Latest Reviews
Mini Review A Little To The Left - An Evocative, Imaginative Tidy 'Em Up
How’s it hanging?
Trailers, screenshots, and previews of A Little to the Left paint a picture of a tidying game about making things neat – and a cat interferes and cats are nice. That’s not inaccurate, but there’s a lot more going on in Max Inferno’s first game. Presenting you with one-screen scenes of real-life objects like books,...
Review Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol.2 - A Fair Retro Package With Some Intriguing Curios
Rolling the dice
One of the only real criticisms we levelled at the recent Mega Man Battle & Fighters, a re-release of a Neo Geo Pocket Color title included in this new package, was that nobody had bothered to translate the content from Japanese. It was an issue exacerbated by a fan translation already existing online for those willing to go the...
Review Smurfs Kart - Not As Smurf As Smurf, But Surprisingly Smurf
Not half as Smurf as we'd Smurfed
When it comes to karting games, you can either try something new in an attempt (and likely failure) to reinvent the genre, or you can play it safe and just take notes from Mario Kart. Smurfs Kart has absolutely no qualms about going with the latter option, with barely a shred of originality to be found in its game...
Review Rogue Legacy 2 - A Roguelike Legend Returns In Fine Form
Don't Rogue Your Legacy
While not the first roguelike by any means. 2013’s Rogue Legacy — alongside classics like Spelunky and The Binding of Isaac — had a hand in making the now-plentiful genre the huge deal it has become. Nearly a decade later (not counting two years of early access), Cellar Door Games has finally followed up on their...
Mini Review Windosill - A Cult Classic Puzzler Gets A Dreamy Switch Port
Flashback
Well, isn't this a nice surprise. Some 13 years after it first released as a Flash game on web browsers, Patrick Smith's delightful Windosill has arrived on Switch, giving players a fresh chance to experience this breezy, playful, and rather magical little journey through a series of enchanting puzzles. Windosill's unique aesthetic has...
Review Lunistice - A 32-Bit Platforming Dream That Gives Sonic A Serious Run For His Money
Frontier justice?
Ever since game fans collectively realised that crunchy polygons were worth getting nostalgic over, PS1-core indie games have been growing into the new pixel art. With Lunistice, one-person shop A Grumpy Fox has delivered a shining example of this modernised lo-fi aesthetic. Sparkling in chaotic but coordinated palettes of...
Review Cobra Kai 2: Dojos Rising - A Good Idea Very Poorly Executed
Full of Kreeses
The magical appeal of Cobra Kai as light entertainment is that it’s totally aware of what it is: garbage. It’s Sunset Beach crossed with Saved By The Bell, driven by the one-note parody of Johnny Lawrence being stuck in the '80s. For anyone old enough to remember the original Karate Kid movies, there’s a throwback attraction...
Review Jurassic World Aftermath Collection - Evokes The Best Film, But Gets Tedious Without VR
Clever girl(s)
Few franchises captured the minds of children everywhere like the original Jurassic Park film did in 1993; it kicked off an entire dinosaur craze while maintaining much of the novel’s poignant message exploring the perils of genetic engineering. Jurassic World – 2015’s revival starring Mario Chris Pratt – had nowhere near the...
Review Doraemon Story Of Seasons: Friends Of The Great Kingdom - Familiar Farm Sim Fun
Planetary exploration has never been so chill
The first Switch Doraemon: Story of Seasons launched in 2019 and was praised for harmoniously combining the cast of the much-loved children's anime with the relaxing gameplay of one of the most well-known farm sim franchises, and while it may not be the most obvious combination, its beautiful art style...
Review Tactics Ogre: Reborn - A Decent Remaster Of A 16-Bit Strategy Classic
Onions have layers, ogres have layers
Within the Final Fantasy brand, one of the most famous sub-series is the Ivalice Alliance. Set within the fictional land of Ivalice, the handful of projects that comprised these games were marked by their focus on a more grounded setting that explored the dramatic politics of a magical medieval world. However,...
Review Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration - A Painstaking Love Letter To Gaming's Pioneers
Graft from the past
Atari, and its exuberant founder Nolan Bushnell, were 1970s trailblazers who formed, established, and pioneered the video game industry. Brushing a near-century of mechanical coin-operated gaming aside and barging pinball into a dusty corner, Atari became the focal point of bars everywhere with Pong in 1972. It was the dawning of...
Review Lonesome Village – Spot The Zelda References In This Cute Life Sim X Puzzle Adventure
It takes a Lonesome Village
Since the first announcement of this puzzle adventure-slash-social sim, we’ve been keeping our eyes peeled for Lonesome Village. Now that we’ve played it, we can confirm that it requires you to strap on both your exploring boots and your thinking cap, but it’s also a relaxing game that, for the most part, doesn’t...
Review Sonic Frontiers - A Bold But Ultimately Failed Attempt At Something New
Blue sky blues
Sonic Frontiers had a bit of a wild ride ahead of its release. Since the initial announcement and subsequent trailer reveals, public opinion of the blue blur’s latest outing has been all over the place, going from lingering dread to a more optimistic “hey, maybe this will actually be okay, after all”. Well, after sinking over 20...
Mini Review Save Room - RE4 'Inventory Tetris' Writ Large, Though Not Large Enough
Packing heat
Ever thought inventory management in 2005’s Resident Evil 4 is like a game in its own right? Well, in the internet age, everything happens eventually, so here's that game. In Save Room from Fractal Projects, you have a limited and specifically shaped inventory space on the left and a load of guns and stuff on the right. Simply slot...
Review Sifu - Sloclap's Kung-Fu Epic Revives Itself On Switch
Yes, it has a hallway scene
Sifu launched this past February on PlayStation and PC and quickly built up a passionate core following due to its hard-hitting action and interesting core 'ageing' mechanic. Now, nine months later, Sloclap’s martial arts brawler has arrived on the Switch with a solid port that doesn’t sacrifice anything that made the...
Review Harvestella - A Promising Genre Hybrid That Needs Some Watering
Sowing seeds
These days, it feels like games are very generally cast into either the ‘Indie’ or ‘AAA’ categories, regardless of genre. Square Enix has been a major publisher that’s notably been pushing back against this dichotomy by putting out several games that are smaller in scope than something like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, but have...
Review Ghost Song - A Potent Mix Of Metroid And Dark Souls, But Maybe Not On Switch
Songs of praise
Over the past decade, the Metroidvania has seen a tremendous resurgence in popularity. And yet, it’s easy to forget how far we’ve come. If we rewind the clock back to the year 2013, the Metroid and Castlevania franchises were on ice and the indie Metroidvania scene was only just beginning to take off. That’s when Matt White...
Review Aeterna Noctis - An Ambitious Metroidvania That Doesn't Quite Hit The Mark
Hollow-like
Coming from Spanish studio Aeternum Game Studios, Aeterna Noctis first launched on PlayStation 5 last year, and has now made its way to Switch. Luckily — barring load times — the conversion to Nintendo’s hybrid wonder is solid, with a stable frame rate. Aeterna Noctis is a Metroidvania clearly inspired by the greats of the genre...
Review Prodeus - An Excellent DOOM-Style Shooter For Old-School FPS Fans
"We will send unto them... only you."
It’s interesting to look back and see how first-person shooters have evolved since the days of Doom. What once used to be a genre focused more on the single-player experience of exploring levels and killing monsters slowly turned into something more focused on multiplayer experiences. In recent years, it feels...
Review It Takes Two - Not Quite The Perfect Marriage, But A Satisfying Switch Port
Buckle my shoe
Marriage isn’t always perfect. Sometimes, as here, two presumably decent, hard-working parents, whose relationship you know nothing about and whom you can afford only the most general human empathy, find the joy of matrimony fades. So they must support their daughter as they carefully share their decision to separate. However, in It...
Review Mario Party 2 - Party Like It's 1999 With One Of The Best In The Series
Yes, we know most places got it in 2000
This review originally went live in 2016, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in Switch's N64 library via the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. Since 1998, the Mario Party series has entertained gamers by mixing the play of traditional board games with frantic minigame...
Review Signalis - Brilliantly Tense And Surreal Sci-Fi Survival Horror
The signalis good
Survival horror games are tough to get right. Even giants of the genre like Resident Evil find themselves leaning harder into action or simple jump scares over time, but when it is at its best it is more tense than frightening. Signalis is one of the best survival horror games we’ve played and the perfect title for Switch owners...
Review Resident Evil Village Cloud - A Solid Streaming Version For Switch Owners
A cloud tech coin flip winner, mostly
Note: This Cloud Version of Resident Evil: Village was tested on 100MB UW Broadband over WiFi along with 5G mobile connection. The Resident Evil series has seen its ups and downs over the years. After a strong start with the original trilogy (and Code Veronica), Capcom’s seminal horror franchise hit what...
Review A Plague Tale: Requiem - Cloud Version - Plagued By More Than The Typical Cloud Caveats
A great game to play elsewhere
Note: This Cloud Version of A Plague Tale: Requiem was tested on 450Mb AT&T Broadband over WIFI, with the router directly adjacent to the Switch dock. On paper, it sounds like offering a ‘cloud version’ of a game is a good idea. The Switch’s hardware was relatively underpowered when it was new, so getting...
Review Factorio - A Most Engrossing Management Sim, Despite Some Issues
A factory sim that never seems to end
If you’ve ever wanted to harness the power of industrialisation, Factorio is certainly the game for you. Stranded on a strange alien world, you must find a way to survive and escape this place using the vestiges of technology left behind by whoever came here first, as well as your own innovations. This is a...
Mini Review Sophstar - A Solid Shmup Bursting With Originality
Soft touch
Following the excellent Star Hunter DX, Raging Blasters, and Crimzon Clover - World EXplosion from Steam to the Switch eShop is Banana Bytes’ Sophstar, a vertically oriented bullet hell shoot-em-up with clearly delineated sprites set against simplistic rolling backgrounds. There are a whopping nine ships to choose from, all with...
Review Beacon Pines - An Endearing, Engrossing, Explorative Adventure
Gives you the warm fuzzies – and the chills
Playing Beacon Pines feels a bit like early winter nights, where you’re surprised by how quick the darkness creeps up – yet comfy and warm under a blanket. Coming from indie developer Hiding Spot, the setting might look like your usual cute woodsy town populated by anthropomorphic animals, but...
Review Oddworld: Soulstorm - Ol' Abe Still Intrigues, But He's Shackled To The Past
Still stuck in the '90s
The Oddworld series has never quite evolved past its late 1990s roots; the grimy puzzle-platformer was a unique take on the genre for its time, yet hasn’t really made a mark with the handful of releases and ports since its debut. A shame, as Oddworld, with its Mudokon slaves, the half-mechanical Sligs, and industrialist...
Review Bayonetta 3 - A Stunning Return For An Icon, And The Best Game In The Series
Stone-cold sober, as a matter of fact
What's the greatest pure action game series of all time? Is it Ninja Gaiden? Max Payne? Devil May Cry or something else entirely? Whatever your own personal preferences in this regard, one certainty is that there are only a handful of franchises which have truly managed to knock it out of the park with regards...
Review Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher - Bigger Means Better In This Monster Raising Sim
Size definitely matters in this one
In the world of Monster Rancher, bigger doesn’t always mean better, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. The newest entry in the series, Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher, takes this philosophy and turns it up to epic proportions, creating a world filled with monsters the size of mountains that need to be fed, trained,...
