Latest Reviews
Review Prison Princess - A Cheeky Point-And-Click Adventure With A Japanese Twist
Can you escape a castle without a body of your own?
Before we begin today, let’s address one important thing right out the gate: if you have any problem whatsoever with frequent sightings of shapely princess bottoms clad in lacy panties, this game probably isn’t for you. And that’s okay! Conversely, if you have no problem whatsoever with...
Review The Wonderful 101 - 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 Sisters Royale: Five Sisters Under Fire - 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 SpeedRunners - Move Over Sonic, These Guys Have Some Serious Pace
Gotta go fast
Ah, the classic superhero. Humble. Brave. Selfless. A beacon of hope to us mere underpowered mortals. And, as it turns out, massively competitive as well. Because in a city full of other metahumans, there’s only so much justice and glory to go around. So that means any super-powered persona in the vicinity is going to have to move...
Review Mosaic - 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 Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales - A Superb Addition To The Witcher World
Cry me a Rivia
Once upon a time, the sheer notion of The Witcher appearing on Nintendo Switch in any form seemed a fantastical pipe dream. It didn’t even seem like we’d even get a version of Gwent, the card-battling spinoff based on the in-game card game of the same, never mind a full-fat version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition...
Review Speaking Simulator - Tongue-Twisting Comedy Action With A Few Rough Edges
Robochops
Speaking Simulator is a comedy indie game that takes the idea of social anxiety and ramps it right up to eleven. You assume the role of Blank Textsfield, a hapless android who's been sent to earth to infiltrate human society, and in order to do so, he must engage in various social interactions while attempting to speak and act as though...
Review Aviary Attorney: Definitive Edition - A Hilarious Spoof Of Capcom's Ace Attorney Series
The feathered arm of the law
Paris, 1848. Revolution is stirring. Murmurs of civil unrest hang heavy in the drawing rooms of the elite. Worst of all, a frog has been murdered. Enter Jayjay Falcon, a defence lawyer of the avian persuasion. Together with his bird-brained sidekick Sparrowson, he must gather evidence to defend his...
Review Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf - The Emperor Will Not Be Pleased
All bark and no bite
You find yourself all alone on an alien planet, nothing ahead of you except filthy worshippers of the evil Chaos Gods. That would usually be fine, as you are a Space Wolf; a son of Russ, bred specifically for battle and ready to die for your cause. But this time, there are a lot of enemies, and your mission is to search for an...
Mini Review Super Tennis - Calm Down, It's Not The Super Tennis You Think It Is
Double fault
Despite already appearing in the SNES library for Nintendo Switch Online, Super Tennis is ready to hit the court again with its very own eShop release. Boasting beautiful Mode 7 graphics and slick gameplay, Super… hang on… we’ve just got word that this isn’t the SNES game, but rather a completely new tennis title blessed with...
Review Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition - A Surreal And Superlative Point-And-Click Adventure
Finger lickin' good
Kentucky Route Zero begins simply enough. You assume the role of Conway, a grizzled delivery driver who, along with his dog, is in the process of taking a cargo of antiques to 5 Dogwood Drive. Somewhat lost, you pull up to a gas station on Route 65, Equus Oils, and speak to Joseph who sits quietly on the forecourt in an armchair...
Review Soccer, Tactics & Glory - Unique Turn-Based Footy Action That's Not Always Nice To Watch
Manage your expectations
“Football is more and more like a game of chess,” Alex Ferguson once said in a 2009 interview. “In chess, if you lose your concentration for a second you’re dead.” Obviously he was speaking metaphorically – chess-based fatalities are extremely rare – but his point is an important one: when it’s played to a...
Review Darius Cozmic Collection - Swimming With The Fishes
M2 works its magic once more
Editor's note: This review is for the Japanese version of Darius Cozmic Collection. The game has since been released in the west in two versions: Darius Cozmic Collection Console and Darius Cozmic Collection Arcade. Close your eyes. Now think about “classic shmups.” What titles immediately spring to mind? Gradius
Review Stories Untold - A Chilling Horror That Toys With '80s Nostalgia
Stranger things have happened
Stories Untold is a chilling collection of four interconnected vignettes that make up a twisted little journey exploring the true nature of nostalgia and the very fabric of memories we all hold so dear. It examines how we remember and reconfigure things from our pasts and how digging down into what we, on the surface,...
Review Ember - A Lightweight RPG That Burns Itself Out Faster Than We'd Like
Neverwinter Lite
N-Fusion's Ember, first released on iOS and PC back in 2016, is just about as generic as RPGs get. A love-letter to the classic isometric RPGs of the 1990s, it manages to pretty much nail the looks and sounds of your Baldur's Gates and Diablos, but it also strips away almost all of the depth, discovery and complexity of those titles...
Review SEGA AGES Fantasy Zone - Classic Cute-Em-Up Action With A Great New Mode
Welcome to the Fantasy Zone
Bet you don’t know who Sega’s mascot was for a brief time during the '80s. No, we’re not talking about Alex Kidd – we mean Opa-Opa, the slightly bizarre living spaceship from Sega’s oft-overlooked classic shooter Fantasy Zone. And that game is exactly what we have here, thanks to those gurus at Tokyo-based M2...
Review Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath - Despite Its Rough Edges, This Is Still Worth A Look
Hunting outlaws in backwater towns never felt so odd
Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath originally released for the Xbox in January 2005. Fifteen years on, we now have a Nintendo Switch version that feels like a fresh and interesting look at the Oddworld franchise, and one that’s aged extremely well. Not only has the game ported nicely to the console,...
Review SEGA AGES Shinobi - A True Arcade Classic Comes To Switch
Ninja skills
Arguably one of the most eagerly-awaited entries in M2’s acclaimed Sega Ages series, Sega’s classic ninja side-scroller Shinobi has pounced from the trees like a sneaky ninja to finally hit the Switch in its glorious arcade form. However, is one of Sega’s most beloved games still as awesome as we remember it? We're about to find...
Review Puzzle & Dragons Gold - Sadly, Not Everything That Glitters Is Gold
An unfortunate misstep in a beloved series
The Puzzle & Dragons series has been a juggernaut in the mobile gaming space for close to a decade now, due in no small part to its distinctly satisfying blend of RPG elements with match-3 puzzle action. Even today, the series still routinely pulls grosses well into the billions, which has naturally led...
Mini Review Lydia - One Of The Most Emotionally Impactful Games On Switch
Some monsters can’t be seen
Lydia is a powerful game. It’s the kind of experience that, while very short, will make you stop and think about its story long after the end credits roll. It’s tense, funny, and heartbreaking all in one go, and with the option to purchase additional DLC in support of the Finnish A-Clinic Foundation, its underlying...
Review Warhammer Quest 2: The End Times - Passable Fantasy Role-Playing Action
Dungeon brawling
The Warhammer licence has spawned countless games over the years – from surprisingly decent shooters to god-awful tactical offerings, and everything in between – but it’s when developers attempt to emulate the tabletop gaming that things can get really interesting. The original 1995 version of Warhammer Quest was recreated in...
Review 198X - A Fabulous, If Fleeting, Celebration Of Arcade Gaming's Golden Era
Short, but definitely sweet
There's no denying that for many people, video games offer a means to escape the hum-drum of their daily lives and enter a world that promises plenty of excitement, as well as a stern challenge. For the young protagonist of 198X – known only as 'The Kid' – there's something more than that; video games are how he deals...
Review Hypercharge: Unboxed - Lighthearted FPS Action That Mixes Toy Story With Small Soldiers
Small and deadly
The Switch’s ever-expanding library of games is slowly but surely bringing more and more FPS titles into the fold. Juggernauts like Overwatch and Alien: Isolation rule the roost, but there’s definitely a conspicuous gap in the market for a true co-op FPS game, and that’s where Hypercharge: Unboxed comes in. Channeling the...
Review To The Moon - A Powerful Interactive Story You Really Need To Experience
Memories are made of this
Kan Gao's To The Moon is a game whose genesis was, according to Gao, the illness of his grandfather and how that event led him to consider that, when his time came, he might end up regretting decisions he'd made throughout his life. It's a consideration we'll surely all have at some point or another about a situation that...
Review AO Tennis 2 - 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...
Review Super Crush KO - The Only Issue With This Superb Side-Scrolling Brawler Is Longevity
Cat lovers, unite!
Vertex Pop, developer of Graceful Explosion Machine, is back - and it has shifted from 2D shooter to a brawler with impressive results. If you’re a pet owner, you’ll know the very unique bond you have with your animal. They’re your best friend, your pride and joy, and you’d do anything for them – just look at John Wick...
Review Atelier Dusk Trilogy Deluxe Pack - Three Solid JRPGs In One Package
Season of the Witch
Originally released on PS3 and then again on PS Vita in 'Plus' form, the Atelier Dusk Trilogy arrives on Switch in this DX collection that packs in all DLC, upgrades and updates made for their Plus versions alongside a host of new features including the ability to fast-forward through exposition, speed your way around the game...
Review Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore - 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 Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea DX - A Fine End To A Fine JRPG Trilogy
Dawn to dusk
The third and final part of the Dusk trilogy of Atelier games, Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk DX is another generous helping of light JRPG action with the series' trademark deep alchemy system at its core. Telling the story of two very different young alchemists, Shallotte and Shallistera, it sees you choose from one of these...
Dusk to Dusk
The second game in the Dusk trilogy, Atelier Escha and Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky DX continues to take part in the same universe as Atelier Ayesha, with some returning characters popping up here and there – but, for the most part, this is very much its own tale and one that, unfortunately, gets off to quite a stilted start. The...
