Justin Nation's Reviews
Strangely enough this isn't my first rodeo, back in the day I wrote for the N64HQ as well as a few other outlets on freelance gigs but then when the HQ closed I decided to step it up and started The 64 Source. As the first word of a follow-up system to the N64 began to swirl I then decided to venture out into completely new territory and started OperatioN2000, where I had very little regular reputable news to share. With no other options I decided create my own content focused on profiling key developers and their current relationship with Nintendo or "dream games" where I saw opportunities for Nintendo to dust off classics or recently-made games and do something new with them on improved hardware.
This was all going pretty well until my wife and I decided to have our first child and I then decided that it was time to hang it up and focus on my family. As I closed down both sites I did decide to partner with Billy Berghammer, another former N64HQ writer, who had created his own site, PlanetN2000. We agreed to move over the relevant content from the older sites to his and on top of that I had taken a grad school class in programming in ColdFusion and decided to offer to code the front-end and back-end for a new version of his site. Through these efforts the newer and more complete Planet GameCube was born! While I would occasionally contribute to that site, helping do things like working out Louie the Cat doing rumors and other odd things, I eventually decided to stop as my family obligations grew.
While I had continued to follow Nintendo through both the Wii and Wii U eras my TV time was limited enough that I began playing more PC games again. It is in the PC space that I began to play a number of independent games and they started to be the games I enjoyed the most. Between their lower price, their often less traditional gameplay and approach, and their great variety I was hooked!
With the launch of the Nintendo Switch I was already excited by the possibilities. The portability factor alone meant that I would have far more options and places I could play away from the TV, and games like Breath of the Wild looked impressive. With my oldest daughter poised to start her senior year in high school and my youngest finishing out junior high I started to see an opportunity to get back into amateur games journalism once again with what is now Nintendo World Report as well but I'd initially just thought about writing some editorials periodically. Then, right before the launch of the system, Nintendo had their Nindie-focused presentation and I saw my two most beloved gaming worlds colliding. The games I had been playing on my PC could now be played in a portable way and on Nintendo hardware! Being the type who tends to work against the normal current the concept behind Nindie Spotlight was born!
With its very colorful and generally cheery environments and all sorts of elements to poke at Down in Bermuda has its appeal...
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I’m always a fan of titles that try out new combinations of genre styles, so when I heard about a rhythm-based beat-em-up roguelike I was immediately intrigued...
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Converting classic family games from the physical space to the digital tends to lead to mixed results...
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Since the Switch works very much like a tablet when in handheld mode it's not a surprise that a great number of tower defense games (ranging from great to meh) have come to the platform...
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There's no doubt that in order to make an impression in a very crowded Switch eShop it takes being daring and making your own rules...
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If you're a fan of puzzle adventures with a distinctive look and some unique and unusual puzzles to work out, Iris Fall may be an appealing package...
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Heavily text-based games are actually pretty well-represented on Switch, though in general I’ll say I’m not typically a fan...
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If you're a big fan of getting your butt kicked by a title you may enjoy Charge Kid... though be warned that the challenge isn't always the kind you may appreciate...
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Card-based strategy titles have been coming to the Switch in a pretty steady stream but I don't think there have been any quite like Wingspan...
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There's something about managing to hit the market when the timing is right, managing to capture the energy of current events...
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In terms of an elevator pitch description The Hong Kong Massacre would best be described as a mix of the brief levels and one-hit-and-you're-dead brutality of Hotline Miami and the slowdown-enabled ballet of bullets and diving around of the earlier Max Payne games...
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If you're a fan of twin-stick shooting the Switch has got you covered...
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With very little going on mechanically Kolumno is a pretty basic game, with your only goal on each stage being to successfully get a ball to drop into a hole...
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When it comes to traditional platformers from top to bottom the Switch tends to have you covered...
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Fans of one of the OG teeth-gnashing platforming challenges from the early indie days have been waiting for a number of years to see Meat Boy make his triumphant (and brutally tough) return, and with the arrival of Forever… there’ll be mixed reactions?!?
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Fans of fighting games who also happen to have fond memories of playing their favorite series in handheld form may get a kick out of this one...
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With a simple and clean presentation consistent with the other POWGI games Roundout won't win any beauty contests but gets the job done...
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The Double Dragon name is revered for good reason since the series has been around since the early days and has also had some great conversions onto many home systems over the years...
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There's definitely something a certain segment of the gaming public digs about challenging games...
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Overall, this seems like a title extremely well-suited to family play in particular...
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