Nintendo Life's Scores

  • Games
For 5,859 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 Horace
Lowest review score: 10 153 Hand Video Poker
Score distribution:
5867 game reviews
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    All in all, Music On: Acoustic Guitar offers a good variety of chords and, unfortunately, a clumsy control scheme.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Ultimately, Wave 2 Of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe doesn't quite knock it out of the park. We know we've been bashing these courses left, right, and centre, but when it comes to Mario Kart, we have pretty high standards, you know. However, none of the tracks on offer are straight-up bad; most of them just feel like "b-side" filler when compared to the main tracks created specifically for Mario Kart 8. There's still a great deal of fun to be had here, particularly when you crank up the difficulty to 200cc. We have to keep reminding ourselves of the bigger picture, too; we've now got sixteen new courses for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and we're not even halfway through yet. We've still got a ways to go.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    If you haven’t played a game in the Arkham series yet, you’d be better off starting with the superior Arkham City; diehard fans are sure to get some surface-level enjoyment out of Batman’s latest outing, but disappointment is sure to set in when examined too closely.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Space Ribbon is not without merit – and the closer it inches into F-Zero’s slipstream, the better it gets – but a terribly humdrum beginning, lacklustre implementation of items and a central mechanic which forces you to slow down to speed up makes it a tough proposition. There’s fun to be had if you persevere but considering how the alternatives provide pretty-much instant diversion, this makes you work too hard for it.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Those playing will certainly find some decent moments, especially those of a younger persuasion - that is, if they can maintain their attention through all of those dialogue boxes.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Ultimately, whether you play within the company of others or not, what's on offer is a well-presented but simple and highly repetitive package.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    For children dead-set on becoming vets when they grow up, Me & My Furry Patients 3D is worth a try, but for kids who just want cute animal fun, you're better off sticking with Nintendogs.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate is a game that is brimming with great ideas that are, sadly, poorly executed.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Diehard fans of hidden object games will likely find much to like in City Mysteries.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    We'd always rather see something aim high and fall short than settle for another dime-a-dozen action/platforming experience, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed certainly sits closer to the former. A Heartful of Games has made some noble swings here and some of them pay off - heck, nobody expected the Persona mission structure in this TMNT game. Unfortunately, all this ambition is overshadowed by performance issues that make even its most approachable elements feel like a chore. It's a fine welcome for younger fans keen to kick some shell after watching Mutant Mayhem, but this joint requires some serious scrubbing if it is to live up to its big-screen counterpart.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Venture Kid is the sort of game that understands how blatantly it borrows from previous genre luminaries yet makes no effort at even attempting to surpass them; this is very much a ‘what you see is what you get’ sort of experience. Bearing that in mind, it’s inevitably the kind of game that you’ll spend a few hours on, think “Well, that was… fun”, then move on and never return to it. Still, it does what it sets out to do – copying the Mega Man formula – and, when viewed as the sum of its parts, it does a reasonable job. If you’ve played all the Mega Man games to death and simply must have more, you could do a lot worse than playing through Venture Kid. If you don’t fall in this camp but are still looking to scratch that retro action platformer itch, then we’d suggest you pick up one of the numerous Mega Man collections already available on the eShop instead. Why play the imitation when you can ha ve the original?
    • 50 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion feels like a return to the old days of licensed video games. The developers took a classic genre in the turn-based RPG, boiled it down to its core mechanics, and plastered the Adventure Time setting and characters onto it with far too few original ideas. Even though it feels like a faithful recreation of the show’s personality and charm thanks to the original cast and solid writing, the uninspired gameplay drags down any goodwill it builds between encounters.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Completely average in every way. It has a few control related quirks that certainly rub us the wrong way, but overall the game's biggest crime is that it doesn't attempt to provide much of an experience at all.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Cutie Pets Pick Berries will not cure your fever for muscular wildlife, but it will give players a fun little diversion for a little while and some fun Miiverse stamps to use.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Big-budget video games can sometimes seem like faceless products of giant corporations, but when it comes to indie titles there's much more personal accountability.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    If you're absolutely dying for a game of skee-ball, this may tide you over until you're able to get to an arcade and play the real thing.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    What we have here remains a fine collection of games and an interesting demonstration of the first decade of the Kingdom Hearts series. If you have a reliable enough internet connection, this is almost as good a way to play Kingdom Hearts as any other. If you don't, absolutely leave it on the digital shelf. We'd like to score Kingdom Hearts 1.5 + 2.5 HD ReMix on the assumption that you can run it, but that's not necessarily an accurate representation of what many people's experience is going to be, and our experience — with robust and rapid internet — was patchy. If you have any other way at all of playing these games, we recommend you do so. Ultimately, this is a great package delivered in the worst possible way.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Animus: Harbinger is a good idea; a boss-rush-style Dark Souls mobile game that could have been a perfect fit for the Switch if its combat, levels and enemies had received a higher level of polish. As it is, for the budget price, massive fans of FromSoftware's brand of action may find some enjoyment here, but overall the stuttering performance, unreliable hitboxes, bland levels and shoddy AI all add up to make this one a pretty hard recommendation for anyone else.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    There’s no escaping the fact that Strike Suit Zero is a let-down, despite the promise of this enhanced edition. The Director’s Cut has fixed issues with checkpointing and, in terms of content, is certainly a generous package on Switch, but the game never escapes the fact that its central conceit isn’t satisfactorily delivered upon. With better mech controls and some more time and care put into delivering more varied missions this could have been a great little space combat game, but as it stands it’s hard to recommend to anyone other than diehard space jockeys.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Ice Cream Rider Is far from being a terrible game, but several alarm bells ring when you get down to playing it. We can't recommend you give this a spin unless you are a fan of the source material or accept its shortcomings as part of the budget price point.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    You need to have a high frustration level if you are going to play this game. This is the type of game where the races are usually close and the chance to win or lose it all at the end is almost always a possibility. While this can be fun when it works your way, it is incredibly frustrating to be on the losing end.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Ah! Heaven isn’t a bad game, but its simplicity tends to hinder the overall quality. It’s very short, easy – save for a few dicey jumps – and holds little replay value. If it were a longer game or if there was a bit more variety in the provided gameplay, then this one would definitely be worth playing. As it is though, it’s difficult to recommend a game that is this far from heavenly.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    There are a few changes to the football formula, but SNK's arcade version of the sport can still provide entertainment. Caravan mode gives you a different way to play, though it lacks the replayability offered by a shooter with that mode. The regular arcade mode doesn't give players much of a reason to return once the cup has been won; a lack of options and teams limiting the game's appeal. The quick-play nature brought about by that lack of options works well for two-player matches however, and if you are looking for something simple and fun to play to play with a friend, then Super Sidekicks can provide a quick footie fix.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow is a bit ho-hum. The majority of its quests feel inconsequential and the battles normally see you scampering away as if the former half of the fight or flight reaction never existed.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince is a charming platform-puzzler with a captivating fairytale aesthetic that can't help but draw you in. Unfortunately, things take a dark turn thanks to clunky mechanics and uninspired level design. The lore is fantastic and the presentation remarkable, but ultimately, it's hard to come away from this game feeling anything but disappointed.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Unless you’re a die-hard fan of the original or the TRPG genre in general, you’re probably safe to give this one a miss or just lower the difficulty of the combat to enjoy the story. Despite the strengths of the setting and the characters, the gameplay becomes more frustrating than fun and won’t keep most players engaged past the first few hours. It’s a shame because there is a brilliance to telling the same story from two opposing points of view, but that gets buried beneath poorly implemented mechanics. Unfortunately, modern visuals and sound can't salvage gameplay here that feels too random to be satisfying.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Rose & Camellia Collection gets away with a lot of its technical imperfections simply because of the strength of its concept and its solid presentation. The music and art style will keep you interested for at least a few hours – which is all it will take to complete the story mode. However, the bizarre anime logic can’t distract you from the frequent loading screens or the frustratingly imprecise controls. This one is worth picking up, but only if you catch it on a good sale.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Given its advanced age and the fact that SNK released so many sequels and other fighters, it should come as no great surprise to learn that Fatal Fury hasn't aged all that gracefully. The big, bold sprites still look great but the animation is poor, and the fact that you can only play as three characters drastically curtails the game's long-term appeal. SNK would refine the series as the years went on, culminating in Garou: Mark of the Wolves, perhaps one of the finest one-on-one fighting games in existence. Fatal Fury is therefore interesting as a historical piece or purely for nostalgia, but newcomers should probably avoid it and pick a more worthy example of the genre.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    A greedy price tag, poor performance and an incredibly short campaign make Goosebumps: Dead of Night more likely to be dead on arrival. It's a shame, because it's a well-constructed and entertaining lite survival horror adventure that's probably perfect for kids. Even then, we'd recommend either waiting for a deep, deep sale, or simply renting the excellent 2015 movie. There's a lot to like here, but unfortunately, it's buried under a lot of ugliness. Much like, say... a scary ghoul! Wooooo! Or something.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    There’s a surprisingly good game waiting inside Sky Ride, ready to burst out and consume all your free time. It never quite manages to get there though, and its woefully undercooked and unfinished feel makes it all the more frustrating that, given more development time, it could actually have been a bit of a hidden gem. Instead, it’s a weird one-trick pony that may keep your interest for a while but quickly gets repetitive.

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