Nintendo Game Reviews
Review Super Mario All-Stars (SNES) - All That Glitters Isn't Necessarily Gold
Has this star begun to fade?
On its mid-1993 bow, Super Mario All-Stars was greeted with the sort of rapturous praise usually reserved for pontiffs, or a new Daft Punk album. This was a compilation of a generosity never-before-seen goodies, packing in the stone-cold classic NES titles Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3...
Return of the Mac
If you ask us, Hamster should be getting more praise for successfully releasing a steady stream of Nintendo games in its Arcade Archives series. No fewer than 18 of Nintendo’s vintage coin-op titles have now been released on the Switch to date, with practically all of them available to buy for the first time in their history...
You'll be creasing with laughter
The Paper Mario series has seen more ups and downs over the years than the lid of Picasso’s pencil case, with Nintendo and developer Intelligent Systems trying their best to nail the formula again. A large number of Paper Mario fans believe GameCube title Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is the best game in the...
Review Pokémon Café Mix (Switch) - Perfectly Pleasant Free-To-Play Puzzle Action
Make the perfect Pikabrew
If you thought the only thing The Pokémon Company had in store for you this month was a new way to get frustrated while brushing your teeth, you’re sorely mistaken. Pokémon Café Mix is another free (well, free-to-play) title for Pokéfans to wet their whistle with, and this one’s an actual game rather than an app...
Mini Review Jump Rope Challenge (Switch) - A Noble Attempt To Get Switch Owners Active
Jump up in lockdown
Reviewing and putting a score on a free game that’s been created in a limited environment with the sole purpose of helping the public improve their physical well being during a global pandemic is… well, it’s a tough one. Do you critically analyse it and pick apart its faults and limitations? Or do you simply view it for...
Review Pokémon Sword & Shield - The Isle of Armor (Switch) - A New Wild Area Worthy Of Your Interest
Fits the base game to a TT
Whenever a series attempts DLC for the first time, you’re sure to find a select few individuals pining for the olden days when you got a whole game in a single package – conveniently forgetting the fact that Street Fighter II had no less than seven different iterations – but if a game sells well and there’s enough...
Review Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics (Switch) - You Won't Get 'Board' Of These Games Easily
Warning: things get a bit dicey
With much of the world still in some form of lockdown at the time of writing this review, many have resorted to board games or playing cards to keep themselves occupied and help while away the hours. It could be argued, then, that Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics (or 51 Worldwide Games if you're outside of North...
We're (still) really feeling it
If you were around to browse this site about nine years ago, you may have been privy to the rising support for localization of a game called Xenoblade Chronicles. Back then, the title was just a niche Japanese RPG that Nintendo was extremely hesitant to release outside of the country, but the fans saw something in it...
Review Good Job! (Switch) - This Laugh-Riot Feels Like 2020's Answer To 'Untitled Goose Game'
Promoted to ‘essential’
We’ve all been in a job that we didn’t like very much. Heck, a lot of people – this writer included – have had jobs that they’ve actively hated, filled with menial tasks that make time grind to an absolute halt. Given the current world climate, chances are you’re safe and sound in your own home (and if you do...
Review Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX (Switch) - Fun, But Only In Short Doses
Titled Zangoose Game
When it comes to Pokémon spin-offs, the Mystery Dungeon series is probably the lengthiest. For every short-lived game like Pokémon Dash or Pokkén Tournament, there’s a Mystery Dungeon title offering potentially hundreds of hours of gameplay. Of course, whether you’d actually want to play one of them for hundreds of hours...
Review The Wonderful 101 (Wii U) - A Thrilling Assault On The Senses
Chaos and colour multiplied by 101
Editor’s Note: With The Wonderful 101: Remastered Kickstarter now in full swing, we thought you might like to read our 2013 review for the Wii U original. Playing The Wonderful 101 for the first time on "normal" difficulty is a stressful, headache-inducing experience that, nevertheless, delivers a genuine...
Review Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore (Switch) - A Pitch-Perfect, Feel-Good JRPG
A perfectly Chrom-ulent port
The number of big Wii U exclusives that have still yet to receive Switch ports is well into single figures now, with Nintendo seemingly all too happy to continue queuing up its back catalogue and giving each title another chance at success (rightly so, in our opinion). Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE is the latest game to get...
Review Dr Kawashima's Brain Training For Nintendo Switch (Switch) - Not Quite As Smart 14 Years On
Doctor Why
It’s difficult to overstate the importance of the original Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training (or Brain Age, if you’re based in North America). Even though these days many credit the Wii with bringing gaming to non-gamers via the likes of Wii Sports, it’s crucial to remember that Brain Training was doing it first, shifting countless DS...
Review Pokémon Sword And Shield (Switch) - A Solid Start To Gen 8, Despite The Hate
Dynamaxing expectations
If there’s one thing everyone knows about Pokémon Sword and Shield is that they have been talked about. They have been talked about a lot. Whether it’s the controversy surrounding the omission of individual Pokémon or a tree that looks a bit too low-res for people’s tastes, chatter about these games has been incessant...
Review The Stretchers (Switch) - An Unexpected And Utterly Hilarious eShop Delight
Stretch Goals
The Stretchers is hilarious. Tarsier's comedy co-op puzzler that's just dropped unannounced onto the Switch eShop is a big, bright blast of ludicrously OTT ragdoll physics-based slapstick that sees you and a friend – you can play solo but two is the sweet spot here – take control of a pair of wibbly-wobbly paramedics and their...
Review Luigi's Mansion 3 (Switch) - Gooigi Takes Ghost Busting To The Next Level
Drop dead gorgeous
Despite being the glimmering jewel of the GameCube’s launch, Luigi’s Mansion has enjoyed relatively few sequels for such a beloved Mario spin-off. The 3DS had a pop with a well-liked sequel, and the original got a second chance on the same system with a remake. Now it’s time for a true home console follow-up with Luigi’s...
Review Ring Fit Adventure (Switch) - Fitness Fun For Everyone
Vive la resistance
What a difference a decade makes. In 2008, Nintendo released Wii Fit and was met with an interesting mixed reaction. While it became an enormous global success, shifting over 22 million copies, a percentage of Nintendo’s long-time fanbase expressed anger (rightly or wrongly) because they felt the company was seemingly abandoning...
Review Pilotwings - 16-Bit Flight Simulation, The Nintendo Way
Mode 7 is the wind beneath my Pilotwings
Upon introducing its new Super Famicom console in late 1990 it wasn't just critical for Nintendo to showcase technical advantages over its 16-bit competition, but it was also important to persuade gamers who were clinging on to their 8-bit systems to purchase the new hardware. Considering parents in North...
Review Mario Kart Tour - Steer Around The Gacha For A Fun, Free Take On The Series
Please ride and subscribe
It’s fair to say that Nintendo’s forays into mobile gaming have been a bit of a mixed bag, partly because none of its fans can really agree on which of its efforts have struck the best balance between fun and funds. Originally reluctant to even get into mobile gaming in the first place, Nintendo has struggled to settle...
Review Super Mario World - Phenomenal Platforming Perfection
It's-a Mario masterpiece
Impressive software is vital for a console's launch, and the powerful one-two combination of the Mode 7 razzmatazz in F-Zero and sublime gameplay in Super Mario World ensured that Nintendo's November 1990 Japanese launch of the Super Famicom would sting its Mega Drive and PC Engine competition from the outset. Since then...
Review The Legend Of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Switch) - A Magical Remastering Of A Series Highlight
Re-awakening
Originally released way back in 1993 for the good old Game Boy, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening has always been a little bit of a curio in the history of the long-running Zelda franchise. Originally planned as a straight-up port of the Super Nintendo’s monstrously successful A Link To The Past, this very first portable Zelda...
Review F-Zero - The Game That Sold Us Mode 7
What a way to launch a console
At their very core, futuristic racing games should have visual flair, and there was already an early history of this sub-genre before F-Zero released – including Nintendo's Mach Rider on NES in 1985, Powerdrome on 16-bit computers, and Atari's arcade S.T.U.N. Runner in 1989. Following these games, late 1990 became an...
Review Super Kirby Clash (Switch) - Monster Hunter Meets The Cute Pink Puffball
And it's free to play, to boot
When Kirby: Planet Robobot launched in 2016, one of the sub-games included was a neat little RPG-lite take on a boss rush mode called Team Kirby Clash. A year later, HAL opted to expand on the concept further in a free-to-play release on the 3DS eShop called Team Kirby Clash Deluxe, which added in several more bosses,...
Review Daemon X Machina (Switch) - Solid Mech Mayhem That Gets A Tad Repetitive
Demo arigato, Mr Nintendo
While it’s always a good idea to ask for help when you feel like you might need it, it doesn’t always benefit you in the long run. This is something the team behind Daemon X Machina may end up learning when the game releases this week. After developer Marvelous released a demo way back in February and explained that it...
Review Astral Chain (Switch) - Platinum's Best Game Ever? You'd Better Believe It
In the chain gang
With games like Bayonetta, Vanquish, Wonderful 101 and MadWorld in its back catalogue, it's little surprise that Japanese developer PlatinumGames has gained a reputation for tight, action-packed titles that mix stunning visuals with intricate and rewarding gameplay mechanics. While its games haven't always been the commercial smash...
Review Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Switch) - The Zenith Of A Legendary SRPG Series
House party
Fire Emblem has been through quite a rollercoaster journey on its path to success. After an initial debut on the Famicom in 1990 with Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, the series remained a niche exclusive of the Land of the Rising Sun for thirteen years until it made its way westward, spurred on by the appearance of...
Review Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order (Switch) - Arcade Brawling Is Back, Baby
Hero syndrome
For years - ten of them, to be exact - the Marvel Ultimate Alliance games have retreated into the kind of obscurity only wistful nostalgia can occasionally dispel. They weren’t particularly outstanding games, but they were packed full of characters, lore, and storylines pulled straight out of Marvel’s vast archive. This was back...
Review Dr. Mario World - A Fun Puzzler That Really Comes Alive In Online Multiplayer
A National Wealth Service
It’s a well-kept secret that the WiiWare version of Dr. Mario is one of the greatest online multiplayer games ever released on a Nintendo system. The series may have originally launched on the NES back in 1990, but it was that release of Dr. Mario & Germ Buster (AKA Dr. Mario Online Dx) on the Wii that absolutely...
Review Super Mario Maker 2 (Switch) - The Last 2D Mario Game You'll Ever Need
Build your own adventure
If there was one game designed with the Wii U Gamepad in mind right from the very start and used it to its fullest potential, it was ZombiU. If there were two games that did that, it would be ZombiU and Super Mario Maker. Everything about the feel of the game and the interface screamed that this is a title that is best...
Striking a chord
From the opening menu that uses not the rousing Zelda overworld music but the understated theme from Ocarina of Time's title screen, you know you’re about to go on a special journey. Cadence of Hyrule (we won’t bother with its ludicrously long official moniker) takes the music we all know and love and remixes it with the...
