Back in 2008 Civilization games were complicated because gamers wanted the franchise to go deeper. The balance in turn based strategy games where you advance through the Ages is making the game deep enough for long time fans but accessible enough for new fans to get into it. When Civilization Revolution launched on XBox 360 and PS3 it was a stripped down and simplified game for a console audience. Some have argued the game is too easy or takes away too many things from the main series (which it does) but I'd say that Civilization Revolution is a more streamlined game that gets you in and out and makes the game easy to understand if you haven't kept up with each entry in the Civ franchise.

I played a whole lot of Civilization Revolution on my Playstation 3 and lamented the fact that it's hard to play Playstation 3 games (no backwards compatibility on modern Playstations). Once I bought an XBox Series X I was excited to try out the 360 compatibility and was really happy to learn Civilization Revolution was a game you could play. Recently I popped the game in and was off conquering the world again like it's 2008.

Some critiques of the game are valid though. The easiest mode is quite easy but that's also a great way to learn the game. Learning the mechanics of a game where it doesn't punish you mercilessly for your mistakes is handy. That said, I quickly upped the difficulty and keep doing that as I feel like I've masted where I am.

One awesome part of Civilization Revolution is that you can download a few free DLC map scenarios that can extend the life of the game. That said, if you simply want to play a few rounds and run through a Cultural, Military and all the other victories, you can do that too.

If you have the means to play Civilization Revolution and you are looking for a fun turn based strategy game, I'd recommend picking it up. I didn't pay more than a handful of dollars for my game at a Retro Game store or you can buy it on the XBox Store for way more money.

To date my favorite entries in the Super Mario franchise are the more traditional side scrolling platformers and Super Mario Maker. The New Super Mario Bros. games are thematically similar but different enough through each release to be a lot of fun. That said, after the New Super Mario Bros. achieved it's final form in New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe on Switch and I wasn't sure what direction the game could go to keep things fresh. Then Nintendo announced Super Mario Bros. Wonder today and it made sense. The new direction is here and New Super Mario Bros. Wonder looks incredible. It also looks like it's not a proper New Super Mario Bros. sequel, it looks to be doing something different.

So after a zillion Mario platformer games how do you make a new entry in the series feel fresh? By making it look and operate in a totally unique and bonkers way such as entirely changing the level physics, mechanics and art style. Also what if Princess Peach, Daisy and all the Yoshi's were playable characters?

What's the most exciting about Super Mario Bros. Wonder is what Nintendo is holding back to tell us about as the game gets closer to launch. I appreciate that they are keeping the four player couch co-op and the game will be a day one purchase for me for sure.

Super Mario Wonder comes exclusively to Switch on October 20th!

Super Mario RPG is one of Nintendo's most beloved Super Nintendo Mario games and a classic RPG. The game is replayed by many fans and very popular in the Speedrun community as well as the retro game collector community. Since Nintendo seems hot to release remakes of their classic games the next game to join them is SUPER MARIO RPG! It's not a game I thought Nintendo would remake, but a welcome choice as it's a great game that deserves a new coat of paint and a fresh new audience. Plus many fans would love to come back and play this classic game in an all new way.

It looks like Nintendo is upgrading the battle system which fans think is a good idea considering the original wasn't very challenging. That said, I imagine Nintendo will hit the right mark for difficulty and fun.

The Super Mario RPG releases November 17th exclusively on Switch!

XBox had a direct recently and it was one of their best. That said, it was the first deep dive we've received for Starfield and it feels like the most in depth deep dive I've ever seen for a video game before launch. In fact, I've heard some video game pundits say it may have gone too deep and some of what they showed should have been better experienced by playing the game, but honestly in a world where game launches go so badly, it's good to see most of the game beforehand. All that said, the game looks incredible and I'm going to play it on launch day.

True story, I don't believe I've picked up a Triple A big release since Fallout 4 which launched back in 2015. Fallout 4 was pretty good but nothing has really caught my attention that I just had to have on launch day. (Well, Shredder's Revenge, but that's a much much smaller game in scale).

I think the standout parts of the game to me is that this looks like a different take on No Man's Sky that looks to bring in a narrative and flesh out a lot more. I'm not trying to knock No Man's Sky, but Starfield looks like the right kind of game that promises to do much of what No Man's Sky is and does. When Bethesda showed off that you can get into dogfights with spaceships and board them to steal the ship for your own I was sold. I just hope the promise of running cargo AND being a space pirate as well as the single player and run and gun stuff is as strong as what they showed.

Starfield will be a game I play day on at launch but I'm not sure how I'm going to play it. I have a few months of Game Pass I could play it with or pick up a copy on XBox. Either way, I'll let you know what I think when it comes out.

https://kotaku.com/starfield-60fps-30fps-performance-mode-xbox-series-x-pc-1850548127

https://kotaku.com/starfield-shattered-space-preorder-release-dlc-1850530859

In partnership with Krool Games, McDonalds released Grimace's Birthday a themed game that ties in with the Gimace's Birthday meal celebrating everyone favorite purple McNugget. That sentence might sound like it's entirely made up, but it's not and Grimace's Birthday on Gameboy Color is actually really really good. It's only a handful of levels long, and not very hard, but why does every game have to be Dark Souls and 5,000 hours long? Grimace's Birthday isn't and it's so fun my seven year old son likes playing it. I was happy to have been able to beat it in my second setting in 4m33s. Currently as of me writing this the Speedrun record for Grimace's Birthday is by CheeseSodaPunch at 4m23s which may be as fast as is humanely possible.

That said, you can play it right now in your browser on your phone or desktop OR in your Gameboy Color on your favorite emulator or flash kart on your system.

Browser: https://grimacesbirthday.com/

Download: https://archive.org/details/grimaces-birthday

#1 Speedrun: https://www.speedrun.com/grimaces_birthday/run/ywrk210m

Currently the developers released 1.4 to the website and the Internet Archive currently doesn't have that but you can download it through your browser by inspecting the network traffic and plucking the .gb file out of it. That's pretty technical so you could also wait for the Internet Archive to update the 1.4 file or play 1.3, which is plenty fun anyway.

Rabble, rabble!

The new Minecraft 1.20 Trails and Tales update is coming this June 7th!

For all the information on what’s included check this:

https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/trails-tales-update-coming

"Capcom transitions the Street Fighter franchise onto its excellent in-house RE Engine, so how does it look across consoles old and new? Tom checks out the recently released demo running on current and last-generation PlayStation consoles, plus there's a look at Xbox Series consoles too. Specs and performance may change with the final game - but this is how the game's shaping up via Capcom's own public-facing demo code."

If you have an XBox S/X, Playstation 4 or 5 or a PC running Steam you can download and play the new Street Fighter 6 demo! Remember those? You can play two of the new characters and try out the new avatar and world fighting mode against other players in the demo. Capcom is giving everyone the chance to try out the new goods and I appreciate them for it as not many big game companies release these kinds of demos.

https://www.streetfighter.com/6/en-us/demo/

Mortal Kombat 1 was announced today and looks to reboot the series entirely and was announced for a September 19th launch. It seems the Fire God Liu Kang is rebooting the Mortal Kombat-verse and whereas the game looks very Mortal Kombat-like they are promising a new re-visioning of the game.

"Mortal Kombat 1 ushers in a new era of the iconic franchise with a new fighting system, game modes, and fatalities!"

The trailed doesn't really get specific on any new game mechanics but I'm interested to know more about how they are bringing the series into a new era. I thought Mortal Kombat 11 was incredible and offered a really fun modernization on the game, frankly I'm not sure what more they could do but I'm open to a new "punch your friend in the face game" while we are hanging out together. One big part of Mortal Kombat 11 was the extra DLC characters such as the Terminator, Rambo and Joker. Hopefully this version of the game comes with quite a few memorable cross-over characters too! Hopefully Nintendo allows Pikachu and getting Eric Cruise from Mac and Me would be ideal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5le9sYdYkM

"This new expansion brings classic Age of Empires style and gameplay as a brand-new self-contained experience with all 16 original Age of Empires civilizations and the new Lac Viet civilization.

Conqueror your enemies through three new, fully-voiced campaigns, improved AI, and historically driven gameplay, all while unlocking new achievements on your Xbox or Steam account. Plus, get the bonus Romans civilization in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition!"

Microsoft released Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition which is a complete remaster to the original Age of Empires II with new visuals and a game core for modern PC's and 4K displays. It hit the scene in 2019 and Microsoft has continued to support it with updates, DLC and now with a new expansion Return of Rome. If I had my way Age of Empires would continue on indefinately and Microsoft seems to be doing that with a steady drip of Age of Empires II releases as well as as Age of Empires IV with seasons.

Mighty DOOM is the latest franchise shooter entry that dropped on iOS and Android phones as a free to play game. Even though I first played DOOM as Shareware sometime ago, this is the first DOOM game that I can think of that's a free to play mobile game. After blasting my way through the Demon Hordes in Mighty DOOM for a day I'm happy to say the game is a worth game that earns the DOOM name.

One of my fears with mobile free to play games is how annoying the gameplay will be to get you to pay money. I don't fault developers for doing what they need to do to pay rent, that said, I prefer buying games up front. That said, that's not how things often work on phones so free to play it is and Mighty DOOM is nice in that it doesn't seem like you need to pay for anything. Well, I could see a time where advancement might be so slow that paying makes sense, but I imagine i'll stop playing before that becomes a problem.

Mighty DOOM is a top down bullet hell shooter where you play through each stage one level at a time. I'd say Mighty DOOM feels more like a space shooter like Galaga than the traditional DOOM first person gameplay. That said, the bullet hell styled game play is on point and there is quite a bit of strategy you can employ in each stage to keep the gameplay fresh. There is a progression system by which you collect coins to upgrade your weapons and armor. Some weapons and armor have different abilities that can change your gameplay well worth experimenting with. For instance, if you want to stand back and shoot things from afar you should level up the rifle but if you want to get in close for more close quarters DOOM gameplay, you need to upgrade the shotgun.

So far, I've barely scratched the surface of Mighty DOOM and it's already a lot of fun. If past Bethesda mobile games like Fallout Shelter or Elder Scrolls: Blades are an example, Mighty DOOM should have a long life slaying demons ahead of it.