Nintendo Life

Nintendo Life

Stuart Gipp·Jun 12, 2020

Critic20/100

Agreement—

Adam's Venture: Origins is among the worst games we've ever played and it doesn't even have the decency to be awful in an amusing way. There are so, so many great games you can buy for the same kind of price. Please buy them instead. Or just throw the money into a river and watch it disappear; even that experience would be more rewarding than playing this turgid mess of a video game. Technically, narratively and mechanically inept, Adam's Venture: Origins on Switch is disgraceful.

Nintendo Life

Stuart Gipp·Jun 12, 2020

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Sunset Riders finally gets its due as this beloved arcade classic hits Switch with a bang. It's nothing but pure side-scrolling boss-blasting fun, the likes of which are often imitated but never quite captured. There's a reason so many people remember this game so fondly; it's got personality to spare. One of the greatest games that Hamster has deigned to release and as far as we're concerned one of the crown jewels of Arcade Archives. Can we have the spiritual sequel Mystic Warriors next, Hamster? Please?

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Jun 11, 2020

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Project Warlock is an excellent throwback to the fast-paced, gory strafe-fests of the '90s. It's got tons of big, meaty weapons, magic attack abilities, some light puzzle elements and an endless procession of freakish hellspawn to blow into tiny chunks across five impressively varied settings. Buckshot Software's debut effort is an easy recommendation for retro FPS fans and one of the better shooter experiences currently available on Switch.

Nintendo Life

Stuart Gipp·Jun 10, 2020

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Do Not Feed The Monkeys isn't a perfect game by any means, and its minor interface and design hiccups are unfortunate. Thankfully, these small irritations do not serve to massively undermine what Fictiorama Studios has achieved here; the capacity for indie developers to come up with novel ideas never ceases to impress, and this is a doozy of a concept. Weaving together the "monkeys'" stories is rewarding and satisfying, and there's an impressive sense of foreboding to the whole thing. You'll play Do Not Feed The Monkeys through to the end more than once, believe us.

Nintendo Life

Mitch Vogel·Jun 8, 2020

Critic90/100

Agreement—

BioShock: The Collection stands as yet another fantastic port in the Switch's ever-growing library, combining three excellent games and all their DLC into one convincing package. Stable performance, engrossing narratives, fun gameplay, and lots of content make this one an easy recommendation, even if these releases show their age from time to time. If you're looking for a good single-player shooter to pick up for your Switch, look no further than BioShock: The Collection. We'd give this one a high recommendation, it's tough to go wrong here.

Nintendo Life

Stuart Gipp·Jun 8, 2020

Critic60/100

Agreement—

A strange little thing, Skelattack seems to lack confidence in itself, wanting to be one of those hard-as-nails "masocore" platformers while not really committing to the tight design that defines that subgenre. As a result, it's a game that'll make you seethe with frustration not from deliberate and challenging level design, but from sloppily-constructed traps that seem to think such things are excused by a multitude of checkpoints. It's definitely not a disaster, but Skelattack leaves a lot to be desired.

Nintendo Life

Damien McFerran·Jun 7, 2020

Critic70/100

Agreement—

It's easy to see why Game Tengoku CruisinMix Special is so beloved by Japanese shmup fans, but it's equally easy to understand why it's not as well known in the west as Parodius, despite being very similar in tone.

Nintendo Life

Jon Mundy·Jun 6, 2020

Critic30/100

Agreement—

Indiecalypse just isn't any fun to play. Maybe the very act of making these gaming parodies play so badly is a deep meta joke in and of itself. In which case, you got us. But we think the real joke is on the person who drops good money on this game.

Nintendo Life

Mitch Vogel·Jun 6, 2020

Critic60/100

Agreement—

At its heart, Minecraft Dungeons is the sort of release that feels like it rides on the coattails of greater games a little too much. If this game did not have the Minecraft branding, it’s not much of a leap to assume that it would scarcely garner any attention based purely on its own merits. The gear system, combat, level design, and presentation is all fine and entertaining in its own right, but there’s little here that we could point to that elevates this game alongside or above peers such as Torchlight II, Diablo III or Path of Exile. Bearing this in mind, we’d give Minecraft Dungeons a very light recommendation to those of you looking for a surface-level introduction to the ARPG genre or for something to play in co-op with the kids. If that doesn’t describe you, then we’d suggest going with either Torchlight II or Diablo III, which both offer a more substantial and fulfilling experience of this genre.

Nintendo Life

Jon Mundy·Jun 5, 2020

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Even with all that accepted, we suspect many will bounce off Fly Punch Boom due to its frenetic pace. It's genuinely difficult to keep up with all the button prompts, especially as they're constantly changing their orientation on the screen. There's no anchor or reference point for your eye to fall back to, which can leave you floundering. But if you really stick at it and warm to its zany tone, you'll discover a bracingly fresh and empowering couch multiplayer brawler.

Nintendo Life

Stuart Gipp·Jun 5, 2020

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Borderlands Legendary Collection is an excellent Switch showing for this beloved series, though it's difficult to determine if the price is right; sure, there's an enormous amount of content here so you're certainly not being ripped off, but it's old content and these games are routinely extremely cheap on other services. Still, it's a technically excellent port of three expansive, enjoyable shooters, and they're a perfect fit for the Switch. Whether played alone or with pals, the compulsive gameplay is terrific to dip into or get stuck into for a massive grinding session. If you've somehow never played Borderlands before, you can't go wrong with this set. If you have, but want to try a different character class on the bus ride home, now's your chance.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Jun 4, 2020

Critic80/100

Agreement—

The Outer Worlds is a hugely entertaining "Fallout-in-space"-style RPG adventure filled with wonderfully vibrant locations, excellent companions, zippy and hilariously brutal combat and a ton of well-written characters to meet as you attempt to save the colony of Halcyon. Virtuos has made the expected tweaks to graphics in order to keep things as smooth as possible with this Switch port and, although things can look and feel a little rough in docked mode, in handheld this is a supremely enjoyable experience that's entertained us just as much this time around as when we played it at launch, and comes highly recommended to fans of the genre.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Jun 3, 2020

Critic80/100

Agreement—

The XCOM 2 Collection on Switch is the full-fat XCOM 2 and XCOM 2: War of the Chosen experience. Virtuous has had to knock the graphics right down to the lowest setting, there's plenty of framerate issues and bugs that we've already encountered on other platforms and the not-insignificant – but hopefully very shortly patched – problem with the game's character creation pool, but this is still a highly playable version of the game. If you can make peace with some stuttering and long loading times and aren't too offended by pretty ugly textures here and there, you'll be rewarded with one of the very best turn-based tactical titles currently available. XCOM 2 is nothing short of a masterpiece and now you can play it on the go, which we reckon is well worth any sacrifices made here.

Nintendo Life

Stuart Gipp·Jun 2, 2020

Critic80/100

Agreement—

A bit of a triumph, Bug Fables is a superbly polished independent tribute to the first two Paper Mario games – but that's not to say it doesn't have its own, strong identity. The sheer familiarity is a little bit wearying at times – seriously, it's like it's been traced over in places – but Paper Mario with the serial numbers filed off is still a very good time. There's plenty to see and do, a rather compulsive card game to play and hidden secrets all over the place. Add all this silky-smooth performance, a splendid soundtrack and turn-based combat that's never less than engaging and you've got a surefire winner here. Maybe now people will quit "bugging" Nintendo for a throwback Paper Mario. Pun intended. (Sorry.)

Nintendo Life

Stuart Gipp·Jun 1, 2020

Critic80/100

Agreement—

More than the sum of its parts, Liberated tells a rollicking tale with plenty of style. It doesn't run as well as it should do, and it's far from lacking in clichés (some of the "people would rather take selfies than open their eyes" stuff is a little eye-rolling) but it's a fantastic take on a dystopian platformer that avoids the major pitfalls that such games often fall into. With responsive controls, enjoyable shooting and strong level design, Liberated is an atmospheric, absorbing treat and far more than the sum of its parts.