Metal Slug 4 Original Soundtrack Vinyl Review "I was first introduced to Metal Slug in the back of a dingy record store" 💿 #Vinyl #VideoGameVinyl #VGM

Since the first release in 1996, the Metal Slug series was a long-time staple in arcades over the world. I was first introduced to Metal Slug in the back of a dingy record store (Rainbow Records) in my hometown of Pontypridd, it was one of three cabinets at the back of the shop (the other two were Aliens and Power Drift, if memory serves), and I was instantly hooked on the high-octane action that the game delivered with it’s intense militaristic soundtrack, colourful visuals and zany animations (I’ve always loved the Metal Slug reload animation) – even the in-game slowdown added an oddly cinematic quality to the experience, and made it feel like you were causing so much on-screen carnage and havoc that the game was struggling to keep up with you, good! It’s a series to which I often return, usually when visiting arcades scattered around the UK, as a blast on a Metal Slug title – especially with friends - always brings back great memories.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden Xbox Series X Review 9/10 "A wonderfully spun tale of love and grief" ⚔️ @DONTNOD_Ent #IndieGame #GameDev

I’ve been hankering for an RPG to sink my teeth into, and when Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden arrived at GF HQ, I was keen to tuck in and get a few dozen hours of adventuring under my belt. What I didn’t expect was to get sucked into the world of Red and Antea so deeply, and so quickly.

Set during the settling of America in the 1600’s, the game begins with Banishers (effectively mercenaries that deal with hauntings) Red and Antea arriving on boat to New Eden - a small settlement near Boston - having received word from their friend Charles that their ghost handling skills are required in this fledging town.

CRKD™ Announces the NEO S™ Wireless Collectible Controller for Nintendo® Switch™, PC, Mobile and Smart TV Gaming 🎮 @crkdgg

All-New Collectible Controller Fuses Retro Styling with Modern Features and Offers the Ideal Companion to the CRKD Nitro™ Deck

CRKD™, the new premium collectible gaming brand behind the award-winning Nitro™ Deck, announced today the NEO S™ Wireless Collectible Controller for Nintendo® Switch™, PC, Mobile and Smart TV’s.

Combining the streamlined aesthetics of retro gaming controllers with the advanced feature set found in modern day gamepads, the NEO S forges its own path, marrying form and function to create a highly collectible and deceptively powerful piece of hardware.

The Monty Mole Collection Nintendo Switch Review 8/10 "Modern Monty Mole Maniacal Manoeuvring" 🐻‍❄️ @pixelgamesuk #GameDev #IndieGame

The 8-bit home computing platforming scene is something of a golden era to a lot of people. Filled with extremely challenging games, great music, and a very ‘British’ sense of humour (and social commentary).

Whilst I have played Monty Mole - many years ago - I associate the games more with Rob Hubbard’s astonishing score than the gameplay itself, and so I was keen to delve into this collection and experience them for the first time, on a modern system.

Ridge Racer Infinity Vinyl Review By Lo Fi Lee 💿🎶 #VideoGameVinyl #Vinyl #VGM

Long-time readers might remember I reviewed and loved the digital version of the Ridge Racer Infinity album a while back (https://www.gamesfreezer.co.uk/2022/10/ridge-racer-infinity-video-game-music.html). 

And I’ve now got my hands on the vinyl version, which for a record nerd like me is beyond excellent. The album comes in a matte card sleeve made up to look like a PS1 cover, which really scratches that retro itch. The record itself comes on classic black vinyl in a black paper inner.

The track list pretty much follows the digital release, with two tracks swapped over, probably for reasons of runtime, while the last but one track is a slight rework of the original Night Stream, now called Ultra Stream. 

The rest of the album is the same as before, but now in all its physical glory. And yes, the thunderous Drivin’ U 2 Dancin’ is still the best song (and not just on this album). 

Buy, listen, dance.

🔗ROBKTA - Ridge Racer Infinity (Soundtrack) Vinyl at Juno Records

Pinball M Xbox Review 7.5/10 "The spookiest balls around" 👻 @zen_studios #IndieGame #GameDev

Zen Studios have release Pinball M, a game that delivers horror thrills to pinball-lovers around the world through a pretty cool mix of franchises:

– Wrath of the Elder Gods: Director’s Cut – experience the eldritch horror unrestricted for free

– Chucky’s Killer Pinball: Step into a twisted realm where the innocent becomes sinister, and the playful turns menacing. Navigate through an eerie playfield where Chucky lurks in the shadows, ready to pounce.

– The Thing Pinball: Use your pinball skills and battle against the shape-shifting alien through the arctic chill of U.S. Outpost #31. Can you trust anyone, even yourself?

– Dead by Daylight™️ Pinball: Become the hunter or even the hunted in a thrilling fusion of classic pinball and the excitement of one of the most popular horror games ever created.

– Duke Nukem’s Big Shot Pinball: Enjoy the biggest, grooviest, most BADASS pinball table ever made packed with guns and babes. Push start and play with balls of steel!

Spider Heck Nintendo Switch Ten Minute Taster Gameplay 🕷️🕸️ @neverjamdev #GameDev #IndieGame

Rich hates spiders BUT he loves Spiders With Laser Swords! SpiderHeck is a fast-paced couch co-op brawler where spiders dance to the death in the grip of chaotic battles using laser swords, grenades and even rocket launchers to defeat their foes. Challenge yourself by fighting wave after wave of vicious enemies in endless hours of single-player fun, or let the mayhem begin in a dazzling fight against your friends taking on the enemies in PvE; stab, sling, and scramble your way to victory in this silly spider showdown.

 

Bahnsen Knights Xbox Review 7/10 "My trousers began to slowly unbuckle themselves in anticipation..." 🕵️‍♂️ @lcbgamestudio #IndieGame #GameDev

The third in the initial trilogy of Pixel Pulp titles, Bahnsen Knights follows Mothmen 1966, and Varney Lake, visual novel titles – with a smattering of micro-games – in an 18-month period that has taken me on a journey that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed from a presentation and atmospheric perspective, but I can’t help but feel this most recent entry is the weakest of all.

Lente's Game Dev Journey | Part 2 ⛵ @LenteGameDev #GameDev #IndieGame

Following our last peak into Lente's Game Dev journey we thought it might be a good idea to follow it up with some more detail with a peek into Lente's extremely interesting life so far. 

This is an excerpt from Lente's Newsletter that we found very interesting and hopefully you will too.

You can sign up for the Newsletter HERE

Lente Talks Minecraft Memories, Living On A Boat, her first PS1 Console and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches ⛴️🥪 @LenteGameDev #IndieGame #GameDev #CozyGame

After our usual trawl through Twitter we stumbled upon a game called Spilled which has been made by a a solo indie game developer called Lente. Lente is dutch and lives on a boat and has been making games since 2015 as a hobby.

At the end of 2022, she dropped out of college for the second time and decided to finally start her long time dream of becoming an independent creative.

At that time Lente also bought her own boat to live on. She grew up on a ship and it's always stayed with her. Lente and her mum have renovated the boat together and she's happy with how it's turned out.

From that point on Lente started working on her first serious project; Spilled! A cosy game about cleaning up oil spills with a boat.

Lente started posting to Twitter and quickly found a great community of friends, which has never stopped growing.

So far, she has managed to build a community with over 11,000 people on Twitter alone and over the last few days she has launched her very first Kickstarter campaign for Spilled which was funded in half a day! 

We asked Lente if she would answer a few questions about herself and her game Spilled and this is what our new friend came back with...

Lake Seasons Greetings DLC Ten Minute Taster PC Gameplay "Those parcels won't deliver themselves!" 📬☃️ @Gamious #IndieGame #GameDev #DLC

After Rich visited Lake a while back it was time to go back and sample some Christmas DLC cheer in February...with Lake Season's Greetings DLC

Take a look at what Rich got up to 👇

Sonic & Chill Music Review (Digital) by LoFi Lee 🎵 @GameChops #VGM

Sonic & Chill is the latest release in Gamechop’s …& Chill series, bringing a downtempo, laid-back feel to classic game soundtracks. This instalment is dedicated to the famous blue hedgehog, and follows the franchise right from the beginning. The composer, Funk Fiction, has a background in game music, having contributed tracks to No Straight Roads, Omega Strikers and the excellent Crypt of the Necrodancer, as well as releasing a variety of remixes and original work under his own name.

Best Month Ever Nintendo Switch Review 6/10 "Looking for a unique game that stands out from the rest?" 🤰 @Klabater #IndieGame #GameDev

Looking for a unique game that stands out from the rest? If so, The Best Month Ever! might just be what you're looking for. This game will take you on a journey back to the 1960s USA, providing an experience unlike any other. 

You will follow the character of Louise as she experiences the joys and challenges of motherhood while also discovering her true identity as a person. The Best Month Ever! is a click-and-choice adventure game developed by Warsaw Film School Video Game & Film Production Studio.

Witch Rise Nintendo Switch Ten Minute Taster "I raise my wand and cast ye a spell!" 🧙‍♀️ @byJulianoLima #IndieGame #GameDev

Rich gets his wand out 🧙🏻‍♂️and makes his way through Witch Rise’s retro corridor shooter maze of pixel art madness. Beware of those pesky Bats 🦇 spinning you around in these corridors of doom and keep your eye 👀 on the compass 🧭.

Arizona Sunshine 2 Meta Quest 2 Review 6/10 🐕 @pixelhunted #IndieGame #GameDev #VRGames

The VR dream isn’t dead, but it’s starting to look a bit wonky. The Metaverse is a joke, PSVR2 is dying on the vine and, almost four years after the release of Half-Life: Alyx, there hasn’t been a title that comes close to its production values and ingenuity.

Enter Arizona Sunshine 2. The first game released in 2016 across multiple VR platforms and, while an utterly boilerplate zombie shooter, at least delivered on its promise of letting you mow down hordes of the undead with a variety of high-powered weaponry. 

We’re now eight years on and the sequel has finally arrived. So, what’s changed?

Video Game Lo-Fi: Super Mario 64 Vinyl Review 💽 @CuragaRecords @MateriaMusic #VideoGameVinyl #Vinyl #LoFi #VGM

There’s something about these lo-fi records that makes them feel oddly perfect all year round. The last time I covered one back in November, it was a very wintry  entry in the Curaga lo-fi series, matching perfectly with the change in weather.

As I listened through this Super Mario 64 record in quite bracing weather, it felt calming and warming, but I can just as easily imagine it seeming as mellow and engaging on warm summer days, adding a layer of groovy coolness to the proceedings.

Voxlands PC Ten Minute Taster Gameplay Video "Minecraft With Guns!" 🎃 @voxraygames #GameDev #IndieGames

 
In Voxlands Rich gets to explore gorgeous raytraced voxel lands, meet the local mutated wild-life, find out what went wrong, and quest, craft, loot, build, destroy and shoot his way to the top of the food chain!

CANNIBAL ABDUCTION is coming to Consoles | February 8th 2024 🔪🩸📼

You’re the latest guest in the home of a cannibalistic family, and it’s almost dinner time… Cannibal Abduction is bringing fresh meat to Xbox, Playstation and Switch on February 2nd!

Selewi (Tomás Esconjaureguy), the developer that brought you the hair-raising hit horror game “The Night of the Scissors” is teaming up with Torture Star Video to serve this southern style nightmare to all the hungry horror fans looking for a new meal. Put yourself in Henry's sneakers and try to escape from the house of cannibals in this thrilling survival horror game inspired by classic slasher movies from the 80s and survival horror PSX games. 

Can you unravel the mystery of this freakish family before it’s time to dine?

Crashy Laps Xbox Series X (mini-review) 7/10 🏎️💨 @cheapeesoft @JanduSoft

Harking back to classic top-down / isometric racers such as Super Skidmarks, Crashy Laps by CheapeeSoft (which could have easily genuinely been a wonderfully 8-bit, British development house name back in the ‘80s!) is a budget title that aims to capture that vintage arcade-racing feel, with modern touches.

Gioteck™ Gets Smarter with the Smart TV+ Duo Wireless Controller, the Ideal Choice for TV Based Gaming Services @GioteckArmy 🎮

New Wireless Controller Effortlessly Connects to Multiple Devices Including Your Smart TV, Tablet, Phone and PC for the Authentic Pro Gaming Experience

Gioteck™, a leading videogame accessory brand and part of Embracer Freemode, introduces the Smart TV+ Duo Wireless Controller, a wireless controller which can be used across cloud gaming services on Smart TVs and PC.

Ideal for those with accessing gaming services via a smart TV, the Smart TV+ Duo Wireless Controller uses Dual Band Wireless technology in the form of advanced Bluetooth® or 2.4GHz technology via a USB adapter to provide a rock-solid, low-latency wireless connection. A fully featured controller the Smart TV+ provides a professional, reliable, and authentic gaming experience no matter the service you are using to play via your smart TV.