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Glitch Busters: Stuck on You feels like a long-lost Nintendo 64 co-op game

Despite its small library of games, the Nintendo 64 has its fair share of hidden gems. That’s especially true of its multiplayer collection, which contains a host of bizarre and charming split-screen titles. Those kinds of local multiplayer experiences are harder to come by in the age of online play, but Glitch Busters: Stuck On You might just scratch that itch.

Glitch Busters: Stuck On You - Official Announcement Trailer

Developed by Toylogic, Glitch Busters is a colorful and very family-friendly shooter about little emojis blasting glitches inside of a computer world. I went hands-on with the title at Summer Game Fest and found it to be a promising multiplayer experience. That’s thanks to creative co-op systems that put team play front and center. The secret to its success? Magnets.

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Stuck on you

In Glitch Busters, up to four players move through a colorful computer world inspired by the visual language of emojis (at one point, a giant barfing emoji started dropping purple sludge on my path). At a very basic level, it’s a third-person shooter where each player controls a pint-sized emoji face with magnets for legs. I spent my demo blasting colorful gunk and viruses while traversing a surreally constructed digital world.

Four characters stand together in Glitch Busters: Stuck on You.

Those magnet legs I mention aren’t just for show. They’re the key to the game’s creative co-op multiplayer. For one, I can press a button to magnetize to a teammate at any time. Doing so lets me skate around a stage and smash into enemies — a melee tackle that I can only perform with the help of a buddy. Beyond that, it’s just a useful tool that makes sure I’m always able to find my friends.

My favorite co-op hook, though, is that all four players can stand on top of one another to form a totem pole. At several points, I’d jump on the top of an emoji stack, safely shooting enemies as my teammates handled movement.

That system is key for building smart co-op puzzles too. In one stage, I jumped on a teammate’s head and he walked me over to a platform that neither of us could reach on my own. I expanded my magnet legs to give me extra height and then hopped up there. Doing so allowed me to toss some yellow items down to my pals to solve a puzzle below me. That little moment has me particularly excited about Glitch Busters‘ multiplayer potential, as it requires communication and teamwork to progress.

A totem pole of emojis move in 2D in Glitch Busters: Stuck on You.

Like any good multiplayer game, there’s potential for trolling too. If a friend jumps on your head, you can toss them off at any time — a powerful tool I will absolutely misuse to annoy my pals. I especially like the game’s teamwide perk system. Whenever a team can get a buff, the screen goes to a quick team vote. Players have a few seconds to vote on which of two perks the team will get for the rest of the level, like extra health. Toylogic jokes that it’ll spark some heated debates between friends.

The developers tell me that the game was inspired by Nintendo 64 split-screen games and that definitely comes through in the game so far. Its wacky visual style and commitment to local co-op play (though it can be played solo and online too) remind me of renting random games I’d never heard of from Blockbuster for a sleepover with buds. With an eight-hour campaign and a few extra modes that let players create custom challenges, I could see rekindling that innocent childhood magic when it releases.

Glitch Busters: Stuck on You doesn’t have a release date yet, but it will launch for PC, PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch.

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Street Fighter 6 does everything it needs to as Capcom’s next grand fighting game

Street Fighter 6 made a strong first impression during its State of Play gameplay unveiling. It made an equally strong impression when I went hands-on with its traditional 1v1 Fighting Ground experience at Summer Game Fest Play Days.
Thanks to the technical prowess of the RE Engine, Street Fighter 6 is a marvelous game to look at. Its gameplay is equally impressive as it’s deepened with the new Drive Gauge and Modern Control type. While being the next grand mainline entry in the most important fighting game series of all time is a tall order, Street Fighter 6 already seems prepared to take on that challenge.
A Visual Marvel
The build of the game I played let me go hands-on with four characters: Ryu, Chun-Li, Luke, and brand new character, Jamie. Ryu and Chun-Li’s redesigns look fantastic, while Luke and Jamie have distinctive styles as relative newcomers to the franchise. In general, Street Fighter 6 is an utterly gorgeous game.
Street Fighter 6 - State of Play June 2022 Announce Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games
Powered by the RE Engine behind games like Resident Evil Village, Street Fighter 6’s character models are incredibly detailed and colorful. The inner-city alleyways of Metro City and the cherry-blossom-filled Genbu Temple I fought at were vibrant and lively, and pre-game presentation always got me hyped as the Street Fighter characters pumped themselves up for the impending fight.
Fights and special moves aren’t too visually busy, so you’ll always clearly understand what moves you’re doing. Drive Impacts create gorgeous, paint-like streaks across the screen, giving these disruptive moves more satisfying visual feedback. Especially on next-gen consoles, Street Fighter 6 will be one of the prettiest fighting games ever.
Street Fighter 6 loads super fast-on PS5 too, with rematches loading nearly instantly. Those quick load times helped ensure I stuck around for even longer than my allotted demo time, but so did Street Fighter 6’s satisfying gameplay.
A delicious combo meal
Street Fighter titles have always been very lauded and popular fighting games. As genre trailblazers, the last few Street Fighters mainly focus on evolving the combo-based gameplay that sets a standard for the rest of the genre. Street Fighter 6 is no different.

You’ll punch and kick as your favorite characters, stringing together button press and stick movements to pull off wild special moves and combos. Many of the iconic combos and button presses return just as you remember them, so you shouldn’t have trouble pulling off a Hadoken a Ryu when you finally get your hands on Street Fighter 6.
In Street Fighter 6, players draw from two different gauge meters. The more traditional Super Gauge lets your character pull off their special moves. Meanwhile, the new Drive Gague lets players do up to five colorful offensive and defensive moves like the Drive Impact counter, the Drive Parry, and more. Players must manage this meter wisely, as they’ll take more damage if it fully depletes. It doesn’t revolutionize the fighting game experience but adds an exciting risk-vs-reward element to each fight.
Even though I’ve played less than an hour of Street Fighter 6, it already feels fantastic to play and like a solid evolution for this classic series. For fans that might not be as familiar with fighting games, Street Fighter 6 isn’t leaving them in the dust.
This game introduces the Modern Control type, which lets players execute special moves like the Hadoken or the Shin Shoryuken with simple button presses. Holding R2 and mashing triangle is much easier to understand than a complicated string of button press and stick movements, so fans who want to see each character’s flashiest moves should enjoy this new control scheme.

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Devolver Digital unveils a Zelda-like hybrid platformer and a glass skating game
Jot, attacking an enemy with his sword in The Plucky Squire.

As part of Summer Game Fest 2022, Devolver Digital hosted its own 30-minute showcase and delivered previews of a handful of titles to its fans. Viewers got a sneak peek at a few new games, along with more info on already-announced titles like Cult of the Lamb.

Devolver Digital is known for its special flavor of quirky, indie titles like Card Shark, the action role-playing Western Weird West, and the rouge-like deck-building game Inscryption. While Devolver didn't have any major announcements, it had a handful of fantastic-looking titles up its sleeve. Here's what was shown off during the stream.

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The Last of Us Part I is exciting, but not for the reason you think
Ellie and Riley look at each other in The Last of Us Part 1's version of Left Behind.

The Last of Us Part I, Naughty Dog's from-the-ground-up rebuild of the PS3 classic, might initially sound like one of the most unnecessary remakes ever because a fairly modern remaster of the game is available for PS4 and backward compatible with the PS5. But this remake does have some important merits that go far beyond its noticeable, but not overwhelmingly impressive visual upgrade. Namely, The Last of Us Part 1 is shaping up to be more approachable and accessible to all types of players. 
A PlayStation Blog post that followed the game's Summer Game Fest debut proclaimed that Naughty Dog "modernized gameplay, improved controls, and expanded accessibility options." Although the remake might seem unnecessary for a lot of players, those improvements will help ensure that more people than ever can experience an all-time classic for the first time. 
Approachable and accessible 
As the accessibility focused website Can I Play That? pointed out in an editorial when the remake's existence first leaked, one of the best potential aspects of a The Last of Us remake is that it would make the classic accessible to more people than ever before. 
"But I’m thinking that this could be an incredible opportunity for Naughty Dog to remake the original game while carrying the accessibility features in The Last of Us Part 2 over," Ben Bayliss wrote. "That way, disabled players who were excluded from enjoying the original game, due to it being inaccessible, will be able to experience it without those concerns of it being unplayable."
https://twitter.com/CanIPlayThat/status/1534935546341883904
The Last of Us is a truly fantastic experience, and we agree that it's only a good thing if more people than ever can play and connect with one of the best games of the last decade. The Last of Us Part I can expand upon the great visual, auditory, and gameplay-focused accessibility options from The Last of Us Part II, enabling disabled people to enjoy its predecessor in a way that was simply impossible with the 2013 original. 
For example, a high-contrast display mode renders the game in a way that makes it easier for people with visual impairments to make out what objects are. Traversal and combat audio cues and highly customizable subtitles ensure that Deaf people can still have a clear idea of everything that's happening in the game. Players could even customize how much damage they take, how aware enemies are during stealth, how scarce or common resources are, and more to make the game as easy or as tough as they needed it to be. 
Giving players the tools to make these tweaks means the whole experience will be easier to digest for players of all skill levels. These changes will redefine The Last of Us' experience more than any story and narrative changes will. If The Last Us Part I follows through with these changes, then it can show developers that accessibility options are just as, if not even more, important than vast visual changes in remakes of more modern games.
The most important changes
The Last of Us' story is so well done that the remake doesn't really need to change or expand upon it much to still be amazing. The visuals were also already great on PS3 and PS4, so the remake's glow-up isn't as impressive as something like Final Fantasy VII Remake. Because of that, The Last of Us is an odd game to remake, but will also make it a great case study that shows how adding accessibility options benefits remakes. 
Normally, remasters and remakes are judged on how significant the visual improvements are. But we're now at the point that PS3 and PS4 games that already looked great are being remade, and visual changes aren't as awe-inspiring as they once were when leaps in power between console generations were more significant. As such, more focus will be put on their gameplay tweaks.

This isn't a completely foreign concept for video game remasters and remakes. Many difficult retro games get rewind or save state features when rereleased on modern systems. These are accessibility options that ensure more people can experience the classics. The more in-depth visual, auditory, and difficulty-focused The Last of Us Part II accessibility options that we want to see in The Last of Us Part I are simply a more thorough version of this. 
Many games from the PS3 and PS4 generations lack helpful accessibility options. It's an extremely beneficial area to improve in, so it's something developers should be paying attention to as they remake games from those generations.  Accessibility options will always be something that expand the reach of a video game's audience and enable more people to enjoy fantastic games. As such, The Last of Us Part I provides the game industry with a moment to rethink what remaking games really means.
The Last of Us Part I will be released for PS5 on September 2.

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