Latest Reviews
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...
Review Klonoa: Empire Of Dreams (GBA) - One Of The System's Best Still Plays Like A Dream
Wahoo!
This review was originally published in May 2014. We're updating and republishing it in honour of the game's arrival on Switch as part of the Nintendo Classics GBA lineup. Starting life on the PlayStation in 1997, at a time when Super Mario 64 had just brought the gaming world triple-jumping headlong into the era of 3D platforming, Namco's...
Review Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac (Switch 2) - Short, Sweet, Prettified, And Not For Everyone
Waka Waka Waka 2: Much Prettier
I admit it. When this review came along, my gaming patience was being tested to its limit by Silksong’s brutal difficulty. So I rolled pretty enthusiastically towards an alternative I hoped would be more relaxing. (I genuinely regret the hours I spent defeating The Last Judge.) Pac-Man World 2: Re-Pac seemed the...
Review Hades 2 - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition - A Bewitching Sequel That's A Spell Off Perfect
Time's (not) up
“Can time not be stopped?” That’s the question Hades II asks you every time you clear a run. The stakes are bigger in Supergiant Games’ first-ever sequel: This is no longer just about family drama, it’s about a dysfunctional family defending all they have against the clutches of the Titan of Time. It’s a story of tragedy,...
A dark night for Onion Knight fans?
Final Fantasy Tactics is probably, all things considered, my favourite Final Fantasy. As someone who isn't really a huge video game lore person at the best of times, as in I forget most of it because my brain needs the storage space for memories of food, in my eyes it stands shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the...
Pyramid scheme
Isn’t it comforting to settle in with a good book that you already know? Microids certainly seem to hope so, as their Studio Lyon is snuggling yet another Christie classic right into your Switch. A follow-up to 2023’s Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile may not be as big as that choo-choo colossus, but it nearly is...
Review EA SPORTS FC 26 (Switch 2) - A Fantastic Football Game, Once You're Used To The Frame Rate
Well worth a Lewandownload
EA’s football series has had a turbulent time on modern Nintendo consoles, as any long-time Nintendo Life reader will doubtless already know. When the Switch got its first entry in the form of FIFA 18, this very reviewer pointed out that it was essentially a port of the Legacy Edition on Xbox 360 and PS3 at the time,...
Review Earthion (Switch) - A New 16-Bit Shooter That's Bold, Inventive & Hugely Enjoyable
It means the world
While not entirely dormant for the last 30 years, Yuzo Koshiro’s Ancient Corp — responsible for Streets of Rage II, Story of Thor, and the Master System’s superb Sonic the Hedgehog — is finally back in the public eye with the release of Earthion. What’s significant for the small studio is a return to the console that...
Review LEGO Voyagers (Switch 2) - A Beautiful But Very Short & Simple Co-Op Adventure
Birds of a feather, brick together
If you asked me what sort of game genre I think makes the best use of the Lego brick-building format, I’m not sure I’d answer with a two-player co-op adventure game. But here we are with LEGO Voyagers, a touching co-op title from Light Brick Studio (LEGO Builder's Journey) that uses the brick-based gameplay to...
Mini Review Gloomy Eyes (Switch) - If Captain Toad Were A Cosy Horror Game
Zom-besties
Growing up, I absolutely loved MediEvil on the PS1. The spooky yet lighthearted aesthetic really spoke to me as a child and would ultimately help foster a lifelong passion for the horror genre. So when I saw trailers for Gloomy Eyes from developer Fishing Cactus, I was instantly enamoured with the Tim Burton-esque vibes. Drawing...
Ore and Awe?
I've become so used to Nintendo taking its sweet time with DLC rollouts I assumed there was no way we'd get first-party add-ons within the first year of Switch 2. Happy Home Paradise, the Booster Course Pass and Side Order were all pleasantly surprising, not because of their packed bonus content (though that was a welcome factor), but...
Review Hollow Knight: Silksong - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition - Woven To Brutal Perfection
Pain and pleasure
Hollow Knight: Silksong didn’t need to do much; it just needed to be 'more Hollow Knight'. That’s a huge task in itself; a slightly bigger, slightly better version of an already amazing, genre-defining game. But it’s clear that, after seven years of refining and perfecting and toiling, Team Cherry wanted more than just 'more...
Review Strange Antiquities (Switch) – A Wicked Good Occult Puzzler & Sequel
Little antique shop of horrors
In 2022’s Strange Horticulture, you ran a little shop of horrors, dealing plants with an occult edge to the inhabitants of a mysterious dark town. Now, Bad Viking and Iceberg Interactive’s follow-up, Strange Antiquities, takes us back to Undermere. Again, something strange is afoot. Again, you hear residents’...
Mini Review Dead Reset (Switch) - A Gory, Sci-Fi Take On Groundhog Day
What if there were no tomorrow?
Developer Wales Interactive is back with another FMV game, this time joining forces with movie studio Dark Rift Horror to present an Alien-inspired sci-fi romp with Dead Reset. Much like previous titles such as The Bunker and Five Dates, this latest effort has you make key choices at frequent intervals to influence...
Review Bubsy In: The Purrfect Collection (Switch) - Limited Run Cleans Out The Kitty Litter
What could possibly go right?
When the Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection was announced, the news received hundreds of thousands of shares and millions of cumulative views. This, friends, is a stark reminder of the strength of nostalgia, an evocative sensation that can stir the heart and cloud the memory. Let’s be clear: Bubsy the Bobcat has never...
Review NBA 2K26 (Switch 2) - Brilliant B-Ball Has A Disappointing Debut On Switch 2
Hoops!...they did it again
As much as I can understand the derision from some quarters regarding NBA 2K26, FC 26, Madden — any of these big sports' games in their yearly, money-grubbing modern forms — I have, unfortunately, got a few of them to thank for several things that I enjoy in life these days. One of which is the old basketballs. For...
Review Cronos: The New Dawn (Switch 2) - Strong Story Elevates Otherwise Safe Survival Horror
Horror homage
In the run-up to the launch of Bloober Team’s new IP, Cronos: The New Dawn, chances are you saw one or two (or ten) comparisons to EA’s Dead Space series. And yes, while there are definitely some similarities between the two, I’d feel more comfortable describing Cronos as an amalgamation of nearly every major survival horror game...
