Switch eShop, Switch Game Reviews scoring 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6/10
Review DreamWorks All-Star Kart Racing (Switch) - Ain't The Sharpest Tool In The Shed
They put a Shrek in it
Given that he’s an internet icon these days and the star of countless memes, it’s a bit of a surprise that it’s taken this long – 12 full years, in fact – to find a way to get Shrek into another video game. The last title to feature the onion-layered ogre was DreamWorks Super Star Kartz, released by Activision in...
Review Fashion Dreamer (Switch) - Some Decent Dress-Up, But Lacks Style Savvy's Depth
Flashy façade
Fashion Dreamer, the newest release from the developer (Syn Sophia) of the cult classic Style Savvy games, garnered high expectations from fans hoping to find a spiritual successor to the series. While Fashion Dreamer is not technically part of the Style Savvy family (known as 'Style Boutique' in Europe), it offers fans of those DS...
Review Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 - A Poor Switch Port Of A Promising Platform Pounder
All-Star Bawl
Just two years after the release of Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, the Nicktoons have been thrust together once again in the name of licensed platform fighting, of all things, in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2. The original was a solid outing with deep mechanics, but was held back by a lack of polish outside of gameplay, and although...
Review Air Twister (Switch) - An Arcade Blast From Yu Suzuki's Past, And A Missed Opportunity
Like we did last summer
Back in 2010, the Wii's Sin & Punishment: Star Successor inadvertently informed how, in various ways, the Space Harrier model could be revitalised in a contemporary fashion. In Air Twister, director Yu Suzuki, famous for creating Space Harrier, Out Run, and After Burner (not to mention Shenmu
Review Ebenezer And The Invisible World (Switch) - A Good Metroidvania Launched In A Ghastly State
(Bah, hum)bugs abound
Of the hundreds of versions of A Christmas Carol that we’re all bombarded with in the lead-up to the Holidays, very few give any thought to what comes after Scrooge is visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. The focus is firmly on how he becomes a changed man and not what he actually does with his...
Review My Time At Sandrock (Switch) - A Farm Sim Sequel That Plays It Too Safe
Not exactly the cream of the crop
Since this review was published, an update has reportedly improved one or more of the issues cited. Unfortunately, we cannot revisit games on an individual basis, but it should be noted that the patched game currently available may offer an improved experience over the one detailed below. Fans of the farm sim...
Review Gordian Quest - An Engaging Deckbuilder, But A Poor Switch Port
Knot the best port
Gordian Quest, like many games of its ilk, is bogged down by dense, cumbersome menus and volumes of small text. But unlike a lot of other games in the strategy and deckbuilding genre, it's much easier to wrap your mind around and isn't mired in frustratingly long tutorials and steep learning curves. Weaving tabletop inspirations...
Mini Review Garden Buddies (Switch) – A Relaxing Sim That’s A Little Green
Sow-sow
Gardening in game worlds is relaxing – more so than its real-life counterpart, where plants wither no matter what you do. Garden Buddies from Dutch developer JamPics joins the many cosy Switch games where you can grow plants without wondering if you’ve under- or over-watered them. Unfortunately, it’s not the pick of the bunch. Garden...
Mini Review Witchy Life Story (Switch) - Lots Of Potential And Charm, But Lacking In Execution
A cup of something cosy
Cottagecore fans, this one’s for you. Witchy Life Story is a visual novel packed full of sweet characters, magical charms, and cozy rituals. Coming from Sundew Studios, it has already been around on Steam for a while, and it’s now available on Switch. The story puts you in the pointed shoes of a witch who has been sent...
Review CRYMACHINA (Switch) - Silly, Stylish, But Oh-So-Repetitive Action-RPG-ing
Cry me a river
FuRyu has made a name for itself in recent years of being a publisher that does a great job of churning out RPGs that you’ll certainly like, but probably not love. Games like Monark, Caligula Effect, and Crystar have all offered players some decent yet flawed experiences, and now the company has brought us yet another entry in this...
Review Gargoyles Remastered (Switch) - One For Cult Disney Die-Hards Only
"We are defenders of the night! We are Gargoyles!"
Back in the mid-to-late '90s, Disney produced a cartoon called Gargoyles that stood out quite a bit from other shows in the animated landscape. Featuring a serialized storytelling format, rich lore, and a rather dark tone, it quickly gained a cult following across its run, though it never garnered a...
Review Front Mission 2: Remake (Switch) - Serviceable, But With Some Seriously Rough Edges
RNG my bell
It takes a lot to make a game about giant robot battles feel dull, but somehow Front Mission 2: Remake manages it. While it improves on some of the shortcomings of Front Mission 1st: Remake, the combat system isn’t fun enough to fully salvage this tactical RPG. While it might be worthwhile for strategy fans eager to test out G-Craft's...
Review Wild Card Football (Switch) - An Ambitious Take On Gridiron Lacking A Full Deck
Missing the Playoffs
While the Nintendo Switch has never had the prominent American Football video game series, it has had some notable efforts in the Indie and retro spaces. Now we can add Wild Card Football to the mix, and it's certainly an ambitious release in comparison to its contemporaries on the system. From Saber Interactive, it follows a...
Mini Review The Bug Butcher (Switch) - An Enjoyable But Forgettable Shootathon
Time to call in the bug guns
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 standard arcade...
The jump hasn't been smooth
The Dragon Quest series is no stranger to spin-off titles, but few are as confusing as Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai. This action RPG is based on an anime adaptation of a manga based on the world of Dragon Quest, but it is never clear who the game is designed to appeal to. The few things it does well...
Review Horizon Chase 2 (Switch) - More Arcade Racing, With Some Bumps In The Road
Follow the speeder
Horizon Chase 2 isn't the most interesting racing game out there, but damn, if it isn't hard to put down! It may not match the high-speed hijinks of kart racers starring Mario, Crash Bandicoot, or Sonic the Hedgehog, nor does it hit the same destructive highs of Burnout or the high-fidelity, simulative thrill found in other...
God Forgives… I Don’t
There’s going out on a limb and then there’s blind faith, and while the Bud & Terence games fall into the latter of the two, they are at least a labour of love. If you don’t know — and there’s a good chance you don’t — Bud Spencer and Terence Hill were a movie duo popularised in the '60s and '70s for their...
Review MythForce - A Decent Roguelite Buried By An Absolutely Dire Switch Port
MythFarce
With its bright, cel-shaded models and notably more tame environments, MythForce targets nostalgia for Saturday Morning cartoons from the 1980s like He-Man and Thundercats. A lot of people don't remember just how poorly a lot of those cartoons hold up, though. They have their die-hard fans, and they're fun to look back at with your tongue...
Review Mortal Kombat 1 - A Superb Fighter, But Severely Kompromised On Switch
Testing the Switch's might
NetherRealm Studios has been on a real hot streak with the Mortal Kombat franchise ever since it dropped its first game, the sublime Mortal Kombat 9, all the way back in 2011. The studio has always focused on bringing a top-notch narrative experience to the table, supported by a laundry list of single-player arcade and...
Review NBA 2K24 - A Step Back That Fumbles The Ball On Switch
Ramshaqle
Note: NBA 2K24 does not allow you to take in-game screenshots on Switch. The images throughout this review were taken from the game's page on Nintendo's website. Whenever September rolls around, you can expect a new entry in 2K's NBA series to bounce onto the court. These games aren't usually all that revolutionary, with a handful of new...
Review Pokémon Scarlet & Violet - The Teal Mask (Switch) - DLC That Offers More, But Not Enough
Matcha the mood
As a series, Pokémon is one that has held onto tradition pretty firmly. In the 25+ years since Red & Blue’s release, the fundamentals of the game haven’t really changed – you explore a world, you fight Pokémon, you catch Pokémon. Last year’s Pokémon Scarlet & Violet was the mainline series’ first big attempt to...
Review Mugen Souls Z (Switch) - Way Too Wordy, With Long Gaps Between The Fun Bits
We hope you like walls of endless text
Gaming often takes itself entirely too seriously. There aren’t enough games that embrace ridiculous, silly ideas and run with them without coming across as shallow and one-note. Mugen Souls Z half succeeds at this; its opening scene includes a spaceship transforming into a giant robot for an epic space battle...
Review WrestleQuest (Switch) - A Wholesome RPG That Struggles In The Ring
Toys with dreams of wrestling greatness
If you’ve ever had the oddly specific dream of rising through the ranks of a toy-based wrestling world, then you’re in luck. WrestleQuest enters the ring with a deadly combo of late-'80s wrestling nostalgia and mid-'90s JRPG mechanics, celebrating both while not quite managing to deliver the three-count at...
It’s-a me, Poir-i-ot
The Agatha Christie Poirot games have a long and mixed history. They go right back to PC games in the early 2000s and continue through to the likes of The ABC Murders, which also made it to Switch back in 2020. Over the years, different developers and publishers have picked up the Christie brand and delivered a range of...
Rayman is raving
2017’s Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle had one of the best DLCs we’ve ever seen a game starring Mario receive. The Donkey Kong Adventure story expansion saw Donkey Kong and Rabbid Cranky team up with Rabbid Peach to take on tons of reworked enemies and tons of tight, tactical challenges. It proved Ubisoft knew how to make a...
Review Samba De Amigo: Party Central (Switch) - Sega's Cult Classic Returns In Need Of A Shake-Up
Going through the motion controls
In the Wii's heyday, some executive or other higher-up at Nintendo dove into the multitude of factors that converged to make the Wii such a resounding success. Among the factors was the idea that motion—even at a minuscule level, like flicking one's wrist—was tied to the brain's production of dopamine. Pairing...
Mini Review Xtreme Sports - A Switch Return For Some Gnarly But Limited GBC Minigames
California dreaming
2D sports titles have had their place since Konami’s Track & Field rattled arcade screws loose with its fiercely competitive button rapping. WayForward’s Xtreme Sports draws influence from California Games, a summery seaside boardwalk of hip events and addictive tap-a-thons. You have two characters to choose from, dude or...
Mini Review Flutter Away (Switch) - An Ephemeral Indie With A Dash Of Pokémon Snap
Flutter bye
Over the past few years, there’s been a rise in ‘cozy’ games popping up in the indie space, offering an alternative to the typically achievement-based design of pretty much everything else. While these games do require a different mindset due to their generally short nature and simplistic gameplay, there’s something to be said...
Review Legend Bowl (Switch) - Shows A Love Of Football But Falls Short Of A First Down
A game of inches
While the Nintendo Switch doesn't get graced with all of the major sports titles, or occasionally gets extremely underwhelming / feature-lite versions, it's not lacking for smaller indie takes that are full of heart. The little system has a lot of little sports games, and one that shows plenty of ambition is the latest take on...
Mini Review Crime O'Clock (Switch) - 'Where's Wally' With A Temporal Twist, Clever But Repetitive
Playing for time
Crime O’Clock is a stylish-looking, screen-searching detective game that was featured in Nintendo’s Indie World Showcase back in April. The latest game from Milan-based development team Bad Seed, it promises to blend time travel with crime solving across large, densely populated hand-drawn maps. A hidden object game with a...