Switch eShop, Switch Game Reviews scoring 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6/10
Review Mages of Mystralia - A Colourful Spellcasting Adventure That Just Falls Short
Spellcrafting 101
A young woman looks to the stars one night and finds herself imbued with their celestial power – so much so, in fact, that she accidentally burns her house down and must flee town as an outcast. The use of magic is banned in the land of Mystralia, after all, leaving our hero Zia to seek her fate by herself. Once she encounters...
Review Fight Of Gods - A Comically Bad Crossover That Nobody Asked For
Blaspheme-'em-up
When it comes to selling a new fighting game series, it really helps to have that special something to help it stand out. When your game title doesn’t include the words ‘Street Fighter’, ‘BlazBlue’, ‘Tekken’ or ‘Mortal Kombat’, the success of your violent creation can often rest on that unique USP. Unfortunately,...
Dead on arrival
Horror has enjoyed quite the renaissance over the last few years, and that now synonymous first-person spin has helped up the realism and make the likes of Outlast: Bundle of Terror, Amnesia and even Resident Evil terrifyingly relevant once more. Of course, for every PT or Layers of Fear: Legacy there’s always going to be those...
Review Caveblazers - A Middle-Of-The-Road Roguelike That Ends Up In The Shadows
Not exactly blazing the trail
At this point in time, the “roguelike” indie game has become a trite and overused thing; there are more roguelikes out there now than any human could possibly have the time to play, and a lot of them don’t really do much to try separating themselves from the pack. Enter Caveblazers, a Spelunky-esque new roguelike...
Review Elli - A Charming Yet Scruffy 3D Platformer
Bumpy landing
We wouldn't exactly say that the 3D platformer has experienced a complete resurgence of late, but the likes of Yooka-Laylee and Spyro: Reignited Trilogy have certainly scratched a particular itch for faithful fans of the genre. And that's not even to mention the obvious example of Super Mario Odyssey, which is arguably the finest 3D...
Review Nippon Marathon - A Mildly Fun Multiplayer Romp That Grows Old Far Too Quickly
Run its course
Nippon Marathon is a lot like that one person at a party who thinks that the only way to gain popularity is to wear clothing that offends the eye and act all ‘wacky’, because being ‘random’ is definitely not another word for being a total bore. Onion Soup Interactive’s off-the-wall multiplayer racer certainly has a lot of...
Review Double Cross - An Enjoyable But Sadly Unmemorable Mega Man Clone
Sophomore slump
Back in darker times for Nintendo during the lifetime of the Wii U, the eShop was characterized by enormous content droughts where few worthwhile games were popping up between the major first-party releases. This opened plenty of space, however, for previously unknown indies to get a larger share of the spotlight, giving their...
Review Omega Strike - A Metal Slug-Style Metroidvania That Offers Throwaway Fun
Three's company
With so many games styled as ‘2D Metroidvania platformers’, any title hoping to make even the smallest of impact these days needs a USP that really makes it stand out from the crowd. A striking art style. An engaging and original story. New and innovative mechanics. Just something. Sadly, just being a decent and enjoyable...
Review Donut County - A Sweet Little Puzzler In Need Of Extra Filling
Short, but sweet
The modern game industry seems to be obsessed with the idea of constantly pushing the higher limits of how much content can be packed into a game, with both AAA and indie developers constantly finding new ways of making games that are exhaustingly long. Often, this leads to inevitable repetitiveness - do we really need sixty...
Review Carcassonne - An Enjoyable But Imperfect Version Of A Board Game Classic
We built this city on part-time dough
The board game Carcassonne is undeniably one of the classics – the Medieval, landscape-building game has kept millions occupied over nearly two decades. The prospect of Carcassonne on the Switch had us very excited, but we found the final product only scores slightly better than an incomplete city. For those...
Review Koloro - A Capable Yet Ultimately Forgettable Puzzle-Platformer
Love in the time of Koloro
With so many titles on eShop – from tiny mobile curios to triple-A epics – being ‘good’ simply isn’t be good enough anymore; you need something unique or dazzling to stand out in the crowd. Set in the subconscious dreamworld of a young girl named Kora, Koloro is a one-button (or touch) puzzle-platformer. Morphed...
Review Uncanny Valley - A Commendable Take On Old-School Horror Let Down By Its Own Design
Who watches the (night)watchmen?
Horror, when done right, can be a truly wonderful thing to behold - especially in the interactive realm of video games. Find the right mechanics, marry them to a setup that sells its dark heart, and find a balance that doesn’t undersell or dilute its scares and building sense of dread. Uncanny Valley comes close in...
Review V-Rally 4 - A Bumpy Ride That Will Only Reward Dedicated Motorsport Fans
Its roots are showing
The Switch isn’t lacking when it comes to racing games, but there’s one particular subsection of the genre in which it’s been left wanting so far: rally games. The current king of rally in the gaming world is Codemasters, but it’s been slow to support the Switch and its first offering (coming in 2019) will be a port of...
Review Atari Flashback Classics - This Dusty Collection Sadly Opts For Quantity Over Quality
Going old, old, old school
Usually, when it comes to retro gaming compilations we tend to see two schools of thought: quality or quantity. The former usually consist of a modest helping of games, but each is given lots of care and attention and supported with heaps of extra content. Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection and the recent SNK 40th...
Poor harvest
These days, practically every possible kind of pastime, occupation and setting has a gaming equivalent. Take the simulation genre for instance; a place that’s packed with all manner of seemingly mundane concepts that have gamified to create some of the most bizarrely engrossing experiences you can play. Farming simulators have been...
Review Gear.Club Unlimited 2 - Sluggish Controls Force This Real-World Racer Off The Track
Back of the grid
Last year’s Gear.Club Unlimited was a decent attempt at bringing a ‘serious’ racing game to the Switch. Based on a mobile game, the ‘Unlimited’ part of the title referred to the scrapping of microtransactions and all the other nonsense you got when playing it on your phone. Although Gear.Club Unlimited was a good start, it...
Park life
Who would have thought way back in the late ’90s – when PC gaming was producing some of its biggest and most beloved hits – that a simulator all about building and maintaining a theme park would prove to be an enduring classic in its own right? And while the RollerCoaster Tycoon games took something of a nosedive once creator and...
Review Ark: Survival Evolved - An Ambitious Survival Epic That's Borderline Unplayable On Switch
Extinction event
Since this review was originally published, the Ark: Ultimate Survivor Edition update launched (in November 2022) and 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...
Review Toki - Gorgeous Arcade Platforming That's Over All Too Quickly
Chimpin’ ain’t easy
Of all the ‘80s and ‘90s retro games getting modern remakes these days, it’s probably fair to say that Toki wasn’t exactly on most gamers’ wishlists. While it was an entertaining action platformer back in the day, it’s one of those titles that very much remained in the 20th century and is rarely brought up in...
Review Toast Time: Smash Up! - A Tasty Brawler That Needs Just A Little More Time In The Oven
A bit underdone
In the modern age of gaming, one must wonder if there’s still a place for the ‘okay’ games in a marketplace that becomes ever more crowded with quality content. The rise of indie game development and the production values of AAA game development have resulted in a world where players have neither the time nor the money to play...
Review Harvest Life - An Unpolished Farm Sim That Lacks The Charm Of Its Influences
Nature’s fertiliser
We were brought up (as were the majority of you lovely people, we’re sure) to keep schtum when you’ve got nothing nice to say. Unfortunately, this review would be over almost as soon as it had begun, so we’re going to dig deep to find some drops of positivity in farm sim Harvest Life. It’s not egregiously terrible –...
Review Bendy And The Ink Machine - Filled With Cartoon Scares That Eventually Lose Their Power
Screamboat Willie
Conjure thoughts of the animation’s early years in the 20th century – the black and white era of the 1920s and ’30s that gave us everything from Steamboat Mickey to Felix the Cat – and it’s unlikely you’ll feel particularly unsettled as a result. Enchanted perhaps, maybe even a little nonplussed, but scared? It’s...
Review Mother Russia Bleeds - A Tepid Beat 'Em Up That's Big On Gore But Low On Gratification
Wince and repeat
Like most things from the late '80s and early '90s, the 2D side-scrolling beat 'em up is no longer particularly cool or relevant. Sure, a certain type of ageing nostalgist (guilty as charged) will get excited about Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle or Streets of Rage 4, but the kids have long since moved on to something else. And let's face...
Review Saboteur! - A Well-Intentioned Nostalgia Trip That Fails To Get Pulses Racing
Re-enter The Dragon
Remakes and re-releases of retro console games are ten a penny these days; there are countless old-school titles from the likes of Nintendo, Sega, SNK and Namco available for newer audiences to discover on modern platforms like the Switch. It’s uncommon, though, for home computer games – specifically those from the ZX...
By the numbers
Early this year, when the three Mercenaries Saga games were brought together in the Chronicles collection on Switch, it offered impressive value for money if you were hungry for some Final Fantasy Tactics/Tactics Ogre-esque gameplay – although there were already other options. An absolute deluge of software in the intervening...
Review Sports Party - A Wii Sports-Style Social Experience That Sadly Lacks Depth
Party pooper
Once upon a time, recreational sports games with motion controls were all the rage. A decade ago, when the Wii was at the height of its mainstream popularity, there was a glut of forgettable and downright terrible games that somehow turned using a Wii Remote from a fun social experience into an exercise in unresponsive torture. Sports...
Review Nickelodeon Kart Racers - A Poor Man's Mario Kart That Squanders Its Potential
"I'm ugly and I'm proud"
Over the years, Nickelodeon has amassed quite a varied and deep stable of entertaining cartoon franchises, with characters like Spongebob Squarepants and Aang becoming cultural icons that are recognized the world over. It stands to reason, then, that the company could produce a solid kart racer in the vein of Mario Kart;...
That quarterback is toast
Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition is a weird depiction of arcade football. In many ways, it's nothing like an actual game of football due to (cheap) dirty tricks and on-the-field obstacles that greatly change the course of a contest. Unfortunately, these additions mar the experience, turning it into a frustrating game...
Review My Hero One's Justice - In-Your-Face Fighting Fun That Might Be Too Shallow For Some
Quirks of the job
2018 hasn’t just been a golden year for fighting games - with everything from Blade Strangers to the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Ultimate laying the smacketh down on consoles - it’s also been a cracker for anime adaptations making themselves welcome on Nintendo Switch. So what happens when these two potent streams collide? Well,...
Review Yomawari: The Long Night Collection - Fear And Frustration In Equal Measure
Alone in the dark
Horror of the simplest form is often the scariest. The danger that lurks unseen. The shifting darkness that stirs only in the corner of the eye. A distant scream or a whisper that’s impossibly close. It’s this ideal that’s helped games of a terrifying persuasion extend their roots among the small budgets and remits of the...