Latest Reviews
Mini Review RetroRealms: Ash Vs Evil Dead (Switch) - A Gorgeous & Gory 16-Bit Throwback
Groovy
Given the sheer absurdity of the Evil Dead franchise, it’s a wonder we haven’t received anything quite like RetroRealms: Ash vs Evil Dead in the past. Yes, there have been a handful of video games featuring everyone’s favourite boomstick-wielding drunkard Ash Williams, but this latest effort from developer WayForward and publisher Boss...
Review Kill Knight (Switch) - Relentless Bullet Hell Is Rippingly Difficult But Bloody Satisfying
Rip, tear, dodge, repeat
Ah yes, the seemingly endless embrace of death, interspersed with feverish ability management and hordes of enemies shattering your fragile health bar. This is our relaxation time. Kill Knight is a ferocious bullet hell with a heavy metal aesthetic and thumping score that recalls the modern Doom cycle. It’s an isometric...
Review Blazing Strike (Switch) - A Beautiful Love Letter To The Fighting Game Hardcore
Blazin' squad
A totally original pixel art fighting game in 2024 is certainly a welcome surprise. What’s more of a surprise, though, is discovering that Mark Minkyu Chung touts himself as a solo game developer. Known by his developer handle Rarebreed, we hopped to Blazing Strike’s credits roll to corroborate the seemingly impossible. And, sure...
Review Super Mario Party Jamboree (Switch) - Only The Best Game In The Series
Family-friendly good times ahead
Listen! Nintendo has been doing a smashing job recently, in going back to some of its long-running franchises, stuff like Metroid and Pikmin, to bring us new entries that lean into the core strengths of what made us love them in the first place, instead of just continuing to bloat them with fluff and distractions...
Review Neva (Switch) - A Raw, Engrossing Platformer That Looks Incredible
Press 'X' to Neva
In the first couple years of the Switch, one of the standout indie games was an artsy little platformer called GRIS, which combined simple gameplay with incredible visuals to make for a memorable and touching experience. It feels fitting, then, that developer Nomada Studio has managed to produce and release a spiritual successor...
Review Ys X: Nordics (Switch) - Another Great Entry, Though We're Not Sold On The Sailing
Name a more iconic Duo, I'll wait
Though the Ys series has been around for decades now (it even predates Final Fantasy), its release history in the West was rather inconsistent until the mid-2000s and the series only really became relevant again to the Nintendo fanbase with the release of Ys VIII in 2018. After a decent follow-up a few years ago...
Review Crow Country (Switch) - A PS1-Style Horror Homage That Blends Old With New
Caw blimey, it's good
Modern survival horror games looking to recapture the aesthetics and essence of classic titles from the ‘90s often make one fatal mistake. You see, when fans who were around to play Resident Evil and Alone in the Dark: A New Nightmare on the PS1 look back, they do so with a level of fondness that, frankly, makes the games...
Review Europa (Switch) – Gorgeous Ghibli-esque Art, But Very Light On Substance
Up in the air
Europa is a puzzle-platformer that’s light on puzzles and platforming, set on (and named after) the moon of Jupiter. This indie title from Novadust Entertainment and Future Friends Games combines pretty expanses of green with futuristic elements. Its playthrough and story aim to both rouse your inner child and give you philosophical...
Review F-Zero: GP Legend (GBA) - A Great Handheld Entry That Nails The Series' Spirit
Dare you to blink
This review was originally published in January 2015. We're updating and republishing it to mark the arrival of GP Legend (and Climax, which was never released in the West) in the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack GBA library. The F-Zero series has often dished out a steep challenge, and in GP Legend the uninitiated will be...
Review Sky Oceans: Wings For Hire (Switch) - A Pale Imitation Of The JRPG Classics That Inspired It
Sky dive
Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire makes plenty of promises, billing itself as an homage to classic JRPGs like Skies of Arcadia. It ticks plenty of the boxes to appeal to fans of those games, offering a colourful cast of characters, an ambitious narrative, and classic turn-based combat, but there is a lack of polish that keeps this story of sky...
Mini Review Black & White Bushido (Switch) - A Great, If Limited, Party-Game Premise
It's black, it's white
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 unique concept that provides some...
Mini Review Necrosphere Deluxe (Switch) - A Short, Simple, Metroidvania, But Brutally Frustrating
Sphere-ry hard
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. If you’re someone who suffers from déjà...
Mini Review At Sundown: Shots In The Dark (Switch) - A Fun Little Hide-And-Shooter
One step away from you
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 hide-and-seek multiplayer...
Mini Review Mecho Wars: Desert Ashes (Switch) - A Poor Plot Dulls Some Shiny Strategy
Ashes to caches
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. Strategic RPG Mecho Wars: Desert Ashes...
Mini Review Solstice Chronicles: MIA (Switch) A MIA-xed Bag
Mamma MIA
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. Solstice Chronicles: MIA is a twin-stick shooter...
Review EA Sports FC 25 (Switch) - The New Best Football Game On Switch
We've been to Haaland back
If you've been following the history of the FIFA series on Switch, you'll know there was a massive plot twist last year. After delivering exactly the same FIFA game for six years in a row and getting progressively more frustrated Nintendo Life reviews in the process, EA finally stepped up its game with EA Sports FC 24 and...
Mini Review Atari 50: The Wider World Of Atari (Switch) - More Of The Brilliant Same
How deep does the Atari hole go?
Dubbed The Wider World of Atari, this first entry in what will ultimately be a two-part DLC expansion for Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is essentially developer Digital Eclipse digging even deeper into the Atari vaults. The result is a new timeline that, while possibly not as cohesive as those found in the...
One foot in the grave
Upon first boot, Night Slashers: Remake introduces itself within a mock 4:3 arcade screen bezel, where the first character appears against beautifully drawn scenery, trailed by awesome flesh-decayed zombies. At this point, we thought, “Damn, this looks great.” A moment later, the screen flashed into full widescreen,...
Review Looney Tunes: Wacky World Of Sports (Switch) - Zany Sporting Antics That Aren't Much Fun
That's pretty much all, folks
Fans of old-school sports compilations may remember Tiny Toon Adventures: Wacky Sports Challenge on Super Nintendo. In it, you played as the titular animated youngsters, who competed in enjoyable cartoon versions of familiar events. SNES also had Looney Tunes B-Ball, a beautifully animated genre classic that put a...
Review Bloomtown: A Different Story (Switch) - An Evocative, Demon-Catching RPG
Strange things are afoot
At first glance, Bloomtown: A Different Story looks like a charming addition to the world of slice-of-life RPGs, with its cosy pixel art style and comforting soundtrack. It kicks off with two siblings, Emily and Chester, being sent to their grandad’s house for summer break in the 1960s. They’re frustrated about going,...
This is war
Despite the sheer wealth of Worms titles over the years (most of which are, at the very least, decent), most fans would argue that the series reached its peak fairly early with the immaculate Worms Armageddon in 1999. Indeed, it’s quite telling that, of all the possible games to revisit, this is the one that Team17 and Digital Eclipse...
Linking to the past
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom contains many great life lessons we should all take into consideration: get others to do all the work for you; talking to cats is worth your time; making friends with spiders is good; horses can smell carrots from hundreds of miles away. Oh, and beds solve all problems. Okay, in all...
Review Beyond Galaxyland (Switch) - A Lovingly Crafted, Nostalgia-Fuelled Space Adventure
A galaxy pretty far away
An ode to science fiction media and RPGs of the '90s, Beyond Galaxyland is a charming and beautifully presented adventure. It’s all the more impressive that it's the creation of a single developer. Sam Enright has crafted meticulous pixel worlds, a strong script, and a truly infectious musical score. He also made one of...
Review Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed (Switch) - A Lick Of Paint Works Wonders
Hot dog!
Back in the days of the Wii, one of the more interesting and bizarre major third-party releases was Epic Mickey, a project headed by Warren Spector—the renowned creator of the Deus Ex franchise. This 3D platformer placed the famed mouse in an unusually dark premise that presented him with various moral dilemmas, and though it had its...
Review REYNATIS (Switch) - Underbaked Action-RPG Fare That Plays Rough On Switch
Shibuya blues
Here’s a riddle for you: What do you get when you blend the complex, character-driven narrative talent of Final Fantasy VII writer Kazushige Nojima, the epic, sweeping melodies of Super Mario RPG composer Yoko Shimamura, and an over-the-top action combat gameplay system? You get Kingdom Hearts, of course. However, developer Natsume...
Review The Karate Kid: Street Rumble (Switch) - A Great-Looking, Offline-Only, Co-op Brawler
Wax-on lyrical
In the wake of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, squat, cartoony, sprite-based scrolling beat 'em ups seem to be very fashionable. The forthcoming Toxic Crusaders is going for a similar look, Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons was uncharacteristically cutesy, and now The Karate Kid: Street Rumble features a...
Review The Plucky Squire (Switch) - Enormously Charming, But Not So Plucky On Switch
Needed more time on the drawing board
Two years ago, developer All Possible Futures announced The Plucky Squire with a Nintendo Switch gameplay trailer equal parts charming and stunning. The Plucky Squire takes place in two different worlds: the real 3D world of a young boy’s bedroom and the world of a 2D storybook, between which the protagonist...
Review Loddlenaut (Switch) - A Stress-Free, Subaquatic Escape For PowerWash Lovers
Come get some jetsam
Anyone who’s played PowerWash Simulator for too long while in a feverish state from having eaten too many fish fingers knows the feeling. You cease being a sanitary entrepreneur and find yourself submerged in the water, wearing a spacesuit, shooting the dirt off with a laser in a Zen-like trance while you nurture sea...
Mini Review Jackbox Naughty Pack (Switch) - NSFW But Too Safe For Jackbox
Spice, spice? Maybe
Those who have experienced any of the Jackbox Party Packs will know that, sometimes, things can get a little spicy. An odd question thrown into a family-friendly round of Fibbage that leaves you frantically scanning the in-game moderation options or a well-endowed Drawful sketch that leaves everyone chuckling like embarrassed...
Mini Review The Shrouded Isle (Switch) - A Great Management Sim Let Down By Its Visuals
Chernobogged down
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. The Shrouded Isle has a unique premise;...
