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Hilarious and entertaining, LEGO City Undercover will forever remain among my favourite LEGO games. Chase McCain’s return to the scene of the crime is a welcome one, but, as an inadvertent downside, it also shows how far the LEGO series has progressed in the last few years. Its crime-ridden world is still an absolute blast to be a part of, however, and I hope that we’ll have another chance to chase down criminals in the future.
Dark Witch Music Episode: Rudymical can entertain but, after spending some time with it, the lack of breadth and punishing scoring system detract from what is an otherwise promising and at times surprising contender in the genre.
Skylanders Imaginators delivers the most purposeful innovation to the wondrous toys-to-life series, but, beyond that, presents a gameplay experience that perhaps treads a little too closely to what has come before. That doesn’t mean that it is any less entertaining, but, somewhat ironically, the developers need to tap into their imagination to make the adventure more surprising to stand out.
The Kirby series has been no stranger to interesting spin-off titles over the years but, unfortunately, Kirby Battle Royale is one of his weaker ventures. A batch of modes uneven in quality, fairly basic combat and a repetitive story option make for a pretty forgettable experience when played alone. With a group, however, Kirby Battle Royale can be a silly, fun time albeit a relatively shallow one.
Has-Been Heroes heroically treads the line between strategic brilliance and overwhelming frustration to result in an experience that will leave many feeling like toppling the Great Ghoul’s evil army is an insurmountable task. It is in the game’s difficulty and lack of accessibility, then, that sees these wearied heroes falter. Which comes as a great irony when you remember how ridiculously simple their quest had first sounded.
Wheels of Aurelia is about the road trip not the destination, we’re told. Santa Ragione should feel proud of their efforts to bring to light stories and events in Italy’s history, in educating a generation that may well be less aware of them. I’m just not certain that this was the best way to impart what they learned.
Whether you are arriving by horse and cart for the first time or have already courageously saved the world from destruction, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim continues to transcend the genre with its meticulous and phenomenal world-building. It’s that unending freedom to be anyone that you want to be, to go anywhere and be able to do anything that makes it such an engrossing world to exist in. And now that you can take that masterful experience anywhere on Nintendo Switch, it’s the perfect chance to become the Dragonborn.
Perception is a game that holds all the basic elements to make for a decent horror game. The idea is unique, the sound is atmospheric, and the story does have potential. It’s everything that’s in between that, sadly, lets the whole experience down. The gameplay hook that it rides upon never really feels as interesting as it wants to be and the stalking mechanic just slows down what is already a laden-footed ordeal. If you are into your ghost hunting TV shows then this may very well be up your street, but, if not, then there’s a chance that you may find the adventure to be underwhelming.
It is inconsistency and imbalance that cripple Boost Beast the most, which is a shame considering that it has some clever ideas. But, it squanders that potential, leaving it best to consider other puzzle fixes on the Nintendo eShop.
Whether you are still yet to explore the Alola region or are making a return visit, these Nintendo 3DS exclusives can be seen as not only a worthy addition to the long-running series but the definitive Pokémon adventure this generation.
Tumblestone is a solid puzzler, packed with content whether you’re playing alone or with a group. While the core concept may not be the best in class, there’s certainly enough fun to be had here and a cool game to come back to every now and again to tackle a couple more puzzles.
RiME still amounts to a meaningful experience, and, despite being stacked against some tough competition, stands proudly as one of the more memorable journeys that you will set out on this year. It is certainly an adventure that you shouldn’t miss, but a poor technical performance on Nintendo Switch may see you washing ashore on other platforms rather than choosing to persevere.
Breathe deeply, believe in yourself, and become one with the rhythm. Super Beat Sports is packed with personality and cheerful beats, and, now unshackled from Apple TV, has found a more suitable audience to tap into on Nintendo Switch. Worthy of your time, it presents an unbeatable addition to the Nintendo eShop that, as with its setting, is quite simply out of this world.
At one point I assumed that it’s likely I’m not the target audience, so I gave the game to my daughters – aged eight and ten – to play. They love Cartoon Network, so I thought that Cartoon Network: Battle Crashers would give them something new to experience. While both of them enjoyed the visual spectacle and the set pieces of special moves, they each gave up citing that it simply wasn’t fun, ironically choosing to watch The Regular Show instead. So, if my thoughts don’t nail what I want to say, I’ll leave it to my eight-year-old daughter – “This is boring, can we play Mario Kart instead?”
It’s tough to believe that Sonic Team has managed to take the enjoyable gameplay blueprint of Sonic Generations and turn it into this clunky mess of a sequel – a lazily told story, poor level design, and gameplay that lacks any real excitement the biggest offenders here. Sonic Mania managed to steer the hedgehog back on track and it’s disheartening to see Sonic Forces potentially undo that so soon. The game isn’t unplayable like others have been in the past, but it’s certainly clear Sonic Team are capable of better. Much better.
On the whole, I found DOOM quite difficult game to score. It’s a port that looks completely and utterly underwhelming on the TV and yet probably stands as the best first-person shooter out there that can be played natively and conveniently so well on the go. Some will either love or hate the Metroid Prime-style platforming and losing track on where to go next, but one thing’s for sure is that the game itself stays very faithful to the series and makes old-school first-person shooter feel predominantly new and fresh again. Even cranking up the difficulty feels extremely rewarding when you finally learn to successfully ride the angry waves of its kinetic flow. Bag all that up with tons of upgrades, stacks full of secrets, easter eggs, toys, and the tricky yet hopelessly addictive rune trial challenges and you have an immersive shooter that you can rock out to whilst sat on a rooftop.
In a nutshell, Neon Chrome does set out what it aims to do by giving you a decent top-down shooter that is fulfilling enough to play through at least once. The randomised level layout keeps the action diverse and can drive some to keep playing a long time after you first see the credits roll. It may look very low budget in presentation but what it lacks in visuals, it makes up for in atmosphere.
Overall, Runbow Pocket is just as fun as it was on the Wii U with plenty of content, plenty of costumes and characters to unlock as you go through. There is just the one pretty big omission from this release that stops it being a good replacement for other versions, that being the local multiplayer. If you can get over that or if you are only looking to get the game for its single player component, then there is plenty to enjoy about Runbow Pocket. It’s a fun, colourful game that is worth jumping in and out of, which is what the New Nintendo 3DS is great for.
Just Dance 2018 does the job it intends to do on its annual basis. The minor additions don't really warrant a full purchase as the Just Dance Unlimited feature is starting to make the rest of the content feel a little redundant. However, it's a great little party burner and the kids seem to love it.
Monopoly for Nintendo Switch delivers a solid enough version of the famous board game that’s unfortunately held back by some frustrating issues. With a little polish, better pacing, and a more competitive price point, this version could have been a great alternative for fans of the game. As it stands though Monopoly for Nintendo Switch is perfectly playable but feels like a bit of a missed opportunity.