Star Renegades

While visually charming, the true artistry in this strategy game lies in the combat. Star Renegades has that old-school pixelated look that lets parties run across a map before leaping into side-scrolling combat for the turn-based battles. The game is big on storyline, featuring its share of emotion during key plot moments, and it increases your frustration when a party member -- one you've grown attached to -- dies in battle and is resurrected by the enemy as an officer to fight against you. It starts out slowly, explaining the mechanics of the combat system (the adventuring/exploration side is simply point-and-click) and then ramps up to present waves of enemies that get tougher and require more thought to fight.

The turn-based combat happens along a timeline, and if they're paying attention, players can see what the enemy's gearing up to do and can either interrupt or counter, which is vital to success. A successful interrupt or counter can deliver a CRIT attack that does major damage, making combat feel more thoughtful. There were some moments when commands seemed unresponsive, which was mildly annoying, but in combat, where tactics mean everything and a wrong click can force a restart, this is maddening. Taken individually, the elements are solid, but collectively -- from the graphics to the storyline and combat -- this is a challenging and enjoyable game. Losing team members to the enemy can be frustrating, and there are some fights that seemingly can't be won, but overall, Star Renegades is a solid game to jump into and explore in either small or bigger play sessions.