Time for our regular roundup of the mostly (but not strictly) retro-interest games releases on the way for the coming month, with trailers for everything and maybe a few snippets of fascinating information too! Some big-hitters on the way in May, so let’s dive straight in!
We’ll kick off with Redfall, the Xbox exclusive from Arkane Studios and Bethesda landing onto Game Pass on May 2nd. It’s an open-world first-person shooter set in the fictional island community of Redfall, Massachusetts, USA, which has been invaded by vampires after some kind of scientific experiment gone wrong. You (and friends if you have some) take on the role of one of four unique survivors and try to survive a bit longer, I guess! It promises deep world-building and inventive game mechanics, and while I’m slightly concerned about motion sickness I’m really looking forward to this!
After Cannon Dancer (or Osman) appeared on home systems for the first time ever last month, this month it’s the turn of Mazinger Z, a vertically scrolling shoot ‘em up that I think is based on a Manga that’s probably massively popular if you’re into that stuff. Unlike Cannon Dancer, I also think this got a SNES port but the arcade original is getting an Arcade Archives release on May 11th on Switch and PS4. Don’t usually get to hear about them in advance of their weekly drops but this time there’s a price hike for some sort of licensing cost so it was in the news for a change! Credit to Media Pool for the long-play video here.
I don’t often pre-order games but after Resident Evil 4 Remake a month or so ago, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom on Switch makes it two in two! I’m hoping for a second game of the year contender too! Usual perilous quest to find the missing princess and unravel the truth behind the latest cataclysm to hit Hyrule, but all that mysterious floating island stuff does make it look very interesting. And when isn’t Zelda interesting anyway? Just hope the Switch is still up to the job! We’ll find out on the 12th of May.
On the 23rd another Switch exclusive that I’ve already committed to review – so watch this space – and that’s Puzzle Bobble Everybubble! I still played loads of Puzzle Bobble 2X, despite its colourblindness issues making it far more stressful to me than was intended, but I’m told that’s all’s sorted in this new one, and you’re also getting a story mode for up to four players, 1 vs 1 and 2 vs 2 multiplayer, new mechanics and gimmicks, and, of course, loads of bubble-matching action. And a copy of Puzzle Bobble vs Space Invaders included in the package to boot! Can’t wait for this one!
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum comes to everything on the 25th, and for a game set between two of my all-time favourite books, I’m surprisingly disinterested. Possibly because of the lack of much detail about it so far, but also the prospect of all that stealth. And climbing. Which is probably for the best with Street Fighter 6 just around the corner too! All new story though, and sniffing about in Mirkwood and all those other Tolkien locations does sound cool… It’ll come to Game Pass sooner or later I’m sure!
What I’m definitely not disinterested in is Batsugun Saturn Tribute Boosted! This was Toaplan’s swan-song in 1993, paving the way for the vertically-scrolling bullet-hell shoot ‘em up, and has been an absolute thrill-ride ever since! I believe this includes the Saturn version of the arcade original as well as the more balanced Special Version, while boosted refers to the fancy presentation and online leaderboards, though if I remember right this port also had beefed-up sound across the board too. We’ll find out when it also comes to everything on the 25th.
Very good looking month overall, and there’s another shaping up nicely next time, with the aforementioned Street Fighter 6 and Aliens: Dark Descent coming in June. And we’ll cover all of that and more this time (ish) around the start of the month. Loads coming to Retro Arcadia before that though, with our regular weekly deep-dives and Weekly Spotlights as well as that Puzzle Bobble review. See you around!
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