Game Reviews scoring 8/10
Review Super Meat Boy 3D (Switch 2) - Not The Finest Cut, But Still Tasty
A real meat grinder
In many ways, the gaming landscape was radically different in 2010, and one difference was a relative lack of indie releases. Nowadays, it’s not uncommon for games like Balatro or Hollow Knight: Silksong to have equal sales, attention, and excitement behind them as major AAA releases, and it can be easy to forget that such...
Spirited away
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is an easy game, but it has two near insurmountable difficulty spikes. The first is the compulsion to constantly sit with your companion critters and make them dance around you or kiss you on the cheek, which brings the game to a screeching halt. The second is an overwhelming urge to use the game’s photo mode...
Ride on!
Well, folks, it’s finally here. After working through remasters of all the most popular Mega Man sub-series, the remaining question was whether Capcom would then go on to bring back some of the Blue Bomber's less successful major adventures. While our hearts still go out to fans of Mega Man Legends (any day now...), Mega Man Star Force:...
Would you like to know more?
While titles like the upcoming Sprawl Zero may herald the dawn of the 'millennial shooter' on other platforms, Switch remains a comfortable home for the retro stylings of the boomer shooter. Games like Boltgun, Dusk, and Ion Fury make for enjoyable '90s throwbacks, while the titles that inspired them, including DOOM,...
To the gurney
Following a handful of Star Trek games on Switch over the last few years, a couple of which have been rather good, Switch 2 now has its own entry in the Trek library courtesy of German devs GameXcite, and this is probably the best one yet - IF (big if) you've got the stones for a long, arduous journey. It's worth emphasising up front...
Ganon fire
I’ve seen lots of games try to emulate top-down Zelda over the years; some to great success and others, well… not so much. Minishoot’ Adventures - NIntendo Switch 2 Edition falls into the first camp, and although it’s not as grand in scale as your average Hyrulian quest these days, it nevertheless nails the feel of a great Zelda...
It's a Monstie world
It’s fair to say that, at the time of writing, Capcom is on an absolute roll with Nintendo Switch 2. Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection arrives against that backdrop, but also as a continuation of a franchise spin-off that began as a 3DS exclusive. Nintendo systems have benefited from plenty of Monster Hunter games...
Review Pokémon Pokopia (Switch 2) - One Of The Most Enticing Pokémon Games Ever
I'm gonna reconstruct block by block
We've now spent some time with Pokémon Pokopia's multiplayer modes, and they're the perfect companion to the creative single-player experience. Check out our thoughts at the bottom of this review. I feel like I’ve been rebuilding my relationship with Pokémon over the past decade. It’s been a weird...
Let's have a rave-up
There's part of me that still can't quite believe I'm playing Rave Racer on a home console. Namco's 1995 sequel to Ridge Racer never made it out of the arcades back in the day, despite promises that it would be ported to PC as part of NEC's push for its PowerVR graphics processor. For years, the game's legacy has been having...
Review The Disney Afternoon Collection (Switch 2) - A Delightful Yet Difficult '90s Throwback
Good afternoon
It’s been a long time coming — almost nine years, in fact — but Capcom’s The Disney Afternoon Collection is now finally heading to the Switch and Switch 2 under the stewardship of Atari and developer Digital Eclipse. Not to rub it in the faces of PlayStation and Xbox owners (except that’s exactly what I'm doing), but it’s...
Anything Qud happen
The legends of Caves of Qud stretch back into the ancient times, through mists of lore, to a moment of destiny. That’s right – all the way back to 2007, when American team Freehold Games began development on this ambitious roguelike RPG. After a 17-year journey to version 1.0 in 2024, gathering a devoted PC following, this...
The bomb
One of the most pleasant surprises of this month’s Partner Direct was the reveal and shadow drop of the Super Bomberman Collection, a compilation of some of the eponymous hero’s earliest games with some extra goodies thrown in. Though it’s ultimately little more than the sum of its parts, Super Bomberman Collection does a great job of...
Review Ys X: Proud Nordics (Switch 2) - The Definitive Version Of Adol Christin's Seafaring Saga
Such is the Norman way
It feels like just yesterday that Ys X: Nordics slashed its way onto the Switch to deliver another one of the series’ action-packed adventures for the ages — and, really, that’s not too far off the mark. The 10th mainline entry in NIS’ seminal RPG franchise made its way westward back in late 2024, which is still plenty...
Once upon a time...
While we continue to wait for a true RPG sequel to the early Paper Mario games, many indie developers have attempted to fill the void, and while nobody has quite managed to recapture their magic, Escape from Ever After feels like the closest anyone has gotten yet. It’s got some quirks, but it does a great job of offering an...
Review Mario Tennis Fever (Switch 2) - Slim For Singles, But An Addictive Core Gives It Online Legs
Nadal it's cracked up to be?
Having never been any sort of tennis fan for my entire childhood — Wimbledon always seemed a bit posh to me — I fell completely and utterly in love with the sport in my teenage years through the medium of video games. Yes. Video games. They're a whole thing! And just as has been the case with American football,...
Nightmares and Dreamscapes
The Metroidvania revival (did it ever really go away?) keeps rolling, and here comes another stylised combat-platformer where a strange little hero gets lost in a dark, labyrinthine fantasy world. This time, our protagonist is John, who stumbles into a bizarre realm full of somnambulist weirdos and giant babies. Studio...
Vroom, shake the room?
For serious petrolheads, the Switch 1 wasn't exactly a (Burnout) paradise platform. In fact, given the size of the console's library, there's surprisingly little in the way of even semi-serious racing sims for those looking for more than kart racing, smaller-scale experiences that hone in on one aspect and expand (such as the...
Lost in memory
Team Cherry set a new genre standard with Hollow Knight. That legacy has recently been reaffirmed by the long-awaited Silksong, a release that developers and publishers alike are now clamouring to match. These are beautifully animated combat platformers, built around tight controls and striking art direction. Players explore...
The path to a radiant dawn awaits
Did you know that the Japanese version of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance has a 'Maniac' difficulty mode? You did? And did you know that this mode sort of fixes my biggest problem with the game? You did? Can I do the review anyway? Thanks. Jumping back into Path of Radiance, the first home console FE, for the first...
Review The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Beyond The Horizon (Switch 2) - A Step Up From Daybreak II
One small step for man
The long-running Trails series needs little introduction, as Falcom has been chipping away at this JRPG narrative for the better part of two decades across a variety of arcs and perspectives spread over more than a dozen interconnected games. While newcomers have traditionally been discouraged by the mountain of homework...
Review Stray Children (Switch) - A Surreal, Captivating, Undertale-Inspired RPG
Don’t talk to strangers
Stray Children launched on the Japanese eShop on 26th December 2024. We weren't able to review it back in October when it arrived in the West, but we've now managed to catch up with Onion Games' latest... Your dad’s missing and some weird “uncle” is at the door, claiming to know you. Stray Children just chucks you...
No mice, no dice?
I'm not sure how many times I've played through the opening hours of Divinity: Original Sin 2, but it's a lot, and it's been across a long period of time via various platforms. What I'm saying is that I've experienced this all-timer during phases of janky performance, and whilst it's a game that still shines, no matter the...
Start your engines...
A couple of months ago, Sega released Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds for the Switch 1, bringing a generally solid kart racer that gave Mario Kart a run for its money. Yet, what held it back from greatness was the overall poor performance, whether you played it on Switch 1 or via backwards compatibility on Switch 2, with each system...
Review Skate Story (Switch 2) – A Laid-Back Kickflip Through The Underworld
An afterlife that looks and sounds divine
“My games are concepts and feelings that I can't describe in words,” solo developer Sam Eng said in a 2024 interview for Chanel, after winning the brand’s prestigious Next Prize. “Everything I encounter, I try to portray in a gameplay or audio-visual experience.” These quotes give a taste of how...
Mini Review Metroid Prime 4: Beyond (Switch 1) - An Impressive Version If You've Yet To Upgrade
Smooth as a Morph Ball 'round a half pipe
After having completed Metroid Prime 4: Beyond on Switch 2, booting the game up on the original Switch was an immediately familiar, if bizarre experience. The game was almost certainly made with Nintendo’s 2017 system in mind from the off given how long it’s been in development, and yet there’s...
Review Marvel Cosmic Invasion (Switch) - Up There With Best-Ever Arcade Marvel Games
The prequel to the sequel to the sequel to the prequel
It’s been over three years since Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge was released, and Tribute Games has been really busy. Stuffed like a return-trip suitcase, Marvel Cosmic Invasion’s enormous cast of heroes and villains is here united in a rapturous beat-'em-up fanfare. Its...
Review Assassin's Creed Shadows (Switch 2) - An Ambitious Port Of A Captivating Series Refresh
Without a Shadow of a doubt
Assassin's Creed, Ubisoft’s flagship series, has delivered two decades of time-hopping adventure. Over the years, it has spawned a glut of expansions and spin-offs, building a franchise with a legion of faithful fans. Moving away from the Hitman-like structure of working through a target list, the series reinvented...
No more delays
If you’ve spent years of your life waiting for Metroid Prime 4, Silksong, or one of the many other highly anticipated games that spent substantial time on the horizon, just remember that it could always be worse — you could be an Inazuma Eleven fan. Developer Level-5’s RPG-tinged take on football (or soccer, if that’s your...
Searching for scraps
A scared mouse scurries through an unforgiving landscape packed with abominations that may be friend or foe. This timid squeaker can join forces with Morsels, strange creatures with offensive abilities that fight at their side. With this help, the mouse travels upward toward the domain of the evil overlords who control this...
Review Viewfinder (Switch) - Reality-Shifting Puzzler Is A Chilled, Mind-Bending Experience
From a certain point of view
With a name like Viewfinder, you might be forgiven for thinking that somebody finally decided to capitalise on the picture-hunting format perfected by Pokémon Snap. Perhaps a chilling new instalment in the Fatal Frame series? Developer Sad Owl Studios is going for a different vibe here. The viewfinder in question is a...
