New Game Releases: January 29-February 4, 2015

Although a number of fresh experiences like Life Is Strange: Episode One and Unmechanical: Extended Edition elevate this week’s itinerary of new game releases, there’s also a number of shameless knock-offs. Frenchy Bird transposes Flappy Bird’s one-button model to a Persian context, while Drop Zone – Under Fire shamelessly apes AaAaAA!!! – A Reckless Disregard for Gravity’s base jumping. Even Rock ‘N Racing Off Road, a title that bring to mind a beloved Interplay title, is little more than a clone of Ivan ‘Ironman’ Stewart’s Super Off Road. Hopefully, titles like Gunman Clive 2 and Metroid Prime Trilogy help to counterbalance the accumulation of slight variants that are beginning to fill the eShop.

Header image: Criminal Girls: Invite Only

PlayStation 3
Life Is Strange: Episode One (PSN, $4.99)
Unmechanical: Extended Edition (PSN, $9.99, cross-buy)

PlayStation 4
Apotheon (PSN, free for PS+)
Life Is Strange: Episode One (PSN, $4.99)
Unmechanical: Extended Edition (PSN, $9.99, cross-buy)

Wii U
Frenchy Bird (eShop, $1.99)
Metroid Prime Trilogy (eShop, $9.99, promotional price)
Rock ‘N Racing Off Road (eShop, $5.99)
Shadow of the Ninja (eShop, $4.99)

Xbox One
#IDARB (XGS, Free for Xbox Live Gold)
Life Is Strange: Episode One (XGS, $4.99)
Unmechanical: Extended Edition (XGS, $9.99)

3DS
Drop Zone – Under Fire (eShop, $4.99)
Gunman Clive 2 (eShop, $2.99)
Jewel Quest The Sapphire Dragon (eShop, $5.99)
Shadow of the Ninja (eShop, $4.99)
Sumico (eShop, $2.99)

PS Vita
Criminal Girls: Invite Only (also on PSN, $39.99)

PC
10 Years After (Steam, $TBA)
Apotheon (Steam, $TBA)
Firefly Online Cortex (Steam, free to play)
Forward to the Sky (Steam, $7.19)
Just Get Through (Steam, $TBA)
Life Is Strange: Episode One (Steam, $4.99)
Making History: The Great War (Steam, $39.99)
NekoChan Hero – Collection (Steam, $2.50)
Nightmares from the Deep: Davy Jones (Steam, $5.99)
Pix The Cat (Steam, $9.99)
Raven’s Cry (Steam, $49.49)
Reverse Side (Steam, $TBA)
SickBrick (Steam, $TBA)
Stardust Vanguards (Steam, $TBA)
Survivalist (Steam, $TBA)
The Tiny Tale 2 (Steam, $TBA)
Transformice (Steam, $TBA)
Zombeer (Steam, $TBA)

Robert’s Pick: Sure, corporal punishment against unruly moe maidens probably should get my endorsement, but beyond Black Rock Shooter: The Game, Imageepoch’s output has been a bit lackluster. So, I’m going to pardon Criminal Girls: Invite Only, in an effort to capture one of the best bargains in recent memory: the eShop sale of Metroid Prime Trilogy.  A compilation of Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, the anthology demonstrates two rarities: a game franchise making a near-seamless transition from 2D to the third dimension, and Western developers capturing the quintessence of a Japanese title.

Gonçalo’s Pick: This week’s obvious choice would be Metroid Prime Trilogy, which luckily, Robert already raised awareness to. So instead I’ll take this opportunity to introduce everyone to one of the NES’ best hidden gems, Shadow Of The Ninja. An evolution on Ninja Gaiden style gameplay, this late release into the console’s life is one of the best games on the system you probably never played. It features two player, simultaneous co-op and one of the best soundtracks on the system this is one game I thoroughly recommend to any 8-bit fan. Tecmo even acquired the rights to the series and turned its sequel into Ninja Gaiden Shadow for the Gameboy.