Site icon The Avocado

New Game Releases 09/17/24 – 09/23/24

Andy Tuttle

Top Releases:

The Fall release schedule continues, and while this week may not pack as much of a punch as others to come, we’ve still got some pretty neat stuff coming out. Our top game of the week is the 2D/3D adventure game The Plucky Squire. In this game, players must move back and forth between a 2D storybook and the 3D world that the book resides in. I’ve been anticipating this game ever since I the first teaser and I can not wait to give it a try.

The rest of this week’s games are a hodgepodge of titles, sure to scratch whatever itch you have. First up is the tactical city builder Frostpunk 2, set 30 years after the original, where players take on the role of city Steward, tasked with protecting their people on a snow covered Earth. Your choices have consequences, good and bad, which can either lead to your triumphant ascension into glory or a brutal execution.

The Plucky Squire (PC/PS5/Switch/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 17th

Developed by: All Possible Futures
Published by: Devolver Digital

Frostpunk 2 (PC) – Releases Sep. 20th

Developed by: 11 bit studios
Published by: 11 bit studios

Second, we’ve got yet another remaster/remake, Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster (DRDR for short), which once again puts players into the shoes of the world’s greatest war photographer, Frank West. While the core gameplay remains mostly unchanged from the Xbox 360 original, Capcom has added quality of life improvements, such as auto-saves, improved controls, a new UI, full voice acting, and “much more”. Since this is the year two thousand and twenty four, there are the usual grumblings from certain sectors of the internet that are “furious” at the game’s “censorship” and DEI-ification of the game. None of this is worth talking about, but if you want to look it up, be my guest.

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster (PC/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 18th

Developed by: Capcom
Published by: Capcom

Rounding things out, we have Beyond Shadowgate, another remake of a classic game, this time for the NES title Shadowgate, but that’s not all! The developers have also remade two other NES point & click titles, Deja Vu and The Uninvited. All three games are contained in this collection, which should be welcome news to retro gaming fans.

Finally, we have the beat ’em up title Karate Kid: Street Rumble, which follows the same formula as may other titles in the genre, with four players working together to beat up a bunch of bad guys. This seems to be the defacto genre for nostalgia properties these days (TMNT, Power Rangers), and while I’m not complaining, I don’t really see the need for it. Hey, what do I know though, huh? If someone is happy that this Karate Kid game is coming out, then I’m happy for them. Let’s be positive!

Beyond Shadowgate (PC) – Releases Sep. 19th

Developed by: Zojoi LLC./GrahfMetal
Published by: Zojoi LLC.

The Karate Kid: Street Rumble (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 20th

Developed by: Odaclick Game Studio
Published by: GameMill Entertainment

Oh shit, I almost forgot this one. Remember Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown that came out all the way back in January? Well it’s got some DLC, Mask of Darkness, and I’m sure it’s totally worth checking out. I mean, Ubisoft sure wants you to check it out. Yeah, and maybe tell your friends, and buy it as a gift, and post about it. Please, oh dear god, please! Their stock is tumbling and they need a win. Who are you to resist, huh? Come on. Employees last paychecks bounced. Their children need wine!! (Yelling in French)

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown – Mask of Darkness (PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Sep. 17th

Well, everyone keeps bringing it up in the comments so I might as well just throw it in here, the game UFO 50 hits Steam this week. It’s a collection of 50, small games that are all from a fictional 1980’s game console called The UFO. These aren’t mini games, as the trailer below says, they are small, full games that range from short, arcade style titles, to more full blown action games that will take up your afternoon. Give it a look, or wait for the inevitable Switch port.

UFO 50 (PC) – Releases Sep. 18th

Ports and Re-releases:

Hey, honestly folks, the best games coming out this week are the ports. Two PS5 exclusives are now making their way to the PC, God of War: Ragnarok and one of my favorite games of 2023, Final Fantasy XVI. If you haven’t played FFXVI, its gameplay style is much closer to Devil May Cry than it does with previous Final Fantasy games. Aside from those, the PS5/Xbox Series X game Star Wars: Jedi Survivor is making the leap backwards to the previous generation of consoles which is not any cause for alarm at the current state of this generation’s consoles and their astronomical prices and lack of quality video games, hahahaha, nope, nope, hahahaha, why are you looking at me like that? Shut up, no you shut up, I didn’t say anything, everything is fine, everything is fine, everything is fine. Ohhhh saaayyy cannn youuu seeeeeeee…..

Everything else:

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

What games from the past will get remade next? Let’s find out!

First up, from 2014, we’ve got the tactical RPG Wasteland 2. The original Wasteland, released in 1988, was a brutal RPG set in a post apocalyptic United States. Attempts by the game’s original developer, Interplay, to make a sequel were thwarted by the game’s publisher, EA, so they decided to make their own spiritual sequel, Fallout. Meanwhile, EA made their own sequel called Fountain of Dreams. Gee, I wonder which one did better, hmm.

Anyway, in 2003, another company, inXile Entertainment purchased the rights to the Wasteland franchise and finally, in 2013, they decided to use Kickstarter to get a proper sequel made. At $900k, it was the biggest project in Kickstarter history, and the team made over half of it, $600k, in just 24 hours. By the end of the campaign, Wasteland 2 would raise nearly $3 million dollars. When it released, Wasteland 2 was a hit with critics and players, making over $1.5 million at launch, and would be hailed by critics as one of the best games of the year. A third entry would arrive in 2020 to the same great reviews and player count, but things have gone quiet since then.

From 2004, we’ve got the wacky adventure game Katamari Damacy. This is, unless I’m mistaken, the first video game in which you play the roll of a space prince who must roll up objects, animals, and people, into a ball so that they can become stars. Maybe Pong did it first, I can’t really remember. Anyway, Katamari Damacy was the brainchild of artist/designer Keita Takahashi who had a hard time getting his bosses and Namco to understand his vision. He would end up getting funds from the Namco Digital Hollywood Game Laboratory, a division at Namco aimed at helping students break into the industry, and got Katamari Damacy made for less than $1 million dollars.

After a good showing at the Tokyo Game Show 2003, the anticipation for Katamari Damacy was high. This weird, goofy Japanese game was unlike anything critics and players had seen before in a video game, but Namco was hesitant to release the game in the West due to the high amount of references to Japanese life & culture. A group of Western game developers who had fallen in love with the game decided to showcase Katamari Damacy at the 2004 GDC where it captured the attention of every critics in attendance. The feeling in the air was described as “electric”, with Western journalists demanding to know when the game was coming to the United States.

Reluctant to release it state side, Namco was adamant that Katamari Damacy would never reach Western audiences. Still determined, Western journalists invited Takahashi to E3 where he could demonstrate his game and get more exposure in the West. With the game once again a big hit among the crowds, Namco could no longer ignore the demand, releasing Katamari Damacy in North America, but NOT Europe, they don’t like weird things in Europe, right? While the game’s name translates, roughly to “Clump Soul” or “Clod Spirit”, the North American release decided to just use the Japanese title, Katamari Damacy.

Funny enough, the game was not a very big success in Japan, selling only 155k copies by the end of 2004, even at a bargain price. Meanwhile, in the U.S., Katamari Damacy blew away all sales expectations, selling out almost immediately across the entire country. Retailers had no idea that this weird little game from Japan would do so well and only ordered a handful of copies for each of their stores. All 120k copies in the United States were gone in a matter of hours, with store trying hard to restock copies to meet demand.

The popularity of the game was matched by the critical reception, with many outlets calling it one of the best games of 2004, and bestowing it with several awards, including “Best Innovation”, “Excellence in Game Design”, “Outstanding Innovation in Console Gaming”, “Outstanding Achievement in Game Design”, “Best Puzzle/Rhythm Game”, “Best Original Music”, “Most Innovative Game”, and was nominated by several outlets for “Game of the Year”. Not bad for a game that cost less than a million dollars and wasn’t expected to appeal to a Western audience.

Our final notable title is the 1994 Sega Genesis game Dynamite Headdy from developer Treasure. Another “weird little Japanese game”, Dynamite Headdy has players taking on the role of a puppet named Headdy who can, get this, throw his head around. Over the course of the game, players can come across new heads that will grant Headdy different powers, such as shooting fireballs and becoming invincible.

Developer Treasure were well known in the gaming community for their unique games and innovative game design. Critics were impressed with the way Treasure played with the conventions of a typical side scrolling platformer, comparing the game favorably to the team’s previous effort, Gunstar Heroes. Each stage introduced a new game play mechanic, keeping things fresh as you progressed. The game’s technical prowess was also praised, with large, beautiful explosions, gorgeous sprite work, and rapidly changing backgrounds that were dazzling to the eye.

Dynamite Headdy is still praised today, with modern critics and game historians citing it among the best of Treasure’s catalog, as well as being one of the great Genesis games of all time. The good news for all of us is that Dynamite Headdy is easily playable on modern consoles, as it was part of the Sega Genesis Classics collection that came out on multiple consoles in 2018. Check it out!

Moving in the world of notable films, 2014 saw the release of Kevin Smith’s first horror film, Tusk, a bizarre movie based on a news story he talked about on his podcast. The story was about some weirdo in Canada who was offering people free room & board if they agreed to dress up like a walrus once a day and catch fish in their mouth. Smith and his co-host/producing partner, Scott Mosier, riffed on the idea of this story being turned into a body horror film, akin to Human Centipede.

Wondering if they should be the ones to make the movie, Smith and Mosier asked their audience to vote “yes” or “no” and, well, Smith’s fans overwhelmingly said “yes”. Funny enough, when the plan to film the movie gained notoriety on the internet, the author of the original news article came forward and said the whole thing was a joke, the story was all a lie. The author, Chris Parkinson, reached out to Smith and offered to help with the film, getting a producer credit in the end.

Tusk was met with an almost overwhelmingly negative response by critics who called it pointless, sickening, devoid of irony, and the worst film of 2014. It didn’t fare much better with audiences, being a certified box office bomb. However, like all good cult films, Tusk began to find its audience after it hit home video & streaming. Art school kids and certified weirdos began to catch on to Tusk, turning this once hated film into something of an indie darling. Smith, for my tastes, is far better at comedy then he is at horror, but I’m happy that this weird flick was able to finally find an audience.

2004’s notable film is another cult film from yet another filmmaker of dubious reputation, John Watters’ A Dirty Shame. Starring Tracey Ulman as a frigid, sexless woman and Johnny Knoxville as a perverted magic man, A Dirty Shame tells the story of a town overrun with puritanical values that is best upon by a bevy of sexual “deviants”. Ullman’s character, Sylvia, ends up hitting her head which gives her a concussion and turns into a sex crazed maniac. The film then follows Sylvia as she alternates between her chaste and carnal identities, engaging in outlandish sex acts.

As you can imagine, the MPAA was not pleased with the film, slapping it with the notorious NC-17 rating. Watters was asked what he would need to cut in order to get the film an R rating and his response was that the MPAA had pretty much stopped taking notes half way through the film and told him it would never receive an R rating. A Dirty Shame would be released as NC-17, one of only ~90 films to receive the rating, where it floundered and died in theatres. However, like with Tusk, the film would find a new life on home video, where unrated DVD’s were big business. While it’s not Watters best film, A Dirty Shame stands as a statement to the upcoming sexual revolution the country would face in the wake of the internet, and I’m not sure we’ve fully come to terms with it yet (or if we ever will).

Our third notable film was, again, a box office flop that found life on home video, the Frank Darabont/Stephen King classic The Shawshank Redemption. Despite a strong marketing campaign, there were a few factors working against the film. Critics were tepid towards the film, though the reaction was mostly positive, however there was a general sense of apathy towards “prison films” from the general public, as well as a increased competition at the box office from the Summer’s biggest hit, Forrest Gump, and a gritty new film from Quentin Tarantino called Pulp Fiction (more on that in the coming weeks).

Shawshank was the victim of bad timing, lost in the sea of buzzworthy films in the later part of 1994, however its seven Oscar nominations in the beginning of 1995 would help turn the films fortunes around. When it released on VHS in August of 1995 it became the #1 rented film of the year, and subsequent viewings on cable television over the rest of the 90’s would typically find the film among the most watched programs.

It’s truly remarkable how The Shawshank Redemption has flourished over the last 30 years, becoming somewhat of an American staple. The story of a wrongly accused man, struggling to prove his innocence against insurmountable odds is a universal tale of overcoming adversity. It’s a theme that resonates across, not just the United States, but all over the world. The Shawshank Redemption is often noted as one of, if not the, greatest Stephen King adaptation of all time, and is likely Frank Darabont’s greatest cinematic achievement. I can’t imagine many of you have skipped this film over the years but, if you’ve somehow managed to miss it, stop reading this right now and go watch it.

In notable albums, 2014 gave us Encyclopedia, the third album from The Drums. Now a duo, consisting of Johnny Pierce and Jacob Graham, the album incorporates far more synthesizers and ambient sound than previous efforts. While the duo were still using live drums and guitars, the album’s sound was very different, and alienated some fans of their early albums. The opening track, “Magic Mountain” is a bizarre, ear shattering track that sees heavy use of a Theremin. While I love their previous album Portamento more, Encyclopedia was an exciting new direction for The Drums, with some great tracks including “Kiss Me Again”, “Let Me”, “Face of God”, “Deep In My Heart”, and “There Is Nothing Left”. After Encyclopedia, Graham would leave the group, turning The Drums into Pierce’s solo project, one that still puts out great albums today.

2004 gave us an all time album, Green Day’s American Idiot, a blistering 57 minute take down of the George W. Bush presidency, the Iraq War, and contemporary American social life (violent video games, cable news channels, disinformation in the media, the destruction of independent business in favor of big box stores, etc.). Lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong indicated that the band were, for the most part, not really into “preaching to kids” about how the world sucks, or whatever. However, the Bush Jr. administration was so fucked up, and so full of lies and deceit that they felt they had no choice but to speak out.

The band’s career up to 2004 was a bit of a rollercoaster, hitting insane high’s with Dookie, falling with Insomniac, rising high again with Nimrod, calling far, far low with Warning, before hitting a major high with American Idiot. In the span of a decade they had gone from one of the biggest acts in the world, to playing mid day set at Warped Tour, to headlining stadiums. American Idiot was huge, HUGE, and turned the band into international superstars that still enjoy success today, including a well received album in 2024 called Saviors.

Finally, from 1994, we’ve got the album Four from Blues Traveler, an album that is considered one of the progenitors of the 1990’s resurgence of “jam bands”. Blues Traveler, along with other groups like Widespread Panic, Spin Doctors and, of course, Dave Matthews Band (Hootie & the Blowfish to some extent), hit it big in the early to mid 90’s, allowing white college kids across America to finally grow dreads and wear flip flops again.

I was only 13 at the time, so I had different ideas about how to dress like a dip shit (baggy, ripped jeans, Looney Tunes t-shirts, backwards baseball caps), but I can only imagine if I was 7 to 10 years older I would have fallen right into this trap. I remember enjoying the song “Run-Around” when it would play on MTV, but after a while I started to associate Blues Traveler, as well as all those other “crunchy” bands with the most annoying and weird kids at school. I don’t hate Blues Traveler, but I’m not trying to listen to their albums that they, surprisingly, still put out (last one was in 2023). If this is your thing, that’s great, more power to you, just don’t spray me with any patchouli oil.

Wasteland 2 (PC) – Released Sep. 19th, 2014: Wiki Link

Notable Film Release: Tusk – Starring Michael Parks, Justin Long, Haley Joel Osment, and Genesis Rodriguez
Click here to watch the trailer
Notable Album Release: The Drums – Encyclopedia
Click here to listen to the album

Katamari Damacy (PS2) – Released Sep. 21st, 2004: Wiki Link

Notable Film Release: A Dirty Shame – Starring Tracey Ullman, Johnny Knoxville, Selma Blair, and Chris Isaak
Click here to watch the trailer
Notable Album Release: Green Day – American Idiot
Click here to listen to the album

Dynamite Headdy (Genesis) – Released Sep. 28th, 1994: Wiki Link

Notable Film Release: The Shawshank Redemption – Starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman
Click here to watch the trailer
Notable Album Release: Blues Traveler – Four
Click here to listen to album

If you like what I’m doing here consider supporting me on Patreon. You can also find me on X, if that sort of thing is your bag. I eat a lot of corndogs.

Exit mobile version