Game Reviews scoring 9/10
Review Paper Mario (N64) - A Well-Crafted Creation That Stands Up Beautifully
Historical document
This review originally went live in 2017, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the addition of Paper Mario to the other N64 games on Nintendo Switch Online. Can we take a moment to appreciate just how gloriously wacky it is that a game like Paper Mario exists in the first place? This is an idea that followed in the...
Review Archvale (Switch) - A Bruisingly Brilliant RPG And Bullet-Hell Blend
With a dash of Zelda for good measure
It really feels like we’re in somewhat of an extended ‘bullet hell’ renaissance, doesn’t it? As soon as developers realised that the sub-genre didn’t need to be confined to linear vertically scrolling shmups, we’ve seen fresh takes that inject new life into other genres. Archvale is a mashup of a...
Review Clockwork Aquario (Switch) - A Short And Oh-So-Sweet Arcade Platformer Rescued From Oblivion
Definitely better late than never
Back in the early '90s Westone, best known as the creators of the Wonder Boy / Monster World series, were supposed to release a cute and colourful arcade game — Clockwork Aquario. Unfortunately for them the cutting edge polygonal thrills of Virtua Racing were busy setting the arcade world alight at the time,...
A real Class act
Everything was leading up to this. Danganronpa. Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. The anime Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak High School. Even the god-awful, mercifully not re-released for Switch Ultra Despair Girls. It has all lead to Danganron
Review Ruined King: A League of Legends Story (Switch) - A Brilliant Experience Beyond Its Franchise
Comfortably out of League's league
It feels like the world of Runeterra has just entered the first stages of a great expansion. After being mostly confined to the MOBA for years, things like the new Arcane show, an impending MMO, and some spinoff games are starting to bring this rich universe to audiences that aren’t reached by the main title...
Review Death's Door (Switch) - Much More Than The Sum Of Its Zelda And Soulslike Parts
Ready to play the reaper's game?
Despite all the innovation that frequently takes place in the indie space, there’s an awful lot of games that are content to just do what’s already been done. It can be easy to become jaded, then, when a lot of these copycat games turn out to be worse than their clear inspiration. After all, who wants to waste...
Review Unsighted (Switch) - A Fantastic Top-Down Metroidvania With A Warm, Vintage Feel
The final countdown
Sometimes a great idea needs time to mature. Just because a smart concept isn’t executed all that well, it doesn’t mean there isn’t an excellent game coming a sequel or two down the line. What’s incredible about Unsighted is that first-time indie dev Studio Pixel Punk has created the refined experience of a longstanding...
Review Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Happy Home Paradise DLC (Switch) - A Slice Of Designer Heaven
The 3DS spin-off concept finds its true home
Back when Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer was released on 3DS it was considered by some to be a slightly strange beast. It was enjoyable and charming enough, but its main issue was that it was a tough sell as a standalone retail game. Once you took the plunge it was a lovely time, but the...
Review Unpacking (Switch) - An Emotive Experience, Beautifully Packaged On Switch
Living in a box
Videogames: pure escapism. Enact extreme, often immoral, experiences that you would never dare explore in real life: steal a car, murder hundreds of people, grow a moustache and stamp turtles to death. But Unpacking ups the ante: how would it feel to keep your cutlery in the second drawer down? Yes, a journey into the mind of a...
Review Blue Reflection: Second Light (Switch) - A Stunning-Looking Anime Adventure
Back-to-school days have never been this weird
There are few joys in life greater than a good mystery, but a mystery surrounding cute anime girls? That is even better. Blue Reflection: Second Light is the sequel to 2017’s Blue Reflection from developer Gust and publisher Koei Tecmo. This game sees a fresh cast of characters thrust into a new...
Review Shin Megami Tensei V (Switch) - The Best Entry Yet In This Dark, Engrossing RPG Series
A HEE-HOme run
Shin Megami Tensei V has been a long time coming. The last mainline entry in the series was released over eight years ago for the 3DS, while the last home console entry was another ten years before that. Moreover, Shin Megami Tensei V was one of the first games ever revealed for the Switch, mere months after the console itself was...
Review Sin And Punishment (N64) - A Genuine Treasure And No Mistake
Run-and-gun fun
This review originally went live in 2007, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the arrival of N64 games on Nintendo Switch Online. Tiny Japanese developer Treasure has a back catalogue packed with classic titles, but one that sticks out more than most is Sin & Punishment. Released in the twilight days of the N64...
Review Star Fox 64 (N64) - A Cinematic Series High Point
Do another barrel roll
This review originally went live in 2016, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the arrival of N64 games on Nintendo Switch Online. Despite Star Fox 64 (or Lylat Wars in Europe) being only the second (released) game in the series, Nintendo decided it was time for a reboot and so, similarly to the SNES original, this...
Review Dusk (Switch) - An Incredible Port Of 2018's Quake-Inspired Boomer Shooter
Dusk and ye shall receive
Thank whichever deity (or prominent YouTuber, we guess) that you believe in for the "Boomer Shooter" explosion, and we mean explosion. Now that those who grew up on the original Quake (currently available in a very good edition on Switch) are themselves developers, we're seeing a bigtime resurgence of old-school style...
Mini Review Gleylancer (Switch) - A Brilliant 16-Bit Shmup Sparkles With Mod Cons
Stick to it and believe in your power!
Retro re-releases falling outside the familiar safety of the M2, Hamster, or Code Mystics stables are usually one thing and one thing alone — a plain ROM bundled with some inoffensive but unspectacular emulation options. It’ll work, it’ll be official, and... that’s about it. If those bland goals had...
Review Disco Elysium: The Final Cut (Switch) - Still An Absolute Triumph On Switch
Where is my mind?
Every now and then, a game comes along that feels completely unique. Now, we know what you’re thinking: you’ve seen the same thing said about countless titles over the years — what makes this one so different? We get it; more often than not, when a game is described as ‘unique’, you can probably identify at least a few...
Mini Review Beast Breaker (Switch) - A 'Pinball RPG' With Surprising Depth
A breakout hit
Beast Breaker places you in the role of Skipper, a brave little mouse who’s tasked with killing giant (well, to a mouse anyway…) beasts that threaten the peaceful lives of the towns and settlements populated by other adorable animals. You do so by engaging with gameplay which is one part pinball game, one part strategic RPG, which...
Review Aeon Drive (Switch) - Celeste Goes Cyberpunk In This Satisfying Speedrunner
Gotta go fast
Speedrunning has been an integral part of the gaming community for decades. People might lean on glitches or exploits to 'break' a game, but often it’s simply a case of learning the mechanics, inside and out, to nail down the most efficient route from A to B. Aeon Drive is all about speedrunning; that’s its hook, and it's a good...
Romanes eunt domus
Note: Minor early-game spoilers feature in this review, so if you want to go in totally blind, skip down to the conclusion. Let's get the elephant in the room out of here before we begin. At this point in the year, the "Cloud Version" suffix is nothing new — and neither are the criticisms. The Forgotten City is a seriously...
Review Castlevania Advance Collection (Switch) - Utterly Essential Thanks To Aria Of Sorrow
You're out there playing your high class games
Konami has been bringing back some of their older Castlevania titles recently. While 2019's Castlevania Anniversary Collection focuses mostly on the “Classicvania” style of games (stage-based progression, limited lives), this one features the “Metroidvania” style (open-ended exploration, RPG...
Review Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (Switch) - A Sublime Port Of An Awesome Adventure
Ding Dong Delightful
Level-5's Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom originally released on PS4 back in March 2018 to pretty much unanimous critical praise, and playing it now in this latest Switch iteration, it's really not too hard to see why. This is a wonderfully well-crafted adventure that hits the ground running, nails pretty much every single...
Review WarioWare: Get It Together! (Switch) - More Magnificent Microgame Mayhem
Wario always win!
We've all been waiting a good long while now for a brand new WarioWare game to dive into as, in terms of a proper fully-formed entry in the series — one that isn't a greatest hits compilation or experimental spin-off — it's been well over a decade since the last mainline addition to the franchise dropped. However, the long wait...
Mini Review Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins (Switch) - The Best Doctor Who Game Ever Made
You were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.
Have you ever wanted to receive text messages from the Doctor Who universe? No, us neither. That’s not to diminish the long-running sci-fi telecast as a whole; more of a sad acknowledgement that its current incarnation perhaps doesn’t represent the programme at its best. We were surprised, then, to find...
Review Spelunky 2 (Switch) - A Masterclass In Great Roguelite Game Design
"I did not tell half of what I saw, for I knew I would not be believed."
It’s sometimes tough to decide what you want out of a sequel of a beloved game. On one hand, you want something fresh and new that builds on and surpasses what came before. On the other, you kind of want things to stay mostly the same, because you liked what you already...
Mini Review ISLANDERS Console Edition (Switch) - Serene, Superb, And More 'Tetris' Than 'SimCity'
There can be only one
What’s the meaning of a game? Is it the essentially human nature of interaction? The intricacies of the universe’s fundamental laws? What does it mean to be human? What is the universe? What’s the meaning of life? These are the questions Islanders Console Edition came to us to answer. Woah. In Islanders, you build mellow...
Review Shadowverse: Champion's Battle (Switch) - Switch's Best Card Battling RPG Yet
The game based on the anime based on the game!
It’s rather shocking to consider how few card games there are on the Switch today. Sure, there are quite a few deck-building roguelites that incorporate elements of card games into their design, but these don’t quite manage to scratch that same itch. Luckily, Cygames has seen fit to bring over its...
Review Axiom Verge 2 (Switch) - A Fantastic Follow-Up To A Classic Metroidvania
Gone without a Trace
In the comparatively dark days of the Wii U, we often had to focus more on indie games to get us through the worst of the months-long droughts between major first-party releases. Fortunately, various smaller studios stepped up and one such gem was Axiom Verge, an absolutely incredible Metroidvania that was produced in its...
Review Blaster Master Zero 3 (Switch) - A Masterful Conclusion To The Trilogy
What a blast
Few could’ve guessed that a Blaster Master reimagining would’ve been one of the standout releases of the Switch launch window line-up, yet Blaster Master Zero proved to be a potently enjoyable take on the retro classic. Then, a couple of years later, Inti Creates opted to follow it up with an all-new sequel that built upon the ideas...
Review NEO: The World Ends With You (Switch) - A Striking Return To The Streets Of Shibuya
The rhythm is calling you back
For the past 13 years, fans of the Nintendo DS cult classic, The World Ends With You have been practically begging Square Enix to whip up a new entry in the world of the original. The vibes of that first venture are flavour-rich, boasting a bouncy and energetic soundtrack, a loveable cast of characters, and a combat...
Ryunosuke rises from the ashes
The last time we saw Phoenix Wright and friends, the stars of the Ace Attorney franchise, they were in a made-up country called Khura'in. Spirit of Justice came out for 3DS in 2016, and was relatively divisive — a lot of critics ranked it highly, but others found issue with its "wishy-washy" mechanics and its heavy...
