Tag: Reviews - Page 11
Review Shadowrun Returns (Switch) - A Fine Game Scuppered By A Poor Switch Port
Cyberjank
Harebrained Schemes' Shadowrun Returns first released back in 2013 after a successful Kickstarter campaign that saw its intriguing cyberpunk-meets-fantasy world drop onto PC and mobile devices, indeed we first played through this one and its superior sequel on our phones and they were an absolute delight. Set in the same universe as the...
Review Shadowrun Trilogy (Switch) - A Fantastic Trio Utterly Let Down By Shoddy Ports
Run down
Harebrained Schemes' superlative Shadowrun Trilogy first released back in 2013 after a successful Kickstarter campaign that saw its intriguing cyberpunk-meets-fantasy world drop onto PC and mobile devices. Set in the same universe as the long-running Shadowrun tabletop RPG series, this is a trio of games that take place in a delightfully...
Review Capcom Fighting Collection (Switch) - An Essential Buy For One-On-One Fighting Fans
It’s a Graveyard Smash
Capcom was a king of the nascent arcade industry back in the 1980s. An innovator, a game-changer, its invention within the fighting game genre remains unsurpassed. The company isn't new to releasing retro collections, with close to 30 compilations across various platforms. With newer hardware, however, there’s a more...
Review Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes (Switch) - Musou Magic That Ranks Among The Best
Dynasty Worriers
With the success of the likes of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Persona 5 Strikers and, of course, 2017's Fire Emblem Warriors on Nintendo Switch, it should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone that Omega Force, the developer behind the long-running Warriors franchise, is intent on continuing to serve up more zany crossovers
Review Fall Guys (Switch) - The World’s Most Chaotic Game Show Lands On Switch, Now F2P
Beyond Blunderdome
Fall Guys was a surprise hit back in 2020. The then-indie developer Mediatonic’s take on the battle royale genre starring those funny little jellybean characters took the world by storm during the height of the COVID pandemic. After an almost two-year wait and coinciding with its free-to-play launch, Fall Guys has finally landed...
Review Final Vendetta (Switch) - A Violent Love Letter To '90s Arcade Brawlers
Those fists were fast as lightning
Do you wake up each morning with a desire to beat the living hell out of street-roaming criminals? Don’t do it, we implore you. Prison isn’t worth it. While Final Fight and Streets of Rage may have been the violent video games that made you the addict to barbarism that you are today, take heart in the knowledge...
Review The Hand Of Merlin (Switch) - Roguelite Strategy That Grabs Hold Of You
These hands are rated E for Everyone
A couple years ago, a small Croatian development team called Room-C set out to create a new game set in Arthurian mythology called The Hand of Merlin. Following a roguelite structure and based around high-difficulty, tactical gameplay, the release quickly gained a passionate fanbase that eagerly awaited each new...
Review Neon White (Switch) - A Thrilling, Hilarious Genre Hybrid That You Simply Must Check Out
Neon dreamin'
Ben Esposito has become somewhat of a star in the indie game scene over the last decade. From his work on Giant Sparrow’s The Unfinished Swan and What Remains of Edith Finch, to his part in Arkane Kids’ bizarro titles like Sonic Dreams Collection, you’ve likely come across him somewhere. However, Esposito is probably best known...
This is serious, so give me a quarter
The energy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, one of the biggest crazes of the '80s, has endured for 35 years. Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s initially dark comic creations — later given a kid-friendly refashioning — spearheaded Turtlemania: a toxic-waste fusion of martial arts and mutant teen reptiles that...
Devilishly good
Though the manga only started in 2016, Demon Slayer has gone on to become one of the most successful media franchises in existence—even passing up the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog and Minecraft in raw sales. Despite this, Demon Slayer has had shockingly little presence in video games; aside from a Japan-only mobile game that still...
Review Metal Max Xeno: Reborn (Switch) - A Welcome Rebirth Despite Its Flaws
Don't get mad, Max
Editor's note: This review, originally published on Saturday 14th May 2022, was based on the imported Japanese version of the game. However, you can find updated comments relating specifically to the English language release at the bottom of the page. Metal Max fans in the West are not what you’d call spoiled for choice,...
Review STAR WARS: Knights Of The Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (Switch) - Always Two, There Are
No more. No less.
After Bioware's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic wowed audiences with its in-depth storytelling and RPG mechanics in 2003, publisher LucasArts decided that a sequel would have to be made as soon as possible. Much akin to how Majora’s Mask came out barely a year after Ocarina of Time changed the game, Star Wars: Knights of...
Review Mario Strikers: Battle League (Switch) - Simply The Best Sports Game On Switch
Violence is apparently the answer
Name a sport. Go on, name one. Now presumably you’ve chosen some obscure sport that Mario hasn't played because you saw where this bit was going, but that doesn’t change the fact that our red plumber chap has been in a hell of a lot of sports games. Mario Strikers: Battle League attempts to carry on the legacy...
Review Lost Ruins (Switch) - A Survival-Focused Metroidvania With Fantastic Pixel Art
Pixel punishment
In anime, there is a popular genre called isekai, which means “another world” and is characterised by the protagonist travelling from their normal, boring world into one filled with magic and monsters. Normally, it is a light-hearted affair, with the main character settling into their new life and eventually managing to save...
Review Biomotor Unitron (Switch) - SNK's Mech-Builder Is Heavy With Arms And Retro Charms
Cool robots and nostalgia can only do so much, though
Biomotor Unitron has a wicked name. We’d forgive you for assuming it refers to an obscure power metal band or maybe the title of a 1990s mech-based anime. In reality, Biomotor Unitron is a mech-building role-playing game originally released for the Neo Geo Pocket Color way back in 1999 –...
Review Souldiers (Switch) - A Potent Metroidvania And Soulslike Blend, But Not Without Issues
Die another day
These days, it feels like you can hardly go a week without seeing another handful of games that are inspired by any combination of Metroidvanias, Soulslikes, or roguelikes. Souldiers—the first release from a new development studio called Retro Forge—is an in
Review Card Shark (Switch) - A Wonderfully Witty WarioWare-Esque Affair, With Cards
It's not about a shark
They say cheaters never prosper, but clearly they’ve never played Card Shark, a wonderfully tense, goofy little game that’s all about keeping your cool under tremendous pressure as you basically rob people blind. The act of pulling off the con is shockingly simple, but maintaining one’s composure to ensure that...
Review PAC-MAN MUSEUM+ (Switch) - A Gaming Legend's Best Collection Yet
Who let the ghosts out?
Pac-Man Museum+ follows Pac-Man Museum (2014), a collection for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. This updated compilation includes some of the titles in the previous release, and adds several new ones, bringing the total count to 14 (although Pac-Man Arrangement is featured twice with arcade and home versions). It comprises...
Review Wonder Boy Collection (Switch) - Four Well-Presented Wonders In A Stingy Standard Package
Strictly Limited fun
Wonder Boy has a convoluted gaming lineage. Initially a platform arcade game featuring a squat caveman-boy in a grass skirt, and developed by Westone (then Escape) for Sega, the sequels quickly splintered off into action role-playing territory. Oddly, there are two chronological entries for Wonder Boy III — Monster Lair...
Review Rival Turf! - Jaleco's Brawler Is No Match For Final Fight, Two-Player Or Not
Two isn't always better than one
This review originally went live in 2015, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival on Switch as part of the Super NES library of games included with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription. When approaching Jaleco's Rival Turf! (known as Rushing Beat in Japan), it's important to understand...
Review Kao The Kangaroo (Switch) - Rough Edges Can't Ruin This 'Roo's Return
Every champion was once a contender who refused to give up
In the late '90s and early '00s, mascot 3D platformers were all the rage and… well, not all of them were great. For every Super Mario 64, you had a… Bubsy 3D, eventually leading to the genre becoming oversaturated and tired. One franchise that was a casualty at the tail-end of the 3D...
Review OPUS: Echo Of Starsong - Full Bloom Edition (Switch) - Evocative And Shockingly Well-Realised
Blooming brilliant
OPUS: Echo of Starsong is intimidating. Not so much in terms of difficulty — there's very little of that in what's largely a visual novel-esque sort of business — but in terms of story, there's so much to take in. Even with the preceding two games (OPUS: The Day We Found Earth and OPUS: Rocket of Whispers) in your back pocket,...
Review The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story (Switch) - A Campy Murder-Mystery From Square Enix
Almost to die for
If you had told us in January that an FMV murder-mystery title would become one of our most memorable experiences on the Switch this year, we’d have looked at you as if you were one of The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story’s prime murder suspects. Directed by Koichiro Ito (scenario designer for Metal Gear Solid V) and produced...
Review Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards - Kirby's First Brush With 3D Is Still A Charmer
Kirby Sixty-phwoar
Like many of Nintendo's properties during the transition from the SNES to the N64, Kirby underwent a shift from a flat 2D sprite to a fully rendered polygon rendition of himself. Rather than taking Kirby down the route of Mario and Link, however, the pink mascot stuck closer to his origins — mechanically, Kirby 64: The Crystal...
Snow thank you
Don’t you think a gaming hero should have a sort of heroic name? Rastan! Sparkster! Astyanax! Right? Yet here we are with the Snow Bros, Nick and Tom. Nicholas Snow and Thomas Snow. Not bad names – we can foresee a gritty murder mystery series starring one Thomas Snow coming to ITV in the near future – but not names that inspire...
Review Soundfall (Switch) - A Beat-Based Shooter That Can't Hit The High Notes But Still Rocks
Sounds good
When playing an instrument, it can be thrilling to finally nail that song that you’ve been trying to master for some time. Rhythm games are built on this concept, challenging you to replay levels as many times as needed until you get it perfect. Sometimes rhythm mechanics even work well in other genres — just look at how Runner3...
Review As Far As The Eye (Switch) - A Nomadic Roguelite City-Builder Launched In A Right Old State
As far as you can get before the game crashes
Since this review was originally published, a patch has reportedly addressed one or more of the issues cited below. While we unfortunately cannot revisit games on an individual basis, it should be noted that the updated game may offer a much-improved experience over the one detailed below. Promoted as...
Review Seven Pirates H (Switch) - A Rich Bounty Of Fan Service, But Lacks Depth
A bountiful sea of fan service awaits you
Pirates are always a sure way to make a game exciting. Who doesn’t love the idea of sailing the seas, plundering and pillaging along the way with a trusty crew at their side? There is just one thing that can make the pirate’s life even more appealing, and that is, of course, copious fan service. That’s...
A mixed intro to the world of Suikoden's spiritual successor
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, a spiritual successor to the legendary Suikoden series of Japanese role-playing games, blew past its funding goals on Kickstarter two years ago, raising a whopping 4.5 million USD and shattering all its stretch goals in the process. It’s safe to say...
Review Prinny Presents NIS Classics Volume 2 (Switch) - A Colourful, Characterful, LOL-Worthy Pair
Take a walk on the funny side in the RPG classics
In the long history of video games, it is impossible to catch everything at the time of launch. That is why re-releases and remasters can be so useful; introducing a whole new generation to games that might not have the same cultural penetration as the bigger releases in a genre but still deserve to...
Review Fragrant Story - A Goofy, Final Fantasy Tactics-Style Indie Swansong For 3DS
Needs a little more watering
Since this review was originally published, the free Papaya's Path DLC update — which remains downloadable from the 3DS eShop if you own the game — was made available on December 11th, 2023. This free expansion is significantly longer than the base game and adds a large amount of content, including new story...
Send in the Toaplanes
M2’s ShotTriggers series has been an ongoing pilgrimage of preservation for some of the greatest shoot-em-up’s in arcade history. Hishou Same! Same! Same! combines an early Toaplan series of two: Hishouzame and Same! Same! Same!, known in the West as Flying Shark and Fire Shark, respectively. Both original arcade titles are...
A locked-on epic
City Connection, now a fairly prolific shoot-em-up publisher, have been hit-and-miss with its quality control. While some games land fine, others feature severe lag issues, leaderboards that don’t properly differentiate full clears (or disallow auto-fire registries), and usually come devoid of original bonuses. While Layer Section...
Review Nintendo Switch Sports (Switch) - Familiar Fun With Friends, But Little More
Wii haven't come far
Note: At the original time of publication, online functionality was not yet live for Nintendo Switch Sports. As it is such a crucial part of the game, we decided not to score this review until we can had sampled the full online experience. Having now done just that, here's our full updated (and scored) review. When Wii Sports...
Review Bugsnax (Switch) - A Charming Idea That Struggles In Execution
To snack or not to snack
Ever since Bugsnax was announced for PlayStation systems back in 2020, the game has grabbed people’s attention like few others. With plenty of merchandise and its catchy theme song, it seemed as though the googly-eyed strawberries were everywhere despite being Sony-exclusive at the time. Now, a year and a half later, the...
Review The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe (Switch) - A Mind-Bending Mess Of Wonderment
The end is never the end is never the end is never
This is the story of a man named Alex. Alex was employed by a company called Nintendo Life, and one of his many duties was to review video games. One day when at his desk Alex heard the news that The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe would be releasing on the Nintendo Switch, the games console which...
Review Pocky & Rocky Reshrined (Switch) - A Thrilling New Interpretation Of A SNES Classic
Rise and shrine
Note: This review is based on the Japanese release — the game launches in North America and Europe on 24th June 2022. Pocky & Rocky, a Super Nintendo top-down run-and-gun, was developer Natsume’s gold standard, fondly remembered for its taut arcade action, adventurous stage design, and beautiful visuals. Where Tengo...
Approach this With Arms Wide Open
Hello, Nintendo fans, and welcome to a review of another Metroidvania. You'll be thrilled to know that this one is good, and if you enjoy the Metroidvania genre, you'll enjoy playing Blast Brigade. Alright, cheers. What?? You want more?!? Oh, god. Okay. It's just that there are so many of these games and so little...
Review Zombie Army 4: Dead War (Switch) - A Sweet Switch Port For This Schlockiest Of Shooters
Dead good
Rebellion has got a pretty great track record when it comes to porting its schlocky range of shooters over to Nintendo Switch, with both Zombie Army Trilogy and Sniper Elite 4 the most recent examples of how this developer manages to successfully squeeze a whole lot of slo-mo headshots, shambling zombie hordes and co-operative carnage onto...
Review Ganryu 2 - Hakuma Kojiro (Switch) - Unworthy Of Its Shinobi-Inspired Ideas
Frame hate
Since this review was originally published, a patch has reportedly addressed one or more of the issues cited below — notably the game's frame rate problems. While we unfortunately cannot revisit games on an individual basis, it should still be noted that the updated game may offer a much-improved experience over the one detailed below...
Review Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Switch) - Shallow And Short, But Passable Starfiller
"It's not a story the Jedi would tell you..."
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Disney had yet to purchase the Star Wars IP and George Lucas was still somewhat involved in its ongoing success. One of the last major initiatives before the Disney purchase was Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, a multimedia project that aimed to bridge the two...
Review Formula Retro Racing (Switch) - A Sega-Style Arcade Racer With Engine Troubles
Sega does what this don't
Formula Retro Racing is based on a particular era of arcade racers: namely, the very early polygonal era in which games like Virtua Racing (well, okay, it was really only Virtua Racing) were wowing arcade-goers. As in Sega’s seminal arcade racer, Formula Retro Racing uses large, chunky polygons for its cars and tracks...
Review Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars (Switch) - Satisfying Fan Service That's A Bit Bare
Hyperdimension Kagura
In the world of fan service games, two franchises stand at the top of the pile: Hyperdimension Neptunia, which features a group of anthropomorphised game consoles fighting in a literal and hilarious console war, and Senran Kagura, which pits ninjas with assets as impressive as their fighting arts against each other in nearly...
Review Mario Golf - Strait-Laced Fun On The Fairway
Mario hits the links
This review originally went live in 2008, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival on Switch as part of the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. After Mario's forays into non-platforming genres — you know, the Karting, the Picross-ing, the Dr. Mario...ing — Nintendo realised something: put Mario...
Review Nobody Saves The World (Switch) - A Thrilling Action RPG For Fans Of Old-School Zelda
Nobody saw it coming
The recent release of Triangle Strategy raised an interesting conversation about the role of customization in RPGs. For those of you who didn’t pick it up, progression there is almost entirely linear, with each character having a predefined class that remains rather rigid throughout the whole experience. Some enjoyed having...
Review Gotta Protectors: Cart Of Darkness (Switch) - An Inventive, Hilarious Action-Strategy Blend
Cowabunga!
Gotta Protectors: Cart of Darkness starts as it means to go on — with a warm-hearted parody of something only gamers of a certain age are likely to remember. Ancient's logo appears and then… nothing happens — not until you hammer the 'A' button on the side of the screen as though your Switch is a temperamental CRT TV that's seen...
Review The House Of The Dead: Remake (Switch) - Control Issues Gnaw At Sega's Arcade Classic
Stutter like G did
Two years ago, Polish studio Forever Entertainment released an HD remake of Sega Saturn classic Panzer Dragoon. Our review at the time stated that the remake was interesting but flawed, but ultimately concluded that even though it wasn’t perfect, we were glad it at least existed so that more people could at least get a chance to...
Review Slipstream (Switch) - A Neat, Sonic-Obsessed Homage To Sega's Super Scaler Tech
The skids are alright
If it’s retro racing you’re looking for, you don’t have to look far on Switch. The likes of Hotshot Racing, Formula Retro Racing, Horizon Chase Turbo and the Sega Ages versions of Virtua Racing and Out Run have ensured that anyone keen on a racing game of the vintage vehicular variety is practically spoiled for choice.
Review MLB The Show 22 (Switch) - Sony's Switch Debut Isn't Just A Sinker Feeling, Thankfully
The bottom line drive
Now over five years old, the Switch continues to delight and — despite the ageing technology within the diminutive tablet — we still have third-parties eager to support the system. It's unclear how eager Sony was to support the Switch with baseball juggernaut MLB The Show 22, as the series' move to Xbox and now Nintendo's...
Review 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (Switch) - A Rich Narrative Adventure/RTS Hybrid With Outstanding Art
Lucky 13
Atlus is a company that’s sometimes been dubbed a ‘modern Square’ in that it’s become the place in the current industry to get well-budgeted RPG experiences that are equal parts traditional and experimental. It may be known most for its Persona and Shin Megami Tensei games, but the company also sometimes puts out something decidedly...