Latest Reviews
Chibi-or-not-Chibi
This review was originally published in November 2009. We're updating and republishing it in honour of the game's arrival on Switch 2 as part of the Nintendo Classics GameCube lineup. Meet the Sandersons, your atypical, dysfunctional American family. Mr. Sanderson is an out-of-work engineer-cum-manchild who liv
Mini Review Arcade Archives 2: Aqua Jet (Switch 2) - Classic Aquatic Racer Lags Behind Wave Race
Let’s Jet
Once upon a time, Jet-Ski games were all the rage. Arcade cabinets and fifth generation consoles were replete with these high-speed polygonal racers that sent you careening around tracks set in sunny locales with bobbing water physics. Aqua Jet was an early example of the trend and released the very same year as Wave Race 64. Now, you...
Review Discounty (Switch) - Chilled Out Supermarket Sim Is A Decent Deal
While Stocks Last
No one who has ever worked in retail would compare the experience to a cosy life management sim. I used to have nightmares about stock variance and queues of angry customers who seemed determined to ruin my day as much as they felt I had ruined theirs. Yet, Danish developer Crinkle Cut Games seems to think that managing a busy...
Review OFF (Switch) - A Worthy Remaster Of A Weird Cult Classic RPG
Get up, get up, get out of here!
Though it may feel like the ‘quirky’ branch of indie JRPGs has become a played out trope by now, it wasn’t too long ago that a confusing, humorous, and parodying take on the standard template was seen as a novel concept. One of the most significant examples of this was OFF, a simple freeware RPG Maker project...
Review UFO 50 (Switch) - A Wondrous Smorgasbord Of Retro Delights
I want to believe
While playing UFO 50 for this review, I visited an exhibition at London’s Science Museum: Power Up – a hands-on tour of the last five decades of video games. There, in an expansive, dark basement, an orange-illuminated wall of computers and consoles took me right through the 1980s. I sampled such delicacies as a flickery...
Review Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown (Switch) - A Rad Turn-Based Brawler Blend
Your turn, dude!
There were occasions in 2024 where I wanted nothing more than for the frequency of TMNT game releases to slow down a little. We got three new video game outings, and while some opted for big swings, I couldn't help but feel that the sewer-dwellers' saturation was becoming too much — it's funny how a hit like Shredder's Revenge and...
Review Drag x Drive (Switch 2) - A Real Baller With Friends, But Is There Enough To Do?
Is it a swish or an air ball?
Drag x Drive is Nintendo's latest attempt to give us a unique sports game that utilises their latest console's flashy tech. And this time, it isn't just any old sport. If you've ever watched wheelchair basketball, you know how technical it can get, and Drag x Drive takes this to the extreme. It's a brilliant choice of...
Review Heretic + Hexen (Switch) - Two FPS Cult Classics Masterfully Revamped
Faith revived
I’m really beginning to wonder just how Nightdive Studios manages to fit in so many awesome projects. Last year, we had no less than five major releases from the team, including The Thing: Remastered, DOOM + DOOM II, and Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster, and it’s clearly looking to achieve a similar degree of prolificacy in 2025. So...
Review Gradius Origins (Switch) - An Almost-Perfect Package For Shoot 'Em Up Fans
Road British
It is testament to Konami’s back-catalogue, from an era when it was the undisputed king of the 16-Bit and 2D arcade craft, that it can muster so many extraordinary compilations. Gradius Origins joins both the Contra and Castlevania Anniversary releases, and Digital Eclipse's wonderful Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga...
Mini Review Is This Seat Taken? (Switch) - Sit Down And Get Comfy With This Short, Simple Puzzler
Someone's sitting there, mate
I'm the type of introvert who's made an art of choosing the right seat in public places. With such honed skills, I assumed a puzzler like Is This Seat Taken? would be second nature, and I was mostly right. This adorable indie might not bring anything radical to the table, but it's a perfectly pleasant pick-up-and-play...
Review Chillin' By The Fire (Switch 2) - Novel Camera Integration, But Won't Set Your World Alight
RV there yet?
There's usually a number of a certain type of game that drops when a brand new console arrives on the scene. You know the ones, the quirky ones, the ones that utilise new tech and features — such as the Switch 2's camera and game-sharing abilities — to give us something we haven't seen before. And so it is that we come to be...
Mini Review Tiny Bookshop (Switch) - The Epitome Of Cosy, Perfect For Bookworms
I like big books and I cannot lie
If you’re a self-proclaimed bookworm like me, then chances are you’ve probably fantasised about packing everything away, moving to a quaint seaside town, and starting up a cute little bookshop (don’t worry, NL, I’m not going anywhere!). Well, with Tiny Bookshop, that's exactly the pitch. Developed by...
Show me the frame rates!
One of the biggest misses for me personally with the original Switch is that none of the more popular sports games of our time, and I mean these big EA and 2K efforts like Madden NFL 26 here, and the likes of FC 24 or 25, aren't up to standard seen elsewhere. There have been decent enough-ish attempts, some of those footie...
Mini Review Apex Legends (Switch 2) - A Giant Leap Over The Tragic Switch 1 Version
Pitch perfect pings and performance, pals
I love Apex Legends. I feel like I have to remind myself of that sometimes, as I'm so bored off my face with shooters in general, and don't really play online competitively anymore. I just can't be bothered with the stress and/or real emotion of it all. However, Apex Legends, once I get over myself and turn...
Mini Review The House Of The Dead 2: Remake (Switch) - Erratic Controls Chomp At Another Classic
Dead aim
I don’t think I’ve ever messed around with a game’s settings menu as much as The House of the Dead 2: Remake. And, unfortunately, try as I might, I could never get the game to feel 'good'. Much like its predecessor on the Switch, Forever Entertainment’s latest arcade revamp is limited to just two control schemes: analogue stick and...
Review Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound (Switch) - A Gorgeous & Gory Return To The Series' 2D Roots
Heads will roll
To return to Ninja Gaiden’s 2D roots in 2025 is a wonderful thing. Dotemu, upon acquiring the license for a series reboot, approached Spanish indie developer The Game Kitchen to get the job done. Known for their remarkable Blasphemous titles, the project was overseen by Team Ninja, who have held the series mantle from 2004 to...
Puck around and find out
It's not that often that a perfectly good and functional air hockey video game drops. In fact, considering that the grotty arcade staple translates so readily to the sphere, very few air hockey games release in general. One of life's persisting mysteries, right there. However, fear not Switch 2-owning air hockey fans (which...
Review Dear Me, I Was... (Switch 2) - A Bold, Heartfelt, Wordless Visual Novel
Crying speedrun (Any%)
A common complaint levied against visual novels is that they’re some of the most text-heavy games one can find on the market. Who wants to spend hours upon hours reading dialogue during precious gaming time? Answer: me, and plenty of other people, but it’s a valid perspective to consider. Visual novels are generally wordy...
Review Time Flies (Switch) – An Indie Oddity That Makes Every Second Count
Lord of the Flies
As I sat down to write this review, I typed ‘What is the lifespan of a housefly?’ into my search bar. It’s not a question I ever really pondered prior to my playthrough of Time Flies. Somehow, this minimalist indie puzzler got me curious enough to wonder. I can’t say there’s ever been a piece of media that’s ever piqued...
We don't want any adventures here, thank you
A Lord of the Rings cosy game? Made by Weta Workshop, who made the sets, costumes, and props for the beloved Peter Jackson movie trilogy? Say no more, right? Unfortunately, Tales of the Shire is not the perfect mashup of hobbits and hygge we've all been waiting for, but is instead emblematic of the kind...
Review Pokémon Friends (Switch) – Pretty Plushies, Puzzling Pricing
A PokéPuzzle a day keeps the Nurse Joy away
It seems like every Pokémon Direct spends more than half its runtime detailing updates for or announcing casual Pokémon spin-offs. From Pokémon Café ReMix to Pokémon Sleep, we’ve gotten so many Pokémon-themed experiences that any new announce
Review WWE 2K25 (Switch 2) - The Best Wrestling Game You'll Find On A Switch
Holy smooth frame rates, brother
Now that we've got over the excitement of the initial wave of Switch 2 games (well, just about), we're entering an interesting phase for the new console where certain types of third-party titles — stuff that's either been pretty awful or non-existent on Switch 1 — is now starting to drop. We haven't had a big...
Review Patapon 1+2 Replay (Switch) - A Pleasing Return For Some PSP Charmers
Drumroll, please
Ever since I was a kid stomping his feet to pop songs in Dance Dance Revolution and getting pep talks from PaRappa the Rapper about how I gotta believe, I’ve been a fan of rhythm games. And while I love popular juggernauts in the genre like Guitar Hero, I’ll always prefer something with more originality than just simply holding...
Review Wild Hearts S (Switch 2) - Monster Hunting That's Satisfying, If Unspectacular
Take a ride on the wild side
Capcom effectively created a new genre with its famed Monster Hunter series back in the sixth generation of game consoles, and though many challengers over the years (such as Dauntless and God Eater) have since tried to get a piece of its pie, nobody has quite managed to recreate its distinct magic. Koei Tecmo's Omega...
The motion-controlled air hockey will be televised!
I wasn't expecting to give Super Mario Party Jamboree a big juicy 9/10 when I sat down to play it for its initial release on Switch. Not by a long shot, truth be told. And returning to the game for this Super Mario Party Jamboree - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV edition (that's the last...
Roll for initiative
Dungeons & Dragons has had a long and checkered history with video game adaptations, with every ascendant Baldur’s Gate 3 being matched by an equally disappointing Iron & Blood: Warriors of Ravenloft. Then there are the games that fall firmly in the middle, like Neverwinter Nights. After the success of the first game in...
Review Monument Valley 3 (Switch) - A Beautiful Piece Of Work In Need Of A Touch Up
Please, don't touch the artwork
There's something nostalgic about going back to Monument Valley. Ustwo's indie hit debuted on mobile in 2014 and helped establish (at least for a mainstream audience) that the mobile space could include the artistry of the wider indie games scene with thoughtful, immaculately presented, perspective-bending puzzlers...
It's a date
No Sleep For Kaname Date - From AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES is the newest entry in Spike Chunsoft's AI: Somnium Files series and is actually a spin-off of the first two games. As a 'mid-quel' between both stories, No Sleep for Kaname Date is a good companion piece for fans of the series but not so much for those unfamiliar. Its visual novel...
Review Shadow Labyrinth - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition - Sometimes 'Good Enough' Is Just That
For Puck's sake
Pac-Man, as iconic as he is, has felt like he’s been in a bit of a rut in recent years. The rather delightful PAC-MAN 99 aside, there’s an undeniable sense that the series has simply been unable to break away from its core concepts. So, regardless of what gimmicks are chucked in to justify a new entry — Battle Royale in Chomp...
Review Donkey Kong Bananza (Switch 2) - Absolutely Smashing, But Can It Beat Mario Odyssey?
Big DK energy
Even though it confirmed my suspicions, the reveal that Donkey Kong Bananza was coming to us from the team behind Super Mario Odyssey couldn't help but strike a little bit of fear into my heart. We know that the group within Nintendo EPD is a talented bunch, but how was I ever going to be able to fully throw myself into another 3D...
