Gavin Lane

Nintendo Life

Gavin Lane·Mar 13, 2026

Critic80/100

Agreement—

For resource management and survival nuts who like a bit of '90s Trek, this feels like a homecoming. Be warned: Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown is a suitably stressful, gruelling journey that'll stretch your abilities and send you, repeatedly, battered and bruised to sickbay. Steer well clear if planning ahead and strategising your way out of tricky situations by the skin of your teeth isn't your forte.It's not without rough edges, either, but it's lovingly presented and the systems beneath are robust. Those who don't get teary-eyed from a few bars of Jerry Goldsmith can knock a point off the score below. For Trekkies with determination and grit, though, this is a hell of a time. To the journey.

Nintendo Life

Gavin Lane·Nov 16, 2025

Critic90/100

Agreement—

For people who grew up watching Gamemaster, early MTV, Hartbeat, '80s soaps, Bill Nye or Open University programming, and scanning the high channels past midnight for a glimpse of something softcore, Blippo+ is an absolute must-play must-watch. It really is a work of art, nailing the aesthetic of early-'90s TV and uncannily capturing a time and place in the way a song or a smell evokes a memory - in a way that feels almost personal.You need to treat it like old-school TV, though, surfing a little bit each day and soaking up the static; do not approach it as a game. And as fun as it is - as wonderfully assembled, expertly performed, and lovingly crafted - nostalgia for (or at least intellectual interest in) the era feels like a prerequisite. I'm an '80s kid, though, so I adored every second.

Nintendo Life

Gavin Lane·Sep 28, 2025

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Star Trek: Resurgence is a modest enterprise, but Dramatic Labs did a stellar job of capturing the qualities of the show, specifically its '90s era, with all the strengths and weaknesses thereof. As with the show, technically, you may notice some rough edges, but the creators have worked wonders with their resources. The visual novel stylings here suit the material, and it's got it where it counts, with excellent writing and performances across the board.Non-Trek fans won't get half as much out of it, and you may not be tempted to go back for a second playthrough. But if the current crop of Trek shows isn't quite scratching your itch, Resurgence does a great job of transporting you back a generation.

Nintendo Life

Gavin Lane·Jun 8, 2025

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Welcome Tour is a calming, surprisingly engaging hardware exhibition with a handful of cool minigames, a trove of interesting info, and some neat demos that showcase exactly what the little system can do. It makes you feel good about buying the thing, which makes the platform holder's decision not to bundle it with the console utterly baffling. Featuring expensive add-ons you might not own also won't impress anyone who's indignant that the company wants another 10 bucks for this.That aside, it's an undeniably fine demonstration of Nintendo's thoughtful design approach. It's cute, it's fun, and it's a shame the whole pack-in argument overshadows the delightful software. Anyone interested in tech, design, or Nintendo in general should check it out immediately.

Nintendo Life

Gavin Lane·May 12, 2025

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Still, residual goodwill from the original helped us overlook the mechanical simplicity this time. We're keen to see Waterzooi stretch himself on his next gallery jaunt, but we'd recommend getting your hands on this one regardless.

Nintendo Life

Gavin Lane·Jan 2, 2025

Critic50/100

Agreement—

Perhaps all the timed daily tasks and events made more sense in a mobile context, and it's possible they could hook you here if you have endless patience and affection for these crews. For dedicated Trekkies content to multitask with their Switch on their lap, Star Trek: Legends may well deliver compulsive delights - the audio-visual feedback as the numbers go up is satisfying, as is the thrill of pulling an Epic or Legendary character. Ultimately, though, while collecting your favourite crewmembers sounds like a fun mission, the bland battles involved - and the chronic load times between them - aren't enough to make this a worthwhile journey. Legends isn't terrible, but it is just your favourite Star Trek characters phasering each other until one of them disintegrates.

Nintendo Life

Gavin Lane·May 1, 2024

Critic80/100

Agreement—

We can't say that players raised on the likes of Super Mario Odyssey and other modern platformers will respond the same way, but if you dream in 64-bit and your formative 3D games featured visible polygons, you won't regret exploring Cavern of Dreams. Bynine Studios gets in, delivers its payload of fairytale platforming feels with a hint of darkness, and gets out smartish. If you're a Banjo fan looking to recapture that sense of wonder you first experienced exploring Grunty's Lair, this is probably the closest you'll get without time travel or memory wipes.

Nintendo Life

Gavin Lane·Dec 25, 2022

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Please, Touch The Artwork is an excellent little experience that cleverly combines intuitive, pensive puzzle mechanics with art history and humour to create an interactive exhibit you really shouldn't miss. If you've got any interest in modern art whatsoever, you're sure to enjoy this gem, but even puzzle fans who don't know their Picassos from their Pollocks would do well to browse these galleries. There's really nothing else to say. Do what the title says.

Nintendo Life

Gavin Lane·Oct 14, 2022

Critic70/100

Agreement—

For Trek-starved fans with Nintendo consoles, Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova does a good job - far better than you might expect - of channelling the show's spirit and appeal into a light, kid-friendly co-op adventure with plenty of puzzles. By tapping into those Trek tenets of friendship, cooperation, and problem-solving as a team, Tessera Studios has created something far closer in spirit to the series than any dry space sim, even if (much like the inexperienced crew running the Protostar) it can often feel a little rough around the edges. It's not set to stun, then, but it shows plenty of promise, especially if you have young cadets eager to enlist.

Nintendo Life

Gavin Lane·Sep 30, 2022

Critic80/100

Agreement—

As a group, Abba sits alongside only a handful of the world's biggest acts - The Beatles, Queen, and perhaps only a couple of others - with the cross-generational, mainstream appeal to support a multiplayer music game like this. We'd wager even non-aficionados will be drawn in by the sheer strength of this most familiar and indestructible of pop music songbooks, and the variety of modes here, machine-tooled over many years of iteration and repetition for the long-running Let's Sing series, offer enough variety to engage just about anyone who's ever tapped their foot to any of these tracks, Developer Voxler took absolutely no chances here; Let's Sing Abba is exactly what you think it is. And for that, we were thankful.

Nintendo Life

Gavin Lane·Nov 16, 2021

Critic80/100

Agreement—

The best thing we can say about Toree 2 is that, as with its predecessor, we enjoyed every minute of our time with it.

Nintendo Life

Gavin Lane·Apr 19, 2021

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Going in with diminished expectations no-doubt coloured our impressions, but our brief time with Toree 3D was undeniably delightful. For significantly less than the price of a decent cup of coffee, you get an enjoyably bite-sized, colourful 3D platformer with great music and a fun aesthetic that doesn't take itself seriously in the slightest — and it doesn't stick around long enough to get boring, or for its weak points (and inevitable lack of depth) to become an issue. Big studios who feel obliged to stretch games out for dozens of hours could learn a thing or two from its brevity.

Nintendo Life

Gavin Lane·Jan 6, 2021

Critic90/100

Agreement—

But, what is Florence? It's an evocation of the beauty, sadness and hope that comes from any human connection we make in our lives, whether with art, nature or another person. It's a succinct and incredibly successful exploration of moments you'll recognise from your own life, and the way it mirrors thoughts and feelings through small gameplay mechanics makes it one of the most affecting experiences we've enjoyed on Switch, or any other platform.

Nintendo Life

Gavin Lane·Nov 18, 2020

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Approached with the knowledge that this is a full-featured side-dish, you'll have a very good time hacking and slashing your way through Calamity Ganon's minions in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity; just remember that despite its sparkling presentation, it is still not a Zelda game. What it is is a brilliant Zelda-infused Musou experience filled with varied and satisfying combat and Breath of the Wild additions that work beautifully within the boundaries of the Warriors template.

Nintendo Life

Gavin Lane·Jul 8, 2020

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Veterans of the first game won't be expecting a technical tour-de-force, but Deadly Premonition 2 still manages to underwhelm in pure performance terms. However (and this is a big however), it's a game with real character and it's very tough to dislike, even as you stutter your way around Le Carré on your skateboard. If you've ever been intrigued by the original, we'd recommend giving this a go. It's janky and derivative, yes, but it's also irresistibly wonderful and strange, and there's no other video game quite like it.