Recent reviews by JCB

Showgunners, the first game by Artificer (a team consisting of much of the staff behind titles like Phantom Doctrine, and Hard West) is a very interesting take on the turn-based tactics genre, thematically inspired by 80's classics like The Running Man.

It does away with some of the "complexities" of the genre (things like base building), to provide lighter, speedier gameplay, while keeping plenty of potential on how you handle each situation.

Each stage takes you from one combat scenario to another in quick succession, with a bit of exploration and puzzle solving thrown in to avoid things from getting stale, and providing you with further options to find new weapons and upgrades.
The story is pure 80's action/sci-fi, matching the over the top presentation of the characters and stages of its dystopian setting.

Less in not always worse, and this fast and furious "arcade" take on the genre is a lot of fun, and well worth checking out.

Unepic Games once again released a "retro" gem, in this case a spiritual successor of sorts to Konami's The Maze of Galious.

There's no lack of "metroidvania" titles on Steam, but few are as engaging, charming, and just plain fun as Pampas & Selene.

With its delightful visuals, and an epic and catchy soundtrack by the always awesome Gryzor87, it has a superlative presentation that matches the quality of the gameplay, where a carefully crafted map invites you to explore its many secrets, and lets you tackle the various bosses with more freedom than usual for the genre.

Pampas & Selene manages to capture the sense of wonder and adventure that some of the older late 80's/early 90's 2D classics had, and it's an easy recommendation for anyone that remotely likes the genre.

Devil Blade Reboot is very impressive in every sense, and it truly feels like a game that will be recalled as a "classic" in future years.

The developer has been working on this game, in its various incarnations, since the 90's (the original Devil Blade, for the PS1, dates back to 1996), and it shows. Very polished, it's a pure adrenaline rush, with interesting score mechanics that reward aggressive play, and players that take the risk to get up and close to the enemies.
As for the production values, a great pixel art style, combined with a very catchy and memorable soundtrack, are a perfect combo.
Add to that a very generous amount of unlockables (including a "remake" of sorts of the 1996 original), and you have a very complete package, that will surely keep you coming back for more.

This is a quality game right here, one that deserves a spot in the library of every shmup aficionado.

Mindware continues to revive old, somewhat obscure Japanese indie titles, and bringing awareness to their existence.
Not content with a mere re-release, they usually do their own take on these games, keeping the old spirit and original gameplay mechanics, while adding lots of new content, and the quality of life features one expects from a recent title.

Uootoy 3671 may be their best release yet.
The game is a charming and addictive puzzle platformer, where users must use their creativity to beat the extensive amount of levels available. This is the sort of game where you aren't tied to one solution, you truly have free reign in finding various ways (some surely not even expected by the developers) to reach the goal.

Besides the wonderful retro pixel art presentation, 3 soundtrack variants (one by the great Junko Ozawa), and a very generous amount of content (200+ stages, a number that keeps on growing, with additional stage packs being released), the game has a very easy to use stage editor, which is sure to extend the life of the game, and to pick the curiosity of gamers who enjoy exercising their creativity by doing their own stages.

All in all, Uootoy 3671 is surely the most accessible and polished game Mindware released so far, and an easy recommendation to those who enjoy puzzle games, or retro platformers that test your brain, and not only your reflexes.

D Life is an unusual, but addictive, puzzle game of sorts, mostly played with a single mouse button, where the electronic soundtrack reacts to your actions, and combined with the minimalistic but colourful visuals, results in a strangely appealing and engaging experience.

Despite its apparent simplicity, this is one of those games that is easy to play, but hard to master.
A worthwhile experience, for those who are looking to try something different.

Tengo Project is really keeping the "old school" flame alive!

The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors is yet another revival done right. It takes the already awesome SNES title, and improves things on every level.
The combat is fast and fluid, the pixel art graphics are improved (and in widescreen) and look lovely, and the arranged soundtrack sounds great.

The cast of 5 characters (2 of them brand new, and unlockable) all play differently enough to make each playthrough a different experience, and you will need to adapt your strategies depending on the character used.

To top things off, there's 2 awesome alternative soundtracks to unlock (the one from Zuntata for the original Arcade game, and the soundtrack from the SNES version), which adds further variety of options for replaying the game.
Personally, I had a blast replaying the game with the new characters, while listening to the 1987 arcade game soundtrack by Zuntata. It doesn't get much better than this!

All in all, this is a must for fans of the genre, and a loving revival of this classic franchise.

SOL CRESTA is a very solid and creative shmup, that combines old school sensibilities with modern gameplay ideas and mechanics.

Behind the retro graphics and chiptune soundtrack (a marvellous and insanely catchy effort by the great Yuzo Koshiro, here in top form) hides a very modern and enjoyable shmup, full of creative gameplay touches, be it the formation mechanics (where detaching your three ships is used to trigger massive special attacks, and the order you reattach them in results in different primary and secondary shots), or the special moves (triggered by doing motions straight out of a fighting game, something unusual for the genre).

SOL CRESTA combines the old with the new in great fashion, and the end result is a very solid effort.

NeverAwake is one of the most charming twin-stick shooters available on Steam.

The game is an audiovisual tour de force, featuring a Gothic style that almost makes it seem like it was designed by Tim Burton, and an awesome soundtrack that wouldn't be out of place in Plaid's discography.

It's a fun, accessible title, with 80+ stages, a steady stream of power-up unlocks (which should help anyone struggling with the difficulty of certain stages, but it also means there's quite a variety of different loadout combinations possible, so veterans will have plenty of ways to maximize their scores), and unusually for the genre, an engaging storyline, even featuring multiple endings.

In short, NeverAwake is a worthy addition to the library of anyone who enjoys the genre.

For fans of classic arcade games, and/or PAC-MAN in particular, the new compilation PAC-MAN MUSEUM+ is well worth checking out, even if you owned the (rather lackluster) previous PAC-MAN MUSEUM compilation.

It has a total of 14 games, well presented and emulated, and with plenty of extras to keep you busy (unlockables, achievements, online leaderboards for each game, ...), for an affordable price.

Everything about it shows that the team that handled this release placed some heartfelt care on the overall package, from the (highly customizable) virtual arcade setup, a collecting element with virtual figures that you can get on the in-game "gotcha capsule" machines, an extensive jukebox (that features tracks from all games, and various PAC-MAN media, including Ken Ishii's Join the PAC, the Official Theme Song for PAC-MAN's 40th Anniversary), and that care even extends to the compilation's production credits, that are lovingly presented as a release timeline of the various featured games.

As a result, it's no surprise that, at the moment, this compilation has 100% of positive reviews on Steam. Great stuff.

As for the included games, despite the apparently "limited" formula of the series, there's actually some variation and some great games included.
Personally, I always had a soft spot for Pac-Mania, which allows the character to jump over the enemies.
And of the "new" games included (compared to the previous compilation), I admit I was somewhat unfamiliar with the "arcade version" of Pac-Man Arrangement, and it's a lot of fun.
I can see that I'll be spending some time with this one, since it features appealing and colorful pixel art, catchy tunes, and fast and fun gameplay.

This compilation has turned out to be far better than my expectations for it, and if you have any interest in the series, this one is well worth the asking price.

Ninja JaJaMaru: The Great Yokai Battle + Hell is a must have for fans of classic arcade games, and a welcome surprise.

This new entry in a series that was insanely popular in Japan, but perfectly unknown outside of it (since most titles never left Japan), is a whole lot of fun!
It plays like a cross between Mario Bros. (the original arcade game, not the NES platformer), and Bubble Bobble, and it has the kind of simple, fast, addictive gameplay that anyone can pick up and play, and that you'll be coming back to, to improve your scores.
Add a colourful and insanely "happy" visual and audio presentation, and it's the kind of game that is sure to leave you with a huge smile in your face. I mean, where else will you find a power up that makes you ride a frog, while a disco ball drops down from the ceiling, and a catchy Japanese chiptune/hip hop track starts playing, while you go around eating everything that moves?!

On top of the addictive gameplay, and a fun audio and visual presentation, this is a really great package, since it features a healthy amount of stages, and plenty of unlockables to keep you coming for more, including countless unlockable characters (some from other Jaleco titles), alternate modes, retro soundtrack options, and a rather healthy amount of materials from past entries in the series (including various box art and cartridge photos, concept art, design documents, and more).

I can't recommend this game enough!