Switch eShop, Switch Game Reviews scoring 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6/10
Review Gal*Gun: Double Peace (Switch) - One To Avoid Playing On Public Transport
Pervert party
Look, there’s nothing wrong with a little anatomical allure, generally speaking. Hell, many an impressionable teenager hit pause to glimpse Chun-Li’s undies back in the day, and Capcom knew it. Sex sells, and, like all commercial media, video game developers aren’t immune to slapping some greasy smut on-disc in the hope of...
Review Aztech Forgotten Gods (Switch) - Stylish But Compromised By Its Combat And Camera
An az-technical disappointment
Considering its instantly recognisable iconography, the Mesoamerican Aztec culture is one that has rarely featured in video games. We’ve seen games like Aztec: Empire, sure, but there are a lot more examples tied to periods like the Second World War, the American Revolution, and Ancient Rome, to name but a few...
Review Taito Milestones (Switch) - An Oddly Meagre Collection Of Coin-Op Classics
A muted celebration of an important developer
A small "Powered by Arcade Archives" message sits in the corner of Taito Milestones' dual-purpose title/game select screen, a subdued seal of quality there to let players know the emulation within is of the same standard we've come to expect from Hamster's prolific series, with all the usual features...
Review Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece For Cloud (Switch) - A Great Series That Deserves Better
Not like this
Note: For more details on the games in this cloud version package, check out our individual reviews for Kingdom Hearts 1.5 + 2.5 ReMix, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, and Kingdom Hearts III + Re:Mind. For an overview of the Integrum Masterpiece collection of all those games, read on.
Review Kingdom Hearts III + Re:Mind - Cloud Version (Switch) - Shot Through The Heart
Re:Mind us not to buy this
And so we come to the end – for now – of Tetsuya Nomura’s iconic and in-no-way-confusing Kingdom Hearts series. Additionally, then, this is the end of our excursion into the nebulous Cloud; pun extremely intended. Yet, of course, for all the shade we throw at the concept of Cloud Versions and the myriad flaws they...
It's not just your connection that'll Drop
And so it goes on. With Square Enix uploading all of the past Kingdom Hearts games to The Cloud, naturally the enthusiastically-titled Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue has arrived – another compilation, this time bringing one full game, one four-hour teaser for Kingdom Hearts III and another...
We put Cloud in your cloud
We begged for this, you know. We begged on our damn, dirty knees for Kingdom Hearts to come to Switch. Not Melody of Memory, that's a half-measure. We wanted the full shebang, 1.5 + 2.5 ReMix. And now we've got it... in the most cursed form possible, a Cloud Version. Don't worry, we're not going to spend the whole review...
Review Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires (Switch) - A Disappointing, Dialled-Back Downgrade
Under Siege
Koei Tecmo's Dynasty Warriors series has followed much the same rhythm of releases since way back in the early noughties, with each mainline entry in the franchise since 2003's Dynasty Warriors 4 followed by both an Xtreme and Empires spin-off, the latter of which adds a little bit of strategic tinkering to the usual Musou mix. It's...
Review GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon (Switch) - A Dead Ringer From Konami That Struggles To Succeed
Packed with potential — and not much else
It takes mere moments to notice that GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon, the welcome revival of Konami's Famicom-exclusive action/RPG hybrid GetsuFumaDen, is the once-respected publisher's uncomfortably close take on Dead Cells' excellent 'action roguelite' gameplay. There's the opening room containing a visual...
Review Maglam Lord (Switch) - Great Characters And Writing, But Grindy, Repetitive Combat
Raising a little hell in search of love
It is a long tradition in JRPGs to have the main character attempt to kill the gods that rule over them, but very rarely does this happen in the opening moments of the game. This is the case for Maglam Lord, which has now landed in the West. In Maglam Lord, players take control of a demon lord with the...
Mini Review Horrid Henry's Krazy Karts (Switch) - One For The Kids
Unlike Henry, it isn't bad
Say what you will about Horrid Henry's suitability as a role model for youngsters, but there’s no denying the popularity of the franchise. Although there don’t appear to be any new books on the way anytime soon, the fact is they continue to sell well and its five-series animated spin-off now sits proudly on Netflix...
Review Vagante (Switch) - A Roguelike Too Empty To Make An Impact
A class below the rest
Over the past decade, few genres have boomed as much as the roguelike. Indie games like The Binding of Isaac, Crypt of the Necrodancer, Dead Cells and Hades have brought attention to a genre once thought to be far too punishing for a mainstream audience, even if the core run-based gameplay is tweaked slightly into a -lite or a...
Review Blackwind (Switch) - Hack 'N' Slash Mech Mayhem That Misses The Mark
Not much wind in these sails
Once upon a time in an unfortunate culinary incident, this writer managed to accidentally create a bowl of literally flavorless Jell-O. The Jell-O (that's jelly to you UK folk) was cold, completely clear, chewy, and somehow managed to leave a massive impression, solely because of how its flavor left absolutely no...
Mini Review Twelve Minutes (Switch) - A Tedious Time Loop That Squanders Its Potential
"No, Samus, no!" we cried, "It's not THAT Ridley!"
It’s almost impossible to avoid comparing 12 Minutes to the classic existential horror movie, Groundhog Day. It’s the same basic premise, after all; famous actor goes into house, eats cake, gets assaulted by policeman, chokes to death, wakes up in the time loop. Okay, maybe they’re not exactly...
Review Hollow 2 (Switch) - A Sequel That Shoots Itself In The Foot
Game over, man, game over!
Sequels are supposed to be better than their predecessors. Although such a statement doesn’t always ring true (plenty will have a lot to say about which of the Metroid Prime games is their favourite) the intention behind a sequel is to learn from and improve upon previous works - that’s the theory, at least. When...
Review Dungeon Munchies (Switch) - Not Without Potential, But Also Serious Early Access Issues
Undercooked
There’s a lot of debate these days about what constitutes a ‘complete’ game. Is a game complete when it launches, or does it only cross that threshold when the developer finally stops updating it? If it’s neither of those, how many updates or how much content have to be added until it is done? What about when a game is ‘content...
Review Valis: The Fantasm Soldier Collection (Switch) - An Incomplete Compilation Of Cult Classics
Not so fantasmic
You’d struggle to find a set of games better suited to a convenient retro compilation than Valis: The Phantasm Soldier. The late '80s/early '90s platform-shooter Castlevania-ish hybrid series spans at least half a dozen formats from esoteric Japanese computers to the Mega Drive, each release — even when they’re supposed to be...
Review Doctor Who: The Edge Of Reality (Switch) - A Fair Adventure With Serious Performance Issues
Flux, but no capacity
It seems as though the key to making a good Doctor Who game is... to not let the player take control of The Doctor. Developer Maze Theory's recent (and rather excellent) Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins was a compelling realisation of this concept, and now Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality is a somewhat more traditional take on...
Review BloodRayne 2 ReVamped (Switch) - A Definite Improvement, But Dante Won't Lose Any Sleep
Second time's the charm
Sometimes it takes a few tries for a developer to properly execute their vision for a game. Just look at the original Metroid and then think of how it led to Super Metroid. It’s not that the original was bad, but it was a rudimentary initial take on what Yoshio Sakamoto really had in mind from the beginning. The same...
Review BloodRayne ReVamped (Switch) - A Joyless, Frustrating Port That Shows How Far We've Come
Dhampir squib
These days, it feels like every other ‘new’ game being released is a remake or a remaster of some old game. There’s value in this, however, as it’s wonderful to have great games that were previously locked to old platforms brought onto modern devices with improvements and additions. But, just because a game is retro, doesn’t...
Review Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp (Switch) - Fanservice Aplenty, But A Total Grindfest
A Killing Game for your wallet
As we've established previously, Danganronpa is pretty skeevy in its narrative. Thankfully, though, it has managed to avoid bringing said skeev outside of its world, outside of the fictional space that makes it somewhat more palatable. Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp, unfortunately, rather breaks that promise. The...
Mini Review Real Boxing 2 (Switch) - A Pitifully Poor Punch-Out That Should Have Stayed On Phones
Fright Night
Boxing games live or die by their gameplay. You can make the visuals look as beautiful as possible, down to the rippling biceps and beads of sweat, but if the punches don’t land right, then the whole experience will suffer as a result. Unfortunately, Real Boxing 2 comes up short with both its visuals and its gameplay, delivering a...
Review NASCAR Heat Ultimate Edition+ (Switch) - An Ugly, Unremarkable Racer
Racing to leave you cold
By now, Nintendo fans must be used to drawing the short straw when it comes to multi-platform games. With the Switch containing objectively weaker innards than its closest competitors, many third-party devs will need to cut a few corners in order to allow their games to run on the hybrid console. This might come in the form...
Review Epic Chef (Switch) - Needlessly Bloated But Perfectly Edible
Undercooked life sim
Despite what its name suggests, Epic Chef is about more than just cooking. Taking place in the city of Ambrosia, you take on the role of Zest (like lemon zest, right? Ha!), who is chucked head-first out of a ship as it comes to a stop at the city docks. After meeting a few of the local residents, he makes his way to a run-down...
Review Pokémon Brilliant Diamond And Shining Pearl (Switch) - A Middling Pair Of Remakes
Not so shining
It’s always difficult to know just how much of a game to change when you’re remaking it, and that is certainly true when it comes to the insanely-popular Pokémon series. Go too far, and you risk alienating the audience, as was evident with the enjoyable but somewhat simplified Let’s Go! Pikachu and Eevee Switch remakes of the...
Review Beyond Blue (Switch) - Echoes Of Endless Ocean In This Noble Effort That Never Quite Gels
More wet than deep
Imagine you dragged yourself into a boring marine biology lecture and it turned out to be an awesome rock concert about dolphins. That’s the edutainment promise and it’s more or less what E-Line Media seem to be aiming for with Beyond Blue – but with a cool video game instead of the rock concert. There’s some serious cred...
Wasted
Since this review was originally published, updates have reportedly addressed or improved one or more of the issues cited. Unfortunately, we cannot revisit games on an individual basis, but it should be noted that the updated game may offer an improved experience over the one detailed below. <related ids="151863"> It sho
Mini Review Heaven's Machine (Switch) - Short, But Unfortunately Not Sweet
A bullet hellish experience
Heaven's Machine is the first of Super Rare Games’ ‘Super Rare Shorts’ series; brand new indie games only released on the Switch in physical form and only available to buy during a short open preorder window. It's certainly an unusual idea but, unfortunately, this is probably not the start they were hoping for...
Review Just Dance 2022 (Switch) - Still Fun, But Feels More Like An Ad Than A Game
Love Story?
Ubisoft's Just Dance returns once again to give us our annual dose of disco boogie action, and there's absolutely zero surprises in Just Dance 2022 if you've ever played an entry in this series before. There's a fairly solid bit of dance fun to be had with this one, but it's also overwhelmingly familiar stuff that takes every opportunity...
Yawn of the Dead?
Saber Interactive's World War Z is the very definition of a bland, middle-of-the-road game that takes very obvious inspiration from much better titles – in this case the Left 4 Dead series – and serves up a rather lazy rehash, excelling at nothing in particular while still providing a reasonably breezy good time, so long as...