Latest Reviews
Mini Review Alien Hominid Invasion (Switch) - An Explosive, Superior Sequel
Chaos reassembled
Admittedly, we never dug the original Alien Hominid. First released on consoles in 2004, it had its fanbase, sure, but the Newgrounds art style, slack animation response, and aggravating rather than enjoyable difficulty curve just turned us off. Enter Alien Hominid Invasion, a 2023 sequel that blasted out of nowhere, ready to...
Review World Of Horror - One Of The Most Unique Roguelites On Switch
"I am a horror maniac who prefers to stay at home"
These days, it feels like every other indie game released is a roguelite of some kind, and while there are a lot of good ideas brought to the table, the barrage of releases can feel like they start to blend together. Not so with World of Horror. This is a roguelite RPG styled after the basic...
Review Ebenezer And The Invisible World (Switch) - A Good Metroidvania Launched In A Ghastly State
(Bah, hum)bugs abound
Of the hundreds of versions of A Christmas Carol that we’re all bombarded with in the lead-up to the Holidays, very few give any thought to what comes after Scrooge is visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. The focus is firmly on how he becomes a changed man and not what he actually does with his...
Review My Time At Sandrock (Switch) - A Farm Sim Sequel That Plays It Too Safe
Not exactly the cream of the crop
Since this review was published, an update has reportedly improved one or more of the issues cited. Unfortunately, we cannot revisit games on an individual basis, but it should be noted that the patched game currently available may offer an improved experience over the one detailed below. Fans of the farm sim...
Mini Review Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - Still Outstanding On Switch
What a thrill
Originally released in 2004, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is widely considered to be the finest entry in Hideo Kojima’s Magnum Opus. And almost 20 years later, it’s still easy to see why, even though some aspects of the game haven’t aged particularly gracefully. For Switch owners who have never delved into the Metal Gear...
Mini Review Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty - A Solid Switch Port, But Fans Deserve Better
I need scissors! 61!
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty has long been considered one of the weaker entries in Hideo Kojima’s stealth franchise, nestled between the iconic PS1 original and the critically acclaimed prequel, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Yet playing the game in 2023 is, quite frankly, a revelatory experience. The story once...
Mini Review Metal Gear Solid - A Faithful Switch Debut For An All-Time Great
Kept you waiting, huh?
Going back to Metal Gear Solid in 2023, it’s undoubtedly clear why the game created so much fuss when it originally launched on the PS1 back in 1998. What’s also obvious, however, is how much the title has aged in the decades since. For its release on the Switch, Konami has opted to retain as much of the original’s...
Review WarioWare: Move It! (Switch) - A Fine Return For Wario's Wii-Era, Motion-Based Mayhem
Good Form
As much as we loved 2021's WarioWare: Get It Together!, it's definitely an entry in this barmy franchise that's ended up dividing opinion over time. With little in the way of truly engaging multiplayer options, no real core gimmick, or any significant attempt to utilise the Switch's unique control opportunities, some folks (not us, mind)...
Review Star Ocean: The Second Story R (Switch) - One Of The Very Best RPGs Of The Year
Come sail on a different sea of stars
The Star Ocean series has always occupied a weird spot in Square’s massive catalogue. This sci-fi-focused JRPG series started off relatively strong, but the last few entries have been middling at best and just plain not good at worst. Nonetheless, those earlier games were really something at the time, and...
Review Devil World - A North American Debut For Nintendo's Curious Pac-Man 'Clone'
Heaven a good time
This review was originally published in November 2014. We're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online NES library — and its official debut in North America nearly 40 years after its Japanese launch on Famicom. As far as obscure releases within the NES library go, Devil World is...
Review Castlevania Legends - A 'Vania So Poor It Got Booted From Canon
Tainted bloodline
This review was originally published in October 2012. We're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy library. The odds were stacked against Castlevania Legends almost from the start. When it was released towards the end of the '90s, it had the near-impossible task of following
Review The Mysterious Murasame Castle - The Legend Of Zelda's Action-Focused Sibling
The mystery is why this took so long to be released outside Japan
This review was originally published in June 2014. We're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online NES library. Although not originally released outside Japan, chances are that longtime Nintendo fans in the West have noticed nostalgic...
Walking in a winter wonderland
It’s been a busy year for Riot’s new Forge publishing arm, aimed at expanding its League of Legends Runeterra universe in games beyond the popular MOBA. In April, we got The Mageseeker, a hi-bit brawler set in the austere kingdom of Demacia, and in June, we got Convergence, a traditional Metroidvania set in the...
Review Dave The Diver (Switch) - One Of The Best Games In A Year Of Greats
If nautical nonsense is something you wish
Dave the Diver is a game about a diver named Dave. It's also about a restauranteur, archaeologist, marine researcher, and social media genius — also Dave. Poor ol' Dave has to wear all these hats in Dave the Diver, and living out his toilsome existence makes for one of the best games of the year and...
Review VISCO Collection (Switch) - A Well-Presented Neo Geo Arcade Set With Online Play
A magnificent seven?
Unless you’re a Neo Geo diehard, Visco isn't as recognisable as Namco, Konami, Capcom, or the other big hitters they used to roll with in the early '90s arcade scene. And, although the company made strong impressions with the likes of Vasara, the majority of its work was for SNK’s Neo Geo hardware, as represented by the...
Review Gordian Quest - An Engaging Deckbuilder, But A Poor Switch Port
Knot the best port
Gordian Quest, like many games of its ilk, is bogged down by dense, cumbersome menus and volumes of small text. But unlike a lot of other games in the strategy and deckbuilding genre, it's much easier to wrap your mind around and isn't mired in frustratingly long tutorials and steep learning curves. Weaving tabletop inspirations...
A legend returns
Editor's Note: If you're looking for our thoughts on the individual releases within the Collection, then check out our reviews on Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, which you can buy individually on the Switch eShop. For Nintendo fans, the Metal Gear franchis
Review Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed - Ecto Edition (Switch) - Dripping In Nostalgic 4v1 Fun
Be the one who answers the call
If you’re a child of a certain age, you absolutely grew up wanting to strap on a Proton Pack and go bust some ghosts with your friends. There have been plenty of attempts to tap into the nostalgia for Ghostbusters over the years, and, while Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed isn’t the best of the bunch, it is a...
Mini Review Garden Buddies (Switch) – A Relaxing Sim That’s A Little Green
Sow-sow
Gardening in game worlds is relaxing – more so than its real-life counterpart, where plants wither no matter what you do. Garden Buddies from Dutch developer JamPics joins the many cosy Switch games where you can grow plants without wondering if you’ve under- or over-watered them. Unfortunately, it’s not the pick of the bunch. Garden...
Mini Review Just Dance 2024 Edition (Switch) - Just More, Now With Added Miley
May I have this high-score challenge?
2024 is on the horizon, which means it’s high time for Ubisoft to step onto the dancefloor with its latest Just Dance offering, Just Dance 2024 Edition. If you look back on our review of 2023’s entry, we mentioned that it significantly improved the tried-and-tested formula, boosting the visuals nicely while...
Mini Review Suika Game (Switch) - Viral Sensation 'Watermelon Game' Is A Ripe Little Puzzler
Ripe and ready
A couple of years ago, a Japanese company called Aladdin X released a digital projector, and it included a fun little fruit game called Suika Game as part of its software. Suika Game was so well received by people who bought the projector that the company decided to port a version of it to Switch, but the game launched there to almost...
Review Harvest Moon: The Winds Of Anthos (Switch) - Terrible Title, Pretty Alright Game
Harvest Dew
If the 'Uncanny Valley' is the term for something being almost-human-but-not-quite, then Harvest Moon: Winds of Anthos is in the Uncanny Stardew Valley. It's so close to being a really good farming sim game, but doesn't quite manage to hit the mark. However, for the first time in the
Mini Review Witchy Life Story (Switch) - Lots Of Potential And Charm, But Lacking In Execution
A cup of something cosy
Cottagecore fans, this one’s for you. Witchy Life Story is a visual novel packed full of sweet characters, magical charms, and cozy rituals. Coming from Sundew Studios, it has already been around on Steam for a while, and it’s now available on Switch. The story puts you in the pointed shoes of a witch who has been sent...
Review CRYMACHINA (Switch) - Silly, Stylish, But Oh-So-Repetitive Action-RPG-ing
Cry me a river
FuRyu has made a name for itself in recent years of being a publisher that does a great job of churning out RPGs that you’ll certainly like, but probably not love. Games like Monark, Caligula Effect, and Crystar have all offered players some decent yet flawed experiences, and now the company has brought us yet another entry in this...
Review Agatha Christie - Murder On The Orient Express (Switch) - A Clever New Spin On An Old Mystery
Train of thought
When a mystery story has been told millions of times before, how can it still be a mystery? This is the challenge faced by anyone adapting Agatha Christie’s phenomenally widely-read 1934 novel, Murder on the Orient Express. And just in case anyone missed out on the book, decades of film adaptations have also solved the case again...
Review Gargoyles Remastered (Switch) - One For Cult Disney Die-Hards Only
"We are defenders of the night! We are Gargoyles!"
Back in the mid-to-late '90s, Disney produced a cartoon called Gargoyles that stood out quite a bit from other shows in the animated landscape. Featuring a serialized storytelling format, rich lore, and a rather dark tone, it quickly gained a cult following across its run, though it never garnered a...
Review Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Switch) - The Best 2D Mario Since The Super NES
Wonder boy
When Super Mario World first released back in 1990 (or '91 or '92 depending on your region), it felt like a huge moment for Nintendo's iconic platforming franchise. Here was Mario as we already knew him, bounding energetically through 2D environments on the way to his usual goal but, at the same time, everything felt as though it had...
Review Front Mission 2: Remake (Switch) - Serviceable, But With Some Seriously Rough Edges
RNG my bell
It takes a lot to make a game about giant robot battles feel dull, but somehow Front Mission 2: Remake manages it. While it improves on some of the shortcomings of Front Mission 1st: Remake, the combat system isn’t fun enough to fully salvage this tactical RPG. While it might be worthwhile for strategy fans eager to test out G-Craft's...
Review Sonic Superstars - A Fine, Authentic-Feeling Return That Runs Great On Switch
Speed up, superstar
If you’d have told us that two of gaming’s most iconic rivals, Mario and Sonic, would be going head-to-head with two brand-new platformers in the space of a week, we’d have said you were probably off your rocker. What’s more, if you’d have said that Sega’s latest entry, Sonic Superstars, would turn out to provide one...
Burning rubber
Hot Wheels, man. We remember those. In the '90s almost every Saturday morning ad break featured a Hot Wheels commercial braying out superlative adjectives over thrashy rock solos. Invariably, two pearly-toothed, spiky-haired kids would grin as their miniature cars jostled for pole position, giving each other a thumbs-up after a...
