Ryan Brown's Reviews
Fun to both build and play with, the Nintendo Labo Vehicle Kit is a very unique video gaming experience that is sure to delight kids that are already fans of both construction toys and Nintendo.
Cartoon Network: Battle Crashers is a repetitive, boring disaster of a game, and almost offensive in its disregard for the vibrant characters it's utilising. To suggest that kids would find any degree of enjoyment from this would be a disservice to their intelligence.
Fear Effect Sedna is one of those games that were I not reviewing it, I'd have stopped playing very early on. Its few redeeming qualities actually fail to redeem it at all; it's simply not a very good video game, one that could only be satisfactory to the most eager of Fear Effect fans. For everyone else, it's impossible to recommend.
The harsh reality is that I wanted to love it just as much as anyone else. The team is clearly talented and Yooka-Laylee is a work of passion, but it's simply not enough. Yooka-Laylee is simply a chore to play and it relies too heavily on past glories and self-referential humour.
If you are a big Adventure Time fan and don’t require every game you play to be an original, stellar experience, there’s definitely fun to be had here thanks to the game’s charm and authenticity alone. For fans looking to say goodbye to the land of Ooo, you could definitely do a lot worse.
Depending on what you're aiming to get out of it, Fire Emblem Warriors is either a very good game or a bore, although either way perhaps not quite justifiable for its price point during the busiest release period of the year.
As Baja can hardly be called a beloved classic, it's an odd choice for the remaster treatment, never managing to feel anything more than a decade-old racer. Who says remasters should be reserved for the cream of the crop though?
Criticising the very point of the game might seem unfair, but I can't change my own tastes and can only speak from my own experience. If procedurally-generated worlds sit better with you and you enjoy dungeon-crawlers and action games, chances are this one's for you.
Due to the portable nature of the Nintendo Switch, Mantis Burn Racing is worth grabbing if you're a fan of arcade racing games. It's perfect for a few quick races while waiting for a bus or a train, especially due to its simple and easy-to-remember control scheme.
Given that it's on the portable Nintendo Switch console though, I don't think that's a particularly bad thing at all - in fact, it's a good thing! At just a few quid, Baseball Riot may not be the most original game in the world, but it's enjoyable to pick up and play in short bursts when out and about, making for a neat addition to the Switch's library.
These are devastating flaws, but its core is still promising. It's not a terribly complex arena game, but it is competent and I can see it being good fun for hour-long plays at get-togethers. However, unless its online mode picks up, it'd be difficult to recommend this to anyone not looking for a party game.
There are certainly signs that this may have been rushed to coincide with a movie, but it's definitely not a cash-in. Serious thought and effort has gone into making sure this is an enjoyable experience. Providing the biggest shake-up to the LEGO game formula since the series begun, not only is this a genuinely engaging action game, it joins the ranks as one of the few great movie tie-in games.
It is ostensibly still Knack though, bland characters and all, so if you disliked the first game for its weak story, this isn't going to win you over. It's not a must-have, but as a cheap, easy-to-grasp game to entertain you or your kids for a short while, you can't go too wrong with Knack 2.
The Disney Afternoon Collection is clearly the work of a team who care a great deal about video games and their preservation. Extras include high-quality images of design documents, cover arts, posters and more - many of which had previously been considered lost. A lot of love has gone into every frame of this, right down to its menus, and I cannot wait to see which titles developer Digital Eclipse tackle next. However, whilst some titles are platformer gems, others are somewhat unextraordinary and I can't imagine newcomers would stick with any titles.
A Nintendo Switch copy of this game was provided for review purposes. Little Nightmares II is out February 11 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC for £29.99.
I find myself saying this a lot, but in this case it's the absolute truth - A Hat in Time is a perfect fit for the Nintendo Switch. Despite some glaring technical problems, A Hat in Time plays, feels, and sounds exactly like any other beloved classic 3D platfomer, but introduces enough new ideas to truly stand up on its own two feet. It's one of the most memorable games I've played all year, and I already want more of it.
There hasn't been such an original, uplifting experience with anonymous player interaction like this since 'Journey'. It is simply wonderful, and I implore you to give it a try.
If you own multiple devices and play primarily in your own home, buy DOOM on another console. If you play whilst on the go a lot, DOOM may very well be the best first-person shooter ever put on to a handheld device. In any case, DOOM is still DOOM, and DOOM is great. Here's hoping we get more portable experiences like this on the Switch.
Shadow of the Colossus is one of the finest remakes ever made, despite some returning issues from the original game
In a month full to the brim with humongous, time-sinking, big-budget games, it's a welcome break to experience a brief but calming game like AER: Memories of Old. With gentle music, appealing visuals and a majestically simple flight mechanic, AER is as pleasant a journey as I first expected it to be and makes for a great break between the huge October releases.