Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 was a phenomenal package that made lifelong fans like myself fall in love with its quarter pipes and rails all over again. It was a wonderful tribute to the 1999 and 2000 originals, but there was one big bugaboo that left me and other fans wanting: the exclusion of the series' third entry. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 felt missing from the first remake, stripped from the games it most closely resembles. And while that problem may seem solved with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4, from the outside, developer Iron Galaxy has made a number of decisions that are likely to leave fans of the originals disappointed, even though this second remake is still an excellent Tony Hawk game.

The original three games fit together perfectly, with each subsequent game adding new mechanics that made the series' trick system feel complete by Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. Each game was also structured in the same way, giving players two-minute skate sessions to complete as many goals as they could, performing tricks and earning high scores, before moving on to the next two-minute session. It's a format that works well, so much so that you'll have a hard time stopping yourself from going for one more run.

However, it's not how Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 was structured, with the fourth game instead opting for freely roamable levels that mission-giving characters called home. Time limits only came with specific challenges when the likes of pro skater Geoff Rowley asked you to steal police officers' hats or a college student pleaded with you to take revenge on the local frat boys. In THPS 3+4, the levels from 4 have been retrofitted to behave and play like levels from the first three games. That means fewer goals per level, no mission-givers, and a time limit to top things off.

After cutting its teeth on melee combat and kung fu action with Absolver and Sifu, I don't think anyone expected Slocap's next game to be an arcadey alternative to EA Sports FC. But that's precisely what the French developer has crafted with Rematch: a football game that embodies the spirit and chaotic energy of having a kick-about with friends. From the wayward passes and the goalkeeper who decides he's now a striker, to someone popping up with an incredible goal out of absolutely nowhere, Rematch constantly reminded me of my childhood and the countless hours spent playing football. When I was at school, I would forego food just so I could play for the entire hour-long lunchtime; when I was off school, I would inevitably get together with friends and head down to the local park, using jumpers as makeshift goalposts. Other games have done this kind of five-a-side style of football before, but none have come as close as Rematch does to capturing the essence of my footballing heyday.

Rather than taking control of an entire team, Rematch puts you in the boots of a single player in 3v3, 4v4, and 5v5 matches. There's a short prologue and some training minigames to play on your own, but beyond this you're always playing with and against other human players. Each match lasts six minutes, and there's a mercy rule that immediately ends the game after one team has taken a four-goal lead (I guess Slocap never saw Newcastle vs. Arsenal circa 2011). The only stoppages occur when a team scores; otherwise, Rematch plays fast and loose with the rules. There are no fouls, offsides, or handballs, and throw-ins, corners, and goal kicks are nonexistent due to the pitch being surrounded on all four sides by giant transparent walls. This quickly establishes a chaotic pace. Sometimes it's messy, while other times you feel like Messi. There's also no progression or skill points to help improve your player's attributes. Everyone is on a level playing field, so only the most skillful will rise to the top.

After its predecessor served as a beacon of novelty amidst a sea of stagnation, Death Stranding 2: On The Beach had a big challenge to overcome. Death Stranding's absurd nature, encompassing everything from urine grenades to gently rocking your controller to calm a distressed baby, was coupled with a rich new setting to unravel. Step by step, Sam Porter Bridges connected a post-apocalyptic America to a network by making dozens of deliveries from one point to another. Its slow and methodical pace made it somewhat of an outlier in the AAA space. The sequel follows suit in most ways that made its predecessor stand out. The core foundation remains unchanged--planning and executing each delivery requires strategy and improvisation, and they're still satisfying to pull off. But this second iteration doesn't feel as arresting as it mired in familiar story beats, a disappointing lack of friction, and an obsession with doubling down on the weaker aspects of Death Stranding.

Remedy is a team known for its story-driven single-player games, and though it has tried other kinds of games over the years, FBC: Firebreak is its most prominent detour to date. Built as a three-player co-op PvE first-person shooter set in the Oldest House--the same setting as 2019's Control--Firebreak manages to transpose Remedy's signature strangeness onto something new, and the more I played it, the more I enjoyed it, though it has its fair share of issues.

The story casts players as formerly pencil-pushing Federal Bureau of Control (FBC) employees who have no choice but to create makeshift weaponry and gear to combat the Hiss threat they're trapped in the Oldest House with. This premise gives the game a colorful and comedic tone, where expendable player-characters chirp about needing to fill out workplace forms and worry about overtime pay despite the chaotic circumstances they find themselves in. Firebreak sits at the intersection of the FBC's inherent bureaucracy and its impromptu DIY, punk-rock showdown with supernatural monsters. It's a tone that feels decidedly Remedy-like, and its class-based combat does well to match that weirdness.

Three "Crisis Kits" make up the game's classes. There's the Fix Kit, which is equipped with a giant wrench and can repair things like lighting, breaker boxes, and healing showers. The Jump Kit, which comes with an electro-shocking contraption that would look at home in Ghostbusters, can be used to shock enemies and power various electronic devices, like broken fans in the game's earliest mission. Lastly, the Splash Kit comes with a big water gun that can shoot bubbles of water to put out fires or dilute negative status effects from one's self or teammates. Naturally, this one pairs well with the Jump Kit, too, as soaking and then shocking enemies can be an effective way of reducing their numbers.

More than anything, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is an odd part of the Switch 2 launch lineup because it's defined more by what it isn't than what it is. It isn't really a video game. It isn't part of a franchise. And most centrally, it isn't a free pack-in game.

That last one feels instinctually unfair as a game reviewer who makes a point to ignore price in most cases. Games are worth what you're willing to pay for them, prices fluctuate, and I try to evaluate quality on its own merits. But Welcome Tour makes its price impossible to ignore because every bit of its identity feels so ideally crafted to be a pack-in game to introduce the Switch 2 to new users, and then it just ... isn't.

The name is very pointed in this regard. This is built to be a primer for the Switch 2, explaining all of its new features in clear layman's terms. Informed Switch 2 players are bound to know what they're getting for their investment, but the non-gamers Nintendo likes to eye as part of its wide net "Blue Ocean" strategy may not understand the intricate alphabet soup of VRR and HDR. The in-game tutorials break down these complex topics with simple explanations that anyone can grasp, along with videos and demonstrations when necessary to let you experience the difference for yourself. It's genuinely neat! I could see handing this to my parents and having them walk away with, if not a complete understanding of next-gen gaming technology, at least a better grasp of it.