Cursed to Golf (Original Soundtrack) Mark Sparling | Vinyl Review By Britt 💿 @blackscreenrec @Markymark665 #Vinyl #VideoGameVinyl

Purchase Link

The last time I came across Mark Sparling’s music was back in 2021 when I reviewed A Short Hike, Mark Sparling composed the – quite idiosyncratic – soundtrack, which was released through Stumpy Frog Records, and acted as one of my first forays into the word of VGM vinyl.

The artwork alone of Cursed to Golf makes a huge impression, created by Crisppyboat, it’s a great Claymation-style image of the golfer protagonist smashing his ball towards the viewer as various Claymation interpretations of in-game characters and scenarios surround him.

Rich with pastel colours, and devoid of any text, the whole front cover is purely dedicated to this striking image, as is the reverse, which acts as a continuation of the image, showing a trophy atop a pillar in a graveyard, the cartoonish spookiness of the game absolutely nailed here in a totally different – and very cool art style.

Abathor Nintendo Switch Review 8.5/10 "A golden throwback to 16-bit co-op classics" ⚔️ @Abathor_Game @JanduSoft

I’ve covered hundreds of games during my time at The Might GF, and some can pop up seemingly out of nowhere and blow me away, some can be stewing for months and months, as I hungrily follow every dev post on social media, my appetite whetting ever further...and then the final game gets slopped on the floor in front of me in a steaming mess, leaving me smoking enigmatically up at the night sky, wondering what could have been as Bohren & Der Club of Gore play sexily in the background, the minimalist jazz soundtrack to my burgeoning disappointment.

Sometimes, though – I’ll stumble across a game that looks funky – like Abathor – and each tease or online trailer will have me adjusting my tie as steam comically toots through my collar. Good. 

From the early days of its inception, developer Pow Pixel Games promised to deliver us a throwback platformer, and by Jove, did they ever!

Britt's Vinyl Fantasies 6 | 💿 #VideoGameVinyl #Vinyl

It’s been almost a year since the last Vinyl Fantasies post, it’s been extremely busy here at GF HQ, and in that time we’ve covered some incredible records, which I’d like to shine a light on here.

As usual, the list is in no particular order, if the record was previously covered in a full article, a link will be included should you wish to know more.

Hope you enjoy reading as much as we enjoyed listening!

Crow Country XBOX Review 7.5/10 "A throwback survival horror with narrative depth" 🐦‍⬛🌎 @SFBTom @SFBDim #GameDev #IndieGame

I’ve enjoyed the recent spate of games harking back to the visual style of the PS1 – albeit with the juddering, flat polygons and tedious loading screens removed – as it’s not only a style that feels as yet pretty un-mined but is also rich with nostalgia – as well as being suited to lo-fi horror with the low polygon vibes setting the imagination alight. 

With this in mind, getting my hands on Crow Country was a delight, and the fact that the game offers two primary modes – one more combat-centric, whilst the other eschews combat in turn of a more story-based approach – made the game even more appealing, due to its openness and accessibility for players who enjoy both styles.

The year is 1990, and we are introduced to the protagonist of the story - Mara Forest – approaching a seemingly abandoned amusement park called Crow Country, she claims to be a special agent with memory issues, and is determined to locate the missing owner of Crow Country… Edward Crow – for unknown reasons. 

What follows is a solid and intriguing few hours of pretty classic gameplay, in that you’ll find yourself scavenging for ammo, reading lots of lore, and working your way through both environmental and inventory-based puzzles. 

Whilst the crunchy polygons and incredible aural atmosphere (courtesy of composer Ockeroid) carry the game pretty far, as the combat and puzzles get a bit tired, it’s the narrative that will hook you through to the games’ end. 

That said, if you want the ability to play at a more leisurely pace, the aforementioned ability to remove the combat gives a breezier approach, leaving you to fully focus on the atmosphere and unfolding, twisting story. Don’t worry, there’ll still be some scares!

SUMMARY
A tasty PS1-esque survival horror title with a far more engaging and involved narrative than you’d expect, SFB Games have come out swinging with this, and for lovers of vintage survival horror, it’s time to get a ticket to Crow Country.

NeoSprint Nintendo Switch Review 7.5/10 "rev me up, buttercup" 🏎️ @HeadlessCG #GameDev #IndieGame

The newest release in the long-dormant Atari ‘Sprint’ series, this multiplayer (up to 8 players locally!) arcade racer is a welcome addition to the Switch catalogue for lovers of vintage, top-down racing.  

Sticking closely to its local multiplayer roots, NeoSprint features no online gaming component beyond the ability to download tracks created by other players, and whilst there may be some that lament the lack of online play, the fact that NeoSprint caters for up to eight players is a serious boon here, and perfect for gaming nights with friends. 

Justice League: Cosmic Chaos Xbox Review 7.5/10 "A fun, family-friendly title with surprisingly cool music" 🦇 @PHLCollective @Outright_Games #GameDev #IndieGame

As a fan of Batman in most of his incarnations through the decades, I’ve always leaned towards the darker interpretations of his character. That said, as the father of a young boy just discovering video games, the fact that I can get hips deep into some Diedrich Bader-voiced Batman action aimed at a younger audience is very, very fine indeed with me.

The story here is that life in Happy Harbor is turned upside-down by Mr. Mxyzplk, who usurps the current Mayor of the town by using Starro’s mind control powers to take control of members of the Justice League, leaving Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman – with a little help from some very super friends – to restore order to the idyllic town.

Roxy Raccoon’s Pinball Panic XBOX Review 6/10 "Decent Mechanics Let Down By Flat Presentation" 📍 @RoxyRaccoon4 #IndieGame #GameDev

My household is one that does enjoy flipping the flippers, and there’s always a handful of pinball games installed on our various consoles, should the need for some high score settin’ arise.

Roxy Raccoon’s Pinball Panic begins with a story involving a witch and her evil animal cohorts teleporting away, with Roxy following in pursuit – leading to a series of pinball challenges wherein a balled-up Roxy will need to bounce around myriad tables to collect all of the available gems in order to proceed. 

Vera Blanc: Supernatural Mysteries Xbox Review 7/10 "Werewolves and Ghosts, oh my!" 🐺👻 @RatalaikaGames #IndieGames #GameDev

A pair of titles featuring intrepid supernatural investigators Vera Blanc and Brendan Mackey, Vera Blanc: Supernatural Mysteries centres around Ms Blanc, who – following a rather intense operation on her brain – is able to read the thoughts of others. 

Originally released in 2010, the games are mostly light visual novels with a very cool graphic novel art style, the core gameplay comes from multiple choice events – that can lead to instant deaths, so save often – and the optional word based / spot the difference puzzles that can be turned on and off with each play though, should you want a touch more interaction.

The characters are well-sketched without the game being too onerous with the text, and each tale moves along at a fair pace, with minimal audio work to add to the rising tensions. 

Whilst I preferred the first game in the series - as I am a sucker for werewolves – both are fun to get through, although the ghost story slightly alters the visuals and feels less exciting than the Bavarian werewolf adventure. 

SUMMARY

A bargain at the current price point and a solid evening’s entertainment (each case takes 1-2 hours to complete), Vera Blanc: Supernatural Mysteries won’t tickle your grey matter, but it might just raise the hairs on your neck!

Purchase Link:

Ratalaika Games S.L.

Crime Boss: Rockay City (2024) XSX Review 7/10 "A kick-ass cast in a game that once got its ass kicked" 💥 @ingame_studios @505_Games #IndieGame #GameDev

Upon its initial release in 2023, Crime Boss: Rockay City had a rough old time, with cutting reviews across the board. We didn’t cover it at the time here at GF, but as someone who grew up watching this – quite incredible – cast of actors in myriad movies over the decades, it was always on my mind, and I was intrigued as to how the game appeared to be such a misfire.

Fast forward a year and the game gets a massive overhaul for its Steam release. DLC is now included for free - and the developers have fixed a lot of the more glaring issues that plagued the game upon its initial release.

How does it fare in 2024? it’s a lot of fun, but the repetition at the heart of the game is hard to ignore.

Video Game Lo-Fi: Metroid Vinyl Review By Britt 📀 @floopymusic #VideoGameVinyl #Vinyl

Floopy (from the Curaga Records website:

Metroid Zero Mission was one of the first games I ever played as a kid (on the Gameboy Advance!) and it sparked my love for video games and by extension, video game music—Kraid's theme was the first song I ever learned on piano nearly 15 years ago. My personal favourite song on the album would have to be the Metroid Prime Theme. Although it initially wasn't my favourite composition out of the bunch compared to the more iconic songs like Samus's Theme, the direction I ended up taking it paired with trying different production techniques turned it into something vastly different in sound and feel from the original which I personally enjoyed.

In my previous remixing endeavours, my focus was achieving a lofi sound and tonality while preserving what was great about the original composition. For this project I still maintained that, but my focus shifted towards establishing a groove that could be improvised upon. As a result, this album ventures into several other genres, from chillwave to bossa nova what I can best describe as… lofi disco house? Writing essentially new compositions that incorporated different elements of the Metroid games' important themes was the goal here, a sort of process I picked up from my collaborator (and boss, and homie) Save Point. During the production of this album I developed new standards for what I personally wanted from lofi, and I certainly broadened my definition of what that term can mean. It was an incredibly fun process and it's always an honor to release music alongside the homies and peers at Curaga. Lofi fans and video game nerds alike, thanks for supporting my music.

Echo Generation: Midnight Edition Nintendo Switch Review 8/10 "Slightly Stranger Things" 🪓🧢 @cococucumberco #IndieGame #GameDev

As a person who eschews the Savalas* and instead prefers movies, I’ve been spared the all-encompassing phenomenon that was Stranger Things and so the following tidal wave of ‘80s-tastic follow-ups very much didn’t pop up on my viewing radar, in fact – it’s been more through reviewing vinyl like the absolutely stunning Kingdom Eighties: Summer of Greed that the wave of ‘kids n’ kooky’ has trickled gently over my feet.

Not that I have an issue with it at all, my point is purely that I’m not burned out on it like I know others are. I am burned out on anime style visuals, however. Voxels - I continue to inhale as much as possible.

Dungeon Arsenal Nintendo Switch Review 6.5/10 "Quick blasts of card-based, dungeon-exploring fun" ⚔️👹 @deadpixstudios #IndieGame #GameDev

Originally released on Steam in 2021 and now ported to Nintendo’s little system that could, Dungeon Arsenal is a fun little time-shifter that could have really benefited from a touch more optimisation to be the funky little dip-in-n-out game that it could have been.

Bereft of a narrative beyond ‘get through the floors of the dungeon’, Dungeon Arsenal allows you to choose from a small group of adventurers – each of which feature slightly different boons - and tasks you with making your way as far through the dastardly dungeon as possible.

Still Wakes the Deep XSX Review 9/10 "Possibly the most naturalistic dialogue in a video game" 🛢️🗼 @SWTD_Game @ChineseRoom #IndieGame #GameDev

The Chinese Room were the company that introduced me to the walking simulator genre with their minimalistic and glorious 2012 title Dear Esther. This was followed by a firm favourite of our household in Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs. And so, learning that The Chinese Room were making a game set on a Scottish oil rig in the mid-’70s was enough to make my trousers fly off and fold themselves neatly in a drawer, before definitively slamming it shut.

Assassin’s Creed Symphonic Adventure LIVE Review "a three-hour extravaganza celebrating the music of Assassin’s Creed" 🎻🎹🎶 @AC_Symphonic #VideoGameMusic #VGM

A few weeks ago, @kingdomofcarts@kingdomofcarts and myself were lucky enough to head up to London from the Welsh branch of GF HQ to catch a three-hour extravaganza celebrating the music of Assassin’s Creed. Originally a show that began in Paris back in 2022, and has been sporadically making its way across Europe, with the folks at Overlook Events behind the magic. The next show is booked on 3rd May 2025, with more shows to be announced.

Heading up on the train, we checked into our hotel – after first checking out the Four Quarters arcade in The Elephant and Castle area of London and clocking back a couple of cocktails – and warmed up by blasting some of the Assassin’s Creed soundtrack as we got dressed in our hooded robes, tested our hidden blades, and did full-back tattoos on each other of Jesper Kyd’s visage.

Little Kitty, Big City XSX Review 7.5/10 "The purr-fect game to play with kids" 😸 🏙️ @LittleKittyGame #IndieGame #GameDev

It’s an interesting time in our household, as we have a three year old son who is just getting his feet wet in terms of gaming. I always keep an eye out for suitable releases to enjoy with him, and when we received the press release for Little Kitty, Big City, my dad-gaming eyes lit up. What we ended up enjoying was a wonderfully cute, fun game that wasn’t without its flaws, but the charm and family factor shines through, meaning that you’ll have a great time if you approach little Kitty, Big City with an open and curious mind...much like a kitten, in fact.

Little Kitty, Big City begins as very much a story of highs and lows, there you are – sunning yourself on your owner’s balcony when disaster strikes and you find yourself falling to street level, many floors below. Your quest? To get back to your favourite napping spot!

Skeler Boy Nintendo Switch Review 6.5/10 "a pop culture, pixel mystery" 🔦 @MANIACBOYSTUDIO #IndieGame #GameDev

Skeler Boy comes at us from Maniac Boy Studio, a Spanish studio that certainly know how to create a great-looking, atmospheric world, but lose some lustre due to a poor translation and some seemingly hurried concepts.

The titular Skeler is a young man searching for his missing girlfriend, Megan. Set purely at night, Skeler roams the city and surrounding locations in a bid to get to the bottom of what has happened to his girlfriend as he swirls further and further into a vortex of - possible – madness. It’s a simple and yet robust premise for some good old-fashioned creepiness in this top-down pixel adventure. 

The vast majority of the gameplay comes from discovering ways to move past certain obstacles, such as locating wire cutters for a fence, or working out how to get access to a boat to cross a river etc. the pacing is pretty solid, and the adventure will only take a couple of hours to see through to the end.

Coffee Talk EP.2 – Official Soundtrack Vinyl Review By Britt ☕️📀@blackscreenrec #Vinyl #VideoGameVinyl

Having played – and enjoyed – the Coffee Talk games on Switch, I was excited to get the chance to really delve into the soundtrack, as I’m a big fan of hypnotic, trip-hop music – and the music was such a big part of Coffee Talk, enriching the atmosphere off the game without being intrusive or too abstract.

The nascent (well, to me at least!) ‘cosy’ genre revels in acting as a digital hug to its fans, and the music of Coffee Talk excels at this. It also arrived at a great time for me personally, as it was quite a stressful time related to family illness, and I’d had trouble settling on something to listen to as I worked, in my then-current state of mind my usual podcasts seemed irritating, familiar music grated on me, and I lacked the energy to seek out fresh sounds.

And so, when Coffee Talk Ep.2 arrived, it was a balm to my ears and mind, turning out to be exactly what I needed.

KUDZU Nintendo Switch Review 8/10 "A great title with Game Boy Roots" 🕹️ @PFBStudios #IndieGame #GameDev

Originally released as a physical Game Boy cartridge and now ported to the Switch, Kudzu – especially at its current price point – feels a steal for those who have a soft spot for adventures on Nintendo’s classic handheld.

The player takes control of tea-loving gardener protagonist Max, who goes off on a quest in search of his master, Zoen, who has seemingly lost his mind and wandered off into the ever-expanding fields of Kudzu that surround their home town.

Duck Detective: The Secret Salami Nintendo Switch Review 8.5/10 “Quack the case!” 🦆 @happybroccgames #GameDev #IndieGame

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a fan of short adventures that can be enjoyed of an evening, and, being a bit burned out on huge games at present, the case files of Eugene McQuacklin, duck detective extraordinaire was of huge appeal to me, I’m also a keen salami fan, so there was no way that Duck Detective: The Secret Salami couldn’t NOT be amazing, quite frankly.

Video Game LOFI – Celeste | Vinyl Review By Britt "recommended listening for lazy Sunday afternoons or boozy, woozy evenings" 🍓@nokbient #Vinyl #VideoGameVinyl

Games can mean a lot to people, anyone who has read my Tux and Fanny review will know this. Celeste is a game that several of my close friends hold dear, and often refer to when discussions of ‘the best games ever’ crops up. As such, I was acutely aware of the regard in which Celeste is held, the soundtrack especially – and so I was curious how the music would be treated here by Nokbient.

From Nokbient’s Bandcamp:

Just breathe.

You can do this.

Slow down with ephemeral beats and drifting melodies, and wave-dash lofi melodies from Celeste Mountain directly into your subconscious. Join producer Nokbient as they explore a chill reimagining of Lena Raine's soundtrack to the 2018 indie game phenomenon Celeste by Maddie Makes Games.

"Special thanks to Rob Anderson and Bas van den Eersten for their help on this album. Without your friendship and incredible musical ability, this album wouldn't have happened. You have truly elevated this project to a whole new level, and I can't thank you enough for that. Additional thanks to Lena Raine and the entire Maddy Makes Games team for their incredible work on Celeste, an experience which touched my heart and helped me get through a difficult moment in my life, and one I strived to honor with this album. From the bottom of my heart, thank you everyone. Made with love for those who listen." - Noel Keith (Nokbient)