New Releases: January 26th-February 1st, 2023

This week marks the return of retro franchises such as Wonder Boy, Space Invaders, and Raiden. For those seeking more modern experiences, PowerWash Simulator and Trek to Yomi are poised to please, offer recreations of backyard cleaning as well as feudal-era justice. There’s also Alice Escaped! (pictured), which offers a metroidvania-style journey filled with notable fairy tale characters.

PlayStation 4
Atone: Heart of the Elder Tree (digital, $14.99)
Ayo the Clown (physical, $34.99)
Backfirewall_ (digital, $TBA)
Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey (digital, $15.99)
Frogun (physical, $34.99)
Lost Words: Beyond the Page (physical & digital, $29.99)
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries – Rise of Rasalhague (DLC, $14.99)
Miracle Snack Shop (digital, $17.99)
PowerWash Simulator (digital, $24.99)
PowerWash Simulator: Tomb Raider Special Pack (DLC, free)
Raiden IV x Mikado Remix (physical & digital, $39.99)
Rhythm Sprout (digital, $TBA)
Season: A Letter to the Future (digital, $29.99)
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake (physical & digital, $39.99)
Startup Company Console Edition (digital, $11.69)
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin – Different Future (DLC, included with season pass)
Straylight (digital, $TBA)
We Were Here Forever (digital, $TBA)
Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection (physical, $54.99)

PlayStation 5
Ayo the Clown (physical, $34.99)
Dead Space (physical & digital, $69.99)
Frogun (physical, $34.99)
Raiden IV x Mikado Remix (physical & digital, $39.99)

Switch
7 Days to End with You  (digital, $11.99)
Albacete Warrior (digital, $9.99)
Atone: Heart of the Elder Tree (digital, $14.99)
Ayo the Clown (physical, $34.99)
Bike Clash (digital, $9.99)
Capybara Madness (digital, $6.99)
Cubic Light (digital, $2.99)
Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey (digital, $15.99)
Farming Life (digital, $9.99)
Frogun (physical, $34.99)
Ginnung (digital, $5.00)
Gunscape (digital, $14.99)
Hippo: Little Red Riding Hood (digital, $4.99)
Japanese Escape from The Room with Sturdy Door (digital, $4.99)
Mars Base (digital, $19.99)
nOS new Operating System (digital, $39.99)
Offroad Moto Bike (digital, $3.99)
Onion Assault (digital, $9.99)
PixelBOT EXTREME! (digital, $7.99)
Poker Legends: Omaha Champions (digital, $9.99)
Space Invaders Forever Special Edition (physical, $39.99)
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake (digital, $39.99)
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake – Costume Pack (DLC, $9.99)
Startup Company Console Edition (digital, $11.69)
Sunwards (digital, $15.00)
Trek to Yomi (digital, $19.99)
Uphill Rush Water Park Racing (digital, $9.99)
Yeah! Fighting Girl (digital, $15.00)
Wonderland Nights: White Rabbit’s Diary (digital, $6.99)
Zodiacats (digital, $2.99)

Xbox One
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition (digital, $19.99, also on Game Pass)
Backfirewall_ (digital, $TBA)
Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey (digital, $15.99)
Dead Space (physical & digital, $69.99)
Inkulinati (digital, $24.99)
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries – Rise of Rasalhague (DLC, $14.99)
PowerWash Simulator: Tomb Raider Special Pack (DLC, free)
Raiden IV x Mikado Remix (physical & digital, $39.99)
Rhythm Sprout  (digital, $TBA)
Shoulders of Giants (digital, $TBA)
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake (digital, $39.99)
Startup Company Console Edition (digital, $11.69)
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin – Different Future (DLC, included with season pass)
Transiruby (digital, $14.99)
We Were Here Forever (digital, $TBA)

Evercade
Indie Heroes 2 (physical, $19.99)

PC
8-Bit Adventures 2 ($TBA)
Alice Escaped ($TBA)
Atone: Heart of the Elder Tree ($14.99)
Dead Space ($59.99)
Death in the Water 2 ($17.99)
Dread Templar ($16.99)
Garden In! ($8.99)
Grunnd ($14.99)
Inkulinati ($24.99)
Juno: New Origins ($17.99)
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries – Rise of Rasalhague (DLC, $14.99)
Milky Quest II (digital, $TBA)
Pizza Tower ($19.99)
Power Chord ($17.99)
Raiden IV x Mikado Remix ($39.99)
Rhythm Sprout: Sick Beats & Bad Sweets (digital, $TBA)
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake (physical & digital, $39.99)
The King’s Dilemma: Chronicles ($TBA)
Watch Dogs Legion ($12.00)

Rob’s Pick: When the PlayStation launched in North America in 1995, most new console owners were feverishly drifting across Ridge Racer’s course or setting the hoop ablaze with NBA JAM Tournament Edition. But I was obsessed with a near-perfect port of Seibu Kaihatsu’s shooters in The Raiden Project. Harnessing the power of the serpentine Bend Plasma and the expansive devastation of Cluster Bombs at home truly felt revolutionary. But the adaptation seemed so flawless, it seemed to signal the gradual recession of arcades and the communities cultivated in these spaces.

When Raiden IV originally launched on the Xbox 360 in 2009, it wasn’t my favorite entry. I found that enemy projectile speeds were a bit too fast and charging for extra ships felt petty. But the subsequent inclusion of the Overkill mechanic, where you keep shooting downed opponents for a scoring bonus, began to turn me around. This week, Raiden IV x Mikado Remix makes its way to PC and Xbox, following an appearance on Switch and PlayStation. It’s the definitive version, bundling Overkill Mode, all three ship types, and an online leaderboard. This version brings things full circle, where a new soundtrack was composed by devoted fans who connected at the two-story Takadanobaba arcade known as the Mikado Game Center.

Matt R’s Pick (editor, Shindig): I spent a large portion of the Christmas holidays cleaning stuff. Not in real life—let’s be honest here!—but because once Power Wash Simulator gets its hooks in, it doesn’t let up. Like so many of these job simulators, it’s a game that’s very relaxing and restful precisely because of the apparent mundanity of the task, but it’s hard to overstate just how well FuturLab’s efforts here capture that mood.

Part of it is just the nature of cleaning stuff with a water blaster: there’s an inherent, constant, immediate feedback loop that’s extremely satisfying in simply pointing your washer at something dirty and watching it get clean (see also: mowing a lawn, pulling weeds, colouring, and so on). But it’s also the particular way that Power Wash Simulator is designed, especially when it comes to level design, that ties everything together. The maps are interesting, both visually and in how they pose different challenges in reaching every last bit of grime, with a fun, simple narrative wrapped around to help add some extra flavour and coherence. Spending literal hours cleaning an abandoned mens’ toilet because someone wants to turn it into a toilet-themed bar is more fun and more relaxing than it has any right to be.

It’s been kicking around on PC and Xbox for a while, but it finally makes its way to PlayStation and Switch this week—alongside a free update that adds a handful of Tomb Raider-themed levels.

Ryan’s Pick: I definitely recall the Raiden series games in the mid 90’s, so I’m down for a bit of nostalgia this week. Shmups are a guilty pleasure of mine, and although I’m notoriously bad at them, I still find them really fun to this day. They help me hone my attention span that I’ve let slip for far too long through playing gacha games and their wonderfully convenient auto-play features. The part of the Raiden series that stands out the most were the BGMs for the series, so being able to listen to those nostalgic tunes as they accent the slapping of my leg for inevitably losing track of where my ship is amongst the bullets is my plan.

It’s no secret that I’m always perusing the Steam game releases each week for my pick, and this week’s release Hi-Fi Rush’s cel-shaded graphics and game mechanics caught my eye. I haven’t played many rhythm combat games, but the art and animation for this particular game look pretty well done and from what it sounds like players are rewarded for staying with the beat rather than being punished for missing it. I get the feeling that my lizard brain may have a tough time transitioning from a hack and slash button masher mentality to a more rhythm-based and logical approach, but I can definitely give it a shot. Lastly, I wanted to throw a brief nod towards 8-Bit Adventures 2. The 2D battle UI, cut scenes, and music all really help to capture the 8-bit RPG nostalgia I remember, so if you have JRPGs on the mind then please give this one a look.

Matt S’ Pick (editor, DigitallyDownloaded): I’m a sucker for the Jack The Ripper story, and I’m quite intrigued by the art and style of Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey. Having just come off the excellent Hob’s Barrow, I’m quite in the mood for adventure gaming too, right now, so hopefully this one can continue the trend. It’s not usually my genre, but when one clicks, it really clicks.

The other one that really caught my eye this week is The King’s Dilemma: Chronicles over on the PC. Even after looking at the trailer and screenshots it seems a little esoteric, but in a good way – it looks like it could be a dark, complex, narrative-driven semi-strategy thing. Like Game Of Thrones, but set in a fantasy England. It’s one of those games that could very easily turn out to be terrible… or it might just be really, really good and morally challenging. We shall see.