Latest Previews
September2023
Hands On Company Of Heroes Collection Deploys The RTS Classic On Switch, Despite Complex Controls
War - what is it good for? RTS, of course
Among the heaps of releases coming our way this year, 2023 has been a pretty big one for Feral Interactive — the team behind the excellent Switch ports of GRID Autosport and Alien: Isolation. The studio brought The Lara Croft Collection our way back in June and is now setting its sights on the next porting...
Feature Meet The 'Arzette' Dev Salvaging The Zelda CD-i Games' "Genuine Potential"
"I didn’t make this game as a joke"
The year is 1991. 'Video games' — plastic, square-shaped cartridges that millions of people blow into every day — grip early-adopting proselytizers. Yet they don’t know their precious cartridge’s days are numbered. A mighty company from Kyoto rules the industry today, but a new laser-based challenger is...
Round Up The Previews Are In For Detective Pikachu Returns
The first impressions are here
Super Mario Bros. Wonder isn't the only major release arriving on the Nintendo Switch next month. In case you missed it, Detective Pikachu is also back in Detective Pikachu Returns - a follow-up to the 2018 3DS release. Ahead of the game's release, the first "hands-on" previews have now been released and so we've...
Hands On Super Mario Bros. Wonder Lives Up To Its Name In The First Hour
Isn't it a wonder
A funny thing happened at (well, near) PAX West 2023. Super Mario Bros. Wonder, the latest two-dimensional Mario game — and the first original one in over 10 years — was surprisingly made fully playable for Nintendo Live attendees and media alike ahead of its October 20th release on Nintendo Switch. Anyone who’s watched...
Round Up The Previews Are In For Super Mario Bros. Wonder
The first impressions are here
It's been another massive week in the world of Nintendo with the company hosting a special Super Mario Bros. Wonder Direct. Ahead of the game's October release, Nintendo has also given a number of outlets the chance to go hands-on with the game. And now there's a bunch of previews up, so we've decided to round them up...
August2023
Video Konami's Most Exciting New Release Isn't Metal Gear Solid
Time to wiggle
Of all the games featured at a recent preview event held by Konami, Super Crazy Rhythm Castle was admittedly not a game that we were frothing at the mouth to play from first impressions. The game is – to us at least – a little unassuming at first glance, but once we actually had a go with it, our mindset shifted just a bit...
Hands On Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 Could Be So Much More, But Isn't
Not for honour
We recently got the chance to have a pop at Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 at the invite of Konami. We had around an hour or so to dig into Metal Gear Solid and its two sequels (as well as have a quick gander at all the bonus content on offer), which isn’t a huge amount of time for games of this scale, but we were able to...
July2023
Video Disney Illusion Island's Creative Director Discusses Art Style, Inspirations And More
Mouse in the house
We are rapidly approaching the release of Disney Illusion Island in just a few weeks on 28th July, and we grow more intrigued by the combat-free metroidvania by the day. At this year's Summer Games Fest, two of our wonderful team (video producer Zion and staff writer Ollie) were lucky enough to go hands-on with the game and have a...
Hands On Pokémon Sleep (Open Beta) - An Absolute Snoozefest
Pokémon Let’s Go (to bed)
Pokémon Sleep was finally released in select regions earlier this week as an open beta for Android devices. After being the butt of all jokes when it was originally announced and then experiencing a series of delays, it now officially “launches soon” according to The Pokémon Company. Developed by Select Button...
June2023
Hands On Everybody 1-2-Switch! Is Harmless Fun, But It's No Wii Party
Phone a friend
A sequel to the Switch launch title, 1-2-Switch, might not have made it onto our bingo cards for Nintendo's post-Tears of the Kingdom 2023, but the rumours have been around for so long that we shouldn't have been all the surprised when Everybody 1-2-Switch! was announced with little fanfare in the early hours on a Friday morning...
Round Up Here Are The First "Hands On" Impressions Of Pikmin 4
What do the critics think?
Nintendo's calendar for the remainder of 2023 is now looking stronger than ever after the recent Direct, and leading the charge is Pikmin 4, due out on Switch next month. Ahead of the game's release in July, press outlets have been invited to try out the game, and as you may have already seen, they've now shared their...
Hands On Pikmin 4 Promises Heaps Of Gorgeous Exploration For Fans And Newbies Alike
Freshly picked
Thu 29th Jun, 2023 09:30 BST - Updated with some gameplay videos. Enjoy! Prior to the September 2022 Nintendo Direct showcase, you would be forgiven for having given up hope that Pikmin 4 even exists. This was a seed that was planted by Shigeru Miyamoto way back in 2015, after all, and despite being drip-fed small updates over the...
Hands On The Tomb Raider Returns To A Nintendo System In A Promising Package
A Lara Lara laughs
It’s been a bit of a barren six years or thereabouts for Switch-owning Tomb Raider fans, without so much as a remastered golden oldie or even (mercifully, perhaps) a quickie cloud version of one of the new-fangled reboots to enjoy on Nintendo’s platform. However, all of that is just about to change with the imminent arrival of...
Hands On Oxenfree II Is Shaping Up To Be A Huge Improvement On The Original
If the first 30 minutes are anything to go by
After spending half an hour with Oxenfree II: Lost Signals at Summer Game Fest, there's an immediate sense that the sequel is shaping up to be a much bigger, bolder, and indeed stranger experience than its predecessor. As it probably should be. In speaking with developer Night School's founder and...
Hands On Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown Is Dread-ful, In The Best Possible Way
Shaping up well on Switch
It’s not everyday that we demo a game at an event and immediately ask to go back for seconds. The upcoming Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown managed to quickly sink its daggers into us with its punishing but rewarding combat, breathtaking vistas, and flashy animations. So naturally, we couldn’t walk away without taking...
Hands On This Kitty Turned Out To Be Our Biggest Summer Game Fest Surprise
Dream big, little kitty
Cats are sneaky little gits. They scratch, they hiss, and they're rarely, if ever, cute. Hey, we're dog people, what can we say? [Disclaimer: Hmm, we're probably 50/50 on staff. And dogs are smelly. - Ed.] When you finally get your hands on Little Kitty, Big City in 'early 2024', however, we wouldn't begrudge you instantly...
Feature Nintendo Fans Needn't Lose Sleep Over Foamstars, Square Enix's 'Splatoon Rip-Off'
Fun-but-messy foamin'
When Square Enix's Foamstars was announced during the recent PlayStation Showcase, Nintendo fans everywhere were thinking one thing: "Er, Splatoon-much!?" After going hands-on with this PlayStation exclusive for 45 minutes at Summer Game Fest, this exclamation still rings true. It definitely looks like Splatoon, and it also...
Hands On Disney Illusion Island Is A Spectacular Platforming Surprise
We're not taking the Mickey
Sitting down with Dlala Games’ (Battletoads) CEO AJ Grand-Scrutton at Summer Game Fest to play Disney’s Illusion Island, there’s an immediate sense that this might well be the developer’s most accomplished title yet. We spent 30 minutes playing a solid chunk of the game ahead of its launch on July 28th, 2023, and...
Hands On Sonic Superstars Is Exactly What Sonic 4 Should Have Been
A triumphant return
Despite the promising debut trailer for Sonic Superstars, a niggling feeling of doubt had crept into our minds prior to our hands-on session with the game at Summer Game Fest. After all, this latest side-scrolling effort from Sonic Team really has two things going against it straight away. Number one; aside from the spectacular
Hands On Mortal Kombat 1's Stunning Presentation Has Us Anxious About The Switch Port
Can this really hold up on Nintendo's platform?
Against all odds, Mortal Kombat 11 turned out pretty well on the Nintendo Switch. Like many ports from the PS4 and Xbox One, there was always a concern that Netherrealm Studio’s cinematic fighter wouldn’t be able to cut it on Nintendo’s hybrid console. Still, with 60fps performance and all the...
April2023
News Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom "Hands On" Performance & Resolution Detailed
An early tech analysis
As you have probably seen by now, the first impressions of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom have officially gone live. Nintendo's already shown a lot of select footage from the game, but one thing that hasn't been confirmed just yet is the sequel's performance and resolution. Fortunately, it seems previews have been...
Hands On Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Indulges Your Idiocy In The Very Best Way
This just in: Bokoblins hate apples
To say there’s been hype surrounding The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom would not just be an understatement, but a fairly poor opening line to any sort of hands-on feature. On an unrelated note, Nintendo recently invited us to go and have a go at The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom at their...
Video The Completionist Talks To Us About His Upcoming Roguelike Game, Elsie
Plus, we interview the lead developers
We have known about Playtonic Friends' runnin' and gunnin' roguelike, Elsie, for a little while now (since around June 2022, if we're being specific), but did you know that the game is being worked on Jirard "The Completionist" Khalil? Yes, the YouTuber who just last month bought every 3DS and Wii U eShop game...
Round Up The Previews Are In For Advance Wars 1+2 Re-Boot Camp
Early impressions have arrived
One game we're looking forward to finally getting our hands on here at Nintendo Life is Advance Wars 1+2 Re-Boot Camp. As mentioned in the title, it includes both of the Game Boy Advance titles, with a number of new features such as online play now included. The first impressions of the upcoming Switch release have...
Hands On Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp - Slicker, Shinier, Sassier Strategy
Modern warfare
After numerous delays to an initial proposed launch date of December 2021 due to real-world events that Nintendo evidently felt made launching a light-hearted warfare game problematic, Wayforward's Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is finally almost here. Featuring the classic Game Boy Advance campaigns from both Advance Wars and Advance...
March2023
Hands On Melon Journey: Bittersweet Memories Is Our Biggest PAX Surprise
Oh honeydew
Melon Journey: Bittersweet Memories really caught our eye earlier this month with its lovely green Game Boy-style visuals and weird, wonderful characters. So we knew we had to get our hands on it at PAX East. And that's exactly what we did. The lovely Zion and Austin, who are both representing us at the event, headed over to XSEED...
Feature 8 Switch Games We've Played At PAX East 2023 - Here's What We Thought
Hands-on impressions of the show's Switch offerings
PAX East 2023 is happening — right now, as you're reading this! — and Nintendo Life is there sampling lots of juicy upcoming Switch releases. The Boston event is running from Thursday 23rd to Sunday 26th March 2023 and in this feature we'll be recording our hands-on impressions of the various...
Hands On The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum Plays Like Small Taters
It was tricksy, precious. Very tricksy.
Lord of the Rings: Gollum has naturally garnered quite a bit of interest as its initial release date approaches on other platforms in May, with a planned Switch release later this year. Fans of LotR and J.R.R. Tolkien's work have been eager to see how developer Daedalic Entertainment would craft a game based...
Hands On Story Of Seasons: A Wonderful Life - The Harvest Moon GameCube Classic Returns On Switch
Familiar ground
PAX East 2023 is currently taking place and our American-based video producer Zion has kept himself busy over the past few days checking out the latest and greatest releases. One, in particular, he got some time to sit down with was the upcoming Marvelous / XSEED title Story Of Seasons: A Wonderful Life - a remake of the 2003...
Hands On LEGO 2K Drive Is A Wild Ride, But Will It Prove Too Much For Switch?
Building a new LEGOcy
If you cast your mind back to February 2022, you might remember word of a brand new partnership between 2K and LEGO, with the potential for a number of brick-built sports games on the horizon. Those with a good memory (or those who have quickly googled it since reading the last sentence) might recall rumours of a Lego-themed...
Hands On Puzzle Bobble Everybubble! - A Warm, Cuddly Return (Except For The Space Invaders)
It's a Taito blowout
It's hard to argue that Bub and Bob aren't the most adorable video game dinosaurs of all time (sorry, Yoshi), so we were delighted when the dynamic duo returned with the Switch-exclusive Bubble Bobble 4 Friends back in 2019. It was exactly as we remembered their pixels back in the dusty halls of the arcade growing up, just a...
February2023
Hands On Bayonetta Origins Is Shaping Up To Be An Elegant, Enchanting Spin-Off
Bewitched
If you happened to find the secret chapter in last year’s superlative Bayonetta 3, you’ll already have been treated to a surprise glimpse of the art style and general atmosphere found in Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon. That secret area was, as it turned out, a short playable demo, one we assumed pointed to some incoming
Hands On Octopath Traveler II Looks Incredible, But Can It Forge Its Own Identity?
Boosting the original without breaking anything
Not every sequel needs to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes simple refinement does the job just fine. For every game that mixes things up, like Breath of the Wild, there’s another like A Link Between Worlds that takes a more subtly iterative approach to the standard formula. After playing through the...
Hands On Afterimage Is The Most Beautiful-Looking Metroidvania We've Ever Played
Picturesque
We know there are a lot of Metroidvanias out there. But after spending about three hours with Afterimage, we're pretty confident in saying that this is one of the prettiest we've ever played. Even before we got our hands on the game, Afterimage stood out to us with its stunning hand-drawn visuals. Even next to the likes of Hollow Knight,
January2023
Hands On Theatrhythm Final Bar Line Feels Like A Perfectly Tuned Final Fantasy Celebration
Encore! ENCORE!
The curtains are open and the stage is set. Theatrhythm Final Bar Line marks the return of the Final Fantasy rhythm series to Nintendo consoles after a 10-year break. We've had a chance to go hands-on with an upcoming demo for the game, which will be available on 1st February, and if the early goings-on is anything to go on, then...
Hands On Fire Emblem Engage Is Surprisingly Fast-Paced And Delightfully Deep
12 rings to rule them all
Happy New Year, Fire Emblem fans! And what a start to 2023 it looks like being for all you tactical RPG aficionados, as Intelligent Systems' Fire Emblem Engage gets set to drop onto Switch in just a handful of weeks. We've already been busy blasting through the game over the Christmas holiday period and, at around about 12...
November2022
Hands On Demonschool Is A Love Letter To DS Games And Italian Horror Movies
Persona, Stranger Things, and Suspiria, together at last
Every now and again, the world seems to collectively decide that the way things were X number of years ago was the peak of culture. This happens everywhere: Fashion, movies, makeup, and even language tend to rely on this ever-revolving cycle of nostalgia, fuelled by a yearning for the...
Hands On Want To Feel Like A Real Pokémon Trainer? Try This Premium Poké Ball Replica
Just don't throw it, ok?
If there's a single object which instantly calls to mind the massively popular Pokémon series of video games, it's the iconic red-and-white Poké Ball. Sure, there are more powerful and accurate balls to use in the game, but the original version is the one that everyone remembers – and it has become a symbol of the...
October2022
Hands On Pokémon Scarlet & Violet's Performance Distracts From Neat New Features And Flourishes
Smeargle used Struggle
Recently we were invited by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo to pop down to TPC’s UK headquarters in London to give a build of Pokémon Scarlet & Violet a right ruddy going over. It’s less than a month until launch – and we were informed that the build we played was not the final release build – so how is...
Hands On AURGA Viewer Streams Switch To Tablets And Laptops, But How Well Does It Work?
Phones, too, but why do that?
The namesake feature of Nintendo's hybrid console has been perhaps the key factor in its continued success. The Switch's ability to, well, switch means it fits neatly into any lifestyle whatever your situation, but that doesn't mean there aren't use cases it doesn't quite cater for. For our part — and especially in...
Video We Played Some No Man's Sky On Switch - Here's What We Thought
An early hands-on with Hello Games
We are but a few short days away from the Switch release of No Man's Sky on October 7th and it is fair to say that we have been nervous to see how this frankly massive game would run on Nintendo's little console. Following a huge update to the game as we currently find it out in the wild, it seemed unlikely that...
September2022
Video Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope Talks Your Ear Off, But Has Fun In Spades
Our hands-on impressions after three hours
Recently we were invited down to Nintendo's UK headquarters by Ubisoft – we can only assume they got permission first – to have a bash at the upcoming strategy bwaaah-athon that is Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope. We sat down and were able to play around three hours of the turn-based tactical crossover...
Hands On The Witch Is Back - Bayonetta 3 Is Real, And We've Played It
It's about (witch) time
Believe it or not, it’s been nearly five whole years since the wickedly stylish witch Bayonetta revealed the fact her action combat series would become a trilogy, and it’s been almost eight years since Bayonetta 2 released on Wii U. That original reveal trailer showed so little and left us with so many questions. Would...
Hands On All Of The Exciting Upcoming Games We Played At PAX West 2022
Indies, Nintendo Switch titles and more!
Recently, we sent our American video producer Zion Grassl to PAX West 2022 to try out the latest and greatest games coming out in the near future. Now that he's completed his assignment, he's put together the above video - where he and his friend, Zach Driscoll, share their impressions about all the games...
August2022
Hands On Splatoon 3 Brings New Ideas, But Nothing Revolutionary
Ink, splat, swim, repeat
Recently we were tickled pink to be invited by Nintendo to have a go at Splatoon 3, and as you might expect we accepted the offer. We got to play for about an hour or so, running through a few of the single-player levels, two rounds of Turf War, and three rounds of the new and improved version of Salmon Run — but how did...
July2022
Feature 'Ex-Zodiac' Is The Star Fox Throwback You Wish Nintendo Would Make
And it's got its sights on Switch
It’s been a while since Nintendo did anything of note with Star Fox. The last new entry was 2016’s Star Fox Zero (along with asymmetric tower defence curio Star Fox Guard), with Star Fox Command for DS coming a decade earlier in 2006. Fox McCloud and Falco Lombardi appeared in Smash Bros., but there’s been a...
Hands On Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Is A Heck Of An Emotional Ride So Far
Fight to live, live to fight
With just a few more weeks to go now until the release of Xenoblade Chronicles 3, we've been busy getting to grips with the latest entry in Monolith Soft's epic action-RPG series and, you may be relieved to hear, it's more than living up to our lofty expectations so far. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 introduces us to Aionios,...
Hands On 'Live A Live' Gives A Unique 16-Bit RPG A Gorgeous New Lease Of Life
We're LIVE from the past, present, and future
If you have any interest in Super Nintendo RPGs, then you’ve likely heard of Live A Live. Released in 1994 for the Super Famicom in Japan, it came out during what many claim is Square Enix's — then known as Square, or Squaresoft in the West — 'Golden Era', launching just under a year after Secret...
June2022
Hands On Two Point Campus Offers One Hell Of An Education
Learn more
If there’s one thing we need in life that goes criminally underappreciated, it’s education. Ejucashun kan turns a sentinse lik this into something that can be concise and precise, or eloquent and needlessly protracted. From students to heads of state, veterinarians to loquacious video producers — we all could do with a little more...
Hands On MADiSON Is A Familiar Yet Effective Horror Tale
Picture perfect or underdeveloped?
After the monumental impact of games like Amnesia, Outlast, and Hideo Kojima’s doomed Silent Hills teaser P.T, horror fans have witnessed somewhat of a resurgence of the genre after franchises like Resident Evil and Dead Space started leaning toward more over-the-top action. While some fans have since taken...
Hands On Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes Is Shaping Up To Be A Belter
Choose House Hack 'n' Slash
It's been five whole years already since Nintendo's Fire Emblem and Koei Tecmo's Warriors series first collided, resulting in the rather magnificent Fire Emblem Warriors, a game we called "one of the best Musou outings yet" that "combines enjoyable combat with re
Hands On Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak Is Looking Like A Mighty Meaty Hunk Of DLC
More than just new monsters and new quests
Monster Hunter Rise is tremendous — if you haven't played it, you only have to look at our review to see how much we loved it — so when Capcom asked if we fancied having a pop at the honking new DLC expansion titled Sunbreak, we couldn't say no. We got to have a go at just two of the quests on offer...
May2022
Hands On Drainus Is A 2D Shmup Masterpiece, So Keep Praying For That Switch Port
(Port-begging works, right?)
Japanese developer Team Ladybug is really good at homages. Its output so far has been dominated by titles with a Metroidvania theme, with the excellent Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth drawing massive inspiration from the game that helped coin the genre's name – Castlevania: Symphony of the Ni
Hands On Mario Strikers: Battle League Makes A Furiously Good First Impression
Where Mario can kick Yoshi in the face
Yep, we’ve only gone and played Mario Strikers: Battle League (Football) by invitation of Nintendo UK. We’re not boasting or anything, we just didn’t know how else to open the article. Fittingly, we had a good 90 minutes with the game and have been able to get a fairly decent idea of what we can expect...
Hands On Final Vendetta - The Ultimate Love Letter To Final Fight And Streets Of Rage?
Everybody was Kung-Fu fighting
Beat-em-up fans are like addicts cluttering up the mean streets of an '80s New York, willing to shoot themselves up with almost anything resembling the belt-scrolling boom that swept arcades in the early '90s. Whether pink-mohawked punk or run-of-the-mill gamer, if you’re still experiencing withdrawals despite the...
Hands On Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge - The Ultimate 'Retro Throwback'?
We chat to Dotemu and Tribute Games about the road from 1987 to 2022
It feels like an age ago now, but when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge was announced it triggered excitement among gamers of all ages. For sure, some of the reaction came from players of a certain vintage that remember the original show and the TMNT arcade game,...
April2022
Hands On Nintendo Switch Sports Has Great Highs, But Disappointing Lows
Wallyball
Many of you will have already had a go at Nintendo Switch Sports through the recent online play test, but last week we were invited by Nintendo to experience the full fat version of the game without even having to be online. It's been over 15 years since we first woke up with the dreaded Wii elbow after Wii Sports' enthusiastic recepti
Hands On 4K Gamer Pro - A 4K 'Silver Bullet' For Your Nintendo Switch?
Keeping up with the upscalers
The arrival of the PS5 and Xbox Series X has made 4K gaming a reality for millions of players, so it's understandable that many Switch owners are feeling a little left out and are seeking to make the resolution jump as well – despite the fact that Nintendo's console is now five years old. Rumours of a Switch Pro (and...
March2022
Hands On WaterField's Analogue Pocket Pouch Perfectly Protects Your Precious Portable
(Sorry.)
Given how hard it is to come by, it's little surprise that the Analogue Pocket has become a treasured object for those lucky enough to own one. With that in mind, it goes without saying that some form of protection is in order – especially if you're going to be, you know, carrying this thing around with you, so thank goodness for the...
Hands On Turn Your Nintendo Switch Into A Gundam With This Case
A new meaning for the term 'Mobile Suit'
Cases for the Nintendo Switch aren't a new phenomenon. Given that the device is portable in nature, it stands to reason that plenty of cases are available – especially with the Switch being five years old now – and we've seen a wide variety of different options, too. Some cases merely prevent damage...
Hands On Kirby And The Forgotten Land: More 'Super Mario 3D World' Than 'Mario Odyssey'
Or should that be 'Super Kirby 3D World'?
It's closing in on six months since we got our first look at Kirby's upcoming 3D adventure, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, and the reaction to the initial Nintendo Direct teaser back in September last year was certainly a positive one. Here's a game that gives the impression it isn't resting on the series'...
February2022
Hands On MLB The Show 22 Tech Test Impressions - Sony Takes A Swing At Switch
Strike
For those of us that consider it to be the true sport-sim addiction, rather than the usual FIFA and Madden entries, news that MLB The Show 22 would represent the series' debut on Switch was rather exciting. A PlayStation exclusive for many years, Major League Baseball clearly felt a broader audience was needed and — presumably in license...
Hands On Triangle Strategy Delivers Deep Turn-Based Combat To Match Its Incredible Art
For Norzelia!
As we've already reported, a brand new demo for Square Enix's upcoming tactical RPG, Triangle Strategy, dropped onto the Switch eShop during the latest Nintendo Direct and it's a pretty generous offering, giving players a chance to dig into the game's
Hands On Rune Factory 5 Feels Comfortable And Familiar, But Is That Enough?
A decade on, a new day has dawned
It’s rather hard to believe, but this July will mark the 10-year anniversary of the initial launch of Rune Factory 4 for the 3DS. Since then, the farm sim genre arguably hasn’t seen much innovation or notable movement, other than the release of a certain indie gem that hardly needs any introduction. Still,...
Hands On 'Mina The Hollower' Mixes Zelda, Castlevania, And Plenty Of 'Git Gud'
Death is coming
When Yacht Club Games formed way back in the distant sepia-toned past (2011), there was a good amount of buzz around a studio predominantly staffed by WayForward veterans. The prospect of outstanding pixel-art gaming was then fulfilled when Shovel Knight was unveiled in 2013, with the game going on to have a hugely successful...
January2022
Feature Aya Neo Next Review: Could This $1,300 Switch 'Rival' Hold The Answer To Joy-Con Drift?
Aya Neo Next uses 'Hall Effect' sensors for its analogue inputs
Remember the Aya Neo 2021 Pro, the super-powered and super-expensive portable PC we covered a short while ago? Well, the company behind it is releasing a new handheld this year which boasts a feature that should be very interesting to long-suffering Switch owners. The Aya Neo Next is a...
Hands On 'Infernax' Blends The Best Of Zelda II And Castlevania II While Skipping The Flaws
Gifting gore and irreverence this Valentine's Day
The eShop is not short of retro-styled titles that show due reverence to iconic games of the 8- and 16-bit eras. From feisty ninjas in the likes of The Messenger and Cyber Shadow, to high profile efforts like Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon and its sequel, there are plenty of titles that are both...
Hands On Knobs, Bums, And 4D Armrests - Getting Comfy In Secretlab's New Pokémon Chair
Well, it's more like "bums on"
If a person's life story can be told through the state of their office chairs, then mine would be near-unpublishable. I have left a trail of destruction in the wake of my sedentary lifestyle: hard-wearing workhorses passed down from my parents, a fancy Herman Miller at my former job, and the peeling faux-leather...
November2021
Are we in the best timeline, or the worst?
If you could hop into a time machine and fly back to the early '90s and tell a young gamer that one day, Nintendo would make a piece of Sega hardware, they'd probably spit out their sugary Sunny D and laugh in your face. "Sega and Nintendo are mortal enemies," they would retort; "what planet on you from,...
October2021
March of the Pikmin
If playing golf is the best way to spoil a walk, Niantic's hope for Pikmin Bloom, the long-awaited follow-up/sister title to the wildly successful Pokémon GO, is to create the exact opposite — something to "spice up your daily walks" and turn an everyday stroll into something flower-filled and joyful. Rolling out across the...
Down the path of a farming sim
This year's selection of Pocket Monster-catching video games has been a point of contention for fans since they were announced back in early 2021. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are from-the-ground-up remakes of the 2006 Nintendo DS games that fans have been begging for for years, so what’s the issue?...
Feature Oxenfree II: Lost Signals Looks Like Oxenfree, But Better
Walking, talking, and walkie-talkie-ing
The haunting, narratively experimental Oxenfree came out back in 2016 to rapturous reviews, combining a coming-of-age story with some seriously unnerving supernatural goings-on involving radios, triangles, and something waiting beyond a rift in space and time. Oxenfree’s unique tone, aesthetic, and setting,...
September2021
Video We've Actually Played Metroid Dread, Does It Meet Our Expectations?
[The same 'dread' pun everyone else has made]
That's right, we've finally managed to get our mitts on Metroid Dread (temporarily); Nintendo UK were kind enough to invite us down for a good old fashioned preview in their showroom so we could have a go on it using one of those swanky new Switch OLED Model consoles to boot. Our expectations were high,...
Hands On We Created A GameCube Pad In Minecraft-Style Farm Sim 'Staxel'
We tried, okay?
Gather round, folks, for a tale of love, loss, and failure: For never was a story of more woe, than this of Kate and her, er, GameCube controller. Let's back up a little. 'Twas a Friday night after a long and tiring week, and my partner and I sat down for a game of Staxel, which is a sort of Minecraft-Animal Crossing-Harvest Moon...
August2021
Hands On PowerA's Spectra Controller For Switch Is A Light Show With A Catch
LEDs on a lead
We're not sure if you noticed, but there are LEDs on everything these days. If you've dabbled in the realm of PC gaming you'll no doubt have noticed the proliferation of colourful lights on keyboards and mice, and that trend is carrying over to console accessories, too – including joypads which light up like the 4th of July during...
