Galak-Z: The Dimensional; Curses 'n' Chaos; The Bridge, gaming reviews

The latest indie game eschews traditional level design

Galak-Z plugs directly into the nostalgia nerve of every 80s Japanese cartoon fan

Galak-Z: The Dimensional

****

PS4 (£15.99)

A top-down space shooter with an anime art style, Galak-Z is the latest indie game to eschew traditional level design for randomly generated environments. It's a game that relies on raw skill, rather than memorisation. A tough game, but rarely unfair. The plethora of ship upgrades evens the playing field, and each death feels like a lesson learned, rather than a punishment. With the ability to convert your ship into a laser-sword-wielding robot in later levels, it wears its influences on its metal sleeve, plugging directly into the nostalgia nerve of every 80s Japanese cartoon fan.

Jack Turner

Curses 'n' Chaos

****

PC, Mac, PS4, Vita (£6.99)

Do you like brawling? Do you like alchemy? Do you like… dancing? Curses 'n' Chaos is for you. Fight swarms of monsters as Leo or Lea, collecting items and coins, as you battle your way through the land cursed by the Wizard King. It's not an easy game, with a repetitive structure – essentially, you keep trying each level, getting slowly further by collecting better things and knowing how to defeat each monster. This is also what makes it addictive.

James Tennent

The Bridge

***

Wii U (£8.99)

Inspired by the perspective-bending lithographs of MC Escher, The Bridge is a 2D puzzle game where tilting the GamePad rotates the world beneath your feet. An appropriately Newtonian opening sees an apple fall from a tree onto the head of our snoozing protagonist, waking him for a journey through 24 levels of increasingly warped scenery. Players must navigate monochrome landscapes full of trick staircases and creeping menace. With hand-drawn visuals and a soundtrack of haunting strings, it's only let down by its storyline.

Sam Gill