Nearly 50 years ago, Atari published Breakout, a spin on the ball-bouncing gameplay of Pong where your opponent wasn't another player but rather an increasingly dense wall of bricks slowly dropping down towards you. Arkanoid, released not long after, expanded on its foundations, giving players more ways to play through the introduction of upgrades to your paddle, spawning additional balls, and more.

These are two games that Ball x Pit designer Kenny Sun was clearly inspired by, but not the two that this modern interpretation solely borrows from. Instead, Ball x Pit is an intoxicating mash-up that includes elements of Vampire Survivors, numerous roguelites, and town-management wrapped up in an engaging adventure down a bottomless pit that is chaotic and engaging, but also slightly messy in its execution.

Like its inspirations, Ball x Pit is easy to understand. You play as one of a variety of characters, each with their own abilities, flinging balls at waves of enemies slowly descending towards you. Your balls bounce off of walls and enemies to damage and eventually eliminate them, preventing them from reaching the bottom and damaging you.

"Don't shoot!" I called out to the raider from a nearby bush. "I'm coming out, but I mean you no harm."

Clearly startled by my presence and reacting based on what was more than likely a combination of the Rocketeer hovering menacingly close and a history of earlier betrayals, the dusty raider pointed his weathered Ferro rifle my way. He'd already called for the elevator to bring him back to Speranza safe and sound, so it's no wonder that he'd be anxious. He was in danger of losing everything right at the finish line, just before those saferoom doors opened. But so was I, and he didn't know--couldn't know--that I hadn't ever killed a raider before.

I could see him measuring my trustworthiness on the fly. "The robots are the bad guys, right?" I continued, sweating out the moment every second he didn't lower his gun. "If I killed you here, you'd be the first raider I've shot down. I'm just trying to get home, same as you." I kept moving so he couldn't get a clean shot at me, but I remained hopeful it wouldn't come to that. Before he could crunch the numbers on whether I was to be believed, the Rocketeer's alert status started howling something fierce. It had spotted him while he'd had his sights set on me.

There's been a veritable cornucopia of Dynasty Warriors spin-offs over the years, including anime adaptations like Gundam, Berserk, and One Piece and video game collaborations with Persona and Fire Emblem. The 2014 collab Hyrule Warriors and its sequel, Age of Calamity, are perhaps the most warmly received of them all, owing to their blend of Omega Force's overblown hack-and-slash action with The Legend of Zelda's iconic characters, locations, and enemies.

With Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, the two long-running series are more intertwined than ever, to the point where it feels more like a brand-new Zelda release than just another musou spin-off. It's not without its faults and is unlikely to convert anyone unconvinced by this style of game already, but Age of Imprisonment improves upon its predecessors in numerous ways.

The game's story is the most obvious aspect where the two series are aligned. Unlike Age of Calamity and its alternate timeline ideas, Age of Imprisonment is considered canon by Nintendo, expanding on the fragments of information shown in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom to reveal the full extent of Hyrule's founding, Ganondorf's rise as the Demon King, and the subsequent Imprisonment War. If you've played Tears of the Kingdom, there aren't many surprises to be found here. Its most crucial story beats have already been covered, so part of the game involves revisiting these inciting incidents and exploring their aftermath.

Since releasing Atari 50 in 2022, Digital Eclipse has established itself as a champion for game preservation, thanks in large part to its "interactive documentary" approach. The Making of Karateka, Tetris Forever, and Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story have all explored notable names and games of the past with great success. For its next project, the studio set its sights on the history behind one of the most famous properties in gaming: Mortal Kombat.

Mortal Kombat Legacy Collection is a loving tribute to the early years of the trailblazing fighting game franchise. Over 20 games from kombats past, across multiple formats, are expertly restored, all highlighted by a deep-dive documentary into the history of the series, as well as the studios, and the notable names responsible for them. And Digital Eclipse has once again set the bar for preservation, as this is a collection worthy of Mortal Kombat's legacy.

MK Legacy Collection immediately impresses with its game selection. Twenty-three Mortal Kombat games, including arcade, console, and handheld versions, are all included here, and they look and feel exactly as they did when they originally launched. All of the fighters, features, and modes are included, and a few even have some notable improvements.

When I reviewed Dragon Quest III HD last year, I talked a fair bit about what an important game it was to JRPGs as a whole and why its reissue was a big deal. One thing I didn't mention is part of why it had such a big impact: It was a massive improvement in scope, gameplay, and storytelling over the two preceding Dragon Quest titles. With DQIII HD's sales success and its chronological position as the first part of a story trilogy, Square Enix releasing a similar HD-2D remake of the first two titles made perfect sense.

And here we are now, with Dragon Quest I and II HD Remake--the other chapters in the Erdrick trilogy, now gussied up with Square Enix's lavish 2D-sprites-on-3D-backgrounds style of graphical presentation. Jumping into these games for the first time in well over two decades, I was surprised to see just how much effort went into "modernizing" them--not just in terms of mechanics, but also to build upon their basic "hero(es) take up arms against an evil force" narratives with more dialogue, setpieces, and story beats. Yet even with all of the enhancements, one game in this bundle clearly comes out as the superior adventure--but still not quite up to the heights of the previous release.

If you're at all familiar with Dragon Quest, you know what to expect here: classic fantasy JRPG adventures, packed with random-encounter turn-based combat, dungeon exploration, fetch quests, and vanquishing the forces of darkness with the light of heroism. Dragon Quest I is a strictly solo journey--it's just your brave little hero, going mano-a-mano with the enemy hordes--while DQII uses the series' now-traditional party system. Though the two games play similarly, having a party makes a world of difference in combat: extra meatshields and actions allow for distinct strategies to take shape, making for more dynamic and enjoyable fights.