Football for the 2600 is... unknowable. The teams are seemingly comprised of cars with feet. After throwing the ball, it becomes the controlled playable character until it is caught. On defense, pressing the single Atari controller button seems to make your defenders flee from the opposing team. There is allegedly a way to plan your blocking formation before each play, but I couldn't for the life of me figure it out. And there's a clearly marked first down line, but I found no indication that the game counts downs at all.

EDIT: After more time playing, I discovered it does count downs, but it will flip possession seemingly at random well before a fourth down, leading to the initial confusion. It might be poor interception/fumble detection??

Truly a marvel, will play again with my kids. The game is broken. We had a blast.

This is as simple as a 1v1 sports game could ever be, yet similarly to the NES title Ice Hockey (which would release a full decade later), there's delightful competition to be found in the simplicity. The ability to steal the ball from the other player is crucial, and creates a manic back-and-forth which is nearly as fun as realizing that you can make baskets from the top or bottom of the court despite not being remotely lined up with the basket. There is no depth of field, and there is no depth of mechanics, but that effectively means the game is what you make it.

My son and I got SO LOUD playing this. We'll be coming back to this one for a long time.

Did you ever read Redwall books as a kid?

Tails of Iron absolutely RIPS. What an incredible little adventure! I didn't expect it to be what it was, and only tried it because it was a PS Plus monthly game. It's not a full-blown Metroidvania, but it borrows enough from the genre that, when combined with its solid combat-focused gameplay, it scratched the Silksong itch quite nicely.

I loved the setting and aesthetic, the art is perfectly grotty and messy, with rats, frogs, bugs, and moles cleaving heads and covering each other in viscera. The narration is also incredibly well-done, reminding me a lot of Bastion. Everything works together beautifully to create a compelling experience from start to finish, as you fight off invaders in your kingdom and rebuild what they've destroyed. The narration does a great job of describing everything from the rat protagonist's POV, and I couldn't have been more engrossed by the end.

Playing on PS5 was the right move as well, as the game makes great use of the Dualsense's adaptive triggers, and allows map navigation via the touch controls. I was a little annoyed by the rumble, however, as the intensity doesn't differentiate between getting struck by a massive boss or landing after a standing jump. But that was honestly my only negative of the entire experience, and at just under 5 hours to 100%, I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who enjoys challenging combat.

(9-year-old's review, typed by his dad)

It's very calm. Like a nature documentary. About golf!

Aahhh. Peace.

No, type "voiceless glottal stop", then "peace".

And then, I've gotten a bulls-eye before, but not on this playthrough. I started over because... I don't know why. Ah, the trees, the graphics, the music, the vibe. Very calm.