The biggest successes SNK had in the early years of the NEOGEO platform were in the fighting genre. With Capcom’s Street Fighter II rocketing the genre into the stratosphere, even middling entries were enjoying disproportionate popularity. SNK had a few of those, but it also had one extremely powerful ace up its sleeve: Takashi Nishiyama. He had started his career at Irem before moving to Capcom, where he had created Street Fighter. While he had left the company before its far more popular sequel arrived, he soon found a new home at SNK. Indeed, the NEOGEO was partly his idea, and for his part he offered up his own spiritual successor to Street Fighter in the form of Fatal Fury: King of Fighters.

Of all of the fighters SNK offered up on its new platform, Fatal Fury was the biggest success. It had a very different feel from its cousin Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, but it certainly wasn’t lacking in mechanical depth or interesting characters. It’s not hard to figure out why SNK fast-tracked a sequel for release in the following year, though it would have to make do without Nishiyama, who was already on to other responsibilities. Fortunately, Fatal Fury 2 would benefit from being able to borrow some ideas from Capcom’s ground-breaking title. The result was a fusion of the elements that made the first game so interesting and aspects that were quickly becoming codified within the genre.

The sequel addressed the biggest shortcoming the first game had when stacked against Street Fighter II by expanding the roster of playable fighters from three to eight. Among the new characters was a kunoichi named Mai Shiranui, whose bouncy personality and, er, other bouncy elements made her a big fan favorite almost immediately. Other major additions include the taekwondo master Kim Kaphwan and a new big bad named Wolfgang Krauser. It was another big success for SNK, but there were more lessons to learn from Capcom that would be picked up for the following year’s Fatal Fury game.

Capcom had hit it big with Street Fighter II, and it seemed hesitant to slap a new number on any follow-up. At the same time, there was money on the table and Capcom wasn’t about to leave it there. Thus, four iterative follow-ups were produced to keep the quarters flowing, each one taking what had already been built and adding a little extra on top. This was the approach SNK would take for 1993’s Fatal Fury Special ($3.99). This game uses Fatal Fury 2 as a basis and makes a number of improvements and additions. The boss characters from the previous game are now playable, and the three characters cut from the original game have been restored. The gameplay speed has been increased, and a new combo system has been implemented to bring things ever closer to the Street Fighter II standard.

There was also an interesting secret in Fatal Fury Special. The main character of one of SNK’s other popular fighters, Ryo Sakazaki of Art of Fighting, made a special guest appearance in the game. Should the player beat all fifteen opponents without losing a single round, they’ll face off against Ryo after felling Krauser. Defeating him added him to the playable roster, and it was this fun little trick that served as the seed for The King of Fighters ’94, a mega-crossover of SNK characters that kicked off SNK’s bread and butter series from then on. That was all in the future, of course. In the present, Fatal Fury Special was the most successful game yet in the Fatal Fury series.

In the here and now, I would argue there are better games in the Fatal Fury franchise, but Fatal Fury Special is certainly a great one. I’d certainly recommend it in a general sense. Of course, we have to deal with the usual Arcade Archives issues when it comes to fighting games. I’ll go through them again for the benefit of anyone who is new to these reviews, but if you’ve read one of these before you know what I’m going to say.

Using touch controls with any of SNK’s fighting games is always going to be a bit of a challenge. You can have some fun with it, but it’s less than ideal. If you have an external controller and don’t mind using it, then you have nothing to worry about. The game plays very well that way. Multiplayer is also limited to those who have the right set-up. You’ll need a couple of external controllers, plus a display you feel comfortable enough having you and a friend crowding around. No wi-fi multiplayer and certainly no online multiplayer.

As a result of these demands, I imagine most people who buy this game will be playing against the CPU with touch controls. It’s hardly the best way to enjoy a game like this, but I won’t say you can’t enjoy it. You can turn down the difficulty all the way if you like thanks to the robust set of options Hamster has included here, and you might get some extra enjoyment out of the usual Score Attack and timed Caravan modes. And hey, if you can beat Krauser with touch controls then you have my respect. That and a buck won’t even get you a can of Coke these days, but you’ll have it.

Anyway, that’s where we’ll park this one. Fatal Fury Special isn’t the very best fighting game we’ve seen in the ACA NEOGEO line so far, but it’s certainly in the upper tier. It unfortunately has to deal with all the usual problems that come with fighters in this line, but I didn’t exactly expect Hamster to solve that problem at this point. If you’ve found some entertainment in prior NEOGEO fighters adapted to mobile, you’ll likely get some here as well.

Back in September last year, Gameloft released Disney Dreamlight Valley on consoles and PC platforms as an early access release only available as a purchase with different tiers of founder’s packs. It was initially planned to be a free-to-play release when it exited early access, and has been getting updated quite a bit on consoles and PC. I played it on Switch, Steam Deck, and Xbox Series X last year, and dipped into this year again before it was announced for Apple Arcade. A lot has changed since, and Disney Dreamlight Valley finally exited early access and is available as a premium game on PC and consoles. Alongside that standalone release, Disney Dreamlight Valley Arcade Edition released on Apple Arcade, and it is one of the more interesting additions to the service for a variety of reasons.

Before getting into the differences and platform-specific details, if you’ve never played Disney Dreamlight Valley in any form or even heard of it, think Animal Crossing meets Disney and Pixar. Yes, that’s reductive since Disney Dreamlight Valley has a ton of quality of life features over Nintendo’s massively popular series, but I’m sure more folks have played Animal Crossing than not by now. If you haven’t, Disney Dreamlight Valley is a life simulation and adventure game that lets you create your own avatar and then jump into the magical world. The core gameplay gives you quite a bit of freedom, and is very relaxing. You can fish, cook, harvest items, decorate your house, use magic, and so much more.

There are enough guides and articles on Disney Dreamlight Valley itself since the game hit early access last year. Instead of going into detail about them, I’m going to focus on whether Disney Dreamlight Valley Arcade Edition is worth your time as an Apple Arcade subscriber, whether it is the game that will push you to try out the subscription, how the Apple Arcade version compares to the premium release, and more. I’m approaching this as someone who isn’t a huge fan of Disney and Pixar, but I know enough about the characters included, and I also love Animal Crossing on 3DS. Animal Crossing New Horizons on the other hand disappointed me, so I was glad to see other life simulation genre games deliver on what I wanted, including Disney Dreamlight Valley.

You can play Disney Dreamlight Valley Arcade Edition offline, but since it supports cross platform play with other non Apple Arcade platforms, I recommend playing with online support. I was curious how it would feel to control with touchscreen controls, and Gameloft did a great job here. After a few minutes, I had no trouble playing it on my iPhone 15 Pro. When using a DualSense controller to test, it also showed PlayStation button prompts. I didn’t try it much on macOS yet with keyboard and mouse controls, but it felt fine.

Being on Apple Arcade, Disney Dreamlight Valley Arcade Edition comes with some huge advantages, but also a few caveats. The good news is there’s no extra purchase needed. This is the full Disney Dreamlight Valley experience with the paid expansion, A Rift in Time, which sells for $30 on other platforms all included for Apple Arcade subscribers. There is no premium shop or star path here, so that means some cosmetic items might not be available yet or at all. I’m not sure how this will be handled, but I imagine we might see some content released slowly through free updates like we do in other Apple Arcade games. Either way, Disney Dreamlight Valley Arcade Edition offers stupidly good value for newcomers. It also supports cross platform play.

The downside is that there is no cross progression outside the Apple Arcade ecosystem. Your progress is on iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and tvOS, but you cannot bring your old progress or take this progress to other platforms. This might not be a big deal for some, but I’m worried that someone’s potentially hundreds of hours long save file might not carry over to something else if Disney Dreamlight Valley Arcade Edition ever leaves the service. Some developers have made it so progress is still usable on non Apple Arcade versions, but this is something to keep in mind before investing a lot of time into a fantastic game, when you might be better off getting it on another platform.

Speaking of another platform, how does Disney Dreamlight Valley Arcade Edition compare with Disney Dreamlight Valley on PS5, Xbox Series X, Steam Deck, and Nintendo Switch? Based on what I’ve played last year and this year, I’d say my favorite version of Disney Dreamlight Valley is the PC version on Steam Deck followed by Disney Dreamlight Valley Arcade Edition. I love playing life simulation games on a portable, and the Steam Deck version of the full game runs and looks excellent. The Switch version is not as good with much longer load times, worse performance, and menu lag. It looks fantastic on my high resolution display when I play the Xbox Series X version, but the cross save means I never lose progress there. I’ve been jumping between Xbox, Switch, and Steam Deck already.

Disney Dreamlight Valley Arcade Edition on iPhone 15 Pro has a few issues. I was surprised to see it not run at 60fps, and I hope this can be added in an update. The only other issue is the text size might be a bit too small for some people in a few menus, and some of the touch targets are too small on the phone screen. These need to be tweaked for touchscreens. It runs at full screen on both iPhone 15 Pro and iPad Pro (2020) thankfully, and progress syncs seamlessly between them and my MacBook Air.

The Apple Arcade version, like the main game, is a bit buggy though. This is in a much better place compared to the early access release, but still worth noting with some things seemingly being stuck in the ground, a character being out of bounds until I reloaded the game, and things like that. Nothing gamebreaking, but keep this in mind.

Disney Dreamlight Valley’s A Rift in Time expansion is pretty amazing so far. I haven’t played much of it on Apple Arcade, but have been checking it out on other platforms. If you enjoy the base game which you bought on other platforms, Disney Dreamlight Valley A Rift in Time is more of the good stuff with some notable upgrades. I would definitely grab the bundle with the expansion if I was looking to buy Disney Dreamlight Valley outside Apple Arcade. The new locations, characters, Royal Hourglass tool, and more just work so well together. I feel like the bar has been raised so much with this expansion that I don’t know if potential future ones will match.

Since Disney Dreamlight Valley Arcade Edition is basically an Apple Arcade Original release, it will get updates, and I hope the bugs and interface issues can be addressed soon. Beyond that, I’d love for high frame rate support on newer devices at least. I’d even opt for turning down some settings to play this at 60fps on iPhone 15 Pro. One other thing I want fixed is with character naming and how it is handled in this release compared to the game on other platforms. I’m not sure how it works exactly, but it seems like you get locked into a name or no name based on whether you agree to play online or not in the start.

If you have Apple Arcade, Disney Dreamlight Valley Arcade Edition is one of the best additions to the service in a long time despite a few issues. The game itself is great, and while I hope some aspects can be tweaked on iPhone and iPad, I have no hesitation in recommending you play it assuming you’re ok with the ecosystem lock in for progress. If you’d like some more flexibility on that front, I recommend buying it on Steam Deck or any other platform you prefer. In an ideal world, I’d be able to bring my progress over to Apple Arcade instead of having to start over, but this won’t be an issue for newcomers. If you’re new to it, Disney Dreamlight Valley Arcade Edition is excellent.

After Apple Arcade and Netflix, Crunchyroll entered the game subscription service party (?) with its Crunchyroll Game Vault for mobile bringing premium games to mobile as value adds for subscribers. The launch games included some older titles now a part of the Crunchyroll Game Vault, and also WayForward’s River City Girls (Free) which saw its mobile debut through this service. Shaun already reviewed the game on Switch here, and I agree with basically all of that. For this review, I wanted to cover how the game has aged with the sequel out on other platforms, and how the port is through the Crunchyroll Game Vault.

If you’ve never heard of River City Girls, it is actually a new entry in the Kunio-kun/River City franchise from Arc System Works, but one that has you playing as Misako and Kyoko instead of Kunio and Riki. It excelled for its style, music, voice acting, and most of the gameplay when I played it on Xbox a few years ago. The Switch version was plagued with some performance issues, but is in a better place right now. It did have co-op, and I always felt like the game was balanced around that rather than being accessible to solo players.

There’s quite a bit of freedom in River City Girls through its open-esque locations with shops, enemies, and more. As a beat ’em up, it isn’t as polished as something like Streets of Rage 4 if you’ve played that, but I still think fondly of how much I enjoyed River City Girls and still love its characters. Moving from location to location and eventually getting to memorable boss fights (some sadly aren’t fun), and upgrading and unlocking more for your characters. This is one area I wish the team went back to balance better. If you play solo like I did both originally and now, the game feels too tedious with enemies having what feels like inflated health pools. After unlocking and upgrading a bit, things become a lot more fun, but it is still challenging even on normal difficulty. I couldn’t test the online on the mobile version, but the game itself only supported local co-op. I hope if WayForward does bring River City Girls 2 to mobile, it includes the online multiplayer as well with cross platform matchmaking.

Now, River City Girls on iOS on my iPhone 15 Pro and iPad Pro (2020) has performance issues. It also looks excellent in most parts. The few issues I ran into have to do with how the aspect ratio of certain things has been handled causing cropping or elements hidden behind the home bar in parts. Some of the touch targets are also too small with tiny text in menus. These usually are the tabs you’d swap between in the menu using the shoulder buttons on the controller, but they need to be tweaked for iPhone and iPad. One more thing I’d like to see is proper cloud save support. I logged into my account on both iPhone and iPad and my progress did not sync across for the game.

Speaking of controls, River City Girls has controller support, and it works great. It does only show Xbox button prompts in my testing at least. When using touchscreen controls, you sadly cannot adjust the positions or size of these touchscreen buttons unless I missed something. They work well on iPad, but feel a bit cramped on the phone. I hope a future update can add options to adjust these like we’ve seen in the Hitman: Blood Money – Reprisal release.

Barring the few control and interface issues, River City Girls still has the flaws of the original game with regards to balance for solo play and some bosses not being as much fun. This version is updated though, so you don’t mistakenly end up changing location when you’re attacking enemies near a door or something. I did enjoy revisiting it a few years later though, and still prefer it to the sequel in many ways.

Whenever I review a game that’s only in a subscription service, it is worth looking at whether the game offers enough value to warrant subscribing to said service. River City Girls is priced at $29.99 on Nintendo Switch, and while it being “Free” for subscribers is fantastic, it isn’t enough to justify subscribing. Maybe when there are more games, but right now this is a good value add for existing subscribers. If you don’t have a Crunchyroll membership, details about subscription pricing are here on the official website. You need the Mega Fan tier ($9.99 per month) or the Ultimate Fan tier ($14.99 per month) to also access the games in the Crunchyroll Game Fault.

If you already have River City Girls on another platform, there isn’t anything of note with this release to warrant replaying it. If you don’t, and have a Crunchyroll subscription that includes the Game Vault, it is absolutely worth playing. I always liked River City Girls despite its flaws, and while I hope the iOS version gets patched to improve controls and its interface, it is a good port. River City Girls itself is gorgeous with an amazing soundtrack, and I still prefer it to the sequel.

I almost gave up hope on Rockstar Games’ remake/remaster of the classic GTA trilogy ever making it to mobile after multiple delays. When it was confirmed for mobile through Netflix Games, I thought Netflix would finally have its killer app despite the release’s issues on PC and consoles. Fast forward to a few days ago, and Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition hit mobile as three individual games available through Netflix and also as premium standalone releases priced at $19.99 each. I’ve been playing them on iPhone 15 Pro, iPad Pro (2020), and I also redownloaded the games on Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series X to see how this new release compares. I’m surprised by how much better Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition is on mobile despite a few annoyances. I’m going to be covering all three games, and this review will focus on GTA: Vice City – Definitive ($19.99) and GTA: Vice City – NETFLIX (Free).

The original GTA: Vice City is one of my favorite games of all time. I’ve played it on everything, and own almost every version of it including multiple regional variants like the PS2 Japanese release I got a few months ago. I adored it when I played it years ago, and loved revisiting it on iPhone through its 10th anniversary edition. I still get chills with that trailer. I love the game so much that I even bought that awful PS2 on PS4 version they released when Sony was trying to get developers to bring PS2 classics to PS4 with trophy support. So when the trilogy was announced to get a remake, I was excited but nervous.

The collection hit PC and consoles including Nintendo Switch back in 2021, and it wasn’t great. Read my review of the trilogy on Switch here. Since then, the games have improved, but many issues still remain. For the mobile release, I didn’t expect much, but this release surprised me. When I launched GTA: Vice City – Definitive on Netflix and finished the 1.27GB download in-game, I thought I was imagining things, but the actual game looked different. I played a bit more and wondered why it looked better than I remembered from my time with the Definitive version on Xbox and Switch. I booted up those versions and forgot the lighting was different there. Then I noticed GTA: Vice City – Definitive has a new Classic Lighting option which looks so much nicer. GTA: Vice City – Definitive now felt like GTA: Vice City. I was ecstatic to have the vibe back, but there were some issues I noticed.

Without looking into the game’s settings, I was surprised at how blurry it looked on iPhone 15 Pro. I checked the options and found a setting for the resolution. I turned it up to max, and it looked a lot nicer. For some reason, this doesn’t save and you need to turn it up manually each time you boot up the game. Barring that, the game seems capped to 30fps which is disappointing. I hope both of these can be fixed in future updates. The graphics tab is where you can enable or disable Classic Lighting. I recommend trying both options if you’re familiar with GTA: Vice City. Once you manually fix the resolution, GTA: Vice City – Definitive looks excellent with fullscreen support on all iOS devices I tested it on.

On the control side, GTA: Vice City – Definitive includes the new modern control options, and I tested it with both touch and controller. I used my DualSense controller, but the game seems to only have Xbox button prompts. The touchscreen controls work well, and the game is responsive enough. There are camera sensitivity options, movement options to play with modern or classic controls, and more here. I was glad to see a haptic feedback option here.

Since these are a huge part of the experience for me after I finish the story, I wanted to highlight how GTA: Vice City – Definitive includes cheat codes. You can either use a controller and input the controller cheats with button combinations, or go into accessibility and input the PC cheat codes. Both work.

Yes, I know I’ve spent a lot of time talking about the port and features, but GTA: Vice City itself is incredible. I don’t care what you use to play it, but it is one of the all-time greats, and right up there with GTA V and Red Dead Redemption II as Rockstar Games’ best. The story is amazing, dialogue memorable, radio stations despite cuts are still excellent, and it has gameplay that remains fun even today thanks to control enhancements.

I don’t own GTA: Vice City – Definitive on Steam to test on Steam Deck, but GTA: Vice City – Definitive on Netflix and iOS is massively better than the Switch version. Not only does the Classic Lighting option drastically help, but the game loads much quicker on iOS compared to Switch while looking a lot better. The Xbox Series X version runs at a higher resolution with 60fps support though, but I still don’t see myself going back to that until we get the mobile improvements. Speaking of improvements, I’ve been noticing little things like some models being better on mobile, animation improvements, and more.

The only real issues GTA: Vice City – Definitive has on mobile now are the frame rate cap, resolution not saving for some reason on iPhone 15 Pro or iPad Pro on the Netflix version, and the few issues I have with the game like the one super annoying mission that remains the only annoyance in GTA: Vice City itself. While this game (and the trilogy in general) deserved better, I think we are finally at the stage where the Definitive part of the name is actually applicable. This mobile version of GTA: Vice City – Definitive is great, and can be even better with a few updates. The screenshot below shows the Classic Lighting (right) versus the PC and console lighting (left):

While I’d say the original mobile release on modern iPhones and iPads is the best version of GTA: Vice City even now, GTA: Vice City – Definitive complements it nicely and is something I see myself dipping into for years to come, just like the original. GTA: Vice City – Definitive is worth buying, but I think this is the first actual killer app Netflix has to get people onboard its games initiative. Having the original GTA: Vice City would have been enough, but this release is actually better than the PC and console versions in almost every way. I don’t even think I’ll go back to those versions without the Classic Lighting option. The original game is a timeless classic, and my favorite GTA game, so I’m glad we now have a great version of the remake on mobile alongside the original which is still available.

After releasing Resident Evil Village on iPhone 15 Pro and supported iPad models a few months ago, Capcom has released the superlative Resident Evil 4 Remake (Free) on not only iOS and iPadOS, but also macOS as a universal release for Apple platforms. Thanks to early access from Capcom, I played Resident Evil 4 Remake on my iPhone 15 Pro and MacBook Air (M1) pre-release, and have since tried the public build on the same devices in addition to testing it out on iPad Pro (M1). This Resident Evil 4 Remake iPhone 15 Pro review will focus on the port, features, and whether it is worth your time right now.

Having already covered Resident Evil 4 Remake on Steam Deck and its DLC, I will not waste too much time discussing the game itself. After Capcom’s superb Resident Evil 2 Remake, many were disappointed in Resident Evil 3 Remake. Having never played the originals, I loved both of them, and my only complaint with Resident Evil 3 Remake is that it shouldn’t have been a full priced game. Resident Evil 4 is a legendary game that changed the industry, so remaking it was risky for Capcom. Thankfully, the developer and publisher pulled it off in spades delivering the best version of Resident Evil 4 by far. Resident Evil 4 Remake debuted on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, and PC. It had not been ported to anything else since, until this release on Apple platforms. I expected this port to be similar to Resident Evil Village on iPhone 15 Pro, but it is different in quite a few ways.

On first launching Resident Evil 4 Remake, you’re prompted to download about 12GB of data. If you don’t download this, the game closes. After this required download, you can sample the opening of the game for free. If you do end up buying the one time unlock for the full game or any DLC, there’s an additional download required. The final install size with everything downloaded and updated is about 31.3GB on iPhone 15 Pro. For comparison, the macOS version on my MacBook Air is about 65GB, the Steam Deck version is 69GB, and the PS5 version is about 78GB with all DLC installed. The screenshot below is with the DLC filter enabled.

On the graphics side, Resident Evil 4 Remake on iOS, does not let you adjust anything of note barring HDR and some post-processing like lens flare and distortion. The graphics options on iPhone 15 Pro like in Resident Evil Village are absent here. While I initially was disappointed, Capcom has optimized this better, but it still isn’t perfect in many ways. On the PC version, there’s a tab in between Display and Language to adjust graphics. This is absent on iPhone 15 Pro and iPad version. I was curious to see if setting things low and trying out different upscaling would let me try out different frame rate targets, but it seems like you can’t right now. Performance targets 30fps, and it has some inconsistent frame pacing. It isn’t unplayable though. Barring some hair, it looks very good on the phone’s screen with HDR enabled. I hope a future update allows uncapping the frame rate and adds some settings as an advanced option to see how much you can push the game.

When it comes to the controls, the same issues as with Resident Evil Village apply here. I noticed Resident Evil 4 Remake defaults to showing PlayStation button prompts with the touchscreen controls and when an external controller is used. This is like the PC version. You can change it to display Xbox button prompts in the settings. One disappointing aspect is Capcom didn’t work on adding a similar haptic feedback or responsive vibrations like in the PS5 version on the iPhone 15 Pro version when using the DualSense controller. There is vibration, but it falls short of how awesome the experience is on PS5.

A lot has been said online for Resident Evil 4 Remake costing “$60″ on mobile. The horror. I’m going to give some context to the pros and cons of this price. Capcom so far, has not been great at maintaining its older premium games on mobile. Some games have been broken until years later when they get fixed. While it is likely these new Resident Evil ports will be supported for a bit at least given Apple’s heavy advertising, I will not forgive Capcom for Monster Hunter Freedom Unite on iOS going away. So far, I can see hesitation in supporting these releases. Back to the actual price of the full game unlock and DLC, Capcom is matching the current console and PC including discounts by offering a launch price for mobile bringing it down to $29.99 for a limited time. Over the years, we’ve seen some games hit premium prices or match other platforms, and I’m confident in saying Resident Evil 4 Remake is easily worth the asking price given its port compared to something like Civilization VI.

Since Resident Evil 4 Remake is a universal purchase supporting iPadOS, iOS, and macOS, it includes the ability to upload and download your data from iCloud Drive in the server tab of the menu. This didn’t seem to be a seamless sync like we have in Apple Arcade games. Also, while I could upload without issues from iPhone 15 Pro, macOS uploading never worked regardless of the three networks I tried. The fact that this purchase includes all three versions, and the game quality being a lot better than Resident Evil Village makes this an easier game to recommend on Apple systems.

Resident Evil 4 Remake is a game you will likely replay. These remakes are great to replay, and it is one of the big reasons I try to keep both Resident Evil 2 Remake and Resident Evil 4 Remake installed on my consoles. I just wish Capcom put in more effort into the touchscreen controls. A good recent example is Hitman: Blood Money which has an amazing conversion on mobile. Not only does it support controllers as you’d expect, but it also has superb touch controls and keyboard & mouse support. Resident Evil 4 Remake’s touch implementation leaves a lot to be desired.

In its current state, Resident Evil 4 Remake is an easy recommendation if you have a controller despite the visual cutbacks. The Backbone One or a DualSense controller for iPad and macOS are basically essential. Think of this like those Steam releases that have “controller required”. Those don’t let you use keyboard and mouse, the default input options on PC, but force you to use a controller. Resident Evil 4 Remake on iOS does not force a controller with touchscreen controls available, but I would not recommend them right now. Capcom has done a fantastic job so far in bringing this masterpiece, and definitive version of Resident Evil 4, to Apple devices. I hope we see more RE Engine games arrive in the future, including Resident Evil 2 Remake and Resident Evil 3 Remake.

Just like Resident Evil Village, I recommend downloading Resident Evil 4 Remake for free if you have a supported device to see how you find it. I love this remake with its Separate Ways expansions, and it has been amazing re-experiencing it all on iPhone 15 Pro and also on iPad Pro despite the few performance issues. While the lack of graphics options is disappointing, this release feels a lot more optimized for the devices it supports than Resident Evil Village, and I hope to see more improvements over time in updates. I’m glad to see Capcom continue the tradition of bringing Resident Evil 4 Remake, like the original game, to as many platforms as possible.

Resident Evil 4 Remake iPhone 15 Pro Review Score: 4.5/5

Update: This review has been updated on January 5th, 2024 with the final score and thoughts after recently trying it on iPad M1 as well.

I think Hamster and SNK might be speedrunning these now. Another week has passed, and we’ve got another ACA NEOGEO release that essentially replaces an existing app. That’s all well and good, since the older versions of these apps are over a decade old. They need to either be overhauled or replaced, and in light of pretty much the entire first-party library of the NEOGEO being released through the brand-consistent ACA NEOGEO line, it’s not surprising SNK has opted for the latter choice. I do wish the old apps would be removed from sale when this happens, but what can you do? The latest game to get the treatment is Metal Slug 2 ACA NEOGEO ($3.99), the first sequel in the popular run-and-gun franchise.

If you’ve read any of my recent reviews of games that follow in this pattern, you can skip ahead to the next paragraph. This is just my general recommendation that you avoid picking up Dotemu’s conversion of Metal Slug 2 that at the time of this writing remains on the store. Yes, it’s a dollar cheaper. But it’s only a dollar, and I think the differences here more than make up for that extra buck you spend. This new version is not only likely to have a far longer future, but also is designed for modern devices and their displays, which are things we cannot say for the older version. You get more options and extra features with the new version, and greater compatibility with external controllers. Spend that extra dollar, you deserve the treat.

Metal Slug was likely a pretty big surprise to SNK when it released back in 1996. Nazca Corporation, the developer behind the game, was a team formed by ex-Irem employees who had left the company to pursue their ambitions. This was a seasoned bunch, having worked together on games at Irem such as Air Duel, Undercover Cops, GunForce II, and perhaps most famously, In The Hunt. Nevertheless, its first efforts as Nazca Corporation proper went far beyond most expectations. A pair of NEOGEO titles, published by SNK themselves: NEO Turf Masters and Metal Slug. The former is one of the finest arcade-style golfing games ever made, and the latter? Well, it soon became a staple of every NEOGEO MVS around.

SNK made what was for this time in its history a rare wise business decision: it bought Nazca Corporation lock-stock. You don’t want to lose talent like that. Its first mission as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company was to follow up on the ultra-hot Metal Slug, a mission that it would more or less carry out for the rest of its unexpectedly short lifespan. But how can you top something as wild as Metal Slug without losing what brought people to the game in the first place?

Metal Slug 2 offers the same number of stages, with six in total. The game goes a bit more over the top with its themes than the first game, and there’s more variety in general. The playable roster has doubled with the additions of Fio and Eri. They play the same as the guys, but it’s nice to have the choice. There are a few new weapons, and one of the returning ones has been upgraded. The titular Metal Slug vehicles also see their selection expanded, with the SV-Camel, Slugnoid, and Slug Flyer showing up in set places during the game. The original SV-001 tank is here too, of course. There are some other fun extra bits in here too, like how your character can be turned into a mummy or how one of the prisoners will follow you around throwing fireballs after you save him.

All of this ambition comes at a cost, however. Metal Slug 2 is notorious for the severity of its slowdown when the action picks up. And pals, the action picks up often. It’s so bad that Nazca actually opted to revisit the game the following year, using the improvements of the engine of the then-in-development Metal Slug 3 to remove many of the technical issues plaguing the game. The team also added some new goodies in while they were at it, and that revised version became Metal Slug X. That is not this game, but I’m sure we’ll see it soon. This game is as it ever was, and that means you’re going to be running, jumping, and shooting through some molasses at times. History isn’t always pretty.

I think to a great degree Metal Slug X negates this game, but for the serious Metal Slug fan I think the differences can be interesting enough to make Metal Slug 2 worth keeping around. If you’re not into that kind of hair-splitting or aren’t planning to catch them all, you might just want to be patient and wait for Metal Slug X‘s ACA NEOGEO version. I imagine it will come in a matter of weeks, simply because Hamster and SNK don’t have too many other games to touch on at this point. From a gameplay perspective Metal Slug 2 loses to Metal Slug X in every way. On its own merits, it’s quite a lot of fun despite the issues. And hey, it’s not likely you’re going to have a second player on screen gumming things up even worse.

Yes, I have to bang my usual drums here. First up, playing this game with touch controls is not ideal. It can be done, and you’ve got unlimited credits to work with here so it doesn’t particularly matter if you keep on dying. But a challenging game like this really works best if you can use an external controller to play. If you have one, this is just as fun to blast your way through as it is on any other platform. You’ll probably have to go it alone, because multiplayer requires external controllers and a display you feel comfortable hunkering down around. Well, you could do a lot worse on iOS even with all this baggage in tow.

You get the usual ACA NEOGEO options here. Game settings, control mapping, virtual control adjustments, audio and video options, and so on. You can play the Japanese version with all the blood spurts or the Overseas version with all the sweat spurts, and you also get the usual Score Attack and timed Caravan modes. Those extra modes are pretty fun here, especially the Score Attack. This is a game you can get through on one credit if you practice enough, and it’s a good challenge to see how far you can go while accumulating the most points possible. You get your online leaderboards as well, allowing you to compare your feats with those of other players. The extras supplement the game well, even if the necessary sacrifices of the mobile format don’t.

Look, if you’re going to buy Metal Slug 2 on mobile, this ACA NEOGEO release is the one you want. And if you’re trying to collect all the Metal Slug games or even all of the Arcade Archives releases, don’t let me stop you. But even setting aside the usual issues with Metal Slug games on mobile, I have to recommend the average player simply wait for Metal Slug X to get a rerelease. It’s everything this game is and more, with the improvement of the egregious slowdown being no small favor. A good game, but one made largely redundant by another entry that will be here soon.

It seems fairly clear by now that SNK and Hamster are going to re-issue new Arcade Archives versions of all of its decade-old Dotemu-developed NEOGEO mobile ports, and now it’s time for The King of Fighters ’97 to take its turn. KOF ’97 ACA NEOGEO ($3.99) is a ticket to a fully updated and option-rich take on one of the most popular games in SNK’s popular The King of Fighters series, and it will only cost you sixteen quarters to take the ride. I’m not even going to pose the question of whether or not this is better than the old app. We’ve done that dance enough times now. Let’s just roll on in to the review, shall we?

To get the usual talk out of the way, let’s address the old app. It’s still on the App Store and still technically works, after all. Heck, it was just updated a year ago to be compatible with iOS 14. That doesn’t mean it’s a great experience on modern devices, though. Dotemu’s The King of Fighters ’97 ($2.99) came out more than ten years ago, and for its time and place it was a great port of the game. It played as well as it could, the emulation was sound, it had support for the kinds of external controllers we had at the time, and offered local wireless multiplayer support. It wasn’t exactly rolling in options, but it was more than good enough. Time has taken its toll, however. The biggest issue these days is that the virtual buttons didn’t grow along with the displays of devices, and it’s even tougher than usual to play on tiny buttons. I can’t recommend the Dotemu version anymore, I don’t think SNK should be selling two versions at the same time, and I expect the publisher to deprecate it sooner or later. Get the new one.

Anyway, The King of Fighters ’97. It came out in 1997 on the NEOGEO, so the title of this app certainly checks out. It was the fourth game in the series that had by this point become SNK’s most reliable franchise, and brought the Orochi Saga story arc to its close. In terms of gameplay, it introduced a system where you could choose between two playing styles before picking your team. The Advanced Mode followed in the footsteps of The King of Fighters ’96, albeit with some tweaks, while the Extra Mode takes after The King of Fighters ’94 and ’95. This addition not only did a great job of tying all of the previous games together, but also gave players greater customization and variety in how they played the game.

In terms of character selection, six characters from the previous game were dropped. Kasumi Todoh, Mature, Vice, Geese Howard, Wolfgang Krauser, and Mr. Big all hit the benches for story reasons. Chizuru Kagura moves from the sub-boss position into the regular playable roster, while fan favorites Blue Mary and Ryuji Yamazaki from the Fatal Fury series join Billy Kane to form a new team. Yashiro Nanakase, Chris, and Shermie are fully new faces and end up serving an important story role. Otherwise, the roster carries over. Popular characters like Terry Bogard, Kyo Kusanagi, Iori Yagami, Mai Shiranui, and Athena Asamiya are all here along with many others. Plenty of great characters to learn to use, like any game in this series.

The usual ACA NEOGEO gripes with fighting games in particular apply here. First, it can be really cumbersome trying to make some of the commands work with the virtual controls. There are no assists here, unlike the Dotemu version, so if you don’t have an external controller of some kind you’re just going to have to make the best of it. It’s also very difficult to get multiplayer going, as you’ll need a couple of external controllers and a display you’re comfortable rubbing elbows around. In other words, you’re probably going to be spending most of your time playing alone. The story here is certainly worth going through though, and you have plenty of options to tweak to give yourself as much of an edge against the rude CPU as possible.

If you don’t mind the multiplayer being hard to get at and have an external controller, this is a great experience. Just like playing the Arcade Archives release on any other device, but with a few bucks more in your pocket. You get the usual extra modes here, and they’re alright to mess around with. You can also choose between the Japanese and Overseas versions of the game, which is good if you enjoy blood and bounce, as the kids say. In terms of options, you can adjust the difficulty, remap buttons, tweak video and sound settings, and customize the virtual pad to your liking. Online leaderboards are also here, as usual. I don’t typically think of fighters as games to compete on leaderboards with, but if you get into that kind of thing, it’s here.

The King of Fighters ’97 is a terrific fighting game and another of the many feathers in SNK’s hat in this genre. If you have an external controller and plan to play solo, it’s easily worth picking up. Those stuck with touch controls will want to carefully consider what they are really looking for out of this kind of thing, but I’m just repeating myself here from prior reviews. Hamster has done a really good job with this release, also as usual, and I think it’s only a better set of multiplayer options away from being the best possible mobile port it could be.

When Cygames announced Granblue Fantasy Versus, a fighting game developed with Arc System Works for PS4 and PC, I was excited even as someone who didn’t play Granblue Fantasy on mobile back then. I trust Arc System Works fighters, and Granblue Fantasy Versus ended up becoming a fantastic game held back by its online. It was accessible, gorgeous, and packed with single player content. It also excelled in its music and aesthetic. When Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising was announced, it seemed to be addressing all complaints I had with the original. I’ve been playing Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising on Steam Deck and PS5 for over a week now, and it is fantastic in just about every way.

If you’ve already played Granblue Fantasy Versus, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising feels like a blend of an enhanced re-release and a sequel combined. In Guilty Gear terms, to me this feels like going from Xrd Sign to Xrd Rev 2 directly. There are visual upgrades, gameplay enhancements, new characters, story content, and a ton of modes offline and online. Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising also includes the full story from the original game so this is the version to get if you’re new to the series.

On the single player side of things Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising includes an arcade mode, versus mode, training mode (with a lot of useful data options in the UI), story mode (including the original game’s story), replay mode, journal (gallery), and a figure studio letting you pose specific characters for screenshots in different situations. The arcade mode also has its own requirements to unlock another path which I will not spoil here.

Before playing the second open beta to test the online on PS5, I wasn’t sure how different Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising’s gameplay would feel. I’m glad the team added enough to make things fresh with the Brave Point system for the Raging Strike and Brave Counter mechanics, and how it makes you strategize on the fly with its risk system. This is all complemented by the meter changes and dash system as well. It really feels like Arc System Works managed to get everything they could to Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising. After spending a week playing Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, I tried playing Granblue Fantasy Versus with a friend. It was quite a difference.

I’ve now tested the online in the final build on both PS5 and Steam Deck for a few days. Everything is holding up well, and the only issues I’ve had, are to do with some lobby instability against a handful of fights out of the many I’ve played so far. There are no Mortal Kombat 1-like high ping issues, or anything. The online feels great, and I’ve even tested against friends and randoms in different countries over a wired connection on Steam Deck. The Grand Bruise Legends mode is a lovely blend of Fall Guys-style gameplay with Granblue, and it has its own unlock system. Barring that, you can create a lobby or opt to do ranked/casual matches. You can also create your own room to invite friends and more. My one complaint is the lobbies have 30fps movement that doesn’t feel good at all. I hope this can be fixed for PS5 and PC.

Granblue Fantasy Versus was already a gorgeous game, but the developers have outdone themselves with Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising. I adore how it looks and feels to play. The skill animations, character designs, cut-scenes, and stages look fantastic. It also runs really well on Steam Deck and PS5. Revisiting the original game alongside this one really shows how polished Rising feels. It isn’t a huge change, but has improvements in many areas.

I was also glad to see this release continue to offer an English dub option. I played both English and Japanese voiceover options equally in the original, and stuck to English so far. The new character voices are at par with the rest of the characters. This is definitely one of the better dubs in a Japanese fighting game. Barring the voices, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising continues to have amazing music. Despite a lot of older songs, I love the soundtrack. The one oddity that I kind of expected, is the Uma Musume partner characters like Gold Ship who I immediately unlocked when servers went live, do not have dubs. I was curious if Cygames would dub them, but right now, it seems like there is no dub for the Uma Musume partner characters. Also make sure you claim the rewards so you can unlock Gold Ship immediately like I did. She’s beyond amazing with her dialogue here.

Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising’s PC graphics options include resolution (864×486 to 1440p for my monitor), display mode (fullscreen, borderless, windowed), v-sync, graphics quality presets, resolution scaling (20-100), anti-aliasing quality, post-processing quality, texture quality, shadow quality, and VFX quality. These quality settings go: low, mid, high, and highest. You can also use the optimize display settings option for the game to auto detect for your PC or Steam Deck.

On Steam Deck, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising has no issues running and looks great in every mode I could test barring the pre-rendered cut-scenes in story mode. I tested these on default Proton, Proton Experimental (bleeding edge), and 3 versions of GE including 8-25 with no luck. GE gets them to display a static image at least, while the others show a color bar pattern. Barring that issue, it plays flawlessly, and I even used my Hori Fighting Stick Alpha and Razer Kitsune on it wired. On the visual side, if you play at 720p, everything at high will result in no performance issues. I forced 1080p and downsampled, and saw some dips in performance during special moves only. The actual gameplay had no issues in my testing, but I will be doing more testing on this front through the week. It feels like it was made taking into account handheld PCs, and I hope the cut-scenes can be fixed in updates or by Valve.

If you own a PS5 and Steam Deck, having played it on both, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising is better on PS5 visually and has faster load times. Barring that, the experience holds up brilliantly on the small Steam Deck screen, and this setup is great for portable play with or without an arcade controller. I got the original Granblue Fantasy Versus on both PS4 and Steam, and would do the same here given the option. Since there’s a free version, I’d recommend trying it out on your PC and PS5 to see where you find it better. Since the game has crossplay, there’s no real disadvantage to the online population.

Having now seen the launch day DLC available, I’d recommend buying the Deluxe Edition if you want to buy the full game. Getting the standard edition now and then upgrading will cost a lot more. I know some publishers encourage you to buy more expensive editions rather than standard and then upgrading, but this price difference is much higher than I’ve seen with other fighting game publishers.

Having now tested the netcode and multiplayer modes on Steam Deck, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising is chock full of amazing gameplay, characters, music, and a robust online experience. This feels like the complete package right from the get go, and is a great new option for any newcomer to fighting games with its low barrier of entry. If you aren’t sure if Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising is for you, give the free version a shot. In its current state, I can see myself playing this for a long time on Steam Deck and PS5. Cygames and Arc System Worked nailed everything I had hoped for here, and delivered one of the best fighting game day one releases in years.

Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising Steam Deck review score: 5/5

Update: This review has been updated to reflect the online experience on Steam Deck.

As usual, you can read all our past and future Steam Deck coverage here. If you have any feedback for this feature or what else you’d like to see us do around the Steam Deck, let us know in the comments below. I hope you all have a great day, and thanks for reading.

The last two months have been so busy that I’ve not been able to make time to play many games until recently. There are still new games coming out even as we head closer to the holidays, but I finally managed to play Playism and Lizardry’s recent adventure game Refind Self: The Personality Test Game ($3.99). Before I saw the screenshots or the trailer, I thought the name would mean this is one of those games where you just answer some questions to get a result and share it. I was wrong, and Refind Self: The Personality Test Game ended up being one of the nicest surprises of the year so far.

Lizardry developed 7 Days to End With You which was self-published on mobile, and I had my eye on that thanks to its aesthetic. When I got to know Lizardry was behind Refind Self: The Personality Test Game, I expected good art, and it delivered with its aesthetic and music. Adventure games live and die by their story, and I found the smart storytelling and structure here great, but the characters and introspection aspects really elevated it to something special.

Once you get past the name, Refind Self: The Personality Test Game begins with a grave. You control an android near the grave which happens to be of the doctor who created you. You now have the freedom to do anything or go anywhere more or less. As you make decisions including small ones like how long you sit on a bench all contribute to your personality which is being analyzed. Despite the name and structure, you’re playing this to discover the narrative and secrets more than finding your own personality.

Barring the decisions you make in dialogue or for how you want to spend the limited time you have, you get to see a glimpse of your personality and a part of the overall story. The limited time depends on the analysis happening with each decision you make while playing. A single playthrough will take about an hour or a bit more, but you can’t see everything Refind Self: The Personality Test Game has to offer without at least three playthroughs. Once it is all complete, you get to share your ID with others. It is interesting seeing how others responded to specific things in-game as well.

Despite the simple gameplay, I found myself enamored with the world here, and ended up loving the characters and mini-games quite a bit. Lizardry is definitely worth paying attention to for all future projects. I hope each game tries something different like this one did with its structure. The only aspect some might take issue with, is the length. I have no problem with the asking price of $3.99 for a three or four hour long experience, but keep that in mind before grabbing it if you were hoping for something longer.

While I like the pixel art and character designs a lot, I want to give a special mention to the soundtrack. It was another lovely surprise with how much it manages to accomplish in elevating the narrative moments and mini-games. I haven’t seen it up on streaming, but it is available on Steam here.

I’ve been playing Refind Self: The Personality Test Game on both iOS and Steam Deck. While it looks and runs fine on Steam Deck, it has no native controller support. To play it here, I’d recommend using the controller layout that lets you use the left stick to simulate WASD and then using the touch screen for click interactions. Without that, grab an external mouse if you want to play it. On iPhone 15 Pro and iPad Pro, there is no controller support, but I had no issues with Refind Self: The Personality Test Game barring some slight scrolling jitter in parts. It feels great on touch. It also looks great and loads quickly on my devices. If you have the option, play it on iOS or PC with a mouse over Steam Deck right now. Hopefully we get proper controller support in an update on both Steam Deck and iOS.

If you enjoy touching stories and adventure games with a focus on characters and introspection, you will love Refind Self: The Personality Test Game. I think many folks will skip it thinking it is one of those throwaway test-style games, but I ended up enjoying my time with it a lot across iOS and Steam Deck. I can’t wait to see what Lizardry does next, and look forward to seeing results from more people when they play Refind Self: The Personality Test Game.

Well, here we go again. The latest addition to SNK and Hamster’s mobile Arcade Archives line is none other than Metal Slug ACA NEOGEO ($3.99), a second take on a game we got a mobile version of a decade back from Dotemu. That was a fine version for its era, albeit with all of the problems one would expect from trying to convert a run-and-gun action game from sticks and buttons to touch. Time has marched on, however. Despite some updates over the years to keep the game running, there are a lot of issues with it in the current year. Is that enough to merit buying the game again if you already own it? Should those who have neither version spend the extra buck for the new one? Come on in and find out the obvious answer.

So again I do want to clarify that Dotemu’s Metal Slug 1 ($2.99) was a perfectly fine version for its time. Things were very different in the mobile scene back in 2013 when that game was first released on mobile, especially with regards to screen sizes and aspect ratios. While the app saw occasional updates to maintain compatibility with various versions of iOS, some aspects didn’t get much in the way of reworking. One of the biggest problems with these older Dotemu NEOGEO ports is that the touch screen buttons are too small for modern displays, even at their largest setting in the options. That is also the case here, and it makes the old version very hard to play. You can use an external controller, but compatibility is a bit spotty. There are also a few minor emulation issues.

I’m repeating myself here from other recent reviews, but despite the slightly cheaper price I would caution strongly against buying the older version over the ACA NEOGEO one. I don’t even think SNK should still be selling that version now that this one exists. I doubt it will ever get the necessary updates to make it as playable as it used to be, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets retired in the near future. The ACA NEOGEO version isn’t exactly a treat to play with touch controls either, but it’s a lot more comfortable. It also offers many more options and modes, which I think makes it the one to pick all-around. Even if you’re using an external controller, you’ll find the ACA NEOGEO version runs and plays better.

As to the game itself, Metal Slug probably doesn’t need too much introduction if you’re interested enough in NEOGEO games to be reading this review. If SNK’s home/arcade console system is known for one thing, it’s The King of Fighters. But if it’s known for two things, the second one is Metal Slug. Developed by ex-Irem folks at Nazca Corporation, this run-and-gun action game is among the very finest the genre has to offer. It’s not hard to see why it spawned such a long-running and popular series. The graphics are incredibly detailed and lavishly animated, the gameplay is excellent, the pace of the game is zippy, the vehicles are exciting to use, the bosses are ridiculous, and it’s as much fun to play alone as it is with a friend. It’s also silly without pushing things too far, which is welcome in a genre that tends to tilt one way or the other when it comes to humor.

That said, the level of challenge and the fact that you need to pull off some wild moves make this ill-suited for touch controls, though in this ACA NEOGEO version you have access to an infinite number of credits to finish the game with. If you’re going to play the game seriously, you’ll probably want to make use of an external controller. It plays great that way, and it makes this version perhaps the best, most affordable official way to play Metal Slug. Throw in the usual extra modes, which work out quite well for this sort of game, and you have a really nice package here. Will the online leaderboards be populated? You can be part of the solution to that one, my friends.

The Dotemu version of the game had a handful of nice options, but this ACA NEOGEO version offers quite bit more to play around with. You can adjust the various difficulty options, tweak the controls to your liking, and tinker with the video and audio to a decent extent. You also get the usual save and load options, something the previous version was lacking. It’s nice to be able to stop and pick up a game like this anytime you want on mobile. Of course, the usual ACA NEOGEO issue is here in that you can’t play multiplayer very easily. You’ll need a couple of external controllers and must both play off the same device, so unless you have something bigger than your iPhone it’s going to be a bit of a cramped situation.

I think players going the touch screen route will want to carefully consider what they are looking for from ACA NEOGEO Metal Slug. If you don’t mind the fact that you will probably be playing sub-optimally, having trouble hitting angles and doing quick maneuvers, and dying a whole lot, then you can still have a good bit of fun here just touring the game with unlimited credits. It’s certainly no worse than any other virtual button-based run-and-gun game on iOS, and the quality of the original game shines through sufficiently for you to have a nice time with it. Sixteen quarters, people. You can own this game and keep it in your pocket for sixteen quarters. Tell that to the you of 1996. Their mind would be blown.

I’ve said a lot of this before about various other ACA NEOGEO releases, and this perhaps collects many of those points. Better than the previous version? Absolutely. Good game? Friend, it’s so great. Well-suited to mobile? Probably not, especially if you’re using touch controls. Worth picking up anyway? Yes, I think so. It’s feature-rich, gives you all the margin for error you could ask for, and is affordable to boot. A solid pick for fans of arcade classics.