Latest Reviews
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...
Review BALL x PIT (Switch) - Ballsy, Beautifully Balanced, Mercilessly Addictive
Bouncing off the walls
Here comes a ball – a great big wrecking ball, ready to smash down the headquarters of productivity that might otherwise control your life. Kenny Sun Studios’ Ball x Pit is a mercilessly addictive mix of, well, a lot of stuff. First, take a big dollop of Vampire Survivors and a healthy scoop of Breakout – then just mix...
Review Bye Sweet Carole (Switch) - An Enchanting, Occasionally Frustrating Animated Adventure
Once upon a time
Before spinning us an enchanting and emotionally charged yarn, developer Little Sewing Machine opens with a simple dedication in lowercase: for mom. It’s a reminder that, despite the scope of the journey ahead, this is a deeply personal tale. Little Sewing Machine lead Chris Darill is no stranger to artistic horror or cinematic...
So that puts it at an M, right?
I honestly never thought I’d fall in love with Pokémon battles. That’s not why I play Pokémon – I don’t play competitively either – because I play a ton of RPGs where combat is the draw. I can get my fix elsewhere. But Pokémon Legends: Z-A may have done the impossible; in Kalos, I can’t wait to get into...
Not to be alche-missed
When it comes to the Atelier series, variety is the spice of life. One might think that more than 25 games deep into developer Gust’s long-running RPG series, the sheen of that trademark gameplay loop of collecting materials, learning recipes, and crafting items via alchemy would start to dull a little. Yet, with the...
Review Shujinkou (Switch) - Words Whup Sticks & Stones In This Innovative Dungeon Crawler
School is in session
In all the world, few things are as powerful as language. We use it to communicate all our hopes and fears and inner thoughts to each other. Words have a power all their own, which is why Shujinkou struck me as such an interesting concept; a JRPG that aims to teach players the fundamentals of Japanese. While I applaud the...
Review Absolum (Switch) - Evolves Arcade, RPG & Roguelike Formats Into Something Fresh & Exciting
Absolumtly fantastic
Absolum is the brainchild of Dotemu, Guard Crush Games, and Supamonks, collaborators largely responsible for bringing about the renaissance of the scrolling beat 'em up with Streets of Rage 4 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. Dotemu’s first original IP, Absolum is a 'rogue 'em up' inspired by Capcom’s...
It takes two (consoles)
When the original Little Nightmares was released in 2017, it won praise for its fresh take on puzzle platforming horror. Its sequel upped the scare factor even further, earning critical acclaim while deepening the series’ mythos. With a new developer at the helm of its threequel, the question on everyone’s minds is...
Review Yooka-Replaylee (Switch 2) - Feels Like The Game It Was Meant To Be, Finally
Capital B here now
11 (!) years ago, a bunch of ex-Rare staff formed a studio called Playtonic to make Yooka-Laylee, a spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie that promised to skillfully carry the 3D platforming torch. Yet when the actual game launched in 2017, following an incredibly successful Kickstarter campaign, it didn’t fully deliver on that...
Mini Review The Touryst: Deluxe (Switch 2) - An Upgrade To First Class For The Return Trip
Has it all gone Pete Tong?
It feels like absolutely ages ago that I first reviewed The Touryst on Switch, and returning to it so far down the line, and on the Switch 2 no less, I've been excited to see just how it's held up in the six years since I last took a vacation. Seriously, though. I was bowled over back in the day, giving Shin'en's...
Why do humans read the air?
We reported on the Switch 2 version of Kuukiyomi 4: Consider It having arrived with new features, including a bunch of exclusive mouse-mode content, and as a result of that, well, I agreed in writing in the comments that I'd review it. Thanks, past me. Thanks a bunch. I jest, of course. This is an off-kilter Japanese...
Review Disgaea 7 Complete (Switch 2) - A Definitive Return For This Tactical RPG Giant
Limits were meant to be broken
Disgaea fans know the drill by now. Whenever a new mainline entry in the long-running tactical RPG series breaks onto the scene, it’s only a matter of time before it gets a re-released edition that bundles in the base game’s DLC along with a suite of gameplay tweaks and additions. It’s series tradition at this...
Review Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds (Switch) - Cracking Karting, But Struggles To Keep Up On Switch
Everybody super sonic racing
Nintendo has spent the past few decades going from strength to strength with Mario Kart, so it’s not hard to see why companies holding other recognisable IP have wanted to take a crack at the kart-racer formula to see if they can pull a following of their own. While plenty of copycats have popped up over the years, one...
Review Fire Emblem Shadows (Mobile) - Flat F2P Folly With Simplistic Strategy & Social Deduction
Fire Emblem, disengage
I'm always suspicious, a little tiny bit at least, of games that I play on my mobile phone. Not because I'm somehow wise to something about the platform others aren't, but more because I'm old and remember the long and arduous 'Trash Years' (as I like to call them) of terrible, terrible games for your phone. You know the...
Mini Review Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Switch) - The Stars Align Again In This Cosmic Sequel
More is more
How do you follow up a game like Mario Galaxy? Well, with its direct sequel, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Nintendo refined and expanded upon the original’s outrageous gravity-based gameplay. The result is one of the finest 3D platformers of all time; one that constantly pushes you down surprising and thrilling new paths. After its exclusion...
Mini Review Super Mario Galaxy (Switch) - Still A Stellar Achievement
Defying gravity
Super Mario Galaxy is one of those games that doesn’t need a whole lot of work done to update it for modern platforms. It’s a sublime experience with timeless gameplay and visuals that still look magical to this very day. So booting it up on Switch or Switch 2, you might be hard-pressed to find anything ‘new’ here...
Review Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Switch) - Still Out Of This World
Luma-nescent
I have to admit, prior to this review, it’s been a while since I played either Super Mario Galaxy or Galaxy 2. I dabbled a bit in the first entry in Super Mario 3D All-Stars, but I spent the majority of my time there playing Mario Sunshine (still my ‘favourite’ of the 3D entries – blame nostalgia, I guess) before getting...
Happy Trails
Whether you're a long-time fan or just curious, it’s natural to approach the release of a new JRPG with measured expectations. These games often build on rich lore and deep series history, rewarding those who enjoy exploring vast worlds and narratives. On the surface, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter might seem like just another drop in...
Review Star Trek: Resurgence (Switch) - '90s Trek Fan? This'll Transport You
Starship mine
Star Trek: Resurgence presents, essentially, an episode of the sci-fi show in interactive, visual novel form. Where Starfleet combat sims focus on phaser battles and starship strategy, and often struggle to capture the many facets of the show beyond the iconography, Dramatic Labs threads life's moral quandaries, familial and political...
