Latest Reviews
Splash of the Titans
Developers Purple Lamp Studios are single-handedly keeping the dream alive for the continuing adventures of everyone's favourite sentient sponge. 2020’s Battle for Bikini Bottom: Rehydrated was a fine update to a cult classic and a huge success to boot. The studio followed up with a solid sequel in The Cosmic Shake, making...
What do you see?
Note. Following a delay to Forestrike's planned Switch release date, the game finally arrived in early December. Forestrike is yet another roguelite to add to the Switch pile, albeit one that sets itself apart by focusing on slower, meticulous gameplay. Taking on the role of martial artist Yu, you embark
Review DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO (Switch 2) - A Brilliant Brawler With A Colossal Roster
The spark that lights the fire
When Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero launched last year on non-Nintendo platforms. I was taken aback at how much time had passed since the last entry in this series. I was a teenager still in school! With the launch of Nintendo Switch 2, a flurry of ports are coming to the updated console and handheld system, including...
Review R-Type Delta: HD Boosted (Switch) - The Best R-Type? Possibly, And It's Never Looked Better
Playing with your balls
In the great pantheon of shoot-'em-up games, R-Type is both one of the greatest and one of the most excruciatingly difficult. Released in arcades in 1987 and drawing visual inspiration from the works of H.R. Giger, you pilot an R-9 fighter craft through spectacular alien worlds in a bid to destroy the Bydo Empire. Although...
Mini Review Arcade Archives 2 TOKYO WARS (Switch 2) - Another Polished But Wafer Thin Hamster Port
Tanks for the memories
Hamster Corporation's Arcade Archives series is back with another cabinet classic on Switch 2. I got to check out Jet Ski racer Aqua Jet back in August, which was a lovingly crafted port. This time I'm revisiting the destructive tank combat of Namco's Tokyo Wars, which served as inspiration for The 3DO Company's N64 classic...
Review Kirby Air Riders (Switch 2) - Incredibly Chaotic, But Satisfyingly Deep & Rewarding Racing
Air force one
Kirby Air Ride, I think it's fair to say, didn't receive all that warm a welcome when it launched back in 2003. With lucky GameCubers already marinating in the delicious driving juices of Mario Kart: Double Dash and F-Zero GX, Kirby's cute and chaotic style of racing just didn't seem to stick with the mainstream, and, as a result,...
Review Demonschool (Switch) - Jokes, Gore, And '90s Vibes Set Necrosoft's Tactical RPG Apart
School's out for the apocalypse
Demonschool is a tactical RPG that follows a demon hunter named Faye and her collected companions as members of the Black Magic Club at a poorly-ranked university on a peculiar island by the same name. The school element of Demonschool should be taken with a big grain of salt, as Faye and her group of weirdos find...
Review Indika (Switch) - A Port That Makes You Lose Faith In An Indie Gem
Thoughts and prayers
There’s a version of Indika I’d call one of the most singularly audacious narrative exploration games in recent memory, a daring title that defies easy classification with its surrealist flourishes, cinematic art direction, and cynical inversion of familiar video game mechanics. Unfortunately, the Nintendo Switch version...
Review Blippo+ (Switch) - An Uncanny Channel-Surfing Sim That Perfectly Captures '90s TV
Surprise and Deee-Lite
If you want to really understand (or remember) what TV looked like before the internet, Blippo+ is just the ticket. This unique little time capsule launched on Panic's Playdate in May and landed on Switch and PC in September. Now in full colour, this remarkable collaboration between the band Yacht, Telefantasy Studios,...
Mini Review Hitman: Absolution (Switch) - A Decent Port Of The Series' Black Sheep
Sins absolved?
Hitman: Absolution is widely regarded as the ‘black sheep’ of the series thanks to its focus on cinematic storytelling over player freedom. This is very much still the case with this fresh release on Switch from Feral Interactive, but now that original developer IO Interactive has righted the ship with the excellent World of...
Review Videoverse (Switch) - Miiverse-Inspired Visual Novel Is Beautifully Human
Chapter and Videoverse
Video games are good. The internet is good. Sometimes, it’s hard to remember that nowadays, but Videoverse — the second visual novel from Kinmoku — is determined to remind us of the impact of online communities and the relationships we forge through playing video games. It’s also the most accurate depiction of online...
From Puck to Pac
In my review for Atari 50’s ‘The First Console War’ DLC, I said that Digital Eclipse had “seemingly completed its mission to present the most comprehensive interactive documentary on Atari possible”. Note the word “seemingly”! Yes, we’re back with another expansion – The Namco Legendary Pack – which adds a...
Review Winter Burrow (Switch) - Cosy Survival, But Doesn't Go Deep Enough
Scariest creature in this wood
Developed by Pine Creek Games and published by Noodlecake, Winter Burrow is a cosy woodland survival game where you play as a mouse who braves frigid weather, collects food and resources, and rebuilds their childhood home. It begins with the death of our young mouse protagonist's parents, prompting a return to the...
Mini Review Yakuza Kiwami (Switch 2) - Kiryu's Debut, Smoother Than Ever
Majima magic
It only feels like yesterday that Yakuza Kiwami finally made its way onto the Switch, and yet here we are with a beefed-up Switch 2 version. This new release is effectively the same game, but Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio have taken advantage of the newer console’s specs for a much smoother, crisper experience. Crucially, the frame...
Review Yakuza Kiwami 2 (Switch 2) - One Of The Series' Very Best
Kiwami-likey
Sega and developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio are seemingly on a mission to bring as many Yakuza games to the Switch 2 in as short a time span as possible. With Kiwami and Kiwami 2 joining Yakuza 0: Director’s Cut, we’re already at three within five months of the console’s release. Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties next February will make it four...
Review Goodnight Universe (Switch 2) - A Supernatural Adventure, Quirky & Heartwarming
Don't blink
In 2021, publisher Skybound Games put out Before Your Eyes on PC and Mac (later on mobile and PSVR2), which offered an innovative control mechanic in which you primarily interacted with the game through eye movement and blinks. Alongside this cool gimmick, Before Your Eyes was lauded for its gripping emotional story, quickly turning it...
Review Double Dragon Revive (Switch) - Nice Ideas, Uneven Execution
Not much of a revival
The beat ‘em up genre has experienced something of a renaissance in the last generation, with original titles like Fight’n Rage (2019) and more recently Absolum (2025) finding new ways to move the genre forward, while releases such as Streets of Rage 4 (2020) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (2022)...
You Korok my world
Back in 2014 when I picked up the very first Hyrule Warriors on Wii U, my expectations were set somewhere around 'Give me mindless musou action wearing its best Legend of Zelda costume and I'll be a very happy boy.' A simple boy, for sure, but a happy one. And I was a happy boy. I played through Hyrule Warriors in a delirious...
Get over here (and fix it)
Digital Eclipse doesn’t do things by halves. It’s already proven this with the likes of Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration and Tetris Forever, and yet I’m still blown away by what the studio has accomplished with Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection. For years, fans have been begging for a compilation of the original...
Review Luigi's Mansion (GameCube) - A Spooky Little Romp That Still Sucks You In
It's-a me! Mari— wait, what?
This review was originally published in October 2010. We're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack GameCube library on Switch 2. Enjoy! Nintendo has always had a dark side. Though it's built up a name for itself as a family-friendly company, every so...
Review Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake (Switch 2) - Rounds Out The Erdrick Trilogy In Style
Erdrick of the tale
After its initial announcement of the Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, Square Enix took a few years before it shared any further significant information on the project, which led some at the time to wonder if it had been cancelled or was facing development issues behind the scenes. When the company finally broke the silence and...
Mini Review Simon The Sorcerer Origins (Switch) - A Faithful Return To A Classic Adventure Series
Simon says spells
If you're an adventure game fan of a certain age, you’ll have a place in your heart for Simon the Sorcerer. Part of the first major wave of point-and-click adventures back in the late '80s and early '90s, Simon offered a goofy British counterpart to Monkey Island’s swashbuckling comedy. The series now returns with a faithfully...
Review Once Upon A Katamari (Switch) – A Roll-'Em-Up Revival Done Right
A star is born
The core gameplay conceit of the Katamari series — rolling up everything you see into a giant ball of wriggling debris, one object at a time — almost feels like it shouldn’t work. Yet Once Upon a Katamari manages to turn mess into something meditative, pulling you into a satisfyingly tactile flow state where hoovering stuff up...
Review Two Point Museum (Switch 2) - Probably The Best Game In The Series, But No Mouse Mode?
It belongs in a museum
Universities and hospitals: they’re well-known money spinners (assuming you ignore socialised healthcare) and make perfect sense for a management sim. What doesn’t strike me as such a lucrative institution is a museum. I went to a lot of them as a child specifically because it was a cheap day out, and as I rocket closer...
Review Night Striker Gear (Switch) - The Shining Apex Of The 'Super Scaler' Concept
All the gear, and a great idea
Imagine, if you will, an alternate timeline where 3D graphics never happened. Instead, Sega's 'Super Scaler' concept — popularised in games such as Hang-On, Space Harrier, Out Run and After Burner — evolves to the point where 2D sprites can not only be scaled without any degradation in visual fidelity, but are...
Mini Review Silver Bullet (Switch) - A Gothic Arcade Shooter Full Of Tricks
Treat or Treat?
Silver Bullet’s aesthetic is dark, cartoony, and full of Halloween charm. But beneath its playful premise of a pint-sized Van Helsing rescuing puppies from the forces of darkness lies a razor-blade-stuffed apple - an arcade game with a wicked edge. Mashing genres into something unique, its crosshair shooting setup is reminiscent...
Mini Review Lumo 2 (Switch) - A Delightful Celebration Of British Retro Gaming
An Impossible Mission?
Sitting down to play Lumo 2, as a gamer of a certain vintage, I fully expected to be treated to a few touching moments as developer Triple Eh? transported me back to the sweet innocence (and unbelievable stupidity) of my gaming childhood. A few nostalgia button pushes and I'd be happy enough. Sit that alongside some decent...
Review Persona 3 Reload (Switch 2) - A Great Remake, But Still Not Definitive
S.E.E.S. the day
If you’ve yet to play any version of Persona 3, then its darker tones and subject matter might come as a bit of a shock. The opening scene shows supporting character Yukari Takeba sitting alone with a gun pointed at her own head, working up the courage to pull the trigger. Even considering some of the directions the subsequent...
Mini Review Xenotilt: Hostile Pinball Action (Switch) - The Balatro Of Pinball Games
Cyber-nudge
Demon’s Tilt deservedly received praise for its occult-themed gameplay, with many deeming it a worthy spiritual successor to Devil’s Crush. Now, sole developer WIZNWAR is back with Xenotilt: Hostile Pinball Action, a cyberpunk-inspired twist that improves upon its predecessor in almost every conceivable way. Simply put, this is one...
Mini Review Pokémon Legends: Z-A (Switch) - Mostly Stable, Much Less Shiny
An evolution on Switch 1, but not a Mega one
Pokémon Legends: Z-A on Switch is 'fine'. For a lot of people, that'll be enough. And certainly, even I'm surprised it's as stable as it is after Legends: Arceus and Scarlet & Violet had more than their fair share of performance woes — the latter of which is almost a completely different game with the...
