Games of the week – 51 Worldwide Games, Tour de France 2020, Red Wings: Aces of the Sky and Towers of Everland
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51 Worldwide Games
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Genre: Board game / party
Price: £34.99
The ‘Netflix’ of classic games
Nintendo has always been good at turning something basic around and making it fun, even if it’s been around for years – and 51 Worldwide Games is no exception. Prepare to find a range of well-known classics from your part of the globe, such as Black Jack and Ludo, but also to discover titles less known to you from other parts. While you can play the game’s bot, it is best played with others – either locally or online (quite useful during lockdown). Each is beautifully designed to be fully interactive and includes a short, snappy tutorial, providing everything you need to know. Things get really interesting with motion control games including darts and bowling, which is seriously good entertainment as the direction you hold and aim the controllers in the air determines whether you’ll win, as in real life – it all feels very Wii for 2020, and we love it. The history element to it, teaching you about the background of games, is a nice light educational touch Nintendo has found a real strong niche in over recent years.
Skip to the end: A modern twist on old classics, ideal for playing with others when separated physically, 51 Worldwide Games offers plenty to choose from, all delivered in an accessible, pleasing to the eye package.
Score: 10/10
Tour de France 2020
Platform: Xbox One, PlayStation 4
Genre: Sport
Price: From £44.99
Allez!
While the actual sporting event has been cancelled, fans can still get a flavour of things virtually through this year’s Tour de France 2020 which has a number of improvements from previous years. First up, Liège-Bastogne-Liège – aka The Old Lady – a 266km race of steep climbs in Belgium, has been added, as well as a tidier interface allowing gamers to better understand their progress through the race. The time-trial has been refined, factoring in crucial real-life considerations such as posture and sprint management, on your path to success. Though the graphics are smooth and improved using a first-person camera, they remain far from realistic. Attention to finer details, such as teams wearing their official jerseys, is a welcome sign.
Skip to the end: An improvement on last year’s offering, with noticeable work on graphics and features.
Score: 7/10
Red Wings: Aces of the Sky
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Genre: Arcade
Price: £17.99
Take to the skies
Red Wings: Aces of the Sky gives us a flavour of World War I air combat with a comic-style twist and more than 50 missions to carry out in the main campaigns mode. The idea is very straightforward – shoot down your enemies and reign supreme over the skies, collecting stars for your successes which go towards unlocking skills and upgrades. There are elements which spice things up a little, such as the fact your machine gun will heat up, so don’t go firing senselessly. There’s also a barrel roll, squad attack, a quick turn, and an aerial coup de grace to help you out along the way. Although the game is fun on the surface, it quickly becomes repetitive and loses its initial sparkle. The added bonus of a survival mode, where you have to defend against a wave of planes, provides some extra air, but not enough to keep Red Wings: Aces of the Sky airborne.
Skip to the end: A fun but repetitive arcade title, visually on point with comic-style art but lacking in the story department.
Score: 7/10
Towers of Everland
Platform: iOS
Genre: Adventure
Price: £4.99 per month with Apple Arcade
An adventure not unlike previous attempts filled with monsters, Towers of Everland throws its weight behind the first-person dungeon crawler concept, as you seek to rebuild the Great City. All the usual hallmarks are there – chopping down monsters, avoiding tramps, uncovering loot and upgrading your gear – which helps the game maintain some replay-ability. Each movement is gesture-based. Rather handily in the world of mobile, the game can be played in either landscape or portrait mode.
Skip to the end: Easy-to-understand but lacks real originality from what we have seen in this space before, but that doesn’t prevent it from being good fun.
Score: 7/10
