Game Reviews scoring 9/10
Review Monster Hunter Rise (Switch) - A New Apex For Capcom's Beastly Franchise
A new Nintendo Switch classic has risen
This encounter felt fated. Written in the stars. Ever since the Nintendo Switch was revealed in late 2016, one pervasive thought has been: “How great is Monster Hunter going to be?” While we saw the release of Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate in 2018, it was just a port of the 3DS title that was...
Review Kaze And The Wild Masks (Switch) - A Brilliant Homage To Donkey Kong Country
Kaze ni nare
Despite being a) beloved and b) hugely successful, the Donkey Kong Country series feels a little… well… under-rated. Offering a weighty yet fast-paced alternative take on the side-scrolling platformer, it’s always been second fiddle to Nintendo’s flagship Super Mario titles. It’s a surprise that such an overt love letter to...
Review Everhood (Switch) - A Mad Mix Of RPG, Rhythm Action, Kart Racing And Bullet-Hell Shmup
If music be the food of love, play on
The RPG genre can be incredibly daunting for many people. This can be for any number of reasons; games like Xenoblade Chronicles and Bravely Default II can be pretty lengthy experiences, filled with dozens of characters, a wide range of stats to keep track of, and – sometimes – an awful lot of grinding. Of...
Review G-Darius HD (Switch) - A True Shmup Legend Reimagined For The High-Def Era
Gz and Hustlas
Editor's note: G-Darius HD and Dariusburst Another Chronicle EX + are currently available individually on the Japanese Switch eShop, but are also part of the Darius Cozmic Revelation physical package. For a guide on how to download games from the Japanese eShop, click here
Review UnderMine (Switch) - A Supremely Refined And Downright Delicious Roguelite
That's gold, Jerry! Gold!
By this point in time, the roguelite genre has become positively saturated in the modern indie scene, spurred on no doubt by key success stories (like Dead Cells) over the last few years. This can be both a good and a bad thing; on one hand, fans of the genre are spoilt for choice when looking for another game to get into,...
Review Tadpole Treble Encore (Switch) - A Must-Buy For Fans Of Rhythm Games
Still pretty sharp
In August of 2016, the rapidly-declining Wii U eShop was graced by the release of a neat little indie game called Tadpole Treble. As the dream project from Matthew Taranto, a popular webcomic artist, Tadpole Treble easily proved itself to be a memorable and creative experience that we quickly fell in love with. Now, nearly five...
Review Cyber Shadow (Switch) - A Blisteringly Brilliant Action Platformer
Go, ninja, go!
Nearly seven years ago, the world was first introduced to Shovel Knight, a passion project that aimed to emulate some of the most legendary game releases of the 8-bit era. Since then, Yacht Club Games has gone on to extensively expand on the base Shovel Knight game, and now the studio has begun to look to the future to its next big...
Mini Review Florence (Switch) - The Very Definition Of 'Short But Sweet'
You know Florence?
Florence originally came to Switch back in February 2020, but we didn't manage to review it at launch. Following several reader requests, we're pleased to say we found time to catch up with it over the holidays... What is Florence? It could be described as an interactive novella or a visual novel, perhaps, although those are...
Review When The Past Was Around (Switch) - The Perfect Video Game Tonic For 2020
The last of something bright burning, still burning
It’s particularly affecting to play a game like When The Past Was Around as the most devastating year of many of our lives comes to its chaotic close. A lot of us have experienced personal loss in 2020, which makes this game's tasteful, cleverly-constructed exploration of the subject both welcome...
Review Dicey Dungeons (Switch) - A Raucous Roguelike Adventure Which Everyone Should Try
You feeling lucky, punk?
Terry Cavanagh is known for making some tough games. If you’ve played the likes of VVVVVV or Super Hexagon, you’re no doubt familiar with his unique brand of simplistic and punishing game design. That design is on full display, albeit in a completely new form, with his latest project, Dicey Dungeons. Here, instead of...
Finger lickin' good
Chickens know things. It's obvious. They have that look in their eye, the slightly disdainful squint of someone who knows what you did and why you did it. They'd be perfect detectives, if not for the small obstacle of their inability to communicate in any meaningful way. Thankfully, developers The Wild Gentlemen saw the potential...
Review Crimzon Clover - World EXplosion (Switch) - Another Must-Have Shmup For Your Switch
Roll out the crimson carpet for this bullet hell classic
Yotsubane’s Crimzon Clover has had quite the journey over the past decade. Beginning as a homemade doujin soft distributed back in 2010, it received an arcade port in Japan in 2013, which was followed by another version for Windows, distributed internationally, a year later. Now, it’s been...
No, MORE Heroes!
Bigger. Better. More. Not exactly the watchwords of the original, shockingly audacious No More Heroes, with its minimal content stretched out across the sweeping, empty landscape of Santa Destroy, memorable for its sheer desolation and entirely in keeping with its satirical take on the “open-world game”. But, as Grasshopper’s...
Review No More Heroes (Switch) - A Crude And Madcap Anime Nightmare That Deserves Your Attention
I, I will be king
No More Heroes is gross. It’s a sleazy, grimy, ugly game with an indefensible moral vacuum of a protagonist in leering otaku Travis Touchdown. And it’s absolutely brilliant. Essentially a hack n’ slash title with some open-world elements, No More Heroes rises above its often-pedestrian gameplay with an overflowing reservoir...
Review Part Time UFO (Switch) - A Game About Picking Things Up That You Won't Want To Put Down
Grab it right away
A lot of people may not realise this, but HAL Laboratory isn’t actually owned by Nintendo. It may have been responsible for the likes of the Kirby, Smash Bros and Mother series and its main office may even be located in Nintendo’s Tokyo building, but the developer remains independent and could make games for other platforms if...
Review ScourgeBringer (Switch) - A Gripping, Tough-As-Nails Roguelite For Dead Cells Fans
Bring the Pain
Do you love a properly hard challenge? Do you thrive in hostile and punishing game environments where constant death is an expected and necessary part of the cycle? Well then, Flying Oak Games' ScourgeBringer might just be right up your street. Here we have a tough as nails roguelite that funnels its players through a never-ending...
Review Alwa's Legacy (Switch) - One Of The Best Metroidvanias We've Seen On Switch So Far
A legacy to be proud of
A couple of years ago, Elden Pixels put out Alwa’s Awakening, a nice sort of throwback Metroidvania that built a quality experience around a few well-designed ideas. It didn’t exactly light up the charts, but Alwa’s Awakening still managed to amass a small following, one which Elden Pixels tapped last November went it...
Review Rebel Galaxy Outlaw (Switch) - Deliciously Daring Dogfighting In The Depths Of Space
You've got your mother in a whirl
Rebel Galaxy Outlaw, Double Damage Games' prequel to 2015's Rebel Galaxy, brings a much-needed slice of old-school space sim action to Switch with swagger and style to spare. Following the fortunes of battle-hardened rebel Juno Markev, whose husband has been murdered and ship destroyed as she escapes an attempt on...
Review SEGA AGES Herzog Zwei (Switch) - A Seminal RTS And One Of The Best Two-Player Games Ever Made
Duke it out
When it launched on the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis back in the very early days of the system, Techno Soft's Herzog Zwei confounded quite a few people. It came from a studio which – in the west, at least – was most famous for its Thunder Force series of blasters. The top-down perspective looked similar to the free-roaming overhead...
Review Ori And The Will Of The Wisps (Switch) - This Xbox Classic Is A Must-Have On Switch
A beautiful sequel that stands on its own merits
Back in September of 2019, one of the most surprising announcements was that Ori and the Blind Forest, an indie game under the ownership of Xbox Game Studios, would be getting a port on the Switch. After the much-anticipated sequel released on Xbox earlier this year, many wondered whether Ori and the...
Everyday life with monster girls
Fair warning to those who need it: Moero Crystal H is a game that not only embraces sexuality, it positively revels in it. It is a game that knows and acknowledges that sexuality is fun, ridiculous, silly, and something that we should feel comfortable laughing about. And it is a game in which your party members...
Review Super Mario 3D All-Stars (Switch) - Three Of Mario's Greatest Adventures Come To Switch
Only shooting Star Bits break the mould
Well, that all happened quickly, didn’t it? It was only a fortnight ago that Nintendo was announcing its long-rumoured compilation of 3D Mario games, and now here we are reviewing the ruddy thing already. Some of you will have already made up your mind about
Mini Review MO:Astray (Switch) - A Grim And Gory Game Which Deserves A Look
Please sir, can I have some mo’?
If you’re not familiar with MO:Astray beyond its utterly weird name, then it's high time you start paying attention. Originally released on Steam back in October 2019 to little fanfare, MO:Astray is a 2D puzzle-platformer boasting unique gameplay mechanics, meticulously designed environments, and gorgeous...
Review Hypnospace Outlaw (Switch) - A Clever Satire Of The Early Days Of The World Wide Web
Get your mouse and keyboard ready
Welcome to the Hypnospace Patrol Department, enforcer! Under the employ of Adrian and Dylan Merchant, owners of Merchantsoft and creators of Hynospace and the HypnOS, you'll spend the next dozen or so hours scrolling through the pages of an alternate reality version of 1990s internet which users access in their...
Review Evergate (Switch) - Soulful, Sumptuous, And Essential
Puzzle-platforming perfection
Amidst the din of the many exciting announcements made at Nintendo's recent Indie World Showcase it may well have been pretty easy to miss Stone Lantern Games' Kickstarter-backed Evergate. This wonderful little puzzle/platformer stealth-dropped onto the eShop during the show and not only has it turned out to be one of...
Keep going, never stop
The cinematic platformer genre has a distinguished and well-documented history, but considering the limitations of the hardware in the years of the genre's biggest breakthrough titles really puts things in perspective. The way pioneering game designers such as Jordan Mechner and Eric Chahi were able to squeeze incredible...
Almost phoenomenal
It takes some going to stand out among the Switch's throng of superb Metroidvanias. When your competition includes the likes of Hollow Knight and Iconoclasts, you know it's going to be a rough ride. But Phoenotopia: Awakening somehow manages to stand out, and it does so by being a little more... low key. That may sound a bit like...
Review Faeria (Switch) - A Superb Mix Of Board Game And Card-Battling Action
Faery good indeed
There are plenty of card games on the Switch, but Faeria may be the prettiest one of all in terms of sheer presentation. Everything just looks beautiful; the cards themselves are attractive, the UI is slick and very readable, and it all just runs very nice and smoothly, with visual effects enhancing the turn-based action rather...
Review Catherine: Full Body (Switch) - The Ultimate Version Of A Surreal Cult Classic
A Rare Vintage
One of our absolute favourite games from the last console generation, Atlus' Catherine is a sublimely stylish mix of visual novel, dating simulation and fiendish block tower puzzler that tells a captivatingly warped story whilst constantly challenging its players with its clever and rewarding platform puzzle elements. Originally...
Review Mr. Driller: DrillLand (Switch) - As Much Fun As It Was 18 Years Ago, If Not More So
Want a great puzzler? Bosch, here's one
There was a time when Mr. Driller was widely considered one of the best puzzle series around. After the first game hit arcades in late 1999, it spawned a bunch of sequels throughout the following decade, with 11 different versions launching in 10 years. And then... nothing. We haven’t had a new one since...
![The Eternal Castle [Remastered] (Switch) - The Cinematic Platformer Reimagined In Dazzling Style](https://images.nintendolife.com/66ba13d4dc023/250x183.jpg)
