It’s been three long years since Zen Studios last onade an original table for Pinball FX2 (Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC), Zen Pinball 2 (PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, WiiU, Mac), or Zen Pinball games (iOS, Android, Amazon Fire). But after playing the new “Wild West Rampage” table — one of two in the just-released “Iron & Steel” pack — it’s clear they haven’t lost their touch.
As someone who actually saw numerous R-rated ’80s action flicks on their opening weekends, it’s funny to now see them influencing video games that are enjoyed by people who not only weren’t old enough to see this movies in theaters back then, but neither were there parents. The latest of these is Gunslugs II, a side-scrolling shooter from Orangepixel that’s available for PCs, Mac, iOS, Android, and Ouya. Though in talking to Pascal Bestebroer, the one-man mastermind behind Orangepixel, it’s clear this game isn’t just a trip down memory lane.
While 2014 wasn’t a great year for video games — and no, I’m not just talking about that #gamergate crap — there were a bunch that I had a lot of fun playing.
Here now, in no particular order, are the best games I played in 2014.
Over the years, some of Spider-Man’s adversaries have been accused of plagiarism by comic book fans who think, for instance, that Sandman is a bit too much like Batman’s bad guy Clayface or that The Green Goblin is a rip-off of The Joker. But one (of many) exceptions to this is Venom, since Batman never fought an alien symbiote who used to be his suit. Which makes it fitting that the new Venom pinball table — which Zen Studios have released for Pinball FX2 (Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC), Zen Pinball 2 (PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, WiiU, Mac), and Zen Pinball (iOS, Android, Amazon Fire) — is also pretty unique.
In 1992, RuPaul commanded, “You better work.” But since all work and no play makes RuPaul a dull drag queen, there’s RuPaul’s Drag Race: Dragopolis 2.0, a game for iOS and Android devices that’s based on the reality competition show RuPaul’s Drag Race. Though in talking to So Much Drama Studios’ Jeff Meador, the game designer and producer for RuPaul’s Drag Race: Dragopolis 2.0, it turns out that people put a lot of work into this game as well.
In The Life Of Reason: Reason In Common Sense, philosopher George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Which is good news for the kids at Mind Candy, who’ve just released the history-based strategic combat game World Of Warriors on iOS devices, with Android to follow. But in talking to Mind Candy’s studio director, Mark Knowles-Lee, it seems there’s more to World Of Warriors than just repeatedly beating the snot out of someone.
In 1999, when Sega built their South Park pinball table, it ended up being the last pinball table they would ever make. Let’s just hope that’s also not the fate of Zen Studios, who are bringing South Park Pinball — a two-fer with the tables South Park’s Super-Sweet Pinball and South Park: Butter’s Very Own Pinball Game — to Pinball FX2 for the Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PCs via Steam; Zen Pinball 2 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, WiiU, and Mac; and Zen Pinball for iOS, Android, and Amazon Fire.
The last thing anyone needs is another matching game. Well, okay, really, the last thing anyone needs is a terrible illness, to feel unsafe at work or in their home, and a free U2 album, but after that, the last thing anyone needs is another matching game. But in talking to Charlie Gu, the Chief Jolly Jammer and CEO at Dreamics, it seems that their matching game, Jolly Jam (iOS) may actually be a bit different.
In 1963, The Beach Boys said we should go surfin’ now, since everyone was learnin’ how. But what if you can’t swim, don’t live near water, or just fear sharks so much that you won’t even go into a pool, let alone the ocean? No worries, you can just play Surfy, a new iOS surfing game from DreamWalk Interactive. Though in talking to lead game developer Sam Russell, it seems that doing well at Surfy won’t necessarily mean you’re good at surfin’ the U.S.A.