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Destroy All Humans returns in a remake that refreshes the original's visuals, modernises its controls and adds a few new weapon and traversal upgrades to proceedings, all whilst failing to make any meaningful changes to the game's rather outdated core gameplay. What's here is still silly fun, for sure - decimating dullard humans with Crypto's high tech alien gadgets and unstoppable flying saucer can still provide some chaotic catharsis - but there's no denying this one's showing its age mechanically and newcomers to the series may well be left feeling a little underwhelmed.
There's a reason why Mushihimesama is regarded as one of Cave's best shoot-em-ups – it's weird and colourful, it's incredibly refined, and the many gameplay modes ensure that both newbies and veterans will be kept busy for quite some time.
Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights is one of the strongest Metroidvanias of 2021, and easily one of the best examples of the genre on Switch to date. It boasts excellent visuals throughout, with bursts of colour lighting up the otherwise dreary kingdom, and a wonderful soundtrack that we guarantee will live rent-free in your head for hours. All of this is held together by strong gameplay, with a particular focus on customisable load-outs via the spirit abilities. It's a tough game at times, and the minor frame rate dips hold it back from true greatness, but with a respectable playtime of roughly 15 hours this is an experience you'll be glad to try out.
These new enemies aside, it’s more or less business as usual in The Ancient Gods. While the pace can be a little slower this time thanks to the way the newcomers have to be defeated, for the most part fans of the main campaign will be perfectly happy with another roughly 5-8 hours of gameplay to rip and tear their way through. Just don’t play it without taking on the main game first.
If you weren't allured by the distinctive style and crazy in-depth gameplay of previous entries in the franchise, Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny certainly isn't the game to change your mind. Like its predecessors, Disgaea 6 is still a goofy and staggeringly intricate SRPG that will take hundreds of hours to see through to completion. However, this is easily the most streamlined and enjoyable entry in the series yet, as the developers have doubled down on everything that makes these games great and made some improvements, too. It can be intimidating to get into as a newcomer, and the performance is frequently disappointing, but we would still absolutely recommend that you add Disgaea 6 to your library.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 on Nintendo Switch is a rock solid port of a pair of genuinely fantastic remakes. These really are two of the very best arcade sports titles of all time, revamped, reworked and re-imagined for modern audiences with all the graphical bells and whistles, collectibles and game modes we've come to expect in this day and age. With flawless performance in both docked and handheld modes and visuals that still look the part after a few necessary concessions here and there, this is one collection we highly recommend you kickflip right into as soon as possible.
Mario Golf: Super Rush is a game that in many respects hits its marks. Golf Adventure has plenty of charm and offers a fun way to learn various mechanics and unlock courses. Away from that solo endeavour there are decent options and customisation for multiplayer games, local or online, button controls or motion-based swinging. It's not a premium effort, however, with a nagging feeling of corners cut and at times an absence of creativity. However, many players should get a good amount of fun out of this one, both solo and with friends. This ain't the Masters, but for Mario Golf fans it is a solid par.
It's easy to see why this was such a polarizing title upon release. There's a lot to love here, but Legend of Mana can be tiring in how much it likes to play 'hard to get'. All the ingredients and individual pieces of a strong, impressively innovative RPG are present, but it feels like the developers simply tossed all these ideas in a bag and shook it vigorously, rather than taking the time to lay out all those ideas in a coherent and curated fashion. We'd give this one a recommendation, but only to fans of the genre, specifically those who prefer more experimental titles. If that doesn't describe you, there's still a good chance you'll find something to like about Legend of Mana, but just be aware it may be more of a mixed bag.
We can't pretend this isn't a disappointment. After promises of updates and improvements to this classic title, what we've got is something that we'd honestly not recommend to either prospective new fans or enthusiasts of the original Alex Kidd. We're inclined to think this may have been something of a rushed release, but that's pure speculation based on some of the more lax features (there's a lot of new dialogue but almost all of it is awkwardly written, with typos and errors). Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX is not horrible by any means, and you might have fun with it until you run up against its irritating issues - unless you use infinite lives, in which case you'll finish the game in two hours, tops. If this was supposed to be Alex Kidd's big comeback, we're sad to say that we don't think we'll be seeing that Alex Kidd: High-Tech World remake any time soon.
Throughout LEGO Builder's Journey, we found that the aim of the game was to make you feel like a kid - whether or not you are one. Getting back in touch with the pre-manual-following version of yourself is a delight, and having the story be about a parent and a child connecting through child's play is as touching as it is smart. Despite occasional misfires and what can feel like padding, this is a LEGO game which plays with the fundamental philosophy of creativity far more than the average LEGO-branded title, and we hope this is an indication of new games to come.
Where 80 Days was about the broad implications of travelling the entire globe, Overboard! focuses instead on the minutiae of a single day, and the intricacies of interaction. It's a glorious study in how to create a delicate Rube Goldberg machine of dialogue and dependencies, as a cast of mostly terrible people waltz around each other with ulterior motives and pre-existing feelings about everything, including our Veronica and dear, departed Malcolm. It's excellent: play it.
The Persistence is a unique and unsettling sci-fi horror roguelite that does an excellent job of transferring its tense atmosphere and absorbing gameplay loops from its original VR form to the Nintendo Switch. There are tons of weapons and toys to tool around with as you run the gauntlet, the permanent aspects of the gameplay are refreshingly generous and survival mode and New Game+ provide a properly stiff challenge for those who prefer their roguelites to be tough as nails. Firesprite Games has done a fantastic job of porting the entire ghoulish affair over to Switch, with flawless performance in both docked and handheld modes; overall, this is another very strong addition to the console's ever-expanding collection of excellent roguelite experiences.
We were, as you can tell from the body of this review, consistently frustrated with Beautiful Desolation, another ambitious and lovely-looking game whose Switch incarnation just wasn't an acceptable way to experience it - shades of Genesis Noir's port (though that was better). It's especially unfortunate because this is exactly the sort of different that the Switch needs, but it needs to run better than what's on offer here. If you can muscle past the problematic controls, excessive loading and weak performance, you may be able to get into Beautiful Desolation. There is a lot to like in its worldbuilding, gorgeous backgrounds and interesting premise. But we felt like it just asked us to overlook way, way too many problems for the privilege.
With so many games featuring death and destruction, Alba: A Wildlife Adventure is a breath of fresh air. Much like Pokémon Snap, its focus on observation is a welcome change of pace, and it never feels like the underlying message is being shoved down our throats. At 2-3 hours in length, our only wish is that it lasted a bit longer, but with its relaxing tone and simple gameplay, this is one we suspect you’ll go back to again and again.
This is thoroughly absorbing piece of fiction that manages to justify being a video game by virtue of skillfully integrated choices and missable content, making multiple playthroughs a potentially appealing prospect. The voice acting throughout is extremely impressively performed, the UI and controls are nearly perfect and the art is beautifully drawn, though we felt the characters could use a few more poses/expressions at times. Anyone interested in a ripping virtual novel yarn -. and who isn't tediously prejudiced against any and all 'furry' content - will find a lot to love in Winds of Change.
Ultimately, the gameplay just feels a bit slapstick, with messy movement, erratic ball controls, and shoddy AI. Its simplicity is immediately appealing, with quick matches allowing for short sessions while you’re out and about, but even with its quirky visual style, the liberties taken with its gameplay makes Super Soccer Blast: America vs Europe a tough game to recommend.
Hurt only by the Switch's take on its visuals, Mundaun delivers above and beyond its appearances and offers a robust, constantly compelling adventure game. It isn't particularly scary, but it is rich in atmosphere and hosts plenty of gameplay variety and good ideas. We found that it never compromised its tone or fell foul of any gameplay glitches, although as mentioned the visuals aren't quite up to snuff. It's a minor thing, though, as Mundaun should keep your attention from beginning to, well, one or more of its multiple endings.
Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection gets off to a promising start on Switch with a decent port of Ninja Gaiden Sigma that performs well in both docked and handheld modes. However, as soon as you boot up parts two and three it's all downhill, with dynamic resolution resulting in a pixelated mess in places as the frame rate consistently struggles to keep up with the action. All we needed here was a solid, no-frills port and this collection would have been an instant recommendation. As things stand, it's a disappointing experience that needs patching ASAP and should be the last version you opt for if you've got the choice to play elsewhere.
Game Builder Garage is a frighteningly powerful game creation tool dragged down by a few limiting factors. The lack of an object creation tool (and pyramids) means that most games are going to look like they were made in a game creation suite, but the sheer scope of what's possible helps to take the sting out of the tail. This will actually teach you how to make games, the tutorials that lead you through are by-and-large excellent, and the inclusion of USB mouse support is a godsend. We're probably unable to even conceive of half of what Switch owners will be able to create using this software, but we're certain this is going to help propagate the next generation of game developers.
This game didn't need to be a roguelike, and the quirks of its structure cast a bit of a pall over the entire product. There's an abundance of content here, with multiple campaigns per faction and plenty of scope for tactics... but enough of it falls into the category of "luck of the draw" that it's somewhat outrageous just how much essentially unchanged content it makes you play through over and over again when you fail - or even when you succeed. Warhammer fans will likely enjoy the lore drip-feed and typically portentous writing, but everyone else should probably steer clear of Age of Sigmar: Storm Ground. An impressive game for sure, but not in the way that counts most.