Game Reviews scoring 8/10
Review SeaBed (Switch) - A Moving Visual Novel Masterpiece, If You Give It A Chance
Ooh, mysterious girls
Anyone who has ever studied literature will know all too well that even works universally agreed to be timeless classics don’t necessarily appeal to everyone in the general public. Such will doubtless be the case with SeaBed, a visual novel developed by Paleontology Soft and brought West by localisation specialists Fruitbat...
Review La-Mulana (Switch) - Packed With Peerless Puzzles That Demand Dedicated Players
It belongs in a museum!
If there’s one element that it feels modern game design has largely left in the past, it’s mystery. There are some bastions of it still around today, such as the delightfully esoteric Dark Souls series, but most games these days just aren’t made to have impenetrable secrets. By that, we mean of the sort that can grind...
Review Wunderling (Switch) - A Fun And Fresh New Take On The Typical 2D Platformer
Wunderfully addictive
Since the advent of platform gaming, the genre has come on leaps and bounds. Although some (this writer included) would argue that many titles overcomplicate their gameplay, introducing unnecessary additions that threaten to overwhelm younger gamers. Thankfully then, Wunderling is perhaps one of the most accessible platform...
Review Saints Row IV: Re-Elected (Switch) - Marvellously Madcap Open-World Fun
POTUS power
Few games do ‘fun’ with as much enthusiasm and self-awareness as Saints Row. While GTA tempers its acerbic tone and pop culture devotion with a firm set of in-game rules, Volition’s open-world series has always aired towards the silly and the slapstick. Want to throw yourself into oncoming traffic and ragdoll your way to insurance...
Mini Review Talisman: Digital Edition (Switch) - A Superb Adaptation Of A Board Game Classic
You won't be bored board gaming on the go
Talisman is a superb board game that conjures forth innumerable fond memories. The vast multitude of characters to choose from, each more unbalanced than the last. The hundreds upon hundreds of Adventure Cards offering something new to see on every play. Spellcasting battles leading to pure salt from the...
Mini Review ibb & obb (Switch) - Another Co-Op Gem For The Switch
To ibb, to obb
Ibb & Obb is a clever 2D puzzle platformer in which you and a friend (or an online stranger) must work closely together in order to successfully navigate a series of increasingly complex levels. The twist here is that the levels take place across two opposing planes, each with their own gravitational pull. The two playable...
Review DOOM 64 (Switch) - A Classic Retro Shooter That Deserves A Little More Love
Eternal doom
Players of a certain generation might recall just how special it was having an actual Doom on Nintendo 64. The FPS that put corridor shooters firmly on the map was pretty ubiquitous in its ports – even back in 1997 – but having a graphically superior take with bigger levels, more guns and even more challenging demons to slay made...
Review Dead Or School (Switch) - Mutant-Slaying With A Sense Of Style
A diamond in the rough
Dead or School is a game full of obvious jank: likely the product of a tiny team of three working on a very tight, crowdfunded budget to realise a very – perhaps overly – ambitious creative vision. It’s questionably optimised, particularly in handheld mode, where it chugs quite a bit. Its 2D sprites appear obviously...
Mini Review Half Past Fate (Switch) - A Great-Looking Rom-Com Adventure Brimming With Personality
NOT a Steven Seagal movie
If you’re in your teens or beyond, chances are you’ve probably found yourself falling head over heels in love with someone at least once in your life. We all know the feeling: you see a stunning stranger out of the corner of your eye, someone who you’re absolutely sure is way out of your league, but your eyes lock,...
Review Murder By Numbers (Switch) - Ace Attorney Meets Picross In This Engaging Detective Adventure
Holmes and Robotson
There's a lot going on in Murder By Numbers. Mediatonic's rather mad mashing together of Ace Attorney-esque sleuthing and Picross-style pixel puzzles manages to cover sexism in the workplace, divorce, suicide, overbearing parents, the dangers of social media, the vacuous and often sleazy nature of the Hollywood TV industry and,...
Review Double Dragon & Kunio-Kun Retro Brawler Bundle (Switch) - A Stunning Retro Collection
Come for the Dragons, stay for the Kunio
Being a Kunio fan in the West is tougher than the mean streets Kunio and his friends come from. We've had to endure butchered localizations and dozens of titles being missed because they were simply deemed “too Japanese for Western consumption”. In fact, even nowadays, few Western gamers might realise the...
Review Bloodroots (Switch) - Wonderfully Flowing Combat Makes This 'Hotline Miami' Rival Stand Out
Blood sport
Games like Hotline Miami and Katana Zero have become instant modern classics thanks to their razor-sharp and utterly addictive gameplay loops. Following hot on their heels is Bloodroots from developer Paper Cult, a supremely stylish, confident action title that encourages improvisation and experimentation at every turn as you take down...
Review SEGA AGES Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (Switch) - A Fantastic Game, But Who Hasn't Played It By Now?
Hogging the limelight
The Sega Ages series can evoke some strange reactions when it comes to game selection. There can be little denial that the series is at its best when it’s bringing us fantastic ports of Sega classics that don’t usually get the attention they deserve; the likes of Virtua Racing and Fantasy Zone are clear highlights so far...
Review Metro: Last Light Redux (Switch) - A Big-Budget FPS That's Right At Home On Switch
Half Light
Metro: Last Light Redux sees the first-person survival horror adventures of post-apocalyptic Metro ranger Artyom continue in a sequel that seeks to up the ante in terms of big-budget bombast. There are lots of OTT on-rails sections here and even a couple of traditional boss battles thrown into the traditional Metro mix, but it's when it...
Review Samurai Shodown (Switch) - This Blade Is Still As Sharp As Ever
Another 'victoly' for SNK
When Street Fighter II arrived in arcades in the early '90s and turned the one-on-one fighter into the genre of choice for millions of players, it predictably caused a deluge of copycat clones to flood the market, each offering a slightly different take on the concept. Few of these could hold a candle to Capcom's effort,...
Review Pop'n TwinBee (Switch) - Konami's Colourful 16-Bit Shmup Shines With Couple Mode Co-op
Colour me glad
The TwinBee series enjoyed relative success in Japan throughout the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Pop’n Twinbee was the sixth game in the series, and the last proper shoot ‘em up entry before Konami took it in a different direction with things like spin-off platformer Rainbow Bell Adventures. Because it was never released in...
Review Smash Tennis - One Of The Best Sports Games Of The 16-Bit Era
A stroke of genius
There have been plenty of underrated games over the years, but every now and then you get an entire series that hasn’t enjoyed the level of success and attention it deserves. That’s the case with Namco’s Smash Court Tennis franchise, which has consistently served up (ahem) some top-quality arcade-style tennis action, but –...
Review Knights And Bikes (Switch) - A Zelda-Style Adventure That's Perfect For Couch Co-Op
A Nessa-sary buy
There are few things on this earth as expansive and wonder-filled as the imagination of a child, and there are few games that can communicate this concept as effectively as Knights and Bikes. The latest release from Foam Sword – a studio comprised of some ex-Media Molecule staff – manages to perfectly convey the carefree and...
Review Snack World: The Dungeon Crawl (Switch) – Gold - Endearing RPG Action With Bags Of Character
It's nacho typical RPG
When you think about it logically, we shouldn’t have been surprised by Snack World. After all, when a game’s developed by the legendary Level-5 and has already enjoyed a hugely popular anime series and toy line in Japan, it really should have been on plenty of gamers’ wishlists. Despite this, it’s fair to say that...
Mini Review EQQO (Switch) - An Engaging Puzzler With A Deep Narrative
Eggcellent touch-based puzzler
EQQO (pronounced ‘echo’) is a touch-based puzzle game in which you take on the role of an unseen narrator, guiding her blind son through a sacred land filled with ancient temples, traps, and mysterious creatures. The game offers up several options for its gameplay, and you can mix-and-match depending on how you...
Review Coffee Talk (Switch) - A Refreshing Brew Indeed
Mean bean machine
One of the brilliant things about Nintendo Switch becoming a new harbour for indie development is the sheer number of unusual ideas and concepts that see the light of day. So, even the most oddball of premises have the opportunity to cultivate an audience when they land on the eShop. It's this inclusive atmosphere that's allowed...
Review SpeedRunners (Switch) - Move Over Sonic, These Guys Have Some Serious Pace
Gotta go fast
Ah, the classic superhero. Humble. Brave. Selfless. A beacon of hope to us mere underpowered mortals. And, as it turns out, massively competitive as well. Because in a city full of other metahumans, there’s only so much justice and glory to go around. So that means any super-powered persona in the vicinity is going to have to move...
The feathered arm of the law
Paris, 1848. Revolution is stirring. Murmurs of civil unrest hang heavy in the drawing rooms of the elite. Worst of all, a frog has been murdered. Enter Jayjay Falcon, a defence lawyer of the avian persuasion. Together with his bird-brained sidekick Sparrowson, he must gather evidence to defend his...
Review Darius Cozmic Collection (Switch) - Swimming With The Fishes
M2 works its magic once more
Editor's note: This review is for the Japanese version of Darius Cozmic Collection. The game has since been released in the west in two versions: Darius Cozmic Collection Console and Darius Cozmic Collection Arcade. Close your eyes. Now think about “classic shmups.” What titles immediately spring to mind? Gradius?
Review SEGA AGES Fantasy Zone (Switch) - Classic Cute-Em-Up Action With A Great New Mode
Welcome to the Fantasy Zone
Bet you don’t know who Sega’s mascot was for a brief time during the '80s. No, we’re not talking about Alex Kidd – we mean Opa-Opa, the slightly bizarre living spaceship from Sega’s oft-overlooked classic shooter Fantasy Zone. And that game is exactly what we have here, thanks to those gurus at Tokyo-based M2...
Review SEGA AGES Shinobi (Switch) - A True Arcade Classic Comes To Switch
Ninja skills
Arguably one of the most eagerly-awaited entries in M2’s acclaimed Sega Ages series, Sega’s classic ninja side-scroller Shinobi has pounced from the trees like a sneaky ninja to finally hit the Switch in its glorious arcade form. However, is one of Sega’s most beloved games still as awesome as we remember it? We're about to find...
Mini Review Lydia (Switch) - One Of The Most Emotionally Impactful Games On Switch
Some monsters can’t be seen
Lydia is a powerful game. It’s the kind of experience that, while very short, will make you stop and think about its story long after the end credits roll. It’s tense, funny, and heartbreaking all in one go, and with the option to purchase additional DLC in support of the Finnish A-Clinic Foundation, its underlying...
Review 198X (Switch) - A Fabulous, If Fleeting, Celebration Of Arcade Gaming's Golden Era
Short, but definitely sweet
There's no denying that for many people, video games offer a means to escape the hum-drum of their daily lives and enter a world that promises plenty of excitement, as well as a stern challenge. For the young protagonist of 198X – known only as 'The Kid' – there's something more than that; video games are how he deals...
Review Super Crush KO (Switch) - The Only Issue With This Superb Side-Scrolling Brawler Is Longevity
Cat lovers, unite!
Vertex Pop, developer of Graceful Explosion Machine, is back - and it has shifted from 2D shooter to a brawler with impressive results. If you’re a pet owner, you’ll know the very unique bond you have with your animal. They’re your best friend, your pride and joy, and you’d do anything for them – just look at John Wick...
Review Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore (Switch) - A Pitch-Perfect, Feel-Good JRPG
A perfectly Chrom-ulent port
The number of big Wii U exclusives that have still yet to receive Switch ports is well into single figures now, with Nintendo seemingly all too happy to continue queuing up its back catalogue and giving each title another chance at success (rightly so, in our opinion). Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE is the latest game to get...
