QCF: Big Hops

The legacy of Super Mario Sunshine is such a polarizing 3D Mario game to look back it, and it isn’t an entry that’s often romanticized for its jumping physics either. At its core, Sunshine does have an admittedly solid foundation behind its snappier controls, which give the title a distinctive ebb and flow to its respective platforming mechanics, setting it apart from the other entries in the series. However, when that same series has some heavy hitters like Super Mario Odyssey and Super Mario 3D World, it starts to make sense why Super Mario Sunshine is widely considered to be at the bottom of that class too.

And yet—the entry still has its fans—one of whom felt inspired to recreate many of those quirky fundamentals from the Gamecube exclusive into a new 3D platforming adventure that would take influences from other contemporary titles, and blend them together with modern sensibilities to their design to create something that’s new yet familiar.

This game is Big Hops, and it comes from the mind of Chris Wade and his studio, Luckshot Games. After breaking onto the scene with their debut, Gang Beasts-inspired party game in 2018, Wade and his team hustled onto their next project and spent six years working on their sophomore release, Big Hops.

The end result is a charming, yet flawed, outing into an expansive open-world adventure that presents an interesting take on the theme of questioning what exactly makes an adventure so magical to experience—the destination or the journey. The message is poignant in its delivery and makes for a fun time, even if it occasionally stands at odds with the gameplay from time to time, as the game is more of a jaunt than a crusade.

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PPR Presents Limelight: Absolum

e just did out 2025 Golden Zonkies for 2025, and you know what we picked for our Game of the Year award? The incredible roguelite beat’em up from DotEmu, Guard Crush, and Supamonks, Absolum! Andrew and George can’t get enough of this game and now they’re going to try and get a successful run on stream for Limelight!

Be sure to tune in to our Twitch or YouTube  at 11:45 AM PST on 02/01/2026 to watch George and Andrew take down Azra ! You can check out the streams here or directly on our Twitch and YouTube channels, and vibe along with us as we work towards ushering in a new age of Limelight for y'all!

QCF: Yooka-Replaylee

n an age where we can still get sequels or remakes for IPs that have been dormant for decades, like Pocky & Rocky, Joe & Mac, Snow Bros., or the anomaly that keeps coming back, Bubsy, there’s a certain Bear and Bird duo that hasn’t been active since their weird build-a-car stint that was exclusive to the Xbox 360. The furry pair have left a near-indomitable mark on the 3D Platformer genre, so much so that a big chunk of the development team that worked on the property went on to pitch a spiritual successor through the crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter, and were able to successfully release an entirely new property, Yooka-Laylee.

Despite getting enough traction to release an arguably more beloved side-scrolling sequel that paid homage to another classic from their old stomping grounds, Donkey Kong Country, the response to the original Yooka-Laylee was a bit more polarized than anticipated. I, for one, enjoyed it for what it was, but also felt like it didn’t quite add up to the sum of its parts, especially when the core idea seemed to revolve around the idea that “bigger means better.” As time went on, though, every attempt to revisit the game after my first run of it gradually soured me more and more with each return to it—the juice it promised just didn’t have the shelf-life I thought it would.

Yooka-Replaylee, swings back hard on this oversight by unfolding the dense origami-like world design of the original into a more fleshed-out version that unlocks all of the expansive nooks and crannies into a more seamless, open-world experience, and that’s just one of many upgrades and improvements to be found in this revamped take of the 3D platformer throwback.

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PPR Presents Limelight: Mortal Kombat II for the 3DO

ith all of the hype around the Mortal Kombat Legacy Collection (and ting of controversy over its input lag issues) we thought that instead of going the more sensible, topical route, we would do something completely different and dumb instead—like streaming the port of Mortal Kombat II developed for the 3DO!

An independent developer by the name of “3DO HD” has been putting in 2+ years of work on a “retail-grade” version of the arcade classic for the 3DO, including new bespoke features that are original to the game like new stages and gameplay modes! George is again on the sticks, and he’s had a lot of good things to say about it, so we’re excite about the bloody good time in store for this entry of Limelight!

Be sure to tune in to our Twitch at 8:15 PM PST on 11/10/2025 to watch this elseworlds-ass port of a killer game for niche console! You can check out the streams here or directly on our Twitch channel, and vibe along with us as we work towards ushering in a new age of Limelight for y'all!

QCF: Elsie

t’s often said that necessity is the mother of invention, and in the case of the dispiriting limbo that Capcom has planted the Blue Bomber in, the iconic robot’s absence has encouraged multiple studios and visionaries to step up and deliver an experience not all too dissimilar to that of the Mega Man effect. With the rare exception of 2018’s Mega Man 11, the super fighting robot has been mainly relegated to nostalgia collections or vanity cameos, and the weight of his “pew-pew” gameplay has been carried on by a variety of indie developments or community efforts.

This new influx of games, however, has also encouraged studios to do more than a superficial spin on the trademark Run’nGun formula, with select titles really showing off the timeless potential of Mega Man-inspired side-scrolling action. One of which is Elsie, an independently developed adventure starring a larger-than-life, mascot-pilled android made by Knight Shift Games and published by Playtonic's new publishing branch, “Playtonic Friends.” As the fourth game to be supported by Playtonic’s offshoot publication label, Elsie offers many familiar dynamics that more resemble the feel of the Mega Man X series than its 8-bit counterpart, only with a Rougelike twist on the setup. While this territory isn’t exactly uncharted with 20XX and 30XX making waves in the subgenre, Elsie sinks its teeth more into the character-driven spectacle its inspiration is famous for, with a side of frenetic bullet action that blends into something like Mega Man X meets SuperGiant Games’ Hades.

I say this with my whole chest and every heavy breath huffed in—words really can’t serve justice to what Knight Shift Games has done with those mechanics—I genuinely believe that Elsie breathes a whole new sense of life into some admittedly fatigued concepts by delivering an immaculate sense of game feel and presentation that I haven’t experienced in years.

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QCF: Dragonborne

t isn’t too often that you see a brand new Gameboy game released, let alone in the same year that we see next-generation hardware launch but that just goes to show just how powerful the how well Nintendo’s trademark handheld still holds up.

Despite the strength of the Game Boy’s legacy though, some novel ideas, as unique as they may be, can still find a way to disappoint even the most open-minded of players—that’s Spacebot Interactive’s Dragonborne.

While this new top-down RPG adventure does an admirable job of paying tribute to the Game  Boy classics that came before it, Dragonborne’s individual spin on these familiar tropes ends up being nothing short of tedious at best, and just plain boring at worst.

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PPR Presents Play Play: Titan Souls

he thrill of pushing against overwhelming odds to the brink of death is a fantasy that anyone fan of a good action tale can relate to, but there is such a thing as overkill, and Titan Souls is a prime example of running a bit too far with the concept.

Join George and Ser as they stumble through the pixelated ruins of giants and monsters in Acid Nerve’s Titan Souls, and try to make sense of all death suffered in the process—it’s the kind of shit that will break you from the start.

Mail us at our new email Mailbag@presspauseradio.com, leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

PPR Presents Play Play: Tiny Dangerous Dungeons

hile it’s easy to dismiss the vast majority of retro-inspired indie love letters available as of late, I feel like the sentiment is still far from accurate. It’s kind an almost-trend of where the accusations of pandering or creative stagnation flood the discussion of this pseudo sub-genre, and  hopping on board with the consensus is one of the more common displays of low-hanging fruit that I’ve seen on both the community, and industry fronts of video games today.

Which is why it warms the heart to seen a game that’s solid enough to stand as an exception to that very inclination, and Tiny Dangerous Dungeons from Adventureislands is that title. This particular Play Play is solo one with George at the helm, as he wanted to share the game with everyone in a way where the a video was the better format over a “Late To The Party” feature when it comes down to conveying all the thoughts he has about it. Enjoy the sporadic Play Play and be sure to find the game and buy it to support the developer if you like what you see in the video!

Mail us at our new email Mailbag@presspauseradio.com, leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!