It used to be that once a series was dead it stayed that way, but that’s no longer true. If a game is fondly remembered by its fans and creators then there’s a chance it might come back in some form, whether it be by Kickstarter like Shenmue, or just a long development time like Star Control: Ghosts of the Precursors. Even so it’s easy to forget the games buried in the past, just because there’s so many of them, and I’ll admit that Puzzle Quest hadn’t crossed my mind in a very long time. Puzzle Quest was an RPG mixed with a match-3 tile game, which was not only fairly revolutionary at the time it came out in 2007 but also a huge amount of fun. Puzzle Quest got a sequel in 2010 and then fell silent, and while the original is still available on Steam Puzzle Quest 2 is long gone unless you can find a physical copy on the Nintendo DS. While it’s unfortunate that the earlier games in the series are so hard to find, Puzzle Quest 3 was announced today like it hadn’t been over a decade since the last one. There’s not a lot of info about the new game, but two pieces of information pop out- It’s being developed by the studio behind the original, and will be free-to-play. So… yeah, bit of a mixed bag there. On the one hand, Puzzle Quest was fantastic and the thought of playing a new one after all this time is honestly exciting, but the prospect of “Buy gems to play more rounds today!” lessens that excitement considerably. What kind of microtransactions will be needed to support the game are completely unknown at this point, though, as it just about anything else. While there’s a lot more to learn before it comes out, for now there’s an announcement trailer with no gameplay to hint at what new systems might be hiding in Puzzle Quest 3’s depths when it comes to mobile and PC later this year.

Max Thunder will be added to Streets of Rage 4 as a new playable character. It is part of the upcoming downloadable content 'Mr. X Nightmare '. It includes three new characters - including Estel Aguirre - as well as a new survival mode, new weapons and enemies, and the ability to assign new moves to a character yourself. It is paid dlc, but there is also a free update to the game with an extra challenging level of difficulty and an extensive training mode. A release date has not yet been set, but it should be released sometime this year. Released in the early '90s, the Streets of Rage trilogy featured side-scrolling beat'em up action for two players. Streets of Rage 4 offers a similar experience. The game is available for Steam, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. Below you can see Max Thunder in action.