom
Out of the hamster wheel and into space, Pompom is on a mission to save his boy Hoshi from the claws of Captain Cat and his wicked crew. Chase down each of the Space Cat Pirates, building platforms as you go. Use whatever it takes: springs, whips, umbrellas, cannons… Nothing can stop Pompom!
STORY
One day Pompom was working up a sweat on his hamster wheel, when Hoshi the boy burst into the room, showing a hand of beautiful jewels that fell from the sky with a great ‘BOOM’. Suddenly, Captain Cat & his crew appeared into the room, kidnapping Hoshi into a portal to space. Now Pompom must go on an adventure to save his boy Hoshi from the eight Space Cat Pirates!
GAMEPLAY
Take a breath of fresh air in the platformer genre: you do not control Pompom the hamster, but instead help him by moving platforms and items around him. Drop springs, build bridges, slash vines, illuminate ghosts: From outer space, to beaches full of flying fish, to ancient temples inside deep jungles, help Pompom get past the enemies and beat Captain Cat and his crew.
FEATURES
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Play a platformer in a new way, moving not the character but the platforms.
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Explore a beautiful tribute to the SNES classics and the 16 bits retro era.
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Adventure across 8 worlds in an epic space rescue: jump on flying fish, dodge nasty arrows, dispel vengeful spirits, swim past piranhas, battle flying saucers, and more.
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Pompom defeats enemies and collects items, and you can use those items and interact with the world to get him to victory.
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Use every item at your disposal: fly out of cannons, swing on ropes, slash vines, splash honey, freeze time and much more.
