Game Reviews scoring 9/10
Review SteamWorld Heist: Ultimate Edition (Switch eShop)
I love it when a plan comes together
After releasing the sublime SteamWorld Dig, many expected Image & Form to go the safe route of producing a follow up that more or less built on that foundation. Though we would eventually receive SteamWorld Dig 2, the company chose to defy expectations and make SteamWorld Heist, a game which belongs to...
Review Arcade Archives VS. Super Mario Bros. (Switch eShop)
Super Mario Bros. rejigged
Nintendo released Super Mario Bros. in 1985, making a lot of people very happy due to the superb platforming action it provided and selling a lot of NES systems in the process. Numerous sequels have followed, but that first game has remained available on various machines over the years, sometimes adding things like updated...
Horrific, for all the right reasons
Some games are just a perfect match for Switch. Whether they’re designed with its portability and local multiplayer support in mind, or simply ported so well you’d think Switch was always part of the developers plan all along. Couchplay-orientated hack ‘n’ slasher Crawl comfortably fits into the latter...
Review TINY METAL (Switch eShop)
Hold me closer, Tiny Metal
It's been almost ten years since we last had an entry in Intelligent Systems' superb Advance Wars series, but don't let that depress you - we now have the next best thing in the form of Tiny Metal, the debut game from Japanese studio Area35. This is unashamedly a clone of the aforementioned Nintendo franchise and the nuts...
Truly unique
Gorogoa is not your typical video game. In fact, we’re having trouble thinking of any other games that feel and work in quite the same way as this one. Created by the one-man team of Jason Roberts, this seven year-long development project uses a beautiful, storybook-like layout to allow players to interact with elements on each page,...
Review Floor Kids (Switch eShop)
Top Rock
While the Switch has already booked an array of both dance (Just Dance 2017 and 2018) and rhythm games (like VOEZ, Deemo, and Superbeat Xonic), it’s safe to say that there’s nothing else in the system’s lineup quite like Floor Kids. In fact, this labour of love from Montreal-based duo JonJon (animator and former bboy) and Kid Koala...
Review Enter The Gungeon (Switch eShop)
Right to bear arms
Nintendo Switch received one of the finest roguelike indie games in the business earlier this year with The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+. Now it has another in Enter The Gungeon. Much like Edmund McMillen's reworked masterpiece, ETG takes the basic form of a top-down twin-stick shooter. Dodge Roll's game, however, has an...
Expanding the great adventure
Nintendo recently dropped the second DLC pack (and final part of the Expansion Pass) for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, one of the most beloved games. For many it's been the addition we've been waiting for, offering new story content and a fresh dungeon in addition to the now-standard add-ons in the forms of...
Review Mutant Mudds Collection (Switch eShop)
Muddy brilliant
The Mutant Mudds series has seen its fair share of love from critics and players alike over the last few years; the wonderful Mutant Mudds won us all over when it originally released on 3DS (and then again in a deluxe version for Wii U), and then Mutant Mudds Super Challenge came along, taking everything we already knew and loved and...
Review Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Switch)
Is the Switch feeling it?
It seems so long ago now, but the latter half of the Wii lifespan had an overarching tale focused on localisation. Fans in the West kicked off 'Operation Rainfall' when it was clear that three intriguing Nintendo-published games would be Japan-only. Eventually they made their way to the West, and of the three titles...
Review Mantis Burn Racing (Switch eShop)
Burns brightly
Sometimes a game really suits a system. Mantis Burn Racing may have arrived last year on other platforms, but on Switch it shines, feeling like it has found its true home. Featuring all the top-down racing action of the other versions (with the complete DLC already included) it allows cross-network play with Xbox One and PC (Steam)...
Review Nintendo Presents: New Style Boutique 3 - Styling Star (3DS)
We're so style savvy
Paris. London. Milan. Kyoto? That’s right; while fashion industry hotshots and hopefuls tuned in to expos and trade shows in the Big Three, for many others, 2017’s haute couture highlight was delivered in a Nintendo Direct from the heart of Kansai: the announcement of New Style Boutique 3: Styling Star. Syn Sophia’s Style...
Review RIVE: Ultimate Edition (Switch eShop)
Bang for your buck
Two Tribes is a name that will be familiar to many a Nintendo fan after the excellent Toki Tori series, a puzzle platformer with some very light Metroidvania elements. Since producing those games, the company fell on some hard times and stated that RIVE would be its final game. The title was announced back in 2014 for the Wii...
Review Rocket League (Switch eShop)
Supersonic, acrobatic, rocket-powered
Rocket League is a shining example of how a game can organically create its own success without expensive marketing campaigns or pre-launch hype. When it launched on the PS4 as part of Sony's PlayStation Plus subscription service it came with little fanfare – the title on which it is based, Supersonic...
Review The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Switch)
Stay frosty
The dream that, to be fair, probably only a handful of complete weirdos ever truly had, is nevertheless now a reality: with its much-heralded release on Switch, in a DLC-complete edition, it’s now possible to play Skyrim on the toilet. Or, more likely, in bed, or on a train or plane. Or even in the toilet of a train or plane. And so...
Review Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond the Myth (3DS)
Off the charts
ATLUS has been one of the 3DS’ biggest supporters, supplying Nintendo’s stereoscopic system with an impressive stream of JRPG gems over the last 6 years — including several excellent entries in the Etrian Odyssey series. Starting out on the DS and combining first-person dungeon crawling and touchscreen map-making, these...
Review The Mummy Demastered (Switch eShop)
A run 'n stunning monster mash-up
There are a few different ways this review could have started. Lamenting that officially licensed video games based on blockbuster movies have had a rough history (to put it politely), or the even more disappointing tales of movies that have used gaming franchise IPs as source material. Whichever way you cut the...
Review Oxenfree (Switch eShop)
Under The Skin
Oxenfree is one of gaming’s greatest ghost stories. Granted, they’re a rare breed, the genuinely spooky video game, experiences that aren’t so much played as permitted to crawl across your skin, cooling the blood and yet quickening its flow. But Californian indie studio Night School’s debut production, originally released in...
Review Stardew Valley (Switch eShop)
Star of the show
Stardew Valley is a universally acclaimed farming simulator that was initially released on PC in February 2016, before eventually arriving on other consoles later that year. The last few months have seen little other than pure hype and excitement from Switch players, however, as they finally get to see this Harvest Moon-inspired...
Review Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions (3DS)
A classic for the ages
Nintendo's portable gaming has a special place in the industry, a challenge the company will need to tackle in the years to come should it stick with a single 'hybrid' device in the form of the Switch. Nintendo's dedicated handhelds have consistently had games unique to that on-the-go space, with the Mario & Luigi series...
Review Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime (Switch eShop)
Lovely stuff
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is a multiplayer experience that finds itself sitting somewhere between the action and party genres. Developed by Toronto-based indie studio Asteroid Base, the game has received a lot of love and attention across its PC and other console releases with its use of colour, imagination, and pure fun often...
Bravo
Taiwanese developer Rayark may best be known for its music games on mobile platforms, but it was also responsible for one of the best surprises in the Switch’s launch lineup with VOEZ. Brought to the Switch by publisher Flyhigh Works, this colourful title showed how well once-free-to-play rhythm games could work on Nintendo’s handheld...
Review Golf Story (Switch eShop)
A hole-in-one
One would not think that an RPG centered around golf would really make a whole lot of sense, but Camelot managed to nail the idea back in the '90s when it released Mario Golf on the Game Boy Color. Though it’s a rather niche release in the plumber’s past, it clearly inspired the developers of Golf Story to expand on the concept,...
Review Yo-kai Watch 2: Psychic Specters (3DS)
The Boos are Back in Town
Level-5’s Yo-Kai Watch drew plenty of comparisons to Pokémon when it first came West, thanks to its monster-gathering mechanics and playground appeal, but it really started to resemble Nintendo’s Pocket Monster powerhouse with the split release of its 2016 sequel: Yo-Kai Watch 2: Bony Spirits and Yo-Kai Watch 2: Fleshy...
Review Pokémon Gold And Silver (3DS eShop / GBC)
Golden oldies
Pokémon Gold and Silver are the second generation instalments in the Pokémon series; released at the turn of the millennium, the games arrived just a few short years after their predecessors, Pokémon Red and Blue. Boasting a whole new world to explore, 100 new monsters (bringing the total to 251), and an entirely new cast of...
Review SteamWorld Dig 2 (Switch eShop)
Full steam ahead
As Image & Form often reminds us, its now-familiar core IP began with SteamWorld: Tower Defense on DSiWare, a thoroughly decent tower defence game. It was SteamWorld Dig that was transformative for the studio, however, achieving well-earned success on the 3DS and a range of other platforms. That allowed the team to up the ante...
Review Pokkén Tournament DX (Switch)
Nintendo used Double-Dip!
The unholy lovechild of Tekken and Pokémon, Pokkén Tournament caused quite a stir when it was first announced, yet Bandai Namco's one-on-one fighter exceeded expectations when it eventually arrived on the Wii U last year following a successful run in arcades. Given that almost all Pokémon games focus on...
Review Monster Hunter Stories (3DS)
Pocket Monsters
Capcom’s Monster Hunter series has become something of a runaway success since its 2004 debut on the PlayStation 2, reaching millions of players on various platforms, and spawning an explosion of similar games in the ‘Hunter’ mold. Action RPGs with a focus on multiplayer teamwork and lengthy battles against massive monsters,...
Review Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition (Switch)
Everybody Loves Rayman
It’s funny how things come full circle. It may be hard to remember now, but way back at E3 2012 when Rayman Legends was first revealed, it was declared a Wii U exclusive. Any Wii U owners who were eagerly awaiting Legends will recall the frustrating events that took place over the year that followed: originally planned as a...
Review Retro City Rampage DX (Switch eShop)
Ultimate chaos
Retro City Rampage was years in the making for Brian Provinciano and a small team through his studio Vblank Entertainment, but came up against bumps in the road. It eventually made its way to WiiWare, and in time Retro City Rampage DX arrived on PC, consoles and the 3DS eShop as an enhanced version of what was an excellent game...
