Chris Scullion

Nintendo Life

Chris Scullion·Jul 23, 2019

Critic60/100

Agreement—

Automachef is absolutely not for everyone; it's a puzzle game that overwhelms you from the start and only piles on more complexity as you progress through its 45 stages. There's a degree of satisfaction to be found in spending hours putting together large, elaborate automated set-ups, troubleshooting their flaws then finally seeing them work as intended, but you need to put in a hell of a lot of work for that payoff and for many the toll it takes on the old noggin won't be worth it.

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 24, 2019

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled is a visually phenomenal upgrade on a PlayStation karting classic, and one that faithfully recreates both its positives (its unique drift boosting system) and its potential irritants (30fps, tricky AI). It does bring a whole new set of issues – mainly lengthy loading times and the fact that playing offline stops you making any progress towards unlocking anything – but while these prevent the game from becoming an absolute must-have, they don't sour the experience enough to stop us wholeheartedly recommending it regardless.

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 27, 2019

Critic60/100

Agreement—

You’ll still have a decent time playing through them all, even though the lack of online leaderboards, lack of high score saving and general lack of options certainly make its budget price feel justified.

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.