As revealed on Xbox Wire, the four Games with Gold will be available to anyone with an Xbox Live Gold or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, with Yoku’s Island Express and Hydro Thunder Hurricane available from May 1. Yoku’s Island Express is an open pinball game with Metroidvania and platform elements. Players take on the role of Yoku, a pint-sized postman who becomes a hero as he crosses and works to save Mokumana Island. We named it among our top ten games Metroidvania (which is not Metroid or Castlevania) and in our 8/10 review we said: “Yoku’s Island Express is a new Metroidvania-pinball hybrid that stands out as something completely unique and incredibly fun.” Also available on May 1st, but only until May 15th, is the Hydro Thunder Hurricane. This speedboat racing game from 2010 has not received as much favor from IGN. “Between uninspired references to the original game and its reliance on old arcade elements,” we said in our 5/10 review, of. “ Available later this month on May 16 is The Inner World – The Last Wind Monk, a sequel to the 2013 point and click adventure game. Players take on three characters – Robert, Laura and Peck the pigeon – as they begin a adventure to save their friends in a completely strange world. Last but not least, Viva Piñata: Party Animals is available the same day, but only available for two weeks until May 31st. This is not a traditional Viva Piñata game, but a party game, with various minigames in which players participate using favorite franchise characters. IGN did not like that either, as in another 5/10 review, we said: “The inherent problem that really drowns out the action in the Viva Pinata’s aesthetic successor is that the mini-games just don’t come from a fun design plan.” Be sure to redeem the April 2022 Xbox Games with Gold before leaving the service, which includes Another Sight, Hue, Outpost Kaloki X and MX vs ATV Alive. Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers tweeting to @thelastdinsdale. He will talk about The Witcher all day.
