Nintendo Game Reviews
Review Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn (3DS) - A Timeless Classic That Feels Right At Home On 3DS
A quality port cut from the same cloth as the original
Much like its infinitely versatile mascot, the Kirby series has always been comfortable in taking many forms; Kirby has starred in several roles that diverge significantly from the copy-ability platforming of the mainline series. Kirby’s Extra Epic Yarn – an enhanced re-release of the...
Review Tetris 99 (Switch) - A Revolutionary Take On A Puzzle Classic
Apex who?
If you’d have asked us, just a few days ago, for a comprehensive list of video game series which we could imagine in a 'Battle Royale' format, Tetris would have been right at the bottom. Splatoon could be a good shout with a lot of tweaking, and maybe even an ultra-cruel Pikmin showdown – heck, we’d even put Nintendogs higher in the...
Tummy trouble
When the Switch came out nearly two years ago, few would've expected that Nintendo would still be supporting the ageing 3DS with new first-party software as far as 2019, yet here we are. Picking up the ball that the Paper Mario series has long since dropped, the Mario & Luigi series of RPGs has been a celebrated mainstay of...
Review New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe (Switch) - Nintendo Plays It Safe With This Timely Reissue
Ultra Super Mario Bros. U: The Final Challengers
Ever since its debut on Nintendo DS way back in 2006, the ‘New’ branch of the Super Mario Bros. series has divided fans. As Nintendo transposed the 3D character-models of video games’ most treasured mascots back into the classic 2D realm, purists lambasted the ‘Disneyfication’ of the...
Wii Fit Trainer has left the building
As 2019 dawns and gamers the world over wake up after New Year celebrations, Fitness Boxing arrives in time to take advantage of resolutions to get in shape. From the moment it boots up, anyone who’s ever baulked at their BMI beside a frowning Mii or stamped an onscreen calendar following a daily workout will...
Review Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch) - The Absolute Pinnacle Of Nintendo's Fighting Series
Still no playable Waluigi, though
Crossovers happen all the time in games, films, TV shows and just about every other form of media out there, but none of them can really be compared to Super Smash Bros.; no, not even that film that you’re thinking of. So it’s beyond a bold move to name the latest entry in a series ‘Ultimate’, thus raising...
Review Yo-Kai Watch 3 (3DS) - The Perfect Swansong For The Series On Nintendo 3DS
A charming addition to the tribe
While it’s never quite reached the levels of superstardom enjoyed by Pokémon and other Japanese-centric monster-collecting RPGs (well, not consistently anyway), the Yo-Kai Watch series has remained one of the best handheld franchises to ever grace the seemingly immortal Nintendo 3DS. Of course, we western fans...
Revisiting Kanto 20 years on
With the Switch gearing up for its second holiday season on the market, the time has finally come for the hybrid machine to get its first taste of core series Pokémon action. Acting as a reimagining of Pokémon Yellow – an already enhanced version of the series’ first titles Pokémon Red and Blue – Pokémon: Let's...
Review Dragalia Lost - A Deep And Rewarding Smartphone RPG That Might Just Surprise You
Sure to wyrm its way into your heart
There was once a time where consumers and Nintendo alike claimed that the company would never move into the mobile gaming space, but as times have changed, the Big N has decided that perhaps a few games wouldn’t hurt. It’s rather fascinating to see how Nintendo’s strategy in the mobile space has altered...
Review The World Ends With You: Final Remix (Switch) - A Stylish Reimagining Of The DS Cult Classic
That power is yet unknown
Nintendo certainly transformed the gaming landscape when it launched the Nintendo DS line of systems, offering up a distinct two-screen experience that had seldom been attempted before in hardware. Though there were plenty of first-party releases through the years that did a great job of showing off the dual-screen concept,...
Review Luigi's Mansion (3DS) - Experience The GameCube Classic The Way It Was Meant To Be Played
3D support only took 17 years!
In the most recent Nintendo Direct, the Big N shocked plenty of fans by announcing a third entry in the Luigi’s Mansion series; while the franchise enjoys a loyal fan base, it was nevertheless a very pleasant surprise. Alongside Luigi’s Mansion 3, a port of the original title to 3DS was announced as well - the...
Review Super Mario Party (Switch) - The Life And Soul Of The Party Once More
It's back again, and about time too
To say that the Mario Party series has had a turbulent history would be an understatement; what started out as the palm-breaking king of all party video games has lost a great deal of its reputation in recent years due to a number of less-than-stellar design decisions. Super Mario Party presents itself as a return...
Review Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna - The Golden Country (Switch) - So Much More Than Just DLC
Golden time
By the time Xenoblade Chronicles 2 launched in December 2017, Switch fans were near exhausted with content. Less than a year into its launch, Nintendo’s burgeoning new hardware had the best Zelda yet, the return of its most-lauded Mario Kart, the glorious multiplayer action of Splatoon 2
Review Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 03: Vehicle Kit (Switch) - Death By Cardboard Or The Best Labo Kit Yet?
You'll need to be a master builder for sure
The first two Nintendo Labo kits offered two very different takes on what was – and still is – a groundbreaking concept. The Variety Kit allowed you to create a whole host of gadgets each backed by their own interactive experiences, while the Robot Kit had a sharper focus and arguably presented a more...
Review Yo-Kai Watch Blasters (3DS) - A Spin-Off Done Right, Even If We've Had To Wait A While
Blasting makes us feel good
When it comes to most of the best games coming out of Japan, we dedicated Western fans are often left waiting years to finally getting our hands on them. Three years, in fact, when it comes to this particular (and very popular) Yo-Kai Watch spin-off. And considering the series’ third full entry entirely avoided a...
The golden touch
After five years, a new WarioWare is finally upon us. Well, mostly new, anyway. Warioware Gold is a mashup of some of the best microgames the series has had to offer, along with a few new ones. Most 'best of' collections include a creator's hits; those tracks you can't help but play over and over, despite knowing every single...
Long haul flight
Everything from Go Vacation’s appearance, style, gameplay, and pure existence hark back to those strangely repetitive days of the Wii, where everyone and their cat was releasing a party-type sports game for Nintendo’s remote-waggling sensation. There’s good reason for that, too, as the game is an HD port of the original Go...
Review Arcade Archives Sky Skipper (Switch eShop)
A forgotten gem?
Since getting into the video game business Nintendo has produced many fondly regarded games, which have often lead to sequels. Even when a series is dormant, older entries have re-appeared either in updated form or via the various Virtual Console services. Then there’s Sky Skipper. Briefly hitting arcades in 1981, this hi-score...
Review Octopath Traveler (Switch)
A direct path to RPG bliss
The Bravely Default games on the 3DS did a fantastic job of resurrecting the gameplay and feel of some of Square’s oldest games, employing a style that stayed true to genre roots while making modern changes wherever needed. When it was announced that the Bravely team would be tackling a new RPG on the Switch, fans were...
Review Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (3DS)
So, you CAN teach an old dog U tricks
The Switch version of Captain Toad is a no-brainer. Given that Nintendo’s latest home console (of sorts) is massively more popular than the Wii U was, it’s only logical that Captain Toad would be the latest in a long line of ports aimed at giving some of the Wii U’s brilliant library a second chance at...
Review Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Switch)
Hidden gem
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker was a real hidden gem of the Wii U era, which is amazing when you consider that it was almost created by accident. The original concept for Captain Toad existed inside Super Mario 3D World, which featured a few minigame-like levels in which you had to help Captain Toad navigate a bunch of tiny cube-shaped...
Review Mario Tennis Aces (Switch)
Super Grand Slam Brothers
Bereft of feature content though it was, the Wii U’s Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash delivered addictively enjoyable core gameplay, for as long as its online servers remained populated. Its measly offline attractions and lack of court and character variety proved its critical undoing, but developer Camelot Software – makers...
Review Arcade Archives Donkey Kong (Switch eShop)
The true Original Edition
Released in 1981, Donkey Kong was Nintendo’s first big arcade hit, featuring the debuts of the titular ape, Mario and future mayor of New Donk City, Pauline. Despite its popularity, Nintendo has favoured re-releasing the cutdown (with one stage missing) NES port of this classic platformer over the...
Review Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion (Switch eShop)
Eights-a-poppin'
Since we first clapped eyes on the sucker-headed Octolings in 720p on the Wii U, Splatoon fans everywhere wanted to take control of these teenage tentaculars on the splattlefield. Octo Expansion promises just that and much more, but can such wondrous ideas truly be realised in a $20 DLC pack for Splatoon 2 on the Switch? Let’s...
Review Sushi Striker: The Way Of Sushido (Switch)
Tantalisingly tasty
Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido is a bit of an odd one, both as a game and in terms of its plot. Taking on the role of lead character Musashi, you’ll be diving headfirst into a world where sushi has caused terrifying wars and devastation, dividing the morals and behaviours of its inhabitants. To progress through this setting,...
Review Pokémon Quest (Switch eShop)
Gotta (pay to) catch 'em all
Pokémon Quest is a traditional mobile collect 'em up that's launched early on Nintendo Switch ahead of its mobile release in about a month's time. It doesn't quite offer enough to fill the Pokémon-shaped void on your Switch, but it's more than good enough to plug the gap between now and November, when Pokémon: Let's...
Review Dillon's Dead-Heat Breakers (3DS)
They see me rollin’
It’s been quite a while since we last saw Nintendo’s cool, silent, tough-guy armadillo bounding around the Wild West, but the titular mammal has now made his return to the 3DS in Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers, bringing some fancy new tricks along for the ride. His original game Dillon’s Rolling Western was an interesting...
Review Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition (Switch)
Third time's the charm
When Nintendo first unveiled Hyrule Warriors, people didn’t exactly know what to expect. The company had seldom handed over the keys to one of its cornerstone franchises before, and the proposed concept was odd, to say the least. The final product was an enjoyable (if flawed) experience, and over the years since release,...
Review Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 02: Robot Kit (Switch)
Robot rock
Nintendo is clearly in for the long haul when it comes to Labo. The first pack – dubbed the 'Variety Kit' – is all about exploring the possibilities of Labo via a range of different 'Toy-Con' builds; it's an effective demonstration of just how versatile this system is, even if the resultant flood of cardboard contraptions...
Review Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Switch)
Bogus, or bodacious?
Platformers aren’t quite what they once were; whether they’re 3D or 2D we’ve had a bit of a mini-renaissance with them in recent years, but they hold nowhere near the draw that they did in the '80s and '90s. What a shame then that one of the best and most polished games of the genre happened to not only launch after these...
