Game Reviews scoring 8, 9 or 10/10
Review Shotgun Cop Man (Switch) - Move Over, Meat Boy, There's A New Sheriff In Town
Devilishly good
Gun recoil (or kickback) has often been viewed as a negative in gaming; something that, through the application of unlockable perks, can be lessened or even eliminated entirely. Yet with Shotgun Cop Man, recoil is fundamental to both combat and traversal. Created by Swedish developer DeadToast Entertainment (Victor Ågren), Shotgun...
Review Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (GBA) - The Series' Second Western Release Still Hits Hard
Worth fighting for
This review was originally published in March 2015. We're updating and republishing it to mark the arrival of the game in the Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy Advance library. While Fire Emblem is a franchise with a long history in Japan, its track record in the West is far more condensed; in fact, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones...
Sirei-iously good
Back in 2018, a new studio called Too Kyo Games was formed, with the main creatives behind it being Kazutaka Kodaka (the creator of Danganronpa) and Kotaro Uchikoshi, the director of the Zero Escape games. Four projects were unveiled as part of the studio’s reveal, and while three of them saw release over the following years,...
Review I, Robot (Switch) - Another Psychedelic Success For Llamasoft & Atari
Proper bangin'
If you looked at the title of Atari’s latest release and thought, 'The Will Smith movie?', don’t worry. I, Robot has nothing to do with the 2004 sci-fi film, nor the original Isaac Asimov short stories upon which it was based. Instead, this is a Llamasoft-developed remake of the 1984 arcade title I, Robot from Dave Theurer...
Good time Gals
Inti Creates is a fascinating development house that has spent the past few years crafting throwbacks to beloved genre archetypes. The team tends to take a specific model and iterate on it across several titles. Aside from Comcept's infamous Mighty No. 9, Inti has a strong history with the Mega Man series, and another beloved template...
Review SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered (Switch) - A Solid Port Of A Great JRPG
It's about family
Families, huh? They can cause us all manner of headaches. Sometimes they invade your personal space or take your favourite shirt without asking, and sometimes they get banished as a child and return home to try to take their rightful place on the throne. Between all of the turn-based combat and extended cutscenes, SaGa Frontier 2...
Review Rift Of The NecroDancer (Switch) - Imagine If Guitar Hero & Ikaruga Made A Baby
Slimes to the left of me, zombies to the right
Canadian developer Brace Yourself Games first hit the spotlight with Crypt of the NecroDancer, a rhythm-based roguelike, all the way back in 2015. Dungeon crawling to a relentless beat became the new dance craze sweeping the nation, and it was warmly welcomed into the Switch indie canon with the 2019...
Mini Review Breakout Beyond (Switch) - A Thrilling Iteration On An Arcade Classic
Breaking the mould
Breakout Beyond comes from Bit.Trip developer Choice Provisions and sees you paddle your way through a total of 72 levels (plus an unlockable ‘Infinite Mode’), most of which are based on iconic Atari developers or IP, like ‘NOHLENN’ (Nolan Bushnell) and ‘RAH-BAHNET’ (Warren Robinett). With plentiful neon and a gentle,...
Robot Jox
We were somewhere around 20 hours into Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, on the edge of thinking, 'This is all very familiar,' when the really feeling it began to take hold. As fun as Xenoblade Chronicles X is in its opening six chapters — and it's up there with the rest of the series in this regard — things only really...
Review Donkey Kong (GB) - One Of The Game Boy's Very Best
It's on with the King of the Kongs
This review was originally published in June 2011. We're updating and republishing it to mark the arrival of the game in the Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy library. In 1994, Nintendo had a great idea; why not make a true sequel to the original Donkey Kong arcade game? The result is Donkey Kong for the Game Boy,...
Review Sorry We're Closed (Switch) - An Ethereal, Colourful Survival Horror Like No Other
Love is hell
To call à La Mode's Sorry We’re Closed a survival horror is certainly accurate in many ways, but it also does a disservice to just how unique and fresh this debut title really is. While it absolutely borrows a few elements from genre classics like Resident Evil and Silent Hill (including the obvious PS1-inspired visuals), Sorry...
Read the rune, Konami
Few RPGs, or video games, deal with war and hope in the face of tyranny like the Suikoden series. Konami’s prime RPG series, created by the late, great Yoshitaka Muriyama, is beloved by those who have played them – particularly the first two. They’re about the underdogs, about those who want better for their country, and...
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 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 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 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...
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 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...
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 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...
Review Antonblast (Switch) - Channels Wario Land’s Madcap Energy To Great Effect
A genuine blast
Since this review was originally published patches have addressed or improved one or more of the issues cited. While we unfortunately cannot revisit games on an individual basis, it should still be noted that the updated game may offer an improved experience over the one detailed below. A few months ago, the Switch finally received...
Review Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind (Switch) - The Mightiest Morphin Ever
What is it with you hero types? Always the same line
Being from the UK, the name 'Rita' never quite sat right with us for Power Rangers. It sounds too much like Rita from down the chip shop, who might ask if you want salt and vinegar with that; or Rita from round the corner, who may or may not be a juvenile delinquent wearing altogether too much...
