Conor McMahon

Nintendo Life

Conor McMahon·Mar 13, 2018

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Puzzle Puppers is a very simple game about some very cute dogs. Its bright colours and bizarre premise are endearing, the gameplay is easy to grasp, and you'll be in hound heaven for the first 20 stages or so. After a while however, this old dog shows that it hasn't learned any new tricks, and the repetitive visuals don't do anything to elevate the equally repetitive gameplay. It's good clean fun, straightforward to an absolute fault, and for the low asking price there's enough here to make this worthwhile. If you're expecting a magical doggy story mode, or some imaginative level design however, you'll be left feeling a little ruff.

Nintendo Life

Conor McMahon·Feb 27, 2018

Critic60/100

Agreement—

Mercenary Kings: Reloaded takes some serious steps to breathe new life into the gun-toting, fast-paced arcade shooter, resetting your expectations by adding RPG elements such as weapon crafting and loot drops into the mix. It's ambitious, but also sorely repetitious, lacking in mission variety and the kind of enemy AI needed to make the grind feel worthwhile.

Nintendo Life

Conor McMahon·Jan 30, 2018

Critic40/100

Agreement—

Oh...Sir! The Hollywood Roast expands slightly on the original title, but for every minor improvement it makes, it stumbles over a list of missed opportunities, poorly-handled references, and a script that really could have used a few more rewrites. One-on-one verbal battles are still fun enough for the first hour or so, but beyond that it gets repetitious and even downright intolerable. We don't really recommend either title, but if you had to pick one then we'd recommend the original over this tasteless B-movie.

Nintendo Life

Conor McMahon·Jan 29, 2018

Critic50/100

Agreement—

Oh...Sir! The Insult Simulator is a pretty silly experience, even when it doesn't mean to be. The concept of choosing words and phrases to form an insult out of is clever enough in isolation, but the novelty wears off pretty quickly once you've played through a couple of matches. Any kind of strategy or technique is hampered by some iffy rules on point-scoring, so the online multiplayer - while a welcome addition - is dragged down by that same awkward repetition, whether your opponent is human or AI. For what it's worth, there's maybe an hour or so of decent fun here if you don't mind your insults making very little actual sense, and the price is just about in line with that. Not to be insulting, but it feels like maybe this game could have used a little more work, and its mother was a louse-ridden socialite who married an ambidextrous vole.

Nintendo Life

Conor McMahon·Dec 17, 2017

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Human Fall Flat recognises a simple truth - People falling down is hilarious, and when they're seemingly impervious to damage that's just an added guilt-free bonus. Playing as a wobbly, awkward avatar takes a lot of getting used to, and perhaps you never really get used to it at all, but the game leaves each level wide open to a variety of solutions to suit your own personal style. Tackling the five-to-six hour long adventure solo isn't entirely recommended, so if possible we'd definitely encourage getting a second player to join in on the fun, even if the game's performance takes a hit. While online multiplayer is sadly missing, we reckon that you and a fellow human might really fall for this little puzzler. Over and over and over again.

Nintendo Life

Conor McMahon·Nov 29, 2017

Critic60/100

Agreement—

Spellspire is simple, unique, and will make you feel like your English skills are on par with a 10-year old. The fun blend of word puzzle and fantasy adventure is enough to flesh out hours of content, and the snappy interface makes it easy to jump in for a few floors of spellbinding action. Longer play sessions wear a bit thin due to the need to grind, and the inconsistent difficulty makes progression feel less satisfying than it really should. It's not out to impress with its story or visuals, but if you want something quick and easy to play in handheld mode then it's a pretty solid choice. At its current price we'd only really recommend it to players who enjoy word games in general, and maybe keep a dictionary close to hand...

Nintendo Life

Conor McMahon·Nov 21, 2017

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Super Beat Sports casts the player into a world ruled over by inhuman alien lifeforms, obsessed with physical, brutal gladiatorial events under the oppressive droning of a harsh synthetic rhythm, without any explanation of why or how things have come to be this way. Aside from all that though, actually it's really rather cute, the games are fun for newcomers or veterans alike, and the local multiplayer options are top-notch. While score-chasers will find plenty of medals to earn for perfect performances, casual play will end up being pretty repetitious, especially with the lengthy load times. Because of this, even though it's broken up into bite-sized chunks it isn't always an ideal single player experience. We'd still recommend it however, especially at a budget price, so if you're looking for a fun party game to try out then assemble your crew and go whack some spaceballs!

Nintendo Life

Conor McMahon·Oct 29, 2017

Critic70/100

Agreement—

This Is The Police asks players to step into a career that's already on the rocks, in a city beyond saving, and then demands that you try and make things right regardless. It's a mature, compelling experience that combines elements of strategy, resource management and text adventure games, while telling a gripping story of corruption and withered hope - albeit with some muddled attempts to deal with real world issues. The meat of the game is solid, if extremely repetitious after some hours, so we can't help but feel if it was a shorter, more tightly focused game with a bit more variety, it would have felt more satisfying overall. As it stands there's hours of gameplay here for any budding cop, it just outstays its welcome a little.

Nintendo Life

Conor McMahon·Oct 19, 2017

Critic60/100

Agreement—

88 Heroes: 98 Heroes Edition took on the gargantuan challenge of cramming 98 playable characters into a single game, and while we commend the attempt the results have been a little shy of heroic. There's so much diversity to the size, shape, and moveset of each hero, that it comes at the cost of a more tightly designed set of levels and challenges. There's a lot of personality to every aspect of its presentation, and the heroes themselves are fantastic fun to mess around with, so it's just a shame that it falls a little short overall. If you're looking for something thoroughly silly and don't mind it being a short lived experience, then this is almost gr8, but don't expect much in the way of replayability m8.

Nintendo Life

Conor McMahon·Sep 15, 2017

Critic60/100

Agreement—

Lichtspeer is mechanically simple but stylistically demented. Set in a world that throws more neon at you than a dodgy warehouse rave, its arcade style gameplay is certainly repetitive, but satisfying enough to keep your interest for a while with the solid spear-hurling gameplay at its core. The addition of co-op multiplayer is well implemented, both enjoyable in its own right and extremely easy to jump in or out of. It's a short, repetitious experience, well-suited to the Switch's portable nature, but its occasionally unfair difficulty is used to pad the game out. Additional content and a bit more variety would make this über compelling, but it's still a good time so long as you keep an eye on your blood pressure.

Nintendo Life

Conor McMahon·Jun 20, 2017

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Darksiders: Warmastered Edition may be a bit late to the party, and borrows some material from other guests, but it's a welcome addition that still has a few good stories to tell and a trick or two left up its sleeve. It's a remarkably solid experience that combines a distinct aesthetic with varied gameplay, satisfying combat and fast-paced exploration, all centred around a story about the apocalypse. After you really click with a few key abilities early on the game opens wide up, and for anyone who hasn't already played the original this is a solid port of a hidden gem. The visual upgrades do make a big difference, but a slew of gltiches, crashes and software issues go to some lengths to unravel that through sheer frustration alone. Overall, then, it's not the ultimate version of Darksiders currently available, but it's a reasonable attempt for those that want to experience how it all began on their Wii U.

Nintendo Life

Conor McMahon·Feb 8, 2017

Critic50/100

Agreement—

What's frustrating about Toby: The Secret Mine is that it feels like it's actually trying to offer more than the sum of its parts, but just doesn't quite pull it off. It feels too bogged down in its inspirations to present any exciting ideas of its own, and while it's visually stunning at times, even this apes off superior titles that came before. Some challenging platforming and decent puzzles make it one to consider if you're looking to give your Wii U one last Nindie hurrah, but otherwise we'd recommend waiting on a digital sale before diving into this dark adventure.

Nintendo Life

Conor McMahon·Nov 10, 2016

Critic60/100

Agreement—

Blasting Agent: Ultimate Edition is like a little trip back in time to when graphics were blocky, gameplay was simple and story was almost non-existent in video games. It's got the look of a retro game, the feel of a retro game, and due to its repetitious nature, some of the shortcomings of the era as well. Without any particularly interesting mechanics or set-pieces to mix things up mid-game, it has to rely on its admittedly solid foundation of run & gun gameplay, which wasn't quite enough to consistently hold our attention throughout. That being said, what's there is still an enjoyable romp in its own right, and well worth checking out for fans of the genre.

Nintendo Life

Conor McMahon·Oct 27, 2016

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Although we're certainly in the company of undead kings, Defend Your Crypt doesn't have grand ambitions. Instead it aims to deliver a solid puzzle title with a unique twist on the tried and tested 'tower-defense' formula. The Egyptian setting alone is something you don't often see from the perspective of an undead Pharaoh, so while the gameplay is slightly repetitious there's still enough here to justify giving it a shot. We'd steer slightly towards the 3DS version due to it suiting shorter-form gameplay sessions more, but either option is a safe bet if you're looking for a neat puzzler to try out for a few hours. Rise from your grave....and defend it!

Nintendo Life

Conor McMahon·May 3, 2016

Critic50/100

Agreement—

A lot of the enjoyment is still left up to the player and their expectations, with little inherent substance to grab and keep direct hold of your attention for long. It's a difficult experience to pin a score on for this reason, but despite the improvements, we're still left wanting something more from any future installments.