Latest Reviews
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 GONNER2 - Another Way To Die In An Increasingly Crowded Genre
I live, I die, I die some more
It’s been three years since GoNNER dropped on Switch, a game we thought pretty highly of. Bringing us a challenging 2D platformer with rogue-like mechanics, it told the story of Ikk, our altruistic blob-like hero that set out to help a land-bound whale called Sally. Placing us in a series of procedurally generated...
Review Pokémon Sword & Shield - The Crown Tundra - Great New DLC Marred By Decades-Old Design
Cold Pokémon go brrr
Pokémon Sword & Shield is now finally complete with the release of The Crown Tundra, the second part of the DLC pass to go alongside The Isle of Armor. But how does it stack up compared to its great – if inconsistent – main game? Well, we'll tell you, because we’re nice like that. We have to be honest, our first...
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...
Review Crown Trick - A Refreshingly Slow-Paced, Turn-Based Rogue-Like Adventure
Crowning Glory?
Roguelikes and roguelites have a tendency to throw players through their shapeshifting gauntlets of murder and death at a rather frenetic pace. Recent popular examples, such as Hades and Dead Cells, really emphasise this almost uniform focus on speed and it's one that's quite understandable in a genre where repetition is such a...
Review Horace - A Heart-Warming Nostalgia Trip And Must-Play Masterpiece
Horace doesn't go skiing
The name “Horace” has cultural cachet in the world of British retrogaming, and we can’t help but believe that the evocation thereof is very, very intentional on the Horace developers’ part. After all, their game is steeped in nostalgia; the pop culture of days past infuses Horace from its opening nod to Thames TV’s...
Review Shantae: Risky's Revenge - Director's Cut - Showing Its Age, But Still A Fun Ride
Risky click of the day
Though Shantae has become a mainstay in recent years, it wasn’t too long ago that this franchise was scarcely more than a niche curiosity. The original Shantae was an indie game in a time before indie games were in vogue, and its release at the very end of the Game Boy Color’s lifespan didn’t do it any favors in...
Review ScourgeBringer - A Gripping, Tough-As-Nails Roguelite For Dead Cells Fans
Bring the Pain
Do you love a properly hard challenge? Do you thrive in hostile and punishing game environments where constant death is an expected and necessary part of the cycle? Well then, Flying Oak Games' ScourgeBringer might just be right up your street. Here we have a tough as nails roguelite that funnels its players through a never-ending...
Review The Survivalists - Surprisingly Light On Danger
At first I was afraid, I was petrified
The Survivalists is not the most enticing title that Team17 could have gone with for this one. Yes, it sets the stage for this follow-up to The Escapists in keeping with its traditional nomenclature, but they really should have front-loaded the monkey butlers, and called the game – for example – Monkey...
Review I Am Dead - A Quirky Adventure That's Pleasantly Rewarding, Despite Its Faults
Dead good
I am dead. I am dead. I am dead. At the risk of getting a bit dark, that has quite a ring to it, doesn’t it? A lovely little get-out for those unwanted conversations, invitations and generally being approached by anyone at all. “What do you think of this political climate?” “I am dead.” “Oh, sorry mate. Didn’t realise. Never...
Mini Review Space Crew - Bomber Crew's Sequel Takes Us To The Future
Aiming For The Stars
It’s been two years since Bomber Crew landed on Switch and at the time, we thought quite highly of it. Developed by Runner Duck, it successfully mixed a real-time management simulation with strategy, taking place in a World War 2 setting. It was quite surprising then to see a sequel putting us in charge of an intergalactic...
Review Projection: First Light - A Brilliant Game Cruelly Betrayed By Poor Mechanics
Meant for Greta things
Oh, what a heartbreaker Projection: First Light is. It starts off so well. The opening sequence is a marvellous showcase of intelligently-crafted, dialogue-free storytelling, utilising the game's striking shadow puppetry art style to brilliant effect as your heroine, Greta, chases an effervescently glowing butterfly through...
Review Ikenfell - A Magical Little Turn-Based RPG Adventure With Charm To Spare
Bewitched
There's certainly no shortage of turn-based RPGs available on Switch these days and an even greater number of retro-pixel indie efforts that present their strategic adventures in an increasingly overused 8 or 16-Bit graphical style. Honestly, we love them really but it can definitely feel a little wearisome at times prepping yourself to...
Review UnderHero - A Solid Anti-RPG Platformer With An Eye For Undertale
Zero to Hero
Five years ago, the indie gaming scene was changed forever with the release of Undertale, a sort of ‘Anti-RPG’ that focused on mocking traditional RPG tropes as much as it did celebrating them. Suffice to say, it resonated with a lot of people and it’s clear that the uniquely unconventional design had no small effect on UnderHero...
Mini Review Falcon Age - The Closest Most Of Us Will Get To Owning A Pet Falcon
Spread your wings and fly away
We can all agree that falcons are pretty cool. What’s even cooler is the notion that certain folks out there can utilise these majestic creatures for hunting purposes, coaxing the bird into their hand with just a simple whistle. If you happen to see someone with a falcon attached to their hand and rocking a tweed...
Mini Review Macbat 64 - A Pitifully Weak Clone Of Those N64 Platformers You Know And Love
An utterly mediocre journey
Nostalgia is a powerful motivator in gaming. Providing a sense of comfort and familiarity, developers often target this feeling through sequels and remakes, but in the last decade, we’ve seen a greater rise in spiritual successors and that’s been particularly prominent for early 3D platformers, Yooka-Laylee and A Hat...
Mini Review This Is The Zodiac Speaking - A Murder Mystery Riddled With Technical Hiccups
Gaming can be murder
If you’re not overly familiar with the case of the Zodiac Killer, then chances are you’ve at least heard of it. The titular killer’s identity was never uncovered, and as such has been the focal point of many books, TV shows, and movies ever since. This is the Zodiac Speaking joins a growing list of games to tackle the...
Review Warsaw - A Brutal Experience Which Proves War Is Hell
Wojna to piekło
Waaaaarsaaaaaw. Lovely woody word, Warsaw. Almost worth a point or two by itself. It's a shame that such an enjoyable word to say has been attached to such a downer of a game as this. Don't get us wrong, that's not a knock on Warsaw's (Waaaarsaaaaw's) quality; it's a polished production through and through, and its component parts...
Review CastleStorm II - A Legitimately Great Game Hobbled By Poor Execution
Storm's coming
Zen Studios has always had a bit of an issue with being typecast as ‘that pinball studio’. To be fair, the studio has done a tremendous job in designing the dozens of tables in its Pinball FX line, but that’s far from the only thing the team works on. The most notable of these ‘other’ projects is Castlestorm, a fusion...
Review Lost Ember - An Artistic Experience That Fails To Live Up To Its Potential
More aggravating than art
To different people, video games can represent different things. Some play games for their challenges, others play them for a good time, and some play it for an emotional experience. Lost Ember attempts to cater to an audience looking for an artistic, story-driven game, yet unfortunately fails to create an engaging piece of...
Review Rivals of Aether - A Surprisingly Complex Alternative To Smash Bros.
Earth, wind and fire (and water)
After diving into the unmitigated disaster that is Bounty Battle just recently, we can't say we were particularly enamoured with the idea of slogging our way through yet another Smash Bros.-esque indie fighting effort quite so soon. However, Rivals of Aether is an experience that's just about as far removed from that...
Review Goosebumps Dead Of Night - Survival Horror For Kids That's Far Too Short
Reader beware, you're in for a meh
It's embarrassing to admit this, but Goosebumps Dead of Night can be – on the rare occasion – a touch frightening. Given that the books and films (upon which this game is based) were about as scary as rocket salad, we were rather surprised to find this outing to be genuinely – whisper it – quite atmospheric...
Mini Review Super Blood Hockey - Violent Sports Action That Gets Tired Too Quickly
A Gordie Howe hat trick
What’s sport without a bit of blood, eh? Whether we want to admit it or not, we all feel a tad bit of satisfaction when some pansy footballer finally gets a bloody nose after taking one too many dives, or when a boxer gets so messed up his face becomes a physical embodiment of 2020. Hockey is undoubtedly one of the more...
Review The Long Dark - Just Like Real Life, Nature Is Your Enemy Here
I am just going outside and may be some time
Playing The Long Dark made us feel cold. Sure, the longer nights are slowly drawing in, but this ambitious port of Hinterlands' 2017 survival hit exudes such a frosty atmosphere that we were reaching for the blankets. The stylised visuals, muted use of colour and the sheer pitch-black oppression of the...
Mini Review Micro Pico Racers - Sadly Not In The Same League As Micro Machines
Drifting to sleep
At first glance, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Micro Pico Racers is the second coming of the classic racing franchise Micro Machines. Indeed, with its colourful pixelated design (and the blatant fact that it has the word Micro in the title), the game is a clear homage to Codemasters’ series of arcade racers...
Review Super Mario Bros. 35 - A Six-Month Jolt Of Life For An Iconic Classic
The sweetest plumb
The original Super Mario Bros. has been officially re-released no fewer than 19 different times over its 35-year history. From graphical updates (Super Mario All-Stars) to handheld upgrades (Super Mario Bros. Deluxe), to various Virtual Console re-releases and most recently its inclusion in Switch Online’s NES catalogue, if...
Review Undead Darlings ~no cure for love~ - A Solid And Compelling Dungeon-Crawler
Dead ringer for love
It’s been a long road to release for Undead Darlings ~no cure for love~. The project first sought funding via Kickstarter back in 2015 and initially failed to meet its modest goal, but the ex-NIS America staff of developer Mr. Tired Media were convinced that there was an audience for this game and remained determined to see it...
Review Alwa's Legacy - One Of The Best Metroidvanias We've Seen On Switch So Far
A legacy to be proud of
A couple of years ago, Elden Pixels put out Alwa’s Awakening, a nice sort of throwback Metroidvania that built a quality experience around a few well-designed ideas. It didn’t exactly light up the charts, but Alwa’s Awakening still managed to amass a small following, one which Elden Pixels tapped last November went it...
Review Kirby Fighters 2 - A Brilliant Bite-Sized Alternative To Super Smash Bros.
Kirby sucks, but this doesn't
You don’t need us to tell you this, but Nintendo makes some strange decisions sometimes. The latest example of this is Kirby Fighters 2, a digital-only fighting game that was stealth-dropped onto the eShop without any warning, promoted with a couple of tweets then generally abandoned (at least at the time of writing)...
Review Rebel Galaxy Outlaw - Deliciously Daring Dogfighting In The Depths Of Space
You've got your mother in a whirl
Rebel Galaxy Outlaw, Double Damage Games' prequel to 2015's Rebel Galaxy, brings a much-needed slice of old-school space sim action to Switch with swagger and style to spare. Following the fortunes of battle-hardened rebel Juno Markev, whose husband has been murdered and ship destroyed as she escapes an attempt on...
