Review Round-Up - June - August 2026

Summer at SPC meant enjoyably taking a look at a mysterious book and living our best fantasy lives.

We've had reviews here and there over the past few months at SuperPhillip Central, and what we have now is essentially a summer review recap for the blog with our June to August 2026 Review Round-Up! As one might expect with reviews across three months, we have a wide range of grades given out and an even greater amount of game variety to be found here. Let's get to it!

We started this chapter of reviews on SPC with none other than Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, offering one heck of an opener to this review period, receiving an A- grade. Creating a hefty contrast soon after was Mouse: P.I. For Hire, trading in Yoshi's colorful storybook worlds with a more monochrome, yet still cartoon-y look. It got a B-.

Perfect for the summer months, we then took an island vacation virtually with Kioku: Last Summer, which unfortunately proved to be plagued with bugs and softlocks, which only allowed me to give it a D+ in its current state. From calm summer fun to fast racing action, we revved our engines after with 4PGP, getting a C+ as it crossed the finish line. 

Speaking of finish lines, we weren't quite finished with racing, as we shred the surf on Sea-Doo jet skis courtesy of retro PlayStation 2 and Xbox game Splashdown, which rode and raced its way to a B- grade. After that we traded a Sea-Doo for a skateboard with a trio of Disney properties under the Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 engine with Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure, another retro romp. This one got a B.

The months continued with a stretch of games in the B grade category, with our first Nintendo DS review in seemingly ages with Super Mario 64 DS (B), a fun cinematic platformer in the form of LIFTED (B-), and a charming and cute 3D platformer called Teeto (B-).

Rounding out this trio of summer months with some of our highest rated games this review period, we took some decidedly late looks at some truly terrific titles. One sated my thirst for Mega Man (at least until Dual Override arrives) via Gravity Circuit. Another took over 100 hours of my free time over the past year: Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time (also SPC's 1,100th review). Both of these titles received hearty recommendations and A- grades.

Phew! Are you all still with me through that lengthy journey looking back at SPC's reviews from June to August? If so, please be sure to check out the SPC Review Archive, as that has each and every one of the site's now 1,100 reviews! 

Let's look forward to autumn ahead, at least in this hemisphere. In the meantime, here are some snippets and links to these past months' past reviews. 

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book (NS2) - A-

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is very much a thumping good read--or rather, play. It presents so many unique ideas within each of its 50-60 creatures that it approaches Super Mario Galaxy-levels of "new stage, new concept". Such a feat is no small task, and it's certainly no small comparison either. Yoshi's latest absolutely floored me with its exponential amount of fresh ideas, stellar level design, myriad methods the game's systems interact with each other (in almost a "how does this game not break?!" kind of way), and how it constantly rewarded me for thinking outside of the box.

Mouse: P.I. For Hire (Multi) - B-

Mouse: P.I. For Hire is a ripper of a boomer shooter for sure. As a completionist, I hated having to use a guide to play through the game, as it really killed the pacing for me, but I can't argue against Jack Pepper's investigation being a thrilling and fun one. Case closed.

Kioku: Last Summer (PC) - D+ 

Kioku: Last Summer is a short experience, as stated, and unfortunately, it's one that I would have a hard time recommending in its current state. Perhaps once the bugs and glitches I experienced on a consistent basis are ironed out and some additional polish is included, this would be an easier recommendation for breezy and cozy summer game. As is, though, you'll suffer some frustrations that are ironically the complete antithesis of the cozy vibes the development team intended. That said, I still overall enjoyed my time on the island, but if I didn't have a review to write, I would have most certainly held off until next summer.

4PGP (PC, PS5, NS2, NSW) - C+

4PGP delivers racing thrills with a modest amount of frills. While so many racing games nowadays chase after realism and simulation in the feel to their controls, 3goo's 4PGP is unapologetic in how it harks back to the classic era of arcade racing games. The lack of online multiplayer and steep challenge may turn off some players, however. For everyone else, 4PGP speeds past the finish line in sublime style while adding some subtle substance here and there to make for a worthwhile racer.

Splashdown (PS2, XBX) - B-

Splashdown delivers fast and frenetic aquatic racing action, yes, but it also doesn't do much else. The amount of tracks and environments is immensely impressive, and the difficulty is tough but fair. Career mode essentially being the same for each racer means you'll race the same series of tracks against progressively more challenging opponents, which is about as repetitive as it sounds. Still, for a game you pick up on the used market for cheap nowadays, if you possess a PS2 or OG Xbox, Splashdown's small number of issues are a drop in the bucket compared the oceans of fun you can end up having with it.

Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure (PS2, GCN, XBX) - B

Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure is exactly what you'd expect from the cover--a super competent skateboarding game for the kid and tween market, and also those Disney adults who who can't get enough of Tony Hawk-style skateboarding gameplay. It's not anywhere near as complex as a THPS game--and that's to be expected for the audience it was trying to capture--but Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure manages to make for a marvelous skateboarding gaming experience that lands its tricks much more than it bails on them.

Super Mario 64 DS (DS) - B

Super Mario 64 DS doesn't long jump past the original Nintendo 64 game. It more takes some jumps to the side in improvements as well as complaints. Is Super Mario 64 DS the definitive version of Mario's first full foray and adventure into three-dimensions? That's a difficult question to determine the answer to, because it's totally conditional. From a content point of view, there's no question. From a control perspective, not so much. That's why I surmise that Super Mario 64 DS is more of a side-grade to the original Super Mario 64 than a total upgrade or downgrade. Either way, you'll be jumping for joy and the occasional--but not insurmountable--frustrations, too with this Nintendo DS launch title. 

LIFTED (PC) - B-

LIFTED is indeed a short adventure that some may balk at the $20 asking price, but I find there's plenty to like and even love about this charming cinematic journey that Ari and the Professor set on. Some checkpoint-ing quirks do annoy, and some camera angle issues do less than delight. However, in the end, the overall package is one that I am glad I had the opportunity to check out. I might even go back and complete the final six achievements that I'm missing, which is something I seldom have the motivation to do nowadays, so that certainly speaks to LIFTED's quality. 

Teeto (NS2, NS2, PS5, PC) - B-

Teeto shines in its simplicity, whether that's its platforming gameplay or its graphical style. Its transforming mechanic, used to solve environmental puzzles and perform platforming, lends itself naturally to the gameplay without feeling shoehorned in. Glitches and bugs aside that will no doubt be cleaned up as time and patches roll on, between the co-op, fun objectives, craftily hidden collectibles, and level of charm, Teeto was a game I enjoyed hitting 100% completion on. While it isn't a title that hits the same highs of Banjo-Kazooie, Spyro the Dragon, or any other 3D platforming titan Teeto might have inspiration from, it's a wonderful game all the same. 

Gravity Circuit (Multi) - A-

While Gravity Circuit isn't a perfect encapsulation of everything I love about Mega Man, the devs and designers clearly did their research, or at the very least grew up with Mega Man like I did and know what makes these classics so enduring and endearing. Gravity Circuit is a wonderfully paced, action-packed romp that doesn't outwear its welcome, delivers delightful run and jump gameplay, insanely smart level design, and plenty of platforming, boss battles, and other combat scenarios that will test every player's mettle.

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time (Multi) - A-

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is a game that after such a long development time and arguable development hell, it shouldn't work as well as it does, and perhaps it's a miracle for that reason. Between its complementing gameplay systems that hardly ever clash against one another, the "play as you want and as the mood strikes" level of freedom you eventually get, utterly massive post-game, and stupendous visual style and presentation, Fantasy Life i is an easy game to get lost in and lose hundreds of hours to. I admittedly did and have no regrets either. Not when the game is such so lovingly crafted and well done as a whimsical adventure.

Whether you wanted Mega Man-likes or Super Mario 64-likes, SPC had you covered this summer!

1,100th Review! Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time (Multi)

It's somewhat mind-blowing to me that SuperPhillip Central has reached this latest milestone: 1,100 reviews. I have no plans of stopping any time soon, at that! 

Our 1,100th review (not-so-coincidentally published at 11:00 a.m. Central time) is a game I've been meaning to cover, but it got lost in the shuffle, like so many games did when I was focused on other aspects of life. Speaking of Lives, this game has 12 of them, but after playing this game over 100 hours over the past year, I feel I have zero, ironically! 

That said, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is a meaty game, and would have probably been runner-up for my Game of the Year for 2025 behind Donkey Kong Bananza. Does that spoil how much I enjoyed this particular game? Perhaps, but I hope you still enjoy this milestone review all the same. 

 A game that steals time, too. /complimentary

The original Fantasy Life released in 2012 on the Nintendo 3DS. As a game, it was a life sim that featured plenty of cozy elements, combat, and plenty of Lives to manage. The sequel had been in development for quite a while, even having to retool itself during development. When a game gets in "development hell", for lack of a better term, like Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time did, it's hard not to assume the absolute worst of the final product--or at least worry heavily about it.

Somehow, someway, the sequel released, and it's no wonder why the game took so long to come out of the oven. With three unique worlds, so many gameplay systems interacting with one another, and an overwhelming amount of things to do, it can feel like Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time would suffer from bloat or feature creep. Instead and again, somehow, someway, Fantasy Life i manages to mesh and gel all of these systems into one comprehensive and complete entity.

As the subtitle would suggest, Fantasy Life i's story is a time-traveling tale through the past and present. It's a humorous affair with plenty of chuckles and even laughs to be found, though it occasionally can get slightly serious as well. The latter moments are few and far in between, keeping the game's story light in tone overall.

Well, Ranoah, after playing this game for over 100 hours total with every achievement unlocked, 
I can confidently say that... no. No, I do not.

It's difficult to describe what Fantasy Life i's main draw is, because there is honestly so much to this particular sequel. There's, of course, the Life system, which essentially puts your character in the role of various jobs. These Lives come in the form of three categories: combat, gathering, and crafting. Each Life starts at level 1 and gain experience points to level up in various ways, and each time a Life levels up, they get points that can be spent on that Life's skill board. This grants them better proficiency and abilities to utilize their Life better. 

Obviously, combat-related Lives spend their time battling creatures and other enemies. Gathering-oriented Lives chop trees, reel in fish, and mine for ore, in the case of Woodcutter, Angler, and Miner Lives respectively. Finally, crafting Lives do all their magic at workbenches, using drops from the former two Life categories to create all kinds of goodies, whether that be equipment, furniture, food, etc. 

Find the sweet spot by circling around this ore, and strike to deal some serious damage!
Just be sure to mind your stamina meter "ore" you'll tucker out before you finish the job!

Each Life starts you off as but an apprentice, but as you complete specific tasks for each Life, you earn points that eventually grant you to higher ranks. These ranks give rewards to your Life, as well as introducing a higher tier of more challenging tasks to complete. For combat Lives, these require felling certain monsters. For gathering Lives, it's all about chopping down certain trees, catching certain fish, or mining specific ore and reaping the rewards from them. Crafting Lives require you to make specific recipes via time-based mini-games, and some need to meet a certain quality as well. 

Crafting takes the form of these mini-games, requiring taps and holds of buttons and 
occasional spins of the analog stick to make new equipment, furniture, food, and more.

In a way, all of the Lives are interconnected. You need combat and gathering Lives to get enough drops and materials to assist your crafting Lives to make the required recipes for new ranks, as well as to better equip your combat and gathering Lives. That's whether with new weapons and stronger tools, or armor in the case of combat Lives. 

That's why it's pretty ideal to essentially sign up for all Lives at the start of the game once the Life system opens up. To be fair, it's a pretty tedious process to start the process in 12 different Lives, and it can also be overwhelming to have SO many different tasks available at once. However, it also makes the world much more accessible and available to you, opening up a ton of places and activities to enjoy.

You always have something to do within Fantasy Life i, whether you follow along with the story or not!

That said, Lives are just one part of Fantasy Life i. Another piece of the game is that of an open-world land called Ginormosia, introduced relatively early in the game and not mentioned until close to the very end of the base game's story. Ginormosia is home to various regions, each with pop-up challenges to optionally complete, monsters to defeat, ore to mine, trees to chop down, fish to catch, and so forth. As you complete challenges and perform feats within the world, you gain points for that specific region. Once you reach certain point thresholds, you can speak to the talkative tower of that region to level it up, making the rewards and challenges of that particular region greater. 

Ginormosia is well, quite a bit ginormous with plenty of points of interests to find and visit.

Ginormosia also features inspirations from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, between its Korok-like Leafes hidden all around and with its shrines sprinkled and scattered all across the land. Inside these literal shrines are simple enough puzzles to solve and challenges to complete to unlock characters called Strangelings, which can be turned back into human form at your home base.

That includes these shrines that are scattered all about the land of Ginormosia.

This leads me to yet another part of Fantasy Life i: your home island. This can be outfitted with homes (including your own, which can be customized and fully furnished inside), farms, and other buildings for your Strangelings turned humans to live. The indoor and outdoor furniture and other knickknacks can be placed all around your island as well. This is another optional part of Fantasy Life i, but it is rather rewarding. It's essentially something out of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, so if you have any familiarity with that game, then you'll feel right at home (both figuratively and literally) with this part of Fantasy Life i. 

Also on your home island is that of Treasure Groves, which grant you access to Rogue-lite dungeons where your Lives are put to the ultimate test. Some floors require specific proficiency in a particular Lives to pass. Some floors are Harvesting ones, needing you to dig up all of the crops. Some are Fishing floors, requiring you to fish up all you can in search of a specific item. If you're not at a proper level with a given Life, you'll find these objectives next to impossible, especially as you go back in time further and further. Each Treasure Grove sapling you plant grows a completely different grove to explore, and seldom are two ever the same. However, both the challenges and the prizes for completing them make the Treasure Groves incredibly fun and rewarding to take on.

So much of Fantasy Life i can be immensely overwhelming when you lay everything out like I just did, especially as there is a TON of grinding is present--whether monsters, monster drops, leveling up Lives, etc. That won't be everyone's bag of Dosh. Fortunately, you're seldom ever really forced to do anything. Sure, you're encouraged to follow along with the story, which helps in advancing the plot and reaching new areas to access better materials and rewards, but truthfully, you're allowed to do what you want when you want. 

One of the combat Lives is that of a Magician, for magical ranged fighting!

Thus, if you want to dedicate time to customizing your house to your heart's desires, you can do that. Heck, you can even NOT customize your house to your heart's desires, and you can still enjoy the game fully. Whether it's leveling up your Lives, finding new materials help in crafting better gear, exploring and ranking up Ginormosia's dozen or so regions, tracking tasks to rank up your Lives, or engaging in one of the myriad other overall fun activities in Fantasy Life i, it's all up to you. There is certainly no shortage of things to do and accomplish in Fantasy Life i, and an aspect I really enjoyed is that while playing, while exploring each piece of the game, I was always making progress towards something. There's seldom downtime or the feeling that I was just spinning my wheels for no reason.

Perhaps the most impressive piece of Fantasy Life i is how you have multitudes of all of these contrasting systems, such massive gameplay systems that overlap, that you'd think a game this seemingly bloated just wouldn't work. The mind-blowing aspect of this to me is that it actually all does. Between the Lives, the open-world Ginormosia, the story, the exploration, the island and home customization, the various tasks, challenges, and quests to complete--it all works and it pretty much all complements each other well without feeling like the game is too big for its britches.

Speaking of being too big for its britches, this Napdragon is about due to take a dirt nap with our team fighting it!

It's not all well thought-out, as multiplayer somewhat seems like an afterthought in Fantasy Life i. You can have friends visit your islands, but there's not much interacting or activities to do together on said islands. While you can explore both the Past and all the unique places it entails, as well as enter Ginormosia with friends, you're limited in how long you can explore together. There's a strict time limit, and while you can remake a lobby and rejoin each other after time runs out, there's really no rhyme or reason to why this limitation is required. Treasure Groves, however, can be embarked with a full party of four friends or strangers, offering the full grove to be enjoyed.

Beyond the limited multiplayer options that aren't too impressive, what did impress me was the presentation of Fantasy Life i. The game is positively gorgeous, and moments where you stand at the top of a peak in Ginormosia, seeing the massive draw distance revealing pretty much the entirety of the continent for your viewing pleasure? Absolutely jaw-dropping. The character and creature models are delightful, as are the environments you embark in and explore. 

Bring along some CPU companions to aid or cheer you on in battle, as well as level up more quickly, too!

On the sound front, the voice acting is suitably charming, much like the rest of the game, though quips by CPU party members that can optionally join you while out and about can get extremely repetitive. After hearing a companion say, "I'm worried about you" for the tenth time in less than three minutes, I realized maybe this was less commentary on my character's well-being and more on the fact that I hadn't eaten in five hours because I was so enamored with the game. 

Musically, many of Nobuo Uematsu's magnificent compositions from the original Nintendo 3DS Fantasy Life make a return in the sequel, but there also brand-new themes and tracks to be heard as well.Either way, the soundtrack is comprised of a lot of lovely songs that seldom if ever get grating on the ears, unlike your companions' various quips.

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is a game that after such a long development time and arguable development hell, it shouldn't work as well as it does, and perhaps it's a miracle for that reason. Between its complementing gameplay systems that hardly ever clash against one another, the "play as you want and as the mood strikes" level of freedom you eventually get, utterly massive post-game, and stupendous visual style and presentation, Fantasy Life i is an easy game to get lost in and lose hundreds of hours to. I admittedly did and have no regrets either. Not when the game is such so lovingly crafted and well done as a whimsical adventure.

[SPC Says: A-]

This game was played via the Steam Deck, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2 versions. Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is also available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.

The Tuesday 10s - My Most Anticipated Games for the Rest of 2024

The Tuesday 10s return this week on SuperPhillip Central. For those uninitiated, The Tuesday 10s--when they happen, at least--occur on Tuesdays and are basically unordered top ten lists. They can be about games themselves, or even game concepts like levels and characters, for instance.

Today, and with this morning's Nintendo Direct behind us, I feel we have a good idea on what to expect for the rest of 2024. That's not considering any surprises or future announcements in the second half of the year, of course. That said, these ten games are the ones that I'm most excited to play for the remaining months of 2024!

After you've peeked at my picks (and hopefully read the rationale behind each of them, too), please feel free to comment below on which games you're most hyped for to round out the year!

Astro Bot (PS5)

What salvaged an otherwise ho-hum (for me, at least) State of Play late last month was the conclusion of the presentation, featuring a trailer starring a lovely little robot that could named Astro Bot. The game of the same name is a major outing for the character, originally seen in different forms in The Playroom VR demo, then the PlayStation VR exclusive Astro Bot: Rescue Mission, which this new PS5 adventure seems to riff off of a teeny bit here and there. 

The PS5 pack-in game Astro's Playroom heralded in a glorious showcase of the DualSense controller, and in general was just a fantastic game to introduce players to their new PlayStation 5 systems. No doubt from the announcement trailer that developer Team Asobi has thrown myriad ideas at the wall, and in my eye, all of them seem to be sticking wonderfully. Here's hoping this ode to PlayStation's history and moreover massively captivating and charming-looking 3D platforming sticks the landing as well when it arrives on PS5 on September 6th.

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero (PS5, XBX, PC)

I can't think of a better tribute in game form to the late, great Akira Toriyama than seeing his Dragon Ball creations and characters comes to life in one of the ultimate 3D fighting game packages. That seems to be what we're going to get with Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, pitting a multitude of characters from Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, and Dragon Ball Super against one another as a roster that calls back to Budokai Tenkaichi 3's. If you're unaware, that game featured a massive amount of characters to play as, and Sparking! Zero seems to bring with it even more high octane action, eye-melting visuals (in the GOOD way), and multiple story campaigns starring different characters, with Goku's containing the most battles, as expected. Couple this with the ability to create and share your own custom story missions, cutscenes, and battles, and you have one seriously super Dragon Ball game for fans!

Dragon Quest III: HD-2D Remake (NSW, PS5, XBX, PC)

Speaking of Akira Toriyama's works, let's rock a different kind of dragon with the illustrious Dragon Quest series, which Toriyama's art lives on through. During this morning's Nintendo Direct, Nintendo not only revealed more footage from this gorgeous HD-2D remake of Dragon Quest III and--finally--a release date (November 14th, 2024), but also the announcement of the other games in the Erdrick trilogy being remade as well with Dragon Quest I and II in store for next year. It's been almost three years since Dragon Quest III's HD-2D remake was originally announced, and seeing it with a firm release date almost feels like a fever dream, like managing to slay four Metal Slimes in the same battle without any of them fleeing. Like such a battle, the experience of playing--or for some, RE-playing Dragon Quest III will be an absolutely rewarding one. I'm certainly looking forward to it.

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time (NSW)

There is no shortage of fascinating RPGs arriving on consoles and PC this year. While this next game had no presence during today's Nintendo Direct, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time still is planned to release on October 10th. I absolutely adored the original Fantasy Life on the Nintendo 3DS. Its job-based gameplay where players worked to increase their skills, opted to tackle monsters and other foes in the game's fields and dungeons via action-RPG goodness, and found a nice life for themselves, made for an incredibly addicting game. With new town elements and online play in this new sequel, I'm quite eager to get my hands on Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, and have this be the game which steals all of my time when it launches as a current Nintendo Switch exclusive.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (XBX, PC)

With a less-than-stellar aura surrounding the Xbox brand in recent months--the most important being the closing of some incredible studios and letting go of some tremendous talent--and a seemingly aimless direction for the brand in general, it was important for Microsoft's Xbox to pull off at the very least a competent showing two weeks ago. I'd say, fortunately, the showcase was a success. The reveals were exciting and top-notch, but the game that will most likely release by year's end that most excited me from Xbox's show features one of my favorite fictional characters in film: Indiana Jones. 

Using Harrison Ford's likeness and Troy Baker's serviceable impression of Indy, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a first-person action/adventure game that sees our artifact-finding, temple-exploring, globe-trotting adventurer doing all those things complete with the look and feel of actually playing a film in the series. The humor is so on-point, and one of the best features--at least presentation-wise--that I've seen so far. While there's no firm release date and just a vague 2024, here's hoping Machine Games can deliver a game worthy of the Indiana Jones name--unlike perhaps for some, the last two films in the franchise...

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (NSW)

One of the empty spaces in the Nintendo Switch catalog, at least for me, was that of a wholly new top-down 2D Zelda adventure. Little did I know that with today's Nintendo Direct that not only would we get a wholly new top-down game in the franchise, but it'd literally be a ZELDA adventure! For the first time (no, I don't count the Phillips CD-I games, sorry), Zelda is the primary protagonist in a game for the series her name is attached to. 

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom could have easily been Zelda with bow instead of a sword, and that might have made folks appeased. However, Nintendo, in traditional Nintendo fashion, went above and beyond. Zelda gains a rod that she can use to capture objects like tables, beds, boulders, and even foes to ensnare to do her bidding in what is shaping up to be a truly clever and creative adventure. From the trailer shown, we saw that Zelda can conjure blocks of water to reach higher, other inaccessible areas; she can build stepping stones with beds; and even launch boulders at baddies to truly rock on. We won't have to wait long for Zelda's first foray into adventure when The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom releases on Nintendo Switch on September 26th, 2024.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership (NSW)

Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door have seen recent releases. Now, the trifecta of Mario RPGs is complete on the Nintendo Switch with the announcement of a brand-new Mario & Luigi game! Mario & Luigi: Brothership is an isle-hopping (or is it "isle-launching"?) adventure starring the Brothers Mario with a whole cavalcade of new characters to meet, enemies to defeat, and places to visit and explore. Bros. Attacks return, as does the ability to use Mario and Luigi's unique teamwork abilities to solve puzzles in the overworld areas of the game. It's such a sight for sore eyes to see the return of Mario & Luigi, and such a delightful looking entry as well, both visually and gameplay-wise. We won't have to wait too terribly long for Mario and Green Mario to once again team up together as Mario & Luigi: Brothership sails onto the Switch on November 7th, 2024.

Sonic X Shadow Generations (NSW, PS5, XBX, PC)

While Mario will have lots of fun this year (with more to come on this list), Sonic isn't resting on his laurels. And I must admit, I did NOT expect this much effort to be put into a remaster of Sonic Generations, a game that was already a phenomenal one to begin with. This being the year of Shadow and all, SEGA and Sonic Team have opted to insert Shadow into game into his own adventure, essentially splitting the game into two parts, collectively titled Sonic X Shadow Generations. 

The incredibly well done Sonic Generations half is included, of course--this time adding the Sonic Mania's Drop Dash into the spin of things--while Shadow Generations not only gives the fourth-damn-Chaos-Emerald-seeking hedgehog a suite of remixed stages from his now-storied history in the Sonic franchise and several boss encounters (these first two things currently have an indeterminable amount, but they're immensely polished all the same), but also a Sonic Frontiers-style hub world that connects all of the content together. I'm eager to explore both pieces of this hedgehog game package when Sonic X Shadow Generations boosts onto all current platforms on October 22nd, 2024.

Super Mario Party Jamboree (NSW)

It's been a little bit since Mario last held any kind of new party with his pals (and enemies alike) on the Nintendo Switch. Well, the wait for a new party is over! Mario and the Mushroom Kingdom crew's latest soiree, Super Mario Party Jamboree, is billed as Nintendo as their biggest one yet. With a respectable seven boards (five all-new and two returning from Mario Party 1 and 2 respectively), over 100 mini-games, over 20 playable characters, multiple planned modes, and the ability to play online against up to 20 opponents in Battle Royale-style Mario Party madness, Super Mario Party Jamboree is shaping up to a bash you won't want to miss. RSVP if you'd like to be prepared to par-tay when Super Mario Party Jamboree launches on Nintendo Switch on October 17th, 2024.

Visions of Mana (PS5, XBX, PC)

Harkening back to the age of old-school RPGs while giving off a gorgeous and modern visual presentation package, Visions of Mana is, of course, the latest entry in the long-running Mana franchise. Chosen by the Faerie to revitalize the Mana Tree, a great expedition and grand journey awaits our colorful cast of heroes. The idea of facing off against foes both small and large (especially those Eidolons) sounds incredibly enticing and exciting to me. I absolutely loved the Trials of Mana remake four years ago, so to say that I'm eager to engage with more of the Mana series would be an understatement. Bring it on, Square Enix. I'm ready for some comfort food gaming when Visions of Mana starts its adventure on August 29th, 2024.