Nintendo Life's Scores

  • Games
For 5,857 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 45% higher than the average critic
  • 18% same as the average critic
  • 37% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 8 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Game review score: 67
Highest review score: 100 The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Lowest review score: 10 Lawnmower Game: Racing
Score distribution:
5865 game reviews
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Considering that adding rhythm to your harmony is not really possible in Lumiloop, audiophiles or those in need of something to relax to may enjoy playing around with it, but others will want to steer clear.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Along with its realistic setting, this is more of a chore than actually being fun.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Digimon World: Next Order is an open-world RPG that's too much of a grind to recommend. While the music and graphics have their charm, they’re totally overshadowed by the unbalanced difficulty, highly-repetitive training mechanics, and some very strange design choices. Unless you’re a die-hard Digimon fan with untold patience, this one is best left alone.
    • 38 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    While it hits all the marks to be at least competent as a shoot 'em up, GAIABREAKER doesn't really go out of the way to make itself particularly interesting or fun to play, with fairly bland stages and little challenge.
    • 36 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    If you're looking for something within the genre, there are so many better modern and classic options already available on the 3DS.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    A game that features tanks should be an entertaining experience, especially if the game was developed by a team who has delivered series like BlazBlue and Guilty Gear, but ultimately Brave Tank Hero is a blemish in Arc System Works' library.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Outside the Realm has a good puzzle concept going for it, but it lacks the complexity, length, variety, and fine tuning that would make it an addictive experience for many genre fans. Younger players and those looking for a fleeting jaunt might find a fun space experience if they can get past the occasional frustrations. Others might want to chart a course elsewhere.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Oh...Sir! The Hollywood Roast expands slightly on the original title, but for every minor improvement it makes, it stumbles over a list of missed opportunities, poorly-handled references, and a script that really could have used a few more rewrites. One-on-one verbal battles are still fun enough for the first hour or so, but beyond that it gets repetitious and even downright intolerable. We don't really recommend either title, but if you had to pick one then we'd recommend the original over this tasteless B-movie.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Family Slot Car Racing is certainly an accessible racing game, but the game is so faithful to the real slot car racing experience that it's unlikely anyone who doesn't already like slot car racing will find it interesting for more than a few plays.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    With such a concise playtime, it's hard to recommend PANDA LOVE to any hardened veteran; at best, this is a simple starter game for young children.
    • 35 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Wreck-It Ralph could have been so much more. Disney clearly spent a lot of time injecting the film’s world with strong gaming influences and tons of variety, and it’s baffling that the developers didn't build upon this. Instead, it feels like nothing more a half-hearted attempt to cash-in. It looks and feels like a retro game in some ways, but it’s simply far too shallow and devoid of fun to draw you in. As a result, you should probably save your quarters for a more worthwhile effort on 3DS.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Beyond the ability to collect minifigs and customise your character — something that does nothing to really change up the actual battling at the heart of it all — there's very, very little here to sink your teeth into. It all ends up feeling like a rather poor free-to-play mobile game, and one that doesn't perform very well on Nintendo's hardware.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    We like Hello Kitty as much as the next guy, but unless the next guy's 7 years old they're not going to be able to squeeze much fun out of this one. Nothing it does is particularly terrible (other than its odd drifting mechanic), but everything's so slow and so easy that a huge proportion of the Hello Kitty fanbase will be bored to tears within the two short hours it takes to unlock everything.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai suffers from a chronic lack of focus. The vibrant visuals and fun combat can’t make up for the fact that you’ll spend hours doing little more than watching static images tell the plot of the anime. The result is a game that will frustrate action RPG fans with a lack of action and fails to do justice to the story it is trying to tell. Unless you’re desperate for a new Dragon Quest game to play, you’re better off just watching the anime and skipping this spin-off entirely.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    We suspect that the lack of MotionPlus sensitivity or any real challenge will turn off avid disc golfers.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Third time is not the charm for these Puffins, as Let's Race is a sub-par racer that just isn't fun to play.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    The game's cutesy graphics bely what the game is really like - shaking your Wii Remote until your arms are about ready to fall off. For 500 Wii Points, thankfully, the blow isn't too bad, but unless you'd really like to test which of your friends can shake the fastest, we'd recommend staying far away from this one.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    As a single player experience, Gameloft's Texas Hold 'em Poker will provide about as much diversion as a good game of Freecell. The visuals are excellent and the game plays well, but the useless online experience and one-note gameplay prevents us from recommending this game to anyone but die hard fans of this poker variant.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Astro Bears Party plays more like a tech demo that is a few days into development rather than a complete package. The concept is a neat idea, but it seems as if the developer got the absolute basics up and running and then decided to halt work to rollout the title. The amount of content in this game is so underwhelming, as a result, that it’s hard to justify putting any real cash towards it. At best this is perhaps suitable for a few short rounds of multiplayer, or for any younger people who are new to video games. Otherwise you should look elsewhere if you are seeking a new party game on the Nintendo Switch.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    The Kore Gang: Outvasion from Inner Earth is occasionally a funny, loving tribute to those collect-a-thon games many of us grew up with. Unfortunately, though, most of the time it's struggling with problems left behind in previous console generations.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    We have a hard time imagining just who the target audience is for Sudoku by Nikoli, or why anyone should choose it over competing titles lurking in the DSiWare section of the eShop. Perhaps if you've exhausted every single sudoku puzzle available on the platform then the extra 50 will come in handy then Nikoli will look attractive, but everyone else will do just fine without it.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Cutie Clash is a missed opportunity by Yazar Media Group. There is a skeleton of a fun experience here, but without any single player options or any other content besides the main game, along with poor controls, it feels rushed and unfinished. Cutie Clash has a big personality; it's a shame the scope is so small.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Jewel Match provides a classic, basic match-three experience, but it’s hard to recommend it over the sea of other, similar titles out there; especially when it lacks any real elements that provide a unique twist or make it aesthetically pop.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    On paper Whipseey is a lovely tribute to the days of the Kirby games, but when the entire game is shorter than just the first world of Kirby's Adventure – which is already available as part of the Switch Online NES collection – we just can't recommend you spend your money on it. If this was a free demo teasing a full adventure we'd be demanding you play it, but if this is really all there is that's incredibly poor.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    In a lot of ways it fails to do anything incredibly interesting, with the repetitive actions of fetch quests being one of its biggest offenders, and gameplay can become dull as it takes the most drab parts of RPGs and fits them in.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Despite looking moderately eye-catching in screenshots, Bird Game + ultimately proves to be the game that its title suggests: a bland and frustrating experience in search of an identity. The concept has potential, but a lack of polish and focus means it never really leaves the ground.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Slave Zero X is an incredibly frustrating release, because it could have so easily been a slam dunk. It's a great game — it really is — with stylish combat mechanics, beautiful 2D sprites combined with 3D environments, and an awesome, cyberpunk-esque storyline. Unfortunately, though patches may eventually turn this lump of coal into a diamond, the game as it stands is a hot mess on Switch, with a wildly inconsistent frame rate that makes the complex, methodical gameplay feel like a chore to play.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    It’s a shame, because the game looks quite nice, and with tighter controls and a bit more thought into the puzzle design, it could have been a decent alternative to the Zelda games. As it is, it’s merely a poor imitation.
    • 32 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    The principles of this game are sound, but the execution makes the game a disappointment, and enough to drive any gamer to the confessional.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    If you’re desperate for word-based puzzles, then this one might provide a quick fix, but don’t expect to see anything new or exciting.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    If you can tolerate the punctilious demands of the basic movement, you may wring some joy out of Gunbrick: Reloaded. There's definitely a clever idea here, and the later levels offer some trickier puzzling to get your teeth into which mitigates the problem a tiny bit – but getting to that point may be a bridge too far given the resolutely irritating early stages. It's a shame, because a lot of effort has clearly gone into its presentation, but Gunbrick: Reloaded just isn't want we're looking for from a puzzle-platformer.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    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.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Depending too heavily on its Game Boy-influenced presentation, Tri-Strip doesn't take the time to acknowledge that a couple of modern touches could've injected much-needed value into its limited package.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    There's a pervasive sense of disappointment to When the Water Tastes Like Wine. For all its invention and forward-thinking, there's a profound feeling that the mark has been missed. In truth, it does very little to justify itself as a video game in the first place, given that most of the player's time is spent moving painfully slowly across a monotonous, samey map of America with no clearly defined goal. It's a failed experiment through and through, but all the more painful because it could have been so much more. There is space in gaming for narrative output like this, but they need to be carefully tailored to be games first and experiences second. You don't even want to know what this water tastes like.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Like the inside of Ozzy Osborne's head, Slain is simultaneously gorgeous, intense, chaotic and deeply, deeply frustrating. The presentation is excellent, with every part of the game exhibiting stunning 2D animation that really brings its hellish underworld to life. Where it all falls apart is the gameplay; Slain is simply no fun to play thanks to its painful difficulty level which chokes the tantalizing potential of its combat system. While it has been compared to the Castlevania series – and its combo mechanics call to mind the underrated Mirror of Fate – Slain isn't really worthy to be mentioned in the same breath as Konami's legendary gothic franchise.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    While its ambition should surely be commended and the time trials and multiplayer admittedly soften the blow somewhat, F1 2011 is, unfortunately, not the game to remedy matters. Unless you're a fan of frustrating ugly racers with brutally unrealistic and aggressive opponent AI, we advise that you steer well clear of it. Maybe next year, Codemasters will release the game that F1 fans deserve.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    As it stands, there's nothing here that justifies the extra few dollars it costs over its smart device equivalents, so we'd suggest you pass this one up. It's a bit too simple for its own good.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    One game you’re probably going to want to avoid; even massive Pokémon fans should approach this with trepidation.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Princess Maker Go!Go! Princess has a reasonable enough idea at its core, taking the central gameplay elements of the Princess Maker series and adapting them to a four-player board game. However, in reality, this shift only results in removing all of the narrative interest, skill and strategy from the main games and leaves you with a very simple experience which quickly becomes tedious and repetitive. Rounds are much too long, everything is 100% dependant on dice rolls and really, once you've spent about thirty minutes with this one, you'll have seen everything it's got to offer and more.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Into the Dead 2 is a pretty fun, well-made auto-run zombie survival game that arrives on Switch at a ludicrous price point that makes it very hard to justify picking up. The central gameplay loop is satisfying enough for a few minutes but it’s as deep as you’d expect to find in a game that originated as a free-to-play mobile experience. It’s been padded out with a bunch of extra modes, and they’re all perfectly serviceable, but you can never escape the core truth that it’s just the same thing over and over again in slightly different settings. If you’re an absolutely massive fan of running through endless waves of zombies whilst very slowly unlocking weapons to make it seem as though you’re somehow changing that experience, fill your boots, but everyone else should maybe check this out for free on a mobile device first instead.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Top-down racers, whilst never boasting the same level of depth as their 3D counterparts, are reliably accessible. They tend to put a playful spin on what is otherwise an often daunting gameplay experience for newcomers, allowing almost anyone to dive right in immediately. Ultimate Racing 2D succeeds in this respect, boasting simplistic gameplay that is incredibly easy to get to grips with. The problem, though, is that it isn’t much fun – at all.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    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.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Tetraminos strips back the formula into a modest single-player experience, but fails to go anywhere compelling with it outside of a few stray powerups and level variants.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Cloudpunk on Switch is a hugely disappointing port that struggles technically and ultimately fails to deliver the game in a satisfactory manner on Nintendo's hybrid platform. Merge Games have made drastic cuts all over, with a massively reduced draw-distance sucking much of the life out of Nivalis, volumetric effects missing entirely, pixellation rampant and a framerate that still chugs along in the face of all of these concessions. If you've got a PC capable of playing this one we'd highly recommend you play on that platform as this is an adventure that's well worth experiencing in its original form. This particular version, however, should probably be avoided.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    We commend Mars 2120 for what it does do well. It gets a few things right: the general aesthetic is on point, the ambient music is pleasant, and some of the upgrades you’ll pick up in your journey are pretty cool. But failing to nail the basic traits that make a Metroidvania means that we can't recommend this one.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Cheap level design, uninspired visuals, and poor controls make this a game that’s difficult to recommend, but moments of enjoyable gameplay can still be found for those who look hard enough. Even so, there’s no shortage of excellent platformers on the eShop at the moment, so you’d be best served passing on this one. If you’re looking for a challenging, retro-inspired side scrolling ninja game, go play The Messenger instead.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Take this adventure at your own discretion.
    • 29 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Ark: Survival Evolved, in its current state, is not the best port to grace Nintendo Switch. It is, however, a proper MMORPG survival game with a deep and rewarding crafting system and the potential for some brilliant online cooperation with your fellow survivors. There’s a palpable thrill to moving from simple stone tools to more advanced weaponry as you begin to master the crafting cycle, an experience no other game on Switch can offer right now. But its myriad technical problems – ranging from texture pop-in to substantial performance slowdown – mean you really are better off playing Ark on a different platform for the time being. Patches could solve some of these problems over time, but we can't help but feel this ambitious title will never run at an acceptable level on Nintendo's hybrid platform.
    • 39 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Even through mimicking XCOM's tactical gameplay and utilizing the setting of the popular TNT series as a reference point for the campaign, Falling Skies: The Game feels about ten years too late to impress.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    A grim example of a sequel that doesn't do enough to improve on the flaws of the original, Witch & Hero 2 mirrors far more than it should without bringing anything truly exciting to the table.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Absolute Baseball manages to take a great sport and turn it into a really long and uninteresting turn-based RPG.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    It's still hardly a must-have, even for the extended audience it's clearly aiming for, so is only recommended to those who absolutely have to have a fire on their TV.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Uninspiring, uninteresting and utterly unremarkable, Seven Knights: Time Wanderer is an extraordinarily tedious game that it’s hard to recommend to anyone but the most die-hard fans of its mobile counterpart — particularly given how many other top-quality RPGs the Switch plays host to. Even if you're an ardent follower of the franchise, we'd argue your money is much better spent elsewhere.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Rather than building on the solid foundations its predecessor set last year, Gear.Club Unlimited 2 slams into reverse gear and delivers racing gameplay that feels significantly more laggy and sluggish than the original. With no attempt made to cut its remaining mobile roots and more performance issues than a drunken West End actor, we just can’t recommend dropping a whopping £54.99 on this unoptimised, clunky effort.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Vector Assault is another eShop game that struggles to deliver the level of polish and quality perhaps expected on a Nintendo console. Coming off more like a prototype, we have trouble commending a game just because it works - it's hard to recommend Vector Assault when there are better options available elsewhere.
    • 41 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    In truth, unless you're someone with infinite patience or are just a huge fan of this rather tedious series, you're likely to give up on this adventure long before the credits roll.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Looney Tunes: Wacky World Of Sports' multiplayer can be fun in short bursts, especially if you just want to play a quick round of golf with friends. From a general audio-visual perspective, this is a good franchise representation. As a sports collection, though, it’s clunky and frustrating. Playing with others will elevate this, but not by much.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Devil May Cry 2 is quite rightly regarded as a misstep for the now storied franchise; a confused and oddly bland game with a nonsensical story, boring level design, terrible enemy AI and a central protagonist who has seriously lost his mojo. There’s some fun to be had here and there by virtue of the fact it is a Devil May Cry game; that signature combat still intact, despite the fact it never really attempts to put your skills to the test. Still, there's no escaping the reality that this is one entry in the series you can absolutely skip without feeling like you missed anything. Roll on Devil May Cry 3.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    We wanted to enjoy Ebenezer and The Invisible World far more than we did. The combat is solid and the platforming is tight, with the right balance of accessibility and challenge. Combine that with a fun concept and art that does a great job of recreating Dickens’ iconic novel and it should be a recipe for greatness. Unfortunately, a host of bugs ranging from slightly annoying to game-breaking sucked the Christmas cheer right out of us. Future patches might fix these issues and give us the game we know is hiding just beneath the surface here, but that game isn’t here at launch.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    As long as these audiences keep their expectations in check they may find themselves charmed by this goofy WiiWare title, but everyone else need only look at the screenshots and their gut reaction should let them know where they stand.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Bouncy Bob attempts to demonstrate how a simple idea of a one-button control mechanic can be fun and accessible. But it's met with shortfalls aplenty. Rather than being an attractive and accessible gimmick, it’s a painfully restraining annoyance and, although quashing a row of enemies can be satisfying, being given the one method to play quickly becomes a chore. Granted, the eShop isn’t awash with one-button titles - and Bouncy Bob stands out for this reason – but this title may be an example as to why this is the case.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Secret Neighbor is, in theory, a meaningful and intriguing spin-off from Hello Neighbor, introducing multiplayer elements that really should work quite well. In practice, however, the game suffers from poor controls, unremarkable environmental design, and quite frankly, its own player base. Matches turn into insufferable spectacles of chaos, and even when players commit to the game’s rules, it’s still completely unbalanced, favouring the incredibly powerful Neighbor each and every time. Even if you’re a fan of asymmetric multiplayer games, you're better off skipping this one.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    The music is awesome, the characters are quirky and the story, is a little like 'Lost', but none of this can lift the game above an interactive story with a poor puzzle mechanic at its core. Let's hope Suda's next DS outing, The Silver Case, fares better. This one is strictly fans-only.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    It's generally not worth your time, unless you really want a tower defence game on your 3DS regardless of the quality.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Some variation, choices or surprises could have really helped this title, but there's just nothing in it to make it pop.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    If you played the first game then you pretty much already own this one, and if you weren't compelled to try it before then then there isn't enough different here to change your mind.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    For every intriguing idea that Troll and I presents, there are a couple of design choices or technical issues that will aggravate players. It’s ugly, clunky and bereft of certain amenities that players take for granted in this day and age. With so many games out to garner people’s attention, Troll and I isn’t as user friendly or quickly appealing as it needs to be in a flooded space. If you are someone who can look past technical hurdles there may be something worth divining here, but as a whole Troll and I is difficult to recommend.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    FIA European Truck Racing Championship does offer an officially-licensed way to race some of the biggest motorsport vehicles around, and with its unique brake cooling system, there’s a really rewarding balance between traditional racing tactics and resource management. However, the problems with performance on Switch - both in the framerate and the poor optimisation of trucks and track assets in handheld mode - really cause an already unwieldy racing experience to veer off the track. It's not without positives, but there are far better options for race fans on Switch right now, and far better examples of multiplatform optimisation.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    While it improves on its predecessors' flaws, Go Fetch! 2 has its fair share of detriments, including an often terrible camera, dullness and largely unimaginative ball and obstacle placement.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Better than the previous episodes in the series. It may not be by much, but the new mini-games do make it a little bit better. It's still over-priced, too short, and the story isn't all that engaging, but at least the new gameplay makes this episode slightly different from the rest.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    For a title being touted as yet another "Best of" experience, Best of Arcade Games - Bubble Buster miserably fails to be the best, and instead simply ends up being adequacy at a premium price.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    ZaciSa's Last Stand is absolutely a budget title through and through; to its detriment, it feels exactly that. While the gameplay isn't necessarily flawed, it is completely unoriginal and does nothing to draw its players in.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Shing! has a few decent ideas and a reasonable premise up its sleeve but all of these things collapse under the weight of poor performance issues combined with scrappy combat and shoddy enemy AI and placement. The game's unique right-stick control mechanic could have worked a treat but isn't refined enough or even given the room to breathe and the story that backs the whole thing up is let down by atrociously dated writing. If you're desperate for a four-player co-op side-scroller you may find something to enjoy along the way here, but otherwise, this one is almost impossible to recommend.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Neon City Riders promises an epic open-world action-adventure set in a vibrant '80s sci-fi world, but its action and writing are far too flat and clunky to back up its initial promise. It looks and sounds a treat in places, but lacklustre execution makes for a punishing, repetitive and confounding experience. Pull away that admittedly amazing pixel-heavy packaging and you've got a game that fails to make a lasting impression in any meaningful manner.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    We won’t mince words here: do not buy A Plague Tale: Requiem for the Switch, unless you have no other hardware to buy it on and are absolutely dead-set on playing it. This otherwise excellent narrative-driven stealth action game is torpedoed by cloud tech-related issues that blunt its best moments and offers an experience that is distinctly beneath what this game deserves. Technically, it’s better than not playing the game at all, but not by much. Do yourself a favor by either playing this excellent game elsewhere or by spending your money on something that’s tailor-made for the Switch.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Azur Lane: Crosswave is a game that was best left on smartphones. The visual novel sequences are perfectly fine, and the story itself – while utterly bonkers – is interesting enough to keep you engaged, while the characters are both charming and unique. Sadly, the naval combat sequences bring down the entire experience. They’re slow, repetitive, rarely require much strategic thought, and look incredibly bland all at once. This is a game for hardcore fans of the genre only; everyone else ought to look elsewhere for their naval combat needs.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Some of the games are perfectly playable, but most of these are variations on Solitaire that can be found for less eShop funds in Best of Solitaire alongside dozens more, so you're better off with those alternatives.
    • 44 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    AeternoBlade II is a mess of overly-complex mechanics and ill-fitting systems that struggles at all times to keep up with itself. Its core combat is solid but it's marred by input lag, slow animations, messy enemy placement and a struggling framerate. The time-based mechanics are far too numerous, confusing and tedious, while its long and winding storyline – delivered by some of the worst voice-acting we’ve ever heard – is almost totally nonsensical. Somewhere under all of the technical problems and confusion here there’s a solid game, but there’s just far too much jank for players to be expected to wade through to get there and it's impossible to recommend that you commit yourself to trying.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Soap Dodgem is perfectly functional as a five-minute app to get you through your train journey but doesn’t feel worthy of a console port. The simplistic gameplay may give you some challenge in navigating its increasingly difficult puzzles, but there simply isn’t enough here to recommend.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Unless you’re a big fan of horror adventure games, Perception is one you can easily skip. The plot isn’t particularly engaging, and the horror elements are predictable with jump scares, characters and story dialogue that is typical of this genre. Even if it does fulfil all of the necessary criteria, it serves as a reminder that the horror genre is far too reliant on clichés to get by, and will only appeal to the thrill seekers happy to overlook its generic design. Ultimately, the biggest downfall is the core concept that drives Perception. The echolocation mechanic gets old quickly and seems like a better idea in theory than in actual gameplay; walking around in the dark in any game isn’t normally enjoyable, and in this one it’s no better – even with the added sense of meaning from the narrative. It’s an aggravating concept that should not have really got past the early design stage, and detracts from the already average quality of this short-lived horror adventure game.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    With no difficulty curve and only a single map filled with dark space, unless you're dying to shoot at stationary asteroids, you'll quickly find little reason to continue playing Asteroid Quarry.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    But there is no escaping the conclusion that the main offering, Daifugo, is a game whose sole purpose is to facilitate social interaction. Playing it with a computer opponent or online makes little sense and fails to deliver the player any satisfaction for their time spent.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Retro Pocket may not have had any intentions of being original, but we do at least wish it intended to be fun. This collection of Game & Watch clones / homages is half-baked at best, and while it does indeed nail the visual presentation of the originals it forgoes entirely the addictive quality of the games, substituting it for tedium. Considering that the Game & Watch originals were already quite repetitive in their own right, that's something of an accomplishment, but it's not one to be proud of.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    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.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Ash of Gods: Redemption looks and sounds the part; it's a beautiful thing to behold, easily matches its most obvious inspiration in this regard and will obviously be very tempting to fans of the genre – and especially The Banner Saga – as a result. However, beneath this shiny surface, it's a mess. A combination of badly implemented and nonsensical mechanics, a poor story, terrible (and often juvenile) writing and a constant desire to stomp its players into the dirt make it a real pain to struggle through. It's a hugely punitive game, which would be fine if it played by the rules – but it doesn't. Combat here relies too much on luck and uncontrollable aspects which rob you of the opportunity to use actual skill and savvy to overcome the tough tests you'll be put through. If you want to make your game tough, fine, go for it, but you need to ensure the systems that underpin that toughness are up to serious scrutiny and, unfortunately, here they really aren't.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Vambrace: Cold Souls is one of the best-looking games we’ve seen on Switch – it really is a stunner – but in terms of gameplay, it's a pedestrian affair. Dungeons are boring and difficult, combat is bereft of any real strategic depth or flair and it thinks nothing of wasting hours of your time for zero reward. The story gets off to a cracking start and it's obvious that an amazing amount of artistic talent has been channelled into creating the City of Icenaire and its surroundings, but, in the end, it's all rendered a little pointless by the fact it’s attached to such a monotonous and dreary plod of an RPG.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    The pet-raising genre may be somewhat old now, but I Love My Dogs doesn't offer any new tricks.
    • 31 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    ESPN Sports Connection's biggest problem is that it feels like it was slapped together in a manner of months, with seemingly little interest to exist beyond merely existing - someone had to make motion-controlled tennis, right? Noble perhaps to take one for the team like that, but families looking to replicate that Wii Sports magic this hardware launch are better off with a ticket to Nintendo Land.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    It's a shame that a respectable franchise should have something so mediocre tarnish its name, but hopefully this will be a lesson for Creatures Inc. to take on board and realise that if it's going to produce a spin-off it should make sure that it's something they themselves would play.
    • 43 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    With all due respect to the developer, it's not easy to see two and a half years' worth of effort in Spirit Hunters Inc. While it has good intentions and clearly wants players to engage with each other and share their experiences, it feels unfinished and is far too repetitive for its own good. We like what the game tried to achieve but it didn't quite get there, and that's a big disappointment. This is one occasion on which we will advise you to give up the ghost.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    We commend the approach taken with this game. It’s a thoughtful take on a real-life murder mystery, and although the stealth sections felt a bit unnecessary, the experience as a whole at least felt relatively authentic. Ultimately, though, the gameplay and visuals just aren’t up to scratch at all, and there are far better examples of the genre on Switch that you’d be much better off playing.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    The simplistic DotMan definitely isn't for everyone, and the repetitive gameplay and confusing, ineffective power-ups as well as the ugly visuals and audio don't help. However, there's a subtle element of strategy there, and those who discover it will at least have some fun with this budget title.
    • 43 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    With all due respect to the developer, it's not easy to see two and a half years' worth of effort in Spirit Hunters Inc. While it has good intentions and clearly wants players to engage with each other and share their experiences, it feels unfinished and is far too repetitive for its own good. We like what the game tried to achieve but it didn't quite get there, and that's a big disappointment. This is one occasion on which we will advise you to give up the ghost.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    This may be worth a punt for some, but do remember that it's not nearly as fun as it sounds.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Pine could have been a lot better. There are genuinely impressive systems at play here – for example, the other creatures inhabiting this world are gathering resources in much the same way as the player, and will even snatch up crops and objects that you were making for. But its smarter touches are totally obfuscated by the shadow of absolute technical unsuitability to the Switch hardware. When you look at ports like Doom and the recent Alien: Isolation, you'll wonder what exactly went wrong for Pine to be so disastrously sub-par in purely technical terms. We can only imagine how cool it looked on the design document; it's just such a shame about almost literally every single aspect of the execution.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Rustler attempts to take us back to classic top-down GTA action in a neat medieval setting but poor performance, shoddy controls, weak humour and a dull, short campaign hold it back from reaching its potential. There are glimmers of good stuff here, a few fun pop culture references, those beat-boxing bards and a good-looking world to stomp around in, but the game underneath is just so underwhelming and uninspired and, in the end, it all feels like a big step back from its most obvious inspirations.
    • 39 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Having two game modes is good because there is a little something for everyone here. The first game type rewards right-brained creative types while the second game is designed for more analytical left-brainiacs. Unfortunately, both types of people will most likely feel somewhat unsatisfied by each; they are both very simple, lacking in repeat play value, and suffer from unforgivably clumsy controls.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    The presentation is as basic as you can get with no options and no ability to play anyone besides the computer. Although the computer is a competent foe, these games are generally prized for their social aspect and get old quickly when played alone.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Nothing about this game provides enough fun to make it a worthwhile investment, and thus we'd advise you to steer well clear of it.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition on Switch delivers three of gaming's true greats in a shockingly rough package that manages to suck pretty much all of the fun out of Rockstar's stellar crime epics. This is a poor port, a shoddy, stuttery, low resolution mess full of bugs, glitches, audio problems and more besides. If can grab this one on any other platform, we'd advise you do so or, at the very least, hold off until it's been patched and hopefully improved in the future. As things stand, this is a very, very long way from 'definitive' — this isn't the way we want to remember these games.

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