Switch eShop, Switch Game Reviews from 2020 scoring 8/10
Review Aleste Collection - M2 Does It Again With This Wonderful Fusion Of Old And New
Vintage shmup action on Switch
M2's Shot Triggers range has a track record of bringing rare and refined arcade shmups home, either making them available on consoles for the first time ever or at the very least making them affordable for the first time in decades. The titles M2 work hard to preserve for future generations are often so incredible...
Review Grindstone - A Thrilling And Compelling Puzzle Adventure
A lot of grinding, but no Stony Hawk
Apply the minutiae of your daily tasks to the mechanics of Grindstone, and you’ve got a recipe for a satisfying lifestyle as far as we’re concerned. This methodical puzzle game has a delightful focus on the excitement of building momentum and a beautifully balanced sense of risk and reward. It’s also about...
Review Football Manager 2021 Touch - With Patience, This One's Got Great Potential
It's got a Silva lining
Well, it’s that time of year again. Quite literally, in fact, as it was on this very date last year that we published our Football Manager 2020 Touch review. Here we now have the 2021 edition, and to Sports Interactive’s credit there have at least been some attempts made to mix things up a bit. Whereas EA’s FIFA series...
Review Among Us - The Lockdown Hit Finally Comes To Switch
Don't be sus
Innersloth's Among Us has become something of a gaming sensation in 2020, some two whole years after it first quietly released as a free-to-play title on iOS and Android devices. Due to a combination of factors – which no doubt include huge Twitch popularity driven by its unique social dynamics and a captive lockdown audience looking...
Review Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure Pack - A Fine Western Debut For This Drumming Duo
A thumpin’ good time
The Switch is no stranger to ports of older titles. Following hot on the heels of the delightful Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum ‘n’ Fun! in 2018, Don and Katsu are back with a pair of beefed up 3DS titles never before released in the West: Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure 1 and Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure 2...
Review DOOM Eternal - This 'Impossible' Port Is Nothing Short Of A Miracle
It's a Hell of a conversion
Look, we know how this is going to go. We’ve been around the blocks more than a few times, and we’re old enough to have been using the internet when people still gave their emoticons noses (and still called them emoticons), so at this point, we don’t have to be soothsayers to know what’s going to happen here: some...
Review Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 - Another Fine Fusion Of Two Puzzle Greats
Another one of those block-dropping feats
The original Puyo Puyo Tetris was one of those strange combinations that didn't seem like it would work but was actually surprisingly moreish, sort of like whoever came up with the idea of cola chicken: a mad idea, without a doubt, but the results speak for themselves. Now Puyo Puyo Tetris has returned, and...
Review Sam & Max Save The World - An Excellent Point-And-Click Series Remastered For 2020
Has all the Telltale signs of a solid update
In the world of point-and-click adventure games, there are a few names that stand out as icons of the genre, especially if you’re of a certain vintage. Monkey Island. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The Walking Dead (more recently). Sam & Max Hit the Road. The last of these was a 1993 adventure...
Review Star Renegades - Borrows Ideas From The Best To Create A Truly Inventive RPG
"Something good? Something bad? A bit of both?"
Modern game design can be a fickle beast, in that it often falls on either end of the spectrum of innovation. On one hand, you have games that are content to ‘play it safe’ and only stick to well-worn genre conventions that are satisfying, if not unsurprising. On the other end, you have games that...
Review Phogs! - Utterly Cute And Charming Co-Op Fun
Where poodle meets noodle
What do you get if you take one part Push Me Pull You, one part Noby Noby Boy, one part CatDog and a weirdly large helping of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons? Depending on which parts you take, you'll either end up with a tale of fraternal love and body horror, or you'll end up with Phogs: a game in which you play,...
Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube764k Watch on YouTube Review Wildfire - A Thoroughly Enjoyable Slow-Burn Of A Game
I am the god of hellfire, and I bring you...
Sidestepping any potential controversy about whether or not they exist or if their persecution is merely an expression of historical misogyny, I think it’s a universal truth that if you’ve got a Witch, you need to be able to burn it. It’s an alarming development, then, that Wildfire begins with the...
Review Cake Bash - Delicious Multiplayer Action That's Too Tasty To Ignore
Much ado about muffin
The majority of people, young or old, would be forced to concede that cakes are delicious. Nobody dislikes sweets, and anyone who did would rightfully be cast out from society and forced to live in some sort of modified bin. It's a canny move, then, to make a game about said desserts. It guarantees at least a 5/10 from any...
Review Kingdom Hearts: Melody Of Memory - A Marvelous Musical Trip Down Memory Lane
Simple and clean
It’s hard to believe that the Kingdom Hearts franchise has been around for nearly twenty years. The odd pairing of Final Fantasy and several Disney franchises always sounded like an idea that just wouldn’t play out right, but the series has gone on to garner quite a sizable and passionate fanbase over its long run. With last...
Review Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity - Not The Zelda Game You Want, But Perhaps The One You Need
Calamity game
You know the Gerudo Valley theme from Ocarina of Time? It's a kickass tune – probably top five Zelda tracks – and one that's sure to get your blood pumping. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is all Gerudo Valley, a rousing number that'll fire you up for the journey ahead. It's also a tad repetitive and just one part of the symphony...
Review Sniper Elite 4 - The Nazi-Slaying Series' Best Entry Comes To Switch
Moisten Nagant
Rebellion's Sniper Elite 4 was released to some high praise back in February of 2017, and is widely regarded as the best entry in the long-running series to date; it's a fun and flexible sniper's paradise with ten lengthy campaign missions set across the largest, most varied and vertical levels that crack Nazi skull-exploder Karl...
Mini Review Pure Pool - As Close To The Real Thing As You'll Get On Switch
A ball game right on cue
Pure Pool does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a pool game through and through, and a darn good one at that. Developer VooFoo Studios has wisely restrained from flooding Pure Pool with wacky flourishes and overblown physics, instead focusing on delivering an experience that’s as close to the real deal as you’re...
Review Dungreed - A Great Roguelite For Those New To The Genre
More like roguelove!
Live, die, repeat. Such is the way in roguelikes, which are experiencing somewhat of a resurgence in popularity lately, with the likes of Spelunky 2 and Hades dominating whatever remains of watercooler talk now that no one goes to the office any more. You live, making your way through dungeons, finding new weapons, beating a...
Mini Review Mad Rat Dead - A Delightful Mix Of Rhythm Action And Platforming
Rodent rave
There’s one thing that really stood out to us when we started getting to grips with Mad Rat Dead: this game is cool. Everything about it, from the stylish visuals to the sublime soundtrack, screams attitude, and the devs have done a remarkable job in conveying this feeling without going overboard. If you’re a sucker for rhythm games,...
Review Jurassic World Evolution: Complete Edition - A Murder Park Simulator With Bite
Life Finds A Way!
Ever since Steven Spielberg first made the stunning discovery of the existence of dinosaurs back in the summer of 1993 (they certainly didn't exist before then, right?), the human race has been enraptured by the power and majesty of these mysterious, magnificent beasts. In the immediate aftermath of Spielberg's Oscar-winning find,...
Review Descenders - An Addictive Downhill Dash Of A Roguelite You'll Want To Check Out
Roguebike
RageSquid's Descenders, which originally released into early access on PC all the way back in 2018, has always felt like it could be a pretty good fit for the pick-up-and-play nature of Nintendo Switch. A unique roguelite offering that swaps the dingy dungeon combat usually favoured by the genre for viciously fast downhill biking, its...
Mini Review TENS! - Immediately Accessible Puzzle Action
Get ready for sum fun
For many, maths (or math, for you folks over the pond) isn’t always the most therapeutic of exercises. It can be downright perplexing at times, and if you don’t have a natural aptitude for numbers (like this writer), then frustration can set in quickly. It’s good, then, that TENS! – from developer Kwalee – doesn’t...
Mini Review Touhou Spell Bubble - A Puzzle Bobble Sequel In All But Name
Taito hops onto the Touhou Project
The Touhou Project is one of the most noteworthy success stories of independent game development there has ever been. Since 1995, creator Jun'ya "ZUN" Ōta has self-published 22 games in the series – and over the course of that period, there have been numerous spin-off games created by fans of the series who want...
Review Control: Ultimate Edition - A Highly Convincing Proof-Of-Concept For Cloud Gaming On Switch
Upper Escherlon Gaming
If you haven't played Control yet, the game's newest release on Nintendo Switch might be enough to finally tempt you to give it a go. But one question looms large over the Switch's version of the game: does it actually run well on Nintendo's less-powerful home console? The short answer is: yes. The slightly longer answer is:...
Review Disc Room - A Meat Grinder Of A Game Which Packs A Real Challenge
My god, it's full of discs
In 1977, the United States launched the Voyager program, in which NASA launched two probes into deep space as a sort of “bottle into the cosmic ocean”. Aboard these two probes, golden phonograph discs were included bearing images and sounds relevant to all cultures and forms of earthly life, and these were placed...
Review Angry Video Game Nerd 1 & 2 Deluxe - A Double-Dose Of Accomplished Platforming Action
Don't get angry
There’s a reason that James Rolfe’s Angry Video Game Nerd character has outlasted and out-performed so many imitators – the veneer of showmanship and the pantomimed, goofy, insincere anger are worlds apart from the genuine venom spewed by those he seems to have influenced. The Nerd isn’t a dangerous, hateful entity – he’s...
Review Green Hell - A Brutal And Rewarding Open-World Survival Sim
Welcome to the Jungle
If you're a fan of relentlessly brutal open-world survival sims that fling you sans ceremony into a dangerous wilderness full of death and danger, then Creepy Jar's Green Hell might just be right up your street. Here is a survival effort that sticks admirably to its core conceit, never once allowing you an unearned foothold in...
Review Wallachia: Reign Of Dracula - Contra Meets Castlevania In This Excellent Action Title
Vampire slaying meets running-and-gunning
French studio Migami Games made a name for itself with excellent Castlevania fan games like The Lecarde Chronicles 1 and 2, but fan games don’t keep the lights on or put food on the table, so the team has understandably embraced commerci
Review Pikmin 3 Deluxe - Perhaps Not Worth A Double Dip, But The Choice Pick For New Players
Wii say U want a resolution
As each month passes the Wii U becomes less and less relevant, as most of its first-party library continues to be lifted up, piece by piece, and carried over to the Switch. Why, it’s almost like what Pikmin do – DO YOU GET WHERE WE’RE GOING WITH THIS? Pikmin 3 Deluxe is Nintendo’s attempt at a definitive port of...
Review Pumpkin Jack - The Perfect Platforming Treat For The Spooky Season
Tonnes of skele-fun
We don’t know about you, but Halloween is one of our favourite times of the year. Autumn is in full force, supermarkets are littered with skeletons and pumpkins, and it’s possibly the only time of year where it’s acceptable to watch The Exorcist on repeat while gorging on Toblerone (although you'll forgive us if that's been...
Review MindSeize - Slick Mega Man Zero-Style Action Jammed Into A Metroidvania
Nothing to Seize at
When it’s in full flow, MindSeize has the flair and feel of Mega Man Zero. And believe us, that’s not something we’d say lightly, considering that Capcom’s beloved handheld series remains at the apex of 2D action gameplay. There’s a similarity in certain aspects of the game’s design, but mostly in its mechanics and...
