Latest Reviews
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 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...
Mini Review A Void Hope (Switch) - A Dark, Immersive, Creepy Little Game
"If you look long enough into the void..."
Elden Pixels has built a strong reputation for itself with its Alwa games, both offering a great take on the traditional Metroidvania formula, but its latest release tries to do something quite a bit different. A Void Hope certainly carries on some of the level design and exploration elements central to the...
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...
Review Penny's Big Breakaway (Switch) - A Furiously Fast & Fun Platformer With Sega Spirit
A Penny for your thoughts
It’s now been nearly seven years (yes, really) since the release of Sonic Mania, which indisputably marked a high point for Sega’s troubled blue mascot. Much of the game's success could be attributed to the team of passionate and talented fans (led by Christian Whitehead) that came together to develop it, but rather...
Review Ufouria: The Saga 2 (Switch) - A Cheerful Throwback To Sunsoft's '90s Platformers
At your leisure
This is, for lack of a better descriptor, charming; a rekindling of an IP and a platforming vibe not seen rendered in such authentic fashion for some time. Ufouria: The Saga 2’s simplicity is to its credit, keeping it real to the source material and the vast catalogue of action platform games that informed much of the Nintendo...
Review Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster (Switch) - Another Must-Play From Nightdive
Rebels' gun
Following its stellar remaster work on the likes of Quake, Quake II, and the Turok series, Nightdive Studios is back with another glimpse into the world of retro first-person shooters. This time, we’re heading into the Star Wars universe with Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster, an intriguing game in more ways than one. On the one hand, it...
Review Pentiment (Switch) - Obsidian's Medieval Murder Mystery Is Portable Perfection
Renaissance, man
Listen. We've already reviewed Obsidian's superlative Pentiment over on our sister site Pure Xbox, where we gave it an excellent 9/10 score. However, now that we've been given the opportunity to return to 16th-century Bavaria all over again in this fantastic Switch port, we daresay it's better — worthy of a slight amendment to...
Sweet little mystery dungeon
It’s nearly guaranteed that during any online discussion about a game of the ‘rogue’ genre, at least one sweaty person will eagerly emerge from the woodwork to say, “Well, ackshually, this game is a roguelite, not a roguelike.” Eyerolls aside, the distinction isn’t without merit, though ‘pure’ roguelikes...
Review Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! (Switch) - Game Freak's 3DS Gem Is Still A Prize Pony
Yay or neigh?
When the 3DS eShop closed back in March 2023, we were sad for a number of reasons. We were sad at the thought of losing the wonderful Virtual Console library. Sad at the prospect of never seeing the little orange bag mascot again. Sad at the understanding that we'd soon be returning to the silent eShop of the Switch without a...
Review Piczle Cross: Story Of Seasons (Switch) - Dependable Puzzlin' With A Faint Farm-Sim Flavour
A bountiful harvest
Fans of Nintendo’s long-running Picross series are well aware that there’s no shortage of nonogram puzzlers on the Switch, with developer Jupiter and the Big N’s franchise alone accounting for over a dozen games and counting so far. Even so, there’s an addictive simplicity to the core concept that ensures that further...
Review Splatoon 3: Side Order - An Addictive Roguelite Just Shy Of Excellence
Starter for Eight
Splatoon 3’s Side Order has been dangling just out of reach since it was revealed in 2023, but Wave 2 of the DLC has finally landed for Splatoon 3 Expansion Pass owners. Nearly five years after the release of Splatoon 2’s Octo Expansion, Agent Eight’s story continues in the drab and colourless world of the Memverse, but is it...
Review Blast Corps - An Absurd, Exhilarating, Explosive Gem From Rare's N64 Days
Time to get moving
This review originally went live in 2013, and we're updating and republishing it to celebrate the game's arrival in Switch's N64 library via the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. Long before the massive mainstream appeal of video games that exists today, successful developers were surprisingly free from the shackles of big...
Review Bandle Tale: A League Of Legends Story (Switch) - A Cute Crafting RPG That Needs Untangling
Legends never die
Last month, Riot Games announced a substantial number of layoffs within the company, and one of the casualties was the Riot Forge publishing arm. Over the last few years, Riot Forge partnered with various indie developers to produce a diverse lineup of single-player games set in the world of Runeterra, and these games all proved to...
Review Promenade (Switch) – Imperfect But Pleasant (And Punishing) Puzzle-Platforming
Cog-nitive
In games, we often talk about ‘levels’ and ‘levelling up’. Promenade takes that to the – ahem – next level. France-based Holy Cap Studios and Red Art Games bring us this 2D puzzle-platformer collectathon that connects a mix of lands via a Great Elevator. Inspired by other titles, it may not be the most original, but true to...
Review qomp 2 (Switch) - The Spiritual Successor That Pong Deserves
Ping-Pong
When Atari first announced qomp2 as a reimagining of the arcade classic Pong, we must admit to feeling somewhat sceptical of the similarities. Yet after completing all 30 levels in the Graphite Lab-developed puzzler, we’re convinced that it is very much the spiritual successor that Pong deserves. It’s a game that only increased its...
Review Inkulinati (Switch) - Inky & Entertaining Turn-Based Battles, With Butt Trumpets
Die bard
When you’re going off to battle, you want to bring your best and strongest warriors with you. In most games, these fighters come in the form of muscle-bound, gun-toting avatars of destruction. In Yaza Games' Inkulinati, your champions are the odd animals that litter the pages of medieval manuscripts, led across the battlefield by the hand...
Review PlateUp! (Switch) - A Tasty & Chaotic Roguelite Cooking Sim
Kitchen nightmares
The biggest challenge facing PlateUp! is the striking similarities to the other culinary stress simulator, Overcooked. Ghost Town Game’s hugely popular series has been fairly unique in its genre up until now. Making sure all orders are right, delivering dishes to tables in time, and washing up after — this rhythm will be...
Review Arzette: The Jewel Of Faramore (Switch) - An Adroit Homage To The Worst Zelda Games
You'll need a Philips head for this
You can’t move for retro-inspired games these days, to the extent that a developer saying “Hey, this looks like an old game!” has started to feel less like a selling point and more like a hop onto a crowded, pixelated bandwagon. If you’re after something that looks a bit like a modern NES or SNES game...
Review Mario vs. Donkey Kong (Switch) - An Easygoing, Kid-Friendly Remake That's Just Fine
Junior Jungle Japes
Ok, let's see. The original Donkey Kong first released into arcades in 1981, where it became a smash hit that also happened to introduce us to two of Nintendo's most enduring mascots in the form of a great big agitiated ape and some springy little plumber guy. The game, in this very first incarnation, involved bounding around...
Review Tomb Raider I-III Remastered (Switch) - The Best Way To Rediscover A Gaming Idol
When old becomes new
Not many game franchises manage to ascend to the status of ‘iconic’, but Tomb Raider is undoubtedly one of them. Despite the original trilogy being released for multiple platforms, Lara Croft quickly became synonymous with the PS1, standing toe-to-toe with Crash Bandicoot as one of the console’s mascots. Since then, of...
Review Eastward: Octopia (Switch) - A Great Farm Sim Expansion That Edges Out The Base Game
Another great Octo Expansion
A few years ago, a cute new action-adventure game called Eastward released on most platforms, blending some appealing EarthBound-esque visuals with a narrative-driven game loop that’s vaguely reminiscent of the older Zelda games. We really enjoyed it, despite its flaws, and it seems that developer Pixpil had some more...
Review Alisa Developer's Cut (Switch) - An Excellent RE Homage That Nails The '90s Vibe
Hey, doll
Some of the best retro-style games are almost indistinguishable from the real deal; games that could have been buried in a time capsule in the ‘80s or ‘90s, long forgotten before being unearthed, completely intact, in the modern day. It’s tough to pull off, though we can say with absolute confidence that Alisa Developer’s Cut is...
Review GRIME Definitive Edition (Switch) - A Poor Port Of A Superb Soulslike Metroidvania
Pretty rocky
The best thing we can ever say about a game is that we wanted to keep playing it on our own time after we’ve wrapped up a review. We wish we could tell you that’s the case with Grime. It should be; there’s a really great Souls-inspired Metroidvania here. But a number of technical aspects turn what should be a chip off the ol’...
Rhythm-based puzzling
This game was originally covered as part of our Nindie Round Up series that sought to give coverage to a wider breadth of Switch eShop games beyond our standard reviews. In an effort to make our impressions easier to find, we're presenting the original text below in our mini-review format. Akihabara - Feel the Rhythm Remixed...
Mini Review Waku Waku Sweets (Switch) - Low-Stakes Baking Minigames With Anime Icing
Baking it
This game was originally covered as part of our Nindie Round Up series that sought to give coverage to a wider breadth of Switch eShop games beyond our standard reviews. In an effort to make our impressions easier to find, we're presenting the original text below in our mini-review format. A port of a 3DS game with some funky new motion...
Mini Review Dexteritrip (Switch) - A Minimalist, Hardcore Platformer With Some Fun Ideas
Trip off the old block
This game was originally covered as part of our Nindie Round Up series that sought to give coverage to a wider breadth of Switch eShop games beyond our standard reviews. In an effort to make our impressions easier to find, we're presenting the original text below in our mini-review format. Note. This game has, unfortunately,...
