Good Tuesday, everyone! If you thought last week’s output of new titles was light, wait till you get a load of this week! Our top title, by default, is the strategy game War Hospital. Unlike most war sims that require you to slaughter other humans, in War Hospital you are instead tasked with saving other humans that have been injured on the battlefield. Set during WWI in the year 1918, players will use era accurate tools to help save lives on a “…faithfully recreated setting of the French Front“. This seems like a really interesting title and might be worth checking out when it hits a good price.

Our other new title of the week is the side scrolling action game Momodora: Moonlit Farewell. This is supposed to conclude the Momodora series, tying up all of the loose ends to mysteries laid out in past releases (FINALLY). Last, but not least, we have a new retro collection coming out, the Top Racer Collection, which is actually made up of three SNES games that were once called Top Gear (I assume they had to change the name due to the famous British car show). If you’re wondering why this obscure series is getting a collection, well, over in Brazil these Top Racer/Top Gear games are INCREDIBLY popular. Developer QUByte Interactive are Brazilian, which makes this is a labor of love for them. The collection also includes a crossover title between Top Racer and Horizon Chase – World Tour, a Brazilian racing game that was heavily inspired by Top Gear/Top Racer.

I recently unearthed some footage from a lost WWI bunker; what I saw SHOOK ME to my core:

Top Releases:

War Hospital (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Jan. 11^th

Developed by: Brave Lamb Studio S.A.
Published by: Nacon

Momodora: Moonlit Farewell (PC) – Releases Jan. 11^th

Developed by: Bombservice
Published by: PLAYISM

Top Racer Collection (PC – maybe?/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Jan. 11^th

Developed by: QUByte Interactive
Published by: QUByte Interactive

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

This week’s notable releases are, for me, a lot more interesting than last week’s offerings. Starting us off is 2014’s skateboarding title OlliOlli which, I believe, is the first time I’ve highlighted a Vita game or, at least, a game that was Vita exclusive for a time (it’s now available on multiple platforms). Before British developer Roll7 released OlliOlli, they were primarily a maker of small PC & mobile titles. When the team began work on OlliOlli, their plan was to release the game on iPhone with simple touch controls, similar to their previous efforts. However, after a meeting with developer James Mardsen, creator of the indie title Velocity, they saw how well he was being treated by Sony and the commitment they had to indie devs. Roll7 would pitch OlliOlli to SCEE (Sony Computer Entertainment Europe) Senior Business Development Manager, Shahid Ahmad, who loved the game and suggested the team develop it for Sony’s Vita handheld.

The goal in OlliOlli is to pull off as many skateboarding tricks as possible in one continuous run. Think Tony Hawk Pro Skater if it had pixel graphics, was a side scroller, and your only goal was to pull off the biggest, most elaborate run. OlliOlli was a big hit with critics who called it incredibly addicting and one of the (few) must have Vita titles. The game was, of course, brutally difficult, meaning that if you failed at any point during your run you were out, and you’d have to start over. This rubbed some critics the wrong way, who felt that the high level of difficulty would turn off many casual players, which is an audience the Vita was appearing to court.

Despite some negative reviews, OlliOlli was still a critical darling and was named Best Sports Game at the 2015 BAFTA Games Awards. As I mentioned earlier, Sony would eventually lose the exclusive rights to OlliOlli, with the game coming to PC in December of 2014, before landing on the Wii U and Xbox One in 2015. A sequel would release in 2015, OlliOlli2: Welcome to Olliworld, which would be bundled with the first OlliOlli for the Switch in 2019. The most recent release in the franchise is 2022’s OlliOlli World, which took the series out of the 2d space and into the 3d one. Check these games out, they’re a ton of fun, and really addicting.

Jumping back to 2004, we’ve got Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel for PS2 and Xbox, which is the last game in the franchise published by Interplay before they sold it to Bethesda. Using the same engine as their Baldur’s Gate console titles, Brotherhood of Steel differs greatly from its PC predecessors, being less an open world RPG and more of a linear action title with RPG elements. When starting the game, players have three characters to choose from, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Cyrus can handle large weapons but lacks the ability to run while firing. Cain has the ability to use both large weapons and dual wield pistols, though he too can not run when firing. Nadia is a quick and nimble rogue who can run while she fires, but can only use smaller weapons.

Players choose their character and then start the game as initiates in the Brotherhood of Steel. From there, they are tasked with finding a group of missing paladins which leads them down a long road towards a fight with the dreaded Super Mutant army. Brotherhood of Steel does contain three unlockable protagonists, two of which, vault leader Patty and paladin Rhombus, are re-skins of Cyrus and Nadia, while the third, The Vault Dweller, is a jack of all trades, able to use every weapon and run while firing. Oh, this character is also the protagonist from the first Fallout, so that’s kind of neat.

Critics didn’t really care for Brotherhood of Steel, as it failed to capture any of the charm and fun of the PC games, instead opting to fill the game with as much profanity and sexual imagery as possible. Interplay were so confident in Brotherhood of Steel that they began work on a sequel before the first game even came out, prompting them to cancel Black Isle’s Fallout 3 (codenamed Van Buren) in the process. Of course, the Brotherhood of Steel sequel never came, Interplay would sell the franchise to Bethesda, who would then release their version of Fallout 3 in 2008. Brotherhood of Steel was never ported to PC, nor any modern consoles, and is, effectively, lost to time. You probably aren’t missing much if you haven’t played it, but you can easily emulate the game if you’re curious.

Moving on to 1994, we have Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers 2 for the NES. Released in the final year of the console’s life, Rescue Rangers 2 found Capcom really pushing the limits of the NES, with superb graphics and sound. The gameplay is nearly identical to its 1990 predecessor, however a new mechanic was implemented in the sequel, with players able to throw one another as a projectile when in a two-player game.

I wish I had more to contribute here, but that’s pretty much it. This was Capcom’s last Disney game for the NES, so that’s something. Critics were really happy with Rescue Rangers 2, calling it one of the best NES releases of the year, being a worthy reason to take the old console out of the closet and dust it off. Rescue Rangers 2 is a solid platformer, though it is likely not as fondly remembered as the 1990 original, probably due to its release date being so far into the NES’ life cycle. Thankfully, the game is easily available today in the Disney Afternoon Collection, which you can get on PC or any modern console.

Movie time! 2014 saw the North American release of Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, which had been previously released in Japan 2012. The film was only in theatres for four weeks, grossing a paltry $175k dollars. It’s follow up, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 would do much better, grossing $810k in 2022. 2004’s notable film is the utterly forgettable My Baby’s Daddy, and that is all I will be saying about it. Moving on to 1994, we have the dog sled racing film Iron Will, in which a 17 year old boy takes part in a grueling race from Canada to Minnesota, while being chased by a vile, evil man…Kevin Spacey. Oh, he’s not the film’s villain, he’s a good guy (sort of). I just mean that he’s a vile piece of human garbage in real life. Anyway, I watched this in school a lot, it was one of those VHS tapes that every teacher showed when they needed to grade papers, or had a hangover.

This week’s notable albums aren’t really not doing it for me, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t noteworthy or without their fans. 2014’s Give the People What They Want by Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings was hailed by critics as one of the best albums of the year, even receiving a Grammy nomination in the Best R&B Album category (Toni Braxton & Babyface would win).

2004’s Legion of Boom by The Crystal Method saw the electronic duo team up with members of different rock & roll groups, including Limp Bizkit’s Wes Borland, and Kyuss lead singer John Garcia. Songs from this album would later appear in the video games Need For Speed: Underground and Donkey Konga 2. The album was also nominated for a Grammy, in the Best Electronica/Dance Album category, the first year that award was given out (Basement Jaxx would end up winning).

Finally, 1994 gave us the album Face the Music from the boy band New Kids on the Block who, at this time in their career, had changed their name to NKOTB. Why the change? Well, by 1994, the pop music craze that spawned New Kids had faded away, replaced by grunge and gangster rap. Even their brand of poppy R&B had been taken over by the smoother, slicker New Jack Swing sound, popularized by groups like Boyz II Men. In an effort to remain relevant and keep their aging fanbase, NKOTB ditched their producer Maurice Starr and wrote “harder” , “edgier” songs that featured a more modern R&B sound and contained sexually charged lyrics.

The album was a gigantic flop, selling only 138k copies in the United States. This effectively killed the New Kids, with each member going their own separate ways, before reuniting in 2008. I listened to Face the Music just to see how bad it really was and, I mean, it’s not good, but it’s not bad. The songs are pretty generic, but they at least sound like songs made by people who cared about what they were making. The New Kids just weren’t what people wanted in the middle of the 1990’s but, if they had only held out about 4 to 5 more years, they would have been on top of their game again in the late 1990’s.

OlliOlli (PS Vita) – Released Jan. 22^nd, 2014: Wiki Link

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (PS2/Xbox) – Released Jan. 13^th, 2004: Wiki Link

Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers 2 (NES) – Released Jan. 1994: Wiki Link

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