Switch eShop Game Reviews
Mini Review Arise: A Simple Story (Switch) - An Audiovisual Treat With Emotive, Elegant Storytelling
Arise and shine
Is a platform game a good medium in which to tell a story of agonising tragedy? When the tears fall on the joysticks, is it appropriate to say, “Now, jump from there to there”? It’s hard to see how it wouldn’t be insensitive, after a heart-rending calamity, to chime in, “Chin up! Swing on your grappling hook over that lava...
Review Bugsnax (Switch) - A Charming Idea That Struggles In Execution
To snack or not to snack
Ever since Bugsnax was announced for PlayStation systems back in 2020, the game has grabbed people’s attention like few others. With plenty of merchandise and its catchy theme song, it seemed as though the googly-eyed strawberries were everywhere despite being Sony-exclusive at the time. Now, a year and a half later, the...
Review The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe (Switch) - A Mind-Bending Mess Of Wonderment
The end is never the end is never the end is never
This is the story of a man named Alex. Alex was employed by a company called Nintendo Life, and one of his many duties was to review video games. One day when at his desk Alex heard the news that The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe would be releasing on the Nintendo Switch, the games console which...
Mini Review Dungeons Of Dreadrock (Switch) - A Neat Puzzle-Crawler With Zelda: Minish Cap Style
Dread it, run from it...
Dungeons of Dreadrock is a simple little game centering around the efforts of an adventurous girl to save her brother from sacrificing himself in a haunted dungeon. He’s been taken down a hundred floors crawling with goblins, spiders, traps, and other awful things, and you’ll need to overcome it all if you wish to save...
Approach this With Arms Wide Open
Hello, Nintendo fans, and welcome to a review of another Metroidvania. You'll be thrilled to know that this one is good, and if you enjoy the Metroidvania genre, you'll enjoy playing Blast Brigade. Alright, cheers. What?? You want more?!? Oh, god. Okay. It's just that there are so many of these games and so little...
Mini Review The Last Friend (Switch) - Fantastic, Fast-Paced Tower Defense, With Pettable Good Boys
Me and the bois
The Last Friend places you in control of Alpha, a strong and silent protagonist who travels a wasteland in a decked-out RV with a pack of his best friends. His best friends, of course, are dogs. Their leader is a spicy little chihuahua named T. Juan who does all the talking on behalf of the gang, and together Alpha and the pack fight...
Review Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Switch) - Shallow And Short, But Passable Starfiller
"It's not a story the Jedi would tell you..."
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Disney had yet to purchase the Star Wars IP and George Lucas was still somewhat involved in its ongoing success. One of the last major initiatives before the Disney purchase was Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, a multimedia project that aimed to bridge the two...
Review Formula Retro Racing (Switch) - A Sega-Style Arcade Racer With Engine Troubles
Sega does what this don't
Formula Retro Racing is based on a particular era of arcade racers: namely, the very early polygonal era in which games like Virtua Racing (well, okay, it was really only Virtua Racing) were wowing arcade-goers. As in Sega’s seminal arcade racer, Formula Retro Racing uses large, chunky polygons for its cars and tracks...
Mini Review Toodee And Topdee (Switch) - Imaginative, Perspective-Shifting Puzzle Platforming
Topdee-turvy
Toodee and Topdee sounds like the output of a rapid innovation brainstorm under game-jam pressure: “What if side-on, but also top-down?” Probably sort of true, as developer dietzribi conjured the game's earliest form for Ludum Dare 41 in 2018. It’s a throwaway idea that they were absolutely right not to throw away. This fully...
Mini Review Demon Turf: Neon Splash (Switch) - A Brilliant Platforming Spin-Off Full Of Colour
Devilishly good platforming
When Demon Turf launched at the tail end of 2021, it left a positive impression on us thanks to its solid platforming gameplay, retro aesthetic, and focus on speedrunning. The game fell short of true greatness due to its less-than-stellar combat mechanics, which frankly brought the whole experience down a few pegs. In a...
Review Nobody Saves The World (Switch) - A Thrilling Action RPG For Fans Of Old-School Zelda
Nobody saw it coming
The recent release of Triangle Strategy raised an interesting conversation about the role of customization in RPGs. For those of you who didn’t pick it up, progression there is almost entirely linear, with each character having a predefined class that remains rather rigid throughout the whole experience. Some enjoyed having...
Review Gotta Protectors: Cart Of Darkness (Switch) - An Inventive, Hilarious Action-Strategy Blend
Cowabunga!
Gotta Protectors: Cart of Darkness starts as it means to go on — with a warm-hearted parody of something only gamers of a certain age are likely to remember. Ancient's logo appears and then… nothing happens — not until you hammer the 'A' button on the side of the screen as though your Switch is a temperamental CRT TV that's seen...
Review The House Of The Dead: Remake (Switch) - Control Issues Gnaw At Sega's Arcade Classic
Stutter like G did
Two years ago, Polish studio Forever Entertainment released an HD remake of Sega Saturn classic Panzer Dragoon. Our review at the time stated that the remake was interesting but flawed, but ultimately concluded that even though it wasn’t perfect, we were glad it at least existed so that more people could at least get a chance to...
Review Slipstream (Switch) - A Neat, Sonic-Obsessed Homage To Sega's Super Scaler Tech
The skids are alright
If it’s retro racing you’re looking for, you don’t have to look far on Switch. The likes of Hotshot Racing, Formula Retro Racing, Horizon Chase Turbo and the Sega Ages versions of Virtua Racing and Out Run have ensured that anyone keen on a racing game of the vintage vehicular variety is practically spoiled for choice.
A not-so-radical remaster
Whenever a developer resurrects a decades-old game, the same question arises along with it: does the remaster maintain the integrity of the original while changing enough to warrant a purchase for both newcomers and longtime fans alike? For Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition, that’s tough to answer. A sequel to...
Mini Review A Memoir Blue (Switch) - Annapurna's Latest Is Short But Just Not Sweet Enough
Front crawl, back stroke, ego stroke
We'd be lying if we pretended we hadn't experienced impressive games published by Annapurna Interactive in the past; What Remains of Edith Finch, Outer Wilds, and Sayonara Wild Hearts are just scratching the surface of the critically acclaimed titles that have passed through their avowed art-game doors. The hit...
Review Dark Deity (Switch) - A Shameless But Satisfying Fire Emblem 'Homage'
Emblematic of a certain other fantasy tactics game
Well, it's about time someone really, properly ripped off Fire Emblem: Three Houses. No, really, don't get upset; that is truly not the insult it reads like. After all, with no new mainline series title on the horizon — no, Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes doesn't count — don't fans deserve a...
Mini Review Imp Of The Sun (Switch) - Flickers Of Flair In A Well-Designed Metroidvania
Hail to the Imp
Originality is overrated. So is perfection. There’s something to be said for the scrappy B-tier games that, let’s face it, make up the majority of most systems’ libraries. A lot of them simply don't get a second look because they appear, you know, a bit cheap. And, when we first booted up Imp Of The Sun, we had the same sort of...
Review .hack//G.U. Last Recode (Switch) - Intriguing But Ageing PS2 ARPGs Get A Solid Remaster
"I'm in"
Multimedia projects can be tremendous accomplishments when pulled off right, drawing upon the unique strengths of different mediums to tell an all-encompassing tale. In the early 2000s, Bandai took a shot at one with Project .hack, which began with an anime and spun out to include a manga, a series of novels, and a four-part collection of...
Jumping on the Band Dragon
No option to rotate a display in a vertical oriented shoot-em-up is a worrying sign. Nevertheless, the option is conspicuously absent in Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid. What it does boast, though — unusually for a niche Japanese release — is a top-to-bottom English language translation, which makes this a more tempting...
Review Andro Dunos 2 (Switch) - A Knockout Shmup Success That Nails The '90s Arcade Feel
Pro-Gear Spec
The recent trend of resurrecting long-ceased shoot-em-up IPs from the dead, usually when the original developer has shuffled off its electronic coil, is a welcome one. M2 revived Aleste, Platinum Games reanimated the Crestas, and now small indie outfit Picorinne Soft — comprised of brothers Ryo and Satto — has ventured a sequel to...
Mini Review The Ramp (Switch) - Think Tony Hawk's Pro Skater On GBA, Minus The Grind(ing)
Kick back with a kick-flip
Normally when you think of skateboarding games, you think of high scores and leaderboards — that's what it's all about, right? Well, that and H-O-R-S-E, of course. Stringing insane combos together to build up ridiculous high scores has been a mainstay in the genre since even before the days of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. It...
Mini Review République: Anniversary Edition (Switch) - A Sneakily Intriguing Yet Flawed Experience
An obtuse angle on stealth
Don't you hate it when you're thrust into a totalitarian world of unrelenting fascist horror? For example, when you go outside? Ho ho! Just a bit of topical humour there. Sorry, we'll never do it again. Look, the point is, République — the game whose Nintendo Life review you are currently reading — is about escaping...
Review Dawn Of The Monsters (Switch) - Superior Co-Op Kaiju Combat With Pacific Rim Vibes
Kaiju feel my heart beat fast, I want this to last
A belt-scroller starring kaiju and Tokosatsu-style giant mecha isn't exactly an original idea. SNK's not-that-great King of the Monsters series did it first, but here's the scoop — Dawn of the Monsters does it better, with a game that'll make you feel five hundred feet tall. And scaly. And...
The Tour begins
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the most popular game on Switch, the very definition of an 'evergreen' title. Aside from the Battle Mode and a few minor changes, however, devoted fans have been playing the same content since the Wii U original with its DLC content, a scenario that finally changes with the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe-exclusive Booster...
Review Wife Quest (Switch) - A Bawdy Metroidvania That's Well Worth A Look
Sorry monster girls, but that boy is ours
The world is a dangerous place. One minute you’re out in your fields, farming to provide food for yourself and your wife, and the next you’re being accosted by a gang of monster girls who are dead set on stealing you away for themselves. That’s the fate of poor Fernando, who gets himself snatched away...
Mini Review A Musical Story (Switch) - A Trippy, Funk-Dipped, Oh-So-Groovy Rhythm Game
Funky see, funky do
Why is it that YouTube has lots of hits for “Guitar Hero blindfold” but none for “Guitar Hero earplugs”? It’s music – you don’t need to see it. With A Musical Story, Glee-Cheese Studio have taken a punt on the idea that music is something you do indeed listen to. What kind of music? With a brown-galore colour...
Review Young Souls (Switch) - One Of The Best Beat 'Em Ups On Switch, Despite Hiccups
The Young Souls of brawlers
Nearly four years ago, The Arcade Crew and 1P2P revealed Young Souls, a promising new entry in the oft-overlooked beat ‘em up genre. Then in 2021, the game launched as a Stadia exclusive and… well, we all know how that went. Unsurprisingly, the studio soon set about porting the release to other platforms, and it’s...
Review Aztech Forgotten Gods (Switch) - Stylish But Compromised By Its Combat And Camera
An az-technical disappointment
Considering its instantly recognisable iconography, the Mesoamerican Aztec culture is one that has rarely featured in video games. We’ve seen games like Aztec: Empire, sure, but there are a lot more examples tied to periods like the Second World War, the American Revolution, and Ancient Rome, to name but a few...
Review Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece For Cloud (Switch) - A Great Series That Deserves Better
Not like this
Note: For more details on the games in this cloud version package, check out our individual reviews for Kingdom Hearts 1.5 + 2.5 ReMix, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, and Kingdom Hearts III + Re:Mind. For an overview of the Integrum Masterpiece collection of all those games, read on.