Nintendo Life
HomepageNintendo Life's Reviews
Yoku's Island Express is a genuine breath of fresh air, combining pinball and Metroidvania mechanics in a way that feels truly inspired. Add in one of the most appealing fantasy worlds you'll find on the eShop, and you have yourself an instant left-field classic.
Die For Valhalla! is a successful mix of several genres that mainly presents itself as a lengthy side-scrolling beat-'em-up and just like the majority of such games is best enjoyed with friends along the way. There is still a lot to chew for the lonely solo player out there, so if you into the genre and Norse mythology, do consider giving this one a possession. Odin would approve and so do we.
Ikaruga is not so highly revered by chance, despite its near accidental creation. It is the result of a combination between an incredibly talented team making the most of excellent hardware, bringing in the unique double polarity gimmick that stealthy introduces puzzle solving mechanics into a bullet hell shmup. So it's no great surprise it not only remains an incredibly compelling experience but it lands smoothly on top of the currently available shmup list on Nintendo's hybrid console library.
If you happen to love Norse mythology or epic fantasy stories full of consequence and deft storytelling, then look no further than The Banner Saga. This is a beautifully crafted game that uses its intriguing cast, gripping tale and absolutely stunning artwork and soundtrack to transport you to a world filled with plenty of danger and surprises. The turn-based strategic battles might not be equally as thrilling to everyone who plays this, and the interface in this part of the game can be a bit clunky at times, but this doesn't detract too much from the collective offering.
Punch Club is an effective casual management sim with a well-observed 16-bit aesthetic, but its grindy hands-off mechanics soon start to grate. Here on Nintendo's flagship console, it just feels a little too remote and repetitive to be in with a genuine title shout.
Dillon's Dead-Heat Breakers takes the best part of the series' early games, adds some nice improvements, and provides a more refined overall package.
Bags of levels and increasing difficulty will keep N++ refreshing for hours and days on end. The mechanics are simple and yet incredibly deep, which opens up a wonderful game brimming with customisation options and new modes to try out. Floaty controls sometimes hamper progress, but the deaths are always spectacular.
Digital Eclipse did a great job with all the details in Mega Man Legacy Collection, presenting the original games in their best possible light, while tossing in a handful of extra features and challenges on top to sweeten the deal.
All told, Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 feels like a letdown compared to the stellar presentation of its predecessor. Missing features and lower quality games easily make this the more skippable of the two, although that doesn't necessarily mean that this is a bad collection. We'd recommend this to any fans of the Mega Man series – 9 and 10 just about justify the collection on their own – but those who are looking to get their feet wet may want to pass on this and just get the first collection. Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 is good, but it's not great, so think twice before taking the plunge.
The Adventures of Elena Temple does a solid job recreating a certain era of platform gaming, despite minor problems linked to level design. What's unfortunate is how more time, effort and focus seems to have gone into the fictional history of the game and the machines it can be played on for the sake of nostalgia, rather than the gameplay. It's nice there is reasoning behind the visual filters, but this and the silly story comes across as overbearing when the actual gameplay perfectly captures the feeling of nostalgia. It's a pity the developer didn't just release the game in its rawest form, cutting out the excess trimmings and adding in more playable content.
Fox n Forests can't be faulted for its fantastically accurate portrayal of 16-bit platforming; very few indie games have managed to nail the look and sound of the SNES so well. Its season-changing gimmick also makes for some inventive moments. Where it lets itself down is in its fiddly controls and its short length, which combine to make a game that's merely good when it could have been great.
The bright, flashing lights - and admittedly catchy thumping club music - coupled with an eye-watering amount of modes and game/bot customisation isn't quite enough to dress up what essentially feels like a promising idea that's vastly undercooked. A little more time in the oven - and with a more appetising and interesting main course - and Disco Dodgeball could have been a much stronger option on the small, but rapidly growing menu of online-focused games for Switch.
Runner3 is wonderfully creative and funny, relying on a style of play that belies the challenge at its heart. A few moments of unbalanced control or obstacle design can frustrate, but this will pass when Commander Video finally nails a sequence of movements and makes you feel like a fast-fingered expert.
Little Nightmares boasts some superb character and environment design, and exceptional sound too, with parts of the Maw screaming as if the ship was a gigantic bionic seafarer. Its story is compellingly told, and the way the main game connects with the DLC is immensely rewarding. But you never really feel like you have full control of Six, and the long breaks between restarts can dump you into a painful loop of spending less time in the game than you do in loading screens. These problems were present in the game's initial release back in April 2017, and Switch owners can be forgiven for feeling disappointed that Tarsier wasn't able to fix them for this port. If you can overlook them, though, Little Nightmares is an occasionally moreish puzzler with an exceptionally creepy cast capable of turning any stomach.
Fairune Collection is a deliciously big slice of brain-teasing RPG fun with a sprinkle of shmup action on top. None of the games will require a huge amount of time to complete, solving many of its puzzles feels truly rewarding and both graphics and sound will take you back to a simpler time in this industry. If you were a fan of the original outings, you will certainly like this ‘upgrade' but if you are venturing into the realm of Fairune for the first time, heads up: you might have just discovered the perfect lazy summer afternoon game of the year.
With multiple updates planned for the near future this issue could soon start to be addressed so, unless you're entirely sold on the concept alone, we'd recommend holding off until these new features have landed.
InkSplosion could have been so much more, but it's ultimately let down by a sheer lack of variety (and a frustrating lack of replay value once you've swiftly bagged all of its in-game achievements). As a top-down shooter it's certainly competent, but it's unlikely you'll hang around for long with so many other fuller packages on offer on the Switch eShop.
Ice Cream Rider Is far from being a terrible game, but several alarm bells ring when you get down to playing it. While delivering all the classic tropes one would expect from a cute-'em-up, it resembles Commodore Amiga games where western developers attempted to mimic the Japanese arcade offerings found on the arcades to varying degrees of success.
Arriving almost four years after the Wii U version, The Fall still manages to offer one of the most engaging takes on the age-old 'robot starts to feel alive' concept without feeling tired or rote. Sadly, the limitations of its gameplay haven't been addressed for this port, so while there's a great story to be experienced, the game itself remains a forgettable miasma of genres.
All told, Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition is a great time-sink game, featuring mindless but fun action gameplay that offers up the potential for dozens - if not hundreds - of hours of content. Though it certainly feels like a game that's too bloated in places, it manages to balance the Zelda and Dynasty Warriors elements well. Group all of that with stellar presentation and impressive portable gameplay, and you've got a game that does a great job of doing something new (and weird) with a classic Nintendo property. We'd give this one a recommendation, especially to fans of the Zelda series who have always wanted there to be some sort of 'anniversary' game. Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition may not have a ton of depth, but it's way more fun than it has any right to be, and you'd be missing out by not picking up this complete edition.