Switch Game Reviews
Review WRC 8 FIA World Rally Championship - A Decent Racer That Struggles In Switch's Portable Mode
Hits the skids
After the disappointment that was V-Rally 4 on Switch – the only other 'pure' rally game currently available on Nintendo's console which arrived in something of a shambolic state – can developer Kylotonn return to the platform and finally give fans of the genre something to smile about with the latest entry in its WRC series of...
Review Sparklite - An Enjoyable Rogue-Lite That Pays Homage To Zelda In The Best Way
Spark lite, spark bright, you must play Sparklite
Sparklite is a charming action-adventure game that channels the Zelda franchise whilst satisfyingly differentiating itself and establishing its own quirks and nuances. Players will find something both familiar and new here, but what everyone will definitely agree on is that this is an instant...
Review Root Letter: Last Answer - A Clumsy, Laughable Stab At A Visual Novel
The Last Answer to a question no one asked
Do you have a niggling doubt about something you experienced as a child? Something unresolved or unexplained? Perhaps we all have a faint memory that haunts us; a gentle denial that we think we’ll never have to face up to. Have you a tingle in your spine? A skeleton in your closet, a secret sin you’ve...
Review Pokémon Sword And Shield - A Solid Start To Gen 8 On Switch, Despite The Hate
Dynamaxing expectations
If there’s one thing everyone knows about Pokémon Sword and Shield is that they have been talked about. They have been talked about a lot. Whether it’s the controversy surrounding the omission of individual Pokémon or a tree that looks a bit too low-res for people’s tastes, chatter about these games has been incessant...
Review Bubble Bobble 4 Friends - A Timely Update That Proves Classic Gameplay Never Ages
One of the great arcade classics makes a welcome return
Since the release of the original arcade classic Bubble Bobble by Taito in 1986, the core of the series has pretty much stayed with its well-proven formula. The biggest deviations being Rainbow Islands and Parasol Stars, two sequels which returned Bub and Bob to their human forms. However, it's...
Review Resident Evil Triple Pack - Only One Game On The Actual Cart, But It's The Right One
Diminishing REturns
In a similar way to the Resident Evil Origins Collection and the Resident Evil Revelations Collection, Capcom has decided to bundle its three most recent Switch ports into one physical package. Labelled the Resident Evil Triple Pack, it includes not only series jewel Resident Evil 4 (appearing on cartridge
Review Garfield Kart Furious Racing - A Rancid, Regurgitated Hairball Of A Racer
This kitten's got flaws
“Garfield, the famous lasagna-loving cat, is back!” That’s according to the description for Garfield Kart Furious Racing on the Nintendo eShop. The reality, however, is quite another matter entirely. Despite a description (and a price tag) that would suggest this is a sequel to the infamous Garfield Kart, we’ve got...
Review Just Dance 2020 - The Same Old Song And Dance Perfected Over 10 Years
Dancing the decade away
Just like Christmas or a hefty council tax bill, you can always rely on the FIFA of dance to pop up with a new entry each year. Just Dance 2020 celebrates the tenth anniversary of Ubisoft’s popular franchise – the original Wii exclusive launched in November 2009 – and if you’ve played any of the numerous titles that...
Review New Super Lucky's Tale - The Perfect Tonic For Jaded Modern Gamers
The fox and the bound
We all need games like New Super Lucky’s Tale in our lives. You may not like to admit it; you may have a tough guy veneer and a no-nonsense online persona that suggests you have no time for such childish nonsense, but deep down – even if you don’t realise it – you could do with this sort of happiness in your life. We...
A story about one very curious Kat
The Professor Layton series is one that’s defined puzzling on Nintendo handhelds ever since the early days of the DS. Since 2007, we’ve received two trilogies and two spinoffs starring the eponymous professor, but declining sales and a general sense of stagnation seemed to have scared Level-5 off from...
Review Race With Ryan - A Thoroughly Average Racer Tied To The Most Annoying Licence Imaginable
Team Cynic Racing
It might be difficult to believe, but Race With Ryan is one of the most difficult reviews we’ve written in a while. When you’re covering a game based on a licence it’s always important to make sure your opinion of the licence itself doesn’t get in the way of the review. After all, nobody wants to read a review of an NBA...
To the Vector go the spoils
With the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang cruelly overlooked for some reason, fans of the Mario & Sonic series haven’t had a new entry for nearly four years now. Given that the 2020 Olympic Games are being held in Tokyo, the home of video games, it would have been truly bizarre for Sega to pass on that one too...
Review Xeno Crisis - An Old-School Twin-Stick Shooter Which Supplies A Stern Test
Standup fight or just another bug hunt?
The twin-stick shooter – originating in games such Robotron: 2084 – has proved to be a perennially popular genre. The fundamentals remain the same, generally, even when the themes differ and gameplay elements are layered on; players must clear a single screen of enemy waves before moving on to the next,...
Review Let's Sing 2020 - Uplifting Karaoke Goodness On Your Switch
A solid music title for modern pop fans
The real initial rush and heyday of home karaoke on consoles was the PS2-era, when it seemed like a never-ending cascade of SingStar games were being released every few months to a public that seemed to practically inhale them. They were everywhere, catering to most popular genres from rock to Disney...
Review Dusk Diver - Enjoyable Combat Can't Fully Atone For The Problems Elsewhere
Interdimensional Express
JFI Games’ Dusk Diver is a Musou-style hack-and-slash affair that tells the story of Yuma, an innocent high school student thrown into the middle of an interdimensional battle between the ancient animal Gods of Kunlun. Taking place between an impressively detailed recreation of the Ximending district of Taipei and its...
Atelier Rising
Atelier Ryza, the twenty-first entry in Gust’s long-running Atelier series, tells the story of Reisalin Stout, a young girl living on the quiet island of Kurken who desperately dreams of escaping on far-flung adventures alongside her childhood friends Tao and Lent. Ryza lives on a farm with her stern, overbearing parents who try at...
Review Beast Quest - Don't Be A Hero, Stick With The Books
Positively beastly
If you’re of a certain age, the Beast Quest books were likely a staple of your childhood. Having first launched in 2007 with Ferno the Fire Dragon, the series has been going strong for twelve years and shows no signs of slowing down. Including the first four books scheduled for publication next year, there are currently an...
Not exactly a whole new world
Movie tie-in games can be notoriously hit-or-miss in their quality. Often, the games seem to be something of an afterthought or simply advertisement fodder for the film they're based on, but every now and then, tie-ins can surprise with how well they stand on their own. Back in the day, the video game adaptations of...
Review Close To The Sun - A Poor Imitation Of BioShock That Looks Worse On Switch
Getting a bit too warm there, Icarus
It’s perhaps almost parody at this point for eager Switch fans to tweet their longing desire for a game to be released on the system. "Is it coming to Switch?" remains a near-constant reminder to the social media marketing teams that there’s an entire console fanbase that wants their shiny new game replicated...
Review Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD - Improved Controls Ruined By Some Odd Design Choices
Gorillas in our mitts
The Wii Remote strap was allegedly added to stop controllers slipping from sweaty palms. But could it be that someone at Nintendo had actually played Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz – a Wii launch game – and predicted a wave of fury-induced Remote tossings? Back on Wii, Monkey Ball swapped its traditional analogue stick for...
Review Vampyr - Choice-Based Adventure Worth Sinking Your Fangs Into
A vampire game that doesn’t suck
Vampyr, despite its title, isn’t really about vampires. Okay, it is to a large extent (obviously), but what it really explores is the power of temptation – for the main character, most of the people he meets (or eats), and for the player themselves. The game puts you in the pasty skin of Dr Jonathan Reid, a...
Review Luigi's Mansion 3 - Gooigi Takes Ghost Busting To The Next Level
Drop dead gorgeous
Despite being the glimmering jewel of the GameCube’s launch, Luigi’s Mansion has enjoyed relatively few sequels for such a beloved Mario spin-off. The 3DS had a pop with a well-liked sequel, and the original got a second chance on the same system with a remake. Now it’s time for a true home console follow-up with Luigi’s...
Review Dragon Quest 1, 2 & 3 Collection - Relive The Formative Years Of Japan's Favourite RPG
Once, twice, three times a JRPG
Dragon Quest, alongside Final Fantasy, has to rank as one of the most famous JRPG franchises ever. Like Square's epic series, it began life on the 8-bit Famicom (NES to you and me) and sold millions of copies in its native Japan. However, unlike Final Fantasy – which exploded in the west following the release of...
Review Doraemon Story of Seasons - A Charmingly Slow-Paced Life Sim
Wrap up with this winter warmer
The tale of Story of Seasons is a bit of a strange one. Originally conceived under the series name Harvest Moon, developer Marvelous enjoyed relative success with titles like Friends of Mineral Town, A Wonderful Life and Back to Nature. However, in 2012, the licensing of the name lapsed, and owner Natsume reclaimed...
Review Disgaea 4 Complete+ - An Often Overwhelming SRPG That Genre Veterans Will Adore
Give it a try, dood!
The Disgaea series has always been one of those in gaming that could best be described as an ‘acquired’ taste. The sheer amount of complexity and micromanaging offered up by each game is nigh peerless in the genre, and though these games are a veritable feast for those who love a nice thousand-hour grind in their RPG, it can...
Review Destiny Connect: Tick-Tock Travelers - A Slow-Paced Starting Point For Genre Newcomers
My First JRPG
Destiny Connect: Tick-Tock Travelers is an RPG aimed primarily at younger players and those who perhaps haven’t dabbled in the genre before. Telling the story of Sherry, a young girl who’s whisked away on a time-travelling adventure after time itself is frozen during a New Year’s countdown in her hometown of Clocknee, it’s a...
Review AeternoBlade II - A Host Of Good Ideas Wiped Out By Shoddy Execution
Aeternoff
The central problem with AeternoBlade II is that it tries too hard to fit too many elements into its gameplay and, in doing so, ensures that pretty much nothing it attempts works as well as it should. Just like its 2014 predecessor, this is a title that squeezes in time manipulation puzzles, side-scrolling hack-and-slash action,...
Review Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Complete Edition - Pokémon's Biggest Rival Is Still Worth A Look
Gotta hack 'em all
You’ve got to admire Bandai Namco for releasing a monster capturing/battling RPG just weeks before a certain selection of Pocket Monsters swarm the Nintendo Switch - but Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Complete Edition offers more than enough in the way of different mechanics and content for those looking for an alternative to Game...
Review A Hat In Time - A Fine 3D Platformer That Was Worth The Wait On Switch
Just in time?
The classic 3D platformer has seen a bit of revival lately, reminding of us of simpler times with bright primary colours and the likes of Banjo-Kazooie, Spyro the Dragon, and our very own moustached plumber. We’ve already seen a few attempts at bringing back the good old times, such as Yooka-Laylee and well as re-releases of Crash...
Review Spirit Hunter: NG - A Spooky And Gripping Visual Novel
Spirited away
The Switch has become home to a vast array of horror titles over its relatively short life, including multiple entries from big-hitters such as Resident Evil to the likes of Layers of Fear and Outlast. It is in this crowded landscape that Aksys Games’ NG has been brought over to the west, under the title