June2021
Review Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 (Switch) - A Rock Solid Switch Port For A Pair Of Pros
Vertuous Mission
If there's ever been a pair of videogames that need little to no introduction, whose glowing reputations proceed them to the extent that everyone from tired old pros to fresh-faced newcomers has surely heard of them by this point, it's the genre-defining Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and its sublime sequel. The first two entries in a...
March2021
Review Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time (Switch) - Better Late Than Never
Worth taking for a spin
In one sense, it should come as no surprise that Crash Bandicoot 4 has eventually made its way to the Switch, albeit five months after it came to other consoles. When the N. Sane Trilogy came to the Switch a full year after launching on the PS4, it was hugely successful despite that 12-month gap – both critically and...
September2019
Review Spyro Reignited Trilogy - A Blast From The Past That's Still Got Wings
Flamin' hot
Remakes and remasters are one of those things that feels ironically modern, and whilst they’ve had a place in the industry longer than some people think, there’s no doubt that companies are seeing dollar signs in their eyes when they look back at older successful franchises. Bleeding us nerds for all our nostalgia is a safe and...
June2019
Review Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled - A Karting Treat For Fans And Newcomers Alike
It’s got loads in it (literally)
Although it doesn’t look like there’s going to be a Mario Kart 9 any time soon, the Switch is starting to grow its own roster of licensed karting games in a way not seen since the GameCube days. Just last month we got Team Sonic Racing, for example, and even though the likes of Nickelodeon Kart Racers and Hello...
June2018
Review Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy (Switch)
Crash Gordon
3D platformers have come a long way since their inception, but back in the mid-'90s, the genre was a wild west of ideas and applications. It’s weird to think of something as straightforward as moving around in a 3D space being a technical challenge, but that was absolutely the case, as the flood of mediocre attempts to cash-in attest...
March2017
Review Skylanders Imaginators (Switch)
The Portal is put out to pasture
Skylanders Imaginators may be a launch title on the Switch, but it's not a new game as such - we've already played this on Wii U, after all. While many expected Activision to simply roll out the Wii U game with boosted visuals, there have been some changes to make it fit perfectly on Nintendo's new system - in fact,...
January2017
Review Skylanders Imaginators (Wii U)
Use your imagination
With the demise of Disney Infinity you may think that toys to life games are on the way out. However, with the Skylanders Academy show on Netflix and another new game for fans, Activision are pressing ahead - for the time being, at least. Skylanders Imaginators is this year's game and it offers a substantial twist on what has...
November2015
Review The Peanuts Movie: Snoopy's Grand Adventure (Wii U)
Going for peanuts
Celebrating its 65th Anniversary, Charles Schulz's Peanuts comic remains iconic and influential. The comic has spurned television movies which are staples to American culture, such as It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and, this year, The Peanuts Movie hit theaters. Its characters are beloved, recognizable and icons in of...
October2015
Review Guitar Hero Live (Wii U)
Put another dime in the jukebox, baby
In 2005 Guitar Hero sparked a gaming revolution, filling our heads with wicked riffs and our closets with plastic instruments. The series grew from a single act into a full fledged ensemble in a matter of years, invoking various imitators and spin-offs. Eventually players' excitement for rockin' around the clock...
Review Skylanders SuperChargers (Wii U)
Articulation, That’s What You Need
While other toy-game hybrid makers are moving on from older Nintendo hardware this year, Activision has doubled down on Wii, 3DS and Wii U Skylanders with bespoke versions and cross-over dual action Skylander-amiibo. This year's Skylanders Superchargers novelty is a good one. The articulated vehicles not only...
December2014
Review The Voice: I Want You (Wii U)
Desafinado
Since American Idol first graced the airwaves back in 2002, a number of similar shows have stepped up to deliver the singing superstar search process season after season, including - since 2011 - NBC's The Voice. In this Wii U title based on the show, The Voice translates into a karaoke game with a tournament structure, a soundtrack split...
November2014
Review Skylanders Trap Team (Wii U)
Knaves in Toyland
As the original ’toys-to-life’ video game concept — inspiring both Disney’s Infinity and Nintendo’s upcoming amiibo line — Skylanders has an impressive legacy to live up to. The series’ first release, Spyro’s Adventure, took the world and characters from the classic Spyro the Dragon games and crafted an enjoyable...
June2014
Review Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark (3DS)
A decent game in disguise
After reviewing the absolutely horrid Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark on Wii U, it would be hard to get our hopes up for the 3DS iteration if it weren't for the name on the back of the box. Unlike every other version of the game, Rise of the Dark Spark on 3DS was produced by the handheld experts at WayForward...
Review Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark (Wii U)
Less than meets the eye
Whether it's Batman, Gears of War or Zelda, it's always a gamble when a beloved series leaves the developer that created it in favour of a new one. In many of these cases it's because the publisher wants to churn out annual or semi-annual instalments in a profitable franchise, and one studio is not enough to carry this...
May2014
Review Cut the Rope: Triple Treat (3DS)
Triple the fun and no strings attached
The Cut the Rope franchise may have risen to fame through its release on the Apple App Store, but it has also had a pretty prominent history on Nintendo’s most recent handheld systems, too. The first game in the series was originally ported to DSiWare back in 2011, before returning again on the 3DS eShop last...
Review The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Wii U)
This reboot of a reboot could use another reboot
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is exactly the video game that the film deserves. Sony and Activision couldn’t have planned it better if they tried. Nowadays, Spider-Man’s existence outside of comic books isn’t for creative purposes, and the accepted level of quality is appalling on all fronts...
March2014
Worth the "Stroggle"?
When it comes to first-person shooter games on the Nintendo 64, there’s one title which stands out above all the rest: GoldenEye 007. During the late 1990s, Rare’s Bond-themed masterpiece provided gamers with countless hours of single- and multiplayer fun, and because of this it is still fondly remembered by many to this...
January2014
Review Wipeout: Create & Crash (Wii U)
Primetime pratfalls
ABC's Wipeout - transatlantic cousin to the BBC's Total Wipeout - is a long running television show that sees a motley crew of caricatured contestants enthusiastically flinging themselves through, over, and off of the real-life equivalents of foam-padded platforming levels. It's also had quite a few video game adaptations over...
Review SpongeBob Squarepants: Plankton's Robotic Revenge (Wii U)
Best left in a pineapple under the sea
Not content with his role as star of an immensely successful Nickelodeon cartoon and enviable position as the world's most popular anthropomorphized sponge, SpongeBob Squarepants also enjoys a prolific and presumably lucrative side-career in the world of video games. This latest release, Plankton's Robotic...
December2013
Review Angry Birds Star Wars (Wii U)
The one that flew over the cuckoo's nest
Star Wars games have had something of a tumultuous journey in recent years. Whereas the nineties and early noughties saw a slew of fantastic Star Wars games, there’s no denying that quality control has taken something of a back seat in more recent times. The franchise has been increasingly used to primarily...
November2013
Review Call of Duty: Ghosts (Wii U)
Grabbed by the ghoulies
With all of the noise made in the wake of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare's success — everything from sky-high sales figures to unfortunate ad campaigns, or the rise, fall and subsequent embalming of developer Infinity Ward — it's easy to lose sight of just how phenomenal and innovative that game really was. Genres evolve...
Review Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (3DS)
Shell shocked
It’s arguably difficult to consider Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV reboot as anything other than a rousing success. Blending together elements from the classic 1987 series with a more modern approach, the show has been a hit with fans both new and old, treading that awkward line between paying homage to the past and...
October2013
Review Skylanders SWAP Force (3DS)
Swap-n-go
There is a common and unfortunate trend in video game development in which a great game is released on a home console, and then a vastly inferior version — or spin-off — is released as a portable title. Recent victims of this phenomenon include LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins and Sonic Lost World. While these shouldn’t be...
Review Skylanders SWAP Force (Wii U)
Swap ‘til you drop
It’s no secret that collecting and gaming go hand in hand — how else can you explain the popularity of special editions of games that come with physical content as well as toys and figurines? Taking this into account, it’s no wonder that the Skylanders series has become so popular and successful since its inception just...
September2013
Review Angry Birds Trilogy (Wii U)
An angry trio
What can possibly be said about Angry Birds that hasn’t been said a million times already? A game that started out as a humble iPhone app just four years ago has now permeated our culture in a huge way. There are multiple sequels to the original game, toys, books, an animated television series, and it’s nearly impossible to walk...
