Switch eShop, Switch Game Reviews scoring 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6/10
Mini Review Pooplers - We’re Not Kidding, This Game Really Is Poop
Flat-ulent gameplay
After the monumental success of the Splatoon franchise, many folks were quite rightly expecting some copycats to appear. Given the high accessibility of the games and their family-friendly nature, some – this writer included – even encouraged more of the same from other developers. But we’re not sure any of us were...
Review Panzer Dragoon: Remake - Doesn’t Quite Nail The Landing
In-flight entertainment
Since this review was originally published, an update has reportedly addressed or improved one or more of the issues cited. While we unfortunately cannot revisit games on an individual basis, it should still be noted that the updated game may offer an improved experience over the one detailed below. When Nintendo revealed...
Review Neon City Riders - There's Little Substance Under That Retro-Tinged Veneer
Retrograde step
Nostalgia is as potent a force in modern video games as it is in cinema, TV and music. We all appreciate a dose of something warm and familiar in these scary times. But the trouble with such rose-tinted glasses is that they can often obscure a litany of flaws and a critical lack of imagination. Such is the case with Neon City Riders...
Mini Review Stela - A Pretty Platform-Puzzler That Badly Wants To Be Inside
Caught in Limbo
If Stela is wholly successful at anything, it's as a tribute to Inside. It follows Playdead's immersive platform-puzzler template to a quite remarkable degree, while its shortcomings only enhance the reputation of the 2018 eShop release. Are you someone who thought Inside was merely a generic 2D platformer with pretty window dressing...
Mini Review NinNinDays - A Short And Sweet Visual Novel With Some Rough Edges
An everyday tale of near-naked ninjas
There are certain things those familiar with romantic comedy, slice-of-life visual novels have doubtless come to expect by this point: a scene involving a maid costume; a heroine who can’t cook; a date at an amusement park; and some sort of boob-based misunderstanding. NinNinDays from Qureate has all of these...
Review Overpass - A Slow-And-Steady Racer That Strays Off The Beaten Track
Muddy textures
The active ingredient of pretty much every racing game that you care to mention, from Out Run to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, is speed. Overpass might require you to get to the finishing line in the shortest time possible, but it's almost wholly lacking in that S-factor. It sounds perverse, but in order to make suitably rapid progress here...
Review Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo - A Fine Shmup Selection, But Input Lag Remains An Issue
Continued delay
Just as Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo is the companion game to the earlier release of Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha, what you're reading now should also be considered the companion to our earlier review of the latter title. We suggest, to help digest the full context of this review, that the reader also hop over and read this companion...
Review Boulder Dash 30th Anniversary - An Awkwardly-Ported Tribute That's For Fans Only
On the Rocks
It’s amazing to us that 2020 is only Boulder Dash’s 30th anniversary. In fact, come to think of it, that can’t possibly be right, because we remember this one back on the Apple II. Indeed, a quick glance online reveals that Boulder Dash was first released in 1984, which would make this Switch version Boulder Dash 36th Anniversary,...
Mini Review Spartan Fist - This ARMS-Style Brawler Fails To Pack A Punch
Not quite a knockout
Spartan Fist is described as a 'first-person puncher', and for better or worse, that's exactly what it is. Taking place within a series of procedurally-generated arenas, the game is reasonably fun for short bursts, but thanks to some dodgy controls and a distinct lack of variety, it ultimately fails to pack a punch. Taking...
Review Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX - Fun, But Only In Short Doses
Titled Zangoose Game
When it comes to Pokémon spin-offs, the Mystery Dungeon series is probably the lengthiest. For every short-lived game like Pokémon Dash or Pokkén Tournament, there’s a Mystery Dungeon title offering potentially hundreds of hours of gameplay. Of course, whether you’d actually want to play one of them for hundreds of hours...
Review SEGA AGES Puyo Puyo 2 - A Fun But Ultimately Forgettable Puzzler
Same Pu, different game
When we reviewed the Sega Ages version of Puyo Puyo, we wondered why Sega had decided to go with the very first game in the series, and not one of the numerous better sequels. Seven months later, Sega has responded – not to us, we’re not that big-headed – by going back to the Puyo Puyo well and this time giving us a...
Mini Review Ganbare! Super Strikers - Strategic Soccer Action That Will Be Too Sluggish For Some
Strategy fans will get a kick out of this
The beautiful game of football (or soccer for those across the pond) is generally known for its face-paced, high octane action. The players are constantly moving, constantly searching for that one crucial opening to find the back of the net. Ganbare! Super Strikers is an odd little duckling, then, as its...
Review Kitty Powers' Matchmaker - A Refreshingly Inclusive Dating Sim That Grows Stale Too Quickly
Love is in the air
Do you love watching Celebs Go Dating, Dinner Date and other mind-numbing entertainment on TV? Has it inspired you to start your own dating agency? Well, before you up-end your career and invest your life savings in becoming a professional cupid, how about investing in a Nintendo Switch game instead? And who better to mentor you...
Review Kunai - Pacing Problems Undermine This Otherwise Likeable Roguelike
Unleash your inner ninja
You awake in what seems to be a graveyard for robots. Or, more of a room with piles of dead robots filling every corner, piled up to the ceiling. Your rescuers are among them, their bodies blending in with the countless others. This world has been run into the ground by a tyrannical overlord, and you, an anthropomorphised...
Review Speedway Racing - Daytona USA Has Nothing To Worry About
Days of Blunder
For gamers of a certain age, the name Sega is a synonym for arcade racing perfection. From Yu Suzuki’s sprite scaling opus Out Run to the polygonal bliss of Virtua Racing, the company always stood at the top of the arcade racing genre due to on-point game design, ensuring that anyone regardless of skill could walk away with a silly...
Review Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate - An Iterative Update For Hardcore Fans Only
Quantity over quality?
Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate is here, and it brings with it a host of additions to the vanilla version of the game, adding some much-needed replayability via a brand new Infinity mode, seven new characters, tweaked gameplay mechanics, a slightly refined UI and beefed-up story. It's all pretty much as you'd expect if you're a fan...
Mini Review Tilt Pack - An Accessible Yet Shallow Arena Brawler
Smash Bros. stripped to its bones
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is undeniably brilliant, but there's a fundamental disconnect at the heart of it. Despite its bright, inviting presentation, the series has traded its knock-about couch co-op appeal for an increasingly technical fighting system and reams of esoteric fan service. Don't agree? Start a game...
Review Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha - Great Games Shamed By Horrendous Input Lag
Delayed reaction
At face value, Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha is an excellent proposition – a collection of some of the most beloved shmups and arguably the best titles Psikyo ever produced. At the humble price of $39.99, the new owner of the Psikyo properties, City Connection, is offering four must own shmup titles and two solid STG at an average...
Review Monster Energy Supercross - The Official Videogame 3 - Mucky Madness On Two Wheels
Scrubbed up
Italian developer Milestone might not have the pedigree of Polyphony Digital or Codemasters – at least, not yet – but the racing specialist has always seen the value in porting many of its games to handheld platforms. Just being able to play the original MXGP – albeit in its ‘Compact’ form – on PS Vita, years before Switch...
Review Code Shifter - This Forgettable Franchise Crossover Is A Missed Opportunity
By the numbers
Though it certainly occupies a niche, it’s tough to dispute the level of clout and influence held by Arc System Works. The studio positively thrives on 2D fighting games, with franchises like Guilty Gear and River City being among its more well-known work, and its 30+ year lifespan has seen the introduction of plenty of new games...
Review Ash of Gods: Redemption - A Gorgeous Turn-Based RPG Failure
Scammer Saga
Ash of Gods: Redemption wants to be The Banner Saga so bad it hurts. Everything about AurumDust's turn-based RPG is influenced massively by Stoic's superlative dark fantasy effort, and that's fine. It's got the exact same animation style, dark and brooding story, life-or-death decisions to be made, branching narrative, RPG elements,...
Mini Review Skellboy - An Amusing Take On Zelda That's Undone By Sluggish Performance
Don’t lose your head
In the once peaceful land of Cubold Kingdom, life is flipped upside down when the king’s court magician gets well and truly dumped by the princess. In a fit of rage, he unleashes death and destruction on the pixelated world, bringing forth a host of ferocious monsters. Unbeknownst to the magician, however, he has also...
Review Arc of Alchemist - One Of The Worst RPGs To Hit Switch So Far
An unfortunate concoction
Say what you will about the overall quality of its output, but never let it be said that Compile Heart doesn’t love to make RPGs. The studio – best known for its successful Hyperdimension Neptunia series – has always been prolific, to say the least, but alas, it’s also developed a reputation for putting out many...
Mini Review Sinless - A Cyberpunk Point-And-Click Adventure That's Over Too Soon
Sinful lens flare
The Switch most likely won’t be getting the cyberpunk game that everyone’s currently talking about (boo!), but that doesn’t necessarily mean that there are no examples of the genre available on the platform. Alongside titles such as Observer, Neo Cab and Astral Chain, Sinless is an
Review The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics - Solid But Unspectacular Tactical Action
Puppet Master
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics seeks to recreate the major plot beats and battles from Netflix's recent – and absolutely excellent – Dark Crystal prequel series in turn-based tactical strategy form. An expensive, multi-episode forerunner to the seemingly long-forgotten 1982 movie masterpiece was a somewhat unexpected...
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 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 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 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...