Touch Arcade

I enjoyed swapping between my old laptop and Steam Deck while playing Dead Space without any issues. Despite a slightly rough launch day, Valve’s Proton fixes have made Dead Space a survival horror essential for Steam Deck owners, and a true tech showcase for the platform.

It’s very much of its time and place, and that dated nature has a charm to it. Nothing on the NEOGEO looks quite like it. The sheer zing of that visual presentation helps what is otherwise an aggressively average shooter, and Hamster’s usual fine work makes it shine the best it can in the present era.

Sengoku 2 is a better game than the first and its conversion for mobile has been handled in a similarly competent fashion. I still wouldn’t call it a particularly amazing title, but slashing your way through its bizarre and beautiful locales is a pleasing enough use of your time and virtual coins.

While some of the technical issues are disappointing, Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! is an easy recommendation if you have an Apple Arcade subscription. The structure of the game perfectly suits the service, and I hope it gets updated over time to bring in new content and fix some of the issues.

TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge is absolutely essential. Playdigious did a fantastic job with this outstanding beat ’em up, and you owe it to yourself to play it if you have a Netflix subscription.

Even as the first current-generation only entry in the series, Need for Speed Unbound is a joy to play on Steam Deck. It might’ve released too close to the holidays for most, but if you enjoyed older Need for Speed games, you need to grab this one.

In a lot of ways, Vampire Survivors: Legacy of the Moonspell reminds me of the Dead Cells paid DLC where each pack offers a ton of value, but a lot of the players are just happy to throw more support to the developers for freer and paid content. If you enjoyed Vampire Survivors, the Legacy of the Moonspell DLC is an essential. The new map is massively awesome, and I can’t wait for the superb new songs to be added to the soundtrack.

Overall, Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song is a fantastic re-do of a game that had lots of room for improvement, and this mobile port is top-shelf.

The emulation is on-point, but you probably don’t need me to tell you that. It’s a good way to enjoy this game, though serious players will want to make sure they have a good controller to help them go the distance.

A little too easy and repetitive at times, and I’m not sure its dual-plane system works as well as it should, but for a few bucks you’ll get your fun out of it. Add in the usual suite of features that comes with Hamster’s ACA NEOGEO line, and you have a pleasant distraction for a lazy weekend afternoon.