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
    • 50 Critic Score
    The humour in the game is a bit embarrassing, but the real laughs will come from the people you're playing with while you enjoy spending time together anyway.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Much like Neon Chrome, JYDGE operates by the book. It’s a mediocre experience that fails to stand out within the top-down shooter genre. Looking beyond the uninspired themes and design – not to forget the excessive use of justice-related puns – the major problems can be linked to the casual tempo of the gameplay. Further issues come from the imprecise controls, leaving you lacking the necessary precision when moving and aiming. In a genre where you want to quickly and efficiently eliminate all enemy threats, this title rarely makes you feel like a hardened law enforcer.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The Legend of Dark Witch - Episode 2: The Price of Desire borrows so many great ideas from classic games in its genre, then does absolutely nothing with them.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Whilst by no means a poor game, Penguins of Madagascar will give those playing a very mediocre experience.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Even though Johnny Dynamite is loaded with 54 levels and a level editor, it doesn't pack a big enough explosion to grab your attention for long.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Planet Pachinko isn't necessarily a terrible game, it just has too many balls in the air at once. The pachinko theme is unique, and you certainly can't fault the developer for trying to make the game as intense as possible, but there's a fine line between intense and out-of-control and Planet Pachinko seems to have crossed that line.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    It both succeeds and fails for entirely different reasons. The timeless quality and fun factor of the two games included make it unfair to give this one a low score, yet the shoddy work done on the porting and remastering holds it back from being worthy of a high one. On the whole, we’d give Grandia HD Collection a light recommendation, as it’s a great way both for newcomers to see what the fuss is about and for veterans to take a trip down memory lane. However, we say this with the caveat that you should probably wait for a sale and for the developers to deploy some patches to fix all the broken parts. The Grandia games deserve a much better remastering treatment than they’ve been given here, but Grandia HD Collection is nonetheless a respectable release.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Blockara is a fun concept, but it's dragged down by its presentation. Unlikable characters, poor voice acting and music and art that don't do it any favours are all negative points, but aren't enough to completely obfuscate the fun that can be had here. Blockara won't be fondly remembered, but if you have a friend that's good at puzzle games and you can put up with the rest of it, there's some enjoyment to be found.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    3D Twist & Match sounds like a very simple game, and unfortunately, it is.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Fans of Mickey will get some enjoyment from the better stages and adore the presentation, while others may bemoan the fairly regular blips of confusing design and messy execution.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Even dedicated followers of the portly plumber will have difficulty getting excited over a flimsy art book and a CD that is good for one listen and no more.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Jump Force is a good time for a short time; a simplistic button-masher that looks and sounds great in action but can't deliver in terms of providing players with any more than a handful of hours of dumb fun before it all becomes a bit of a bore. If you're a huge fan of the shows involved or you like your fighting nice and easy you'll get more than most out of things and jumping into an online battle – if you can find one – adds a little spice to the mix but, overall, this is a disappointingly dull, one-note affair that doesn't do its roster of ever-popular characters any sort of justice.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Chicken Assassin: Reloaded is being marketed as an action RPG and while it certainly does have its fair amount of upgrades and shenanigans, in the end, it is exactly what we already discovered back in 2016: a clicker game dressed up in humorous and stylish art that effortlessly manages to make other clicker games look appalling by comparison. While this bird does nothing wrong and snugly fits among the other avian heroes already out on the Nintendo Switch, we are not sure if the general audience will greet him with open arms or clenched fists.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The slippery controls and repetitive gameplay can be annoying at times, but there's still some fun platforming to be found for those who manage to stick long enough to come to grips with it.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Lost Reavers is bitterly frustrating. Not awful, not unplayable, but frustrating.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Scrabble Tools tries to be educational, but its method of teaching is so slapdash that you'll probably come away with only a few more random words for your vocabulary.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    It feels like Blade Assault could be a good game with a few more years of focused, iterative development, but what we have today doesn’t quite cut it. Its uninspired visuals, chaotic combat, and overall lack of identity all work against it in a popular and overcrowded genre. Though it passably executes on the basic blueprint of an action roguelite and it can be fun to buildcraft around its cast of playable characters, Blade Assault simply doesn’t do enough to justify a spot in your library. If you’re absolutely fiending for another roguelite and somehow haven’t been satisfied by the extensive selection of excellent titles already on Switch, then maybe this is worth a punt.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    It’s a solid base on which to build future portable billiards games, but for right now it’s simply decent.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    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.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Invisiballs provides us with a competitive party experience that uses HD Rumble to good effect, allowing players to battle it out using only vibrations and quick thinking. The concept is a solid one, and the presentation does the job nicely, but a saddening lack of content across the game’s modes leaves us feeling rather underwhelmed. With multiple updates planned for the near future this issue could soon start to be addressed so, unless you’re entirely sold on the concept alone, we’d recommend holding off until these new features have landed.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    As a child's game it does its job very well, but for anyone else it's a solid pass.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    You'll need to be the kind of person who truly enjoys word-search puzzles in order to enjoy this game, because this is a very plain, no-frills release that will otherwise bore you to tears.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Its cheap scares and repetitive gameplay fail to live up to the promise of that first hour and winds up feeling like you're just going through the motions.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Imagine Fashion Designer 3D is a competent and hugely accessible treat for the wannabe preteen fashion designer who can forgive the interruptions to the campaign, but it'll prove too simplistic and shallow for those who want to spread their creative wings.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Let’s School is a business simulator dressed up as a school simulator, with a heavy focus on the business side of keeping a school operating and not much on the warm, fuzzy feeling that you might get from education and helping kids reach their goals. There are some visual bugs and some frustrating menu layouts to deal with in the Switch version of the game, but there is a deep, engaging – if a bit soulless – simulator here.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Mouse House isn't a bad puzzler and is certainly a nice-looking game. We feel younger players who like puzzling about with cute characters will enjoy it, but for most fans of the genre there simply isn't enough content or challenge here to occupy them for long.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Captain America: Super Soldier for 3DS has a fair amount going for it. However, for everything it does well, Super Soldier stumbles somewhere else, its most heinous crimes being iffy production values that go so far as to be detrimental to gameplay and a camera that's more maniacally evil than Red Skull himself.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Is Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend for you? Well, that really depends on one huge factor. Did you play these games as a kid? If so, then this compilation may be worth the punt for a nice trip down memory lane. If you don’t fall into that camp, however, it’s difficult to recommend picking this up. These three games are simply okay when at their best, and rather disappointing when at their worst. The hard truth is that both your time and money are much better spent on the mountain of new or old RPGs you can buy for the Switch. There are worse games out there, but there are much better ones, too, and Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend really only has value as a curiosity or nostalgic piece.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Miami Nights is not a terrible game as much as it is painfully average. Life sim fans can gleam some fun out of this, but it’s over before you know it and you likely won’t care to go back. It’s worth a shot if you’re looking for a quick dance, but just like its theme song it’ll wear thin fast.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    With a bit more variation to its gameplay, Colossus Down could have been an easy recommendation. Despite its unlikeable main protagonist, there’s a heap of potential here that could well be realised if the developer decides to go for a sequel. As it is, it’s a great looking game that unfortunately falls foul to repetitive and shallow gameplay.

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