Tag: Reviews - Page 24
Review Shantae And The Seven Sirens - Back To Basics Brilliance Leads To A Must-Have Metroidvania
Ret-2-go!
About 20 years ago, few probably could’ve guessed that the Shantae series would be firing on all cylinders by now. The initial release of this charming Metroidvania series saw a release late in the life of the Game Boy Color and never received the spotlight it deserved, but after about a ten-year hiatus, the series came back and has been...
Review Sky Racket - A Unique Blend Of Tennis, Breakout And Bullet-Hell
A real mash-up
Shmups, Breakout, and Tennis – what do these three have in common? Before Sky Racket we were inclined to say "not much", but Double Dash studios has shown that these elements can be the ingredients to an interesting cross-genre blend. The origins of Sky Racket are very unique. Created during a 2015 event called Indies VS Gamers –...
Review Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition - A Timely Update Of One Of The Greatest RPGs Ever
We're (still) really feeling it
If you were around to browse this site about nine years ago, you may have been privy to the rising support for localization of a game called Xenoblade Chronicles. Back then, the title was just a niche Japanese RPG that Nintendo was extremely hesitant to release outside of the country, but the fans saw something in it...
Review Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted - A Largely Pointless Cash-Grab
Freddy Faz-bleh
It's often entirely possible for games designed to be played in virtual reality to be played outside of the VR headset. Trover Saves the Universe, for example, is quite plainly designed for VR, but is both playable and enjoyable without it – likewise The Persistence. But having said that, it is usually a matter of compromise...
Review Journey To The Savage Planet - No Man's Sky Meets Metroidvania
Kindred Spirits
Typhoon Studios' Journey to the Savage Planet was very well received when it originally released back in January of this year on PC and consoles; it's a genuinely funny and supremely well designed title that combines Metroidvania elements with No Man's Sky-style procuring of resources on a bizarre alien planet filled with slick...
Review Never Stop Sneakin' - An Almost-Perfect Parody Of Metal Gear Solid
Tactical Fishpionage
We recently asked if there were any Switch games we'd missed which you thought were worthy of a review. Never Stop Sneakin' was one of the most-requested games, so here we are! Humble Heart's Never Stop Sneakin' attempts to parody the PSOne-era Metal Gear Solid whilst offering up its own ra
Review Golf With Your Friends - Only Fun If You Take The Title Literally
Could've used some fore-thought
When it comes to having a fun day out with some chums you can’t beat a bit of mini-golf (or crazy golf or putt-putt, or whatever you prefer to call it). At the time of writing, however, it’s safe to say that the idea of standing in a small area next to people from a different household is frowned upon at best;...
Review Super Mega Baseball 3 - Step Up To The Plate In This Slugfest Sequel
Hitting it out of the park
For the initiated, baseball is the great American pastime. From the pang of a freshly struck home run to the smell of hot dogs wafting down from the stands, it’s the quintessential U.S. sport. Much like gridiron and basketball, the sport’s recent video game recreations have also become more focused on hyper-accurate...
Review Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Mega Mix - This Digital Diva Is Perfectly At Home On Switch
Sweet Devil
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Mega Mix sees the world's most famous virtual Vocaloid pop idol finally arrive on Nintendo Switch in an excellent portable version of the hit rhythm game series that includes a brand new Switch-exclusive art style, motion-control Mix Mode and touchscreen options that give players more ways than ever to bash...
Review SEGA AGES Thunder Force AC - Another Sega Rarity Comes To Switch
AC what they did there
In the early ‘90s, it was believed by many Mega Drive / Genesis fans that Thunder Force II, III and IV were the best examples of the shoot ‘em up genre on their system. It was hard to argue with them: the Thunder Force games delivered an awesome combination of constant action, impressive graphical trickery, ridiculous...
Review The Persistence - Firesprite's Likeable VR Horror Has Survived The Shift To Switch Perfectly
Xeroxmorph
The idea of taking a game that's been originally designed as an all-encompassing virtual reality experience and expecting it to stand tall when unplugged from that impressive virtual realm – played instead on the Nintendo Switch's dinky little portable screen or a bog-standard telly – isn't one that really fills us with much...
Review TT Isle of Man – Ride on the Edge 2 - Better Than The Original, But With Room To Improve
Manx speed
Racing games have been a staple of the games industry since its inception, but very few of these virtual drivathons have managed to truly capture the heady mix of excitement and outright fear that comes with pushing real-life machines to their absolute limit. Modern superbikes can reach incredible speeds, but most other two-wheeled racing...
Review PONG Quest - A Slapdash Attempt At Resurrecting A Gaming Classic
Same old back and forth
When it landed in arcades in 1972, Pong wasn't the first video game ever made – but Atari certainly based it on the game that was. There's a strong argument to be made that Pong needs a modern revamp more than any other gaming classic. But not like this. Not like PONG Quest. It's far from unusual to splice RPG elements...
Review Shmup Collection - A Solid Collection Of Modern 2D Shooters
Astro Port's maestro ports
It's one of gaming's greatest myths that graphics aren't as important as gameplay. Without the right kind of graphics, it's possible to depth-charge the potential of an otherwise enjoyable experience. Visuals are a crucial part of a game's feel, and a mismatch between what you're doing and how it all looks is a major...
Review What The Golf? - A Gloriously Inventive Title That's Full Of Surprises
Golf is a four-letter word
It's a strange phenomenon, but golf has always translated rather well to the noble medium of video games. Possibly because it is, in itself, a noble sport; swing a stick at things, go for a nice walk on some cool grass. Nothing to lose but your balls. It's a pursuit in which you aren't really encouraged to expect the...
Review The Elder Scrolls: Blades - A Grindy Free-To-Play Bastardisation Of Bethesda's RPG Classic
Only fit for Oblivion
The Elder Scrolls: Blades is a pretty misguided attempt on the part of Bethesda to transfer its beloved RPG franchise to the mobile, free-to-play arena. It may have been touted as something resembling a full-fat entry in the franchise prior to its initial early access release last year, but it falls far short of being anything...
Review 80's Overdrive - Warmed-Up 3DS Racer Is Outpaced By The Competiton On Switch
More vice than virtue
The ‘80s aesthetic is so overused these days that it takes something fairly spectacular to stand out in the crowd. To be fair to 80’s Overdrive, it originally launched on the 3DS back at the end of 2017, when things like that 3D purple sci-fi grid you see all the time now (and appears in this game too) were still considered...
Review Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 Road To Boruto - Naruto Fans Will Lap It Up
Storm warning
Like most ports of Japanese origin, the Nintendo Switch version of Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 Road to Boruto has taken its time to go handheld – the original launched back in 2016, and its anime film tie-in expansion a year later – but with three different story modes, and a frighteningly large number of playable...
Review The Wonderful 101: Remastered - Kamiya's Comeback Kid Lives Up To The Hype
Is it any wonder?
No game captures the ebb and flow of a titanic battle between the forces of good and evil quite like The Wonderful 101. There are dozens of almighty scraps in PlatinumGames’ idiosyncratic action game, against enemies so colossal that even your 100-strong squad feels hopelessly outmatched. And the best moment in each of them is...
Review Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee - A Technically Stunning Port Of The Worst Game In The Series
Super Meh Oddysee
The eagerly-awaited second game in the Oddworld Quintology, Xbox launch title Munch's Oddysee had a lot riding on it. Poached by Microsoft to bolster their hard-sold new console, much was expected of this long-awaited adventure; previous acclaimed title Abe's Exoddus promised Munch coming up next, with Squeek's Oddysee to follow...
Review Ion Fury - Hail To The Queen, The Old-School FPS Is Reborn
Shellshocked
Ion Fury doesn’t just love 2.5D ‘90s shooters, it is a 2.5D ‘90s shooter. Developed by Voidpoint, a studio made up of veteran Build modders (the same engine used to create Duke Nukem all those years ago) and published by none other than 3D Realms, Ion Fury has all the hallmarks of a nostalgic killing spree down memory lane...
Review Void Bastards - In Space, No One Can Hear You Chuckle
Into the Void
There's certainly no shortage of excellent roguelike titles doing the rounds on Switch just now – with the likes of Dead Cells, Enter the Gungeon, Slay the Spire and the recently released Fury Unleashed just a few examples of the very best of the genre currently available on Nintendo's console – and Bl
Review Huntdown - A Gloriously Gory Run 'N Gun Blaster
Future Warriors
On the mayhem-filled streets of a hyper-violent future version of society, marauding criminal gangs have taken control. Police are all but powerless – fighting desperately in the face of overwhelming odds – the public is in hiding and it's now down to hardcore bounty hunters with an insatiable hunger for cold-hard cash to wade...
Mini Review Jet Lancer - Outrageously Enjoyable Aerial Combat Action
I thought the only lonely place was on the moon
There's no denying the incredible impact Japanese developers have made on the shoot 'em up genre, from the foundation laid down by Space Invaders right up to more recent examples, such as the superb Rolling Gunner. The influence of Japanese design can be felt keenly in the western-developed Jet Lancer,...
Mini Review Spirit of the North - Minimalistic Mystery Mired By Myriad Mistakes
The fox and the... other fox
Since the release of the hugely popular Journey, many other games have gone down the route of minimal storytelling, focusing primarily on visuals and music to evoke emotions within the player. Spirit of the North leans heavily into this, tasking you with a very simple objective; explore the environment and solve puzzles...
Review SuperMash - A Fun Genre Mashup Idea Let Down By Poor Execution
Identity crisis
Genres are incredibly important. Not just in video games, either; whether you’re reading a book, watching a movie, or listening to some music, genres are vital in indicating what kind of experience you’re in for. SuperMash takes this idea and flips it on its head, giving you the freedom to take two distinct game genres and smash...
Review Indivisible - An Enjoyable And Beautiful RPG Hybrid With A Few Rough Edges
Taking "voices in the head" to the next level
Lab Zero Games made quite a name for itself when it first came onto the scene with the launch of Skullgirls about eight years ago, where it demonstrated a remarkable penchant for smooth 2D animation and tight combat design. A few years after its success there, the studio launched an Indiegogo campaign in...
Review Levelhead - A Wonderfully Robust And Surprising Challenger To Mario Maker
A package that delivers
Levelhead is a platform game that allows you to make your own levels, and the most fundamental issue with this is Mario Maker 2's existence. After all, the plumber and his community have had almost a full year's head start. It's a shame, but you can't really ignore the fact that Nintendo's flagship series has its own...
Review Fury Unleashed - A Gloriously Compelling Cross Between Dead Cells And Contra
The Filth and the Fury
Awesome Games' Fury Unleashed combines the ruthlessly addictive gameplay loops of the likes of Dead Cells and Enter the Gungeon with old-school, run-and-gun action platforming in the vein of the classic Contra series, resulting in one of the very best examples of the roguelite genre that's currently available on Nintendo...
Review Lonely Mountains: Downhill - A Freewheeling Downhill Delight
King of the hill
Lonely Mountains: Downhill might sound like the name of a lost chapter from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, but it's even more magical than that. It's... a mountain biking game. Now, you might not think that sounds particularly magical, and we'd be tempted to agree with you. Except that we've played Lonely Mountains: Downhill rather a...
Review Arcade Spirits - A Nostalgic Visual Novel Celebrating The Romance Of The Arcade
Find your Player Two
Joining an ever-growing list of dating sims for the Switch, Arcade Spirits is a visual novel that imagines a world in which the video game crash of 1983 never happened. Arcades are more popular now than they’ve ever been, and technology has come on leaps and bounds. Despite this, the protagonist makes a point to mention that...
Review Jay and Silent Bob: Mall Brawl - An Enjoyable 8-Bit Throwback, Warts-And-All
Licensed 8-bit beat-'em-ups don't just fall outta the sky, you know
It's appropriate that the first Kevin Smith video game is a retro throwback, because the stoner director's output has been increasingly insular in recent years. More power to him making things he wants to see, but the recent Jay and Silent Bob Reboot didn't endear us to the idea of...
Review SNK Gals' Fighters - A Simple Yet Robust Brawler Which Is Perfectly At Home On Switch
Gal power
Fighting games have always had a welcome home on handhelds – even if the genre has served up a fair share of turkeys over the decades – and 20 years ago, Japanese powerhouse SNK was doing wonders with its plucky little Neo Geo Pocket and Neo Geo Pocket Color systems. One of those little gems was SNK Gals’ Fighters, a pint-size...
Review ITTA - Beautifully-Designed Bullet-Hell Brilliance
What a rush!
ITTA is the kind of game that will make you scream with frustration as much as it’ll make you’ll whoop with joy. One of those interactive experiences that gets your adrenaline pumping like a shot of epinephrine to the heart, while simultaneously putting your Nintendo Switch at risk of being smashed to smithereens. That, of course,...
Review Battle Princess Madelyn Royal Edition - One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
Mulling over Madelyn's mulligan
Capcom's legendary Makaimura series, better known to the West under the titles Ghosts 'n Goblins and Ghouls 'n Ghosts, has been a source of inspiration to many, many pretenders throughout gaming history. Its intoxicating mixture of vivid graphics, unique levels and punishing difficulty have made it both memorable and...
Review Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope - Seven Years On, This Action Platformer Still Dazzles
Strike the earth!
About seven years ago, a small indie studio comprised of some ex-Wayforward staff began the Kickstarter campaign for Shovel Knight, a delightful love letter to fans of 8-bit gaming. The project was a fairly big deal at the time, but few could have guessed just how much staying power it would prove to have. Several spinoffs and...
Review Super Pixel Racers - Top-Down Racing Action That's Worth A Spin
Easy left, easy right
Mario Kart has taught us to expect a close-up, over-the-shoulder view of our arcade racers, but it didn't always used to be this way. Back in the NES days, the likes of R.C. Pro-Am and Super Off-Road offered a birds-eye view of the action. It's this old-school racing spirit that developer 21c. Ducks seeks to evoke with Super...
Review Dread Nautical - Damp Tactical Action Which Fails To Excite
Cruising for an eldritch bruising
You'd think being trapped on a cruise ship under the influence of some mysterious malevolent entity would engender a sense of urgency, but Dread Nautical seems content to take it easy. It's all very casual stuff. World's collapsing, sure. Lines between realities are bleeding together. Sanity's starting to look like...
Review SEGA AGES G-LOC: Air Battle - A Limited But Hugely Enjoyable Arcade Romp
The LOC of the fly-rish
It’s fair to say that the last few games in the Sega Ages series have been a little underwhelming. Not that they’ve been particularly terrible games, of course – we’re still dealing with classics from a legendary company’s archives – but the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Puyo Puyo 2 are hardly providing us...
Review Ministry of Broadcast - A Grim But Enjoyable Cinematic Platformer
"I'm not into politics. I'm into survival"
Charm goes a long way in our illustrious hobby. A game with – let's be generous – difficult mechanics can be forgiven quite a lot of sins if it's got plenty of character. Ministry of Broadcast most certainly has difficult mechanics, but it positively oozes charm. Almost every screen is interesting, the...
Review Streets of Rage 4 - A Perfect Modernisation Of A Beloved Franchise
Street Kings
It may be twenty-six years since Streets of Rage 3 released back in the spring of 1994, but jumping into this brand new chapter in the series, a joint venture between Lizardcube – makers of the excellent Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap – Dotemu and Guard Crush Games, it genuinely feels as though very little time has passed since we...
Review Telling Lies - Sam Barlow's FMV Detective Thriller Translates Smoothly To Switch
Virtual desktop
Chances are that the very screen you're reading this review on has a camera either built into the shell or sitting in close proximity, and its the notion that government agencies are capturing our every action through the devices we use everyday that gives Sam Barlow's Telling Lies its central conceit. Following the static,...
Review Moving Out - Good, Old-Fashioned Fun That Just Falls Short Of Greatness
We quite like to move it, move it
You get an idea of Moving Out's tone when you're designated a F.A.R.T in the first sixty seconds; a Furniture Arrangement and Removal Technician. Much like that joke, the game is is silly, puerile and, unfortunately, a little bit lacklustre. Taking its cues from the frantic likes of Overcooked, Moving Out sees you...
Review MotoGP 20 - Tremendous Two-Wheeled Racing Action On Your Switch
Hello, Moto
With over 25 years of experience in the racing game development scene, it’s safe to say Italian studio Milestone has cemented its place as one of its most prevalent developers. Outside of the official F1 and WRC games, it’s established a foothold in almost every facet of modern motorsport and while double-A budgets haven’t always...
Review Picross S4 - More Of The Same, But That's Fine
The strongest entry yet
The Picross series has become a rather expected staple of Nintendo’s digital release schedule by now. Every few months, you can reasonably expect another mainline entry or spin-off to show up, and you more or less know exactly what that next new entry will be offering: a substantial new set of nonagram puzzles for you to...
Review Billion Road - Like Pokémon Meets Monopoly, But Not As Cool As It Sounds
Does it deserve to Monopolise your time?
In a world where Switch owners already have access to both a serviceable version of Monopoly and Pokémon Sword and Shield, do we really need a game that combines the two? For most people, the answer is "probably not". But that's got nothing to do with Billion Road's concept, and everything to do with its...
Review Trials of Mana - Old And New Combine To Create A Fine RPG Adventure
A potent blend
It seems that Square’s cult favourite Mana series has been enjoying something of a renaissance of late, and the latest product of this resurgence is a new remake of Trials of Mana. Seiken Densetsu 3 – as it’s known in Japan – never saw a release in the west when it first debuted in the ’90s, and only got introduced to...
Mini Review Later Daters - A Poignant Dating Sim That's Over Far Too Quickly
A short-lived romance
Later Daters argues that it's never too late to find love. From developer Bloom Digital Media, you take on the role of an ageing pensioner settling into life at Ye Olde Retirement Community, where the prospect of romance fills the air. The game plays out as a visual novel, presenting you with a vast array of choices and...
Review Totally Reliable Delivery Service - Return To Sender
FedEx-cruciatingly bad
We’re quite sure game devs don’t go out of their way to make a bad game. Normally, a game’s quality – or lack thereof in many cases – is a direct result of budgetary limitations, time restrictions, unexpected bugs, and many, many more variables. It really feels, though, that We’re Five Games are playing some kind...
Review Overcooked 2: Gourmet Edition - The Perfect Recipe For Multiplayer Fun
A full course meal
After nearly two years of regular post-launch support, it seems that Team17 and Ghost Town Games are finally ‘finished’ with Overcooked 2. The developers have provided some excellent additions in the time since launch, and all of it is now being tied together with the aptly named Overcooked 2: Gourmet Edition. For the purposes...
