May2021
Review Aerial_Knight's Never Yield (Switch) - A Super Stylish Yet Straightforward Runner
Super style over substance
If there's one thing that Aerial_Knight's Never Yield has got totally nailed down, it's a seriously funky sense of style. This is a super cool side-scrolling runner from Neil "Aerial_Knight" Jones that really does look and sound the absolute business. However, it's also one that's somewhat lacking in the gameplay...
October2020
Review Pumpkin Jack - The Perfect Platforming Treat For The Spooky Season
Tonnes of skele-fun
We don’t know about you, but Halloween is one of our favourite times of the year. Autumn is in full force, supermarkets are littered with skeletons and pumpkins, and it’s possibly the only time of year where it’s acceptable to watch The Exorcist on repeat while gorging on Toblerone (although you'll forgive us if that's been...
June2020
Review Colt Canyon - A Twin-Stick Roguelike With Razor-Sharp Gameplay
A Fistful of Bullets
Twin-stick shooters generally have a lot in common with one another. Most of the time, they’ll throw an absurd amount of enemies in your direction, and it’s often an exercise in basic survival against the odds, with bullets flying in every direction possible. Colt Canyon certainly displays aspects of this, but it’s an...
Review Rigid Force Redux - This Will Tide You Over Until R-Type Final 2 Arrives On Switch
R you my Type?
By the time the fifth generation of hardware arrived, 3D polygons in video games were nothing new. What changed was the available home consoles' power to manipulate them, forcing developers to adapt and evolve. Overnight, hundreds of 2D game series had full-3D makeovers with mixed success, but for the humble shmup, the move was more...
August2019
Review Vambrace: Cold Soul - A Gorgeous RPG That's Tragically Undone By Dull And Difficult Gameplay
Soul Eater
We here at Nintendo Life have something of a soft spot for 2018’s excellent roguelike RPG Darkest Dungeon. With its beautifully distinctive art style married to tight, enthralling battles which made maintaining the sanity of your party of warriors every bit as important as keeping on top of your combat strategies, it managed to walk a...
March2019
Review Windscape - A Pleasantly Laid-Back Take On A Well-Worn Genre
Gone with the Morrowind
Roaming the skyward islands of Windscape, you'll find yourself descending into a perpetual state of explorative calm. This is a world of monsters and ne'er do wells, much like any other fantasy setting with a splash of the medieval, but roaming its semi-cartoonish lands often invokes the sedate pace of Firewatch and...
August2018
Review The Inner World - The Last Wind Monk (Switch eShop)
The greatest teacher, failure is
Released day-and-date with its predecessor on Switch, The Inner World - The Last Wind Monk continues the quirky, comic adventure of the hapless-yet-endearing Robert and his sassy counterpart, Laura. This is an iteration on the point-and-click original with all its character and humour (and inscrutable puzzles), plus...
Review The Inner World (Switch eShop)
Disappoint-n-click?
Ever since touchscreens started appearing on every device in the house, the trusty adventure game has enjoyed a renaissance. We’ve seen rereleases, remasters and brand-new series take off on all platforms, and Switch is an ideal home for them. Enter The Inner World, a point-and-click adventure from German developer Studio...
July2018
Let’s get ready to Runbow
Runbow turned out to be something of a cult classic when it launched on Wii U back in 2015. Mixing a whole lot of colour, chaos, party-style fun, a generous amount of solo player content, and even a selection of favourite Nindie characters, the game was adored by those who played it and for good reason – it was...
March2018
Review Bridge Constructor Portal (Switch eShop)
A sturdy bridge between franchises
Valve’s Portal series is one that most Nintendo gamers likely never expected to see on their console, yet here we are with an oddly inventive spinoff that makes a surprising amount of sense. Bridge Constructor Portal is a puzzle game at heart, though here it trades first-person shooting for a more methodical...
October2017
Review Earth Atlantis (Switch eShop)
Go deep
From the NES heyday shoot 'em ups like Gradius, and moving through the console generations with various sequels, Nintendo players have seemingly often had a soft spot for the genre. Right up to the recent tide of Neo Geo classics released on the Switch, including Blazing Star and Alpha Mission II, the genre continues to be well represented;...
February2017
Review Toby: The Secret Mine (Wii U eShop)
Shady stuff
The Wii U eShop has played host to some wonderful indie titles over the years, and despite the console's impending retirement there's still room for another sleeper hit to offer a charming send off. With its distinctive art-style, intriguing level design and enigmatic story, Toby: The Secret Mine seemed set to impress when first...
November2015
Man of letters
Many writers daydream of their words having a powerful impact on the world; effecting change against evil and oppression. Developer Brainseed Factory has sought to adopt this concept quite literally in the form of Typoman. The bleak yet somehow achingly beautiful world of Typoman is one where letters take form and serve functions...
