Switch eShop Game Reviews
Mini Review Super Mario Galaxy (Switch) - Still A Stellar Achievement
Defying gravity
Super Mario Galaxy is one of those games that doesn’t need a whole lot of work done to update it for modern platforms. It’s a sublime experience with timeless gameplay and visuals that still look magical to this very day. So booting it up on Switch or Switch 2, you might be hard-pressed to find anything ‘new’ here...
Review Star Trek: Resurgence (Switch) - '90s Trek Fan? This'll Transport You
Starship mine
Star Trek: Resurgence presents, essentially, an episode of the sci-fi show in interactive, visual novel form. Where Starfleet combat sims focus on phaser battles and starship strategy, and often struggle to capture the many facets of the show beyond the iconography, Dramatic Labs threads life's moral quandaries, familial and political...
Review Earthion (Switch) - A New 16-Bit Shooter That's Bold, Inventive & Hugely Enjoyable
It means the world
While not entirely dormant for the last 30 years, Yuzo Koshiro’s Ancient Corp — responsible for Streets of Rage II, Story of Thor, and the Master System’s superb Sonic the Hedgehog — is finally back in the public eye with the release of Earthion. What’s significant for the small studio is a return to the console that...
Mini Review Gloomy Eyes (Switch) - If Captain Toad Were A Cosy Horror Game
Zom-besties
Growing up, I absolutely loved MediEvil on the PS1. The spooky yet lighthearted aesthetic really spoke to me as a child and would ultimately help foster a lifelong passion for the horror genre. So when I saw trailers for Gloomy Eyes from developer Fishing Cactus, I was instantly enamoured with the Tim Burton-esque vibes. Drawing...
Review Strange Antiquities (Switch) – A Wicked Good Occult Puzzler & Sequel
Little antique shop of horrors
In 2022’s Strange Horticulture, you ran a little shop of horrors, dealing plants with an occult edge to the inhabitants of a mysterious dark town. Now, Bad Viking and Iceberg Interactive’s follow-up, Strange Antiquities, takes us back to Undermere. Again, something strange is afoot. Again, you hear residents’...
Mini Review Dead Reset (Switch) - A Gory, Sci-Fi Take On Groundhog Day
What if there were no tomorrow?
Developer Wales Interactive is back with another FMV game, this time joining forces with movie studio Dark Rift Horror to present an Alien-inspired sci-fi romp with Dead Reset. Much like previous titles such as The Bunker and Five Dates, this latest effort has you make key choices at frequent intervals to influence...
Review Bubsy In: The Purrfect Collection (Switch) - Limited Run Cleans Out The Kitty Litter
What could possibly go right?
When the Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection was announced, the news received hundreds of thousands of shares and millions of cumulative views. This, friends, is a stark reminder of the strength of nostalgia, an evocative sensation that can stir the heart and cloud the memory. Let’s be clear: Bubsy the Bobcat has never...
Not all songs are silky
Spare a thought for Adventure of Samsara, Atari’s newest retro-styled Metroidvania. Developed for over a decade by the Brazilian studio Ilex Games, it has the unlucky distinction of releasing on the very same day as ultra-anticipated Hollow Knight: Silksong, which is bound to take all the oxygen out of the room among the...
Review SHINOBI: Art Of Vengeance (Switch) - A Beautifully Crafted Return For Joe Musashi
Knives out
Regarding modern augmentations, SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance and Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound — released not even a month apart — have a lot of overlap. Yet, after 45 minutes of play, I was convinced that Art of Vengeance is one of the finest 2D Ninja action games ever made. Perhaps the finest; and such praise doesn’t come lightly. After...
Review SHUTEN ORDER (Switch) - An Audacious Swing That Doesn't Quite Connect
Aw, shoot
Leave it up to Kazutaka Kodaka to come up with one of the weirdest stories in gaming, huh? Following on from the outrageously ambitious The Hundred Line - Last Defense Academy, the creator has now joined forces with developer Neilo on the new visual novel Shuten Order. I say ‘visual novel’, and that’s absolutely the overarching...
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Review Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution (Switch) - A Cool Time Capsule Of A Game
Better late than never
Though Shantae has become well-established today as a recognisable indie gaming icon, there was once a time when the purple-haired half-genie hero struggled to find an audience. The original Shantae released for the GBC in 2002 and suffered poor sales, which led to publishers being unwilling to pick up the tab for funding the...
Review Roadwarden (Switch) - A Fascinating And Quite Special Text-Based RPG
And I'll take the low road
Cast your minds back, if you're still able, to the year of our lord 2022 and the release of Moral Anxiety Studio's tremendous Roadwarden. Yes, you know the one, that PC game you may not have played but certainly heard plenty about, as it garnered a whole bunch of Very Nice Reviews™. And here, to be blunt, is another for...
Review Herdling (Switch) - A Serene, Soothing Animal Trek With Some Rough Edges
Have you herd?
The last time I tried shepherding an unruly beast, I wasn’t exactly a fan. It was midnight, I was exhausted, and my dog simply refused to come back inside. Typical. Thankfully, Herdling offers a much cosier alternative, replacing a stubborn pup with fantastical beasties that actually listen to me. Developed by Okomotive, the studio...
Review Discounty (Switch) - Chilled Out Supermarket Sim Is A Decent Deal
While Stocks Last
No one who has ever worked in retail would compare the experience to a cosy life management sim. I used to have nightmares about stock variance and queues of angry customers who seemed determined to ruin my day as much as they felt I had ruined theirs. Yet, Danish developer Crinkle Cut Games seems to think that managing a busy...
Review UFO 50 (Switch) - A Wondrous Smorgasbord Of Retro Delights
I want to believe
While playing UFO 50 for this review, I visited an exhibition at London’s Science Museum: Power Up – a hands-on tour of the last five decades of video games. There, in an expansive, dark basement, an orange-illuminated wall of computers and consoles took me right through the 1980s. I sampled such delicacies as a flickery...
Review Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown (Switch) - A Rad Turn-Based Brawler Blend
Your turn, dude!
There were occasions in 2024 where I wanted nothing more than for the frequency of TMNT game releases to slow down a little. We got three new video game outings, and while some opted for big swings, I couldn't help but feel that the sewer-dwellers' saturation was becoming too much — it's funny how a hit like Shredder's Revenge and...
Review Heretic + Hexen (Switch) - Two FPS Cult Classics Masterfully Revamped
Faith revived
I’m really beginning to wonder just how Nightdive Studios manages to fit in so many awesome projects. Last year, we had no less than five major releases from the team, including The Thing: Remastered, DOOM + DOOM II, and Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster, and it’s clearly looking to achieve a similar degree of prolificacy in 2025. So...
Review Gradius Origins (Switch) - An Almost-Perfect Package For Shoot 'Em Up Fans
Road British
It is testament to Konami’s back-catalogue, from an era when it was the undisputed king of the 16-Bit and 2D arcade craft, that it can muster so many extraordinary compilations. Gradius Origins joins both the Contra and Castlevania Anniversary releases, and Digital Eclipse's wonderful Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga...
Mini Review Is This Seat Taken? (Switch) - Sit Down And Get Comfy With This Short, Simple Puzzler
Someone's sitting there, mate
I'm the type of introvert who's made an art of choosing the right seat in public places. With such honed skills, I assumed a puzzler like Is This Seat Taken? would be second nature, and I was mostly right. This adorable indie might not bring anything radical to the table, but it's a perfectly pleasant pick-up-and-play...
Mini Review Tiny Bookshop (Switch) - The Epitome Of Cosy, Perfect For Bookworms
I like big books and I cannot lie
If you’re a self-proclaimed bookworm like me, then chances are you’ve probably fantasised about packing everything away, moving to a quaint seaside town, and starting up a cute little bookshop (don’t worry, NL, I’m not going anywhere!). Well, with Tiny Bookshop, that's exactly the pitch. Developed by...
Mini Review The House Of The Dead 2: Remake (Switch) - Erratic Controls Chomp At Another Classic
Dead aim
I don’t think I’ve ever messed around with a game’s settings menu as much as The House of the Dead 2: Remake. And, unfortunately, try as I might, I could never get the game to feel 'good'. Much like its predecessor on the Switch, Forever Entertainment’s latest arcade revamp is limited to just two control schemes: analogue stick and...
Review Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound (Switch) - A Gorgeous & Gory Return To The Series' 2D Roots
Heads will roll
To return to Ninja Gaiden’s 2D roots in 2025 is a wonderful thing. Dotemu, upon acquiring the license for a series reboot, approached Spanish indie developer The Game Kitchen to get the job done. Known for their remarkable Blasphemous titles, the project was overseen by Team Ninja, who have held the series mantle from 2004 to...
Review Time Flies (Switch) – An Indie Oddity That Makes Every Second Count
Lord of the Flies
As I sat down to write this review, I typed ‘What is the lifespan of a housefly?’ into my search bar. It’s not a question I ever really pondered prior to my playthrough of Time Flies. Somehow, this minimalist indie puzzler got me curious enough to wonder. I can’t say there’s ever been a piece of media that’s ever piqued...
We don't want any adventures here, thank you
A Lord of the Rings cosy game? Made by Weta Workshop, who made the sets, costumes, and props for the beloved Peter Jackson movie trilogy? Say no more, right? Unfortunately, Tales of the Shire is not the perfect mashup of hobbits and hygge we've all been waiting for, but is instead emblematic of the kind...
Review Pokémon Friends (Switch) – Pretty Plushies, Puzzling Pricing
A PokéPuzzle a day keeps the Nurse Joy away
It seems like every Pokémon Direct spends more than half its runtime detailing updates for or announcing casual Pokémon spin-offs. From Pokémon Café ReMix to Pokémon Sleep, we’ve gotten so many Pokémon-themed experiences that any new announce
Roll for initiative
Dungeons & Dragons has had a long and checkered history with video game adaptations, with every ascendant Baldur’s Gate 3 being matched by an equally disappointing Iron & Blood: Warriors of Ravenloft. Then there are the games that fall firmly in the middle, like Neverwinter Nights. After the success of the first game in...
Review Monument Valley 3 (Switch) - A Beautiful Piece Of Work In Need Of A Touch Up
Please, don't touch the artwork
There's something nostalgic about going back to Monument Valley. Ustwo's indie hit debuted on mobile in 2014 and helped establish (at least for a mainstream audience) that the mobile space could include the artistry of the wider indie games scene with thoughtful, immaculately presented, perspective-bending puzzlers...
Movable feast
The world is an unpredictable place, full of strife and economic instability. So, there will always be room for another cosy city builder. Swiss developer Stray Fawn Studio sticks to the genre formula but delivers a charmingly fresh thematic twist. The Wandering Village casts you as the steward of a tiny community, striving to survive...
Review Misc. A Tiny Tale (Switch) - A Charming Chibi-Robo Tribute
Aye, Robot
With Switch 2 now hosting Wind Waker, SoulCalibur and the like, have you got a case of GameCube fever? If so, Misc. A Tiny Tale might be just the soothing ointment you need to apply generously all over your body. Lead developer Michael Pearce has said it was inspired by the games of his youth, and it only takes a glance at the trailer to...
Sci-finery
What comes to mind when you think about BioShock? The remarkable sense of place? The Plasmids? The creepy atmosphere and unsettling enemies? The audio logs? Whatever it may be, chances are that it probably cropped up first in the 1999 sci-fi horror FPS System Shock 2. Written and designed by Ken Levine, who would go on to lead the...
