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Gears fans assemble: Xbox ANZ create limited-edition Gears 5 inspired jewellery

SYDNEY, Australia, Friday 6 September 2019 – As gamers around Australia prepare to lift their Lancers for the launch of Gears 5, Xbox ANZ has revealed an exclusive range of bespoke unisex jewellery inspired by the iconography of the fan-favourite franchise.  

Crafted by fire and cast in ice-cold silver, Australian designer, Jason Moss, took inspiration from the mysterious Locust necklace owned by Gears 5’s lead protagonist, Kait Diaz, to create a limited edition ring and pendent design that any COG would be proud to wear. 

Most famous for his custom creations, some of the world’s most recognized celebrities wear Moss’ work, including recent Rolling Stones cover artist, Harry Styles. Designed in his trademark style, these handmade creations reflect the visual themes of the fire and ice locales from the game while leaning into the aesthetic of one of gaming’s most acclaimed sagas.  

The pendant pays homage to the iconic Gears COG tag and the trials and tribulations faced by our heroes. Featuring a split Crimson Omen interweaved on a chain necklace, the piece is weighted like the expectations placed on the Gears shoulders to save humanity.   

The ring sees an entangled Crimson Omen take centre stage. It features a complex design reflective of the unanswered questions of Kait’s bloodline, and the tensions bubbling under the surface as the squad fights off the Swarm and learns about her past. 

Encased in a chamber emblazoned with each piece’s production number, only 100 of each design have been created. Gears 5 fans around Australia can visit the Xbox ANZ Facebook today for more information on how to claim a piece of history for themselves.  

“We know that fans of Gears are loud and proud when it comes to their passion for the franchise, and we wanted to create something that would allow them to showcase their pride every day. With so many complex themes weaving throughout the Gears universe, Jason Moss with his experimental, raw style was the perfect artist to bring this collection to life.” says Tania Chee, Xbox Lead for ANZ. 

Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can play the highly-anticipated title as part of their monthly subscription from today. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate includes Xbox Live Gold and unlimited access to over 100 high-quality console and PC games. New members can subscribe for just $2 for the first two months, then $15.95 thereafter. Gears 5 is also available at the Microsoft Store and other retailers in Australia from 10th September (RRP AU$99.95).

Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with #Gears5. 

– ENDS –  

TAITO’S 80’s cult Bubble Bobble gets sequel exclusively for Nintendo Switch

After more than 10 years, a sequel to the iconic video game classic will finally be released exclusively for Nintendo Switch via ININ Games and Strictly Limited Games.

Stuttgart, Germany – After more than 10 years, Nintendo Switch players can look forward to a sequel of the cult 80’s game series Bubble Bobble by TAITO. The new Bubble Bobble 4 Friends was developed by the original studio TAITO Corporation and will include a brand new local 4-player mode. The sequel will be released both digitally and physically exclusively for Nintendo Switch in Europe and Australasia on November 19, 2019, with the release in the USA to follow in the first quarter of 2020.

As in the previous highly popular series, the thrilling and epic bubble fight starts again!

One night, a child’s room became enfolded by a miraculous light and every object under its rays suddenly came to life – including the child’s most favourite toy, the little dragon called Bub. Full of jealousy, the wicked magician Bonner challenges the friendly dragon to battle.


In the ’80s and ’90s, the players jumped through the levels either solo or in the two-player mode. In the new part of the popular Bubble Bobble series, a 4-player cooperative mode is integrated, providing even more fun with friends.

“Bubble Bobble is an extremely popular title in Europe, so we decided to implement a pre-sale in Europe in conjunction with ININ Games and Strictly Limited Games. It is also the first internally developed title since Taito has re-entered the consumer market, and the development team is thrilled to be working on this famous IP. I deeply hope that many people will enjoy it” says Hiroshi Uemura, Executive Officer, Division Manager of Development, TAITO CORPORATION.

Collectors can look forward to the Collector’s Edition of Bubble Bobble 4 Friends, distributed exclusively by Strictly Limited Games. The ININ publishing label markets the retail versions and digital releases on the Nintendo eShop.

About ININ Games:

ININ Games, the new publishing label of United Games GmbH, focuses on the classic digital and physical marketing of high-quality retro, indie and arcade titles. Along with undisputed classics, numerous other milestones of gaming culture are in the planning and will be announced in the coming months. For more information about ININ, visit http://www.inin.games/

About Taito:

TAITO Corporation (TAITO) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. With headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, TAITO operates core businesses such as game arcade operations, coin-operated game machines, and mobile phone content services. A seminal part of gaming history, TAITO caused a worldwide sensation with its arcade legend, SPACE INVADERS®, and developed such fan favourites as PUZZLE BOBBLE® (BUST-A-MOVE®) and ARKANOID®. Today, TAITO continues to thrill game lovers of all generations by offering both classic and new family-oriented titles on the latest gaming platforms. TAITO delivers a wide range of entertainment experiences with the goal of providing consumers with fresh surprises and new discoveries. More information on TAITO can be found on the Internet at http://www.taito.com

The Ninja Saviors – Return of the Warriors Out Now Australia & New Zealand

The Ninja Saviors – Return of the Warriors Out Now Australia & New Zealand

Stuttgart, Germany, – ININ Games, publishing label of United Games GmbH, is pleased to announce The Ninja Saviors – Return of the Warriors, Taito’s iconic and classic sequel to the arcade hit, is released. This highly anticipated game will excite fans of the genre and pull in a whole new generation of gamers. Released on Sony PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.

To the uninitiated, The Ninja Saviors – Return of the Warriors is a  side-scrolling arcade brawler featuring a strong cast of five playable characters and a plethora of individual moves, with two completely new faces joining the team.  For even more gripping immersion fans can experience the eagerly awaited, and superb, two-player co-op mode and an online ranking system so that you can measure yourself against fighters from all over the world. In a total of 8 levels, players will brawl their way through waves of enemy hordes, either alone or in pairs.

Players assume the role of one of the five android ninjas to take on the tyrant Banglar and his henchmen with a variety of individual moves in a dystopian future.

A completely uncut and mesmerizing experience is presented and options to change the colour of hit effects are just a few of the surprises in store supplemented by new enemies previously not seen on the original Western Super Nintendo version. Importantly the original developers, TENGO PROJECT, have improved the audio-visuals in every respect, making an already outstanding game even better!

The 6-minute trailer below gives an insight into some of the new features and characters that are presented in The Ninja Saviors – Return of the Warriors.

The North America version on both Sony Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch is due in October

The Eyes of Ara reveal Brain-teasing Puzzles Oct. 15 on Nintendo Switch™

The Eyes of Ara reveal Brain-teasing Puzzles Oct. 15 on Nintendo Switch™

Full touch screen and Joy-Con motion control support bring mysterious castle to life

MELBOURNE, Australia – 6 Sept. 2019 – The Eyes of Ara, the award-winning puzzle adventure set in a mysterious castle, will share its secrets with Nintendo Switch on Oct. 15, 2019.

On Nintendo Switch, The Eyes of Ara’s secrets come to life like never before with dedicated touch screen and Joy-Con support. On the go, piece puzzles together with the ease of a finger or stylus. When docked, guide the Joy-Con to precisely point at puzzle objects using the inbuilt gyroscope. These intuitive control options make exploring the richly detailed environments as empowering as it is rewarding.

After years of silence, a strange radio transmission erupts from a centuries-old, long-abandoned castle. As the technician hired to investigate the call, enter the perplexing citadel, navigate massive, detailed environments, and solve complex puzzles to uncover the truth behind the mysterious signal.

A labyrinth of secret suites and intricate mysteries in a fantastical setting await. In each of the castle’s beautifully crafted areas, find helpful clues and objects, using or combining them in inventive ways to venture deeper. Lost keepsakes and other secrets off the beaten path tell the captivating story of those who came before.

“Community and critical support for The Eyes of Ara have made it possible to bring this enchanting castle and all its tantalizing mysteries to Nintendo Switch, where exclusive control options make the game more accessible than ever,” said Ben Droste, lead developer, 100 Stones Interactive. “When Switch owners enter this castle, they’ll find a perplexing world full of secrets that rewards deep thinking with even deeper mysteries.”

The Eyes of Ara is now available for pre-order via the Nintendo eShop with a limited-time 15% pre-order discount andwill release for Nintendo Switch on Oct. 15, 2019 for $14.99 USD. It is currently available on PC, Mac, iOS, and Android. On Switch, The Eyes of Ara will support English, French, German, Russian, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese and Simplified Chinese languages.

For more on The Eyes of Ara, visit the official website and follow 100 Stones Interactive on Twitter and Facebook.

About 100 Stones Interactive

100 Stones Interactive is a one-man game development studio out of Australia founded by former Sega senior environment designer Ben Droste in 2015. The Melbourne-based studio crafts beautiful, high-quality games that leave a lasting impression on the player, seeking to bring new and wonderful experiences to gamers all around the world.

Sin Slayers, Tactical JRPG Action in a Dark Fantasy setting is out now.

On September 5th, Sin Slayers, a pixel-art RPG in the setting of dark fantasy, was released on Steam, GOG and Humble Store for $14.99(launch discount – 15%). The game combines JRPG and Roguelite elements. Players can manage their squad of heroes, fight in turn-based battles, balance their sin level and explore a huge randomly generated world.

In April 2019, the demo version of Sin Slayers was released. It was downloaded more than 100,000 times and received positive feedback from both players and the press.

Sin Slayers is a dark RPG set in a treacherous underworld. The player will need to create, equip and lead a team of heroes, each with their own pros and cons that you must incorporate into your strategy. To escape your doom, you must slay the seven Sin Lords. Fight in JRPG-inspired turn-based combat and explore a roguelike world, thanks to randomly generated maps and encounters, and the varying difficulty of every playthrough.

“For the first time we presented the final version of the game at PAX West 2019 and got an incredible feedback from the players. It’s nice to see how players enjoy the project, go through the locations, fight monsters and want to spend more time in the game than they can at the show.” –Vadim Rybkin, Chief Marketing Officer.

Key features:

  • 10 playable characters, each with their unique abilities, skills and weaknesses
  • Classic turn-based JRPG combat system
  • Roguelite mixed with Dungeon Crawler elements
  • Randomly generated levels ensure that players will find new secrets, monsters and events on each playthrough
  • Lots of additional quests and tasks from NPC’s
  • A dark fantasy atmosphere inspired by Castlevania, Diablo and the Dark Souls series
  • Sin system affects the difficulty of each playthrough 
  • A wide variety of skills to learn, armor to craft, and artifacts to discover
  • 7 main locations with unique enemies and gameplay features

Platforms:
The game will be released on September 5th, 2019 on Steam, GOG and the Humble Store.
On release Sin Slayers will support Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

About the developers:

Sin Slayers is developed by goonswarm studio. Each team member has their own unique experience in game development.

Black Tower Entertainment is a game publisher specializing in projects with RTS or RPG elements. Press kit: http://goonswarm.ru/presskit/sheet.php?p=Sin%20Slayers
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sinslayersgame
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sinslayersgame/
VK: https://vk.com/sinslayers
Website: http://www.sinslayers.com
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/783190/Sin_Slayers/

Farm Like Never Before! Farming Simulator 20 Comes to Nintendo Switch on Dec. 3, 2019

Farm Like Never Before! Farming Simulator 20 Comes to Nintendo Switch on Dec. 3, 2019

PARIS Sept. 5, 2019 — GIANTS Software and Focus Home Interactive have announced as part of this week’s Nintendo Direct that Farming Simulator 20 will launch on Dec. 3, 2019, on Nintendo Switch. If you missed the big reveal, you can check it out in the replay from the Nintendo Direct.

New screenshots show off the vehicles and horse-riding mechanics coming to Farming Simulator 20 after their debut in Farming Simulator 19. In addition, Farming Simulator 20 will include products from John Deere, the largest agriculture machinery company in the world. There’s also new machinery and crops with cotton and oats, tending to livestock of pigs, cows, and sheep, as well as a whole new North American environment to explore and develop as you like.

With over 100 faithfully reproduced farming vehicles and tools, Farming Simulator 20 will deliver hours of farming fun at home or on the go when it launches on December 3 on Nintendo Switch.

About Focus Home Interactive

Focus Home Interactive is a French publisher based in Paris, France. Known for the quality, diversity and originality of its catalogue, Focus has published and distributed original titles (A Plague Tale: Innocence, Vampyr, Farming Simulator, Call of Cthulhu, Insurgency: Sandstorm) that have become benchmark titles worldwide, available both in store and for download across the world. Focus publishes games on all major platforms, consoles and PC. The publisher’s catalogue will get even richer in the coming months and years with eagerly awaited games such as The Surge 2, SnowRunner, GreedFall and many more.

CLOSED BETA REGISTRATION NOW OPEN FOR DAEDALIC ENTERTAINMENT’S TEAM-FOCUSED RTS A YEAR OF RAIN

CLOSED BETA REGISTRATION NOW OPEN FOR DAEDALIC ENTERTAINMENT’S TEAM-FOCUSED RTS A YEAR OF RAIN

Second playable faction showcased in the Undead Champs Tournament, which is running now until the grand finale on September 28

HAMBURG, Germany Sept. 5, 2019 — Publisher and developer Daedalic Entertainment has announced that registration is now open for the upcoming PC closed beta of the highly anticipated, team-focused real-time strategy game A Year Of Rain. Players who want to get firsthand experience before the game officially launches later this year can apply for beta access at https://beta.ayearofrain.com.

Daedalic recently revealed A Year Of Rain’s second playable faction — the Restless Regiment. An army of bloodthirsty, unliving warlords, soldiers, beasts and souls under the mindless obedience or zealous devotion of Lady Llorona, the Restless Regiment is a force to be reckoned with in battle, fueled by a singular purpose and torment.

To give fans a first impression of this new faction, Daedalic has set up the Undead Champs Tournament. Four teams, among them RTS players from TKA E-Sports and Berliner eSports Club e.V., are fighting for top standing before the grand finale on September 28 at 19:00 CEST. Matches take place every week and are streamed live on Twitch at www.twitch.tv/wardiii, with the first VODs available to view now. More information about the tournament and videos of every match are now available at www.ayearofrain.com/en/news/undead-champs-2019.html.

A Year Of Rain combines classic real-time strategy elements with a strong focus on teamplay and hero units. The game’s co-op campaigns and online and offline modes are designed with a team of two players in mind. The classic 2v2 skirmish mode is being developed for competitive matches from the very start. Meanwhile, the “Against All Odds“ mode is an innovation in the genre, where two lone heroes face two entire armies.

To keep track of the latest news about A Year of Rain, please visit:

Official website: https://www.ayearofrain.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ayearofrain
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ayearofrain
Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/ayearofrain
Wishlist on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/319540/A_Year_Of_Rain

About A Year Of Rain

A Year Of Rain is a team RTS uniting classical elements like base building and expansive story campaigns with strong hero focus and team-oriented gameplay. Apart from the co-op campaigns for the three factions, A Year Of Rain features additional 2v2 modes like “Skirmish” and “Against all Odds.”

A Year Of Rain is being developed by Daedalic Entertainment internally and will enter early access for PC in 2019.

About Daedalic Entertainment

Daedalic Entertainment publishes and develops high-quality games for all platforms. The company has a diverse line-up of high-quality titles, including classic adventures, RPGs, and strategy and multiplayer games. With more than 80 employees, Daedalic is currently developing a new line-up of innovative games across consoles, PC and mobile platforms.

Among the AAA titles in production at the studio are the team-RTS A Year of Rain (PC), as well as The Lord of the Rings – Gollum (multiplatform). A Year of Rain combines classical elements like base-building and a comprehensive story campaign with hero-focused and team-oriented gameplay. The Lord of the Rings – Gollum is an action-adventure that tells the story of Gollum from a perspective never witnessed before in any storytelling media, all the while staying faithful to the legendary books of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Based in Hamburg, Germany, Daedalic is one of Europe’s most acclaimed publishers and developers. With a total of 32 awards in the German Developers Award (including multiple accolades for “Studio of the Year”) and 12 German Computer Game Awards for genre-defining games such as Deponia, Edna & Harvey, Silence, Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth, The Long Journey Home, and State of Mind, Daedalic is a record holder for the two most prestigious games awards in Germany.

Twin-stick shooter Space Cows is out now for Nintendo Switch and PC

Krakow, Poland – September 5, 2019.  All In! Games and Happy Corruption are happy to announce that Space Cows premiered today. Grab a weaponized plunger and fight mootants in zero gravity on PC and Nintendo Switch!

About Space Cows

Space Cows is a cheesy twin-stick shooter featuring weaponized toilet plunger and intense combat. Shoot, dash and wobble in slow moo-tion to save cows and lay vengeance upon an evil cow-poration. You play as a cow farmer, Best Regards, who recently had his favorite cow stolen and transported to a mootant-infested space station. Fly naked in zero gravity, armed only with a laser-scoped plunger and driven by a thirst for revenge!

Key Features

·         Be the plunger assassin. Take on dangerous mootants, mini-bosses and a final mega-boss. It’s moosacre time! 

·         Wibble-wobble in zero gravity. Use twin-stick controls to master fun and responsive zero-gravity physics.      

·         The milk must flow! Collect the milk bubbles, but be careful: the space station is full of environmental hazards.

·         Master the mini-games. Save cows. Rack up crazy scores and keep the milk flowing!

Buy on Steam: – https://store.steampowered.com/app/933160/Space_Cows/

Buy on Nintendo eShop: https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/space-cows-switch/

About Happy Corruption

Happy Corruption is a studio based out of Warsaw, Poland, with a mission to create unique games that are strange and wildly fun.

About All in! Games

All in! Games is a new video game publishing and production company based in Krakow, Poland. Founded in 2018, the team has raised 10M EUR for production and marketing and already signed 16 games including the Paradise Lost (PolyAmorous), Fort Triumph (CookieByte), Daymare: 1998 (Invader Studios, Destructive Creations), Space Cows (Happy Corruption),  Metamorphosis (Ovid Works), and Space Company Simulator (INTERMARUM). 

River City Girls Review

River City Girls

Developer: WayForward
Publisher: Arc System Works
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Xbox One (Reviewed), PlayStation 4, PC
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $29.99 – Available Here

Overview

Throughout the 90s we saw the side scrolling brawler explode as a genre as nearly every franchise wanted a piece of the arcade fueled pie, whether it was an X-Men game, Simpsons, and many more the beat-’em ups flocked to arcades and still live on as fond memories since most of these games have moved on from the genre. That isn’t to say that it has been forgotten however and the Kunio-kun series, best known as River City in the West, was there at the beginning and has returned with a new spin-off focusing on the girls this time around in the form of River City Girls. After taking a few years off and now developed by WayForward, is River City Girls a beat-em up that scratches that classic arcade itch?

Story

Misako and Kyoko aren’t really having a great day as the pair spend their time sleeping through a lesson in detention, which is odd because Kyoko doesn’t even attend that school. Things get worse however when the pair receive a text message that shows their boyfriends, Kunio and Riki (the standard heroes of the River City games) being kidnapped. Not ones to be held down by things like rules, gangs of other rebellious students, and especially the teachers, the pair bust out of detention and hit the streets to track down their boyfriends.

WayForward has crafted an excellent and humorous tale that sees this pair of girls traveling through numerous areas in the city all while brawling against enemies ranging from standard school thugs, corrupt cops, and even masked wrestlers though there are some even stranger enemies that appear as well. The two girls, even while playing solo, make various remarks about the things they see throughout the story as the game progresses and interact with numerous characters that are both new to the franchise as well as some old returning faces. These familiar faces are great callbacks to past games in the Kunio-kun series and even a couple of guest characters are here as well.

This creates a fun and entertaining storyline that holds together rather well partly due to how humorous and charming the cast of characters are, though be prepared for a rather sudden feeling ending that doesn’t feel like it works the best.

Gameplay

While at its heart River City Girls is a side-scrolling brawler, it is actually a bit of a blend of that plus some light RPG mechanics and adventure as well. This is primarily due to the fact that while players will still need to travel through various screens to progress, any previous level in the game can be revisited at any time and progress is generally only halted behind a boss battle before allowing players to progress to the next section of the city. This includes allowing various shortcuts to be opened up between areas and the ability to use a bus stop to travel to other locales in a form of fast travel.

At its heart however this brawler still sticks true to its roots as both Kyoko and Misako boast a strong arsenal of moves that grow the longer the player keeps going through the game. In fact, thanks to both characters having their own fighting style players will have a blast playing through the game as either fighter and being able to swap any time you load into the game again is a nice touch, though character levels are independent from one another. Initially both characters start with a fairly limited set of moves and move a bit on the slower side but as they defeat enemies they gain experience as well as money. Leveling up provides a stat boost and can unlock additional moves right off the bat while other moves can then be learned from dojos scattered around the city.

Along those lines, it does mean that players can grind a little bit to either help make their fighter stronger or to pick up a piece of equipment they might find useful. This is where the aforementioned adventure style comes in a bit as there are numerous side-quests that the girls can accept that reward them with a bit of cash and experience when completed and simply retreading old areas respawns enemies so the more the player puts into River City Girls the more they end up getting back as the true combo potential for these fighters, including their special moves, really start to shine once a few of these moves are learned. Combat is also fleshed out a bit more by being able to pick up various weapons and use them until they break and occasionally enemies will beg for mercy. In this case that foe can then be recruited as a temporary ally that can be called in to perform a special attack until their health runs out. 

Purchasing moves at these dojos requires money, which can also be used to purchase various bits of equipment ranging from different types of underwear that boost various weapon abilities or make-up to deal extra damage to certain foes, to pepper spray that earns the player additional rewards, and more as well as food that can either be used at the store for an immediate heal or carried in an inventory that grows larger as the girls level up.

It is worth noting that getting beaten down allows players to continue but does cost them some money, so investing some into carrying a few healing items around is a nice touch, especially against some tougher bosses. Speaking of bosses, players will encounter a wide array of unique enemies here and while we won’t get into any of their exact details to keep things a surprise, every fight has a unique mechanic built into it aside from simply punching/kicking the foe in the face.

Although the combat can feel fluid with some blows really packing a punch, especially when smashing enemies into a locked screen and causing it to vibrate, River City Girls can be a bit rough at times as it can be difficult to properly gauge a jump at times when there is the threat of fall damage and the game has a real habit for swapping maps during combat. This is due to the fact that the standard light attack button is the same as the button used to both pick up items as well as transition to the next stage. This means that if you happen to be brawling against enemies that either rush the girls when they enter the screen or near an exit, fighting with standard attacks will almost always throw you into another stage and reset any damage done to the foes. This is an annoyance that can be avoided by relying on heavy attacks or special moves when unlocked but the use of a seperate button would have been preferred here. It is also worth noting that while there is a New Game Plus mode once the game is completed that offers some fun bonuses, there is no actual side content outside of the core game, not even a gallery of cutscenes or a way to re-listen to the soundtrack, which is disappointing simply due to how high quality both of these are.

Visuals & Audio

River City Girls features a great blend of pixel art and anime/manga styled artwork. Standard gameplay sees the girls exploring through a variety of gorgeously detailed areas of the city, all of which have their own unique feeling, battling against a solid variety of enemies. Each environment is filled with various NPCs and the bosses are quite unique both in design and their aforementioned fights. The design of every in-game character is quite detailed though there does seem to be a bit of an issue with their models vanishing a bit when certain grab moves are performed on them. It is also interesting to note that even though many enemy types feature alternate color schemes, the aforementioned mercy recruitment system often contains a few extra tidbits of information regarding some of the palette swaps.

When looking to purchase items Kyoko and Misako will encounter a wide-variety of eclectic shop owners all featuring unique background art and designs while the actual story segments are told through beautiful anime cut-scenes. All of this is accompanied by some very solid voice acting featuring a great voice cast and an absolutely amazing soundtrack. Generally a brawler could get away with standard background music but River City Girls goes that extra mile by not only featuring some great pieces of standard background music but also a large collection of tunes that feature full vocals, allowing players to beat down enemies to a great collection of music.

Overall

River City Girls puts a new spin on the Kunio-kun series of brawlers and delivers an amazing example of what the brawler genre is capable of when given plenty of love and given enough room to deliver solid humor alongside its great cast of characters. The story may falter a bit at the end and the screen transitioning can be an issue but River City Girls’ solid combat makes the game an absolute blast when played with a friend and just as great solo.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Rovio Introduces Sugar Blast! A Fresh (and Fruity and Chocolatey) Slice of Tap-to-Match Gameplay

Rovio Introduces Sugar Blast! A Fresh (and Fruity and Chocolatey) Slice of Tap-to-Match Gameplay

Sugar Blast launches globally today, bringing approachable gameplay and a whimsical theme full of delicious sweets to app stores all over the world

ESPOO, FinlandSept. 5, 2019 – Today Rovio introduces Sugar Blast, a deliciously fun and casual tap-to-match game with a sweet coating. Previously in soft launch, the game now brings its delightful puzzle gameplay to app stores (iOS/Android) around the world.

Sugar Blast is all about super simple and satisfying gameplay, combined with eye-popping (and mouth-watering) graphics and adorable characters. Headlining this confectionary-filled bonanza are Maple and her cute jellybean companions, guiding players through thousands of levels.

At the heart of Sugar Blast is a popular gameplay style that’s derived from another of Rovio’s recent releases, Angry Birds Dream Blast (released January 2019). Encouraged by the success of Dream Blast’s unique and instantly accessible gameplay, Sugar Blast riffs on the Dream Blast format and amps it up with a fresh visual theme.

“The mission with Sugar Blast was to create a compelling visual theme that introduces our proven gameplay to an even wider audience,” says Alex Pelletier-Normand, Rovio Head of Games. “As a result, the team has done a fantastic job creating a cute and vibrant world that fits perfectly with the game’s satisfying and stress-free feel. I’m pleased to say we now have two games in our portfolio which, while leveraging the same novel core gameplay, co-exist happily through their appeal to different audiences.”

Sugar Blast is available now as a free download in the App Store and Google Play.