Ryan Craddock
Vroom in the night sky offers so little content and such poor communication that it is hard to think of any reasons to recommend this to anyone. Technically the game works – there are no major bugs or glitches, levels and items unlock as you'd expect and pressing accelerate makes your bike go forwards – but that doesn't make it enjoyable.Steer clear of this one and save your hard-earned cash for other titles that deserve your attention.
If the game was considerably cheaper you could potentially justify a purchase for having quick, easy-to-set-up fighting rounds; as it stands, though, this may well be best left alone.
Unfortunately, the third entry in the Physical Contact series looks like it should probably be the third one that you consider avoiding.
At its best, Tower of Babel has some great auto-running action that will have you flying around the screen at breakneck pace, firing yourself to the top of the speed-running leaderboards. Unfortunately, though, the whole thing is let down by some game-breaking issues and a rather lacklustre aesthetic that maybe answers the question of why there has been so little mention of the game prior to release. A frustrating case of a game that could have been excellent but shoots itself in the foot with its many problems, Tower of Babel is best left for another day.
On a platform that is destined to become almost overcrowded with colourful, vibrant, ‘happy' games, having a burst of horror as an option is very welcome indeed. Unfortunately, this isn't the game to showcase the genre, nor is it one to showcase games in general. Some promising early moments left us with high hopes for this title – there were times where we felt genuine, edge-of-your-seat fear – but it soon becomes clear that it cannot live up to the standards it is trying to achieve. If you're looking for a horror fix, maybe wait until something else comes along.
Instead of being truly interesting and worth your time, however, each individual part falls flat, resulting in an disappointingly poor overall experience.
With multiple updates planned for the near future this issue could soon start to be addressed so, unless you're entirely sold on the concept alone, we'd recommend holding off until these new features have landed.
Gal*Gun 2 offers an on-rails shooter experience that gets very familiar and repetitive far too quickly, without ever really providing enough content to keep you hooked. The pure fantasy element of the scenarios at hand is certainly the selling point, but the gameplay that surrounds it isn't strong enough to justify a purchase. If you're a fan of the series' earlier titles, or if the art and plot appeal to your tastes, you'll likely get something from the game, but anyone looking for great gaming action will likely be pretty disappointed.
Packet Queen # features a new, enjoyable type of puzzle gameplay that has you making fast decisions on the fly, and can start to feel pleasingly addictive, but a lack of content and a completely unnecessary story mode that ends in disappointment make the title fall short of greatness. For its relatively low price the game isn't a bad option for passing the time, but the puzzle gameplay itself needs to be placed within a much better overall package than it is currently to truly impress.
Standing out from the crowd with a unique, physics-based control scheme is all well and good but, by restricting its usage to just one simple idea, the game feels like it needs to be developed further to truly shine.
If Monopoly is your thing, you can't really go wrong with Monopoly for Nintendo Switch. It performs exactly how you'd expect it to – offering an almost exact, neatly-executed copy of the experience that you can get from the board game. This is its main problem, though – it does so little to offer anything new that it almost seems pointless having it in the first place. Call us old-fashioned if you like, but we'd play the board game version over this one any day.
36 Fragments of Midnight does a lot of things right - a cute protagonist, nice platforming, and an easy to understand objective make it seem like you're onto a winner. Unfortunately, though, even with its low asking price it is hard to fully recommend a game that can easily be completed in under 15 minutes.
Super Toy Cars is a decent enough tabletop racer that will have fans of the classics like Micro Machines taking a quick nostalgic trip down memory lane, but it never manages to live up to the games from which it clearly takes its inspiration.
Go Vacation presents a world full of games and activities that feel consistently average, with common flaws across the board making each game similarly dull, tiresome, and not worth the asking price. The game's setting itself provides a welcome break from this, though, with an impressive amount of things to see and do at your own leisure injecting a much-needed dose of fun into the proceedings. Strangely, this is a multiplayer sports game that probably suits those looking for decent single-player exploration the most.
All-Star Fruit Racing takes a unique karting weapon system, throws it into a blender with some cute presentation ideas and an unfortunate series of technical annoyances, and ends up with a pretty mixed bag as a result. This is a competent racer, and there's just about enough content to make you want to keep playing, but it never realises the potential that it could have had and doesn't really stand up to the heights that other titles can offer. It's just a little on the weak side to justify its asking price, so bear that in mind before jumping into a fruity purchase.
Atelier Lydie & Suelle is a rather standard entry to the Atelier series. Content with relying on a pretty standard setup, the game doesn't innovate or move forwards, although fans of the series will no doubt be interested in the new story alone. It's a pretty interesting take on the ridiculously wide genre of RPGs, with a much heavier focus being given to its deep crafting system, but that might not be enough to convince new players on its own.
Mulaka offers a truly intriguing insight into the culture and mythology of the Tarahumara people, but is let down by some frustrating gameplay issues. Exploring and puzzle solving is a simple but enjoyable affair, and there are elements of the combat system that show real promise, but some oversights surrounding the game's pacing and controls leave quite a lot to be desired. If you're interested enough in learning about the topic it wouldn't be unwise to give the game a go despite its flaws, but players looking purely for great gameplay might want to ponder over it a little longer.
Guilt Battle Arena is a lot of fun while it lasts with frantic, fast-paced action that forces players to act quickly in the heat of battle. Our main issue, however, is that everything that the game has to offer can be seen very quickly, and the desire to keep picking up the game, again and again, isn't as strong as we'd initially hoped. Fun in quick bursts, but lacking slightly in gameplay content, we'd urge you to place this one on your ‘maybe' list.
InnerSpace is a really intriguing title that we wish we didn't want to ever put down; the game's worlds give such a strong sense of amazement that you will want to spend every second flying through them. Unfortunately, you'll likely be left too frustrated by the sometimes near-impossible-to-find story progression tasks to keep going. We really want to love this game, and we very nearly did, but we just can't quite manage it.
Party Planet looks wonderful on the surface with a bright, colourful, and slick interface that suggests you have a top-quality game in your hands. Unfortunately, though, a series of mini-games that vary from being good to disappointing may well start to feel rather stale after a short time; everything is nice and interesting at first, but there's little reason to keep playing once you've seen each game a couple of times.If you're looking for a game that can successfully get the family gathered around the TV to play together, Party Planet will definitely be able to do that – how long for is another matter, however. We fear that this particular title isn't for life, it might just be for Christmas.