Late to the Game(s) - Retro! Reissued! Remastered! Oh my!

  Sonic the Hedgehog turns 30 this year. If he were human, the eponymous speedster – “born” today, June 23, 1991, when his first game released for Sega Genesis – would be a Millennial. Like his much maligned generation, while you may love him or hate him, there is no denying the speedy blue hedgehog’s cultural significance.  That original Sonic the Hedgehog game has spawned a number of sequel games, in addition to a comic book series published by Archie Comics, at least two animated shows (the original, poorly drawn cartoon featuring the voice of Steve Urkel, Jaleel White, and a later series with higher production value and an anime inspired style), and a live action/CGI movie.  The story told over the course of those games, shows, comics, and film is convoluted, inconsistent, and sometimes downright confusing. The basic premise is that Doctor Robotnik, née Eggman, is an evil genius who wants to take over the world (or the multiverse) and Sonic and friends have to...

Exploring the myths and legends of India Some games are hard to put down. You know you have work to do. You know you have limited time to finish it. But you want to try just one more time to take down that boss before you take a break.  Raji: An Ancient Epic is one of those games. Available now on the Nintendo Switch , and launching later this year on other major platforms , Raji is one of the more compelling button smashers I've played in a while. It tells the story of our eponymous hero, the acrobat Raji, and her brother Golu, a puppeteer. The carnival performers are in the midst of celebrating the feast of Rakhsha Bandhan when the story Golu has been telling, about the rise and  fall of a race of demons, comes to life. Golu, wearing a demon mask to startle the other children watching his puppet show, finds himself swept up by actual demons who are stealing away the children for an as yet unnamed purpose. It's then that our heroine is chosen by the goddess Durga to fight ...