Latest Reviews
Review Ray'z Arcade Chronology (Switch) - M2 Delivers Fine Ports Of Taito's Trilogy
Confounded by the Rayz
The limited edition retailers are getting out of hand again. The Ray'z Arcade Chronology, originally released in Japan back in March, and published by Taito for Switch and PlayStation 4, is receiving a European release courtesy of ININ games. Bizarrely, ININ Games are releasing two different compilations: this, the Ray’z...
Review The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Into Reverie (Switch) - A Refreshing Entry In The Kiseki Series
"Thought is the labour of the intellect, reverie is its pleasure"
Movement is such an integral part of the Trails/Kiseki series – both in a literal and figurative sense. The focus on transportation, walking, and familiarising yourself with the geography and inhabitants of Zemuria is paired with moments of political navigation, those who refuse to...
Review Akai Katana Shin (Switch) - One Of CAVE’s Very Best Horizontal Bullet Hells
Live by the sword
Update: Now that the game is available on North American and European Switch eShops, we're republishing this review of the import version from February 2023. CAVE Co. Ltd, the pioneering, god-tier arcade developer that reignited the shooting game genre in the '90s, has a portfolio to die for. After 17 years of cast-iron quality...
So mysteriful
Following up on the Danganronpa series was always going to be a tricky proposition. With its deceptively simple 'Killing Game' premise, its huge cast of eclectic characters, and its often overwhelmingly macabre atmosphere, it’s no wonder Spike Chunsoft’s visual novel franchise became such a hit with players worldwide. Naturally,...
Review The Lara Croft Collection (Switch) - Two Well-Preserved Tomb-Raiding Treasures
Lara's back on our raiders
First announced back in 2021, and originally due to arrive as part of Tomb Raider's 25th-anniversary celebrations before being delayed, The Lara Croft Collection has finally rappelled its way onto Switch. This pair of spin-offs may not carry the main series' full moniker, but they are resolutely full-blooded Tomb Raider...
Review AEW: Fight Forever (Switch) - The Spirit Of WWF No Mercy Lives On In The Ring
Penta plays
Ask any long-time grappling fan what the best wrestling video game of all time is, and they’ll give you one of two answers, both published by THQ: WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain, developed by Yuke’s (which is incorrect) and WWF No Mercy, developed by AKI (correct). For decades no wrestling game has touched No Mercy when it comes...
Review Sonic Origins Plus (Switch) - Not Bad, But Sonic Still Deserves Better
Here we go again...
About this time last year, Sega released Sonic Origins—a compilation release that aimed to collate the first four (five if we count Sonic & Knuckles as a totally separate game) Mega Drive/Genesis Sonic games in one ultimate package with a bunch of extras thrown in. Though it wasn’t without its issues, Sega more or less...
Review Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (Switch) - A DS All-Timer Returns In Stunning Form
Trick time!
Is there such a thing as a perfect game? Yes, and it's this one. Listen, you are going to get to the end of this review and think to yourself, "Isn't a 10/10 score, like, Zelda: Breath of the Wild? How can this 12-15 hour game that doesn't even have Hestu in it possibly match up?" You are thinking that because you have not played Ghost...
Review Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope: The Last Spark Hunter (Switch) - Fun But Safe DLC Lacks Spark
Not enough reason to spend more time with Rabbids
To the surprise of pretty much everyone, the original Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle became one of the best tactics games on the Nintendo Switch. We loved its tight, puzzle-like missions and vibrant world that somehow presented Ubisoft’s Rabbids as less-than-annoying – even, dare we say,...
Review Fall Of Porcupine (Switch) – A Prickly Hospital Game That Needed A Little More Care
A test of patients
The past few years have reminded us that many countries’ healthcare systems are not in good shape. Even so, it’s hard to appreciate the challenges that healthcare workers face if you’re not one. Fall of Porcupine aims to do this in an approachable way by putting players in the scrubs of 2D animal doctors. Unfortunately, the...
Review Pikmin 2 (Switch) - Still A Sublime Time, Even Without The 7-Up Bottle Cap
Pik of the bunch
Not content with dropping an HD port of the original Pikmin during the June 2023 Nintendo Direct, the platform holder also saw fit to furnish us with this slightly revamped version of its sequel, the very excellent Pikmin 2. Hooray! Yes, Nintendo has planted us firmly in the Pikmin 4 hype zone prior to that game's launch and, if...
Review Pikmin 1 (Switch) - A Bare-Bones Port, But A Joyous Adventure
Pik it out
Nintendo gave Pikmin fans a couple of lovely surprises during the June 2023 Nintendo Direct, prepping players for Pikmin 4's debut by stealth-dropping the original Pikmin and its wonderful sequel in HD remastered form. Exciting! Yes, if you've played these two beauties before, you'll know they're among some of Nintendo's loveliest work,...
Review Fire Emblem - The Blazing Blade Is Still As Sharp As Ever
So much to love Lyndis game
This review originally went live in 2015, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack GBA library. Before Fire Emblem: Awakening kicked off 2013 (the Year of Luigi, you'll recall) with a bang, there was a great deal of concern at Nintendo regarding its...
Review Dr. Fetus' Mean Meat Machine (Switch) - A Bit Of A Grind
Punishin' Puyo-like puzzlin'
Super Meat Boy changed the game when it released in 2010, as one of the first ‘big’ indie hits of the decade and one of the creators of a subgenre of hard platformers. One would think that such a legendary release would spawn a broader franchise, yet it never got a proper sequel, and Meat Boy only recently received...
Mini Review Skautfold: Usurper (Switch) - Doesn't Live Up To Its Castlevania-Inspired Key Art
We have Castlevania at home
If nothing else, you’ve got to give the Skautfold franchise credit for being unafraid to mix things up. After Skautfold: Shrouded in Sanity introduced the series as a retro-style survival horror, its sequels went on to span the Metroidvania, shooter, and RPG genres. Skautfold: Usurper, the latest release in the series...
Review Story Of Seasons: A Wonderful Life (Switch) - Slow, Old-Fashioned Yet Fulfilling Farming
A Wonderful Life, or A Terrible Remake?
What is the value of a remake? That's something we found ourselves asking as we played Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life, a remake of the 2003 Harvest Moon game on GameCube, and a surprising addition to Marvelous/XSEED's catalogue of games. Should a remake of a game bring it up to today's standards, with...
Mini Review Hatsune Miku - The Planet Of Wonder And Fragments Of Wishes (Switch) - Fragments Indeed
Turquoise tragedy
Hatsune Miku fans have been fairly well served on Switch, with the excellent Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Mega Mix giving Vocaloid devotees a generous helping of over 100 super cool tracks to dig into in one of our favourite rhythm games on Nintendo's console. Seriously, listen to the absolutely nonsensical pop masterpiece 'PoPiPo'...
Review Batsugun Saturn Tribute Boosted (Switch) - The Best Home Release Of Toaplan's Final Shmup
The Iceman Cometh
Toaplan, a shooting game developer that flew high in the '80s with titles like Twin Cobra and Truxton, possesses a formidable resume. Batsugun, the company's swan-song shooter, and one of its most historically significant works, spearheaded an evolution of the genre that remains prevalent today. Programmer Tsuneki Ikeda joined...
Review We Love Katamari REROLL + Royal Reverie (Switch) - Yes, We Still Do
It's hard not to!
We Love Katamari might be the perfect video game sequel. Dialing just about every beloved mechanic and detail from the first game up to 11, all while ditching some of Katamari Damacy’s less beloved aspects, it’s no surprise that this entry is the fan favorite. For better and worse, its re-release, We Love Katamari REROLL +...
Review Dordogne (Switch) - A Watercolour Wonder, Imperfect Yet Touching
L'eau life
Zut alors! Splish-splashing its way onto Switch in stunning watercolour is Dordogne, a nostalgic kayak trip down the metaphorical river of life – and also down the literal river of Dordogne in the south of France. Umanimation, the production company behind the game, specialises in “transmedia universes”, its previous works including...
Mini Review Bleak Sword DX (Switch) - A Surprising, Stripped-Down Soulslike
A grimdark pixel world full of detail
If you’re looking for something grim, dark, and pixelated, then Bleak Sword DX is here to scratch that itch. It is difficult to pin down exactly what genre this game belongs to. It takes the core mechanics of a Soulslike and strips it back to its bare essentials. The deceptively simple graphics betray a...
Review Convergence: A League Of Legends Story (Switch) - A Fine (But Framey) Metroidvania
It's rewind time
It’s been fascinating to observe the kind of variety coming out of Riot Forge, as the publisher has worked tirelessly these last couple of years to produce spin-off games based on the lore of its enormously popular League of Legends MOBA. Since the publisher’s inception, we’ve seen a rhythm game, a JRPG, and a top-down action...
Review Star Gagnant (Switch) - Takahashi Meijin Tests Your Trigger Finger With A Simple Shmup
Shooting Watch
In the 1980s, Takahashi Meijin was a supermarket clerk turned home programmer, eventually picked up by Hudson Soft to work as a software salesman. This, however, was only the start of his journey into 8-bit stardom. In 1985 he co-presented a TV show in Japan that hosted tournaments, usually for Hudson Soft’s shoot 'em up catalogue...
Review Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun (Switch) - Bold, Bleak, And Bewildering Boomer Ballistics
For the imperium!
Fun fact: origins of the term ‘grimdark’ can be directly traced back to the original Warhammer 40k tabletop game. Suffice it to say, the cynical and nihilistic world of Warhammer 40k sucks. Despite the highly advanced and amazing intergalactic society that mankind has built, to live in this universe is to live in a bleak place...
Review Maquette (Switch) – A Heart-Breaker Of A Puzzler That Will Make You Cry And Cry Again
Breaking hearts and minds
Break-ups suck. There are no two ways about it. You spend so much time feeling confused, desperate to make things work, and even a little trapped. That’s kind of what it’s like to play Maquette. Annapurna’s latest release (developed by newbie Graceful Decay) uses puzzles to tell the story of a relationship breakdown...
Review Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection (Switch) - Divine Dungeon Crawling But Not Definitive
Back from the dead
One of the unfortunate casualties of the end of DS and 3DS eras was the death of games that were uniquely suited to the quirky dual-screened devices. The Etrian Odyssey series, the first three games of which are represented in the new Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection (also available separately) was a good example of this bespoke...
Review Loop8: Summer Of Gods (Switch) - Feels More Like A Laborious Summer Job
Let’s get to know each other, over and over again
There are plenty of roguelike games on Nintendo Switch, but Loop8: Summer of Gods takes an interesting twist to the formula: a classic turn-based Japanese RPG that has roguelike elements. More specifically, the game is similar to something like Persona. However, Loop8 implements neither Persona’s...
Violently political
If you think the title is little more than a healthy pun, think again; Pulling No Punches means what it says. Politically charged, littered with incendiary themes, and crammed with expletives, this Brazilian indie title is quite the surprise, combining combat with combative opinion. A scrolling beat 'em up in a retro style, its...
Review Farming Simulator 23: Nintendo Switch Edition - Freedom With Fickle Forklift Physics
Farmhands-off
Being a farmer is a big job. You’ve got to water your fields, rotate your crops, and keep an eye on the market prices to make sure you’re able to pull a decent profit. If you’ve ever dreamed of trying your hand at this noble profession but don’t have hundreds of acres of land to play with, Farming Simulator 23: Nintendo Switch...
Review LEGO 2K Drive (Switch) - A Fun, Colourful Racer But Not Quite Open-World Mario Kart
Follow the yellow brick road
The trouble with kart racers on Nintendo Switch is, well, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. It's the best one, and it's not close. The challenge for developers, then, is not to create clones, but instead to diversify. LEGO 2K Drive makes a valiant effort to set itself apart, making great use of its titular licence to provide players...