💥 Gearing up for the release of BEEP’s side-scrolling shoot ‘em up Cotton Reboot! 💥 #GameDev #IndieGames

ININ Games is gearing up for the release of BEEP’s side-scrolling shoot ‘em up Cotton Reboot! releasing both digitally and physically on Sony PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in Europe, Australasia and North America on 20th July.

Cotton is already a much revered and iconic brand appearing on many consoles and computers from  PC Engine, Neo Geo Pocket Color, right through to Playstation. Cotton Reboot! presents PlayStation and Switch gamers a fun, colourful, cute ‘em up that offers brand new features, 7 stages that really highlight what a side-scrolling shoot ‘em up should deliver and it does it in abundance, together with a dazzling display of onscreen cast and challenges.

The player takes the role of the young witch Cotton, who ventures out on her magical broom on a quest to get her favourite candy. What unfolds involves her getting entangled with several world-threatening terrors which she must destroy. A really cool feature is the more enemies the player kills the more he can upgrade his weapon by collecting power crystals. Players can also charge their weapon for special attacks and enlist the aid of Silk, Cotton’s magical fairy friend who can form up in different “option” configurations.

 

Visual/Audio/Gameplay Features

• Remastered with hand-drawn HD graphics
• Remixed soundtracks
• Comes with Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams in the X6800 original mode
• + 2 more game modes
  Arrange mode features 16:9 screens, redesigned graphics and characters.
  Score attack mode: the player competes for scores online within a limited time (2 minute and 5 minute modes can be selected).

Nintendo Life (Import)

Of all the "cute 'em ups" out there, it remains one of the best……………. 8/10 GREAT

M! Maniac (Import)

The gameplay is as precise as it is powerful, the shots have a lot of bang and the levels are interestingly designed. And the X68000 version is not just a nice bonus, but a completely independent game with its own challenge and different systems - a great package for every shooter fan!

Successful shooter package: Enjoy an action classic in its best home version and a great reinterpretation.  81%/100

Cotton Reboot! really does define what is best about the cute ‘em, shoot ‘em up genre and offers a whole lot more in what is a really magical and enchanting, atmospheric experience.

For more information, visit https://cotton.inin.games/.  

 

Limited Edition with Special Offerings

In addition to the physical and digital retail versions, there are three premium limited editions available, exclusively in the Strictly Limited Games Partner Shop.

• The Limited Edition comes with a manual and is available for €39.99 and limited to 3.000 copies for Nintendo Switch and 1.500 copies for PlayStation 4 worldwide.
• The Collector’s Edition is available for €79.99, limited to 2.000 copies for Nintendo Switch and 1.000 copies for PlayStation 4 worldwide and includes a tea set, the original & remastered soundtrack, an art book, shikishi and more.
• The Deluxe X68000 Collector’s Edition is already SOLD OUT due to huge demand.

👴🧓 Just Die Already | Nintendo Switch | Ten minute Taster | Gameplay | "Watch Out For Violent Bin Men!" 👴🧓 @DoubleMoose #GameDev #IndieGames

 

Just Die Already is an old people mayhem sandbox game created by the designers of Goat Simulator. 

You are old and angry and you've just been kicked out of your retirement home. How will you survive in a world that wants you to Just Die Already?

🐍 Anguna: Scourge of the Goblin King | A Brand-New Action RPG For The NES! 🐍 @6502Collective #GameDev #IndieGames

Anguna: Scourge of the Goblin King is a brand-new action RPG, or A-RPG, for the original Nintendo (NES). Drawing clear inspiration from classics such as The Legend of Zelda (1987), Anguna also takes inspiration from forgotten games like Deadly Towers (1987). 

The player must traverse the world in order to locate the Goblin King, a task that involves collecting items and power-ups along the way. Find ways to cross rivers, navigate rooms of darkness, and get past obstacles in the terrain. Anguna features real-time combat as the nameless hero squares off against lesser enemies and fearsome bosses, and culminates in a final battle with the Goblin King himself!

⚱️ Infinitrap: Rehamstered | Review | Xbox Series X | 8.5/10 | "fun, cute, twitchy, very addictive and extremely moreish" ⚱️ @ShadebobGames @showmemagic #GameDev #IndieGames

Like many cool kids of a certain age, I grew up watching the adventure movies of the ’80s and this game, at least in my head, is paying homage to the greats. The plot slightly echoes the Grail Knight scene in The Last Crusade on a seemly endless loop and the main protagonist looks like Quatermain from King Solomon’s Mines; If Sharon Stone makes an appearance, I might never remove this smile from my face!  

👊💥🖐️ Alex Kidd In Miracle World DX | PC | Gameplay | "Time To Master Nah Janken" 👊💥🖐️ @MergeGamesLtd #GameDev #IndieGames

 

A legend returns in stunning new detail with Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX! Fire up your power bracelet and relive a platforming classic alongside new modes, levels and features!

🤖 MONO BOT | PC GAMEPLAY | "ROBOT LIMBO" 🤖 @Ukuza_games #GameDev #IndieGames

Mono Bot - Coming online, Mono finds himself alone in a dark, dystopian world overrun with other hostile robots.

Guide Mono through his solo journey, unravelling puzzles to uncover the buried secrets of this desolate world.

Can you break the infinite cycle and find your true self?

🎲🕹️ The Best Party Games To Play IRL With Friends 🎲🕹️ #BoardGames #VideoGames

 

Image Link (CC0 License)

Games are ten times better when you play them with friends. A lot of us spend time gaming online, but there are instances where we get together with others for some IRL fun. In these cases, it helps to have some fun party games to play with everyone. So, here's a pick of some great games you can all play in the same room:

⚔️🛡️ Chivalry 2 | Xbox Series X | Review | 8.5/10 | "An Axe-Throwing, Head-Lopping, Catapult-Lobbing Joy" ⚔️🛡️ @TornBanner #GameDev #IndieGames

Historically, I’ve never really played many online multiplayer games. I even have a very close group of friends that regularly meet up virtually to play games that I thoroughly enjoy in single-player modes but don’t appeal to me in multiplayer, maybe I’m a recluse…hence the name of my band (www.recluse.bandcamp.com).

And yet…when I saw the trailer for Chivalry 2, the weighty-looking combat completely won me over as it reminded me of Kingdom Come: Deliverance (another game that completely bowled me over by surprise) and I am a sucker for some medieval action, these two factors led to me taking a dive into the game and it is a choice that has rewarded me deeply!

🚀 The Persistence : Enhanced | Review | PS5 | 5/10 | "Sucked into a Black Hole" 🚀 @FirespriteGames #IndieGames #GameDev

I found this review hard to write. Jumping into this game with no knowledge; I looked at the cover art - which appeared to represent a horror game  - and leapt at the chance to review it, but within thirty minutes of playing it, I realized it does something that I am really not keen on and I especially don’t enjoy it when horror games, in particular, do it.

Truthfully, If I was playing this game without intending to review it, I would have stopped after forty-five minutes and put it down as ‘just not my cup of tea’. Though I do enjoy occasionally trying out games that I would tend to avoid -  to see whether the game can win me over and possibly change my view - this game sadly didn’t and in fact, further cemented my thoughts.

🌴🗡️ Green Hell | PS4 | Review | 8/10 | "Desperate Enough To Eat a Rotting Snail" 🗡️🌴 @GreenHellGame #IndieGames #GameDev

Green Hell is a survival game set in a jungle at the edge of the Amazon river. You play as Jake Higgins, an anthropologist who is researching the area with his wife, Mia. Mia goes to a nearby tribal village to learn and understand the ways of the indigenous people living there and ends up going missing. You hurtle to the rescue only to be outmatched and easily overpowered, ending up retreating and lost in the forest with very little to help you survive. 

📖 From Gamers Magazine | Issue 1 | Review 📖 @FromGamersMag

As a gamer of a certain age, print magazines formed an important part of growing up for me. From Zzap! 64 and Crash to Nintendo Power and Mean Machines Sega, there weren't many months that I didn't buy (or get my mum to buy) a new mag to read about the vast universe of games I couldn't afford.

So the new trend of print magazines launching via Kickstarter is a welcome one.  I've backed a few myself and it's always great to get an A4 envelope full of gold through the door. From Gamers Magazine  hit its fundraising target in March and is now being delivered to backers. 

🤖 MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries | Xbox Series X | Review | 7.5/10 | "Lock & Load" 🤖 @PiranhaGames #IndieGames #GameDev

My history with mech games seemingly peaked in 1996 with Earthsiege 2. Prior to that, the only ‘big robot’ games I’d played were things like Cyborg Justice and Mazin Saga, I didn’t realise that there was an element of the genre that embraced the slower, weightier and more strategic element of piloting a skyscraper-sized behemoth.

Upon playing Earthsiege 2, I vividly remember thinking that it was the absolute zenith of ‘lifelike’ tactical combat and, even though it was a genre that was not on my radar at all, I was completely hooked and played through the entire campaign multiple times, something I rarely do (even now!).

I also remember playing the original MechWarrior on the SNES and finding it a pale imitation of the shining diamond that was Earthsiege 2, it seemed more arcadey, slick and, to be honest…I was never a fan of Mode 7.

Admittedly, in the quarter of a century since, I’ve rarely returned to the genre and when I have, nothing has captured my imagination in the way that Earthsiege 2 did *wipes away a single tear*.

💾 Lowtek Games | Interview With Alastair Low 💾 @Wallmasterr #IndieGames #GameDev

I first became aware of Lowtek when I covered the Dreamcast version of Flea! Last year for The Mighty Games Freezer. I really enjoyed developer Ally Low’s genial personality and approach to not only the promotion of his game but also the updates of the upcoming title Tapeworm and so wanted to know more about Lowtek and its history. Who better to ask than the brains behind the operation!

⚔️🛡️🌳 Tunic | Xbox | Demo Preview | "I’ve been a sucker for isometric adventures ever since playing Landstalker" ⚔️🛡️🌳 @dicey #IndieGames #GameDev

I’ve been a sucker for isometric adventures ever since playing Landstalker on the Mega Drive back in 1992 (and I’m still holding out for a proper sequel - I miss you, Nigel!) and more recently, Touryst was a generational highlight for me (with a far likelier sequel on the horizon).

☁️ Cloudpunk: City of Ghosts PC Review 9/10 ☁️ @Pixel Hunted @ionlands #IndieGames #GameDev

Cloudpunk has proved to be a marmite game. You play a delivery driver piloting a flying car in a vast dystopian metropolis. With heavy influences from Blade Runner and The Fifth Element, you swoop through a perpetually rainy metropolis, past gigantic neon billboards, and weave through oncoming traffic.

🔥 🏺 Phantom Abyss | PC | Ten Minute Taster | "Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Aaaaaargh!" 🏺🔥 @devolverdigital #GameDev #IndieGames

 

Phantom Abyss is a massive asynchronous multiplayer game that casts players into procedurally-generated temples and tasks them with retrieving the sacred relics hidden within deadly chambers.

🕹️ Capcom Arcade Stadium | Xbox Series X | Review | 8.5/10 | "A Rollicking Retro Ride That Rocks" 🕹️ @CapcomEurope #Capcom

Capcom has released a LOT of gold over the last forty years and this Capcom Arcade Stadium collection of 32 of them brings a wealth of gaming history to modern consoles with an eye to keeping things accessible to players of all skill levels as well as embracing that high-score chasing drive that filled arcades of the era.

⛵️ Man Eater | Nintendo Switch | Ten Minute Taster 🩸🦈@TripwireInt #IndieGames #GameDev

 

In Man Eater you Experience the ultimate power fantasy as the apex predator of the seas - a giant shark! 

Terrorize the coastal waterways. 

Tear swimmers and divers limb from limb, give the humans a reason to fear you!

🤖 VOLTA X | NINTENDO SWITCH | Gameplay | "V.A.T.S In Mechs With Animals" 🤖 @VoltaXGame #IndieGames #GameDev

Volta-X - Nintendo Switch Years ago, Earth was jeopardized by a Kaiju invasion. Faced with insurmountable odds, our best-known scientists and world leaders floundered and it seemed everything was lost. That is until the mysterious Dr V revealed his new technology - the Voltas.

Thanks to the Voltas and their pilots, our victory over the alien threat was swift and decisive. After overcoming the Kaiju, these formidable robots provided the foundation for the most popular sport in the world – Volta battling!

🏚️ Creaks | Review | Xbox Series X | 9/10 | "Characterful Presentation Perfectly Fused with Classic Puzzle Gameplay" 🏚️ @Amanita_Design #IndieGames #GameDev

Machinarium is such a wonderful, wonderful game. From the soundtrack to the oddly powerful, wordless tale that unravels for the player, it’s a game that won me over with all of the above combined with a gorgeous hand-drawn art style combined with a perfectly pitched, idiosyncratic soundtrack.

Over the last decade, I have transitioned from PC gaming to pretty much pure console gaming, and so almost a decade of the work of Amanita Design has completely passed me by due to their PC exclusive nature. It was only whilst half-drunk one night - and trying to buy the Machinarium soundtrack on vinyl - that I discovered that they had released a game called Creaks that was available on Xbox…and so our love affair resumed.