Latest Reviews
Review Donkey Kong 64 - Kicks Some Serious Tail, But Goes Too Far
C'mon Cranky, take it to the fridge
This review was originally published in April 2015 alongside the Wii U eShop's Virtual Console release. We're updating and republishing it to mark the arrival of the game in the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack N64 library. At the mere mention of Nintendo's 64-bit console, many of us find it difficult not...
You seen one football game, you've seen Yamal
In a sense, the arrival of eFootball on Switch 2 is something of a homecoming for Konami, whose long-running football series started off as a Nintendo exclusive decades ago. Whether you want to start the timeline with NES game Konami Hyper Soccer or the legendary SNES title International Superstar...
Review Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Switch 2) - Some Rough Edges, But Still A Great Game
The Unknown Journey continues...
When Square Enix originally announced that Final Fantasy VII Remake was coming to Switch 2, it came with the promise that Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and its eventual sequel would also be coming. While Remake established itself as one of the finest and most advanced titles for Nintendo’s new platform, there was lots...
Review Pictonico! (Mobile) - WarioWare In All But Name, Just On Your Phone
Wario is missing
When first revealed, Pictonico was clearly channelling serious WarioWare energy. That madcap microgame series got two Switch entries — 2021's multiplayer-focused Get it Together! and 2023's Move It!, inspired by the Wii's Smooth Moves — but the microgame format feels particularly well-
The Legend of Mina
Since its release in 2014, Shovel Knight has been a gift that keeps on giving. Groundbreaking for its hugely successful crowdfunding campaign, it also helped usher in a glorious era of throwback platforming gems like Sabotage Studio’s The Messenger. Yacht Club Games has spent years expanding the Shovel-verse while developing its...
Review Rugrats: Retro Rewind Collection (Switch) - A Janky Compilation Carried By Nostalgia
Time to put these to bed
Back in the day, it was pretty well understood that seeing a popular show or brand on a licensed video game didn’t necessarily mean that you were in for a great time. Though titles such as DuckTales or GoldenEye 007 broke through as exceptional titles for their respective eras, the majority of licensed games were usually...
Review Bluey's Quest For The Gold Pen (Switch 2) - An Enjoyable Collectathon That Kids Will Love
For real life!
When Bluey: The Videogame launched toward the end of 2023, I found it a faithful yet soulless adaptation of the cartoon phenomenon from developer Artax Games, cramming some of the show’s most iconic locations into a repetitive one-to-two-hour game. It wasn’t great. Fast forward to 2026, and Halfbrick, the studio most famous for...
Review Bubsy 4D (Switch 2) - A Maligned Mascot Finally Gets A Good Game
No cat-astrophe here
Reputation matters, and few video game characters have spent longer trapped beneath the weight of their own than Bubsy. The wisecracking bobcat arrived in 1993 as Accolade's answer to the '90s mascot-platformer boom and promptly became notorious for clumsy design and punishing controls. Yet, the bobcat kept clawing his way back...
Review R-Type Dimensions III (Switch) - A Novel Remaster But A Purist's Nightmare
The third thunder
One could be forgiven for thinking they missed an entry in this storied R-Type series of re-releases, but in fact the preceding R-Type Dimensions released in 2009 (and again as R-Type Dimensions EX in 2018) contained both the first two games in one package. R-Type III: The Third Lightning was first released for Super Nintendo in...
Review Tales Of Arise - Beyond The Dawn Edition (Switch 2) - Solid Game, Solid Port, Goes On A Bit
A new dawn breaks
Though the Tales series goes back all the way to the days of the Super Famicom, it feels like it’s always been one of the lower-budget ‘B-tier’ RPG franchises that only the most dedicated genre fans engage with regularly. To counter this and try to bring the series to a bigger audience, the developers decided to go for a...
Review Yoshi And The Mysterious Book (Switch 2) - Charming Enough, But Ultimately Lacklustre
Why so Glub?
The Yoshi series has cemented itself as one of the most approachable in Nintendo’s arsenal, providing experiences that younger gamers in particular can enjoy without too much friction. Woolly World and Crafted World offer light-hearted platforming fun while still retaining some of the spirit of the SNES original, and both come...
Review Coffee Talk Tokyo (Switch) - An Enjoyable, Bittersweet Third Blend
A caffeine dream
When I was a teenager, I landed my first-ever job as a barista at a busy chain coffee shop in the heart of New York. When I didn’t have my nose in the books at school, I’d spend hours making all manner of drinks for the city’s thirsty clientele. It was daunting work — customers expected to get their drinks fast, and the...
Review STARBITES (Switch) - A Basic, Technically Deficient Mech RPG
Bitter and bland
Take a glance at the Switch’s selection of mech titles, from Daemon X Machina to Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, and you’re likely to notice a pattern. Aside from the occasional outlier like the tactical Front Mission remakes, action-based gameplay is al
Review Sektori (Switch 2) - The New King Of Twin-Stick Shooters
Strike!
For the longest time, I was convinced that Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 was the peak of the twin-stick arcade genre. It took what the original XBLA game did so well and perfected the formula, delivering an experience that was easy to grasp yet difficult to master. Imagine my surprise, then, to discover that not only does Sektori...
You chose wisely
Indiana Jones is a multi-generational icon, and the weight of developing a new entry in the franchise must be as intimidating as a rolling boulder. He's a character that has permeated every facet of media since he first found the Ark of the Covenant back in 1981. The impact of his legacy in video games cannot be understated,...
Retail therapy
Tokyo-based studio Nagai Industries’ inKONBINI does what it says on the tin: it puts you in a konbini. Whether you know or care what a konbini is will probably indicate your chances of getting along with this game, too. It’s a shortening of the Japanese pronunciation of "convenience store", and your character Makoto is working in...
Review Outbound (Switch 2) – A Cosy, Crafty, Open-World Driving Sim
Getaway car
Camping is great in theory, but not so much in reality. The itchy grass and leaves, vulnerability to the elements, and a dirt bedroom…and bathroom. I would much rather play video games about camping. Luckily, Outbound lets you traverse the great outdoors without digging a hole for the bathroom – just one thing that makes it such a...
Review Mixtape (Switch 2) - A Brilliant Curation That Thrives On '90s Vibes
Be kind rewind
Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, you should always make a soundtrack. That’s the advice of Stacey Rockford, the star of this latest musical adventure from Australian studio Beethoven & Dinosaur. Tie every event to a carefully curated track list and “pretty soon,” she advises in her teenage wisdom, “you won’t be...
Review TetherGeist (Switch) - Satisfying Platforming That Owes A Debt To Celeste
Keeping the spirit alive
2D platformers are easy to find. They’re one of the oldest genres in video games, and thanks to that long pedigree, they’ve been getting made for nearly the entire industry’s history. It would be impossible to play through them all in your lifetime. Great 2D platformers, though, are rare. TetherGeist belongs in that...
Review R-TYPE DX: Music Encore (Switch) - A Pint-Sized Port, Still Curious And Cute
The force is with you
In R-TYPE DX: Music Encore, we have a release aimed at a niche gaming subset in much the same way as SNK’s Neo Geo Pocket collections. As such, some affection for both the era and the original hardware is necessary to appreciate what is essentially a reconstituted, miniaturised version of a much larger arcade game. And, like...
Review Constance (Switch) - A Beautiful Metroidvania With Something To Say
Constance craving
The idea of an indie Metroidvania exploring mental illness has become a bit of a cliche. The past decade has seen successes in the genre like the Hollow Knight and Ori games, as well as titles like Celeste that manifest their main character’s mental journey through their mechanics. Constance owes a lot to every game listed above,...
Mini Review Total Chaos (Switch 2) - Performance Woes Tarnish Fort Oasis
Chaotic frame rates
Released on other platforms in November 2025, Total Chaos is an intriguing first-person survival horror in which you explore the mysterious island of Fort Oasis. Once a bustling community of industry, it’s since fallen into ruin, and it’s your job to explore the environment, piece together fragments of the past, and...
Review Monster Crown: Sin Eater (Switch) - A Satisfyingly Deep And Open-Ended Pokémon-Like
Go on, eat the sin cake
In 2021, a monster-catching RPG called Monster Crown hit the eShop, a one-man project aiming to emulate the glory days of Pokémon. Though it had its shortcomings, it mostly captured the essence of its inspiration and evidently it garnered enough of a following to justify the launch of a sequel after a successful Kickstarter...
Review Mouse: P.I. For Hire (Switch 2) - A Bold, Risk-Taking FPS, And A Fine Achievement
In Mouseburg, every mouse has something to hide
With Mouse: P.I. For Hire, I’ve got very little to complain about, so for the sake of balance, first I’ll gently shine a light on its near-absurd mishmash of influences. The striking rubber-hose animation USP hails from the 1920s. The 11-hour story, with its tough, unsentimental protagonist, and...
Review OPUS: Prism Peak (Switch 2) - A Beautiful Snapshot Of Studio Ghibli-Esque Magic
Shuttered Away
In OPUS: Prism Peak, Eugene blames himself for everything. When he remembers his past, he focuses on his regrets, the big moments. The fights between his parents. His failed photography career. His collapsed marriage. His unsuccessful cafe. In his eyes, all of these letdowns are because of him, and as a result, he’s left aimlessly...
Review Alien: Rogue Incursion Evolved Edition (Switch 2) - A Solid Port, But An Imperfect Organism
Anytime, anywhere
The Alien series has had a surprisingly decent streak on consoles since the release of Isolation back in 2014. I can only imagine the sheer disaster of Colonial Marines gave the higher-ups at 20th Century Studios the kick up the bum they sorely needed, but fans have been treated to some pretty enjoyable titles recently. Fireteam...
Mini Review GRIDbeat! (Switch) - A Brutal Yet Absorbing Rhythm Experience
Don't skip this beat
I love a good rhythm game, but I wasn’t quite prepared for how quickly GRIDbeat! would grab (and hold) my attention. As one of the first titles from the newly revived publisher Acclaim, it makes a strong, bold entrance with unique, stylised visuals, razor-sharp gameplay, and excellent music. The aim of the game is simple:...
Review Ys Memoire: Revelations In Celceta (Switch) - A Simple Yet Fun Adventure
More memorable adventures await
The older games in the Ys series have been slowly working their way to Switch in the form of Ys Memoire ports like last year’s Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana. This year, we have Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta. While the plot isn’t as good as other entries, the combat and characters pick up the slack...
Review ZPF (Switch) - A Unique-Feeling Mega Drive Shooter With Some Switch Issues
Heavy metal fantasy
“Zone Profile Fantasy”? “Zoom Port Focus”? Nobody knows whether ZPF is an acronym or not, except perhaps the three-man development team behind it: Perry Sessions, Mikael Tillander, and Jamie Vance. Prior to ZPF, Sessions and Vance created a contra-style NES demo called Cavity Destroyer for Vance’s brother’s dental...
Sucking blood and free time once again
Sometimes a game is so good it creates its own genre. Whether you call it a survivorslike, bullet heaven, or something else entirely, Vampire Survivors pretty much invented an entire roguelite subgenre. So, when your game creates a whole new genre, where do you go next? Cards, of course. Vampire Crawlers is...
