Target Acquired: Bat Boy

Video game fans have long known that baseball bats can be used for much more than batting baseballs. We've grabbed them in Double Dragon and turned them against our fat-headed foes, imagined the adventures of Captain Baseball Bat Boy while murdering well-deserving ne'er-do-wells in Max Payne 2, and scrambled to the top of arcade leaderboards as the eponymous Ninja Baseball Bat Man. Now it's time to wreck shop as a platforming hero in Bat Boy, from Sonzai Games and X Plus Games. Bat Boy's teammates have been subjected to the Trials of Darkness by Lord Vicious (no relation), and Bat Boy sets out to rescue them, using his baseball bat to bash baddies, send guard-pigs tumbling into other enemies, deflect projectiles, and smash through destructible blocks in a variety of retro-styled environments. Boss battles pit Bat Boy against his brainwashed buddies in a baseball batting brouhaha.

The game is now available for PC via Steam, Switch via eShop, PS4 and PS5 via PSN, and Xbox One and Xbox S/X via Microsoft Store.

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Target Acquired: Shinobi non Grata

Sometimes the title of a game just jumps right up and bops you in the moon unit, and one such game is Shinobi non Grata, from Studio Pico and Esquadra. Matching that outlandish title is an equally dweezil-popping actioner with about eleventeen colors and larger-than-average sprites for such a retro-looking game. It's Japan, it's 1838, and a bunch of bad guys just made friends with some demons so they can rise to power. But a lone demon-killing shinobi stands against them... Kaina uses his murasame sword to slice through his enemies, tosses shuriken and bombs, swings a kusarigama, and makes use of a number of magical abilities, such as firing electrical bolts or creating shadow versions of himself. Fight your way through loads of baddies, traverse dangerous environments, and defeat giant demon bosses.

The game is now available for PC via Steam, and there are physical Switch and PS4 versions available to preorder via Stricty Limited Games.

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Target Acquired: Afterimage

Afterimage, from Aurogon Shanghai (game site), is an action-RPG set in an open fantasy world known as Engardin. You explore this beautiful hand-drawn landscape as an adventurer who faces off against hostile creatures, dangerous traps, and environmental challenges. You are able to equip a variety of weapons with their own attack styles, make use of magic spells, and upgrade your abilities along a skill tree to change the way you fight enemies. Per metroidvania conventions, unlocking new movement abilities allows you to see more of the world and uncover its secrets, and venture into more dangerous areas to face terrifying boss creatures.

The game is now available for PC via Steam, Switch via eShop, PS4 and PS5 via PSN, and Xbox One and X/S via Microsoft Store.

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Target Acquired: Wild Dogs

Wild Dogs is the latest from 2ndBoss, the studio behind Biolab Wars, which was an alien-blasting run-and-gunner inspired by 8-bit classics like Contra and Shatterhand. Wild Dogs is set in the same universe and takes place before the events of Biolab Wars. The game stars Frank "Pumpkinhead" Williams and his trusty companion, Freddy, the dog from the previous game who wore a mech suit. This time around, it's not all about running and shooting... shmupping and stealth puppering are mixed in with the sidescrolling shooter action as the player takes control of a jet, a motorcycle, and a dog-driven mech suit. Blast alien soldiers, shoot down powerful spacecraft, and obliterate gigundus bosses.

The game is now available for PC, Mac, and Linux via Steam, Switch via eShop, PS4 and PS5 via PSN, and Xbox One and X/S via Microsoft Store.

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Target Acquired: Moons of Darsalon

Moons of Darsalon is a retro-style rescue-based actioner from Dr. Kucho! Games that is set in the same universe - and in some of the same environments - as their previous release, Pilots of Darsalon. However, instead of piloting a spaceship down into caverns, you play as a "darsanaut" who must rescue lost miners. You have a laser gun for blasting enemies, a jet pack for environmental traversal, and a pair of tools that allow you to destroy or create terrain. You'll need to give the miners some direction to help them get back to safety, so you can issue commands to make them follow you, wait, or head in a specific direction. In addition to the on-foot action, you pilot some vehicles, such as a flying personnel carrier and a 6-wheel all-terrain transport truck. You must blast enemy aliens, spaceships, and vehicles while dodging projectiles and watching that you don't fall to your death in one of the many chasms. There are some modern lighting effects and a physics engine that impacts how characters, vehicles, and liquids interact with the environment, but the game leans hard into its gritty 8-bit computer aesthetic with retro-style filters, music, and speech synthesis.

The game is now available for PC and Mac via Steam.

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