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!
You play the game as a be-tentacled intern at the title Godly Corp, tasked with taking different shifts where you’ll have to focus on multiple tasks at once while then struggling with the controls...
Read full review
Mechstermination Force is a pretty tight and enjoyable retro sci-fi robot stomping party… though it will typically take a few attempts to keep the robots from stomping you instead...
Read full review
There’s no doubt about it, local co-op games are absolutely becoming one of the better-represented genres on the Switch across a variety of genres...
Read full review
In the end as critical as I’m being with Hob it’s a pretty enjoyable game, and I like it, but it’s just aggravating so see an effort with so much apparent care get held back by a collection of lesser issues that unfortunately do add up...
Read full review
I’m a bit on the fence on Pressure Overdrive when it comes to scoring...
Read full review
First and foremost the thing to understand about this game is that it doesn’t hold your hand...
Read full review
Starting with the basics this is a platforming shooter where you’re able to fire in any direction, punch, and uppercut...
Read full review
In the game you’ll take control of one of seven heroes, each of whom controls an army of units that are the same across the board...
Read full review
More than anything else the positive of Bow to Blood is that it’s thoroughly unique, offering up an experience I can’t say I’ve ever had...
Read full review
You’ll once again take up control of the Horseman War, drawn through mysterious circumstances too late into the war between the light and the dark...
Read full review
Starting with the positive there’s no mistaking many of the hallmark traits of the classic series...
Read full review
As the final credits rolled The World Next Door felt like a satisfying experience on the whole but I was also left with questions...
Read full review
Will you enjoy Cel Damage HD? If your focus is more on frantic action and less on racing, blowing up your friend with an explosive sheep only to have them come back and slice you up with a buzzsaw, the answer is likely yes...
Read full review
One of the genres that has been exciting to see get a resurgence in the indie era is the classic beat-em-up / brawler...
Read full review
After a tutorial running you through the conceptual basics with the base Wildlander faction, sometimes not always making itself very clear as it is, you’re roughly left to figure much of the rest of the game’s nuances out through brute force trial and error in the single-player campaigns...
Read full review
You’ll play as the title character Sayuki, and your ultimate goal is to travel to 8 different worlds to gather key items, or something like that...
Read full review
Though I may have felt a bit conflicted on how to score Windscape, I like its concept, most of its simple but workable design, and how much of it slows as a whole...
Read full review
Gameplay is focused on shooting enemies flying and floating around within a cave, but you’ll also need to concern yourself with the potential for falling rocks that will damage you as well...
Read full review
You’ll play the game as A-Tak, a daring and somewhat brash fighter pilot with plenty in common with Robotech’s Rick Hunter...
Read full review
You’ll be playing the part of a veteran warrior whose job is to take a Princess under his wing...
Read full review