Tag: Reviews - Page 34
Review TT Isle Of Man - The Safest Way To Experience The World's Deadliest Motorsport Race
Mad Manx
In the motorsport racing calendar, few courses hold quite as much infamy as the Isle of Man TT. Described as "38 miles of terror" by one Sports Illustrated reporter in 2003, the time trial course has been running on and off since 1907 and sees superbikes racing past front doors and around country lanes at breakneck speeds. It’s one of the...
Review Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack - A Fine Platformer That's Over All Too Quickly
"Indescribable... Indestructible! Nothing can stop it!"
Many of you are no doubt familiar with DrinkBox Studios for their work on the Guacamelee! games, but prior to their crazy luchador Metroidvania endeavours, the company was known for another platformer series about, well, blobs. Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack was originally published as a...
Review Kotodama: The 7 Mysteries of Fujisawa - A Laughably Limp Attempt At Titillation
A big booby
You are a new transfer student to Fujisawa Academy, an unseen blank avatar with no particular name or gender beyond the one you choose for yourself at the start of the game. Like a bad teen fan fiction, your entire personality can easily be summed up as "sarcastic and horny", while your sole skill of note is the ability to force people...
Review Among the Sleep: Enhanced Edition - Has Some Growing Up To Do
Creepy crawling
If games like Firewatch and Gone Home typify what has come to be known as the 'walking simulator,' then Among the Sleep is more of a 'tottering simulator'. You could take that as a reference to its implausibly youthful protagonist, but it just as easily applies to the game's uneven tone and shaky gameplay. You could probably describe...
Review Gato Roboto - A Charming Metroidvania Which We Wish Hung Around Longer
Paw-some
Cats are remarkable creatures, aren't they? One moment they could be curled up on your lap, peacefully dozing the day away, and the next they're donning a high-tech mecha suit and exploring vast caverns filled with monstrous creatures. At least, that's what Gato Roboto - Doinksoft's charming 'Metroidvania' - would have you believe. Joining...
Review TerraTech - The Meccano To Minecraft's Lego
Technically worth trying
Kickstarted back in 2014, TerraTech is one of the more successful attempts to evolve the sandbox construction genre in a new direction. A sort of Meccano to Minecraft’s Lego, Terratech focuses largely on building vehicles (or ‘techs’) which can be driven or flown around a randomly generated world. You’ll get into...
Review Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons - A Welcome Return Of An Indie Classic
Oh brother, where art thou?
When Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons first wandered onto Xbox 360’s wonderfully indie-centric marketplace in 2013, it brought with a new meaning to the term ‘co-op’. With a new generation of consoles mere months away, Payday 2 developer Starbreeze Studios captured the imaginations of critics and players alike. It was a...
Review Crystal Crisis - A Falling Block Puzzler That Fits Perfectly On Switch
But can it run Crystal Crisis?
Everyone has dabbled in some form of a falling block puzzle game at some point in their life. For most people, it’s probably some form of Tetris. For others, it may be Dr. Mario, or Puyo Puyo, maybe even Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine. Years upon years of formula tweaking and innovative twists on the simple...
Review Little Friends: Dogs & Cats - Not Quite The 'Nintendogs On Switch' You're Looking For
In the Nintendoghouse
“Finally, somebody made a new Nintendogs!” rejoices every preview, news article and comments section about Little Friends: Dogs & Cats on the internet. And they’re not wrong – from the moment you start Imagineer’s pet simulator and choose one of six dog breeds (Shiba Inu, Chihuahua, Toy Poodle, Labrador Retriever,...
Review Realm Royale - A Battle Royale That's More Than Just Fortnite With Chickens
Royale rumble
In 2019, few genres are quite as fickle and difficult to predict as battle royale. Plenty of games have attempted to grab a piece of this lucrative pie over the last couple of years, but for every Fortnite, PUBG and Apex Legends there are countless others that have failed to capture that same zeitgeist. Usually when a BR title stumbles...
Review American Fugitive - A Decent Homage To Grand Theft Auto That's A Little Underdone
Grand Theft Naught-o
American Fugitive, a straight-up homage to the top-down Grand Theft Auto games of old, sees players assume the role of William Riley, a bad boy with a criminal past who’s just been framed for his father’s murder. Convicted and sent to jail in the opening moments of the game, he almost immediately manages to set himself free...
Review Death Mark - An Excellent Horror-Adventure Fusion
A supernatural spectacular
Death Mark's developer Experience has an odd history of creating games for what could charitably be called the "wrong" formats; putting out great dungeon crawlers (Stranger of Sword City and Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy, for example) for relative underdogs like the Vita and Xbox One. Death Mark is something of a shift...
Review Blades Of Time - A Wonky Action Title That Belongs In The Past
Time lapse
Blades of Time came out almost seven years ago, but it looks and plays like something much older. As a sequel to its so-so predecessor X-Blades, Russian developer Gaijin Entertainment took one very interesting mechanic – the power to manipulate time itself – and surrounded it with ideas we’d seen and played ad nauseam before. The...
Review Back in 1995 - A Clumsy Survival Horror Tribute That's Lacking In Bite
Back in 1995 is where it belongs
Survival horror games are notorious for ageing quite badly. Despite their status as some of the most influential games of all time, titles like Resident Evil and Silent Hill feel positively archaic in design by today's standards. Even Resident Evil 4, recently released for the Switch, now has deep wrinkles showing in...
Review Atelier Lulua: The Scion of Arland - A Captivating Concoction That JRPG Fans Will Adore
Double, double, toil and trouble...
In 1997, Gust corporation kicked off the Atelier series, which would go on to span a whopping twenty-two platforms (including the WonderSwan) across the thirty-seven titles that comprise the series. Unlike your standard JRPG, Atelier games are typically not concerned about the fate of the world or something...
Review Guilty Gear 20th Anniversary Edition - An Essential Purchase For Fighting Game Fans
Heaven or Hell?
Arc System Works’ Guilty Gear series first chaos-attacked its way onto the gaming scene back in 1998, immediately making a name for itself amidst the more established giants of the fighting game genre with its beautiful hand-drawn roster of twisted manga combatants, hardcore rock soundtrack and insanely fast, combo-based pugilism...
Review Gunlord X - Top-Notch Old-School Blasting Action
Praise the Lord
The Switch has become home to an absolute smorgasbord of retro-inspired games. Whilst a lot of these may rarely be worth a second glance, a select few – such as Dead Cells and Undertale – might very well become some of your all-time favourites. Gunlord X likely won't be on your radar at all, but it really should be. Its very...
Review Resident Evil Origins Collection - Old-School Survival Horror Stands Up On Switch
Zero on the cart
With the original Resident Evil, its prequel and Resident Evil 4 all arriving as separate digital releases on the Switch eShop, survival horror fans have a bumper helping of the seminal series’ back catalogue to enjoy on-the-go. North American and Japanese gamers (tough luck, Europe) also have the option of getting two of those...
Review Baba Is You - A Truly Unique Puzzler That Will Train Or Maim Your Brain
If Baba is you, then who is me?
Every week, the Switch eShop is bombarded by an onslaught of new releases. Often, a good majority of them end up being games that were ported over from a previous generation, or more shovelware that could easily be found on your mother's smartphone. Because of all of the noise, many unique games can go unnoticed or...
Review Redout - A Slightly Rough Port Of An Otherwise Decent Wipeout Wannabe
Seeing Red
One of Nintendo’s most popular (and amusingly, least supported) franchises is the F-Zero series, which popularized the concept of high-intensity, low-gravity racing. In the void created due to Nintendo’s reluctance to release more games in the series, plenty of other ‘me-too’ titles have released, such as Wipeout and FAST, and...
Review Wonder Boy Returns Remix - A Remake That Really Does Go Back To The Beginning
Will wonders never cease?
The history of Wonder Boy could hardly be more convoluted. It began as a platformer in Japanese arcades in 1986, moved to consoles, became an RPG, co-existed with identical but differently-named games from alternative publishers, and spawned sequels in a mystifying numbering sequence. All of which meant that when it was...
Review Resident Evil 0 - A Prequel That Old-School Fans Should Reinvestigate
Training day
Capping off the trio of games from Capcom's survival horror series to drop simultaneously on the eShop, Resident Evil 0 is a prequel to the seminal original and something of a black sheep in the family. First developed for Nintendo 64 before shifting to GameCube, it launched in 2002 just after REmake and, standing in direct comparison,...
Review Project Nimbus: Complete Edition - Slick But Shallow Robot Action
Mech-ing a go of it
Giant mechas have been a mainstay in games for decades. From the terrifying nuclear-capable behemoths of the Metal Gear series to the transforming Skells of Xenoblade Chronicles X, they’re the sci-fi equivalent of dragons: huge, devastating machines perfect for traversing deadly landscapes and obliterating any unfortunate foe...
Review Team Sonic Racing - A Safe Effort Which Lags Well Behind Mario Kart 8
Triple Trouble
It’s all well and good releasing karting games on Sony and Microsoft’s consoles, but it takes a big old set of Sonic Spinballs to try launching one on Mario’s home turf. If anyone’s shown it’s capable of this, though, it’s Sheffield-based studio Sumo Digital. Very few developers have perfected the art of arcade-style...
Review Resident Evil - A Great Version Of A Classic Which Stubbornly Refuses To Get With The Times
REvisit the survival horror
The original Resident Evil is a strange creature. Despite being tinkered with various times and receiving a substantial facelift, the core game seems unnaturally resistant to modification and remains resolutely of its time. It’s somewhat fitting that the fundamental mechanics refuse to be fiddled with, and each...
Review Assassin's Creed III Remastered - The Franchise Runt Gets A Clunky Switch Port
Nothing is true, everything is permitted?
When we consider the Assassin’s Creed franchise, the first thing that jumps into our minds is scale. The grandiose size and scope of each entry’s setting, each new game containing a more epic, fully-realised world than the last. More content, more history, more characters and adventure; in this way the...
Review Resident Evil 4 - An Ageing Masterpiece Which Deserves More Care And Attention
Whaddayasellin’?
What a lovely position for the Switch to be in, hmm? The eShop is bulging with quality games – ported, brand new, indie, AAA – and every week there’s a fresh delivery. It says something that one of the very best video games of all time is slipping out on a Tuesday as a digital-only release. And Resident Evil 4 still is one...
Review Lapis x Labyrinth - A Cavalcade Of Colour And Complex Systems
Jump, magic, jump
Lapis x Labyrinth is a lot. From the crowded HUD and gem-filled explosions of its 2D action gameplay to the procession of stat boosting systems and vast item lists of its role-playing layers, Nippon Ichi Software’s cute and colourful dungeon platformer threatens to overwhelm, but nonetheless skilfully onboards players for a...
Review For The King - A Roguelike RPG That's Best Played With A Friend
By royal decree
Don’t let the beguiling art style of For The King fool you. It might look like a children’s book that’s been conjured to life, bathed in the soft autumnal light of a European fairy tale, but beneath the funny hats and cute character designs sits a roguelike RPG with teeth. Underestimate the challenge of its procedural maps and...
Review Pokémon Rumble Rush - A Simple Free-To-Play Outing That Only Hardcore Fans Will Love
Get ready to rumble
Pokémon Rumble Rush is the fifth in the Pokémon Rumble series and the first to enter the mobile fray. This game takes the mechanics of the series to new levels by providing another Pokémon “Game as a Service” Experience, and unlike the previous Pokémon Rumble games, there’s not much of a story to this game. You get sent...
Review Castlevania Anniversary Collection - You'll Want To Get Your Teeth Into This
Whip it good
Konami recently kicked off its trio of Anniversary Collection compilations with an assortment of arcade shooters that, while certainly classics, were let down by limited emulation options (though since then Konami has confirmed it’ll be fixing most of our concerns with a patch). Now it’s time for the second helping, this time aimed...
Review Deponia - An Amusing Graphic Adventure Which Is Totally Overpriced On Switch
The Simpsons meets Monkey Island?
In its third year, the Nintendo Switch has gained a somewhat justified reputation as a ‘port machine’, and while games such as Onimusha and DOOM have been welcomed with glee and enjoyment, others have arrived with an Alan Partridge-style shrug and a ‘How Much?!’ shouted from the garden. With that, we have...
Review Girls Und Panzer: Dream Tank Match DX - Yet Another Half-Hearted Anime Tie-In
A bit of a mis-fire
For the uninitiated, Girls und Panzer is the sole manga/anime series brave enough to tackle an issue we've all been searching for an answer for but until now were too afraid to ask: What would happen if girls practised tank-based martial arts as a school sport? Dear readers, wonder no more. Girls und Panzer: Dream Tank Match DX...
Review Silence - A Gorgeous Point-And-Click Adventure For Genre Newcomers
Bringing some noise to the genre on Switch
To slightly quote Sundar Pichai’s opening line at the Google Stadia event; ‘I don’t play point-and-click games’, but for many, Silence can become the exception and one that players new to the genre will come back to time and time again. It’s a part-spinoff, part-sequel to The Whispered World, a...
Review Darkwood - A Gripping Switch Horror Title Full Of Terrors
Cabin fever
Despite appearances, Darkwood wants you to survive as much as it’s determined to kill you, but it wants you to earn every life-fortifying dawn as it emerges from the darkness. Much like the Five Nights at Freddy’s games and, to a less extent, the central crux of Minecraft’s Survival mode, Acid Wizard Studio’s top-down offering is...
Review Rock Of Ages 2: Bigger & Boulder - An eShop Oddity That's Perfect For Switch
You've got to roll with it
Back in 2011, a little studio from Chile decided it wanted to take an unusual stab at the popular tower defence genre. Choosing to embrace oddity and quirkiness over any sense of seriousness or consistency, the result mixed traditional defensive mechanics with a ball-rolling system that had more in common with Super Monkey...
Review Akane - Stylish Sci-Fi Swordplay On Your Switch
Big trouble in Mega Tokyo
While it's impossible to look at Akane and not see the influences of some more obvious cultural touchstones – the body-augmentation of Ghost in the Shell; the motorbike-riding rebellion of Akira; the run-down futures of Blade Runner and 2000AD – when you start slashing your katana and unloading bullet death from your...
Review Super Robot Wars T - Enjoyable Tactical Mecha Goodness For Returning Fans And Newcomers Alike
The T is for ‘Terrific’
Super Robot Wars T is the most recent entry (and the first on Switch) in Bandai Namco's very successful series of tactical mecha adventures that stretch all the way back to deepest darkest 1991. With dozens upon dozens of previous entries under their belt you'd imagine they'd have exhausted Japan's supply of pilotable...
Review Venture Kid - A Workmanlike And Forgettable Mega Man Clone
You're not gonna go far, kid
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery; if that is indeed the case, then few games are more overtly flattering to the classic Mega Man series than Venture Kid. This new release from FDG Entertainment isn’t shy when it apes the concept of Capcom’s legendary series, and while it does a reasonably...
Review Thief Simulator - A Brief Robbery Of Your Spare Time
It’s literally a steal
As illegal as it is in real-life, there’s something oddly satisfying about larceny in the digital world. From countless questlines for the Thieves Guild in The Elder Scrolls to the procedural heists of The Swindle, few things get your blood pumping in equal parts fear and elation quite like scoping a joint, filling your...
Review Strike Suit Zero: Director's Cut - A Cool Premise Hobbled By Poor Execution
Zero to hero?
Originally kickstarted into life on PC back in 2013, Born Ready’s Strike Suit Zero was released to somewhat mixed reviews which most commonly cited problems with terrible checkpointing during missions, dumb squad AI and the late stage at which you get your hands on the eponymous suit itself. A Director’s Cut addressing these issues...
Review Sniper Elite V2 Remastered - The Ball-Busting Shooter Is Back, Warts And All
Reich on target?
It's 1945. The Second World War is drawing to a close as Hitler's Reich is forced further into retreat. The streets of Berlin have become a warzone with Allied and Nazi forces wrestling for control of the city. But the Germans have one last card to play. The V2 rocket program is one of the most advanced weapon systems of its time,...
Review Meow Motors - A Pleasant, If Unremarkable, Drive
Feline fine enough
The cynical amongst us might look at a third-party kart racer on a Nintendo system and wonder: really, what's the point? With Mario Kart 8 in its Deluxe form on Switch arguably the pinnacle of the plumber's long-running racing series, you'd be forgiven for thinking any developer putting a kart racer on a Nintendo platform has some...
Review Saints Row: The Third - The Full Package - The Next Best Thing To Grand Theft Auto On Switch?
Purple reign
Once upon a time, Saints Row was tipped as the ‘new’ Grand Theft Auto, with its sprawling urban open-world and a big focus on gang warfare – and while it didn’t take long for us to realise developer Volition didn’t quite have the pedigree of Rockstar, once the series started embracing its over-the-top action and violence, it...
Review Shakedown: Hawaii - A Promising Game Buried Beneath Tedious Busywork
I want the world, I want the whole world!
VBlank Entertainment’s Retro City Rampage was a remarkable indie jab at video game giant Grand Theft Auto. Featuring everything from high-octane action to time-travelling shenanigans, it was a game that got everything right. It was smart, funny, gorgeous... in short, pretty much everything you’d want in...
Review Aggelos - A Fast-Paced Pixel Platforming Adventure That Doesn't Waste Your Time
Far away from the mucky muck
The retro 2D side-scrolling action genre isn’t one that’s lacking in excellent titles to recommend on Switch these days. Indeed, fans of the old 8 and 16-bit era are practically drowning in a sea of quality titles to choose from, with heavy hitters such as Shovel Knight, Hollow Knight, Dead Cells and Celeste to name...
Review Bird Game + - A Colourless Effort That Never Truly Takes Off
Even the name is winging it
Whatever the platform, whatever the medium, modern digital content stores are busy places. What makes your game stand out from the crowd on a place like the Switch eShop is a complex equation, though there are shortcuts. While Bird Game + isn’t going to draw anyone in with its title, the game’s commitment to...
Review Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age - This Is How You Handle A Remaster
Vaanderful
2006 was an interesting time for the Final Fantasy series, as Square returned to a single-player driven entry in the series after the MMO experiment of Final Fantasy XI. The development of Final Fantasy XII was rocky to say the least, as its protracted five-year development cycle cost Square close to thirty-five million dollars and its...
Review Puyo Puyo Champions - A Fine Puzzler That's More For Veterans Than Newcomers
No time for losers?
After decades of largely being overlooked for localisation, the Puyo Puyo series is gaining some long-deserved recognition. Puyo Puyo Tetris was an early highlight in the Switch’s library, and a Sonic Mania nod to the game’s original western release (Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine) was a highlight in a game packed full of...
Review Panty Party – Nothing To Get Your Knickers In A Twist Over
Sheer nonsense
“Warning!” NO HENTAI contents in this game! All you get is funny and stupid panties! This is the warning on Nintendo’s game page and it’s worth bearing in mind. The page features the word ‘panty’ or ‘panties’ no fewer than 19 times, but also reiterates what you’re getting. ‘A story of nonsense and fools brought to...