Game Reviews scoring 8/10
Review Cruis'n Blast (Switch) - An Arcade Racing Icon Returns In Spectacular Fashion
A Blast from the past
Long-time Nintendo fans will know that the Cruis’n series has an interesting history with the company. The original arcade version of the first game, Cruis’n USA, was said to be the first title running on Nintendo's upcoming Ultra 64 hardware, a claim which ultimately turned out to be a bit of a porky pie. Its subsequent...
Review Espgaluda II (Switch) - Localisation Issues Can't Spoil This Superb Shmup
There’s a fly in the full extent of the jam
Espgaluda II’s originally a 2005 arcade game by legendary developer Cave, responsible for the already-released Switch ports of Mushihimesama and Progear (via Capcom Arcade Stadium), the upcoming Deathsmiles I & II collection, and before that a string of high-quality arcade shmups stretching all the...
Review Residual (Switch) - A Deep, Vibrant 2D Survival Platformer With Just A Couple Of Issues
One small step for man and bot
Booting up Residual for the first time can feel a tad overwhelming. You’re chucked head-first onto a strange, seemingly barren planet with nothing but a few bits and bobs to get you started. You step out of the comfort of your ship into the harsh, unforgiving 2D environment and you can actually see your hunger and...
Review Sonic Colors Ultimate (Switch) - The Best 3D Sonic Game Gets A Respectable Remaster
Just take my hand, we're gonna reach for the stars
Being a Sonic fan is hard. The Blue Blur has starred in quite a few legitimately great games over the years, but he’s also been in just about as many clunkers that tanked his reputation. Sonic has especially struggled when it’s come to his forays into 3D environments, yet there was an all too...
Mini Review Mayhem Brawler (Switch) - A Surprisingly Accomplished Beat 'Em Up
In it for the long brawl
It may seem uncharitable to begin a review this way, but Mayhem Brawler is a terrible title for a game. It may as well be 'Fast Driver' or 'High Jumper'. It honestly makes it sound like the laziest, perpetually 89p-in-an-eShop-sale shovelware rubbish. It also does the game a vast disservice, because Mayhem Brawler is a...
Review No More Heroes III (Switch) - A Swaggering Joke Of A Game That Suda51 Fans Will Love
FU Fighters
It's certainly a relatively novel take on the whole E.T. thing. You all saw that instantly iconic "Goddamn Superhero" trailer back at the 2019 Game Awards, right? Cute little alien FU (pronounced "foo" - careful now) returns to earth 20 years after he was taken in and cared for by hapless Elliott-alike Damon Ricitiello (last seen in...
Mini Review Spelunky (Switch) - An Indie Icon And Roguelite Royalty, Finally On Switch
"I am a man of fortune, and I must seek my fortune."
These days, it feels like every other indie game released is some take on the roguelite genre, but it wasn’t always like that. At one point it was even considered a relatively fresh take on game design, and one of the games to blaze the trail in this regard was Spelunky. After receiving an...
Mini Review Hoa (Switch) - A Gentle Platformer With Stunning Studio Ghibli-Esque Art
Lovely Ghibli
Those of us who played Super Mario Bros. as kids had our minds blown the first time someone pointed out that World 1-1 taught you how to play the game. The Goomba comes along and makes you jump; you’re likely to bump your head and discover a mushroom; the pipe helps you jump onto the blocks and so on. Who’d have thought there was...
Review Slime Rancher: Plortable Edition (Switch) - A Solid Plort Of A Superb Slime Sim
Your next farming Plort of call
Upon hearing the title of Slime Rancher: Plortable Edition you might be forgiven for imagining a dozy, snoozy farm simulator that bears a striking resemblance to Stardew Valley with some Dragon Quest Slimes and a first-person perspective thrown in. If that’s you, well you’re only half right, or maybe a quarter...
Review Love Esquire (Switch) - A Fantastic Voice Cast Elevates This Seductive Romp
Looking for love in all the right places
Visual novels and dating sims used to be hard to come by here in the West, especially on consoles. However, the Switch, with its portability and vibrant screen, has enjoyed a wealth of games in these genres over the years. One of the latest to make its way to the console is Love Esquire from publisher Mama...
Mini Review art of rally (Switch) - Stylish Driving With Plenty Of Substance
Vincent van Go Go Go
Funselektor Labs’ art of rally looks like it should be the most accessible rally sim of all time. Its bright colours and abstract environments almost create a false sense of security, distracting from an otherwise remarkably deep and challenging rally title. It retains the same authentic gameplay from its original PC release,...
Mini Review Unbound: Worlds Apart (Switch) - All The Portals You Need
Is this cake a lie..?
Portals have always been cool, right? Valve's own genre-defining Portal remains to this day one of the greatest FPS games of all time, and we're sure even the most firm critic of the MCU can't watch the Endgame portal scene without feeling just a little bit emotional. Unbound: Worlds Apart makes smart use of portals as a...
Review Risk System (Switch) - A Smart And Gutsy Shmup
Do a barrel roll
Shoot-'em-up players are well known for enjoying a good graze. After all, who doesn't? Cows do, for example. But the important distinction between the bovine graze and the shmupper's graze is that the former involves feeding on grass while the latter refers to moving your craft close to bullets and other danger in order to accrue...
Review Samurai Warriors 5 (Switch) - Fast And Flashy Musou On Switch
Musou People Gonna Die?
Koei Tecmo's Samurai Warriors finally returns after a seven year hiatus with a soft reboot that takes the long-running saga back to its roots, focusing on a brash young Nobunaga Oda's unwavering determination to unify Japan whilst zeroing in on his relationship with Mitsuhide Akechi. Samurai Warriors 5 is a slick and stylish...
Review Cris Tales (Switch) - A Gorgeous Indie JRPG That Does Just Enough To Stand Out
The time is now
Time travel has long been a concept that JRPGs have loved playing with. Titles like Chrono Trigger and Radiant Historia oriented their stories around time-hopping misadventures, while games like Bravely Default and Grandia have found fresh and interesting ways to involve time manipulation in the flow of combat. Cris Tales—the...
Review Cotton Reboot! (Switch) - The Wonderfully Playable "Cute 'Em Up" Is Resurrected For Switch
Bullets and Broomsticks
Witches and shoot 'em ups have proven to be an enduring alchemy for gaming’s prevailing niche, with the likes of Magical Chase, Gunbird, Deathsmiles and Trouble Witches casting a spell of bullet patterns over several generations of gamer. Success Corp. released Magical Night Dreams Cotton in 1991. One of the earliest...
Review Boomerang X (Switch) - Frantic First-Person Action That'll Keep You Coming Back
Ninja glidin’
Boomerangs are cool, right? Over the last few decades, we’ve seen a number of bonkers-looking video game weapons such as Cloud Strife’s Buster Sword, Samus’ hand cannon, and even Mario’s very own F.L.U.D.D device. But when it comes to real-life weapons, nothing quite screams cool like a deadly, razor sharp boomerang. It’s a...
Review Ys IX: Monstrum Nox (Switch) - A Fine Action-RPG With Performance Issues On Switch
Ysy like Sunday morning
It’s been a little over three years since we last saw a new entry in the Ys (rhymes with “geese”) franchise, when Lacrimosa of Dana broke the nearly twenty-year period where new entries skipped Nitnendo consoles. We absolutely loved that release, and now that Ys IX: Monstrum Nox is out, we can confidently say that it...
Review Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings Of Ruin (Switch) - A Franchise Riding High
An ideal introduction to the series
Monster Hunter is a series with a longstanding tradition of being impenetrable to casual first-time players, with systems layered upon systems and tricky combat. In the mainline series Monster Hunter: World provided a multi-platform mainstream breakthrough, while on Switch the recent Monster Hunter Rise followed...
Review Sky: Children Of The Light (Switch) - An Experience That Soars On Switch
A mobile marvel
When Sky: Children of the Light (or just ‘Sky’ in-game) launched back in 2019 on iOS, it was met with well-deserved critical acclaim. Some were dismayed that the follow-up to the iconic adventure title Journey would be shackled to the mobile world, but after laying eyes on the gorgeous visuals, simplistic gameplay, and inspired...
Review Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! (Switch) - A Cute And Absolutely Horrifying Dating Sim
Thus with a kiss I die
You've probably heard of Doki Doki Literature Club. The anime dating simulator achieved massive popularity largely through word of mouth, and the Switch version — which this review is about, obviously — comes almost four years after its debut, which means you've either already played it, or you've heard about it and not...
Review Disgaea 6: Defiance Of Destiny (Switch) - A Series High Point, Just Not For Performance
Zed's dead, dood. Zed's dead.
Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny feels like an oddly topical title for Nippon Ichi Software. About two years ago, the company effectively ran out of money following a catastrophic mobile game launch, and it certainly appeared for a while that Nippon Ichi was going to go under. Somehow, the publisher managed to weather the...
Mini Review Alba: A Wildlife Adventure (Switch) - A Relaxing, Off-Rails Pokémon Snap-Alike
A natural beauty
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure started its life as an Apple Arcade exclusive back in 2020 and launched to much critical acclaim. UsTwo's game tells the story of Alba, a curious young girl with a love for animals and nature. Vacationing with her grandparents on an idyllic island full of diverse wildlife, Alba and her best friend suddenly...
Review Winds Of Change (Switch) - A Polished, Absorbing, Animal-Filled Visual Novel
Do you hear that?
Shall we get this out of the way up front? This game features 'furry' characters. If you're already heading to the comments to issue a humorous barb, please re-examine your life. Winds of Change is an accomplished, heartfelt and enjoyable visual novel that does not deserve to be held up against the invented, ludicrous stigma of...
Review Mundaun (Switch) - A Rich, Sepia-Toned First-Person Horror Show
There's evil resident in this village
Take our advice: if you ever receive a suspiciously detail-light missive informing you that a loved one has passed away and urging you not to return to your home village, trust us on this one – just let it lie as advised. Let them lie, we suppose, because no good has ever come from going to a village, as...
Mini Review Astalon: Tears Of The Earth (Switch) - Likeable, High Fantasy Metroidvania Action
The Three Musketeers
Astalon: Tears of the Earth is yet another retro-inspired action platformer on Switch eShop, with a sprinkling of light RPG elements. It tells the tale of an unspecified planet that falls into chaos after an endless battle between its many kingdoms. After decades of surviving in the wasteland, a band of three heroes journey into...
Review Sludge Life (Switch) - A Crude, Delightfully Disposable First-Person Graffiti-'Em-Up
Basic sludgeanomics
Thug life. Slug life. Thudge life. Sludge Life. It’s a pretty simple A-to-B transition when you really look at it. Okay, it’s not. At all. But you try and open a review for a game like this... and what is there to say? Sludge Life is a game where you do stuff. Exist at your own pace. In this game, you — as Marge Simpson...
Mini Review Magical Drop II (SNES) - Fun And Colourful Puzzle Action
Grab, toss, and match three
With five new additions to Nintendo Switch Online's catalogue of NES and SNES games arriving today, we decided to review these new/old releases to help you decide which to play first. Enjoy! Magical Drop is Data East's take on the competitive puzzle game, but with a major twist - instead of fallin
Review Wonder Boy: Asha In Monster World (Switch) - A Fine Revival, Faithful To A Fault
No boys allowed
It’s been a beautiful time for Sega revivals as of late, with games like Streets of Rage 4 and Panzer Dragoon: Remake bringing back old classics. One of the most prolific has been Westone’s Wonder Boy/Monster World series, which has seen no less than three entries – first, a remake of the Master System game The Dragon’s Trap...
Review Famicom Detective Club: The Girl Who Stands Behind (Switch) - This Is The Spooky One
A game about murder, and proper queueing technique
We've already covered a lot about the history and provenance of the Famicom Detective Club remakes in our review for The Missing Heir — the first game in the duology, released solely in Japan in 1988 — so you might want to read that review as well if you want the full picture, or you're...
