Adam Riley's Reviews
With new buildings to visit, more Pokémon to discover, plenty of extra challenges and mini-games included, and even a new villain to tackle, Pokémon Ultra Sun (and its counterpart, Ultra Moon) is the ultimate version of the already impressive Sun and Moon.
The wait is over; the pinnacle of 3D adventures has arrived in the form of Super Mario Odyssey. It beggars belief just how much Nintendo has packed into this latest outing, without compromising the core Mario goodness of the past. Just as with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the Mario series has now reached a special new level of greatness that will be hard to surpass in the future. The Nintendo Switch is fast becoming the hottest platform, crammed full of sublime quality gaming experiences like this fantastic new escapade.
Visual novels may not be everyone's cup of tea, but anyone that loves delving deep into the world of a great book will be right at home with this intriguing science fiction adventure, being drawn into the heart of the time travel tale thanks to narrative of the finest calibre and some first class voice acting to bring the excellent cast of characters to life.
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga has not lost any of its charm over the past decade and a half, plus looks better than ever now on Nintendo 3DS thanks to its new lick of paint. Humorous, addictive, inventive - everything that made the Game Boy Advance original so addictive returns, with some handy touch screen shortcuts added into the mix, and a pleasant side game in the form of the Bowser's Minions RTS quest. With this, Paper Jam Bros. and Bowser's Inside Story, the Mario & Luigi series shows it is still going from strength to strength thanks to the genius team at AlphaDream.
Darkestville Castle never hides the source of its inspiration, but it matters not as this is no mere cheap imitation, instead proving to be a love letter to the classics in the point-and-click genre. It easily matches some of the best of yesteryear, whilst retaining a fantastic fresh feeling, bringing along very inventive puzzles, plus a humorous and engaging script, all wrapped up in a gorgeously presented package. Hopefully, this is not the last time Cid Threep…sorry, Cid the Demon gets to go on a zany adventure.
Fans of the previous two entries, though, will be overjoyed to see their favourite characters again in this well presented point-and-click adventure, and the desire to see how it all ends will keep people going, despite the flaws.
This almost out-Metroids Nintendo's venerable series - that is how good Image & Form's latest adventure is.
This is right up there with Super Metroid in terms of sheer class, taking the spirit of Metroid II: Return of Samus and transforming it so wondrously for the modern day that it is barely recognisable, with a plethora of brand-new extras thrown in. Metroid: Samus Returns is no mere remake of a Game Boy classic; it is a love letter to the Metroid series, and a thorough reimagining of the core concept, adding in some favourite elements from later releases, and new content that fits hand in glove. Lay any concerns down, as this is top notch entertainment through and through.
Taking a mix of point-and-click controls and conversational style, mixing in a heavy dose of visual novel story approach, and being all wrapped up nicely in an anime trapping with a gripping tale of intrigue to boot, all helps to make Tokyo Dark a very intriguing prospect indeed. With a twisting and turning mystery to work through, and many different outcomes to the story, this latest offering from the Square Enix Collective is right up there with last year's Goetia as another indie-gem not to be missed.
Minecraft: Story Mode - The Complete Adventure, thankfully, has enough engaging story content to keep gamers satisfied, some fantastic production values on the voice acting front, and heaps of content packed in thanks to all eight episodes being included. Hopes are high for Season Two to improve upon the shortcomings here.
Capcom is definitely onto a winner with Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers. Taking a Super Nintendo classic and sprucing it up just a touch retains enough nostalgia-factor so as to appeal to older gamers, yet has enough re-balancing, shiny new paint, and extras to ensure newcomers can enjoy the ride, as well. Hardcore or not, there is something for every level here in The Final Challengers. It may suffer when using Joy-Con, but crack out the Pro Controller and this feels as good as the series did in the past.
This was by far the most enjoyable LEGO adventure so far when originally released back on Wii U, and now it still holds up just as well on other formats, despite some lengthy load times between certain scenes. There is such a wide variety of tasks included in LEGO City Undercover that it challenges Grand Theft Auto, the series it clearly takes inspiration from, bringing the LEGO universe to the masses, delivering a slew of smart missions, so many extras to keep players going outside of the core story, along with the trademark LEGO humour.
Some will be disappointed that there is no story progression, or revelations of any sort, with this first DLC release for Little Nightmares, but even the way The Depths is selected from the in-game menu screen implies "prequel" or "side-story" and that is exactly what this is. If the tense run-and-jump sections of the base game were appealing, and the thought of a few more jump scares sounds right up your street, then dropping a few quid for another hour's worth of intense action is certainly well worth it.
A wonderful atmospheric ride that can be powered through in just over an hour if dashing by everything along the way, but it will actually keep the majority of gamers plugging away for a few hours longer as the timed-puzzles and conundrums found within this thrilling escapade, complete with platform challenges to add to the already high tension levels, and extras to uncover, provide plenty of entertainment.
An interesting idea that is lots of fun given the right crowd, but despite its best efforts to make for intriguing level design, the more bells and whistles added to the kitchen layout, the more room there is for frustration to creep in. Overcooked! Special Edition is the best value version so far, with DLC already included, and those that enjoyed it before will enjoy it again. However, just be warned that solo players should steer clear, and those wanting multiplayer fun need to make sure those in tow are not inept at juggling numerous tasks under tense conditions or else the entire group will just quickly start to hate the game and each other…
Looking for a fast-paced, patience-testing, platforming challenge that may well make you want to throw your Nintendo Switch across the room in frustration? Then Slime-san is for you! Fans of Super Meat Boy and its ilk will be right at home with this addictive, excellently presented piece of gaming goodness that will have players tearing their hair out, but unable to put down until every drop of juice (or 'slime') has been squeezed out of it.
Bulb Boy certainly has an intriguing visual concept, but lays it on a bit thick with the weird and wacky side of things later on without really explaining why, or even bothering to draw everything together into a cohesive package. Rather than being an extremely smart point-and-click adventure with mind-bending puzzles and a clever-but-creepy storyline, it instead strings together a handful of simple scenarios that do not hold the attention for long, and barely offer any challenge - unless awkward controls and long re-loads count. To top it off, there is barely any story to tickle gamers' imaginations, and then it finishes in about an hour, which for its price makes it hard to recommend.
Levels+: Addictive Puzzle Game gets straight to the point with its title and the gameplay itself. As with the classics from this genre, this little minx lures you in and refuses to let go. It has deceptive simplicity and hidden depth that will keep players hooked for far longer than they might expect. The addition of some online elements would have been beneficial, but this is still ideal for all levels of Nintendo Switch-owning puzzle fans.
Seasons After Fall is a wonderful platform adventure that uses the ability to change seasons perfectly, with some cleverly thought-out areas that are small at first, but smartly open up considerably when rotating through Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. With gorgeous visuals, and a wonderful soundtrack, plus powerful voice work, the only thing that holds this back is the aimless wandering that creeps in towards the latter stages, thanks to the lack of a map feature.
Whilst it starts off somewhat slow, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero quickly kicks into top gear and stays there right until the end, making for one of the most engrossing 2D platform adventures of recent times.