Game Reviews scoring 5/10
Review Chillin' By The Fire (Switch 2) - Novel Camera Integration, But Won't Set Your World Alight
RV there yet?
There's usually a number of a certain type of game that drops when a brand new console arrives on the scene. You know the ones, the quirky ones, the ones that utilise new tech and features — such as the Switch 2's camera and game-sharing abilities — to give us something we haven't seen before. And so it is that we come to be...
Mini Review The House Of The Dead 2: Remake (Switch) - Erratic Controls Chomp At Another Classic
Dead aim
I don’t think I’ve ever messed around with a game’s settings menu as much as The House of the Dead 2: Remake. And, unfortunately, try as I might, I could never get the game to feel 'good'. Much like its predecessor on the Switch, Forever Entertainment’s latest arcade revamp is limited to just two control schemes: analogue stick and...
Review Pokémon Friends (Switch) – Pretty Plushies, Puzzling Pricing
A PokéPuzzle a day keeps the Nurse Joy away
It seems like every Pokémon Direct spends more than half its runtime detailing updates for or announcing casual Pokémon spin-offs. From Pokémon Café ReMix to Pokémon Sleep, we’ve gotten so many Pokémon-themed experiences that any new announce
Review Front Mission 3: Remake (Switch) - Didn't Get The Love & Time This Tactical RPG Deserved
Wanzer more unto the breach
Every time I pick up the Front Mission series, I am rooting for it. Mechs (wanzers, in this case) are always cool and I always love a good tactical RPG. However, Front Mission 3: Remake doesn’t just manage to put me off with its deeply frustrating combat mechanics; it feels like a haphazard and even insultingly bad...
Review Tron: Catalyst (Switch) - A Repetitive & Forgettable Time On The Grid
Needs more time to compile
No matter how much I learn about the workings of computers, it will always be Tron in there. Little programs, running around on the Grid, trying to keep the whole system from falling apart. So, Tron: Catalyst felt right up my street. It does a great job of visually replicating that digital world and there is a great idea...
Review Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP (Switch) - This Choppy Remaster Of A Cult Gem Doesn't Bring Any Cheer
Sunshine, lollipops and chainsaws everywhere
Cutting a bloody swathe through an army of the undead, Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP joins Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered on Switch. Both games complement each other as flawed but enjoyable examples of Grasshopper Studios' beloved catalogue. An idiosyncratic collaboration between Suda 51 and filmmaker...
Review Star Trek: Legends (Switch) - Competent Combat But Fails To Engage
Fire at Will
As a mischievous omnipotent being once said, Star Trek isn't about mapping stars and studying nebulae, but charting the unknown possibilities of existence. The voyages of the starships Enterprise et al. are journeys of self-discovery. It's about the people we meet on those strange new worlds and what they teach us about ourselves. It's...
Mini Review Chernobylite Complete Edition (Switch) - Ambitious, But Not A Great Fit For Switch
Lite and dark
Chernobylite launched back in 2019, bringing with it mostly positive reviews and an interesting hook for a 3D survival game laced with a touch of horror – it was made using 3D scans of the real-life Chernobyl exclusion zone. This hints at an intriguing attention to detail from the developers, and on more powerful hardware, the effort...
Review Uncle Chop's Rocket Shop (Switch) - A Fix-'Em-Up Roguelite We Want To Love But Can't
Manual labour
Uncle Chop's Rocket Shop is a roguelite fix-'em-up that combines the frantic buttons-and-levers work of Space Team and the chaotic manual-flipping of Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes with the repetitive, greasy work of car mechanics. You are the sole useful employee of the titular Rocket Shop, a podunk space garage that looks like it...
Review Life Is Strange: Double Exposure (Switch) - Not Quite Picture Perfect On Switch
Double trouble
The Life is Strange series has been an interesting diversion from Square Enix’s typical MO of putting out endless takes on RPGs, instead offering heavily narrative-focused stories exploring the trials of various people who develop supernatural abilities. This series' strong storytelling has garnered a loyal fanbase, it’s also...
Mini Review UTOPIA 9 - A Volatile Vacation (Switch) - Not Bad, But Hardly A Holiday
We're all going on a run-based holiday
This game was originally covered as part of our Nindie Round Up series that sought to give coverage to a wider breadth of Switch eShop games beyond our standard reviews. In an effort to make our impressions easier to find, we're presenting the original text below in our mini-review format. Utopia 9 is a...
You Twinsen, you lose some
You may not have heard of Little Big Adventure, but if you have, it’s likely you remember it fondly. It popped up on PC in the last months of 1994, then found its way to PlayStation and other platforms. It didn’t shift millions, but it gained cult status for its unique atmosphere, inventive controls, and memorable...
Review Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed (Switch) - Pleasingly Ambitious But Bloated
Secret of the Snooze
It has been a little over a year since Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem arrived in cinemas, and a lot has changed for the heroes in a half-shell. Shredder's Revenge has welcomed not one, but two DLC packs, THQ Nordic has announced a Last Ronin adaptation and, in 2024 alone, the Switch has already landed a pair of new...
Review Europa (Switch) – Gorgeous Ghibli-esque Art, But Very Light On Substance
Up in the air
Europa is a puzzle-platformer that’s light on puzzles and platforming, set on (and named after) the moon of Jupiter. This indie title from Novadust Entertainment and Future Friends Games combines pretty expanses of green with futuristic elements. Its playthrough and story aim to both rouse your inner child and give you philosophical...
Mini Review Solstice Chronicles: MIA (Switch) A MIA-xed Bag
Mamma MIA
This game was originally covered as part of our Nindie Round Up series that sought to give coverage to a wider breadth of Switch eShop games beyond our standard reviews. In an effort to make our impressions easier to find, we're presenting the original text below in our mini-review format. Solstice Chronicles: MIA is a twin-stick shooter...
Review REYNATIS (Switch) - Underbaked Action-RPG Fare That Plays Rough On Switch
Shibuya blues
Here’s a riddle for you: What do you get when you blend the complex, character-driven narrative talent of Final Fantasy VII writer Kazushige Nojima, the epic, sweeping melodies of Super Mario RPG composer Yoko Shimamura, and an over-the-top action combat gameplay system? You get Kingdom Hearts, of course. However, developer Natsume...
Mini Review Bedtime Blues (Switch) - Sub-FNAF Fodder, But Just About Serviceable
Survival fodder
This game was originally covered as part of our Nindie Round Up series that sought to give coverage to a wider breadth of Switch eShop games beyond our standard reviews. In an effort to make our impressions easier to find, we're presenting the original text below in our mini-review format. A static horror adventure that takes the...
Mini Review Clock Simulator (Switch) - The Perfect Tool To Kick Off An Existential Crisis
Tick tock
This game was originally covered as part of our Nindie Round Up series that sought to give coverage to a wider breadth of Switch eShop games beyond our standard reviews. In an effort to make our impressions easier to find, we're presenting the original text below in our mini-review format. Certainly one of the more bizarre titles we’ve...
Mini Review Julie's Sweets (Switch) - Basic Cooking Sim With Soul-Sucking Visuals
Look into my pies
This game was originally covered as part of our Nindie Round Up series that sought to give coverage to a wider breadth of Switch eShop games beyond our standard reviews. In an effort to make our impressions easier to find, we're presenting the original text below in our mini-review format. A typical arcade-style time management...
Mini Review Castaway (Switch) - A Fine-Looking But Very Thin Piece Of Zelda Flotsam
A quick link to the past
We almost set ourselves the challenge of writing this review without mentioning Link's Awakening. But as sure as a retro-styled 2D RPG includes hackable bushes, Castaway had so many similarities to the Nintendo classic that it would have been impossible. Despite our preference for a fresher take on the formula like the...
Mini Review Mech Rage (Switch) - An Uninspired But Serviceable Top-Down Shooter
Ave-Rage
This game was originally covered as part of our Nindie Round Up series that sought to give coverage to a wider breadth of Switch eShop games beyond our standard reviews. In an effort to make our impressions easier to find, we're presenting the original text below in our mini-review format. Mech Rage is meat-headed and silly and it knows...
Mini Review Bring Them Home (Switch) - A Fair Little Puzzler That Soon Palls
A successful failure
This game was originally covered as part of our Nindie Round Up series that sought to give coverage to a wider breadth of Switch eShop games beyond our standard reviews. In an effort to make our impressions easier to find, we're presenting the original text below in our mini-review format. Puzzler Bring Them Home ventures into...
Review Mika And The Witch's Mountain (Switch) - A Cute Ghibli-Inspired Tale That Doesn't Deliver
"Flying used to be fun until I started doing it for a living"
Kiki’s Delivery Service is a movie all about growing up. The night Kiki leaves home to complete a year of witch training, she excitedly overstuffs her bag, makes herself a broomstick that’s too small for her, and crashes into a couple of trees during her flight. She doesn’t have a...
Review Elrentaros Wanderings (Switch) - Hints Of Rune Factory's Charm, But Such A Drudge
Chore-y of Seasons
Elrentaros Wanderings is a brand-new game from Rune Factory creator Yoshifumi Hashimoto and his studio, Hakama, which takes place across two parallel worlds: one in a present-day Japanese school, and one in a fantasy land where a small village is plagued by monsters that live in nearby dungeons. Your character — male or female...
Review SNK Vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos (Switch) - A Great-Looking But Painfully Average Fighter
So Very Common
Sometimes it's very difficult, no matter how you try to frame it in your head, to get excited for re-releases of certain retro fighting games. It's a genre that's ripe for the picking, absolutely stuffed full of crackers to be revisited but, for every delightful return to the likes of Samurai Shodown 2, Guilty Gear, or Street Fighter,...
Review Let's School (Switch) - A Solid Management Sim In School Uniform, But Lacks Soul
Class is in session
Everyone’s school days were a gauntlet of different challenges. From exams to social drama to the occasional run-in with a schoolyard bully, everyone had a bit of a hard time, but spare a thought to the poor headteachers who had to keep a building full of hormonal teenagers from descending into utter chaos. Let’s School from...
Review Metal Slug Attack Reloaded (Switch) - Tower Defence In Its Goofiest, Gacha-iest Form
Sluggish
Once again, the world is on the cusp of being taken over by the evil General Donald Morden and his Rebel Army. Only the Peregrine Falcon Squad, led by the heroic Marco Rossi, stand in the way of the Rebels establishing their New World Order. This could be the plot of just about any entry in the Metal Slug series, which is at its best when...
Review Overmorrow (Switch) - Intriguing, But Assumes Too Much With Its Save-Wiping Setup
'Morrowind you up
Overmorrow, the debut release from solo developer PixelManta, manages to be philosophically interesting, is evocatively written, visually distinct, and lovingly crafted. Yet, the notion of re-playing it – which you’ll effectively need to do by design – is a tall order, and therein lies the unfortunate problem with this...
Review Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs (Switch) - Pac-Man 99’s Successor Is A Flop
First as tragedy, then as farce
“Comparison is the thief of joy,” said former US President Teddy Roosevelt. The gist is that sometimes a comparison can negatively skew our perceptions or diminish our appreciation of individual qualities. Roosevelt didn’t have multiplayer Pac-Man in mind when he came up with his oft-quoted consolatory aphorism,...
Board already
There is no shortage of party games available on Switch – the console was practically made with the genre in mind. Standing out from the crowd requires some careful balancing of the rules or implementing some gimmick to make your game feel unique. Or, in the case of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Sweep the Board, you can let your...
