Switch eShop, Switch Game Reviews scoring 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6/10
Review Tales Of Kenzera: ZAU (Switch) - An Emotional Metroidvania That Plays It Too Safe
Zau do you do?
The best thing we can say about Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is that it’s a decent gateway game into the Metroidvania genre. The Switch is so chock full of incredible titles at this point that it can often be difficult to know where to start (we can help with that too, by the way), but Kenzera provides a relatively breezy 6-7-hour...
Mini Review Marenian Tavern Story: Patty And The Hungry God (Switch) - Solid If Familiar Fare
Meet Patty
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. Marenian Tavern Story: Patty and the Hungry God...
Mini Review Steamburg (Switch) - A Clunky Adventure Puzzler With Great Presentation
Steamburger
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. Steamburg is an adventure puzzler that is...
Mini Review Crimson Keep (Switch) - A Fun Dungeon Crawler With A Few Gremlins
Keep going
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. Crimson Keep is a dungeon crawler with an...
Review Library Of Ruina (Switch) - Potential Aplenty, But Just Doesn't Stack Up
My library's in ruins
Library of Ruina is less than the sum of its parts. While this visual novel's dialog sets up a well-established, deep world with interesting characters, its talky repetitiveness eschews plenty of opportunities to make the most of what it's trying to set up. And even with a compelling, card-based battle system that rewards...
Review Slave Zero X (Switch) - Slick, Stylish, But A Hot Mess On Switch
Slice 'n' dice the frame rate
Many games can get away with slightly sketchy performance if the gameplay experience is a bit more laidback and relaxed (or ‘cinematic’, if you like). Others, however, like Slave Zero X, which focus on blistering combat and stylish visuals, can be almost impossible to recommend if their performance isn’t up to...
Review Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath Of The Mutants (Switch) - Coin-Op Co-Op Cowabummer
Not quite a cowablunder
Can you ever truly have too much of a good thing? If you’re a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan, this question must have sprung to mind at least once in recent years. Because in truth, the good things have been coming thick and fast. 2022 brought arguably the series' best beat 'em up ever in Shredder's Revenge and gave us a...
Review Grounded (Switch) - Obsidian's Shrunk-Down Survival Adventure Struggles On Switch
Does this port come up short?
Listen, if you're of a certain vintage, one of the standout summer holiday movies of your youth will undoubtedly have been Disney's excellent Honey, I Shrunk The Kids. Back in those terrible and endlessly cruel times we didn't have all your fancy CGI smothering the life out of every frame, you see, or superheroes...
Review Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes (Switch) - An Immersive JRPG With Some Real Problems
The wait is over
The PS1 played host to a staggering number of memorable and influential RPGs, one of which was Konami’s Suikoden. After that strong debut came a handful of sequels that eventually puttered out during the sixth generation of consoles, and Konami has virtually abandoned the series since. Not ones to be stifled, some key members of...
Review Rose & Camellia Collection (Switch) - An Enjoyably Absurd Yet Frustrating Slapathon
Slappiness is the truth
Certain problems cannot be solved through careful discussion or compromise. Sometimes it isn’t enough to give a verbal beatdown to your rival – you must throw hands as well. The Rose & Camellia series was built upon the idea that not only is a good old-fashioned slapfight fun, but it is often the only dignified way a...
Review Moonglow Bay (Switch) – A Fishing Sim That Doesn't Pull You In
Watered down
Love or hate fishing minigames, there’s no denying they’re a staple of the cosy set. But Moonglow Bay aims to blow that hook-and-line mechanic into a full game. This fishing sim from Bunnyhug and Coatsink launched in 2021 on Steam and Xbox to mixed reviews. The new Switch port (and starboard) starts out as a tranquil few days out on...
Review MLB The Show 24 (Switch) - A Solid Swinger Emerges After A Laughable Launch
Homerun or dinger?
San Diego Studio returns for a third season of baseball action on Nintendo Switch and it's another fairly solid job all round for 2024, giving fans yet another feature-complete port that manages to get the most important stuff right during its deep and addictive matches. Indeed, whilst MLB The Show 24 has seen plenty of technical...
Mini Review Storm Boy (Switch) - An Incredibly Brief But Touching Experience
Pelican't believe it
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. This interactive story game is based...
Mini Review Soap Dodgem (Switch) - A Rudimentary And Repetitive Slide-Puzzle Port
No scrub
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 puzzle game that has you cleaning up stains and...
Review Felix The Cat (Switch) - A Cute But Costly Clowder
Retro charm aplenty but no purring
As one of the earliest animated characters dating back to the silent film era, Felix the Cat’s popularity has waxed and waned over the decades. His charm, though, continues to endure beyond his centenary. He may be the only cartoon mascot older than Mickey Mouse to have also tried their hand at the Super Mario...
Review Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection (Switch) - Riddled With Issues, This Is
Playing this made us Saddlefront
Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection should have been a slam dunk. Take two of the most beloved Star Wars games ever made and their DLC, touch them up a bit, add modern multiplayer support, and release them. Easy money, right? You’d think so, but the reality is that Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection is...
Review South Park: Snow Day! (Switch) - Glitchy, Clunky Co-op That Should've Stayed Indoors
Grab a shovel
South Park’s history with video games has been a mixed bag for the most part and the latest instalment, South Park: Snow Day!, had a lot to live up to following the critical success of Ubisoft’s The Stick of Truth and its sequel, The Fractured But Whole. A shift in genre and developer — Question LLC is at the helm here — has...
Review Contra: Operation Galuga (Switch) - Does The Series Proud, But Best Played Elsewhere
Aggressively attacked
With Konami seemingly devoid of both in-house developers and any kind of passion to revive their beloved IPs, WayForward, predominately a licence mule during the '00s, is by far the best option for a new Contra entry. Its work on 2007’s brutally hardcore Contra 4 cemented the developer's prowess, allowing the player to...
Review Ancient Weapon Holly (Switch) - Serviceable But Shallow Roguelite Action
Hey, everybody. Want to kill all humans?
There is no shortage of terrible things buried deep underground, but, in Ancient Weapon Holly, you get to be the worst of them. This roguelike from Acquire, one of the studios behind the Octopath Traveler series, puts you in control of a powerful robot that seeks revenge on the humans that buried it for...
Review GRIME Definitive Edition (Switch) - A Poor Port Of A Superb Soulslike Metroidvania
Pretty rocky
The best thing we can ever say about a game is that we wanted to keep playing it on our own time after we’ve wrapped up a review. We wish we could tell you that’s the case with Grime. It should be; there’s a really great Souls-inspired Metroidvania here. But a number of technical aspects turn what should be a chip off the ol’...
Rhythm-based puzzling
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. Akihabara - Feel the Rhythm Remixed...
Mini Review Waku Waku Sweets (Switch) - Low-Stakes Baking Minigames With Anime Icing
Baking it
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 port of a 3DS game with some funky new motion...
Mini Review Dexteritrip (Switch) - A Minimalist, Hardcore Platformer With Some Fun Ideas
Trip off the old block
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. Note. This game has, unfortunately,...
Mini Review 911 Operator (Switch) - A Call-Based Sim That's Commendable But Dull
Missed call
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. Perhaps the most realistic police game ever,...
Mini Review Rising Lords (Switch) - Medieval Strategy That Fails To Rise To The Occasion
What is this, the Dark Ages?
There is a king’s ransom of strategy games on Switch, so it takes a lot for one to stand out from the crowd. Unfortunately, Rising Lords from developer Argonwood is memorable for all the wrong reasons. With hollow, tedious gameplay and a combat system that tries to combine too many elements, we were ready to leave...
Mini Review Turnip Boy Robs A Bank (Switch) - A Faulty Frame Rate Foils This Fun Caper
Farmed robbery
After getting a taste of the criminal life in Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion, the cheeky root vegetable returns in Turnip Boy Robs A Bank to, uh, rob a bank—multiple times. While the original game was a charming action-adventure title, the sequel takes inspiration from the likes of Enter the Gungeon and The Binding of Isaac to...
Mini Review Shinorubi (Switch) - A Curious Shooter That's A No-Go In Docked Mode
Not starring Joe Musashi
Shinorubi feels like a game that came about by providing prompts to an AI specialising in video game building (coming soon, no doubt), feeding it information on various historical works of a particular nature, and then publishing whatever it spat out. That might sound mean to the humans that created it, but it’s an apt...
Review Hammerwatch II (Switch) - Feels Like A Rough Draft Of A Fantasy Epic
Be ready to fight powerful enemies, and terrible menu design
Gather forth, mighty heroes, for there is a world to be saved. Evil dragons are lording over humanity while a necromancer has usurped his brother’s throne. We need adventurers with great skill and power to fight through dungeons and battle monsters to give the world a spark of hope...
Mini Review Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator (Switch) - A Potent Brew, But An Unrefined Port
Double, double, toil and trouble…
Looking as if it’s been torn straight out of an alchemist’s journal, Potion Craft is a gorgeous simulation game that’s sure to appeal to the mystically inclined, although — oddly — it feels like a bad fit on Switch. Arriving on Nintendo's console one year after its PC and Xbox launch, it puts you in the...
That's why they call it the blues
What is The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero? That was probably the question on most players’ lips after the Expansion Pass for Pokémon Scarlet & Violet was revealed. Part one, The Teal Mask, was just an appetizer, taking players to a new land in Kitakami and introducing new characters who might just end up being...