video game,star wars video gamesDonkey Kong Bananza Owes A Lot To A Longtime Xbox Studio

Donkey Kong may have been Nintendo's first breakout star, but for decades, the character was more commonly associated with other developers than he was with his creators. While numerous studios have put out Donkey Kong titles over the years, the simian really came into his own under the stewardship of Rare, who reinvented the character with 1994's seminal Donkey Kong Country. Though it hasn't been involved with the series since the early 2000s, Rare's work was so beloved that it effectively defined Donkey Kong for the next two decades--and that influence can still be felt throughout the newly released Donkey Kong Bananza.

It's surprising how much of Rare's DK survived in Bananza. Despite some visual references to past Donkey Kong titles, everything Nintendo had shown off leading up to the game's launch suggested it would be a complete reboot of the series. Even beyond the lore implications of Donkey Kong teaming up with an inexplicably young Pauline, Bananza's freewheeling, destructive gameplay and subterranean setting are a marked departure from the Donkey Kong Country of old, giving the game a flavor and identity that's wholly distinct from every DK title before it.

This first impression is not entirely off the mark; right from the outset, Bananza feels like a new direction not just for the character, but the series as a whole. While the game boasts plenty of platforming challenges to overcome, its core loop revolves around smashing your way through dense environments, using DK's mighty strength to carve up the terrain and unearth hidden collectibles. It makes for a decidedly different gameplay experience than previous Donkey Kong titles. And yet, despite this stark change in direction, Bananza still retains a number of elements that Rare's Donkey Kong games pioneered.

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video game,star wars video gamesBirdigo Is Like A Combination Of Balatro And Wordle, And It's Out Now

What do you make when you combine Scrabble, Wordle, and Balatro? It's Birdigo and it's out now. This single-player word and deckbuilding game combines elements from those games, guiding a flock of birds on a global migration by forming words from a deck of letter cards. Each word propels the flock forward, with longer or more strategic words generating more "flaps," which determine how far the birds travel.

Gameplay centers around building words using a hand of letter cards drawn from your evolving deck. Some cards come with special abilities and certain letter combinations that can dramatically increase your score. As the game progresses, you collect new cards, upgrades, and modifiers like enchanted feathers or bird songs that change the rules in your favor. The key is to balance word-building with careful deck management to keep your flock moving along.

Help birds migrate using big words.
Help birds migrate using big words.

Birdigo uses roguelike mechanics, so each game is a fresh run with randomized elements, and the challenge increases the further you get. You'll face progressively harder levels and need to adapt your strategy based on the cards you collect and the goals of each round. The objective is to travel as far as possible and rack up a high score before your flock can no longer continue.

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video game,star wars video gamesCoD: Warzone Is Making A Major Change To The Stadium With Season 5

Call of Duty's big new Season 5 update is coming soon, and it includes a major change for Warzone. Activision has announced that the stadium is opening up to become a new playable space.

Activision is also debuting a new mode, Stadium Resurgence. A 36-player mode, Stadium Resurgence is described as a "rapid action mode" where the skirmishes come fast on a smaller section of the overall map focused on the stadium itself. The mode debuts during the second full week of Season 5.

The stadium is opening.
The stadium is opening.

The publisher also teased something bigger for the stadium, saying a "massive disruption across Verdansk is imminent," along with an image of a red beam shooting down from the sky.

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