Switch eShop, Switch Game Reviews scoring 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6/10
Review Tiny Hands Adventure (Switch eShop)
A true dinosaur
In recent years, 3D platformers have experienced something of a renaissance in the modern game industry, with the likes of Yooka-Laylee, Super Mario Odyssey, and Crash Bandicoot: N-Sane Trilogy making a notable impact on sales charts and the general conversation surrounding games. Though the appetite is clearly there for these sorts...
Review Flood of Light (Switch eShop)
Wet, but not so wild
In life, there are many things that just don’t mix. Gulping down some lovely orange juice after brushing your teeth or consuming alcohol with easy access to social media/text messages (trust us, it’s best left in your pocket!) are prime examples of this, but in the case of Flood of Light, water and fire are no match for each...
Review Next Up Hero (Switch eShop)
Lives long enough to see itself become the villain
No one likes kicking the bucket in a game. Whether you’re licking your wounds in a beat-’em-up or lamenting a mistimed jump in a platformer, death is the constant that keeps us coming back for more with respawns, ‘Game Over’ screens and more. But what if popping your proverbial clogs could...
Identity crisis
From beginning to end, State of Mind is a game of polarising contrasts. It has an intriguing sci-fi setting, but a story that tries to make one too many social commentaries and ends up muddled as a result. It uses low-poly character models, but boasts some of the most impressive environmental textures and lighting we’ve ever seen...
Review Prehistoric Isle 2 (Switch eShop / Neo Geo)
Fancy-looking retro shmup action
1999’s Prehistoric Isle 2 sees dinosaurs on the rampage because it’s a video game and that’s just the sort of thing that happens. It’s up to you (or you and a friend) to jump into an attack helicopter and fly through six stages, blasting the dinosaurs back to extinction whilst also trying to rescue people...
Review Megaton Rainfall (Switch eShop)
Not all heroes wear capes
Ever wanted to know what it feels like to be a proper superhero? No, not the web-swinging acrobatics of Spider-Man or the crime-solving machismo of Batman. A proper, superpowered being. It’s an experience video game developers have long struggled to replicate - Superman: The New Adventures, anyone? - but Pentadimensional...
Review The Inner World (Switch eShop)
Disappoint-n-click?
Ever since touchscreens started appearing on every device in the house, the trusty adventure game has enjoyed a renaissance. We’ve seen rereleases, remasters and brand-new series take off on all platforms, and Switch is an ideal home for them. Enter The Inner World, a point-and-click adventure from German developer Studio...
Review Hello Neighbor (Switch)
Neighbour from hell
The sinister neighbour has been a cinematic staple for decades, from The Burbs to Disturbia via Arlington Road. It's curious that few video games have made full use of the concept, though. Hello Neighbor looks to buck that trend with a game that leans heavily on the premise, but it falls well short in a number of critical...
Review Salt and Sanctuary (Switch eShop)
Let the salt flow
There’s an old saying that imitation is the highest form of flattery, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a game that phrase applies more so than Dark Souls. It seems that you can hardly find an action game on any platform now that doesn’t try to emphasize its 'Soulslike' elements, regardless of how apt the description may be...
Looking to the past
Playing Tanzia is a bit like jumping into a time machine and travelling back to an era where consoles still needed memory cards and DVD playback was all the rage. Everything from the cheesy soundtrack to the visuals that look like they’ve had the old-gen HD treatment makes you feel like you’ve traded your Nintendo Switch in...
Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube768k Watch on YouTube Review NoReload Heroes (Switch eShop)
We could be heroes, indeed
NoReload Heroes is like one of those microwave meals you get from a discount store. On the surface, this title appears to be a tasty treat to get stuck into, but after a couple of mouthfuls of the DIY fast food, it’s a dish that becomes a bit of a slog to chew through. This isn’t to say this game doesn’t have some...
Long haul flight
Everything from Go Vacation’s appearance, style, gameplay, and pure existence hark back to those strangely repetitive days of the Wii, where everyone and their cat was releasing a party-type sports game for Nintendo’s remote-waggling sensation. There’s good reason for that, too, as the game is an HD port of the original Go...
Review Guts and Glory (Switch eShop)
Cunning stunts
There’s nothing quite like a peaceful bike ride through the local park. The sun is shining. The birds are singing in the trees. The buzzsaws are whirring. Wait? Buzzsaws?! Oh dear, you’ve just been decapitated and delimbed by a series of deadly blades bouncing down a hill. Maybe not so peaceful, then… This is the world of Guts...
Review Spheroids (Switch eShop)
"And it's spherical! SPHERICAL!"
Those of you with long memories reaching back to the arcade days of gaming may remember Pang, a cute co-op action game which saw the player(s) shooting metal hooks into the air to pop balloons, which would then separate into smaller and faster balloons. It was a simple concept, executed well, and has since been...
Review Arcade Archives Sky Skipper (Switch eShop)
A forgotten gem?
Since getting into the video game business Nintendo has produced many fondly regarded games, which have often lead to sequels. Even when a series is dormant, older entries have re-appeared either in updated form or via the various Virtual Console services. Then there’s Sky Skipper. Briefly hitting arcades in 1981, this hi-score...
Review Hungry Shark World (Switch eShop)
Sorry about Bruce, mate
From the Finding Nemo-esque logo and the bulbous eyes of the sharks, you might get the impression this is a family-friendly romp where you munch through the ocean like a sea-faring Pac-Man, accruing points and combos as you go. Which is pretty accurate, apart from the ‘family-friendly’ bit – Hungry Shark World is...
Review Chicken Assassin: Reloaded (Switch eShop)
Cock-a-doodle-don’t
Everybody knows that the bird is the word on the Nintendo Switch. We got your humble Cuccos in the greatest Legend of Zelda ever made, a chicken who lays bombs, a duck who can throw down with the best of the best and even a boy who is an owl. Joining the feathered ranks is Mean Mcallister, the toughest chicken in t
Review Star Story: The Horizon Escape (Switch eShop)
Live. Die. Repeat.
"NO FREE-TO-PLAY! NO LOOTBOXES! NO GRINDING!" proclaims the eShop trailer. Developer EvilCoGames boldly assures players that Star Story: The Horizon Escape contains "ONLY FUN!" While it’s amusing to throw tired conventions and unpopular trends under the bus, ‘fun’ is a vague descriptor. What’s fun about this turn-based...
Review The Super Spy (Switch eShop / Neo Geo)
Will bore the living daylights out of you
When a factory full of terrorists is discovered by the CIA, they decide to send in a lone agent to put an end to their bomb-building plans. You might expect this person to be a highly skilled operative, able to move quickly and sink into the shadows with ease, or alternatively someone armed to the teeth to...
Review Hunting Simulator (Switch)
A taste of its own venison
The words ‘shooter’ and ‘simulation’ don’t often populate the same sentence, especially when using them in relation to Nintendo Switch. You’re more likely to empty a magazine into an alt-history Nazi in Wolfenstein II or riddle knees with arrows across the unforgiving tundra of Skyrim. But now Nintendo’s...
Review Mugsters (Switch eShop)
All your base are belong to us
There’s something to be said about the bizarre human tendency for mayhem, to break things in bombastic and exciting ways, and Mugsters does a great job of tapping into that chaotic desire. Dropping you onto an island in the midst of an alien invasion, Mugsters is all about creating messes and causing explosions,...
Review Super Destronaut DX (Switch eShop)
Get the duck (and 3D) out
Some say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and one of retro gaming's founding fathers Space Invaders has endured plenty of sycophancy over the last four decades. After appearing on the Wii U in 2015 and proclaiming the inclusion of a pixelated duck in its 2016 sequel before utilising the 3DS hardware a year...
Review Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion (Switch)
A faithful comedy RPG that’s lacking depth
Adventure Time is one of the best modern cartoons currently on the air. It’s nearing the end of its long run with its ninth and final season, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a show that’s so consistently funny for viewers of all ages while mixing in emotionally mature themes and content in one...
Review The Mooseman (Switch eShop)
It belongs in a museum
Coming from small developer Morteshka, The Mooseman is a 2D journey across ancient lands which takes inspiration from Finno-Ugric lore and the Chud tribes of Northern Europe. You control a wandering shaman able to perceive an ethereal plane where beasts reside in the landscape. You’ll encounter a host of animals and spirits...
Review Samurai Shodown V (Switch eShop)
Simpler shodown?
Arriving at a time when the company was having financial difficulties, SNK handed development duties of Samurai Shodown V over to Yuki Enterprise. On the surface, it seemed like they’d crafted a typical sequel with all but one of part IV’s sixteen playable fighters making it across - along with a bunch of new characters and some...
Review Johnny Turbo's Arcade: Express Raider (Switch eShop)
It’s high noon robbery!
In this vintage 1986 Data East classic, you step into the snakeskin shoes of the toughest hombre in the West. In fact, you're so tough you never even use your guns when robbing odd-numbered trains. This translates into a game of two halves, each with distinct gameplay mechanics. It was certainly fresh back in 1986 and...
Review All-Star Fruit Racing (Switch)
Mixed fruit
When a kart racer comes to a Nintendo platform it’s almost impossible to avoid any comparisons with Mario Kart; the moustachioed plumber’s racing franchise is widely recognised to be the best that the genre has to offer, and naturally sets a benchmark for others to aspire to. All-Star Fruit Racing does, unsurprisingly, bear a...
Review Touhou Genso Wanderer Reloaded (Switch)
Time to shrine
Ah, The Touhou series. Well, depending on your experience and exposure, the ‘project’ is either a long-standing production line of ‘Danmaku’ (curtain fire) bullet hell shmups, a vast array of parody and homages ranging from Castlevania clones to 3D fighters (in the form of Touhou Kobuto V: Burst Battle), or a vast,...
Hang-On to the virtual asphalt, or your money?
Motorbike enthusiasts have had it rough on Switch, which is why the news that Milestone is bringing its officially-licensed motorcycle racing series to Nintendo’s hybrid console has been greeted with such enthusiasm by faithful followers of two-wheel racing. But does this version finish on the podium,...
Review Assault Gunners HD Edition (Switch eShop)
Barely meching it
Niche genre Switch owners have had a rough first year attending to their unique appetites, yet slowly but surely several releases have been filling those tricky gaps. The potential for a Switch mecha game has remained untapped bar the odd eShop and SD Gundam re-release title, but we all know that
