Nintendo Life

Nintendo Life

Nathanial Eker·Nov 13, 2024

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Overall, Big Crown: Showdown has great focus and a cute art style with plain-and-simple, party-gaming gameplay.

Nintendo Life

Nathanial Eker·Nov 13, 2024

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Overall, Bleep Bloop is simple, but it knows it and relishes it. For a lazy afternoon, you won’t go wrong with this charmingly basic puzzler.

Nintendo Life

Nathanial Eker·Nov 13, 2024

Critic60/100

Agreement—

Overall, Airheart – Tales of Broken Wings is a solid time. A decent enough story with some fantastic world-building, fun progression via crafting, and some really intense quick decisions to be made, make this far more than just ‘falling with style.’

Nintendo Life

Mitch Vogel·Nov 13, 2024

Critic80/100

Agreement—

It's been a long time coming, and we're happy to report that Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake largely lives up to expectations. Disappointing performance issues aside, this is a faithful adaptation of a treasured RPG classic that elevates its strongest aspects while doing its best to make up for any shortcomings. Some may be put off by its relative simplicity but, refreshingly, it neither overstays its welcome nor spreads itself thin with too many half-baked ideas. It goes without saying that fans of the original will want to snap this up, but if you're looking for a good 'entry-level' RPG or you just want to know what the long-running franchise is all about, Dragon Quest III is the game for you.

Nintendo Life

Oliver Reynolds·Nov 13, 2024

Critic60/100

Agreement—

Clocking in at a fairly short six-to-eight hours, Lego Horizon Adventures offers up frequent, brief bursts of fun with its excellent combat encounters. However, this is wrapped up in an experience that feels way too shallow and repetitive to recommend to anyone other than the most enthusiastic Horizon and Lego fans. It's clear that the intention is to woo new, younger gamers to Sony's flagship franchise, but if you already own Zero Dawn and Forbidden West on PlayStation, we can't see any reason why you'd want to check this one out. Mind you, if all you've got is a Switch, then this endearingly light-hearted introduction will have to do for now. It could have been so much more, though.

Nintendo Life

Nathanial Eker·Nov 13, 2024

Critic80/100

Agreement—

In summary, Bad Dream: Coma is a nightmare, but we mean that in the best way possible. Though some of its puzzles are a little too cryptic, its tense gameplay, compellingly intriguing narrative, and solid visual design make it an awesome horror point-and-clicker.

Nintendo Life

Ken Talbot·Nov 12, 2024

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Alas, one big gripe remains for all three titles and that's text size. On handheld, this isn't too much of an issue, but on some displays you'll be squinting to see the dialogue window's contents. This is a holdover from the original PC version of the games and it's a shame that these genuinely great remasters didn't address this.

Nintendo Life

Oliver Reynolds·Nov 11, 2024

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Tetris Forever might not be the final word on the complete history of Tetris, but it's certainly the best breakdown of the franchise's creation and evolution so far. Digital Eclipse has truly mastered the art of the interactive documentary, and this one is absolutely filled to the brim with interesting videos, interviews, and archival material. The playable games don't necessarily represent the most varied selection across the Tetris franchise, but it's a comprehensive bunch of titles, nonetheless, and newcomer Tetris Time Warp is a fantastic new addition to a back catalogue that seemingly just won't stop growing.

Nintendo Life

Will Freeman·Nov 10, 2024

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Angel at Dusk is wonderful, weird, and built on a foundation of deep understanding of the genre, and an intelligence and self-awareness that elevates its potential to delight. Not all will take to its theme, but it presents a deeply authentic hardcore bullet hell experience, a dazzling wit, and a suite of game systems that are a joy to explore. And the fact it welcomes a wide range of players to an authentic shmup? It's one of the year's most enticing genre contributions.

Nintendo Life

Tom Massey·Nov 9, 2024

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Vengeance Hunters does many things well. Its pixel art is superb across the board, with some very cool-looking enemies. It also has a lot of interesting ideas in its combat mechanics that allow seasoned gamers to dig deep. It's a game that ranges from the impressive to the occasionally dubious. Enemy repetition starts to grate a little, but then excellent and imaginative boss battles redress the balance. We don't feel quite so comfortable with the omission of grabs, the odd format of its sub-weaponry, or its rather overbearing number of explosive obstacles, but we can't ignore that it's competent and well-executed in many other key areas. Essential? Perhaps it falls just short of that, but for fans of the genre and those who get a thrill out of mining combo possibilities, there's a bright, solid, and at times rather clever belt scroller here.

Nintendo Life

Oliver Reynolds·Nov 8, 2024

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Several of the 19 new games — specifically those not found on the 2600 — are sadly not included in the new timeline and will need to be located within Atari 50’s game library. It’s no dealbreaker, but it would’ve been nice to get a bit of background information on their creation. We also feel like the exclusion of the original games created for the Intellivison to be a bit of a missed opportunity, but understandable given that this is Atari 50, not Intellivision 50. Fingers crossed Digital Eclipse will create something specific to that console's history now that the brand and associated IP are in Atari's hands.

Nintendo Life

Echo Apsey·Nov 7, 2024

Critic70/100

Agreement—

There is a good game here, sometimes a great one. Excellent art and animation, smart gameplay twists, and a genuinely refreshing pace really add some exciting new depth to the tactics genre and are huge positives. But it takes a while for the experience to smooth out and actually become enjoyable, and restrictive gameplay design choices don't do it any favours, either. Metal Slug Tactics is one for the tactics fans looking for a fresh take, but just know you'll have to put in some work to see the best parts of it.

Nintendo Life

Roland Ingram·Nov 7, 2024

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Despite the exoticism, 1996 PC voice sample quality, and linear, dialogue-heavy interactions, this reforging of an old point-and-click classic does a great job. It looks fabulous, and everything that gave the original its appeal is intact. It hardly needs proving these days, but Shadow of the Templars: Reforged shows once again that nostalgia never gets old.

Nintendo Life

Ken Talbot·Nov 6, 2024

Critic70/100

Agreement—

The slightly uneven middle child of the trilogy still boasts excellent performance, myriad control options and a crisp soundscape that shines on Switch.

Nintendo Life

Ken Talbot·Nov 5, 2024

Critic80/100

Agreement—

For a game that came out on PC almost two decades ago, it looks great on Nintendo's console. Resolution is stable when docked and handheld, with motion smoothing that makes rapid camera movement fluid. Options are plentiful, with copious sliders for controller sensitivity. There’s only a gamma slider for visuals, though, and it would have been helpful to enlarge the tiny text, a strain to read on a large screen.