Dom Reseigh-Lincoln

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Dec 10, 2018

Critic60/100

Agreement—

RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures is both incredibly enjoyable and considerably infuriating. There's just enough of that classic magic in there to make the design and management of a theme park a consistently rewarding experience, and using permits and research to space out your access to the good stuff makes this a genuinely fun time sink. However, the level of automation that's migrated over from the mobile iteration really does negatively impact this Switch port, and issues with overall performance place a big caveat around its neck. While it's not a total disaster, RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures does leave you wanting a little more – especially if you're a seasoned fan of the long-running series.

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Dec 6, 2018

Critic40/100

Agreement—

Ark: Survival Evolved, in its current state, is not the best port to grace Nintendo Switch. It is, however, a proper MMORPG survival game with a deep and rewarding crafting system and the potential for some brilliant online cooperation with your fellow survivors. There's a palpable thrill to moving from simple stone tools to more advanced weaponry as you begin to master the crafting cycle, an experience no other game on Switch can offer right now. But its myriad technical problems – ranging from texture pop-in to substantial performance slowdown – mean you really are better off playing Ark on a different platform for the time being. Patches could solve some of these problems over time, but we can't help but feel this ambitious title will never run at an acceptable level on Nintendo's hybrid platform.

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Dec 3, 2018

Critic80/100

Agreement—

There's a good chance you've probably never heard of NAIRI: Tower of Shirin, but that doesn't mean this hidden gem should pass you buy. Sure, it doesn't have the pedigree of a Double Fine game or the licence exposure of something from TellTale's back catalogue, but it still offers up a safe and engaging world full of quirky characters, challenging puzzles and all the screen-tapping backgrounds you could ask for. It's no great reimagining of the genre, but it's still a curio worth playing nonetheless.

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Nov 29, 2018

Critic60/100

Agreement—

Bendy and the Ink Machine has plenty going for it as a new horror instalment on Nintendo Switch – such as the way it builds a growing sense of dread and despair throughout its five chapters while using an animation style that's meant to evoke the safety and joy of childhood memories – but it's let down by some irritating design decisions and frustrating performance issues. Still, if you really do love your horror and want something that ticks all the boxes of a modern scarefest, Bendy and the Ink Machine is still a worthy descent into madness.

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Nov 20, 2018

Critic70/100

Agreement—

While Nintendo Switch has a fair few battle arena style games to its name, Collidalot brings something refreshingly new to the mix with its top-down mixture of melee vehicle combat, rail-grinding and Splatoon-aping painting. The size of each vehicle on-screen and the sheer mayhem of its jet-powered matches does make it a difficult sell in handheld/tabletop mode, but on a TV, this four-player experience really comes into its own. It's a little lacking in modes at launch, and its choice of three vehicles is a little meagre at best (especially for a game aimed at four players), but look past these limitations and you may find your next couch-play obsession.

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Nov 16, 2018

Critic90/100

Agreement—

The fact you've been able to play Grim Fandango Remastered on your TV and in handheld form elsewhere for years doesn't matter one bit, because this gem of a game is still as enchanting and evocative as it was the first time you popped open that oversized cardboard box back in PC in 1998. Here and now on Nintendo Switch, this port looks and runs noticeably smoother than its fellow portable versions thanks to Double Fine's deft adjustments, so if whether you've already joined Manny on his afterlife odyssey or this is your first time among the dead, Switch is 100 percent better for its inclusion.

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Nov 14, 2018

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Crashlands' cartoon sci-fi world offers a fun-loving cross between Minecraft, Toejam & Earl and Don't Starve with its ‘RPG-lite' mix of crafting, questing and combat. It's incredibly easy to pick up and play thanks to the streamlined design of its inventory and the automation of accessing tools and weapons, and while its grind for new armour can get a little repetitive after a while, there are some cute little mechanics to unearth, such as the power to incubate eggs and nurture your own pets. While it's never going to hold a candle to the RPG chops of Diablo III: Eternal Collection, it still offers a colourful curio alternative on Switch.

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Nov 12, 2018

Critic70/100

Agreement—

If you're looking for a game to get the whole family gathered around the TV - or your Nintendo Switch in tabletop mode - during the school holidays or at a party, Carnival Games offers plenty of silly mini-games to get everyone swinging their Joy-Con. It's nothing remarkable, but the new games do offer a little more variety than the previous versions, so if you're looking for a quick pick-up-and-play alternative to Super Mario Party, this colourful collection could be the virtual funfair trip for you.

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Nov 9, 2018

Critic80/100

Agreement—

It's taken a good six months for Battlezone Gold Edition to make its way to Nintendo Switch, but those months have been well worth it. The result is a port that uses the console's gyro controls to recreate the movement of a VR headset, and one that does so without making too many concessions in terms of overall performance. While it's still frustrating Switch owners have to wait so long for ports such as this, Battlezone Gold Edition could be the precedent that proves VR-orientated titles could lead a happy second life in semi-handheld form.

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Nov 6, 2018

Critic50/100

Agreement—

While it's great to see Ubisoft finally giving Nintendo Switch a platform exclusive, it's frustrating that it has to come in the form of a competent yet throwaway party game.

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Oct 31, 2018

Critic60/100

Agreement—

While My Hero One's Justice certainly looks the part - with all the crash, bang and wallop you'd expect from a game based on such an outlandish anime - it proves to be more style over substance. If the likes of Blade Strangers and SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy have got you in the mood for easy-to-pick-up fighters, this title will easily fit that mould, but for everyone else, it's a disappointing use of a franchise brimming with quirky (no pun intended) potential.

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Oct 29, 2018

Critic70/100

Agreement—

While LEGO Harry Potter Collection is one of the oldest instalments in the overall series still in current-gen circulation, it's aged remarkably well. Despite lacking some of the subtle changes the franchise has benefited from in the years since, the use of Hogwarts as a vast and secret-filled hub, a huge collection of characters to collect from across all eight films and a clever use of the Harry Potter licence makes for a remaster that only enhances Nintendo Switch's growing LEGO library. If you've played nothing but the recent LEGO games then it may, at times, feel a little old and basic, but this fantastic beast hasn't entirely lost its magic yet.

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Oct 26, 2018

Critic60/100

Agreement—

Both Night Alone and Midnight Shadows offer a survival horror experience built more on the management of building dread and approaching threats, although both do occasionally indulge in cheap (yet effective) jump scares and uses of gore. However, for all its potency, Yomawari: The Long Night Collection's design too often boils down to a repetitive cycle of evasion and exploration, and with a difficulty that's too high for a game built on obtuse layouts and one-shot kills, it can quickly become an exercise in both fear and frustration.

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Oct 25, 2018

Critic80/100

Agreement—

While Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle doesn't stray too far from the template of Slayaway Camp: Butcher's Cut, it does offer some much-needed adjustments to its gory puzzle formula. With 12 chapters to work your way through and 150 different scenes to drench in gore, plenty of costumes to unlock, and all manner of implements to wield (complete with grisly death animations), this cartoonish puzzler offers a fitting way to ring in Halloween on Nintendo Switch.

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Oct 24, 2018

Critic80/100

Agreement—

While the introduction of microtransactions is hardly surprising considering the history of its new publisher, they don't hit NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 as hard as might expect. It will take you a while to grind out every player (unless you just buy them all from the off), but it helps that the core arcade gameplay remains as fun and enjoyable as ever. It doesn't quite capture the blissful mayhem of NBA Jam, but if the main NBA 2K series has always felt a little too realistic for you, this larger-than-life spin-off offers a bright and empowering way to defy gravity like Air Jordan himself.