Switch Game Reviews
Review REYNATIS (Switch) - Underbaked Action-RPG Fare That Plays Rough On Switch
Shibuya blues
Here’s a riddle for you: What do you get when you blend the complex, character-driven narrative talent of Final Fantasy VII writer Kazushige Nojima, the epic, sweeping melodies of Super Mario RPG composer Yoko Shimamura, and an over-the-top action combat gameplay system? You get Kingdom Hearts, of course. However, developer Natsume...
Mini Review NBA 2K25 (Switch) - Sound The Buzzer And Call For A Sub, This Baller's Washed
Slam dump
There was a time when the yearly NBA 2K Switch entry was something to look forward to. Each year was a step back from the next-gen counterpart, of course, but the Nintendo port offered a near-full-fat experience with the added bonus of portability. Those were the days, eh? Anyone who picked up NBA 2K24 will have realised this is no longer...
Review Yars Rising (Switch) - A Stylish, Ambitious Revival Of An Atari Classic In Metroidvania Form
Qotroidvania
Over the past few years, Atari has been revisiting its storied history with compilation titles, remakes, reboots, and surprise sequels. So while a revival of Yars’ Revenge really shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise, we have to admit to being a bit taken aback by Yars Rising. After all, what was once a stylish, yet basic...
Wanna take you for a ride
There was some deserved hype surrounding Capcom’s first Fighting Collection, preserving the best of Street Fighter and Darkstalkers, and including a delicious Red Earth bonus for good measure. The furore across the internet upon the announcement of the Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics, however, seemed...
Review Gundam Breaker 4 (Switch) - A Return To Form That Focuses On The Series' Strengths
Breaking free
In many ways, Gundam Breaker 4 represents a fresh start for Bandai Namco’s mecha action series. Not only is this a return to the roots after the divisive New Gundam Breaker didn’t go over so well with the fanbase, but this marks the first time that the mainline series has come to either the Nintendo Switch or Western audiences...
Smells like teen...MURDER?!
Has there ever been a horror movie that's used elevator music successfully as its entire soundtrack? We mean a reasonably good one. Any suggestions? It almost seems there may be something tonally mismatched about the idea — unless you're going for comedy — and, honestly, when playing Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom...
Review WitchSpring R (Switch) - A Tasty Slice Of Whimsical RPG With Some Sour Notes
The longest journey for a slice of strawberry pie
Would you battle fearsome monsters for a homemade strawberry pie? If so, you’re in good company. WitchSpring R is a whimsical, story-driven RPG that follows the story of Pieberry, a talented young witch who’s grown up in the woods by herself. As the name might suggest, Pieberry is a big fan of...
Review Bakeru (Switch) - Good-Feel's Carefree Platformer For Goemon Lovers Makes It To The West
Go, ninja, go!
Editor’s note: The text below was originally published in January 2024 as an import review of Otogi Katsugeki Mameda no Bakeru: Oracle Saitarou no Sainan!!, which launched in Japan in 2023. To coincide with the Western release of Bakeru on 3rd September 2024, we’re republishing our review with added impressions of the localized...
Review Elrentaros Wanderings (Switch) - Hints Of Rune Factory's Charm, But Such A Drudge
Chore-y of Seasons
Elrentaros Wanderings is a brand-new game from Rune Factory creator Yoshifumi Hashimoto and his studio, Hakama, which takes place across two parallel worlds: one in a present-day Japanese school, and one in a fantasy land where a small village is plagued by monsters that live in nearby dungeons. Your character — male or female...
Review One Piece Odyssey (Switch) - A Safe But Solid Caper For The Straw Hats
Here be dragons
A couple of years ago, it was notable when the Switch remakes of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl were developed not in-house by Game Freak, but by a smaller Japanese support studio called ILCA. That remake project was actually ILCA’s first crack at being the lead developer on a game, and it soon followed this up early last year with One...
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Review Cat Quest III (Switch) - A Pretty Much Purrfect Pirate Adventure
Pi-rats of the Purribean
Cat Quest has been a beloved series for close to a decade now. From offering a unique world in the first game to adding co-op in the second, it has always tried to shake things up for the action-RPG genre. Cat Quest III feels like another switch-up for the series, taking what felt great about previous games and seeking to...
Review Abathor (Switch) - Retro Fantasy Hack 'N' Slash Is Great Fun With Friends
Golden axiom
Pow Pixel Games slices its way onto the indie game scene with Abathor, an arcade-style throwback to fantasy belt scrollers of the '80s and '90s. It’s a pleasingly old-fashioned hack-'n'-slash platformer that will conjure memories of childhood couch co-op. Golden Axe is the obvious influence, despite the side-on perspective, but there...
Review Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition (Switch) - Speed-Focused And Slight, But Addictive
Speed demon
Remember NES Remix on the Wii U? We enjoyed it for what it was back in the day, and now Nintendo has seen fit to return to similar grounds with Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition, a game that aims to put you in the shoes of a competitor at the Nintendo World Championships! Ok, so maybe we're forcing the excitement just a little...
In the Summer skies, flying high!
Did you know the F-16 first took flight 50 years ago a few months back? It is currently enjoying its Block 70 revision in case you were fearing that air forces around the world are still flying half-century-old technology. Meanwhile, Ace Combat is turning 30 next year and, much like an airplane block revision, it...
Review Hot Lap Racing (Switch) - An Enjoyable "Simcade" Racer That Still Falls Between Stools
Not about spilling coffee, sadly
Although the Switch is home to an abundance of arcade-style racing games, the same can’t be said for more realistic fare. This is most likely because the Switch’s hardware would struggle to handle the Gran Turismos and Forza Motorsports of this world, so developers tend to give Nintendo's system a miss when...
Review SPY×ANYA: Operation Memories (Switch) - A Very Easygoing, Sometimes Awkward Anime Outing
The most adorable spy mission you'll ever play
Listen up, Spy x Family fans. Operation Strix is on and the only way to ensure world peace is to help Anya Forger with her homework. In the case of Spy x Anya: Operation Memories, that means taking her to lots of fun places and taking pictures of her while she does adorable things. It is a low-stakes,...
Review Tchia (Switch) - A Brilliantly Fun (And Surprisingly Adult) Animal-Hopping Adventure
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Tchia!
Tchia is incredible. If that's all you need to know, then good — this game is best played, in our opinion, completely blind. That's how we went into it, and it was all the better for it. Every strange, unexpected twist was a delight, and we never knew where the game would take us next. So, please, if...
Dawn of a new day
To someone who isn’t an avid fan, the Legend of Heroes series can seem a little difficult to break into. The dozen or so games released over the past two decades are spread across four distinct arcs that all collectively built out one of the most detailed and tightly interconnected universes in all of gaming, one which is still...
Review Luigi's Mansion 2 HD (Switch) - The Best Version, But Lacks Extras To Make It Essential
It's-a-the-other-guy
Looking back over our 2013 review of Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon on the 3DS has been a timely reminder of why we love this game so very much, yet have failed to return to it beyond our original playthrough back in the day - an oddity, given that we're quite partial to hoovering up every last secret there is to find in most games...
Review Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble (Switch) - Super Single-Player, But Multiplayer's A Mess
Rumble bumbled
The Super Monkey Ball franchise has experienced its fair share of peaks and troughs over the years. The first two GameCube titles knocked it out of the park, providing a plethora of content from the addictive maze-like main stages to the incredible minigames. Since then, however, the series has seemingly been unable to reach the same...
Review Sociable Soccer 24 (Switch) - A Sensible Option For Old-School Footy Fans
Definitely worth a punt
The debate about which is the best football video game is one that has raged on for decades. Until now, there hasn’t really been much of a choice on Switch. There’s EA Sports FC (which thankfully, finally, is worth getting now), but with Konami’s eFootball (formerly PES) nowhere in sight, the other options are...
Review Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance (Switch) - Even Better Than The Stellar Original
Another HEE-HOme Run
It’s been nearly three years now since the launch of the original Shin Megami Tensei V and as is tradition at Atlus, the obligatory enhanced re-release (complete with a new storyline centered around a new girl) has now come to all modern platforms in the form of Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance. Boasting a full-length,...
Review Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Switch) - Still The King Of Mario RPGs
Paper, un-jammed
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door has been held as the standard for Mario RPGs for 20 years. It, alongside its N64 predecessor, captured what fans wanted from their turn-based, plumber-starring adventures – silly humour, epic adventures, fantastic combat, and charm. Purists often view the GameCube original as the end of the...
Easy, tiger
We're republishing this 2021 import review because, over two-and-a-half years after its Japanese release, M2 has finally brought Kyukyoku Tiger-Heli to the West, surprise-dropping this Toaplan collection on the US Switch eShop on 16th May. There's no word on a European release just yet, but the base game is available on the US eShop for...
Review Biomutant (Switch) - A Solid Action RPG Marred By A Muddy Port
Biomutant X
It's been a long road for Biomutant's Switch release. The action RPG originally came out almost three years ago, back in May 2021, with the Switch version slowly getting pushed back time and time again. However, Experiment 101’s debut title is finally here, but it maybe should have been held back for the Switch's successor. Biomutant...
Board already
There is no shortage of party games available on Switch – the console was practically made with the genre in mind. Standing out from the crowd requires some careful balancing of the rules or implementing some gimmick to make your game feel unique. Or, in the case of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Sweep the Board, you can let your...
Review Endless Ocean: Luminous (Switch) - A Meditative Marine Milieu, But Incredibly Shallow
Endless, unfortunately
There are a whole bunch of, well, let's say 'Wii-centric' video games from the history vaults that, in theory, seem like they might be a bit of fun to revisit on Nintendo Switch. You know the sort of thing, usually pairing some new-fangled/novelty control scheme with an activity you'd never tried in a game before; making...
Review Slave Zero X (Switch) - Slick, Stylish, But A Hot Mess On Switch
Slice 'n' dice the frame rate
Many games can get away with slightly sketchy performance if the gameplay experience is a bit more laidback and relaxed (or ‘cinematic’, if you like). Others, however, like Slave Zero X, which focus on blistering combat and stylish visuals, can be almost impossible to recommend if their performance isn’t up to...
Review Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath Of The Mutants (Switch) - Coin-Op Co-Op Cowabummer
Not quite a cowablunder
Can you ever truly have too much of a good thing? If you’re a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan, this question must have sprung to mind at least once in recent years. Because in truth, the good things have been coming thick and fast. 2022 brought arguably the series' best beat 'em up ever in Shredder's Revenge and gave us a...
Review MLB The Show 24 (Switch) - A Solid Swinger Emerges After A Laughable Launch
Homerun or dinger?
San Diego Studio returns for a third season of baseball action on Nintendo Switch and it's another fairly solid job all round for 2024, giving fans yet another feature-complete port that manages to get the most important stuff right during its deep and addictive matches. Indeed, whilst MLB The Show 24 has seen plenty of technical...
