Latest Reviews
Review Omega 6: The Triangle Stars (Switch) - A Fun Throwback Adventure From A Nintendo Veteran
Rock, Paper, Scissors...in space
Takaya Imamura has designed some of the most iconic characters across Nintendo’s history. Joining in 1989, his first major gig was creating the look of F-Zero’s Captain Falcon. Moving on to The Legend of Zelda series and Star Fox, he is also responsible for the unique art direction of Majora's Mask. After...
Review Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection (Switch) - A Comprehensive Round-Up With A Few Real Winners
Duels in the crown
One of the most striking elements of Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game, is the sheer number of Yu-Gi-Oh! video games that came out between 1998 and 2004. The Early Days Collection includes 14 games just from Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance titles, some...
Review Sid Meier's Civilization 7 (Switch) - An Incredible Game That's Not Quite Ready
Short of Civilliant
Most games with numbered sequels tend to iterate and grow on their previous instalments. After all, you don’t want to alienate your audience by upending key systems and creating a substantially different experience from what they’re used to, it just makes sound economic sense. Change things just enough so that it rides that...
Review Tomb Raider 4-6 Remastered (Switch) - A Fascinating But Inessential Second Collection
The good, the bad, and the ugly
It seems like an absurd notion these days, but after Tomb Raider made its debut in 1996, developer Core Design pumped out six mainline entries over the next eight years – six. It’s true that teams were able to turn projects around much more quickly in those days, as evidenced by franchises such as Resident Evil...
Review WARRIORS: Abyss (Switch) - Middling Musou With A Dash Of Diablo & Hades
Not Abyssmal
During Sony’s February 2025 State of Play presentation, the big shadow drop was Koei Tecmo’s Warriors: Abyss, which offers a low-budget, roguelite take on the popular Warriors hack ‘n’ slash formula. The good news is that this genre hybrid feels like both halves fit perfectly together—the mindlessness of the
Review Wario Land 4 (GBA) - A Boisterous But Impeccably Designed Platformer
Quality over quantity
This review was originally published in May 2014. We're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack GBA library. Although Wario's core platforming series has been overshadowed for years by the surrealist microgames of WarioWare, his excellent platformers have the sort...
Review Afterlove EP (Switch) – Music-Themed Visual Novel That Hits Mostly The Right Notes
Believe in life after love
Back in 2020 a little game called Coffee Talk boomed onto the indie scene with its visual novel deliciousness. Since then, one could argue the Switch has brought about stacks of visual novels – perhaps because handheld mode feels like reading a book. Coffee Talk creator Mohammad Fahmi tragically passed away in 2022,...
Let's do the time warp again
On Western shores last yast year, Falcom started a fresh arc in its long-running flagship franchise with The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak, breathing new life into the series while offering a great jump-in point for newcomers looking for a place to start. With the overall Trails series rapidly nearing the...
Review Turbo Overkill (Switch) - Ridiculous, Relentless Boomer Shooter Gets A Solid Port
The name's Turbo. Johnny Turbo.
Ask any "boomer shooter" aficionado what their favourite modern examples of the genre are, and Trigger Happy Interactive's sublime Turbo Overkill will most likely make the top three, alongside Dusk and Ultrakill, if they want to be our actual pals. Yep, this is a highly-regarded retro-style FPS and, once you've spent...
Mini Review Momodora: Moonlit Farewell (Switch) - This Exquisite Metroidvania Is The Series' Best
A fitting farewell
We love it when a studio demonstrates significant growth and improvement with each of its subsequent projects. With Bombservice specifically, the team has always boasted a strong understanding of what makes Metroidvanias ‘click’, and with Momodora: Moonlit Farewell, it’s delivered what may well be its finest game yet. The...
Review Under Defeat (Switch) - A Boldly Hardcore, Cult-Classic Shoot 'Em Up
About 15 pounds per square inch at sea level
Developer G.Rev may not be all that familiar to those who weren’t fully immersed in the shoot-'em-up scene of the early noughties. A boutique independent, it was assembled by former Taito employees who previously contributed to the likes of RayStorm and G-Darius. G.Rev’s most famous work, and the one...
Review The Stone Of Madness (Switch) - An Ambitious But Unpolished Stealth-Tactics Gem
Out of the frying pan into the friar
If you ever thought monasteries were just devoted to worship, feasting abbots, and choral chants of Ave Maria, The Stone of Madness is set on proving you dead wrong. This is The Game Kitchen’s first foray into the stealth-tactics genre (a distinctly Spanish obsession we discussed with the devs last year) after...
Review Laika: Aged Through Blood (Switch) - A Supremely Unique Motorcycling Metroidvania
What a lovely day!
In a market inundated with Metroidvanias, Laika: Aged Through Blood does something remarkable: it actually tries something new. That’s not to say that recent examples haven’t had a good crack at standing out amongst the crowd — Animal Well is certainly testament to that — but many largely stick to the same rulebook. Laika...
Review Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector (Switch) - The Sci-Fi Hit Gets A Brilliant Follow-Up
Pay it starward
A few years ago, a little tabletop-RPG-inspired visual novel called Citizen Sleeper arrived on the eShop, expertly crafting an experience that tied together dice-rolling mechanics with a player-driven science fiction narrative. It quickly gained a cult following, leading to a short series of free DLC chapters and the announcement of...
New Fur-izons
Hello Kitty Island Adventure released on Apple Arcade in July 2023 to generally positive reviews. A year and a half later, the Switch release brings a charming cast of Sanrio characters and their island resort to a wider audience—an audience ultimately in for a good time. Hello Kitty Island Adventure opens on a plane en route to a...
Review ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom In The Mist (Switch) - An Incredibly Polished, Downbeat Metroidvania
One that shouldn't be mist
A few years ago, developers Adglobe and Live Wire (which, fun fact, also developed Harvestella) released a Metroidvania called Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights to high praise. Combining a heavy atmosphere with tough, Soulslike combat in a dark fantasy world, it stood out as a notably quality addition to a genre that...
Review Tales Of Graces f Remastered (Switch) - The Characters Steal The Show In This JRPG Classic
f yeah
The Tales series is one of those JRPGs that sometimes flies under the radar. It doesn’t typically get the same hype as Final Fantasy or Persona, but Bandai Namco has been consistently putting out solid Tales games for 30 years. Tales of Graces f Remaster continues that tradition, bringing one of the best entries in this franchise to modern...
Review Guilty Gear -Strive- Nintendo Switch Edition (Switch) - A Fine Port & A Bold New Step
Smell of the game
Since Guilty Gear first arrived on Sony’s PlayStation in 1998, singeing the air with furious guitar shredding, it’s always been a head turner. While graphically, its goth-rock anime stylings have dazzled with each iteration, Arc System Works’ foremost achievement is in managing to differentiate itself from Capcom’s heavily...
Review Tails Of Iron 2: Whiskers Of Winter (Switch) - A Brutal Sequel That Just About Squeaks By
Violent vermin
After releasing the first Tails of Iron in 2021, developer Odd Bug Studio seemingly hasn’t taken a moment to rest, returning to its bleak world of anthropomorphic rats, frogs, and bats with a sequel that looks to offer fans a slightly expanded experience in Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter. And while it’s certainly an...
Mini Review Taito Milestones 3 (Switch) - Third Time's A Charm
Getting better all the time
The Taito Milestones series has already witnessed two collections (the '3' at the end of the Taito Milestones 3 is a bit of a giveaway), but the odd thing with this series is that the quality has arguably improved with each offering, rather than diminishing as the best games are featured early on. As we noted with the...
Review Sutte Hakkun (SNES) - An Addictive Curio You Should Definitely Check Out
One of the most unique video game experiences ever crafted
This review was originally published in April 2009. We're updating and republishing it to mark the arrival of the game in the Nintendo Switch Online SNES library. Every so often a game comes along that makes you take your thumb off the fire button and don your thinking cap. But who wants...
Review Star Wars: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles (Switch) - Uncivilised But Not Unenjoyable
"Now I am the (re)master"
Always two, there are. No more. No less. Master Yoda's wise words may have rung true for the Sith, but it couldn't be further from the rate at which Star Wars games were being pumped out in the early 2000s. Some showed promise (Episode I: Racer, Battle for Naboo) while others were as dull as The Phantom Menace's trade...
Review Blade Chimera (Switch) - A Ridiculously Fun, Combat-First Metroidvania
Slice to kill
The problem with the term ‘Metroidvania’ is that it’s a far broader genre classification than some give it credit for. Depending on where they fall on the spectrum between the exploration-heavy Metroid series and the combat-centric Castlevania series, it’s possible for two games to both be considered Metroidvanias while...
Review Donkey Kong Country Returns HD (Switch) - Aping A Retro Classic
That's what you get for not hailing to the chimp
It’s not unfair to say that the gaming landscape was somewhat different when Donkey Kong Country Returns first fell into our laps in 2010; 2D platformers were a rare breed, and ol’ DK himself hadn’t arguably had a mainline entry in his series since 2004’s Jungle Beat. Back then, the title said...
Review Freedom Wars Remastered (Switch) - A Fair Reprieve For One Of PS Vita's Best
Free from Vita jail
Like Nintendo’s own Wii U, the PS Vita has seen a good chunk of its best games migrate to alternative platforms in the years since the system itself veered into the realm of ‘commercial failure’. One of those games is Freedom Wars, a third-person action title created by Dimps that, at the time, was one of the most...
The long-awaited remaster of the remake
Way back in 1989, Nihon Falcom released Ys III: Wanderers from Ys for various PC-based platforms and eventually consoles like the Genesis and SNES. This 2D side-scroller was well-respected in the community and eventually acted as the basis for 2005's 3D reimagining, Ys: The Oath in Felghana, though this...
Review Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP (Switch) - This Choppy Remaster Of A Cult Gem Doesn't Bring Any Cheer
Sunshine, lollipops and chainsaws everywhere
Cutting a bloody swathe through an army of the undead, Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP joins Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered on Switch. Both games complement each other as flawed but enjoyable examples of Grasshopper Studios' beloved catalogue. An idiosyncratic collaboration between Suda 51 and filmmaker...
Review Star Trek: Legends (Switch) - Competent Combat But Fails To Engage
Fire at Will
As a mischievous omnipotent being once said, Star Trek isn't about mapping stars and studying nebulae, but charting the unknown possibilities of existence. The voyages of the starships Enterprise et al. are journeys of self-discovery. It's about the people we meet on those strange new worlds and what they teach us about ourselves. It's...
Review Palia (Switch) - One Year On, Is This Life Sim Worth Playing?
Has a promising sprout bloomed?
Editor's note: This article was originally published in December 2023 as a review in progress. We had hoped to return to Palia once it hit version 1.0, but it's still not there at the time of writing. Therefore we're revisiting one year on to see how things have changed with some new text up top and a score below. A...
Review DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou (Switch) - Cave's Vicious Shooter Is Close To The Series' Best
Elemental rage
Holding the Guinness World Record for "Most prolific developer of danmaku shooters” — a tenuous plaudit seemingly concocted entirely for their receipt — Cave’s five DonPachi entries form bullet points in the company’s evolution, from Toaplan-esque beginnings to a full-blown, bullet hell renaissance. SaiDaiOuJou, the...
