New Releases: December 19-25, 2024

This week, Warrior Blade: Rastan Saga Episode III (pictured) brings its broadsword-wielding butchery to PlayStation 4, simulating the original coin-op’s dual screen, 8:3 ratio action. Meanwhile, further arcade-style action can be found in Super Spy Raccoon, which combines fuses classic platforming with stealth. Of course, if you’re looking for something a bit more modern, Yeah! You Want “Those Games,” Right? So Here You Go! Now, Let’s See You Clear Them! attempts to deliver the play promised by those spammy mobile game adverts. Here’s the full list of what’s arriving on PCs and consoles:

PlayStation 4

Universe for Sale (digital, $12.74)
Arcade Archives – Warrior Blade: Rastan Saga Episode III (digital, $7.99)
Yeah! You Want “Those Games,” Right? (digital, $18.99)

PlayStation 5

Alien: Rogue Incursion (digital, $39.99, PS VR2)
Winter Games Collection (digital, $14.99)

Switch

Airborne Grannies (digital, $9.99)
Aireo FlightSimulator 2025 Edition (digital, $20.39)
Anime Dance-Off – Around the World (digital, $2.49)
Block Jam (digital, $4.99)
Brothers in Hell (digital, $8.99)
Car Cops (digital, $4.99)
Cats Visiting Christmas Town (digital, $3.99)
Cats Visiting Underwater World (digital, $3.99)
Cop Officers: Police Simulator of NYPD City (digital, $11.99)
Detail Hunter (digital, $2.99)
EGGCONSOLE Aqua Polis SOS MSX (digital, $6.49)
Fighter Aces: Sky Dominance (digital, $12.99)
Float Survival Simulator – Ocean Survivor (digital, $12.99)
Football Stars: Head Ball Soccer Co-op Battle (digital, $4.99)
Golf Up (digital, $6.99)
Item Frenzy (digital, $4.99)
Jigsaw Puzzle Utopia (digital, $2.99)
Jungle Adventure (digital, $2.99)
Leif’s Adventure: Netherworld Hero (digital, $19.99)
Kaimyou Maker (digital, $7.99)
Monoquous 2 (digital, $6.99)
Pizza Maker (digital, $4.99)
Ramp Bike Racing (digital, $3.99)
Restaurant Tycoon: My Cooking Empire (digital, $29.99)
Save Christmas With Santa (digital, $9.99)
Star Trek: Legends (digital, $11.99)
Super Spy Raccoon (digital, $4.99)
Taxi Driver Simulation (digital, $11.99)
The Escape Room Chronicles Ep3:The Southern Resort (digital, $4.79)
Tombs Of Myra (digital, $5.94)
Universe for Sale (digital, $12.74)
Winter Games Collection (digital, $14.99)

Xbox One

8 & 9 Ball Pocket (digital, $9.99)
Jewel Fever 3 (digital, $5.99)
Star Trek: Legends (digital, $11.99)
Universe for Sale (digital, $12.74)

PC

Alien: Rogue Incursion ($39.99, VR)
Cats Visiting Christmas Town (digital, $3.99)
Coreupt (digital, $19.99)
Die for the Economy! ($TBA)
Fountains ($TBA)
Leif’s Adventure: Netherworld Hero (digital, $19.99)
M.E.A.T. II: Absolute Zero ($TBA)
My Insect Girl Can’t be This Cute ($TBA)
Paper Bride 6 Nightmare ($TBA)
Riverside Gals ($TBA)
Royal Quest Online (free)
The Midnight Crimes ($TBA)

Rob’s Pick: Let’s face it, the weeks before and after the holiday are usually crammed with crap – and 2024 isn’t an exception. That said, I love a pulpy, viscera-splattering boomer shooter and I’m hoping M.E.A.T. II: Absolute Zero might be able to appease my hunger for a bit of the old ultra-violence.

Nestled among this week’s scrapheap of eShop shovelware is Car Cops. With moms presenting hand-drawn IDs and mini-games that have you tossing the cuffs on them, the game seems to channel the same kind of lowbrow humor as I Am Security. I love a game that lets you be a cartoonish asshole. If you can’t change society from rewarding bad behavior, at least a good laugh can be therapeutic, right?

Ryan’s pick: 90’s inspired shooter get my attention every time, so the vote goes for M.E.A.T. II: Absolute Zero as well this week. Upon investigating the original M.E.A.T. I was expecting to see a similar Duke Nukem 3D-esque game but found an RPG and a F2P FPS game instead. No nostalgic FPS is complete without a Might Foot mechanic and I’m happy to report that this game also includes it. Visually it appears to be closer to Blood than some of the other 3D Realms games I loved in that era, so count me in for this one.

The fighter Coreupt caught my eye with some of the combo chaining in the game demos that the developer has posted. Aside from fatalities, Killer Instinct 2’s combo chaining system, mixed with Ultra Combos, is one of my most memorable fighter mechanics and what I’ve seen so far from this game has me sort of drawing a similar parallel with the cmobos. This fighter is developed in Unreal, and the visuals look pretty impressive, so if you’re a fighter fan this may be one to investigate.

Matt S’ pick (editor, DigitallyDownloaded): These are some slim pickings this week, but I guess I’ll pick up Star Trek: Legends. I am a bit Trek fan, from way back when, and while I know this is a mobile game (and therefore monetised in a way that, ironically, Star Trek would have hated), I’m guessing the console port has done away with that so I can at least play the thing without feeling like I’m being begged every five minutes.

I’ll probably give M.E.A.T. II: Absolute Zero a whirl too. I’m not as much of a fan of the genre as my esteemed colleagues here, but I do like the occasional boom boom and it does look like a pretty good take.