Game Reviews scoring 5/10
Review Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo (Switch) - A Fine Shmup Selection, But Input Lag Remains An Issue
Continued delay
Just as Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo is the companion game to the earlier release of Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha, what you're reading now should also be considered the companion to our earlier review of the latter title. We suggest, to help digest the full context of this review, that the reader also hop over and read this companion...
Mini Review Spartan Fist (Switch) - This ARMS-Style Brawler Fails To Pack A Punch
Not quite a knockout
Spartan Fist is described as a 'first-person puncher', and for better or worse, that's exactly what it is. Taking place within a series of procedurally-generated arenas, the game is reasonably fun for short bursts, but thanks to some dodgy controls and a distinct lack of variety, it ultimately fails to pack a punch. Taking...
Review Speedway Racing (Switch) - Daytona USA Has Nothing To Worry About
Days of Blunder
For gamers of a certain age, the name Sega is a synonym for arcade racing perfection. From Yu Suzuki’s sprite scaling opus Out Run to the polygonal bliss of Virtua Racing, the company always stood at the top of the arcade racing genre due to on-point game design, ensuring that anyone regardless of skill could walk away with a silly...
Mini Review Tilt Pack (Switch) - An Accessible Yet Shallow Arena Brawler
Smash Bros. stripped to its bones
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is undeniably brilliant, but there's a fundamental disconnect at the heart of it. Despite its bright, inviting presentation, the series has traded its knock-about couch co-op appeal for an increasingly technical fighting system and reams of esoteric fan service. Don't agree? Start a game...
Review Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha (Switch) - Great Games Shamed By Horrendous Input Lag
Delayed reaction
At face value, Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha is an excellent proposition – a collection of some of the most beloved shmups and arguably the best titles Psikyo ever produced. At the humble price of $39.99, the new owner of the Psikyo properties, City Connection, is offering four must own shmup titles and two solid STG at an average...
Review Code Shifter (Switch) - This Forgettable Franchise Crossover Is A Missed Opportunity
By the numbers
Though it certainly occupies a niche, it’s tough to dispute the level of clout and influence held by Arc System Works. The studio positively thrives on 2D fighting games, with franchises like Guilty Gear and River City being among its more well-known work, and its 30+ year lifespan has seen the introduction of plenty of new games...
Review Sisters Royale: Five Sisters Under Fire (Switch) - Sub-Par Shmup Action On Switch
Aggressively generic
Booting up Sisters Royale: Five Sisters Under Fire for the first time, we were completely blind to everything about it. All we had to go from was the name, cute cover art, and the understanding that it is a shmup of some kind. We were optimistic as to what to expect. Judging by the 'moe' style and naming convention, we felt...
Review Mosaic (Switch) - Biting Social Commentary Masquerading As A Video Game
Just another piece of the puzzle
Mosaic, from Krillbite Studio, isn’t an exciting game. It’s not going to keep you on the edge of your seat, and it won’t get your blood pumping. In fact, Mosaic isn’t even a game at all in a lot of ways; it's more of a grayscale pastiche of physical life in the digital age – but not one that ever follows...
Review AO Tennis 2 (Switch) - A Decent Tennis Sim Ruined By Woeful Performance On Switch
Cue a backhanded compliment
Despite the fact that there are now officially more games on the Switch eShop than there are people living on the planet (citation needed), it’s fair to say tennis fans have severely limited options when it comes to games on the system. Sure, Mario Tennis Aces is great and all, but those looking for a more serious...
Mini Review Gigantic Army (Switch) - A Cybernator Homage That's Almost Over Before It Starts
Rocky robot
If you are a hardcore shooting game fan, three-man "dōjin" developer Astro Port might ring a bell. This small team has a clear love for the genre and have produced several shooters based on classics from the 16-bit generation over the past decade. It was a bit of a surprise to see an “old friend” pop up on both Switch eShop and in...
Review Princess Maker (Switch) – Faery Tales Come True - A Lazy Update Of An Often Boring Life Sim
Tangled
Princess Maker - Faery Tales Come True, otherwise known as Princess Maker 3, was first released all the way back in January 1997. A simulation/management game, it sees you take the role of parent to a ten-year-old fairy whose been transported into the body – and complicated social life – of a human. Over the course of eight years it's up...
Review Blacksad: Under The Skin (Switch) - Technical Woes Make This A Tough Case To Crack
Feline rough
Detective games can be an unpredictable sort. Their quality often comes down to A) how engaging the core mystery is, and B) how well its mechanics blend with the traditional features of their chosen genre. At their collective best, Telltale and LucasArts really nailed this delicate balance, but some of the recent Frogwares Sherlock...
Review LastFight (Switch) - A Weak Clone Of Capcom's Legendary 'Power Stone'
Power Nap
Piranaking's LastFight attempts to recapture the crazy multiplayer chaos of Capcom's classic Power Stone series, lifting its signature chaotic gameplay wholesale and transplanting it into the world of cult comic book Lastman. All of the most recognisable elements of Power Stone – small 3D fighting arenas, numerous objects and weapons...
Nights into screams
Imagine if you bumped into an old friend you hadn’t seen in 17 years. You spent ages with them back in the day and over time you just drifted apart, but now you’re finally face-to-face with them again and you realised you’re delighted to see them after all this time. Now imagine if you and your newly-reunited chum went out...
Review Five Nights At Freddy's 3 (Switch) - Proof Of The Law Of Diminishing Returns
What could possibly go wrong?
By the time Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 came out, it had been just over half a year since the first game’s debut. The low budget feel and ongoing lore had solidified the series as a popular mainstay, although for many, a modicum of franchise fatigue was beginning to set in. Though each game features its own take on...
Mini Review Raining Blobs (Switch) - Can't Compete With The Best The Genre Has To Offer
Familiar territory
Anyone even remotely familiar with game franchises like Puyo Pop and Tetris will feel right at home with Raining Blobs. It’s a puzzle game in which you need to match up coloured globules that fall down the screen in order to wipe them from the board, scoring combos and points in the process. That’s more or less all there is to...
Review Narcos: Rise Of The Cartels (Switch) - An XCOM-Style Outing That Doesn't Live Up To The Show
Plata o plomo?
Remember when licensed games used to be all the rage? A generation ago, practically every film worth its salt had a tie-in video game, and while there were the occasional good ones – GoldenEye 007 anyone? – for the most part, they were a cheap and forgettable way to boost your Gamerscore while simultaneously filling up the shelves...
Review Disney Tsum Tusm Festival (Switch) - A Colourful Party Game That Isn't As Fun As It Looks
Less 'Heigh Ho', more 'hey ho'
Like the toys themselves, Disney Tsum Tsum Festival is a mutated mess that is both adorable and yet utterly bewildering. On the face of it, this is a collection of mini-games populated by stylised versions of your favourite Disney characters, yet it doesn’t quite live up to that promise. This is in part down to its...
Review Animus: Harbinger (Switch) - A Budget Dark Souls Clone Which Needed More Polish
Diet Souls
Animus: Harbinger attempts to take the well-worn Dark Souls style of slow, methodical combat and create a boss-rush game that sees you battle your way through a total of twenty-one small arena levels, defeating a handful of run-of-the-mill enemies before taking on an area boss in order to gain new weapons, grab upgrade shards and money to...
Review Bee Simulator (Switch) - An Interesting Idea That Never Really Takes Flight
To Bee or not to Bee? That is the question
For many years, simulator games were previously the preserve of uber-serious players, keen to try out loving recreations of pastimes that could charitably be called dull. If a game had ‘Simulator’ in the title, it was a clear sign that it’d be an admirably straight-faced experience, with a focus on...
Review Headsnatchers (Switch) - Multiplayer Mayhem Mangled By Manky Controls
Don’t lose your head
Headsnatchers is a surprisingly unique party game in which you need to, er… snatch the heads off your opponent’s bodies in order to score points. This may be by kicking the head into a football (soccer to those on the other side of the pond) goal, slam-dunking the head into a basketball hoop, or climbing to the top of a...
Review Raging Loop (Switch) - A Gorgeous Visual Novel Cursed With Pacing Problems
Kill or be killed
If you’ve ever had a friend excitedly praise whatever TV series they’re currently watching only to have them, almost apologetically, say “it starts off really slow but gets really good about 12 episodes/chapters in” then you’ll have a really good idea of what it’s like to play Raging Loop. Initially, Raging Loop’s...
Hits the skids
After the disappointment that was V-Rally 4 on Switch – the only other 'pure' rally game currently available on Nintendo's console which arrived in something of a shambolic state – can developer Kylotonn return to the platform and finally give fans of the genre something to smile about with the latest entry in its WRC series of...
Bloodcurdlingly inconsistent
If you thought the '90s action flick Face/Off had an identity crisis, wait until you meet Corpse Party: Blood Drive. Part visual novel, part survival horror, Blood Drive is the third game in the Corpse Party series and features the surviving cast of the prior two games. While the original Corpse Party – originally...
Review Mistover (Switch) - A Dungeon-Crawling RPG That's Over-Encumbered With Punitive Mechanics
Mist Opportunity
Take the most casual of glances at a couple of screenshots or some gameplay footage of Krafton’s Mistover and it’s not hard to see where it gets the vast majority of its inspiration. Following very closely in the footsteps of 2016’s sublime Darkest Dungeon, this is a dungeon-crawling RPG that has all the most important pieces...
Review Close To The Sun (Switch) - A Poor Imitation Of BioShock That Looks Worse On Switch
Getting a bit too warm there, Icarus
It’s perhaps almost parody at this point for eager Switch fans to tweet their longing desire for a game to be released on the system. "Is it coming to Switch?" remains a near-constant reminder to the social media marketing teams that there’s an entire console fanbase that wants their shiny new game replicated...
Review Call Of Cthulhu (Switch) - Oppressive Cosmic Horror That's Plagued By Problems
Don't heed the call
Focus Home Interactive’s reputation for creating daring tie-ins to lapsed license continues. This time we’re taking a peek into the unknowable with Call of Cthulhu, which is based more off of the pen-and-paper RPG of the same name than the original work written by notable author H.P. Lovecraft, who once referred to people of...
Review The Bradwell Conspiracy (Switch) - More Style Than Substance
Keep your theories to yourself
It should be a day for celebration. Bradwell Electronics, a seemingly benign British conglomerate, has piqued the world’s attention with the announcement of its groundbreaking ‘Clean Water Initiative’. Gathering the greatest minds from the scientific community within the confines of its Stonehenge Museum,...
Revisiting a visual novel trendsetter
Yu-No: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World might not be a catchy title for a Japanese visual novel, but this remake of the beloved PC-98 classic is an important watershed for the genre as a whole. Originally released in 1996, Yu-No tells the tale of Takuya, revealing the nature of his father’s...
Review Bubsy: Paws On Fire! (Switch) - How Many Lives Does This Bobcat Have?
Paws for loading
"Bubsy's back!" While that phrase might strike fear into your very soul, there must be a fair amount of readers with at least a residue of affection for the orange bobcat. Bubsy the Bobcat hails from the age of mascot platformers that has come back into vogue with the current wave of '90s nostalgia, and he somehow remains in the...
