Crush Roller

While the bells and whistles of the NGPC version are very much appreciated and do a lot to give you more reasons to come back, the arcade game’s tighter controls, more balanced speed, and fairer opponents just feel a lot better to deal with when the game is in your hands. Aesthetics are great and all, but ultimately, this is a game with arcade roots, so how it feels to play for continued periods of time is what I would consider to be the most important thing. Faults and all, Crush Roller is more than just a “Pac-Man Clone” - it’s an interesting spin on the ever-enjoyable maze game genre and even if you’re like me and you don’t jive with it a whole lot, you’ll probably find an idea or two to appreciate in your time with it.

Planet Monsters

Planet Monsters is what you get if you combine Bomberman, Kickle Cubicle, and Pengo into one strange mixture of a game. It's an interesting concept and it's visually charming, but its single player mode leaves a lot to be desired. Playing against the AI over and over again loses its appeal quickly and the boss fights, while novel enough, don't do enough to keep things interesting. Despite all that, and perhaps it's because I'm a big fan of the GBA, there's something about it that keeps me from outright disliking it. I could see this one being more exciting if you're able to wrangle together people who are actually willing to try it, but good luck with that in 2022...