Latest Reviews
Mini Review Colossus Down - A Neat Concept Squandered By Bland Gameplay
Titan-falls short of greatness
The idea of running amok in a giant mech is certainly a tantalising one, isn’t it? With Mango Protocol’s Colossus Down, this is exactly what seven-year-old child prodigy Nika decides to do. Following on directly from 2015’s short title MechaNika, Colossus Down is a 2D side-scrolling brawler in which you must...
Mini Review Timothy And The Mysterious Forest - Imitates Zelda's Visuals But Not Its Gameplay
In need of deforestation
Paying homage to retro titles can be a tricky thing. Do you stick to an established formula, or do you stray and carve out your own path? Timothy and the Mysterious Forest does a bit of both. One glance at Kibou Entertainment’s top-down adventure, and it’s clear that this game owes an awful lot to The Legend of Zelda:...
Review Turrican Flashback - An Annoyingly Incomplete Collection That's Still Worth A Look
Are you a Turrican? Or a Turrican't?
Factor 5’s beloved Amiga platform shooter has been egregiously missing in action for some decades now. At least, the series is back on modern systems in the relatively exhaustive form of the Turrican Anthology 1 and 2, se
Review Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & The Secret Fairy - The Best Game In The Series To Date
On the Ryza
Hot on the heels of 2019’s excellent Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness and the Secret Hideout, developer Gust has wasted absolutely no time in releasing this second epic adventure for Reisalin “Ryza” Stout, a protagonist who’s proven so popular with fans that she’s the very first since the Atelier series kicked off back in 1997 to...
Review Cyber Shadow - A Blisteringly Brilliant Action Platformer
Go, ninja, go!
Nearly seven years ago, the world was first introduced to Shovel Knight, a passion project that aimed to emulate some of the most legendary game releases of the 8-bit era. Since then, Yacht Club Games has gone on to extensively expand on the base Shovel Knight game, and now the studio has begun to look to the future to its next big...
Review Calico - Bursting With Heart, But Crippled By Bugs
Glitchy and scratchy
As part of the "wholesome games" trend, Calico promises quite a few of the hallmarks of the genre: cats, cafés, gentle music, soft colours, cooking, and befriending fluffy animals. The gameplay is unchallenging, but it's meant to be that way; your in-game avatar – a magical girl you design yourself with a fairly in-depth...
Review Hitman 3 - Cloud Version - Not Perfect, But Perfectly Playable
Portable Predator
Well, it's finally time. IO Interactive's superlative World of Assassinations trilogy draws to a triumphant close with Hitman 3, one final blast of slick and sophisticated missions for the unstoppable Agent 47 to shoot, strangle and poison his way through as he continues to close the net on the elusive Partners of Providence...
Review WRITHE - A Nintendo 64-Style Budget Blaster That Needs More Work
Bangkok Dangerous
Mission Crtl Studio's WRITHE is a simplistic, straightforward old-school FPS that sees players take on hordes of giant Sago worms who have descended upon Bangkok in the wake of an evil food corporation's greed-fueled experiments. Strapping on your P.H.U.L.A. life-support armour and grabbing your plasma launcher and phosphorus...
Review Wrestling Empire - A Love Letter To Pro Wrestling That Falls Foul Of Hilarious Bugs
Bug-a-mania is running wild
It's been a long time since a truly brilliant wrestling game has been available on a Nintendo console. Not since the days of WWF No Mercy on the Nintendo 64 and the Day of Reckoning series on the GameCube have Nintendo fans been able to properly enjoy a genuinely brilliant rendition of pro wrestling, and frustration is...
Review Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game - Complete Edition - Still The Bob-omb 10 Years On
Time to break out the "L-word"
Digital games can be a wonderful thing. They don’t run the risk of getting lost like physical game cards. You can fit an awful lot of them on one MicroSD card these days. They grant indie developers an easier option for distribution. Yet games like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game also highlight the biggest...
Mini Review Door Kickers - A Tough Tactical Take On That Old FPS Trope
Press 'X' to breach
Many modern FPS titles contain the obligatory ‘breach’ scene. You know the one; you blow a door off its hinges and suddenly everything goes into slow motion. You scan the room, and as luck would have it, all of your enemies are right in front of you, ready for the picking. It’s flashy, it’s cinematic, but it’s not...
Mini Review The Hong Kong Massacre - A Hotline Miami Clone That's A Little On The Tough Side
There is no spoon
One quick glance at The Hong Kong Massacre, and you’d be forgiven for thinking that Hotline Miami has been given the Legend of Zelda Space World treatment. On face value, the two games are remarkably similar, with the same birds-eye viewpoint and absurdly over-the-top violence right from the start. The Hong Kong Massacre is a...
Mini Review Florence - The Very Definition Of 'Short But Sweet'
You know Florence?
Florence originally came to Switch back in February 2020, but we didn't manage to review it at launch. Following several reader requests, we're pleased to say we found time to catch up with it over the holidays... What is Florence? It could be described as an interactive novella or a visual novel, perhaps, although those are...
Review Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Heart of the Forest - A Decent Effort Which Is Over Far Too Soon
Primal Rage
Different Tale's Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Heart of the Forest is a visual novel set in the long-running World of Darkness tabletop RPG universe, a universe most video game players will likely know best from 2004's Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. Swapping blood-suckers for lycanthropes, this is a tale that gets off to a strong...
Mini Review Professor Lupo: Ocean - A Short But Sweet Puzzle Adventure
Making waves
If you haven’t played Professor Lupo and his Horrible Pets, then worry not. Its sequel, Professor Lupo: Ocean, carries on the core gameplay mechanics of its predecessor, but familiarity with the first game is not essential to enjoy this one. Taking place within a space station submerged in water, Professor Lupo: Ocean is a puzzle game...
Review Double Dragon Neon - An Energetic Reboot Which Has Aged Surprisingly Well
Neon Night Riders Forever
It has been no less than eight years since the Lee brothers' Saturday morning cartoon outing, Double Dragon Neon, was released. As 2020 comes to an end, does this over-the-top scrolling beat’em up still glow in face of stiff competition on the Switch from the likes of Streets of Rage 4? Genre similarities aside, it is...
Review Wingspan - A Fun And Compulsive Card Game
For the birds, or really falcon good?
Birdwatching used to be the domain of the socially ostracised. One of the go-to spod hobbies, along with trainspotting and, well, Warhammer. But now the tides have changed. The spods have the power. Former social pariahs are now cultural arbiters. Being into comics is cool, now. In this world gone topsy-turvy,...
We jammin'
Synthetik: Ultimate began its life on PC to high acclaim. Favouring realistic, methodical gun mechanics over high-speed action, it’s a relatively fresh take on the roguelite genre, albeit one that feels a tad unpolished at times. There’s no doubt that Synthetik: Ultimate has a mighty steep hill to climb when competing with the likes...
Review Aleste Collection - M2 Does It Again With This Wonderful Fusion Of Old And New
Vintage shmup action on Switch
M2's Shot Triggers range has a track record of bringing rare and refined arcade shmups home, either making them available on consoles for the first time ever or at the very least making them affordable for the first time in decades. The titles M2 work hard to preserve for future generations are often so incredible...
Review Fatal Fury: First Contact - Lightweight Brawling Action That's Fun In Short Bursts
A second chance at a first impression
The Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection release list keeps hopping up and down the hardware's original timeline like a TARDIS with a major fault in its timey-wimey gubbins, resulting in Fatal Fury: First Contact, one of the handheld's earlier fighting games, turning up on the Switch roughly two months after one of...
Review Grindstone - A Thrilling And Compelling Puzzle Adventure
A lot of grinding, but no Stony Hawk
Apply the minutiae of your daily tasks to the mechanics of Grindstone, and you’ve got a recipe for a satisfying lifestyle as far as we’re concerned. This methodical puzzle game has a delightful focus on the excitement of building momentum and a beautifully balanced sense of risk and reward. It’s also about...
Review Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend - A Nostalgic Curiosity, But That's About It
Not quite legendary
The SaGa franchise has always been the odd one out in Square Enix’s deep vault of RPGs. Not only has the series gotten a somewhat infamous reputation for its weird, open-ended progression systems and high difficulty, but most entries came out years after their Japanese debuts, if they made it to the west at all. The first three...
Review Space Invaders Forever - One Great Game Does Not A Great Package Make
We'd rather have a packet of Space Raiders
It’s probably a contentious thought, but does Space Invaders really need to keep coming back? We get it, the game was important. Is it fun to play Space Invaders in the year of our lord 2020? God, no. Not in the slightest. The game, in anything close to its original form, simply doesn’t hold up. But...
Review When The Past Was Around - The Perfect Video Game Tonic For 2020
The last of something bright burning, still burning
It’s particularly affecting to play a game like When The Past Was Around as the most devastating year of many of our lives comes to its chaotic close. A lot of us have experienced personal loss in 2020, which makes this game's tasteful, cleverly-constructed exploration of the subject both welcome...
Review Super Meat Boy Forever - A New Formula That Takes Away More Than It Adds
Beat the Meat
Some ten whole years after the original Super Meat Boy first took the indie gaming scene by storm, fans of the original game's brutally difficult action finally get the chance to return to Team Meat's gloriously bloody world in a sequel that decides to make some pretty big changes to the series' core platforming mechanics. Super Meat...
Review Football Manager 2021 Touch - With Patience, This One's Got Great Potential
It's got a Silva lining
Well, it’s that time of year again. Quite literally, in fact, as it was on this very date last year that we published our Football Manager 2020 Touch review. Here we now have the 2021 edition, and to Sports Interactive’s credit there have at least been some attempts made to mix things up a bit. Whereas EA’s FIFA series...
Review Dicey Dungeons - A Raucous Roguelike Adventure Which Everyone Should Try
You feeling lucky, punk?
Terry Cavanagh is known for making some tough games. If you’ve played the likes of VVVVVV or Super Hexagon, you’re no doubt familiar with his unique brand of simplistic and punishing game design. That design is on full display, albeit in a completely new form, with his latest project, Dicey Dungeons. Here, instead of...
Review Among Us - The Lockdown Hit Finally Comes To Switch
Don't be sus
Innersloth's Among Us has become something of a gaming sensation in 2020, some two whole years after it first quietly released as a free-to-play title on iOS and Android devices. Due to a combination of factors – which no doubt include huge Twitch popularity driven by its unique social dynamics and a captive lockdown audience looking...
Mini Review Landflix Odyssey - Unoriginal But Engaging Netflix Parody Platforming
Landflix and chill
Coming up with original ideas can be tough. There’s a good reason why successful writers are always asked where they get their ideas from; no one else really has a clue. Sometimes, borrowing from others — if done in a respectful, subtle manner — can work out for the best as long as it’s executed well. Landflix Odyssey...
Mini Review Tanuki Justice - A Short And Sweet Homage To 8-Bit Run 'N' Gunners
Mega Raccoon
Don’t jump out of your seats too quickly here, folks — Tanuki Justice has nothing to do with Mario’s Tanooki suit. Developed by Wonderboy Bobi, this 2D run ‘n’ gun platformer actually shares a lot more in common with classic Mega Man games, albeit with slightly more frenetic gameplay. It’s a fun, challenging experience...
