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Thumbsticks

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202 games reviewed
73.1 average score
80 median score
73.3% of games recommended

Thumbsticks's Reviews

Super Mario Bros. Wonder remains a standout platformer. The Nintendo Switch 2 Edition adds an excellent technical boost, a enjoyable selection of multiplayer pastimes, and some genuinely demanding new challenges. It's more remix than reinvention, but the core brilliance remains.

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Mar 22, 2026

Pokémon Pokopia reimagines the series as a game about rebuilding rather than battling, blending sandbox creativity and narrative to deliver an unexpected Game of the Year contender.

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Feb 18, 2026

Mario Tennis Fever is Nintendo’s most approachable tennis game in years, with strong core mechanics and a Fever Racket system that adds variety and flair. Adventure mode is slight, but Tournament and Trial Towers modes, plus a robust multiplayer suite, give it real staying power.

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Jan 27, 2026

If online multiplayer is your main reason to race, the Nintendo Switch 2 edition of Grid Legends won’t replace other platforms. But if you want a deep solo racer with a fun story mode and plenty of ways to indulge your motorsport tastes, it’s a superb port.

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Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is a surprisingly rich companion to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, pairing sharp, satisfying Musou combat with a story that actually feels essential.

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After a long wait, Retro delivers a confident, finely tuned Metroid experience that extends the classic gameplay loop with fresh structural swings, memorable boss encounters, and glorious environmental design.

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Oct 27, 2025

Pokémon Legends: Z-A swaps open fields for urban sprawl and structured ambition. A satisfying gameplay loop and some bold new ideas go a long way toward offsetting its shortcomings. It’s not as strong as Pokémon Legends: Arceus, but that still makes it the second-best Pokémon game of the last decade.

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The galaxies spin again, but not as much as my brain still does in wonderment at these two genre-defining games. This Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 release isn’t trying to reinvent the Super Mario Galaxy games, but it lets them run smoother and shine brighter than ever.

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Oct 6, 2025

With EA Sports FC 26, Nintendo players finally get a modern, competitive version of the world’s game. Some compromises remain, but it’s comfortably the best the series has ever been on a Nintendo console.

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Sep 18, 2025

The Nintendo Switch 2 version of Star Wars Outlaws is an impressive, and surprising, technical achievement. The fact that it is possible to play a game this rich and expansive on a handheld system, and have it look and feel this good, is remarkable.

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Kirby and the Forgotten Land – Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World doesn’t reinvent the wheel, although our hero does sort of swallow one. It’s a smart and generous update that is full of charm, variety, and quiet brilliance.

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Aug 18, 2025

Split Fiction is an exuberant, cinematic co-op adventure that thrives on shared moments, scraped victories, and those magic moments when a plan comes together.

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Jul 28, 2025

Donkey Kong Bananza is a bold and brilliantly messy outing for Nintendo’s original video game icon. It is a worthy follow-up to Super Mario Odyssey, but most importantly, the game’s blend of destruction and creativity carves out an identity that is entirely its own.

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Jun 18, 2025

V Rising stands out as a rich vampire role-playing game, and proves that the ARPG genre's busywork is much easier to swallow when wrapped in a good fantasy.

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If you’re looking for a fresh, ripe banana, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD might not hit the mark. But if you missed the original or want to revisit Donkey Kong’s lush, treacherous jungle in high definition, this is a worthwhile adventure. It might feel like filler as we wait for the Nintendo Switch 2, but it's undoubtedly good filler.

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Oct 25, 2024

To borrow a phrase familiar to football fans with unfulfilled dreams: there’s always next year. EA's engine is clearly scalable, and the main takeaway from EA Sports FC 25 is that it sets a promising foundation for future instalments, especially on the long-awaited successor to the Nintendo Switch. For now, this is a decent, if occasionally laboured, effort.

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The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom strikes a delicate balance between the familiar and the new. Smaller in scale but large in heart, it reaffirms why the series has endured for so long and points to a bright and exciting future.

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Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition doesn't beat the NES Remix series as the king of Nintendo throwbacks, but its quick restarts, competitive modes, and nostalgic vibes guarantee a fun time, especially in local multiplayer.

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Jun 28, 2024

Some might see it as doing the game a disservice, to always refer back to other things, to boil Still Wakes the Deep down to the intersection of the Venn diagram of Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, Alien: Isolation, and John Carpenter's The Thing. But honestly? In our book, that's some of the highest praise we can give.

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This polished update of the Nintendo GameCube classic is certain to attract a new generation of fans. Despite a few tell-tale signs of aging, it remains sharp, engaging, and conceptually impressive.

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