Recent reviews by EastX

While there are a fair number of Overcooked-style games to choose from, Manic Mechanics does a fine job of standing out from the crowd. It takes great advantage of the car theme, creating fun and frantic scenarios inside of levels - the minigames that are required to repair each part add some distinctive fun. Even making driving around the map is joyful.

The ugly character design and lack of online matchmaking are weaknesses compared to Overcooked. That's right, there is no online matchmaking. You can play online with friends, but that's it. That's a bit deceptive since you'd naturally expect to be able to play with random players in an online game. Still, local matches and online matches with a friend are a blast.

Overall, Manic Mechanics is a nice alternative to Overcooked, especially if the car theme appeals to you. For more details, see my full review at Co-Optimus[www.co-optimus.com].

Don't buy this game, even on sale. I paid ~$4, and it was too much.

I was curious because Billy in Bubble Trouble is clearly a Bubble Bobble clone, and that's kind of interesting. However, it's made by someone who doesn't know what they're doing. Putting aside that the sprites are clearly stolen from one of the Bubble Bobble sequels, this game is incompetently made in every way.

Gamepad controls do not work correctly by default, so I had to make a control profile for the Steam Deck and map everything. The menu controls don't support D-pad/keyboard movement, though, so you have to use a mouse or the Steam Deck touchpad to navigate them. Movement and controls feel terrible, the visual effects for blowing bubbles and killing enemies are terrible... Everything is bad about this. You can't have fun with Billy in Bubble Trouble other than by playing it ironically.

If Bubble Bobble 4 isn't enough Bubble Bobble for you, you're better off with emulation options than playing this hobbyist's pathetic attempt at making a game.

How to play with controllers: Wow, by default, the game doesn't seem to work with controllers. We had to go into the Steam controller settings for the game and manually set each controller to a Gamepad layout. That got them to start working.

Ninja Kidz is based on a YouTube video series starring martial artist kids. The kids on YouTube can't act, and neither can the voice actors in this game. It's a very rough, indie game that uses a basic 3D engine. The start-up sound is super loud and can't be turned down, but you can at least turn down the rest of the sounds after that. There's no Vsync option, so the game suffers from screen tearing unless you force it off with your video card settings.

The actual gameplay is basic but fun enough for a kid. Pick from 4 characters (and 1 unlockable one), run through levels, and beat up samey bad guys. Players have two basic attack buttons, a special move button, and a run button. You can find limited-use throwing knives and stars and health items in crates. When your meter is charged up, pressing two specific buttons at once will change your kid into a ninja outfit, seemingly increasing the damage you deal.

If you want a "Kid's first beat 'em up" or your kids are actually into the YouTube show, this would be a decent buy. Don't buy for solo play or for an adult.

See our full write-up at Co-Optimus[www.co-optimus.com] for more details!

The Double Dragon series has a lot of spin-offs. Gaiden is a spin-off/retelling of the first Double Dragon that also borrows a little story from part II and characters from the four numbered games.

At the start, only the four heroes are available, but nine bosses and minibosses can be unlocked over time. Like Double Dragon IV, everyone gets unique special moves. Marian is a ranged character, and thus great for beginners, and Matin is a clunky grapple character. You unlock the bosses at the token shop. Tokens are gained from the unspent gold at the end of the game (and you can also cash out early). Other unlockables include concept art, music, and tips.

The good:
- The variety of characters
- Special move-focused gameplay that rewards players for defeating enemies with Special KOs
- The level designs are creative and include verticality and non-linear elements
- Boss fights are exciting.
- The first 4 out of 5 levels can be played in any order. Each subsequent level gets longer and harder, encouraging players play levels in a different order when revisiting the game.
- The soundtrack is made up of catchy remixes of classic tunes from the series.

Not so good:
- The tag team concept is cool, but tagging out consumes your Special meter, so you can't tag very frequently.
- Billy's face is poorly drawn in the cinematics.
- The Crowd Control animation that pop-ups up when you get 3+ special KOs at once can be annoying. If it bothers you, see the forums for a mod.

Read my full review at Co-Optimus[www.co-optimus.com] for lots of details and screenshots.

New Joe & Mac is a decent remake that lacks some of the original arcade game's charm. Note that many of the negative Steam reviews are complaining about the hunger mechanic that was present in the arcade game; these players don't realize that the remake isn't based on the Super NES game. Also, while the game launched without extra modes and difficulty selections, it has since been updated with those features.

There are two main modes: Arcade and Extended, which has longer, remixed levels. Both modes fail to offer unlimited continues, and that's annoying. However, there are now five difficulty levels, and just about anybody should be able to beat it on the easiest level. The extra modes are speedrun versions of the regular modes and a boss rush mode. Unfortunately, the Steam version only has Achievements for Arcade Mode even though the Xbox and PlayStation versions have Extend Mode Achievements/Trophies.

The new widescreen, HD artwork from Mr. Nutz Studio mostly looks quite nice – especially the backgrounds. Bosses have been upgraded in the sense that they’re no longer restricted by the limitations of 16-bit sprites. We get to see a lot more of the Tyrannosaurus boss of the first level and the Tyrannosaurus skeleton boss towards the end of the game, and the penultimate boss is portrayed as a giant snake rather than just a T-Rex head with a segmented neck. However, numerous minor animations are missing, most notably that of the heroes walking into the snake’s mouth at the end of the game. Without that animation, it’s not really clear that the final boss fight takes place inside the snake! The new soundtrack is pleasant, but missing some of the chiptune appeal of the original music. Oh, and there are no in-game sound settings, so you'll likely have to manually turn your sound down when playing.

New Joe & Mac is still a fun game, just a rough one that could've used another month of development time. I recommend picking it up on sale. Check out my longer review at Co-Optimus[www.co-optimus.com] for more details.

EDF5 is the best game in the series so far. It functions as a reboot, so you needn't have played past games, but the improvements are cool to see. Selecting from four classes, all of whom have new tweaks, and then hopping online to take on scores of missions in 4-player co-op is super fun.

EDF games have always been about clearing missions on multiple difficulty levels and collecting hundreds of weapons as random drops. Picking up duplicate weapons now upgrades existing weapons, which makes them more useful and adds to the addictiveness.

Playing solo is a good way to build up your characters and farm stuff, and you can even do 2-player split-screen (though split-screen players can't join online games). If you enjoy cooperative action and B-movie sci-fi atmosphere, this games will easily keep you busy for more than a hundred hours. Don't miss it!

Note: I got the Steam version for review, but I purchased the PlayStation 4 version myself and have been having a blast playing through again on Steam.