Zool Redimensioned PS4 Review 8/10 "A Celebration of a Very Nineties Game" 🍬🍭 @WeAreSecretMode #IndieGames #GameDev

You must feel sorry for Zool, the Ninja from the Nth Dimension. He's fast, he's nimble, he's the star of his own 2D side-scroller... but he got introduced to the world right between the releases of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Poor guy never stood a chance.

Despite not becoming a mascot for the entire industry and inspiring two Jim Carrey vehicles, Zool maintains a place in my heart and some small cult status among fans who didn't grow up with a Nintendo or Sega console. He wasn't Mario or Sonic, but he was ours.

Thirty years after his first title, Sumo Digital Academy (an internship based in Sheffield) has built a remarkably faithful remake, essentially presenting the game as it was with some welcome tweaks to the gameplay, a surprising number of visual options and some fun modes to give this very old, very short game a new lease of life.

Arcana of Paradise - The Tower Nintendo Switch Review 6.5/10 “A game full of charm that just needs more variety” 🗼 @TheTowerEN #IndieGames #GameDev

I picked this game purely on the strength of its trailer and the interesting concept. Several children suffering from amnesia are stuck on top of a gargantuan tower, the top of the tower is in ruin and the kids are barely surviving, but in their minds lies a thought that if they can reach the bottom of the tower and escape - they will enter paradise. It’s an interesting set-up, so I was eager to play, I then learned it was a roguelike deck-builder, which are two words I understand but have never seen together, so I was excited to dive in.

Right out of the gate, Arcana of Paradise has a very ethereal feel thanks to its wonderful art style and gorgeous music. You feel you are in a strange - almost dreamlike - world, the combination of both really paints a vivid picture, and I was sucked into its vision very quickly.