New Game Releases 10/17/23 – 10/23/23

Welcome to what might be the biggest week for gaming in 2023, with two, possibly three, titles that are sure to sell like gangbusters and will probably be some of the most gifted games of the year. What are these games? Well, you can watch my video below or you can skip past it and go right to the text, it’s up to you, I mean, I spend a lot of time on both so, like, maybe you could do both, or whatever. No pressure, (nervous laughter).

Nintendo has already spoiled us with the best game of the year, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, but just so we can have our cake and eat it too, they’ve also decided to put out a brand new Mario game, the side scroller Super Mario Bros. Wonder. What have we done as a society to deserve this plethora of riches? Not nearly enough, but we’ll take it. In Wonder, up to four players can run and jump through stages you would expect to find in a Mario side scroller, however the big gimmick here is the special Wonder Flower you can collect in each stage. When collected, the wonder flower causes something crazy to occur, like warp pipes coming to life, your environment to change colors, or any multitude of wonderous things. If this was the only game coming out this week we’d have reason to celebrate, but this isn’t it, oh no, this isn’t it AT ALL.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Switch) – Releases Oct. 20^th

Developed by: Nintendo EPD
Published by: Nintendo

Looking for something a bit more involved, a bit more gritty, a more toothsome? Sony and Insomniac Games have you covered with the highly anticipated sequel Spider-Man 2, which has players taking on the roles of both Peter Parker and Miles Morales as they deal with another onslaught of villains and goons in New York City which is, like, totally a character itself. If Spider-Man isn’t your thing, maybe check out Sonic Superstars. This is a return to the 2d platforming Sonic games that we all know and love, but with modern graphics. I know, I know, the last time they did this in Sonic Generations it was kind of bad, but I promise, reviews for this new Sonic game are actually good! Yeah, Sonic is usually steaming hot garbage, but this time is different. I would never lie to you, I promise.

Spider-Man 2 (PS5) – Releases Oct. 20^th

Developed by: Insomniac Games
Published by: Sony Interactive Entertainment

Sonic Superstars (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 17^th

Developed by: Arzest/Sonic Team
Published by: Sega

The rest of this week’s top titles aren’t going to compete with Mario, Spider-Man, or Sonic in any meaningful way, but each title scratches a particular itch that some gamers have. Need a fun party game for your holiday get togethers, check out The Jackbox Party Pack 10, with 4 new games and one sequel, Tee K.O. 2, it’ll liven things up when Uncle Jack starts talking about congress. Like to do your gaming with friends and family when they aren’t in the room? Check out Endless Dungeon from Sega and Amplitude Studios. This online multiplayer game is a spin-off of the single player game Dungeon of the Endless, if that does anything for you.

The Jackbox Party Pack 10 (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 18^th

Developed by: Jackbox Games
Published by: Jackbox Games

Endless Dungeon (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 19^th

Developed by: Amplitude Studios
Published by: Sega

Finally we have a game that you didn’t ask for this Christmas but your procrastinating dad will pick up for you because they’re all sold out of Mario, Spider-Man, and Sonic; Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged. The first Hot Wheels Unleashed was far more fun than it had any right to be, which is kind of mean to say, but I’m saying it with genuine surprise. Licensed games are typically hastily thrown together cash grabs, but Hot Wheels Unleashed took the time to make their game fun, enjoyable, and control really well. Let’s hope this sequel continues that and delivers just as good of a time. Honestly, if you get this game as a gift, be stoked, you’ll probably have a great time with it.

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 19^th

Developed by: Milestone
Published by: Milestone

Ports and Re-releases:

Retro game fans should be excited this week, as the NES game A Boy and His Blob and the Genesis game Gargoyles are both making their way to modern hardware, and both with physical releases! Now, your mileage may vary on these titles, A Boy and His Blob isn’t that great, but it is a game that you can pretend to like so that people think you’re cool. I haven’t played Gargoyles, but it’s your typical Genesis side scroller, not unlike Aladdin, so it’s probably pretty fun, or at least better than A Boy and His Blob. Gargoyles Remastered also boasts new graphics, so that’s something.

• A Boy and His Blob Collection (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch) – Releases Oct. 17^th
• Gargoyles Remastered (PC/PS4/Switch/Xbox One) – Releases Oct. 19^th

Everything else:

The rest of this week’s titles are rounded out by a couple of licensed games and a visual novel from a Finnish developer. All three look pretty good and could certainly be something to check out if the reviews are good and the price is right.

• Skull Island: Rise of Kong (PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 17^th
• Hellboy: Web of Wyrd (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 18^th
• Inescapable: No Rules, No Rescue (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 19^th

Notable Releases from 10, 20, and 30 years ago:

Time for notable releases, the fun part of the article, starting things off with our 2013 game, The Stanley Parable. Initially developed as a Half-Life 2 mod by a 22 year old named Davey Wreden, The Stanley Parable was his attempt to create a game that fit in the same sort of narrative box as titles like Portal, Bioshock, and Braid, in the sense that each of these titles plays with your perception of the game’s events and your greater place in them, while also asking the meta question about “why” we play games. The mod was a big hit and caught the attention of another young developer, William Pugh, who contacted Wreden after learning that he wanted to expand on the game.

Together, the two devs, along with the voice actor Kevan Brighting, put together a brand new version of The Stanley Parable that contained all of the original mod’s endings, as well as several new ones. The original mod was a huge hit with both Markus Persson and the team at Valve, and they allowed the two to use assets from both Minecraft and Portal in The Stanley Parable, putting players into those worlds for brief moments. The major gameplay concept of The Stanley Parable is allowing players to make choices, which sounds simple, but what players may or may not realize is that perhaps the choices they make are not their own, but instead those of the game’s developer. For example, the entirety of The Stanley Parable is narrated by Kevan Brighting, and this narrator tells players that “Stanley walks through the left door” before players actually do it. Most people would follow this direction, but the game also offer a door to the right, letting you “break” the game and go off course. The narrator will try to get you to go back, but you can ignore him, setting off a chain of events that leads to one of roughly 16 endings.

When The Stanley Parable released on Steam through its Greenlight service, it quickly became a critical and commercial success. Both Wreden and Pugh were touted as bright, inspiring young voices in the video game industry and were seen as part of the medium’s future. The Stanley Parable would go on to sell over 1 million copies and win or be nominated for several end of year awards. While Wreden and Pugh have not worked together again on a new title, only coming together to put out a deluxe version of The Stanley Parable, both have put out their own standalone games games, The Beginner’s Guide and Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist. neither of which reached the level of success that Stanley did.

Moving far, far away from the world of existential indie games, our 2003 title is the GameCube exclusive Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike. The third and final entry in the Rogue Squadron series (though Battle For Naboo is often considered a spiritual fourth entry), Rebel Strike, once again, has players taking on the role of various characters in the Star Wars universe, specifically from the original film trilogy. In Rebel Strike, the story picks up shortly after the destruction of the Death Star (the first time), and sees the rebel alliance looking for a new home after they were discovered on Yavin 4. After some side switching between members of the alliance and the imperials, the rebels settle on the ice planet Hoth and, once again, you fight in the god damn Battle of Hoth.

The big gimmick of Rebel Strike was the addition of land combat, in both vehicles and on foot. However, critics were quick to point out that these on-foot missions were the low points of the game, with developer Factor 5 clearly not having much experience with this kind of gameplay. Nevertheless, the game was a financial success and was still mostly enjoyed by critics. Didn’t play it back in 2003? Sorry, you’re out of luck, as the game has never been ported and isn’t likely to be anytime soon.

Our last notable game is 1993’s Virtua Fighter, the arcade fighting game from Sega. While most of us were playing Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat in the arcades, with it’s 2D sprites, Virtua Fighter tried to set itself apart by having 3D, polygonal graphics which, at the time, were mind blowing to see. While the game featured less buttons than both SF II and MK, it still featured a plethora of special moves and combos to master. In fact, to help keep interest in the game high, Sega purposefully failed to include instructions on the game cabinet, instead they would dole out new moves in pieces through various news outlets.

Initial test releases of the machine in August of 1993 proved to be wildly successful, with Sega claiming it to be their highest testing game of all-time. It took Japan by storm and was easily the most popular game in the fourth quarter of 1993 and the highest grossing arcade cabinet of 1994. Over in North America, the game wasn’t as big of a hit, only being the 5th highest grossing cabinet of 1994, but that didn’t mean it was chopped liver, it just wasn’t a phenomenon. Audiences in North America and Europe just seemed to prefer Street Fighter II, with its more fluid control scheme. Of course being such a big hit, Virtua Fighter spawned a new franchise for Sega, with the most recent entry coming out in 2021.

Moving on from games, our notable film from 2013 was Captain Phillips who, notably, was not the captain anymore, 2003 brought us the remake nobody asked for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (and it wasn’t that bad), and 1993 saw the release of every theatre kid’s favorite Halloween AND Christmas movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Some of you might think it was directed by Tim Burton, but it was actually directed by a guy named Henry Selick who would go on to make James and the Giant Peach and Coraline, but NOT Corpse Bride, that was Tim Burton. Understand?

The notable albums aren’t really ones that I dig too much, though I think each contains killer tracks, I just wasn’t blown away. Sorry to Burials by AFI, Chutes Too Narrow by The Shins, and Vs. by Pearl Jam. Did you like these albums? If so, why? I’m genuinely curious.

The Stanley Parable (PC) – Released Oct. 17^th, 2013: Wiki Link

Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike (GameCube) – Released Oct. 21^st, 2003: Wiki Link

Virtua Fighter (Arcade) – Released Oct. 1993: Wiki Link

---