Gavin Lane
Farming Simulator 20 won't be for everyone, but if you're after high-octane, instant gratification, why are you sniffing around something called 'Farming Simulator 20'? It requires time and devotion – if you're not one to enjoy the long, languorous journey you'd be better off sticking to more abstract farming sims. Once you get into its low-key repetitive groove, though, there's a wealth of wholesome, calming work to get lost in and a satisfying flow to cultivating a field, sowing seeds, harvesting, repeating and watching those numbers go up.
Mechanically-speaking, there's little you haven’t seen elsewhere, but it’s a good-looking, fun third-person romp dripping in slimy nostalgia, and the chance to spend time in the company of these old friends – some of them dearly departed – is too good to pass up if you've ever strapped on your school backpack and gone out to catch ghosts in the garden.
It'd be easy to look at the bobcat's resumé, look at this and dismiss it out of hand. Unfortunately, although Bubsy: Paws On Fire has the foundation of a decent runner and developer Choice Provisions knows what it's doing in terms of creating levels with an engaging flow, less than stellar performance, bland and repetitive stages, superfluous gameplay additions and long loads combine to drag the experience down. It's not awful, it's just nowhere near as good as the Runner series and ultimately we'd recommend ditching the bobcat and spending time in the company of Commander Video instead.
Omega Labyrinth Life is a Whopper of a game – delicious and juicy on the poster, but it's really just salt and stodge. If you're after some decent dungeon-crawling filler, it certainly does the job and there's pleasure to be had, but there are far cheaper, more adventurous meals on Switch eShop that are ultimately more satisfying and won't leaving you feeling mildly guilty. If you're a curious onlooker whose interest is piqued, we'd wait for a sale; fanservice isn't enough to justify the asking price at launch for anybody but diehard Omega Labyrinth devotees.
We spent a long time mulling over why Senran Kagura: Peach Ball didn't push any of our buttons. If you find anime ladies with animal features highly appealing, you can probably add a couple of points to the score below. Ultimately, though, Peach Ball serves up a tedious, repetitive story with monotonous characters and pinball tables that can be characterised likewise. Despite a polished art style and a genuinely interesting idea of livening up the arcade game in a way only possible in a video game, we found the end result sorely lacking in the pinball department.
Heartwarming; that’s the word to describe Dream Daddy. It’s a feelgood game, from its tongue-in-cheek Dream Weaver-esque theme tune to its message of acceptance and generally being excellent to one another.
Cadence of Hyrule is not just a brilliant game, it's a brilliant Zelda game - one that you won't want to miss.
Capcom's shady cart-based practices aside, there’s ultimately no better way to sample that original survival horror formula in 2019, provided you’ve got the stomach - and the space on your system memory - for it.
Various factors accumulate to take the shine off Resident Evil 0 in comparison to the original game, but the Switch version showcases it at its best, and even though it doesn't reach the heights of 1 or 2, it provides a shot of old-school Resident Evil for those who like that sort of thing. It looks great on Switch and the ability to play on-the-go helps alleviate some of the frustrations inherent to its old-fashioned systems. Overall, it's very much more of the same, but if that's what you're after, Resident Evil 0 ticks the requisite boxes nicely.
Context is essential, then, but the Switch port shows this classic at its absolute best and there’s arguably no better way to sample the original Resident Evil formula in 2019, provided you’ve got the stomach for it.