What we've been playing

1st of July, 2022

Hello! Welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've found ourselves playing over the last few days. This time: speedrunning, turtles, and pass-the-pad delight.

If you fancy catching up on some of the older editions of What We've Been Playing, here's our archive.

Neon White, PC

I love that Neon White knows exactly what it wants to be. It isn't a shooter that also has speedrunning elements but keeps them hidden. It is, hands down, a speedrunning game. The whole thing is designed around getting to the end of a level as quickly as possible. Even the guns you pick up are more useful when you discard them to activate their movement ability, say a double-jump or a sticky bomb, which behaves a bit like a rocket jump. And, bless its heart, it has a quick-restart function, as all speedrunning games should. In that regard it actually reminds me quite a lot of Trials, that motorbike game.

Actually, that comparison holds for the over-the-top nature of the game too. There's a story here but it's kind of wild - something about being in Heaven and having to get rid of demons, but really quickly - and everyone you meet in the game seems to follow the same principles. They're all ridiculous in their own ways, but they're bursting with such energy and charisma it's hard not to be won over by them.

It's unapologetic and unafraid - that's what Neon White is. It knows what it is and it's having a good time doing it. And so am I.

Bertie

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, Switch

I’ve always been a fan of arcade brawlers since I was a child, and having the opportunity to relive the days of the Simpsons and X-Men Arcade Games is something I’ve long waited for. Now I find myself glued to my controller playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge.

I feel like this game was made specifically for me, what with all the Street Fighter references in the move sets that the Turtles, April and Splinter have. You can really feel the love and passion that went into making this game.

On top of that, the soundtrack is just pure joy, most especially the Boss theme for Shredder called “We Ain’t Came to Lose” and sung by hip-hop legends and Wu-Tang Clan members, Ghost Face Killah and Raekwon The Chef.

To Recap: Turtles, Street Fighter and Wu-Tang Clan.

You can’t go wrong with this game.

Paolo Balmes

Fall Guys, Xbox

I played Fall Guys when it first came out and then moved on - it was clearly a great game, but it didn't particularly click.

Now it does, though, and I think that's less to do with the move to free-to-play, and more to do with the fact that, personally, I now have someone to play Fall Guys with.

In the time since Fall Guys came out my daughter has properly discovered video games, moving from A Short Hike - the first game she ever finished - to games like Minecraft, which she is now so dizzyingly proficient at, I can watch what she's doing and only marvel at how she knows how to do it.

Fall Guys, though, is something we can play together. It's the perfect single-player two-player game, in that we each take a round and then pass the pad. These funny soft-play challenges are perfect for us, because if you win it's great, and if you lose it's generally hilarious.

How long will this all last? My daughter tends to move on from games pretty quickly - with the exception of Minecraft. I hope Fall Guys sticks for a bit, though. Just a few more weeks of passing the pad and collapsing into laughter together.

Chris Donlan