Zen Pinball DLC – Elvira’s Scared Stiff, and Elvira and the Party Monsters
It’s always time for some pinball action! In our household, we have been longtime fans of Elvira and so it was fun to get our flippers on with these two new tables, now available as DLC for the incredibly popular Zen Pinball franchise. Available on not only console and PC, but also VR and mobile platforms, Elvira and the Party Monsters is a digital version of the 1989 Midway table, whilst Elvira’s Scared Stiff was released in 1996. Both tables were designed by pinball wizard Dennis Nordman and are available now!Junkyard Builder
A first-person junkyard simulator in which your character strives to bring his scrap business back to the fore, this was created by Freemind SA and is published through Ultimate Games SA. The Polish developer appears to specialise in these loose simulation titles, and whilst this one began off pretty decently with picking up scrap and ensuring that they are recycled in the correct containers / machines etc. – I thought that this would be a good experience for my four year old son, you are never too young to learn how to save the planet! – it unfortunately quickly became a grind, with the overly finicky controls, iffy collision detection and lacklustre progression system feeling perfunctory and uninteresting. It doesn’t help that it’s underpinned by one of the most irritating, repetitive soundtracks that I’ve heard in recent years, it’s right up there with Fast & Furious: Arcade Edition and consists of simple guitar riffs repeated ad nauseum. Not a recommendation, sadly.
Castle Crumble
Available on PC, consoles and mobile platforms, this is a physics-based destruction game somewhat akin to Brain Seal Ltd.’s Blow It Up! and whilst I preferred Blow It Up!, Castle Crumble also scratches that physics-blasting itch as you rotate your way around various castles, blasting away at them with special ammo, focusing on weak spots that cause a gloriously satisfying chain reaction of chaos. With a light-hearted, jaunty soundtrack and crisp, smooth visuals, this is a game for all the family as it’s simple, accessible, and fun for all ages. It’s not one you’ll come back to often after completion, but for a blast of breezy gaming action, you can’t go wrong.
Warlock of Firetop Mountain
I initially played this on PC several years ago, but it feels much more at home on the Switch. As a fan of books and board / card games transposed into digital format, the top-down action, writing and art style here really brings Jackson & Livingstone’s world to life. The first gamebook in the Fighting Fantasy series, it’s filled with the usual goblins and typical fantasy creatures and tropes, but it also feels timeless. Choosing your character from a pool of many, you earn points as you proceed with which you can unlock other avatars and, in each run, take different paths and make differing choices. I especially loved the ability to bring the monochrome imagery to life with colours, which was something that always felt fresh, but the combat really dragged this down for me, the clunky turn-based, movement-centric attacks never felt satisfying or comfortable, if this could be updated in a re-release or remaster, we’d really have a keeper on our hands.
Beaked Buccaneer
I’m a sucker for a Metroidvania, and this mini-metroidvania from developer LightUP acts as a perfect, colourful introduction for newcomers to the genre. I completed this in around an hour, but the simple task of a beaked buccaneer searching his island home for treasure whilst overcoming enemies, traps and bosses in Wonder Boy in Monster land-ish fashion was a very breezy ride during the time I spent with it. Lilting pirate-y tunes keep you company as you make your way through the game collecting keys, upgrading your abilities and, of course – collecting treasure! It’s sometimes nice to step away from heavy duty titles and complete a game in a single sitting, and to be honest, whilst the length felt punchy and fine -especially at the bargain price point – I would be happy to play a series of these games, as the simple charm and narrative was quite refreshing.
Castle Crumble
Warlock of Firetop Mountain
Beaked Buccaneer
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