Switch eShop Game Reviews
Review Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid (Switch) - A Pleasant Vacation, If You're Patient
A great vacation, or Natsu much?
In a world where problems and frustrations seem to be around every corner, you might find yourself wanting to escape from it all. Maybe you dream of taking in the Japanese countryside, strolling around in a field of sunflowers, catching some bugs, fishing, all without a worry in sight. Well, if that’s what you’re...
Review Volgarr The Viking II (Switch) - One Of The Switch's Best 2D Action Platformers
Entry to Valhalla secured
Since the release of Volgar the Viking in 2013, fans have been itching for a full sequel to the Rastan-inspired action platformer for over a decade at this point. Now the time has finally arrived. Thanks to a partnership between developer Crazy Viking Studios and retro specialist Digital Eclipse, we can step back into the...
Review World Of Goo 2 (Switch) - A Superb Sequel With A Few Sticking Points
World of Good
It’s hard to believe, but it’s been a few weeks shy of 16 years since the original World of Goo barged its way onto Wii and PC back in 2008. Its wacky physics and endearing presentation stole the hearts of practically everyone who played it, and a re-release on Nintendo Switch back in 2017 reaffirmed its lofty status, but can its...
Mini Review MARS 2120 (Switch) - A Mediocre Ode To Metroid Dread
This Mars has no bite
When Nintendo launched Metroid Dread in 2021, there was no doubt in our minds that it would inspire more fast-paced, gritty Metroidvanias later down the road. MARS 2120 is one such title; a sci-fi romp that attempts to capture the same magic that made Dread so special, but ultimately falls at almost every hurdle. It starts off...
Review SNK Vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos (Switch) - A Great-Looking But Painfully Average Fighter
So Very Common
Sometimes it's very difficult, no matter how you try to frame it in your head, to get excited for re-releases of certain retro fighting games. It's a genre that's ripe for the picking, absolutely stuffed full of crackers to be revisited but, for every delightful return to the likes of Samurai Shodown 2, Guilty Gear, or Street Fighter,...
Review Star Wars: Bounty Hunter (Switch) - A Faithful Remaster For Jango Fett, Warts And All
Mandabore
In the early 2000s, the Star Wars universe was expanding. While the prequel trilogy was setting its sights on Anakin Skywalker's epic arc from good to evil (or from 'Yippee’-ing child actor to underappreciated grown-up actor, depending on your point of view), LucasArts turned to the video game scene to provide some 'wider reading' for...
Review Thank Goodness You're Here! (Switch) - A Face-Achingly Funny British Romp
A Grand Day Out
You don’t know who you are, you don’t know fully why you’re going where you’re going, and everyone around you just assumes you’re the solution to all their problems. You could argue that this idea describes an unusually vast number of games, but Thank Goodness You’re Here! takes that notion to its logical conclusion. You...
Review The New Denpa Men (Switch) - A Simple, Goofy RPG With The Usual F2P Irritations
A winner is you
Back in the days of the Nintendo 3DS eShop, some of you may remember the Denpa Men trilogy, which offered a series of cheap and approachable RPG adventures that felt like a great fit for the portable. However, there was a fourth title released only in Japan in 2014 which experimented with a free-to-play structure that proved...
Review Bō: Path Of The Teal Lotus (Switch) - Charm Meets Challenge In This Gorgeous Metroidvania
More tea, vicar?
Metroidvania fans seem to be living through a golden age. Hollow Knight and the Ori series, indie hits of the last decade, have established themselves as all-time classics, spurring on a horde of imitators, tributes, and new ideas. Even just 2024’s entries range from the imaginative, lo-fi hit Animal Well to the lavishly presented
Review The Star Named EOS (Switch) – A Sparkling Puzzler With A Sincere Story
Starry-eyed
Photos capture a moment in time with full objectivity. They can defy our version of events, and settle ‘that’s not how it happened’ arguments. In these cases, you could say fitting a photo into one’s memory becomes a…puzzle. For this review’s sake, please think about that metaphor, because it's the premise of The Star Named...
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Slide it over
There isn’t another puzzle game like Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure. It makes sense that a game about celebrating the differences between humans and the world would be so different. With Arranger, Furniture & Mattress – the studio formed by the lead writer on Carto, the artist of Braid, and the puzzle designer on ETHEREAL...
Review SCHiM (Switch) - A Chill, Shadow-Hopping Platformer That Prioritises Aesthetics
It's Frogger, but emotional
Though 3D platformers often go down the collectathon route to varying success, it can be interesting to see new entries in the genre try something a little different. SCHiM is one such fresh title, eschewing a focus on cartoonish characters, wacky levels, and mountains of things to grab in favor of a semi-narratively...
Mini Review Toree's Panic Pack (Switch) - A Third Pop Of 99¢ Platforming Pleasure
The only moral Toree
Toree's Panic Pack costs 89p. 99¢. That’ll probably either perk up your ears, or make your face twist in reasonable scepticism. Luckily, as with all the previous Toree games, it’s absolutely worthy of the former and certainly not the latter. Previous games in the series of short and colourful 3D platformers have had a...
Mini Review Conscript (Switch) - A WWI-Themed Love Letter To Resident Evil, Minus The Scares
Atten-hut!
When you think of survival horror, chances are you think of zombies, monsters, ghosts, and other fantastical, supernatural creatures. Conscript tries something a bit different. Set during World War I, you’re faced with something more feasible and realistic than any of the aforementioned beasties: the horror of war. Yes, the enemies here...
Review Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate (Switch) - Hades In A Half-Shell
Roguesteady
From the outside, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate looks a lot like Hades. The room-based gameplay, upgrade and power-up systems, approach to storytelling, and hack-and-slash combat will be no stranger to those who have played the award-winning god-like roguelike. But this is no bad thing. Imitation is the sincerest form of...
Review Let's School (Switch) - A Solid Management Sim In School Uniform, But Lacks Soul
Class is in session
Everyone’s school days were a gauntlet of different challenges. From exams to social drama to the occasional run-in with a schoolyard bully, everyone had a bit of a hard time, but spare a thought to the poor headteachers who had to keep a building full of hormonal teenagers from descending into utter chaos. Let’s School from...
Review Darkest Dungeon II (Switch) - An Uncompromising Sequel That Isn't Afraid To Try New Things
Prepare to die
Upon booting it up for the very first time, Darkest Dungeon 2 greets you with a message that plainly informs you that you’re going to fail… a lot… while trying to overcome its many challenges. It does this not to discourage you, but to set expectations. Keeping with the precedent set by the first Darkest Dungeon, this sequel is...
Review Princess Maker 2 Regeneration (Switch) - A Solid Return For Simulator Royalty
Needs more dad jokes
Before Super Mario Maker, there was Princess Maker. Yes, these two series have absolutely nothing in common beyond a shared naming convention and we’re definitely being more than a bit cheeky, but it’s technically a true statement. Back in the early ‘90s, Neon Genesis Evangelion anime studio Gainax took its biggest swing...
Review Fading Afternoon (Switch) - An Ambitious, Absorbing 'Yakuza' In Kunio-kun's Clothing
The gang's all here
Technos’ Kunio-kun titles, a 42-strong series dabbling in various genres, began in 1986 as a simple arena brawler. Its most popular entries, however, were those that incorporated non-linear role-playing elements based around soap operatic high school thuggery. Anyone familiar with those titles, specifically on Famicom, Super...
Blood-meltingly beautiful
Tsukihime is responsible for a lot of things. Back in 2000, Type-Moon’s classic visual novel captivated audiences with a story crammed full of occult mystery, thrilling action, and heart-pounding character drama. Like jagged lines splintering out of a unified core, its success spread out in many different directions:...
Review Frogun Encore (Switch) - A Sure-Footed 3D Platforming Throwback
A ribbiting new adventure
Though the heyday of the 3D platformer is long past, modern indie developers have done a pretty good job of keeping the spirit alive through dedicated efforts in titles such as Lunistice, Mail Mole, Cavern of Dreams, and Demon Turf. Frogun was another decent new entry to the genre back in 2022 and now the developers at Top...
Review Beyond Good & Evil: 20th Anniversary Edition (Switch) - Beyond Good, Still
Turning a new Pey'j
Considering the lengthy ongoing development of Beyond Good & Evil 2 and the subsequent grilling from eager fans that Ubisoft has brought upon itself over the years, it’s easy to forget just how darn good the original game is. First released on PS2, Xbox, and GameCube at the end of 2003, Beyond Good & Evil was one of the...
Review NeoSprint (Switch) - Atari's Pricey But Revved-Up Retro Romp
Burnin' rubber
If you had visited an arcade in the late '70s and ’80s, there’s a good chance you’d come across a bustling Sprint cabinet complete with crowd-pulling steering wheels and pedals. Atari’s once ubiquitous overhead racing classic is now making a comeback on modern consoles with NeoSprint, and we’re happy to report that it...
Review Metal Slug Attack Reloaded (Switch) - Tower Defence In Its Goofiest, Gacha-iest Form
Sluggish
Once again, the world is on the cusp of being taken over by the evil General Donald Morden and his Rebel Army. Only the Peregrine Falcon Squad, led by the heroic Marco Rossi, stand in the way of the Rebels establishing their New World Order. This could be the plot of just about any entry in the Metal Slug series, which is at its best when...
Review Dicefolk (Switch) - An Incredibly Fresh-Feeling, Monster-Catching Roguelite
Want to be the very best, like no one ever was?
These days, roguelites and deckbuilders are a dime a dozen, but it seems like developers are finding ways to get creative with the genre mechanics to produce something that sticks out from the glut of releases these past several years. Dicefolk offers one such creative take on the roguelite formula,...
Stranger stuff
Developer Cococucumber has established itself as a dependable indie studio over the past few years. Specialising in accessible throwbacks, it adds a fresh spin on old genre formats. Although its latest title Ravenlok is (pun intended) locked away behind Xbox exclusivity, Switch owners can finally try the second in the dev's...
Unsung hero
‘Underrated’ is a term too often applied recklessly, but for Rocket Knight Adventures, a series that struggled to reach global stardom despite Konami’s three-pronged stab, it’s appropriate. Its initial entry resides in the upper echelons of everything 16-bit and is one of the finest titles on the Mega Drive. Yet, Sparkster,...
Review Monster Hunter Stories (Switch) - Showing Its Age But Still Worth The Hunt
Portable monsters for the kids (and kids at heart)
When Capcom released Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin on Nintendo Switch back in 2021, there may have been some that said, "Wait, there was a first game?" It's worth remembering that the original outing of Monster Hunter Stories came towards the end of the 3DS era; in fact, it was released...
Review Star Wars: Hunters (Switch) - A F2P Hero Shooter That's Fast, Fun, And Force-ful
Drop it like it's Hoth
You would be forgiven for having a bad feeling about Star Wars: Hunters. This free-to-play, class-based, hero shooter was announced by FarmVille developer Zynga in 2021, but a duo of delays and its appearance in the already stacked genre of '
Review Overmorrow (Switch) - Intriguing, But Assumes Too Much With Its Save-Wiping Setup
'Morrowind you up
Overmorrow, the debut release from solo developer PixelManta, manages to be philosophically interesting, is evocatively written, visually distinct, and lovingly crafted. Yet, the notion of re-playing it – which you’ll effectively need to do by design – is a tall order, and therein lies the unfortunate problem with this...
