Tag: Reviews
Review Cavern Of Dreams (Switch) - A Rich, Rare Homage To The N64's Finest 'Formers
Clanker's Cavern of Dreams
Cavern of Dreams leapt to the Switch eShop on 29th February 2024. We weren't able to review the game at the time but managed to catch up with it recently. And it's good! If you like that sort of thing... Talk to any video game fan over 30 about 3D platformers and they're liable to stare wistfully into the middle distance...
Review Endless Ocean: Luminous (Switch) - A Meditative Marine Milieu, But Incredibly Shallow
Endless, unfortunately
There are a whole bunch of, well, let's say 'Wii-centric' video games from the history vaults that, in theory, seem like they might be a bit of fun to revisit on Nintendo Switch. You know the sort of thing, usually pairing some new-fangled/novelty control scheme with an activity you'd never tried in a game before; making...
Review Corn Kidz 64 (Switch) - A 64-Bit Throwback That Nails The Retro Vibe
Truly goated
Though the peak years of the 3D platformer genre were in the late '90s and early 2000s, there’s been a bit of a resurgence in interesting new genre entries in recent years. Titles such as Glyph and Lunistice have shown that smaller platforming projects can be just as compelling as the more well-known examples, and now we have...
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...
Praise be to HD
El Shaddai is an artistic endeavour in the same vein as Rez or Thatgamecompany’s Journey, taking action genre norms and weaving them into an avant-garde, visual tour de force. Anyone familiar with the ill-fated Clover Studio, a Capcom subsidiary that started out in 2004 developing for the GameCube, will likely have encountered the...
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 SaGa Emerald Beyond (Switch) - Diverse But Dull RPG Boosted By Excellent Combat
Junction system
The SaGa titles are part of a series that started life as Final Fantasy Legend, named to capitalise on Square’s blossoming juggernaut. Despite being separate creative endeavours, the two franchises have grown up together. While never achieving the superstar status of its sibling, SaGa has carved its own niche over the years. The...
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 Lunar Lander Beyond (Switch) - A Fresh Approach For Atari's Arcade Classic
Minor turbulence
Atari has had a very interesting few years, publishing a critically acclaimed 50th-anniversary collection in the form of a playable documentary, the ‘Recharged’ series of neo-retro revivals, and a handful of unique reinventions of its classic IPs. Lunar Lander Beyond from Cris Tales developer Dreams Uncorporated is the gaming...
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 PowerA Wireless Lumectra Switch Controller - Dazzling, Though Missing Some Key Features
Light up your life
If you cast your mind back to 2021, you might remember how PowerA set out to light up our gaming lives with the Spectra controller. This officially licensed pad appeared much the same as your standard Pro Controller on the surface but it was capable of putting on an LED light show while gaming. All in all, it was a pretty neat...
Review Kudzu (Switch) A Delightful, Leafy Ode To Link's Awakening And The Game Boy
It'll grow on you
Kudzu came to this reviewer during a significant birthday celebration. The day was filled with echoes of our past. There was the music on the radio – uncanny remixes of early-to-mid-90s techno songs that used to hype up pre-teen candyfloss-fuelled visits to funfairs. And there was Kudzu and its unsubtle similarity to all-time...
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 Planet Of Lana (Switch) - A Gentle Puzzle-Platformer With Sparkling Presentation
Out of this world
The cinematic platformer: although some great examples have emerged over the decades, the genre perhaps under-celebrated, with its fans especially under-served for a long stretch in the 2000s. It has nonetheless provided some truly legendary games: Prince of Persia, Another World, Flashback, and Inside. Planet of Lana gathers...
Book Review 'The Most Relaxing Video Games' - More Than Just Cute 'N' Cosy
Ahhhhhhhhh...
When it comes to relaxing games, you probably already have a reasonably sound idea of what these might look like and entail. Perhaps it’s a jaunty farm sim like Stardew Valley or Story of Seasons, a laid-back puzzler like Unpacking, or even a cute adventure like A Short Hike. The point is that many of us have preconceived notions of...
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...
Review Botany Manor (Switch) - Cosy Yet Challenging, This Puzzler Is Quite Beautiful
Bloomin' lovely
When cosy and wholesome games first stepped onto the scene, they were counter-culture — created in response and in resistance to an industry that churned out violence, conflict, and a particular type of masculinity that wasn't keen on things like emotions or intimacy. Some people were tired of this monolithic and exclusionary idea...
Review LEGO Animal Crossing - Maple's Pumpkin Garden - Is It Worth Tracking Down?
Patchy availability
The launch of the LEGO Animal Crossing line at the start of March 2024 brought five sets based on Nintendo's slow-life-sim franchise to shop shelves, but there was also a secret sixth bonus set available if you knew where to look. Maple's Pumpkin Garden is a small bonus polybag set that was sold exclusively online from Lego...
Review Freedom Planet 2 (Switch) - A Sonic-Style Platformer Exuding Passion & Quality
He better watch out
Back in 2014, a team of new developers calling themselves GalaxyTrail released Freedom Planet—a retro style platformer that captured the hearts of many classic-era Sonic the Hedgehog fans. Freedom Planet, in fact, started life as a Sonic fan game, though it established a unique identity for itself as development wore on, and...
Review Open Roads (Switch) - A Short, Evocative Trip Worth Taking
Straight and narrow
The surprising phenomenon of indies casting Hollywood talent continues with Open Roads, a three-hour narrative adventure. But then this is the latest release from Annapurna Interactive, a publisher of both films and games, which has a few similarly voice-acted examples in its back catalogue – the delectable The Artful Escape...
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 F-Zero Maximum Velocity (GBA) - The First Portable F-Zero Still Holds Up
Back to the future
This review originally went live in 2014, and we're updating and republishing it to celebrate the game's arrival in Switch's Game Boy Advance library via Nintendo Switch Online. Ah, F-Zero. The futuristic racing series that’s so fast that even Nintendo lost track of it for years. Since it released the Japanese exclusive...
Mini Review Otxo (Switch) - Think 'Roguelike Hotline Miami With Bullet Time, But Not As Good'
I can dodge bullets?
It’s difficult to experience Otxo and not compare it to the top-down shooter Hotline Miami. With its minimal, pixel art visuals, simplistic yet effective core gameplay, and a penchant for visceral, bloody violence, Otxo shares much in common with Dennaton Games’ arcade-style hit. Where Otxo deviates, however, is in its...
Review Pepper Grinder (Switch) - A Cracking Platformer That Drills Down & Strikes Gold
All driller, no filler
Way back in the ancient days when the Game Boy Advance was Nintendo’s main handheld, Game Freak (yes, the Pokémon people) released a creative little platformer called Drill Dozer. Placing you in the role of a slightly crazed girl who tears through stages and foes alike with a powerful drill, it quickly established itself as...
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...
Not so Horrid Henry
Set in the 15th century and taking place in the tumultuous land of Bohemia, Kingdom Come Deliverance follows the exploits of nice-but-dim blacksmith’s son Henry. Struggling through the political and religious machinations of the lords and ladies around him, he seeks to avenge the death of his family and find a place in the...
Review Princess Peach: Showtime! (Switch) - Peach Breaks A Leg In A High-Class Production
Bend and slap
It's kinda hard to believe, especially given how ridiculously popular the whole Mushroom Kingdom thing is, that we've had so few games starring its actual ruler as the protagonist over the years. Yes, there was Princess Toadstool's Castle Run on Nelsonic Game Watch back in 1990, Princess Peach's very first leading role (which you...
Mini Review Krimson (Switch) - A Face-Meltingly Brutal Rhythm Platformer
Hellish
People play games for a variety of reasons. It could be that you want to experience a few thrills, get lost in a world beyond your imagination, or simply relax and wind down after the stresses of day-to-day life. Some games, however, are designed to test the very limits of your patience, inducing a level of anxiety that many would rather...
Review Rebel Transmute (Switch) - A Brutally Brilliant Metroid-Like
There's always room for one more good one
About five years ago, solo developer Evan Tor set out to make a new game in the crowded Metroidvania genre called Rebel Transmute. Tor launched a Kickstarter in 2022 to secure the funding to get the game over the line, and after a successful campaign and development period, the title has finally made it to...
Review The Legend Of Legacy HD Remastered (Switch) - A Decent Return For The 3DS Dungeon-Crawler
Not quite legendary, though
A few years ago, FuRyu released The Alliance Alive HD Remastered for Switch—an uprezzed port of a great RPG that was sadly missed by most due to releasing on the 3DS after most players had already moved on to Switch. Yet The Alliance Alive was not the company’s first release on Nintendo’s old handheld; that honor...
Review Mario Tennis (GBC) - Camelot's Ace Little Tennis RPG Is Hard To Fault
Courts of appeal
This review originally went live in 2014, and we're updating and republishing it to celebrate the game's arrival in Switch's Game Boy (Color) library via Nintendo Switch Online. For whatever its name is worth, Mario Tennis doesn’t feature a lot of the red guy — at least at first. That may come as an initial disappointment to...
Review Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story (Switch) - A Dazzling Trip Into A (Gold) Master's Mind
Yak in time
With its efforts on Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration and The Making of Karateka, developer Digital Eclipse is cementing itself as a true pioneer in the interactive documentary space. Truth be told, it’s a niche that the studio completely owns at this point, and though we’re surprised other major players in the video game...
Review LEGO Animal Crossing - Kapp’n’s Island Boat Tour - Is It Any Good?
Aye, Kapp'n
The five Animal Crossing-themed Lego sets which launched on 1st March 2024 bring a selection of Animal Crossing: New Horizons characters to life in minifigure form. They range in price from $15 to $75: Julian's Birthday Party is the most affordable, while Nook's Cranny and Rosie's House
Review LEGO Animal Crossing - Julian’s Birthday Party - Is It Any Good?
Party of one
The LEGO Animal Crossing sets bring Animal Crossing: New Horizons to life in plastic brick form, featuring minifigures of some of the series' most beloved characters at home and around their island. The first wave of sets launched in March 2024, with Julian's Birthday Party among them. This is the cheapest set in the range (at launch),...
Review Snufkin: Melody Of Moominvalley (Switch) - A Joyful, Dreamlike Adventure With An Edge
Snufkin compares to you
Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley opens with a goodbye. The music swells and this goodbye pulls hard on the heartstrings. It’s a goodbye to a Moomin, so perhaps you’d think it’s not an important goodbye – just a Moomin, after all. But it sets up the main arc of a well-paced and imaginative musical adventure. For the...
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 LEGO Animal Crossing - Nook’s Cranny & Rosie’s House - Is It Any Good?
The Rose and Cranny
The LEGO Animal Crossing range brings a variety of Animal Crossing: New Horizons characters to blocky life across five sets (initially, at least) that enable you to connect them and create your own Animal Crossing island in Lego form. Keen Lego fans will spy a similarity to the defunct Fabuland theme, now with a Nintendo...
Review LEGO Animal Crossing - Isabelle’s House Visit - Is It Any Good?
House call
The LEGO Animal Crossing sets released in March 2024 feature a range of different minifigures and island elements bringing back memories of 2020's Animal Crossing: New Horizons in the form of everyone's favourite plastic bricks. As we run through each of the sets to see which one is best, here we're looking at Isabelle's House Visit —...
Review Expeditions: A MudRunner Game (Switch) - Performance Bumps Can't Run This Sim Off The Road
Fancy a winch? Oh, you call it a shift? Same difference, baby.
When we first got wind that Expeditions: A MudRunner Game was on its way to Nintendo Switch, we gotta admit, we were a little bit surprised. This new entry in Saber Interactive's superb off-road sim series takes the whole mud-running malarkey to a new level, with larger maps, loads more...
Review Unicorn Overlord (Switch) - A Crowning Tactical RPG Achievement For Vanillaware
My kingdom for a unicorn
How do you follow up a game like 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim? Before that ambitious, phenomenal sci-fi adventure, developer Vanillaware found its niche in creating rich, beautiful-looking worlds with a magical, medieval twist. Sometimes it was traditional Western fantasy, while others it jumped back to Edo Japan.
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 LEGO Animal Crossing - Bunnie's Outdoor Activities - Is It Any Good?
New Horizons on the block
Nintendo's latest collaboration with Lego has resulted in a handful of Animal Crossing sets, a crossover that fans have been begging for ever since the firms' first collaboration, the LEGO Super Mario sets, were announced back in March 2020 — coincidentally Animal Crossing: New Horizons' launch month. In the years since,...
Review New Star GP (Switch) - A Stylish, Moreish Homage To The Likes Of Virtua Racing
We've certainly Senna lot worse
Every now and then you get an indie developer who you can rely on to deliver a banger pretty much every time. New Star Games is one such developer, having already scored healthy scores on Nintendo Life in the past for New Star Manager (which scored 8), Retro Bowl (9), and Retro Goal (8). Alongside its Switch...
Review Berserk Boy (Switch) - An Upbeat, 16-Bit Throwback, Not As 'Mega Man' As It Looks
Maddeningly good fun
Berserk Boy has been tipped as a Mega Man-inspired 16-bit adventure, but it’s actually closer to Inti Creates Gunvolt series, and even then feels markedly different. Taking place in a future world where a scientist named Dr. Genos has gone rogue, you play Kei, a young boy who teams up with firebird Fiore to battle his way to...
Review Top Racer Collection (Switch) - Three Classic Racers And The Odd Backfire
One for the Gear-heads
Racing game fans who’ve been around since the SNES era are likely to be familiar with the Top Gear series. Developed by Gremlin Graphics (later Gremlin Interactive) as the SNES equivalent of its Lotus games on other consoles, it’s the closest Nintendo’s 16-bit system got to its own version of Sega’s classic arcade game...
Review Balatro (Switch) - Devilishly Compelling Cardplay, And A Clear GOTY Contender
A full house
Editor's note: Following the publication of this review, it has come to light that the game has been removed from European Switch eShops following a ratings change from 3+ to 18+ which, according to publisher Playstack, came "without any advance warning". <related ids="162972"> You can read the publisher's statement in our story...