Chris Scullion
Endless Ocean's procedural generation keeps its exploration engaging enough for a while, but its Story mode is poor. As long as you're willing to forgo plot (and any meaningful interaction with the species you encounter) in favour of exploring random underwater environments, there's still a good deal of fun to be had here.
TopSpin 2K25 is the best 'serious' tennis game we've played since, frankly, the last one was released 13 years ago. Its characters look a bit off, its career mode is dry and the typical 2K microtransaction nonsense is in there (to a less intrusive extent than usual), but when it comes to the gameplay on the court it's far superior to anything else out there.
Alone in the Dark's promising atmosphere is let down by annoying and repetitive puzzles, poor combat and frequent glitches. There's a good game in there somewhere but you have to put up with a lot of frustration to find it.
New Star GP pays homage to the days of Virtua Racing with a brilliant F1-style racer that retains the same compelling moreishness its studio is known for. Its performance is a bit clunky to the point that it's noticeable quite often, but that shouldn't put you off buying yet another New Star gem.
Berserk Boy is a great modern take on Mega Man style gameplay and one of the better recent attempts to bring the 16-bit era into the 2020s. Its story is lacking somewhat but it's got it where it matters, with solid platforming and satisfying combat.
Top Racer Collection is a solid compilation for fans of the Top Gear trilogy on SNES, but the originals' lower frame rate can really affect the action at high speeds. Nostalgics will find that everything is as it should be, and there's still plenty of fun to be had, but those without emotional ties to the series will want to go for the newer, better model instead and buy Horizon Chase Turbo.
Arzette does a great job of aping the look and feel of the CD-i Zelda games, but it relies on the player being familiar with them. Without that knowledge, what remains is a perfectly serviceable platformer but one that isn't revolutionary in any way. If you're in on the joke, though, it's just about worth sticking around.
Tekken 8 is a sensational sequel. With a renewed emphasis on single-player modes and a new Heat mechanic which ensures fights are more frenetic, it's up there with Tekken 3 as one of the most exciting high points in the series.
A solid collection of three brilliant visual novels, this Apollo Justice collection may not offer a lot more than HD-friendly versions of the handheld originals, but the quality of the source material means that's enough to entertain regardless.
So much more than a simple remaster, Another Code: Recollection completely rebuilds both games from scratch, making it a brand new experience not only for newcomers, but long-time fans of the series too. With beautiful environments, endearing characters and a hint system that means players of all skill levels can reach the end, only a lack of replay value stops this from being a complete must-have.
Unless you're one of the biggest DreamWorks fans on the planet, you'll struggle to fall in love with DreamWorks All-Star Kart Racing. Its attempts at authenticity and its numerous references are admirable, but it really lets itself down on the track with frustrating design choices, unstable performance, and a forgettable range of power-ups.
WarioWare games require precise controls to ensure their microgames can be navigated without frustration. Move It's motion controls introduce inaccuracies that are frequent enough to dampen the experience, turning what should be a brilliant game into merely a good one.
RoboCop: Rogue City feels outdated at its core, but this actually works in its favour. With no pretensions that it's offering something revolutionary, the game focuses on delivering big dumb action scenes interspersed with entertaining detective work. It has an engaging story and well-written dialogue, all wrapped in a package that shows clear love for the source material.
The new Forza is the best in the series to date when it comes to the look and feel of serious motorsport racing. Its relative lack of modes means it's something of a one-trick pony at launch, but that trick is an impressive one.
After years of lazy, half-hearted Legacy Editions, EA Sports has finally delivered a football game on the Switch that offers full feature parity with other consoles. A much-needed engine upgrade trades frame rate for fidelity, but Switch owners finally have a port they can be proud of, rather than feeling like an afterthought.
The Making of Karateka is a powerful statement of intent for what promises to be a superb series of interactive documentaries. Not everyone will click with the idea of focusing on a single game rather than your typical retro compilation, but those interested in the creative process will be fascinated by the content provided here.
Disney Illusion Island looks and sounds incredible and doesn't do much wrong in terms of gameplay. It doesn't really do much to advance the Metroidvania genre, though, and while it's clearly designed to appeal to younger players the convoluted ending and hit-and-miss jokes mean we ended simply enjoying it, rather than loving it.
As a self-proclaimed spiritual successor to WWF No Mercy, AEW had big wrestling boots to fill. While it doesn't quite surpass THQ's classic N64 grappler in terms of pure gameplay, it's nevertheless a highly entertaining wrestling title with a pleasantly silly story mode and some frankly ridiculous weapons-heavy match types. Performance on the Switch leaves a lot to be desired, but it's still the best wrestling game on the system for now.
Disney Speedstorm delivers solid karting action with fantastic handling and clearly spends a lot of care and attention on its characters and courses. Its performance on Switch lets it down, though, especially on handheld where it's a blurry, stuttery mess, and those not interested in the live service setup will struggle to get along with it.
DC's Justice League: Cosmic Chaos is a fun action brawler with a wide enough range of difficulty levels to appeal to both younger players and older superhero fans who aren't above watching funny cartoons. Its technical issues and lack of co-op let it down, but what's there is an entertaining game that'll last you a decent time.