Tag: Reviews - Page 3
Review Batman: Arkham Trilogy (Switch) - Two Solid Ports, One Technical Disaster
Hand me the bug repellent bat-spray, Robin
When it comes to superhero games, Rocksteady Studios served us up a trio of the very best examples of the genre with its superlative Batman: Arkham Trilogy. Whether you prefer the smaller scale and comparative intimacy of Batman: Arkham Asylum, the vast open world of Arkham City or the Batmobile-powered...
Review Jet Force Gemini - Another Rare N64 Gem, Flawed But Fun
Start wins
This review originally went live in 2013, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in Switch's N64 library via the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. The Nintendo 64 and Rare go together like Banjo and Kazooie. The developer was behind several of the stellar titles found on the system, many of which were...
Gotta scout 'em all
While Pokémon has long been the undisputed king of the monster-catching RPG niche, there have always been other releases that have offered up their own distinct take on that unique brand of recruitment gameplay. Megami Tensei, for example, pioneered the concept with ‘Demon Negotiation’ in 1987 and Dragon Quest took a crack...
Review A Highland Song (Switch) - A Beautiful Climb That Doesn't Quite Reach Inkle's Peak
Take the high road AND the low road
Scotland. The final frontier. At least, as far as games go. Despite many games being made in and about the glorious north, very few actually represent its natural wonder without also featuring an embarrassing stereotype of haggis-eating, ginger-bearded, tartan-clad men, and/or clobbering the English (although we...
Review Football Manager 2024 Touch (Switch) - An Impressive Sim With Some Real Pep
Not quite Ten Hag out of Ten though
Football Manager is an obsession for a rather large demographic each year, the sort of game that is nibbling away at the back of your mind when you're supposed to work, do taxes, or just be a grown-up. For some of us the obsession dates back to its Championship Manager days in the early/mid-1990s, and the core of...
Review The Last Faith (Switch) - A Moody, If Stuttery, Blasphemous-Style Soulslike
Cutting open some Cold Ones with the boys
While the world continues to wait in vain for Konami to release another 2D Castlevania, plenty of indie game developers have stepped up to try filling the gap with their own take on the famed formula. Some of these games have almost copied the gameplay beat for beat, such as in Timespinner or Chasm, while...
Review SteamWorld Build (Switch) - A Brilliantly Realised Melding Of Sim Genres
Choo-choo choose me
We live in a blinking lovely time right now. Gone is the notion that genres like real-time strategy (RTS) and management sims can’t be controlled with a standard controller, and we have the likes of Two Point Campus and RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Complete Edition on Switch to prove it. Joining that field is SteamWorld Build, the...
Review ASTLIBRA Revision (Switch) - Flawed, But One Of 2023's Most Intriguing Action RPGs
Worth the wait
Sometimes good things come to those who wait, and few things embody this concept better than ASTLIBRA Revision, the final release of a game that’s been developed by one man for over 15 years. KEIZO, a humble Japanese salaryman, started work on Astlibra because he felt there weren’t enough 2D action RPG games that filled the niche...
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 Irem Collection Volume 1 (Switch) - Three Great Games, But One Slim Package
After image
Founded in 1974, Irem, then known as IPM Co. Ltd, began as a distributor and assembler of arcade machines for general stores and other small independent businesses. It wasn’t until 1978 that the relabelled company released its own software. Despite being shoot-'em-up focused, the Irem Collection Volume 1 sidesteps R-Type, the obvious...
Review Jurassic Park: Classic Games Collection (Switch) - A Fair Flock, But Far From 'Classic'
Tyrannosaurus Rekt?
Whilst there's absolutely no doubt as to the continued popularity of the Jurassic Park/World franchise in 2023, the Jurassic Park: Classic Games Collection from Limited Run Games, which features a total of seven titles from the 8- and 16-bit eras exclusively, is a bit of a lacklustre offering for eager dino fans, one that focuses...
Review Bluey: The Videogame (Switch) - Captures The Look, But Not The Family Magic
Oh biscuits!
Given Bluey’s meteoric rise since the show's television debut in 2018, it seemed inevitable that a video game adaptation would eventually make its way into the hands of eager fans worldwide. Thanks to developer Artax Games and publisher Outright, that adaptation is now here, with Bluey: The Videogame letting you directly control each...
Review In Stars And Time (Switch) - A Tricky, Story-Driven RPG With Echoes Of EarthBound
Let’s do the Time Warp again…
If we had to choose two words to describe In Stars and Time, we’d pick 'beautiful' and 'strange'. This story-driven RPG is ideal for fans of titles like Undertale and EarthBound. Don’t take that comparison to mean that it is identical to these games, though — it’s still its own experience. Right off the...
Review Worldless (Switch) - A Dreamy Metroidvania With Challenging Turn-Based Combat
You're a star
Worldless opens with a battle of opposing stars; they cascade towards each other in what seems like an endless battle. From that epic scene-setter, we follow the journey of one such celestial body, who gains sentience and treks across an alien landscape to find…purpose? The central mystery at the heart of this gorgeous platformer...
Review Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass - A Great Big Track Pack For Switch's Best Racer
Double-Dashed
It was a long time coming, but the ambitious Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass DLC expansion is finally complete, roughly 20 months after the launch of the first wave. Available as a separate purchase or as part of the Switch Online + Expansion Pack service, this DLC contains an additional 48 tracks, eight new playable...
Review Spirittea (Switch) – A Relaxing Life Sim That Blends Spirited Away And Stardew
Afterlife sim
There’s no shortage of games where you have to cleanse a town of ghosts. But do those games let you cleanse the ghosts themselves? Spirittea does. Canadian solo developer Cheesemaster brings us this Japanese- and Korean-inspired afterlife sim. It’s a brew of Spirited Away, Stardew Valley, and other things that mostly goes down...
Review Super Mario RPG (Switch) - A Timeless Classic Returns In A Remake Done Right
It's-an-RPG!
On paper, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars is a game that probably shouldn’t exist. It brought together Nintendo’s platforming icon with RPG giant Square in a way that seemed impossible, imbuing the denizens of the Mushroom Kingdom (and beyond) with bucketloads of personality beyond the hops, jumps, and yelps they were...
Review Astral Ascent (Switch) - Probably The Best Roguelite Since Hades
There's always room for one more good one
In 2019, a small French studio called Hibernian Workshop released a game called Dark Devotion, a promising 2D soulslike that was met with mixed reviews, but managed to garner a passionate fanbase. A couple of years later, the team returned with a Kickstarter pitch for a new roguelite called Astral Ascent,...
Review Persona 5 Tactica (Switch) - Thrillingly Varied Turn-Based Strategy With Joker And Co.
As refreshing as a river in a dry land
Never let it be said that Atlus is one to let its star franchises go untapped. It’s now been seven years since the Phantom Thieves were first introduced in Persona 5, and since then we’ve gotten an enhanced re-release of that game, a dungeon crawler, a rhythm game, a musou, an anime, a manga, and several...
Review 9 Years Of Shadows (Switch) - Unique Ideas Elevate This Scrappy Metroidvania
Dark crystals
The hallowed Metroidvania has gone from an original, curiously enticing one-off concept, to a highly consumable once-monthly product fit for devouring at speed. If you’re now, as we are, extremely seasoned in the format pioneered by Symphony of the Night in 1997, you’ll likely rip through 9 Years of Shadows like a '46 Ford through...
Review Thirsty Suitors (Switch) - A Heart And Humour-Filled Ex-Battler, Stylish But Overly Ambitious
And we thought our love lives were a disaster
If you play enough video games, you can see when developers are playing it safe, but that isn’t the case for Outerloop’s Thirsty Suitors. If anything, it is trying to do too much, its ambition reaching to heights that its budget simply can’t deliver, but we found ourselves not minding. So much love...
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 Fashion Dreamer (Switch) - Some Decent Dress-Up, But Lacks Style Savvy's Depth
Flashy façade
Fashion Dreamer, the newest release from the developer (Syn Sophia) of the cult classic Style Savvy games, garnered high expectations from fans hoping to find a spiritual successor to the series. While Fashion Dreamer is not technically part of the Style Savvy family (known as 'Style Boutique' in Europe), it offers fans of those DS...
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...
Review Little Goody Two Shoes (Switch) - Cute, Compelling Horror With Some Frustrations
The Red Shoes
Fairy tales are never really what they seem. Growing up, we’re all exposed to these moral stories – often based on fable and myth – which have been adapted multiple times and, in many cases, softened too, whether it’s through a beautifully drawn picture book or a sanitised Disney adaptation. But as you get older and more...
Review Air Twister (Switch) - An Arcade Blast From Yu Suzuki's Past, And A Missed Opportunity
Like we did last summer
Back in 2010, the Wii's Sin & Punishment: Star Successor inadvertently informed how, in various ways, the Space Harrier model could be revitalised in a contemporary fashion. In Air Twister, director Yu Suzuki, famous for creating Space Harrier, Out Run, and After Burner (not to mention Shenmu
Review World Of Horror - One Of The Most Unique Roguelites On Switch
"I am a horror maniac who prefers to stay at home"
These days, it feels like every other indie game released is a roguelite of some kind, and while there are a lot of good ideas brought to the table, the barrage of releases can feel like they start to blend together. Not so with World of Horror. This is a roguelite RPG styled after the basic...
Review Ebenezer And The Invisible World (Switch) - A Good Metroidvania Launched In A Ghastly State
(Bah, hum)bugs abound
Of the hundreds of versions of A Christmas Carol that we’re all bombarded with in the lead-up to the Holidays, very few give any thought to what comes after Scrooge is visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. The focus is firmly on how he becomes a changed man and not what he actually does with his...
Review My Time At Sandrock (Switch) - A Farm Sim Sequel That Plays It Too Safe
Not exactly the cream of the crop
Since this review was published, an update has reportedly improved one or more of the issues cited. Unfortunately, we cannot revisit games on an individual basis, but it should be noted that the patched game currently available may offer an improved experience over the one detailed below. Fans of the farm sim...
Mini Review Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - Still Outstanding On Switch
What a thrill
Originally released in 2004, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is widely considered to be the finest entry in Hideo Kojima’s Magnum Opus. And almost 20 years later, it’s still easy to see why, even though some aspects of the game haven’t aged particularly gracefully. For Switch owners who have never delved into the Metal Gear...
Mini Review Metal Gear Solid - A Faithful Switch Debut For An All-Time Great
Kept you waiting, huh?
Going back to Metal Gear Solid in 2023, it’s undoubtedly clear why the game created so much fuss when it originally launched on the PS1 back in 1998. What’s also obvious, however, is how much the title has aged in the decades since. For its release on the Switch, Konami has opted to retain as much of the original’s...
Review WarioWare: Move It! (Switch) - A Fine Return For Wario's Wii-Era, Motion-Based Mayhem
Good Form
As much as we loved 2021's WarioWare: Get It Together!, it's definitely an entry in this barmy franchise that's ended up dividing opinion over time. With little in the way of truly engaging multiplayer options, no real core gimmick, or any significant attempt to utilise the Switch's unique control opportunities, some folks (not us, mind)...
Review Star Ocean: The Second Story R (Switch) - One Of The Very Best RPGs Of The Year
Come sail on a different sea of stars
The Star Ocean series has always occupied a weird spot in Square’s massive catalogue. This sci-fi-focused JRPG series started off relatively strong, but the last few entries have been middling at best and just plain not good at worst. Nonetheless, those earlier games were really something at the time, and...
Review Devil World - A North American Debut For Nintendo's Curious Pac-Man 'Clone'
Heaven a good time
This review was originally published in November 2014. We're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online NES library — and its official debut in North America nearly 40 years after its Japanese launch on Famicom. As far as obscure releases within the NES library go, Devil World is...
Review Castlevania Legends - A 'Vania So Poor It Got Booted From Canon
Tainted bloodline
This review was originally published in October 2012. We're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy library. The odds were stacked against Castlevania Legends almost from the start. When it was released towards the end of the '90s, it had the near-impossible task of following
Review The Mysterious Murasame Castle - The Legend Of Zelda's Action-Focused Sibling
The mystery is why this took so long to be released outside Japan
This review was originally published in June 2014. We're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online NES library. Although not originally released outside Japan, chances are that longtime Nintendo fans in the West have noticed nostalgic...
Walking in a winter wonderland
It’s been a busy year for Riot’s new Forge publishing arm, aimed at expanding its League of Legends Runeterra universe in games beyond the popular MOBA. In April, we got The Mageseeker, a hi-bit brawler set in the austere kingdom of Demacia, and in June, we got Convergence, a traditional Metroidvania set in the...
Review Dave The Diver (Switch) - One Of The Best Games In A Year Of Greats
If nautical nonsense is something you wish
Dave the Diver is a game about a diver named Dave. It's also about a restauranteur, archaeologist, marine researcher, and social media genius — also Dave. Poor ol' Dave has to wear all these hats in Dave the Diver, and living out his toilsome existence makes for one of the best games of the year and...
Review VISCO Collection (Switch) - A Well-Presented Neo Geo Arcade Set With Online Play
A magnificent seven?
Unless you’re a Neo Geo diehard, Visco isn't as recognisable as Namco, Konami, Capcom, or the other big hitters they used to roll with in the early '90s arcade scene. And, although the company made strong impressions with the likes of Vasara, the majority of its work was for SNK’s Neo Geo hardware, as represented by the...
Review Gordian Quest - An Engaging Deckbuilder, But A Poor Switch Port
Knot the best port
Gordian Quest, like many games of its ilk, is bogged down by dense, cumbersome menus and volumes of small text. But unlike a lot of other games in the strategy and deckbuilding genre, it's much easier to wrap your mind around and isn't mired in frustratingly long tutorials and steep learning curves. Weaving tabletop inspirations...
A legend returns
Editor's Note: If you're looking for our thoughts on the individual releases within the Collection, then check out our reviews on Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, which you can buy individually on the Switch eShop. For Nintendo fans, the Metal Gear franchis
Review Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed - Ecto Edition (Switch) - Dripping In Nostalgic 4v1 Fun
Be the one who answers the call
If you’re a child of a certain age, you absolutely grew up wanting to strap on a Proton Pack and go bust some ghosts with your friends. There have been plenty of attempts to tap into the nostalgia for Ghostbusters over the years, and, while Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed isn’t the best of the bunch, it is a...
Review Harvest Moon: The Winds Of Anthos (Switch) - Terrible Title, Pretty Alright Game
Harvest Dew
If the 'Uncanny Valley' is the term for something being almost-human-but-not-quite, then Harvest Moon: Winds of Anthos is in the Uncanny Stardew Valley. It's so close to being a really good farming sim game, but doesn't quite manage to hit the mark. However, for the first time in the
Review CRYMACHINA (Switch) - Silly, Stylish, But Oh-So-Repetitive Action-RPG-ing
Cry me a river
FuRyu has made a name for itself in recent years of being a publisher that does a great job of churning out RPGs that you’ll certainly like, but probably not love. Games like Monark, Caligula Effect, and Crystar have all offered players some decent yet flawed experiences, and now the company has brought us yet another entry in this...
Review Agatha Christie - Murder On The Orient Express (Switch) - A Clever New Spin On An Old Mystery
Train of thought
When a mystery story has been told millions of times before, how can it still be a mystery? This is the challenge faced by anyone adapting Agatha Christie’s phenomenally widely-read 1934 novel, Murder on the Orient Express. And just in case anyone missed out on the book, decades of film adaptations have also solved the case again...
Review Gargoyles Remastered (Switch) - One For Cult Disney Die-Hards Only
"We are defenders of the night! We are Gargoyles!"
Back in the mid-to-late '90s, Disney produced a cartoon called Gargoyles that stood out quite a bit from other shows in the animated landscape. Featuring a serialized storytelling format, rich lore, and a rather dark tone, it quickly gained a cult following across its run, though it never garnered a...
Review Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Switch) - The Best 2D Mario Since The Super NES
Wonder boy
When Super Mario World first released back in 1990 (or '91 or '92 depending on your region), it felt like a huge moment for Nintendo's iconic platforming franchise. Here was Mario as we already knew him, bounding energetically through 2D environments on the way to his usual goal but, at the same time, everything felt as though it had...
Review Front Mission 2: Remake (Switch) - Serviceable, But With Some Seriously Rough Edges
RNG my bell
It takes a lot to make a game about giant robot battles feel dull, but somehow Front Mission 2: Remake manages it. While it improves on some of the shortcomings of Front Mission 1st: Remake, the combat system isn’t fun enough to fully salvage this tactical RPG. While it might be worthwhile for strategy fans eager to test out G-Craft's...
Review Sonic Superstars - A Fine, Authentic-Feeling Return That Runs Great On Switch
Speed up, superstar
If you’d have told us that two of gaming’s most iconic rivals, Mario and Sonic, would be going head-to-head with two brand-new platformers in the space of a week, we’d have said you were probably off your rocker. What’s more, if you’d have said that Sega’s latest entry, Sonic Superstars, would turn out to provide one...
Burning rubber
Hot Wheels, man. We remember those. In the '90s almost every Saturday morning ad break featured a Hot Wheels commercial braying out superlative adjectives over thrashy rock solos. Invariably, two pearly-toothed, spiky-haired kids would grin as their miniature cars jostled for pole position, giving each other a thumbs-up after a...