Category: Classic

Crystal Dynamics’ Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered is, at its core, a love letter to a cult classic that spent nearly a quarter of a century languishing in technical purgatory. Where the original 2003 release was hampered by fixed cameras, dated controls and a pacing more rooted in the early 2000s than in 2026, this remaster aims – and largely succeeds – at reconciling the game’s ambitious narrative and gothic world with a modern console sensibility without betraying what made it distinctive in the first place. Continue reading “Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered review (PS5)”

Three and a half decades after its original release, City Hunter’s return on modern hardware feels less like a triumphant rebirth and more like an invitation to an era that no longer exists. Anchored in the familiar milieu of Ryo Saeba – the self-styled “sweeper” of Shinjuku – the game places players squarely into a retro run-and-gun framework with light narrative dressing. Its premise, while faithful to the spirit of the manga and anime, hardly evolves beyond a sequence of text-driven vignettes that set up each of the four core cases Ryo tackles. There’s an earnestness in seeing familiar characters like Kaori and Umibozu appear, but the storytelling rarely goes deeper than functional exposition. For players who grew up with the franchise, these moments evoke nostalgia; for new players, they can feel perfunctory at best. Continue reading “City Hunter review (PS5)”

Nearly three decades after their original arcade outings, the Raiden Fighters trilogy returns on modern consoles in Raiden Fighters Remix Collection, a celebration of Seibu Kaihatsu’s blisteringly paced vertical shooters that lands somewhere between reverent homage and a touch of frustrating missed potential. On PlayStation 5 this collection brings Raiden Fighters, Raiden Fighters 2, and Raiden Fighters Jet together – each in both Japanese and international variants – alongside a suite of quality-of-life features and a remixed soundtrack intended to modernize the experience without drowning out its arcade DNA. Continue reading “Raiden Fighters Remix Collection review (PS5)”

The latest re-emergence of Konami’s long-running maze-based party franchise in Super Bomberman Collection for PlayStation 5 is at once a nostalgic archive and a reminder of just how timeless its simple formula can be. Instead of a single narrative arc, this 7-game anthology stitches together the series’ defining 16-bit era and even brings former Japan-exclusive installments into the global spotlight for the first time. Across these entries, Bomberman remains a cheerful, largely silent protagonist whose sole mission is to clear grid-based arenas by placing bombs, opening paths, and outmaneuvering foes – a premise that’s never particularly deep but consistently compelling. Continue reading “Super Bomberman Collection review (PS5)”

Rebellion’s Speedball for the PlayStation 5 arrives as more than a simple nostalgia bite: it’s a deliberate attempt to transplant a beloved arcade-sports classic into a modern competitive context, with all the promise and pitfalls such a project entails. The original Speedball and Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe were staples on the Atari ST and Amiga in the late 1980s and early ’90s, thriving on one-button joysticks, ferocious pace, and a visceral blend of futurism and sport – traits that defined a youthful era of gaming and left many players craving a worthy modern successor. Rebellion has consciously invoked that legacy here, embracing the high-octane, blade-edged aesthetic that fans remember, but the result on PS5 ultimately feels like a thrilling prototype rather than a fully realised evolution. Continue reading “Speedball review (PS5)”