Nintendo Life
HomepageNintendo Life's Reviews
Knockout Home Fitness doesn't do anything inherently wrong with the selection of short fitness routines it offers, but it fails to support its bare-minimum motion tracking with any extra notable features or gamification to differentiate it from fitness DVDs or YouTube videos. Ring Fit Adventure has blown the fitness genre open on Switch, and with various other alternatives available, Knockout Home Fitness feels a little too limited, old-fashioned, and outclassed by the competition.
As it stands right now, Hot Wheels Unleashed is a fun racer whose fantastic selection of cars makes up for its relative lack of varied course environments. With updates and DLC it has the potential to become a brilliant mess of licensed properties in the way the best mash-up games are, but what's here is a solid enough foundation to start from, even if it's a little samey at launch.
While the updated graphical style and jerky scrolling don't make a great first impression and there may be some who feel the 'Tower Defence' sections are given too much screen time, Actraiser Renaissance is ultimately a successful attempt at updating a solid-gold classic from yesteryear. Rarely are two totally different gameplay styles fused this effectively, and the enhancements introduced by developer Sonic Powered really do improve things; combat in the action sections is more fun, while the 'God Sim' portions of the game are lent increased depth thanks to thoughtful gameplay upgrades. To cap it all off, Yuzo Koshiro's music – available in both its SNES and rearranged forms – is masterful. While it's not perfect, Actraiser Renaissance will nonetheless find favour with fans of the original, as well as pick up plenty of new fans along the way.
But those brilliant moments, like the one where we played three matches in a row with someone named Malo, who was kind enough to show us the ropes and protect us only to have us betray his trust and murder him at the end, were priceless.
All in all, Fisti-Fluffs feels like a bit of a wasted opportunity. The basic premise is sound, and the modes on offer do provide a decent amount of variety, but thanks to poor gameplay and sloppy controls, none of the experience comes together. Add to that the rather bland visuals and limited environments, and you’ve got a game that simply can’t hold a candle to stronger examples of brawlers on Switch.
All in all Colors Live is a useful art application with some strange limitations. The Sonar Pen and layers are absolutely welcome in our eyes, but the lack of a bucket tool, restricted brush styles, and many other staples left us a bit wanting. Having said that people have already been creating tremendous artwork showing that any medium is only as powerful as the artist's skillset. We'd have liked to see a more complete digital art package, but for someone who already owns a Switch and wants to try doodling on a screen with something more than their finger, Colors Live provides a simple and easy entry point.
RiMS Racing is a super complex motorcycle sim that provides players with a ton of depth in terms of tinkering, tuning and customising. However, once on the track, this Switch port is let down badly by performance issues that make it a frustrating, messy experience. There's definitely a market for this type of in-depth motorbike action on Nintendo's console but, in this state, it's very hard to recommend diving into this particular offering.
Metallic Child delivers a compelling, dialogue-packed and seemingly fully-voiced quasi-roguelite anime adventure with quite some aplomb, and is certainly an impressive achievement from apparent solo dev Studio HG. The price is right and it's only some issues with repetitive gameplay that bring the title down a little. There's plenty to see and do and a meaty adventure to get stuck into, with "achievements" to unlock and permanent incremental upgrades to purchase with dropped currency as you smash your enemies to pieces. An impressive debut that's very clearly made by someone who understands how important feedback is to a game like this; it's a slick, exciting robot-smashing fest for your Switch.
A fantastic tribute to Fantasy Life that nails the kind of grindy combat that many people love, Kitaria Fables is genuinely sweet and impressively well-made for a three-person team in under three years. If Fantasy Life is a Wagyu beef steak, Kitaria Fables is a really, REALLY good burger. If you're jonesing for a tasty action-farming-adventure, Kitaria Fables has you covered.
There's nothing inherently wrong with Active Life Outdoor Challenge. It's a charming enough game with controls that are responsive enough for the most part. Its main failing is a general lack of content, and the fact that the Joy-Con and leg strap combination isn't quite as fun as the original mat the Wii version came with. Ring Fit Adventure won't be sweating over the competition, then, but Family Trainer is still a pleasant enough diversion for fans of light CV.
Eastward proves itself to be a memorable and enjoyable mashup of many beloved classic titles, combining each of their elements together to forge something that feels distinct and engaging. Creative gameplay sequences, a heartwarming and emotional story, and a killer art style all combine to make this one easy to recommend. That being said, we'd also offer a word of caution that this is a slow burn kind of game; if you're not a patient player, Eastward's sometimes lethargic pace may take a lot of enjoyment out of the experience. Wherever you may fall, Eastward is indisputably a game worth checking out, and we'd encourage you to give it a shot.
Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom is an excellent action-RPG that's arrived on Switch in a fantastic, feature-packed port. Evan and Roland's antics across this game's sprawling world are stuffed full of great characters, exciting combat and adventuring and a kingdom building mechanic that's a delight to get to grips with. It looks and sounds every bit as good as its predecessor and, although the story might be a little more hit-and-miss here, we were completely hooked into this one from beginning to end. This is a sumptuously crafted adventure you won't regret diving into.
SkateBIRD is a creative addition to a genre lacking in variety, and its fun concept has clearly been realised with a lot of love. However, despite its potential, the best parts of the concept are underused, with neither the miniature skaters nor the addition of wings bringing much to excite. While the core gameplay is functional, the play feel is not fluid and the level design and laborious structure are always working against the fun. To top it off, the rudimentary graphics are needlessly hazy. More of a turkey than a pretty boy, then, unfortunately.
NBA 2K22 is another fine entry in the franchise that continues the developer's habit of delivering satisfyingly solid ports of their basketball sims on Nintendo Switch. Yes, most of the modes don't try anything massively new - beyond MyCareer's revamped Neighbourhood setting - and the loading screens will have you pulling your hair out from time to time, but refined core gameplay and enough content to keep you playing until the end times make this one an easy recommendation for b-ball fans.
As long as you're willing to put up with some performance hits and the fact that there's no online multiplayer, Cruis'n Blast is a hugely entertaining arcade style racer with incredible set-pieces that has us crossing every possible body part in the hope that it's successful enough to encourage more of the same somewhere down the line.
Luckily for publisher Live Wire, its bare-minimum localisation work and stumble out of the online gate aren't destructive enough to drag the excellent Espgaluda II down too much, and underneath it all the game feels as fresh and well-designed as ever. The flexible risk/reward scoring system allows long-time fans to decide for themselves (to a certain extent) how much trouble they want to get into while still allowing newcomers enough leeway to enjoy an intense and visually spectacular shmup experience.
Residual is a comprehensive survival experience that fans of the genre will absolutely adore. Exploring the procedurally generated planets feels a bit daunting at first, but when the game opens up and starts dishing out essential resources, it becomes a lot more manageable. There are a few teething issues that we hope will be ironed out in time, like the confusing inventory UI, overly frequent need to eat/sleep, and the slightly dodgy navigation controls, but overall Residual is a fun, engaging 2D survival game that can sit proud alongside genre heavies like Minecraft and Don't Starve.
Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions is a solid take on the Rocky/Creed franchise, celebrating the wide variety of fighters that contributed to the series over the years. The gameplay is rather basic for the most part, with little deviation in style between the characters, but fundamentally the fights all feel fun and it's incredibly satisfying when you land a knockout blow on your opponent. The graphics benefit well from more stylised art design, but limitations with the arena's crowds do stand out. If you're a fan of Rocky, though, then you'll definitely want to step into the ring and try this one out.
Murder on Eridanos is an entertaining final slice of DLC that leans into the narrative elements of Obsidian's action RPG, delivering plenty of well-written dialogue and characters in the process. Yes, the combat is pretty much played out at this stage and the whole thing feels a little bit too linear, but this is still an enjoyable return to one of our favourite action RPGs of the past few years that's well worth picking up if you enjoyed the core campaign.
Ultra Age is a solid indie hack-and-slash effort that delivers some fast-paced combat and a handful of unique mechanics to keep its battles interesting. It may have some ropey voice-acting, the graphics have predictably been dialled back on Switch and there's the occasional frame rate wobble here and there, but overall this is a surprisingly decent budget effort that's well worth taking a look at if you're hankering for some Devil May Cry-style action.