Summertime, and the gamin’ ‘aint easy.

Mario’s jumpin’, and the Yakuza are high.

Game publisher’s rich, and your wallet’s sad-lookin’,

But Judgement looks rad, so don’t you cry…

Super Mario Maker 2 (Switch) – Releases Jun. 28^th

As with Splatoon and Smash Bros., I would have probably been content if they just ported the Wii U version of Mario Maker to Switch. However, a totally new game is fine by me as well, because not only do we get the great game play and tools from the first game, but there are now a slew of new things to play around with, including new enemies, new terrain, new objects, and new level design elements; including the ability to control the rise and fall of water, blocks that can move on a preset path when hit, and slopes! While I am excited to get back to making killer Mario Bros. levels, I do have some reservations. Since the Wii U game was built with the idea of having two screens at all times, using the game pad to perform your building functions, having only one screen is going to require you to build with a controller (yuck), or take your Switch into handheld mode and use your fingers or a stylus that you need to buy separately. Another knock against the title, for those of you on a budget, is that to use the online features you must be a Nintendo Switch Online subscriber (the game even has a version that comes with a 1 year subscription). This is something that most PS4 and XBone players are used to, but while Nintendo has had this for a few months now, some people (aside from Splatoon 2 players) may not know this is a thing. This is a Mario game, which means it’s going to appeal to a broad audience, and parents who don’t pay attention, or casual gamer’s who might not be aware, could find themselves a bit disappointed to find out that their new game requires a separate subscription service in order to enjoy all of the features.

This might also be a good time to re-post The Great Nintendo Friend Code Swap page that was put together by Lindsay Funke back in 2017. Hope to see what y’all are making!

Judgment (PS4) – Releases Jun. 25^th

From the development team behind the Yakuza series comes Judgement, a spin-off title that keeps some of the trademark style of that series, while adding in some new flourishes, including an investigation mode, and various gameplay differences. In this game, you play as a former lawyer, turned private eye, as you try and solve the case that ruined our former career. While the tone of the game seems to edge closer to serious than a traditional Yakuza game, I’m no less excited to play it. I wish I could say more about this game, but I have been avoiding almost all information about it in order to be surprised by it I put my copy into the PS4 later today. LET’S DO THIS!!!

Samurai Shodown (PS4/Xbox One) – Releases Jun. 25^th (PC and Switch versions coming later this year)

The popular SNK fighting series is back with its twelfth installment. Seen as a reboot of the series, you will be able to once again do battle as your favorite characters, such as Jubei, Pho Yu, Galford, and Tam Tam (one of those is made up, can you figure out which one?!). With a focus on weapons and stage positioning, the Samurai Shodown series, while not as big as Street Fighter and Fatal Fury, has been a mainstay in the fighting game community for over two decades. With 90’s nostalgia still going strong, now is the perfect time to jump back into this series.

The Sinking City (PC/PS4/Xbox One) – Releases Jun. 25^th (Switch version coming in the Fall)

H.P. Lovecraft might have been a horribly racist xenophobe, but his stories have probably given us more modern pop culture than any other artist of his era. There are countless books, comics, movies, board games, role playing games and, of course, video games. This latest Lovecraft inspired title comes to us from a developer called Frogwares, who have spent the last 17 years making casual point & click adventure games, mostly based on Sherlock Holmes, for the PC, and occasionally for consoles. In this latest title, which appears to forgo the casual crowd, has you playing the role of Charles W. Reed, a former sailor in the U.S. Navy and WWI veteran turned private investigator, as you search a spooky seaside town for the cause of some very mysterious, and horrifying, dreams and visions that you have been having. As with most Lovecraft stories, you will slowly start to lose your mind as you are faced with the terrors that spring forth from the abyss. Will you survive and find the answers you were looking for, or drown in the madness as it overtakes every orifice?

Super Neptunia RPG (PS4/Switch) – Releases Jun. 30^th

Having traditionally been a 3D game, the latest Neptunia game is a 2D affair with hand drawn graphics, that plays in the old school JRPG style. The game seems to be a bit of a goof on the series that spawned it, and the JRPG genre itself, particularly with a debate on what is considered better, 2D or 3D. Personally, I’m a bit played out on JRPGs, and with so many other quality titles coming out, I may have to skip this one and wait for a sale down the road. Plus if you opened my wallet right now, and little moth would fly out like in the cartoons.

 

Ports and Re-releases:

We. The Revolution (PS4/Switch/Xbox One) – Releases Jun. 25^th

Releasing on PC earlier this year, We. The Revolution is a simulation game that has a lot of mechanics going on; from the courtroom/investigation puzzles, to the social meta game, to the area control aspect, and the Persona-esque relationship mini-game, this has a lot of ideas that, more or less, work well, but probably would have been better served by eliminating one or two. The few hours I spent with this were fun, but ultimately I lost interest and haven’t felt a desire to go back based on all of the other titles that have come out since it first released, idk, maybe it’s time to give it another shot.

Sega Ages – Virtua Racing (Switch) – Releases Jun. 27^th

Sega Ages – Wonder Boy in Monster Land (Switch) – Releases Jun. 27^th

Started late last year with the release of Sonic the Hedgehog and Thunder Force IV, the Sega Ages series is the companies latest attempt to get you to re-buy content you probably already own, but who fucking cares, they’re on the Switch now! The latest entries to get North American releases are the games Virtua Racing and Wonder Boy in Monster Land. Originally released for arcades in 1992 just as 3D graphics were starting to become more sophisticated, the title was a technical marvel of its time. Wonder Boy in Monster Land is an arcade title released in 1987, is a platforming game in which you must save your girlfriend from The Evil King (god, haven’t these guys ever seen Tropes vs. Women in Video Games?!).

If you’re curious, here is everything slated to come out as part of this collection:

• Puyo Puyo
• Space Harrier
• Columns II
• Thunder Force AC
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2
• Puyo Puyo 2
• Puzzle & Action: Ichidant-R
• Shinobi
• G-LOC: Air Battle
• Fantasy Zone
• Herzog Zwei

 

Everything else:

Monster Jam: Steel Titans (PC/PS4/Xbox One) – Releases Jun. 25^th

THE MONSTER TRUCKS GO VROOOOOOOOMMM!!!! I’m glad we live in a world where even monster truck video games have over priced collector’s editions.

Shadow Fencer Theatre (PC/Xbox One) – Releases Jun. 26^th

From Steam, “Shadow Fencer Theatre is a competitive awkward physics sword fighting game set in the world of shadow puppets“. It actually looks kind of cool.

Chiki-Chiki Boxy Pro Wrestling (Switch) – Releases Jun. 27^th

I’m not sure where this boxy graphical look got its start, was it Minecraft? Anyway, in this new game from the makers of Chiki-Chiki Boxy Racing, you will fight against opponents from around the world as you try and dominate the leaderboards. There are apparently a ton of customization options that, surprise, you can unlock by playing online over and over and over again.

Fort Boyard (PC/PS4/Switch/Xbox One) – Releases Jun. 27^th

This looks like some kind of Ninja Warrior type party game. That is all I have to say about this game.

Goonya Fighters (Switch) – Releases Jun. 27^th

Yet another boxy graphics, arena brawler. That is all I have to say about this game.

F1 2019 (PC/PS4/Xbox One) – Releases Jun. 28^th

This game features a story mode in which one of the characters is named Devon Butler, which means this game is clearly a sequel to Cop and a Half.

Rally Rock ‘N Racing (Switch) – Releases Jun. 28^th

Man, the Switch sure does get a lot of bullshit, doesn’t it? Oh well, small price to pay for greatness.

Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers (PC/PS4) – Early access for players who pre-ordered starts Jun. 28th. Game officially releases Jul. 2nd

I’ll have more to say about this game next week, but for those of you who pre-ordered the game, you’ll get a 4 day head start on trying out the new jobs, exploring the new zones, taking on the new story quests, and of course, grinding for that new level 80 cap. If anyone wants to play with me, my name is L’eclisse Algiers and I reside on the Lamia server. With the new cross-server feature, players who are on the same data center can move freely between servers (or worlds) and party up together, chat, hang out, do whatever. Come find me!

Tour de France 2019 (PS4/Xbox One) – Releases Jun. 30^th or maybe Jun. 27^th, who cares?

According to the website Push Square, the official press release says, “Race as one of the game’s 761 cyclists in the 21 faithfully recreated stages of the Tour de France 2019 that celebrates the 100 years anniversary of the Yellow Jersey, including this year’s official Tour de France route…“. Sounds pretty sick.

 

One Year Ago:

Top Game – The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit (PC/PS4/Xbox One) – Released Jun. 26^th, 2018

Essentially a demo for Life is Strange 2, this (very) short preview episode was all about a kid named Chris who has a shitty dad, an overactive imagination, and possibly super powers. I haven’t played Life is Strange 2, so I don’t know what happens next in Chris’ life, and I think I’m okay with that. His journey was just enough of an emotional hook for me that I don’t think I want some super hero bullshit to mess with that.

Interesting tidbits – There were NINE ports and re-releases this week, most of which were better than the brand new games coming out; including:

• Far Cry 3 Classic Edition (PS4/Xbox One)
• de Blob (Switch)
• Lumines Remastered (PC/PS4/Switch/Xbox One)
• Neir: Automata – Become as Gods Edition (Xbox One)
• Paranautical Activity (Switch)
• Galak-Z: Variant S (Switch)
• Pokemon Quest (Android/iOS)
• Crash N’Sane Trilogy (PC/Switch/Xbox One)
• Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus (Switch)

What were we saying in the comments? Just about everyone in the comments played, or was waiting to play, Captain Spirit. However, Ack_Ack was less than thrilled about its release, “The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit will not be rewarding me with Achievements, so I will not be playing it. I demand meaningless rewards!!“. Don’t we all…don’t we all.

 

Notable Releases from 10, 20 and 30 years ago:

How did you pass the time in the Summer of ’09, ’99 and ’89? By playing the games below, that’s how!

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood (PC/PS3/Xbox 360) – Released Jun. 30^th, 2009: Wiki Link

A year before Red Dead Redemption would give us the definitive Western genre video game, Ubisoft tried their best to make us all interested in cowboys with the Call of Juarez series. The second game in the series, and a prequel to the original game, you followed the story of the McCall brothers as they stay one step ahead of the law, labelled military deserters after leaving to save their family home. Hiding out in Mexico, you learn about the Gold of Juarez from a local bandit, who you eventually team-up with in order to evade the law and find the treasure. With a wide range of familiar influences (spaghetti westerns, 3:10 to Yuma, HBO’s Deadwood), the developers decided that they would skew closer to the fantastical version of the west shown in most Clint Eastwood films. This aesthetic made the game fun to play but, in typical Ubisoft fashion, the game got repetitive and dull after a few hours, with you performing many of the same types of tasks over and over again. Up to this point, however, Bound In Blood was considered the high mark for the Western genre video game, soaring over previous titles like Gun and Red Dead Revolver. As for further sequels, the next title called The Cartel was set in the modern era, losing its chance to cash-in and copy 2010’s Red Dead Redemption, which makes sense as to why the third, and final, title Gunslinger, went back to the wild west in 2013. Sadly, the Call of Juarez series seems to be on hold, most likely due to licensing issues, as the game is no longer owned by Ubisoft, but is instead the original creators of the series, Techland, who seem to be more interested in making Dying Light games at the moment.

Pokémon Snap (N64) – Released Jun. 30^th, 1999: Wiki Link

Imagine being a huge Pokémon fan, and learning that your favorite series was coming to the Nintendo 64 with full 3D graphics…and then finding out it was a photo simulator. While this might have been seen as a slap in the face, the fact that the game was a ton of fun with a high replay value has cemented its place in Pokémon history! Based on an episode of the animated series (or vice versa…), you play as Todd Snap, a young Pokémon photographer who is obsessed with getting the perfect shot. Using a self driving vehicle, you would very, very slowly move through various environments, taking pictures of Pokémon as they do, stuff. It’s much more fun that it sounds, trust me. A cool feature of the game was that you could actually print out your photos on sticker paper. All you had to do was take your cartridge down to your local Blockbuster Video, stick it in the machine, and next thing you know, you’ve got tiny ass stickers of blurry Pokémon.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES) – Released Jun. 1989: Wiki Link

As an eight year old kid in 1989, I was in the prime age demo for the Ninja Turtles. When the show started it’s first proper season in 1988 and launched its toy line, I was 100% on board. I had the toys, the t-shirt, the backpack, and a subscription to Fox Kid’s Club Magazine, but there was one thing that the Turtles still hadn’t conquered, video games. Fast forward to the summer of 1989, and NES owners could rejoice as they finally had a video game based on their favorite cartoon…but wait, why do they all have red masks on the cover? Wait, who is this guy completely engulfed in flames? Who’s the chainsaw guy? Since when can Foot Soldiers melt into goo and re-appear someplace else? What the heck are these weird torso-less creatures that look like a pair of naked legs hopping around? Oh, there’s Bebop and Rockstead, that’s cool…what the fuck is this underwater stage set near a damn and why do plants kill me?! How can electricity work underwater?! This makes no sense!!! Needless to say, I had a love/hate relationship with this game, as did most kids, I imagine. On the one hand, it was the perfect pairing, Ninja Turtles and video games, that’s a no brainer. On the other hand, the style of the game was so ugly and brash when compared to the bright colors and happy-go-lucky attitude of the cartoon. Like the Ninja Turtles film, it appeared that Konami was taking more cues from the comics than the show, which resulted in a more mature title. As I mentioned, there is a horribly difficult underwater level that requires you to swim through a trap filled maze as you disarm bombs. The big catch is that you only have 2 minutes and 20 seconds to do this, resulting in one of the most difficult things I ever had to do as a child. Later levels were incredibly confusing, and required either supernatural psychic abilities to figure out, or a subscription to Nintendo Power. A few months later, Konami would release a new Ninja Turtles game in arcades, one that would kick off their classic beat-em-up genre, and skew more towards the cartoon series.

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Have a great Summer everybody!