Chris Scullion

Nintendo Life

Chris Scullion·Jul 22, 2019

Critic70/100

Agreement—

As long as you're playing it docked and willing to put the time in to master its helium-light handling, Rise eventually reveals itself to be a rewarding and visually fantastic arcade style racer with an interesting Challenges mode. Its slightly blurry handheld visuals and the complete lack of multiplayer are disappointing, but persevere with its slippery steering and the payoff is a fun – if unforgiving – solo racing game.

Nintendo Life

Chris Scullion·Jul 18, 2019

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Etherborn looks fantastic, sounds incredible and revolves around a brilliant game mechanic that initially feels like it's going to lead to some clever puzzles but ramps things up far too quickly and engulfs you with frustratingly complex stages while you're still trying to find your feet. There's still a great game in there, but you'll need to have the patience of a saint to stumble up its 90-degree difficulty curve to find it.

Nintendo Life

Chris Scullion·Jun 17, 2019

Critic90/100

Agreement—

While it's a shame that there are fewer games here than in other Konami collections – we'd have loved to have seen NES title Contra Force or the now-extinct WiiWare title Contra ReBirth – the ones included are universally brilliant. The 8-bit and 16-bit Contra games are among the finest examples of the run 'n gun genre, and to have almost all of them included in a single release and emulated flawlessly is an absolute treat. Whether you're a fan of the series or a curious onlooker who's always wanted to see what the fuss was all about, this is essential.

Nintendo Life

Chris Scullion·May 22, 2019

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Taken on its own merits, Team Sonic Racing is a fun karting game that doesn't quite match Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in terms of either performance or sheer level of content, but still offers satisfying handling and should still keep Sonic fans entertained for a while. It's impossible not to compare it to its predecessor, though, and in all the areas where Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed excelled, Team Sonic Racing is merely competent. By no means a bad game, then, but when we look back years from now it won't be standing on any karting game podiums.

Nintendo Life

Chris Scullion·May 20, 2019

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Despite the sheer volume of solid gold hits in the series, Castlevania Anniversary Collection is a somewhat mixed bag from Konami, with stone-cold classics sharing the spotlight with a couple of undead clunkers that really should have remained dead and buried.

Nintendo Life

Chris Scullion·May 1, 2019

Critic60/100

Agreement—

Table Top Racing: World Tour is an adequate enough racer that doesn't ever shoot high enough to delight, stumble low enough to frustrate or simply do anything that leaves a lasting impression on us, be that positive or negative. It runs fine, looks fine, plays fine. It's fine. And that includes the 'fine' Switch owners seemingly have to pay for a game that now costs ten bucks more than it did when it launched three years ago. When the only thing that stands out about a game is its price, that probably says it all.

Nintendo Life

Chris Scullion·Apr 18, 2019

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Cuphead was an absolute masterpiece when it launched on Xbox 18 months ago and nothing has been sacrificed in its move to the Switch. It's the same visually jaw-dropping, aurally delightful, knuckle-whiteningly difficult game it was on Microsoft's console and the Switch's library is all the better for its presence. Its focus on intense boss battles won't be to everyone's tastes, but as long as you know what you're getting yourself into we can't recommend it enough.

Nintendo Life

Chris Scullion·Apr 16, 2019

Critic70/100

Agreement—

My Time At Portia is an ambitious game that actually delivers on what it sets out to do. The crafting can be extremely overwhelming at first and the presence of some in-game timers can be a mild annoyance, but get your head round its detailed multi-step building missions and you'll end up with a game that could end up racking hundreds of hours on your Switch.

Nintendo Life

Chris Scullion·Apr 2, 2019

Critic80/100

Agreement—

GALAK-Z isn't a game for everyone: its rogue-lite nature, its high difficulty level and its punishing policy on death (even in its easier Arcade mode) will infuriate some players who are just expecting a quick blast of non-stop action. Treat it like the slower-paced exploration and survival game it's supposed to be, and your patience will be rewarded with some genuinely satisfying space combat and a wide variety of customisable parts (not to mention its brilliant mech upgrade), all wrapped up in a fantastic '80s style aesthetic.

Nintendo Life

Chris Scullion·Apr 1, 2019

Critic80/100

Agreement—

A must-have for fans, but merely recommended for newcomers.

Nintendo Life

Chris Scullion·Feb 14, 2019

Critic70/100

Agreement—

It takes a while to get going and it has its fair share of annoying quirks, but as it progresses Aragami becomes a solid stealth game with a compelling story. The addition of extra DLC chapters gives the game a welcome boost in longevity, and though its temperamental mechanics prevent it becoming an unarguable gem, its stylish look and the range of abilities you acquire by the end mean fans of stealth games (and fans of stealth only) will still have a fun time with it. Eventually.

Nintendo Life

Chris Scullion·Jan 11, 2019

Critic90/100

Agreement—

If you originally missed out on the 3DS port, this is about as essential a retro release as you can get. Out Run has always been an infinitely playable game, and the new unlockables and online rankings only increase its longevity further. Those with the 3DS version will have to decide whether it's worth buying what's more or less the same game again in order to play it on their TV, but for everyone else with an interest in retro gaming, it's a must-have.

Nintendo Life

Chris Scullion·Dec 20, 2018

Critic50/100

Agreement—

V-Rally 4 is an old-school rally game at heart, for better and worse (but mainly the latter). If you stick with it you'll eventually start to master and enjoy it, but the slippery handling and unforgiving ‘no mistakes allowed' rally races make getting to that point a real slog. On top of this, its numerous performance issues are so severe that they aren't just ugly, they're downright distracting: the result being that although this is now the best rally game on Switch by default, pretty much every aspect of it leaves acres of room for improvement.

Nintendo Life

Chris Scullion·Dec 20, 2018

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Too much hand-holding in games can be a problem, but Battle Princess Madelyn goes in the opposite direction with its main Story mode and is just as annoying (if not more so) as a result. Thankfully, its alternative Arcade mode really does save the day, stripping away all the convoluted and confused exploration and leaving nothing but pure, unfiltered arcade action goodness. It's just a shame its main mode – and perhaps the key reason the developer wants your £15.79 / $19.99 – is so frustratingly unhelpful and awkward to play. Still, fans of Capcom's Ghouls ‘n Ghosts will most definitely want to check this out.

Nintendo Life

Chris Scullion·Dec 18, 2018

Critic50/100

Agreement—

Quantity over quality has never been exhibited so perfectly as it is here. Having 150 games is undoubtedly impressive, but when the vast majority of them are barely decipherable, let alone playable, you're probably only really left with around 15 titles that will hold your attention for more than a minute.