Game Reviews scoring 9/10
I choose you!
Fun fact: at this time last year, we had only just learned of the existence of Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars. Not only has that game and its sequel—Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden—come out since then, but we’ve now received yet another sequel in Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden. As you’d probably expect, this...
Review Radiant Silvergun (Switch) - A Superb Shmup That's Still One Of The Very Best
No refuge
Making it business to boycott sensible business practices, Treasure’s commitment to dying consoles once cemented it as Japan’s most revered boutique developer. A practice that gave rise to some of gaming’s most significant works, Radiant Silvergun is a product of both spectacular overachievement and unapologetic showboating. Once...
Review Jack Move (Switch) - A Short, Sharp, And Utterly Gripping Cyberpunk RPG
In bird culture, this is considered a Jack Move
It feels like most JRPGs these days don’t really tread much into hard science fiction. Sure, big franchises like Final Fantasy or Xenoblade aren’t afraid to mix in some tech alongside their magic, but it’s rare that you’ll see developers fully commit to a world that’s all robots and...
Review Splatoon 3 (Switch) - The Pinnacle Of The Series And Switch's Slickest Shooter
Peak squid performance
When the original Splatoon launched on the Wii U back in 2015, it was pretty groundbreaking. Nintendo making an online shooter? It sounded like a recipe for confusion, but as they so often do, Nintendo took a formula that had been refined to the point of parody and decided that it would be fun to be able to swim in bullets...
Pizza dude's got 30 seconds
For gamers who weren't yet born in the 1980s, it may be surprising to learn that Konami’s pedigree was once second only to Nintendo’s first-party output. Undyingly creative and highly quality-driven, the innovative glow that earmarked their arcade years was never truly rekindled post-1994. Hot on the heels of...
Lost in plaaaaaaaay
Graphic adventures can’t seem to settle themselves. Most new games seem to have to start at first principles and decide on their own verbs, loops, control scheme, puzzle types, difficulty, hint system… and it feels like there are more misses than hits. Which makes it all the more impressive that developer Happy Juice Games...
Mini Review RITE (Switch) - A Short And Very Sweet Precision Platformer
A platformer done Rite
Precision platformers—such as Slime-San, The End is Nigh, or Celeste—can be tough to pull off given their razor-sharp requirements. Make the game too frustrating, and most players won’t even try to overcome the devilish challenges laid out for them. Make the game too easy, and it’ll lose a lot of its ‘hardcore’...
Review Wave Race 64 - A Thrilling Racer That's Still Deeply Impressive
Splash wave
This review originally went live in 2016, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival on Switch as part of the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. Wave Race was not a well-known series prior to its arrival on the Nintendo 64. Actually, it wasn't a series at all, but rather a single release: a top-down racer on...
Review Two Point Campus (Switch) - A Beautifully Balanced Sim That's More 'Friend' Than 'Fiscal'
Putting the 'U-need' in 'Uneedversity'
After the excellent Two Point Hospital released on Switch moments before the world was rocked by a global pandemic, Two Point Studios are at it yet again with Two Point Campus. If the name hadn’t made it clear already, rather than running a hospital for money, Two Point Campus has you running a university...
Mini Review Hindsight (Switch) - Another Beautifully Moving Hit For Annapurna
Don’t look back in anger
If you played the excellent Neon White recently and were surprised to learn it was published by Annapurna Interactive, brace yourself to be completely unsurprised with this one: they don’t come much more Annapurna-y than this. Hindsight is a story that plays out through gentle interactions, with no complex objectives or...
Review Cuphead - The Delicious Last Course (Switch) - Short, Sweet, And Utterly Essential
You'd be a mug to ignore it
There’s a section near the end of one of the new stages in Cuphead’s DLC that made us shout a four-letter word at the screen extremely loudly, and that word wasn’t ‘cups’. Being the level-headed types we are, it’s very rare for a game to make us resort to such outbursts, but there we were, bellowing the sort...
Review Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak (Switch) - A Deliciously Difficult, Must-Have Expansion
An expansion with bite
Monster Hunter Rise has proven to be a welcome continuation of the IP's global growth in popularity, following the breakout mainstream success of 2018's Monster Hunter: World and its Iceborne expansion on non-Nintendo platforms. Rise itself brought some interesting evolutions from World, retaining more of the quirky charm we...
Review Portal: Companion Collection (Switch) - A Nintendo Debut For Two All-Time Greats
This was a triumph ♫
When it was announced that Portal and Portal 2 would be making their way to the Nintendo Switch as part of the Portal: Companion Collection, fans collectively choked on their cakes. Two of the best puzzle games of all time on the go, you say? Yes, please! Naturally, when certain games get ported to Nintendo’s hybrid system,...
Review AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative (Switch) - Another Very Fine Murder Mystery
An AI in your Eyeball
It is hard to beat a good murder mystery. The classic battle of wits between the detective and killer makes for perfect tension and AI: The Somnium Files – nirvanA Initiative takes advantage of this established formula to give players a fun mystery with plenty of twists and turns, keeping them engaged through the closing...
Review Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes (Switch) - Musou Magic That Ranks Among The Best
Dynasty Worriers
With the success of the likes of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Persona 5 Strikers and, of course, 2017's Fire Emblem Warriors on Nintendo Switch, it should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone that Omega Force, the developer behind the long-running Warriors franchise, is intent on continuing to serve up more zany crossovers
Review Neon White (Switch) - A Thrilling, Hilarious Genre Hybrid That You Simply Must Check Out
Neon dreamin'
Ben Esposito has become somewhat of a star in the indie game scene over the last decade. From his work on Giant Sparrow’s The Unfinished Swan and What Remains of Edith Finch, to his part in Arkane Kids’ bizarro titles like Sonic Dreams Collection, you’ve likely come across him somewhere. However, Esposito is probably best known...
This is serious, so give me a quarter
The energy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, one of the biggest crazes of the '80s, has endured for 35 years. Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s initially dark comic creations — later given a kid-friendly refashioning — spearheaded Turtlemania: a toxic-waste fusion of martial arts and mutant teen reptiles that...
Review Mario Strikers: Battle League (Switch) - Simply The Best Sports Game On Switch
Violence is apparently the answer
Name a sport. Go on, name one. Now presumably you’ve chosen some obscure sport that Mario hasn't played because you saw where this bit was going, but that doesn’t change the fact that our red plumber chap has been in a hell of a lot of sports games. Mario Strikers: Battle League attempts to carry on the legacy...
Review Card Shark (Switch) - A Wonderfully Witty WarioWare-Esque Affair, With Cards
It's not about a shark
They say cheaters never prosper, but clearly they’ve never played Card Shark, a wonderfully tense, goofy little game that’s all about keeping your cool under tremendous pressure as you basically rob people blind. The act of pulling off the con is shockingly simple, but maintaining one’s composure to ensure that...
Review OPUS: Echo Of Starsong - Full Bloom Edition (Switch) - Evocative And Shockingly Well-Realised
Blooming brilliant
OPUS: Echo of Starsong is intimidating. Not so much in terms of difficulty — there's very little of that in what's largely a visual novel-esque sort of business — but in terms of story, there's so much to take in. Even with the preceding two games (OPUS: The Day We Found Earth and OPUS: Rocket of Whispers) in your back pocket,...
Review The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe (Switch) - A Mind-Bending Mess Of Wonderment
The end is never the end is never the end is never
This is the story of a man named Alex. Alex was employed by a company called Nintendo Life, and one of his many duties was to review video games. One day when at his desk Alex heard the news that The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe would be releasing on the Nintendo Switch, the games console which...
Review Pocky & Rocky Reshrined (Switch) - A Thrilling New Interpretation Of A SNES Classic
Rise and shrine
Note: This review is based on the Japanese release — the game launched in North America and Europe on 24th June 2022. Pocky & Rocky, a Super Nintendo top-down run-and-gun, was developer Natsume’s gold standard, fondly remembered for its taut arcade action, adventurous stage design, and beautiful visuals. Where Tengo...
Mini Review The Last Friend (Switch) - Fantastic, Fast-Paced Tower Defense, With Pettable Good Boys
Me and the bois
The Last Friend places you in control of Alpha, a strong and silent protagonist who travels a wasteland in a decked-out RV with a pack of his best friends. His best friends, of course, are dogs. Their leader is a spicy little chihuahua named T. Juan who does all the talking on behalf of the gang, and together Alpha and the pack fight...
Mini Review Demon Turf: Neon Splash (Switch) - A Brilliant Platforming Spin-Off Full Of Colour
Devilishly good platforming
When Demon Turf launched at the tail end of 2021, it left a positive impression on us thanks to its solid platforming gameplay, retro aesthetic, and focus on speedrunning. The game fell short of true greatness due to its less-than-stellar combat mechanics, which frankly brought the whole experience down a few pegs. In a...
Review Nobody Saves The World (Switch) - A Thrilling Action RPG For Fans Of Old-School Zelda
Nobody saw it coming
The recent release of Triangle Strategy raised an interesting conversation about the role of customization in RPGs. For those of you who didn’t pick it up, progression there is almost entirely linear, with each character having a predefined class that remains rather rigid throughout the whole experience. Some enjoyed having...
Review Gotta Protectors: Cart Of Darkness (Switch) - An Inventive, Hilarious Action-Strategy Blend
Cowabunga!
Gotta Protectors: Cart of Darkness starts as it means to go on — with a warm-hearted parody of something only gamers of a certain age are likely to remember. Ancient's logo appears and then… nothing happens — not until you hammer the 'A' button on the side of the screen as though your Switch is a temperamental CRT TV that's seen...
Review 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (Switch) - A Rich Narrative Adventure/RTS Hybrid With Outstanding Art
Lucky 13
Atlus is a company that’s sometimes been dubbed a ‘modern Square’ in that it’s become the place in the current industry to get well-budgeted RPG experiences that are equal parts traditional and experimental. It may be known most for its Persona and Shin Megami Tensei games, but the company also sometimes puts out something decidedly...
Review Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (Switch) - A Triumphant Return To A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Better Call Maul
More Star Wars? Really? We wouldn’t blame you in the slightest if your reaction to more Star Wars, whether it be of the film, TV series or video game variety, was somewhat apathetic at this stage given the sheer amount of it we’ve had thrown at us in recent years. Indeed, as we sat down to boot up this latest Lego Star Wars...
Review Andro Dunos 2 (Switch) - A Knockout Shmup Success That Nails The '90s Arcade Feel
Pro-Gear Spec
The recent trend of resurrecting long-ceased shoot-em-up IPs from the dead, usually when the original developer has shuffled off its electronic coil, is a welcome one. M2 revived Aleste, Platinum Games reanimated the Crestas, and now small indie outfit Picorinne Soft — comprised of brothers Ryo and Satto — has ventured a sequel to...
Review Kirby And The Forgotten Land (Switch) - A Breezy Delight With Mario-Level Invention
Once more, with mouthfeeling
Well. It's finally here. In celebration of 30 whole years (!) of 2D and 2.5D adventures — with a little 3D sprinkled in for good measure — Kirby's first proper fully three dimensional mainline escapade has now arrived and, as long as you know exactly what to expect from the little pink puffball, it's an absolute...
