Latest Reviews
Mini Review YesterMorrow - A Time-Travelling Novelty Which Grows Old, Fast
Great Scott!
On paper, YesterMorrow is a really neat concept for a game. A side-scrolling adventure, its main twist is the ability to jump between two separate timelines, spaced several years apart. You play as Yui, a young girl whose life is thrown into disrepair after her home is destroyed and her family kidnapped by ‘Shadows’ during the...
Mini Review TENS! - Immediately Accessible Puzzle Action
Get ready for sum fun
For many, maths (or math, for you folks over the pond) isn’t always the most therapeutic of exercises. It can be downright perplexing at times, and if you don’t have a natural aptitude for numbers (like this writer), then frustration can set in quickly. It’s good, then, that TENS! – from developer Kwalee – doesn’t...
Review No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle - A Confident Sequel And One Of Grasshopper's Best
No, MORE Heroes!
Bigger. Better. More. Not exactly the watchwords of the original, shockingly audacious No More Heroes, with its minimal content stretched out across the sweeping, empty landscape of Santa Destroy, memorable for its sheer desolation and entirely in keeping with its satirical take on the “open-world game”. But, as Grasshopper’s...
Review No More Heroes - A Crude And Madcap Anime Nightmare That Deserves Your Attention
I, I will be king
No More Heroes is gross. It’s a sleazy, grimy, ugly game with an indefensible moral vacuum of a protagonist in leering otaku Travis Touchdown. And it’s absolutely brilliant. Essentially a hack n’ slash title with some open-world elements, No More Heroes rises above its often-pedestrian gameplay with an overflowing reservoir...
Mini Review Touhou Spell Bubble - A Puzzle Bobble Sequel In All But Name
Taito hops onto the Touhou Project
The Touhou Project is one of the most noteworthy success stories of independent game development there has ever been. Since 1995, creator Jun'ya "ZUN" Ōta has self-published 22 games in the series – and over the course of that period, there have been numerous spin-off games created by fans of the series who want...
Review Control: Ultimate Edition - A Highly Convincing Proof-Of-Concept For Cloud Gaming On Switch
Upper Escherlon Gaming
If you haven't played Control yet, the game's newest release on Nintendo Switch might be enough to finally tempt you to give it a go. But one question looms large over the Switch's version of the game: does it actually run well on Nintendo's less-powerful home console? The short answer is: yes. The slightly longer answer is:...
Review Bakugan: Champions Of Vestroia - The Kids Deserve So Much Better
Pokemon: Let's No
The great big battle beasts of Bakugan, alongside their pint-sized schoolkid handlers, have been doing the rounds on TV and in various video/card games since 2007's Bakugan: Battle Brawlers series. This latest outing sees developer Wayforward attempt to shoehorn this universe into a Pokémon: Let's Go-style monster collectathon...
Review Torchlight III - A Rewarding Dungeon-Crawler That Plays It A Little Too Safe
Still burning strong, though
Torchlight III has endured a rather rocky journey to its initial release. The project originally began as a free-to-play title called Torchlight Frontiers, which was all set to finally deliver on the grandiose MMO plans that Runic Games has been building towards since the first Torchlight. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be,...
Review The Last Blade: Beyond the Destiny - A Delightful Fighter That Shows Its Age In Places
The Future was Then
The Last Blade is a fighting game series set in Japan’s Bakumatsu era, a mid-nineteenth century period significant for the opening of Japan to western trade, investment and influence. It’s all a bit historical, but the distinct motifs of the era are what make The Last Blade so aesthetically interesting. First appearing in...
Review Part Time UFO - A Game About Picking Things Up That You Won't Want To Put Down
Grab it right away
A lot of people may not realise this, but HAL Laboratory isn’t actually owned by Nintendo. It may have been responsible for the likes of the Kirby, Smash Bros and Mother series and its main office may even be located in Nintendo’s Tokyo building, but the developer remains independent and could make games for other platforms if...
Review Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty - A So-So Remake Of A Legendary Game
Maybe Abey
What a difficult game to review. Yes, yes, you're thinking. It must be so hard for you to review a well-received remake of a beloved classic. But, you see, it is, because Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty does so much wrong and is in many ways so utterly redundant that it's difficult to keep a cool head when approaching it. Here's the thing; there...
Review Disc Room - A Meat Grinder Of A Game Which Packs A Real Challenge
My god, it's full of discs
In 1977, the United States launched the Voyager program, in which NASA launched two probes into deep space as a sort of “bottle into the cosmic ocean”. Aboard these two probes, golden phonograph discs were included bearing images and sounds relevant to all cultures and forms of earthly life, and these were placed...
Review Angry Video Game Nerd 1 & 2 Deluxe - A Double-Dose Of Accomplished Platforming Action
Don't get angry
There’s a reason that James Rolfe’s Angry Video Game Nerd character has outlasted and out-performed so many imitators – the veneer of showmanship and the pantomimed, goofy, insincere anger are worlds apart from the genuine venom spewed by those he seems to have influenced. The Nerd isn’t a dangerous, hateful entity – he’s...
Review Green Hell - A Brutal And Rewarding Open-World Survival Sim
Welcome to the Jungle
If you're a fan of relentlessly brutal open-world survival sims that fling you sans ceremony into a dangerous wilderness full of death and danger, then Creepy Jar's Green Hell might just be right up your street. Here is a survival effort that sticks admirably to its core conceit, never once allowing you an unearned foothold in...
Review Wallachia: Reign Of Dracula - Contra Meets Castlevania In This Excellent Action Title
Vampire slaying meets running-and-gunning
French studio Migami Games made a name for itself with excellent Castlevania fan games like The Lecarde Chronicles 1 and 2, but fan games don’t keep the lights on or put food on the table, so the team has understandably embraced commerci
Review Oceanhorn 2: Knights Of The Lost Realm - A Likeable But Ultimately Shallow Zelda Clone
Knight fever
It goes without saying that the early months of the Switch saw the new console effectively being defined as a portable Breath of the Wild machine that you could also maybe play other games on if you really wanted to. Still, those who snooped around the eShop could find some gems that were certainly worth a punt, and one of those early...
Review Pikmin 3 Deluxe - Perhaps Not Worth A Double Dip, But The Choice Pick For New Players
Wii say U want a resolution
As each month passes the Wii U becomes less and less relevant, as most of its first-party library continues to be lifted up, piece by piece, and carried over to the Switch. Why, it’s almost like what Pikmin do – DO YOU GET WHERE WE’RE GOING WITH THIS? Pikmin 3 Deluxe is Nintendo’s attempt at a definitive port of...
Review Transformers: Battlegrounds - Accessible Turn-Based Action That's For Noobs Only
Bah weep grana weep Ninty bong
Hot on the heels of fellow Hasbro license G.I. Joe comes this turn-based tactical outing for those robots that take on the form of mack trucks, massive pistols, sheds and benches, the Transformers! Given the sheer love fans have for the series, Transformers: Battlegrounds has a lot to live up to – even more so when...
Review The Red Lantern - A Survival-Focused Roguelite In Which Luck Plays Too Big A Part
What do forests and dogs have in common? Bark.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that every dog in possession of a big fluffy coat must be in want of belly rubs. At least, that's the thesis behind the wildly successful Twitter account, "Can You Pet The Dog", which judges games the only way they deserve to be judged: by whether or not the...
Review Supraland - A Playful Platformer With Squandered Potential
A sandbox of missed potential
Sometimes a game’s overambition can be to its detriment, and Supraland is a prime example of this. The game is a disappointing tale of clear purpose and great ideas that, unfortunately, does not create an enjoyable product. While it is impressive that the game was created by only two developers, Supraland feels closer...
Mini Review Vigil: The Longest Night - A Grim And Foreboding Metroidvania
They come at night
Developed by Taiwan studio Glass Heart Games and inspired by titles such as Salt & Sanctuary and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Vigil: The Longest Night is a gothic Metroidvania which places you in a grim, horror-filled fantasy world and expects you to unravel various mysteries in the role of Leila, a member of the...
Mini Review Double Pug Switch - Not The Greatest Runner, But Still A Good Boy
One for the dog lovers
Switch might be a natural home to platformers but outside of 2018’s excellent Runner3, and the less-excellent Bubsy: Paws On Fire!, we’ve seen little of the runner sub-genre. Targeting the dog lovers, Double Pug Switch from The Polygon Loft seeks to fill that niche. Bringing us a challenging platformer, you play as Otis,...
Review HyperBrawl Tournament - A Fun And Frantic Arcade Handbrawler
The Beautiful Maim
Milky Tea's HyperBrawl Tournament sees teams of futuristic handbrawlers compete in chaotic 2v2 matches where they duke it out — literally kicking, punching, stabbing and hammering each other into submission — in order to stick a great big metal ball into each other's neon nets for a GOOOOOOOAL! It's Speedball blitzed with...
Review Tennis World Tour 2 - A Promising Seed With Far Too Many Faults
John McEnwoe
Let's forget the warm-up and jump straight to the first serve, shall we? Tennis World Tour 2 demands a level of precision from its players that it simply isn't capable of facilitating. This is a sombre and serious tennis sim that bases its take on the sport around the perfect timing of shots and their precision placement on court. It's...
Review G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout - Bland, Forgettable Saturday Morning Fare
G.I. No
There was a huge red flag right from the off, when G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout had not been accurately renamed Action Force: Operation Blackout for a British audience. We don’t want to be reminded of the incredibly crap films, we want to be reminded of the brilliant IPC comic Battle, and its Action Force strips that eventually spun off...
Review Pumpkin Jack - The Perfect Platforming Treat For The Spooky Season
Tonnes of skele-fun
We don’t know about you, but Halloween is one of our favourite times of the year. Autumn is in full force, supermarkets are littered with skeletons and pumpkins, and it’s possibly the only time of year where it’s acceptable to watch The Exorcist on repeat while gorging on Toblerone (although you'll forgive us if that's been...
Review GONNER2 - Another Way To Die In An Increasingly Crowded Genre
I live, I die, I die some more
It’s been three years since GoNNER dropped on Switch, a game we thought pretty highly of. Bringing us a challenging 2D platformer with rogue-like mechanics, it told the story of Ikk, our altruistic blob-like hero that set out to help a land-bound whale called Sally. Placing us in a series of procedurally generated...
Review Pokémon Sword & Shield - The Crown Tundra - Great New DLC Marred By Decades-Old Design
Cold Pokémon go brrr
Pokémon Sword & Shield is now finally complete with the release of The Crown Tundra, the second part of the DLC pass to go alongside The Isle of Armor. But how does it stack up compared to its great – if inconsistent – main game? Well, we'll tell you, because we’re nice like that. We have to be honest, our first...
Review MindSeize - Slick Mega Man Zero-Style Action Jammed Into A Metroidvania
Nothing to Seize at
When it’s in full flow, MindSeize has the flair and feel of Mega Man Zero. And believe us, that’s not something we’d say lightly, considering that Capcom’s beloved handheld series remains at the apex of 2D action gameplay. There’s a similarity in certain aspects of the game’s design, but mostly in its mechanics and...
Review Crown Trick - A Refreshingly Slow-Paced, Turn-Based Rogue-Like Adventure
Crowning Glory?
Roguelikes and roguelites have a tendency to throw players through their shapeshifting gauntlets of murder and death at a rather frenetic pace. Recent popular examples, such as Hades and Dead Cells, really emphasise this almost uniform focus on speed and it's one that's quite understandable in a genre where repetition is such a...