Gaming Archive
All 143 Gaming articles, newest first — page 1 of 3. Back to the Gaming overview.
Star Fox on Switch 2 remakes the N64 classic Lylat Wars with stunning visuals, a thrilling score, and smart new cutscenes. The comeback dads have been waiting for.
Which Zelda games actually work for kids? An honest, ranked guide to the gentlest entry points and the genuinely co-op ones.
Never played a Zelda? Here are the five best on-ramps into Hyrule, matched to the kind of dad-gamer you actually are.
The official Zelda timeline, untangled. Lore order, release order, and the order a busy dad should actually play them in.
A dad's look back at the 1986 original: the cartridge that invented the open world, a battery save, and the joy of getting lost. Still genius. Rated 10/10.
The 3DS sequel to A Link to the Past: the same beloved Hyrule, the genius wall-merging mechanic, and an item-rental system that gave players total freedom. Rated 10/10.
The SNES classic that perfected Zelda: the Light and Dark World, flawless dungeon design, and a game you can still play perfectly today. A timeless 10/10.
The first mainline game starring Princess Zelda: summon echoes of objects and monsters to solve a creative, sandbox-style Hyrule in a charming toy-like world. Rated 9/10.
An honest overview of Zelda II — the franchise's bold black sheep. Side-scrolling, RPG-driven and famously tough. The one mainline Zelda I haven't yet played.
Zelda's first handheld outing: a dreamlike, melancholy Game Boy classic set on Koholint Island that proved the series could shine off the TV. Rated 9/10.
The 2019 ground-up remake of the Game Boy classic: Koholint Island reborn in a gorgeous toy-like diorama style, with quality-of-life fixes and the same unforgettable heart. Rated 10/10.
The dark, weird, brilliant N64 sequel: three days, a falling moon, and a doomed land to save on a loop. The boldest Zelda ever made. Rated 9/10.
The N64 game that defined 3D adventure: Z-targeting, time travel, Hyrule Field and one of gaming's greatest stories. For many of us, the best game ever. 10/10.
The DS sequel to Wind Waker: a fully stylus-controlled Zelda with touch sailing, map-drawing puzzles and one genuinely jaw-dropping use of the hardware. Rated 10/10.
The chronological beginning of the Zelda saga: motion-controlled swordplay, the floating islands of Skyloft and the origin of the Master Sword. Refined on Switch. 9/10.
The DS sequel to Phantom Hourglass: Link drives a train across the land, and Princess Zelda finally becomes a true companion. Charming and clever. Rated 9/10.
The darker, grown-up Zelda: a moody, realistic Hyrule, the transforming Wolf Link, and Midna — the best companion in the series. A gothic epic. Rated 9/10.
The cel-shaded GameCube ocean epic: mocked at reveal, beloved ever since. A timeless art style, a vast sea to sail, and Zelda's most charming Link. Rated 9/10.
Our Halo 2 review. Why Bungie's 2004 sequel — dual wielding, the Arbiter, the birth of Xbox Live multiplayer — is the perfect shooter and a 10/10.
Our Halo 3: ODST review. Why the moody, jazz-scored spin-off that drops the Spartan armor for a human soldier is one of the saga's hidden gems — a 9/10.
Our Halo 3 review. Why Bungie's 2007 finale — four-player co-op, Forge, Theater, the perfect ending — is a 10/10 and the co-op crown of the saga.
Our Halo 4 review. Why 343's first Halo — a stunning, emotional Chief-and-Cortana story with new enemies — is a strong 8/10 start to the Reclaimer saga.
Our Halo 5: Guardians review. Why 343's 2015 entry pairs the best Halo arena multiplayer in years with a misfiring campaign — a divisive but solid 8/10.
Our review of Halo: Combat Evolved. Why the 2001 launch game that sold the original Xbox is still a 10/10 and the blueprint for console shooters.
Our Halo Infinite review. Why 343's grappleshot-powered, open-world return — the best Halo gunplay in years despite a rocky launch — earns a strong 8.5/10.
Our Halo: The Master Chief Collection review. Six Halo games at 60fps with split-screen, all on Game Pass. The best value in gaming — and what it leaves out.
Our Halo: Reach review. Why Bungie's final, emotional Halo — a doomed prequel with the series' best multiplayer and a gut-punch ending — earns a 9/10.
A complete guide to the Halo saga. Every mainline game and spin-off ranked, with play order, ratings, and where Master Chief's story still shines.
Our Halo Wars 2 review. Why the bigger, sharper console RTS sequel that introduces Atriox and the Banished — and bridges to Halo Infinite — earns an 8/10.
Our Halo Wars review. Why Ensemble's spin-off cracked the impossible — a real-time strategy game that genuinely works on a controller — and earns an 8.5/10.
Our review of Assassin's Creed II — the game that fixed everything the original got wrong and launched the franchise's golden era with Ezio Auditore.
Our review of Assassin's Creed Brotherhood — peak Ezio in Rome, where you stop being a lone assassin and rebuild an entire Brotherhood of your own.
Our review of the Ezio Collection — AC II, Brotherhood, and Revelations. The golden era of Assassin's Creed, before it ballooned into a giant RPG.
Our review of Assassin's Creed Revelations — Ezio's swan song in Constantinople, tying together his story and Altair's into a moving farewell.
Rocksteady's 2009 debut invented FreeFlow combat and predator stealth, and finally made a Batman game feel like the Dark Knight. An honest 9/10.
Rocksteady took Arkham Asylum's perfect formula and opened it into a dense slice of Gotham. Arkham City is the peak of the trilogy and one of the best superhero games ever.
Our Batman: Arkham Knight review. Rocksteady's technically stunning finale opens all of Gotham, but the Batmobile dilutes the combat that made the series great.
Our review of Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham trilogy. FreeFlow combat, predator stealth, and the games that finally made you feel like the Dark Knight.
Cyberpunk 2077 turned a rocky launch into one of the most cinematic open-world stories in gaming. Night City is dense, gorgeous, and built for late nights.
Sucker Punch's Ghost of Tsushima is a breathtaking feudal Japan epic. Jin Sakai's journey from samurai to the Ghost is gorgeous, soulful, and slightly repetitive.
Santa Monica Studio reinvented Kratos as a weary father. God of War (2018) is a single-shot epic about a dad, his son, and the best axe in gaming.
Our combined review of God of War (2018) and Ragnarok. A grumpy god raising a boy, the best axe in gaming, and one of the most Dadnology stories ever told.
Our review of God of War Ragnarok. A bigger, bolder conclusion to the Norse saga across all nine realms, with the best axe-and-blades combo in gaming.
A full-franchise GTA retrospective. We rank every mainline Grand Theft Auto from the top-down original to GTA V, with one dad's honest verdict.
The 1997 top-down original that lit the fuse for the most important open-world franchise in gaming. A crude, chaotic relic worth respecting.
GTA 2 perfected the top-down formula and hinted at the systemic ambition GTA III would explode into 3D. A crude but fascinating 7/10.
GTA III dragged the series into full 3D and invented the modern open world. Historically towering, mechanically dated - an honest 8/10.
Rockstar's most serious GTA. Niko Bellic chases the American dream in a reborn Liberty City, powered by the era-defining Euphoria physics engine.
Rockstar's Los Santos is a satirical masterpiece told through three protagonists. A phenomenal single-player held just shy of perfect by GTA Online's grind.
GTA San Andreas crammed an entire state into a PS2 disc. We revisit CJ's story, the RPG systems, and why it's the most ambitious GTA of its era.