One of 2023's best Castlevania-style platformers was Gal Guardians: Demon Purge from PQUBE. As such, there's a good chance that the sequel, Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark, will end up knocking our socks off this year too. We'll find out when the digital version comes along at the end of March. Physical collectors won't be left in the cold, however, because the physical PlayStation and Switch editions now have a firm June 12 release date.

Remember how fun Advance Wars: Portrait of Ruin was in co-op? It's not often that you find a turn-based strategy game that's so easy to play AND also supports the co-op. That's why we're pumped for Warside, the upcoming strategy game for Steam from Lavabird and First Break Labs (makers of Cthulhu's Reach). It plays a lot like Advance Wars, and we're dying to play it with friends.

Long ago, Technos was one of the big Japanese developers, gifting the Double Dragon series and many other fine games to the world. Sadly, the studio closed its doors in 1996. Happily, however, Arc System Works bought the Technos name and library in 2015 and has produced several quality games since then. 2020's Double Dragon & Kunio-kun Retro Brawler Bundle compiled an impressive selection of Technos' NES games. This year, Arc System Works will follow up with Super Technos World: River City & Technos Arcade Classics.

The original Gal Guardians: Demon Purge is a fantastic Castlevania-style co-op platformer, so it's great news that it'll soon have a sequel.  Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark will arrive on consoles and PC in March - not too far from now! What's more, PQUBE has released a free demo on Steam that allows players to experience the opening of the game and its 2-player local co-op support.

 Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind has received a few updates since launching last year, tweaking the gameplay and making for a better experience. The most recent update does that and goes one step farther by adding a new skill point system to differentiate the various Power Rangers and give players upgrades to work towards. If that's not enough, Digital Eclipse and Atari have announced that online play will be getting an upgrade later this year as well.

Digital game releases are the primary distribution model for indie games, but that doesn't mean that some gamers don't want physical versions. Those guys like to look at their cases on the shelf, you know! And some of them will be pleased to learn that Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind from Digital Eclipse and Atari will be getting physical releases on May 30. I say "some" because only the PlayStation 5 and Switch versions will get physical releases. Everybody else will need to grab the game digitally.

Slimes are a beloved type of monster that appear in Dragon Quest and many other games. Soon, they'll even be getting their own game courtesy of Pancake Games and Whitethorn Games. Slime Heroes is a "Soulslike" action adventure with 2-player local co-op support. That's twice as many slimes! Players will be able to get their hands on all that double slime action on February 13.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge kicked off a wave of nostalgic beat ‘em ups that shows no signs of slowing down. While none of these challengers have managed to match Shredder’s Revenge in quality, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind, from Digital Eclipse and Atari, comes the closest so far. With a s...

Everything's better in co-op, and that includes 3D platformers. Boti: Byteland Overclocked from Purple Ray Studio and Untold Tales is one such game, a robot and technology-themed platformer that debuted on Steam last year. Now Boti is getting ready to head to consoles in January, and it will include both 2-player local and online co-op.

Gal Guardians: Demon Purge was one of my favorite games of 2023, featuring tight Castlevania III-style gameplay and great local co-op. This must be my lucky day, as Inti Creates and PQUBE have just announced a sequel called Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark. The new game will be a full-fledged Metroidvania platformer with support for both local and online co-op, and it's coming to all platforms in March.

Of all the nostalgic beat 'em ups to follow in TMNT: Shredder's Revenge's footsteps in the last couple of years, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind has been the most promising. It features excellent pixel art, 6-player local co-op, and online play. Rita's Rewind has finally arrived on consoles and Steam just in time for the holidays, and it's making good on most of its promises, though some versions don't have online play just yet.

Since MultiVersus fully launched in May, the game has gone through 3 "seasons," adding new characters and content around a seasonal battle pass. Season 4 is due to start on November 12, and it will add Raven, a fan-favorite character from Teen Titans, and Marceline, the vampire queen from Adventure Time to the roster of unlockable characters. The update also promises a new team-based competitive mode called Arena and two new maps.