You won't want to 'Tearaway' from the PlayStation Plus free offerings in March

By Gabe Gurwin March 1, 2017

Tearaway Unfolded - Launch Trailer | PS4

Why purchase brand new video games for around $60 when you can get so many for free? PlayStation Plus allows subscribers to build up a library on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita — and March’s freebies are some of the best we’ve seen from the program in a very long time.

In March, PlayStation 4 owners will be able to download Disc Jam, which PlayStation’s James Hallahan describes as “an insanely addicting cross between air hockey and tennis.” In the game, which bears some resemblance to the playable meme Windjammers, each team hurls a disc across a center barrier in an attempt to sneak it by the other team.

Also free on PlayStation 4 in March is Tearaway Unfolded, an enhanced version of one of the best PlayStation Vita exclusives. It has been redesigned substantially to allow for DualShock 4 functionality, but still features all of the charm and color of the original release.

On PlayStation 3, subscribers can download Under Night: In-Birth, an intense 2D fighting game that originally launched to positive reviews on PlayStation 3 in 2015. It was developed by some of the same folks behind acclaimed series BlazBlue and Guilty Gear, and boasts a similar anime-influenced visual style.

Also available for the PS3 in March is the wonderfully campy Earth Defense Force 2025. Though the game was later released on PlayStation 4 as Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair, the latter game isn’t included among the free offerings.

The PlayStation Vita hasn’t been forgotten, either. Severed, a touchscreen-focused action game from Guacamelee! studio DrinkBox, will be available for free. The game originally launched in 2016 and was hailed as one of the Vita’s very best games — not a surprise from such a talented team.

Finally, puzzle game Lumo will be free on both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. The game’s 3D environments and cute, simple visuals look similar to early Nintendo 64 Zelda games mixed with a little dose of Minecraft.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

Gaming

PlayStation Plus’ most notable free April offerings come from Microsoft

Four players stand together in the 4v4 PvP mode of Minecraft Legends.

Sony outlined all the new offerings PlayStation Plus Essential subscribers can expect in April; surprisingly, Microsoft is the company behind two of this month's four offerings, Minecraft Legends, and the Overwatch 2 Mega Bundle.

On April 2, PS Plus can get those two things free of charge in addition to Immortals of Aveum and Skul: The Hero Slayer. Immortals of Aveum is a single-player shooter where players use magic instead of weapons. Although the thing it's most notable for is flopping upon its release, Immortals of Aveum is still a solid shooter that you might have missed out on, and you should give it a shot now that you can get it through PS Plus. Meanwhile, Skul: The Hero Slayer is a tough 2D platformer roguelike that should entertain fans of that genre for quite some time.

Gaming

PlayStation acknowledges Jak and Daxter fans with March’s PS Plus game lineup

Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier Key art

Sony today unveiled the March 2024 lineup of new games for the PlayStation Plus Premium and Extra catalog. Jak and Daxter fans, whom PlayStation and Naughty Dog rarely acknowledge, got a win today as the PSP version of Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier is getting rereleased for the first time via PlayStation Plus Premium on March 19.

Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier was released for PSP and PS2 in 2009 and is the closest thing we've ever gotten to a Jak 4. Although it's not as well-polished as Naughty Dog's trilogy, it's an important piece of Jak and Daxter history that wasn't easily playable outside of original hardware until this month. Hopefully, this sets the stage for PS Plus Premium rerelease of Daxter will eventually happen, although that isn't confirmed at this time.

Gaming

You need to try PlayStation VR2’s most psychedelic game yet

Key art for Akka Arrh shows psychedelic images.

You know that it's a busy year for gaming when a project by an industry legend launches with hardly any fanfare. That's exactly what happened in February 2023 with Akka Arrh. Created by Jeff Minter and his eccentric studio Llamasoft, the neon-tinted shooter is a remake of a 1982 Atari game that never saw the light of day after being deemed too difficult. Minter got the greenlight to revive the project, bringing it to life as a retro arcade shooter built in his unmistakable style.

While the project was exciting for game historians, it didn't exactly crack into the mainstream (it only has 37 user reviews on Steam). Thankfully, Akka Arrh getting a second chance to shine this week as its new PlayStation 5 version adds PlayStation VR2 support. While that might not be enough to make it a commercial hit, it does give PSVR2 owners a good reason to dust off their headset and check out a delightfully oddball project from one of gaming's true visionaries.
It's a trip
Akka Arrh is the rare example of a game that might be easier to explain on paper than in practice. In this throwback arcade shooter, players control a stationary ship that's tasked with protecting pods from attacking aliens. To fend off foes, players drop bombs that blow up in a different geometric pattern on each level's map. Every time an enemy touches that blast radius, it blows up in the same pattern, chaining to other enemies. The goal is to keep an uninterrupted chain going as long as possible by using a limited number of bullets to knock out foes that can't be destroyed by bombs and grabbing power-ups by hovering the cursor over them.