Switch eShop, Switch Game Reviews scoring 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6/10
Review ZPF (Switch) - A Unique-Feeling Mega Drive Shooter With Some Switch Issues
Heavy metal fantasy
“Zone Profile Fantasy”? “Zoom Port Focus”? Nobody knows whether ZPF is an acronym or not, except perhaps the three-man development team behind it: Perry Sessions, Mikael Tillander, and Jamie Vance. Prior to ZPF, Sessions and Vance created a contra-style NES demo called Cavity Destroyer for Vance’s brother’s dental...
Review Pokémon Champions (Switch) – The Most Accessible & Flawed Competitive Pokémon Has Ever Been
More bugs than Viridian Forest
Keeping up with competitive Pokémon battling has always been a hassle. As the mainline series shifts from generation to generation, so does which Pokémon are available, access to specific Pokémon, methods for training those Pokémon, the introduction of new moves, abilities, and held items, as well as a continued...
Review Love Eternal (Switch) - Disturbing, Devilish Platformer Flips A Few Too Many Times
Flipping fun?
Published by Ysbryd Games and developed by brlka, Love Eternal is an arduous platformer presented primarily in a retro 4:3 aspect ratio. It follows a teenage girl named Maya as she wends her way through a lonesome, though artfully-depicted, castle and the surreal, twisted memories that haunt it. The game begins as many platformers do:...
Review I Hate This Place (Switch) - A Messy Monster, But With A Certain Charm
A strong word
The way I see it, there are three different versions of I Hate This Place. First, there’s the game as promised in the trailers: a survival horror with some general emphasis on resource management and gunplay, all elevated with some nice-looking cinematic storytelling. Sweeping cameras slowly reveal the ominous presence of creepily...
Review Indika (Switch) - A Port That Makes You Lose Faith In An Indie Gem
Thoughts and prayers
There’s a version of Indika I’d call one of the most singularly audacious narrative exploration games in recent memory, a daring title that defies easy classification with its surrealist flourishes, cinematic art direction, and cynical inversion of familiar video game mechanics. Unfortunately, the Nintendo Switch version...
Review Winter Burrow (Switch) - Cosy Survival, But Doesn't Go Deep Enough
Scariest creature in this wood
Developed by Pine Creek Games and published by Noodlecake, Winter Burrow is a cosy woodland survival game where you play as a mouse who braves frigid weather, collects food and resources, and rebuilds their childhood home. It begins with the death of our young mouse protagonist's parents, prompting a return to the...
Review Double Dragon Revive (Switch) - Nice Ideas, Uneven Execution
Not much of a revival
The beat ‘em up genre has experienced something of a renaissance in the last generation, with original titles like Fight’n Rage (2019) and more recently Absolum (2025) finding new ways to move the genre forward, while releases such as Streets of Rage 4 (2020) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (2022)...
Mini Review Pokémon Legends: Z-A (Switch) - Mostly Stable, Much Less Shiny
An evolution on Switch 1, but not a Mega one
Pokémon Legends: Z-A on Switch is 'fine'. For a lot of people, that'll be enough. And certainly, even I'm surprised it's as stable as it is after Legends: Arceus and Scarlet & Violet had more than their fair share of performance woes — the latter of which is almost a completely different game with the...
Review Bubsy In: The Purrfect Collection (Switch) - Limited Run Cleans Out The Kitty Litter
What could possibly go right?
When the Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection was announced, the news received hundreds of thousands of shares and millions of cumulative views. This, friends, is a stark reminder of the strength of nostalgia, an evocative sensation that can stir the heart and cloud the memory. Let’s be clear: Bubsy the Bobcat has never...
A good walk spoiled
Fans of Everybody’s Golf have had to twiddle their one-gloved thumbs for a while now, waiting since 2017 for a new official entry in the series. Mashing together the series’ previously regionally distinct names (Everybody’s Golf and Hot Shots Golf), Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots has finally stepped up to the tee. Have series...
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Review SHUTEN ORDER (Switch) - An Audacious Swing That Doesn't Quite Connect
Aw, shoot
Leave it up to Kazutaka Kodaka to come up with one of the weirdest stories in gaming, huh? Following on from the outrageously ambitious The Hundred Line - Last Defense Academy, the creator has now joined forces with developer Neilo on the new visual novel Shuten Order. I say ‘visual novel’, and that’s absolutely the overarching...
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...
We don't want any adventures here, thank you
A Lord of the Rings cosy game? Made by Weta Workshop, who made the sets, costumes, and props for the beloved Peter Jackson movie trilogy? Say no more, right? Unfortunately, Tales of the Shire is not the perfect mashup of hobbits and hygge we've all been waiting for, but is instead emblematic of the kind...
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
Roll for initiative
Dungeons & Dragons has had a long and checkered history with video game adaptations, with every ascendant Baldur’s Gate 3 being matched by an equally disappointing Iron & Blood: Warriors of Ravenloft. Then there are the games that fall firmly in the middle, like Neverwinter Nights. After the success of the first game in...
Review Missile Command Delta (Switch) - Good Foundations Lost In The Narrative Rubble
Debunker'd
Missile Command Delta, from developers Mighty Yell (The Big Con) and 13AM Games (Runbow), is an experience of two halves. The first is a turn-based strategy take on the classic Dave Theurer-developed arcade game Missile Command; one that shouldn’t work in theory, but genuinely does. The second is a misguided attempt to add context to...
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...
Mini Review Locomoto (Switch) - On The Right Cosy Track, But Has A Few Train Faults
Tickets, please
I thought Locomoto would be the perfect game for me amidst the Switch 2 chaos. With all the excitement of opening new games and speeding around the track in Mario Kart World, I needed something much slower, calmer, and cosier. And, for the first five hours, Locomoto slotted into that role perfectly. You're the conductor of your own...
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...
Plenty of bugs
Date Everything! is a dating simulator where the dateable people are actually objects, or inanimates, that exist around your home. You begin Date Everything at work, where you are a recent customer service hire at Valdivian, a major tech company. Almost as soon as your work day begins, you’re informed that your job is being made...
Real steamy
Steam-Heart’s is a most curious Saturn Tribute release, for two significant reasons: Firstly, it was conceived many moons ago as hardcore hentai erotica; and secondly, it was never particularly great. It first appeared in all its grammatically incorrect glory on the NEC PC-98 home computer in 1994. Compared to the console market,...
Review On Your Tail (Switch) - A Charming Detective Story Stumbles On Switch
A tail of mystery
In this charming indie, an aspiring writer gets lost in a scenic coastal destination while searching for inspiration. Diana Caproni wanders Borga Marina, making friends and solving mysteries in this low-intensity detective story. Italian developer Memorable Games has crafted a gorgeous setting that serves as an ode to Ligurian...
Review Tomb Raider 4-6 Remastered (Switch) - A Fascinating But Inessential Second Collection
The good, the bad, and the ugly
It seems like an absurd notion these days, but after Tomb Raider made its debut in 1996, developer Core Design pumped out six mainline entries over the next eight years – six. It’s true that teams were able to turn projects around much more quickly in those days, as evidenced by franchises such as Resident Evil...
Review WARRIORS: Abyss (Switch) - Middling Musou With A Dash Of Diablo & Hades
Not Abyssmal
During Sony’s February 2025 State of Play presentation, the big shadow drop was Koei Tecmo’s Warriors: Abyss, which offers a low-budget, roguelite take on the popular Warriors hack ‘n’ slash formula. The good news is that this genre hybrid feels like both halves fit perfectly together—the mindlessness of the
Review Star Wars: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles (Switch) - Uncivilised But Not Unenjoyable
"Now I am the (re)master"
Always two, there are. No more. No less. Master Yoda's wise words may have rung true for the Sith, but it couldn't be further from the rate at which Star Wars games were being pumped out in the early 2000s. Some showed promise (Episode I: Racer, Battle for Naboo) while others were as dull as The Phantom Menace's trade...
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...
Review Palia (Switch) - One Year On, Is This Life Sim Worth Playing?
Has a promising sprout bloomed?
Editor's note: This article was originally published in December 2023 as a review in progress. We had hoped to return to Palia once it hit version 1.0, but it's still not there at the time of writing. Therefore we're revisiting one year on to see how things have changed with some new text up top and a score below. A...
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...
Mini Review Pine: A Story Of Loss (Switch) - An Evocative But Oddly Anti-Immersive Tale
Pining for the fjords
'Game' is a funny word. On its face, it describes lighthearted, fun, frivolous things. Even a very serious game of snooker, in which people wear waistcoats, is 'just a game' on some level. But of course video games can be very different, and Pine is one such game. The subtitle gives it away – A Story of Loss – and it does...
