Latest Reviews
Review Hellpoint - A Sci-Fi Soulslike Which Suffers From Hellish Technical Issues On Switch
Blighttown
Dark Souls crossed with Dead Space? Bloodborne set within the bowels of a great big derelict space station? Yes. Yes please, we like this, we want this, sign us up! Cradle Games' Hellpoint has got a great premise, a fantastically atmospheric setting and gameplay that unashamedly pilfers ideas and
Review Azur Lane: Crosswave - Great Anime-Style Design Sunk By Terrible Combat
You sunk my busty battleship
Azur Lane started life on mobile devices as a 2D blend of RPG mechanics and side-scrolling shooting. Its move over to console with Azur Lane: Crosswave brings with it some flashy 3D battle scenes, but the overall experience retains a similar structure and feel to its mobile counterpart. Fans of this type of game will...
Review Bravely Default II - An Excellent Old-School JRPG That's Happy To Play It Safe
A brave new world, or a throwback to an older one?
Square Enix has always been one of the biggest names in the RPG genre, but it’s been interesting to see how the company has changed its design philosophies with the times. For example, its biggest franchise – Final Fantasy – has long since left behind its humble origins as a turn-based RPG and...
Review Taxi Chaos - A Crazy Taxi Spiritual Successor That Fails To Go The Extra Mile
Ticket to ride?
It’s been a minute since we last got a proper, honest-to-God taxi driving game. Putting aside a couple of questionable mobile spin-offs, Sega’s own Crazy Taxi series has remained dormant for more than a decade. Since then, of course, even the word ‘taxi’ has largely been relegated from the English language for the far less...
Review Gal*Gun Returns - A Mechanically Basic Yawn-Fest
Absolute pants
Inti Creates' 2011 on-rails ecchi shooter Gal*Gun, a bishōjo game that has only ever seen the light of day in Japan, finally makes its way onto western consoles in this remastered edition that comes complete with dolled-up visuals, full voice-acting and all previously released DLC. But does it improve on the decidedly-average Gal*Gun...
Review Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury - A Superb Mario Adventure With A Bowser Bonus
Meow that's what we call value
Well, it’s finally here. The 35th anniversary of Mario may soon be ending with a Thanos-style snap of the fingers for Super Mario 3D All-Stars and Super Mario Bros. 35, but before we mourn them, Nintendo has one final release to celebrate the big three-five, and this one’s sticking around for good. Super Mario 3D...
Review Little Nightmares II - A Spooky Platformer Dripping With Tension And Dread
Sweet dreams are made of this
Ever been somewhere you know you shouldn’t? Fear and curiosity can entwine themselves into intoxicating shapes, dancing in your guts as you push ever forward into the dark, knowing that the consequences of your being discovered will most likely be dire and terrible? That’s what Little Nightmares II goes for, and it...
Review Persona 5 Strikers - Much More Than Your Average Musou Spin-Off
Screwball Scramble
Persona 5 Strikers, otherwise known as Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers in Japan, finally blasts its way onto Switch consoles in the west and, if you were expecting this Atlus/Koei Tecmo crossover to be a straight-up Musou style spin-off, a Dynasty Warriors-esque effort with a fancy Persona skin hastily slapped on top,...
Review Turrican Flashback - An Annoyingly Incomplete Collection That's Still Worth A Look
Are you a Turrican? Or a Turrican't?
Factor 5’s beloved Amiga platform shooter has been egregiously missing in action for some decades now. At least, the series is back on modern systems in the relatively exhaustive form of the Turrican Anthology 1 and 2, se
Review Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & The Secret Fairy - The Best Game In The Series To Date
On the Ryza
Hot on the heels of 2019’s excellent Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness and the Secret Hideout, developer Gust has wasted absolutely no time in releasing this second epic adventure for Reisalin “Ryza” Stout, a protagonist who’s proven so popular with fans that she’s the very first since the Atelier series kicked off back in 1997 to...
Review Aleste Collection - M2 Does It Again With This Wonderful Fusion Of Old And New
Vintage shmup action on Switch
M2's Shot Triggers range has a track record of bringing rare and refined arcade shmups home, either making them available on consoles for the first time ever or at the very least making them affordable for the first time in decades. The titles M2 work hard to preserve for future generations are often so incredible...
Review Space Invaders Forever - One Great Game Does Not A Great Package Make
We'd rather have a packet of Space Raiders
It’s probably a contentious thought, but does Space Invaders really need to keep coming back? We get it, the game was important. Is it fun to play Space Invaders in the year of our lord 2020? God, no. Not in the slightest. The game, in anything close to its original form, simply doesn’t hold up. But...
Review Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure Pack - A Fine Western Debut For This Drumming Duo
A thumpin’ good time
The Switch is no stranger to ports of older titles. Following hot on the heels of the delightful Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum ‘n’ Fun! in 2018, Don and Katsu are back with a pair of beefed up 3DS titles never before released in the West: Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure 1 and Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure 2...
Review Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 - Another Fine Fusion Of Two Puzzle Greats
Another one of those block-dropping feats
The original Puyo Puyo Tetris was one of those strange combinations that didn't seem like it would work but was actually surprisingly moreish, sort of like whoever came up with the idea of cola chicken: a mad idea, without a doubt, but the results speak for themselves. Now Puyo Puyo Tetris has returned, and...
Review Commandos 2 - HD Remaster - A Shoddy Update Plagued With Both New And Old Annoyances
An in-fuhrer-ating remaster of an age-old classic
2001 really is beginning to feel like quite a long time ago indeed and Commandos 2, which originally released way back in September of that year is, it has to be said, now showing its age in many ways. Pyro Studios real-time tactics effort is undoubtedly something of a classic of the genre, for sure;...
Review Empire of Sin - A Criminal Waste Of A Superb Premise
Eliot Mess
Romero Games' Empire of Sin is an excellent premise for a turn-based strategy/management mash-up that sticks you in 1920s Chicago during the heyday of Al Capone and a host of other real-life gangster legends and charges you with building up your very own criminal enterprise. It's an era that absolutely oozes atmosphere and one that we...
Review Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise - More Of The Same, And That Might Not Be Enough
You might swipe left after a while
The original Fitness Boxing launched a couple of years ago, and while it certainly served its purpose, two years is a long time for anyone to be playing one game on a daily basis, as was its intention. With that in mind, Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise is now with us, but a lot has changed in two years:...
Review Immortals Fenyx Rising - An Off-Brand Breath Of The Wild That's Still Worth A Look
Breath of the Assassin's Creed of War
Do you remember when you were five, and your mum would ask you if you wanted anything from the supermarket, and you'd probably reply with whatever branded cereal you'd last seen an advert for in-between episodes of Scooby-Doo? Then, two hours later, she'd return with whatever off-brand cereal approximation she...
Review Just Dance 2021 - Still Fun, But Feels More Like A Cash-Grab Than Ever Before
Blame it on the boogie
Just Dance 2021 is the latest in a long line of Just Dance games, each marginally different from the last. Much like serialised sports games, Ubisoft's choreographed creation is born anew each year, with a couple of new features thrown in, and a helping of new songs sprinkled over the top. Innovation is it not, but this isn't...
Review Kingdom Hearts: Melody Of Memory - A Marvelous Musical Trip Down Memory Lane
Simple and clean
It’s hard to believe that the Kingdom Hearts franchise has been around for nearly twenty years. The odd pairing of Final Fantasy and several Disney franchises always sounded like an idea that just wouldn’t play out right, but the series has gone on to garner quite a sizable and passionate fanbase over its long run. With last...
Review Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered - A Racer From A More Innocent Time
Cop a load of this
Here’s a fun fact for you: there isn’t a single person on this planet who can recite the titles of all 24 Need for Speed games in order. It’s actually physically impossible, like licking your own back or hearing the words “Hi, I’m Daisy” without getting irritated. While this ‘fact’ is open for debate, here’s one...
Review Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity - Not The Zelda Game You Want, But Perhaps The One You Need
Calamity game
You know the Gerudo Valley theme from Ocarina of Time? It's a kickass tune – probably top five Zelda tracks – and one that's sure to get your blood pumping. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is all Gerudo Valley, a rousing number that'll fire you up for the journey ahead. It's also a tad repetitive and just one part of the symphony...
Review Sniper Elite 4 - The Nazi-Slaying Series' Best Entry Comes To Switch
Moisten Nagant
Rebellion's Sniper Elite 4 was released to some high praise back in February of 2017, and is widely regarded as the best entry in the long-running series to date; it's a fun and flexible sniper's paradise with ten lengthy campaign missions set across the largest, most varied and vertical levels that crack Nazi skull-exploder Karl...
Review Sakuna: Of Rice And Ruin - A Unique Farming Sim Which Requires Vast Reserves Of Patience
Rice, Rice, Baby
As comedian Mitch Hedberg once said: "Rice is great when you're hungry and you want 2,000 of something." You can buy it anywhere. Everywhere. But those grains don't come from nowhere – they are grown in huge flooded paddy fields, filled with workers who painstakingly harvest the stalks, dry them on racks, hull them, and process...
Review Fuser - A Flawed, Dorky And Often Brilliant Music Game
Disc Joycon
The Harmonix office must be an absolute nightmare. Plastic instruments everywhere, like an elephant graveyard of peripherals, gathering dust and leaking memories of Rock Band parties long past. Do they use the fake drum sets as plant stands? Are the guitars mounted on the wall as if they used to belong to Van Halen? Or do they just chuck...
Review Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues - A Surprisingly Decent Belt-Scrolling Brawler
Just remember, licence never replace eye, ear, brain
The Karate Kid movie series always seemed like a bit of a hard sell to this writer. Not to detract from the inarguable skill of said Kid, but there are plenty of films out there starring at least one Karate Adult. It stands to reason that the Karate Adult would simply be better at Karate than the...
Mini Review Mad Rat Dead - A Delightful Mix Of Rhythm Action And Platforming
Rodent rave
There’s one thing that really stood out to us when we started getting to grips with Mad Rat Dead: this game is cool. Everything about it, from the stylish visuals to the sublime soundtrack, screams attitude, and the devs have done a remarkable job in conveying this feeling without going overboard. If you’re a sucker for rhythm games,...
Review Tropico 6 - This Enjoyable Empire-Building Epic Comes With A Few Technical Niggles
The great dictator
You'd be forgiven for thinking that a city builder/sim game such as Tropico 6 might be a poor fit for the Switch. A huge number of systems at play, an archipelago's worth of individually tracked citizens... it's something of a recipe for compromise. And, sure enough, there are compromises here – but far fewer than you may...
Review Descenders - An Addictive Downhill Dash Of A Roguelite You'll Want To Check Out
Roguebike
RageSquid's Descenders, which originally released into early access on PC all the way back in 2018, has always felt like it could be a pretty good fit for the pick-up-and-play nature of Nintendo Switch. A unique roguelite offering that swaps the dingy dungeon combat usually favoured by the genre for viciously fast downhill biking, its...
Review Bakugan: Champions Of Vestroia - The Kids Deserve So Much Better
Pokemon: Let's No
The great big battle beasts of Bakugan, alongside their pint-sized schoolkid handlers, have been doing the rounds on TV and in various video/card games since 2007's Bakugan: Battle Brawlers series. This latest outing sees developer Wayforward attempt to shoehorn this universe into a Pokémon: Let's Go-style monster collectathon...
