April2024
Review Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath Of The Mutants (Switch) - Coin-Op Co-Op Cowabummer
Not quite a cowablunder
Can you ever truly have too much of a good thing? If you’re a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan, this question must have sprung to mind at least once in recent years. Because in truth, the good things have been coming thick and fast. 2022 brought arguably the series' best beat 'em up ever in Shredder's Revenge and gave us a...
November2023
Review The Walking Dead: Destinies (Switch) - One Of The Worst Games Of The Year
Integrity Gone Bye
There’s a moment during a particularly grueling fourth-season episode of The Walking Dead in which our protagonist, Rick Grimes, is appealing to the humanity of a man holding a samurai sword against a kind, gentle farmer’s throat. Getting more desperate by the second, he says “We can still come back, we’re not too far...
Review DreamWorks All-Star Kart Racing (Switch) - Ain't The Sharpest Tool In The Shed
They put a Shrek in it
Given that he’s an internet icon these days and the star of countless memes, it’s a bit of a surprise that it’s taken this long – 12 full years, in fact – to find a way to get Shrek into another video game. The last title to feature the onion-layered ogre was DreamWorks Super Star Kartz, released by Activision in...
Review Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 - A Poor Switch Port Of A Promising Platform Pounder
All-Star Bawl
Just two years after the release of Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, the Nicktoons have been thrust together once again in the name of licensed platform fighting, of all things, in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2. The original was a solid outing with deep mechanics, but was held back by a lack of polish outside of gameplay, and although...
November2022
Review Cobra Kai 2: Dojos Rising (Switch) - A Good Idea Very Poorly Executed
Full of Kreeses
The magical appeal of Cobra Kai as light entertainment is that it’s totally aware of what it is: garbage. It’s Sunset Beach crossed with Saved By The Bell, driven by the one-note parody of Johnny Lawrence being stuck in the '80s. For anyone old enough to remember the original Karate Kid movies, there’s a throwback attraction...
October2022
Review Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway (Switch) - Slams The Series Into Reverse
"No sir, I don't like it"
Usually when a licensed karting game is released, it’s a one-and-done affair. Cram a load of well-known characters into tiny cars, fling them around a bunch of courses, collect the money and punt them out the door. In that sense, you’ve got to give credit to developer Bamtang and publisher GameMill for holding firm and...
October2021
Review Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl (Switch) - A Strong Platform Fighter With Polish Problems
It's better than bad, it's good
Licensed games have a history of being largely a bit pants. There are notable exceptions of course, but for every Goldeneye 007 or SpongeBob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom there’s fistloads of the likes of M&Ms Kart Racing, Superman 64, and the Wii version of Iron Man.
November2020
Review Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues - A Surprisingly Decent Belt-Scrolling Brawler
Just remember, licence never replace eye, ear, brain
The Karate Kid movie series always seemed like a bit of a hard sell to this writer. Not to detract from the inarguable skill of said Kid, but there are plenty of films out there starring at least one Karate Adult. It stands to reason that the Karate Adult would simply be better at Karate than the...
November2018
Review Nickelodeon Kart Racers - A Poor Man's Mario Kart That Squanders Its Potential
"I'm ugly and I'm proud"
Over the years, Nickelodeon has amassed quite a varied and deep stable of entertaining cartoon franchises, with characters like Spongebob Squarepants and Aang becoming cultural icons that are recognized the world over. It stands to reason, then, that the company could produce a solid kart racer in the vein of Mario Kart;...
November2017
Review Cartoon Network: Battle Crashers (Switch)
"Suckin' at something is the first step to being sorta good at something"
There’s definitely a weird charm to Cartoon Network’s original programming that plays to the sensibilities of children today but also harkens back to animated shows of yore. They’re pithy in their delivery of laughs, willing to riff off of in-show in-jokes and are even a...
Review Monster Jam: Crush It! (Switch)
A giant flat tire
Even to someone without an earnest interest in them, monster trucks are an awe-inspiring sight. The giant wheels, the loud engine and a gauche chassis upholding a crazily designed body scream power both literally and figuratively. It’s not hard to imagine wanting to drive one, jumping over destroyed cars and hills whilst the...
