Nintendo Life's Scores

  • Games
For 5,858 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:
5866 game reviews
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Overmorrow has its share of satisfying eureka moments and is a compelling concept. While there is a genuine purity of intent behind its development, it would benefit greatly from more fine-tuning and playtesting. If its numerous bugs and issues are eventually ironed out, and quality-of-life improvements added, it would indeed be a journey worth taking for players interested in its premise – but be prepared for moments of frustration along the way.
    • tbd Metascore
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    Crazy Kangaroo offers decent value for its cheap price. It's simple and easy to grasp, the story mode has potential to last a few hours depending on the level set-ups you're given and the endless mode can be played infinitely for high scores as long as you don't mind the omission of leaderboards. However, the way objectives are set is flawed and the randomly generating story mode levels can feel unbalanced and leave you hopping mad.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Despite appearances, Midnight Deluxe is a completely different game to 36 Fragments of Midnight before it. While it's a solid enough casual golf game, however, it lacks the precise control, generous level design and joyful spirit of the best examples of the genre.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Spontaneously hopping from maddeningly difficult to mindlessly simple stages and providing a somewhat dull experience all around, Despicable Me: The Game – Minion Mayhem is largely tedious and frustrating, though with some spots of fun and imagination.
    • tbd Metascore
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    Frogger: Hyper Arcade Edition is a reasonable attempt to inject new life into an ageing franchise. A couple of the new game types are great, and the original is still pretty decent a few decades on, but unfortunately the other modes aren't really up to par. At 1000 Nintendo Points, it leans on the expensive side for what is a rather slim package that you'll only get the most from if you have a few Frogger-loving friends to hand. Think carefully before you dive in.
    • tbd Metascore
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    If you like the idea of steering a furry rectangle between rocks and over waterfalls, then this is certainly the game for you. If you're looking for something with more originality or staying-power though, it just might be worth looking elsewhere.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Overall, Blacksad: Under the Skin is both a faithful adaptation and a frustrating example of modern adventure game pitfalls. Fans of the original comics will enjoy seeing Blacksad himself brought to life so accurately, but some inconsistent performances in the voiceover department and some frustratingly unresponsive controls make it a far less enjoyable experience. There’s a really intriguing mystery to unfold and solve, but with some technical problems and a little too much blurring for our liking, you’ll have to grit your teeth if you really want to crack this case on the go.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Is Star Wars: The Force Unleashed worth picking up? Eh… potentially. What we have here is a shallow, short, and rather mediocre action game that’s relying awfully hard on nostalgia and the popularity of the Star Wars IP to draw in players. Based solely on its own merits, there’s little here that’s really worth your time. Simplistic level designs, weak combat, frequent quick time events, and low replay value make this one hard to recommend. It’s got a decent story and soundtrack, but neither of these things are good enough to outweigh the negatives. If you’re just looking for another Star Wars game to add to your collection, this certainly fits the bill; if you’re looking for a high-quality hack ‘n’ slash, it doesn’t. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is simply a passable game; not one we’d actively avoid, but you’re not missing much if you choose to skip it.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Even without bugs, though, not everyone may go for Frederic’s stylings, and some hardcore rhythm game fans are likely to find it too easy. That said, those who feel closely attuned to musical fusions and arrangements should still consider taking up the keys on this one, especially if it receives an update; you could even feel comfortable adding one or two stars to its score yourself if that improvement arrives.
    • tbd Metascore
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    For players of a certain persuasion there's plenty of love to go around for EnjoyUp's latest: costing about the same as a few plays at your local arcade, 99Moves offers a rock-hard retro challenge. But just the same as the coin-munchers of yore, one person's challenge is another's cheap trick. 99Moves doesn't do a great job at differentiating the two.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    For its price, iSpot Japan is indeed a passable time waster. It has more than its share of frustrations, but ultimately it accomplishes what it sets out to do.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    It looks basic but Blue's Journey can still entertain with some fun moments and precision platforming. Other times developer Alpha Denshi favours an increase in enemy numbers rather than cunning level design to provide the challenge, and it's at these points that the game can get really repetitive. There remains enough charm to prevent boredom setting in, but there's not much content to keep players coming back. The standard ACA Hi-Score and Caravan modes add replayability, but Blue's Journey is one players will be unlikely to take often.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    If you don't mind slower games, it could be decent fun, but with only two modes and shallow gameplay it will get repetitive very quickly.
    • tbd Metascore
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    While not a bad game by any stretch, Collateral Thinking struggles to draw players in. Its control issues (which are apparently being addressed in a post-launch update) and uneven music only serve to accentuate the trial-and-error gameplay that will frustrate most casual players enough to make them give up early on. Give it a try if you're looking for a retro arcade experience, but be warned that you'll be replaying the levels a lot.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Like cotton candy, this sweet-natured treat is ultimately fluff. Kids may eat it up, but that doesn’t mean it’s good for them — or particularly enjoyable once something with a little more substance is introduced.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Secret Mysteries in New York is a bit difficult to recommend fully. While it definitely provides a narrative and atmosphere that far outsteps any other hidden object game you're likely to play, the unfortunate game design choices and unintentional comedy of somehow being in both New York and London at the same time does drag things down a bit.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    A precise, challenging, laser-focused platformer that lacks the joyful sense of movement, ingenuity and sheer generosity of its inspiration. Awesome Pea might emulate the look and feel of the Game Boy classics, but it lacks their soul.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    It's deeply disappointing to play Gordian Quest and encounter the amount of UI-driven issues that permeate its menus, because it has some really cool stuff going on beneath its bristly, frustrating outer shell. It's decidedly easier to pick up than most other deckbuilders, and combat has a good flow to it, with lots of combinations and deck variations to explore. Unfortunately, it's a horrendous Switch port that makes even simple things difficult. It's worth your time, just maybe not on the Switch.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The Island of Diamonds isn't going to win any new gamers, but it's a fitting conclusion to a series that tried its hardest and ended up falling just short.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    At its heart, Chronicles of Vampires: Awakening is a very middle-of-the-road hidden object game. Fans of the genre won't be disappointed as the puzzles are decent, and it makes for a serviceable time-waster, helped in part by its at times interesting gameplay choices and slightly above average story. It's a step up over its predecessor, then, but not a big one.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    For such a cheap price it's difficult to expect too much more from this kind of game, but it still feels like this could've used some polishing before being pushed out.
    • tbd Metascore
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    Save Room starts from the premise that Resident Evil 4's inventory management system might work as a full game. It left us thinking that Save Room might work as an inventory management system. It may have gone down well on Steam, where it is a couple of your local currency units cheaper, but there's just so little here that it's hard to recommend. You simply slot the stuff into the thing – there's only so many ways you can say it.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Without wishing to sound like the kind of grumpy gamer you’d expect to object to this harmless update, Rainbow Islands: Towering Adventure! is a classic case of “if it isn’t broken, don’t try to fix it.”
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    There's only eight characters and the simple combat setup means there are not as many moves available as in other one-on-one brawlers. The slow speed of the fights is another negative, but death matches liven things up a bit even if you can lose from poor positioning rather than something your opponent has done. Though not the most fully-featured series, subsequent games would add characters and tweak the gameplay (the regular World Heroes 2 also features death matches, though handled a little differently), and so whilst World Heroes can provide some fun fights, those desperately looking to pit historically-inspired fighters against each other would be better off with one of the sequels.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Both the Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha and Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo collections are pretty close in value to one another. While Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha is perhaps the better of the two due to the consistent quality of the Strikers games, we also harbour a soft spot for the Gunbird series on Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo, especially Gunbird 2. Sengoku Cannon is so poor it might as well not exist in the collection, but Samurai Aces Episode 1 and Gunbarich are stronger than Alpha's Sol Divide and Zero Gunner 2, so which collection is better is mostly going to come down to preference between the Gunbird or Strikers series. Another constant between them, sadly, is the high level of input lag and lack of bonus material to make the collection really stand out.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    In the end, even the fun puzzles began to grow stale after only a few hours of play as they're so quick to complete and pop up so often, which dampened my enthusiasm for unlocking Mudkip and Jirachi plushies to decorate my rooms with. I have no desire to boot up Pokémon Friends daily for a few quick puzzles like how I rip packs in TCG Pocket, leaving me with the sense that this puzzle package will fade into the background with other casual spin-off titles, forgotten about until the next Pokémon Direct that announces a handful more overpriced puzzle packs instead of Generation X.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Quick Fill Q should have been a great game for simple, quirky fun, but poor controls, lacklustre presentation and outright dull gameplay all conspire to hold it back from getting our recommendation. For its low price it may be worth a gamble for those on the fence, but we doubt that the number of people who would return to this game after one or two play sessions would fill even a small, uncomplicated hole.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Pet Inn 3D doesn't have much at all to interest experienced players, but its lighter substance might be appealing to young audiences who want to spend some time with critters and not have to worry about any sort of failure.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The Last Remnant Remastered is the sort of game that we wish we could recommend more highly. Though it has plenty of interesting ideas, like the Union battle system and the SaGa-esque character progression, these are all so mired in obscurity and confusion that their impact is considerably lessened or nullified outright. The Last Remnant Remastered is the best ‘bad’ RPG out there; it’s a game that undeniably has some excellent qualities, but it can never manage to get out of its own way. If you can get past the hokey tutorials and confusing mechanics, The Last Remnant Remastered on the Switch stands as one of (if not the) best versions available, as the enhanced visuals and quality of life improvements are now offered alongside the ability to play on the go. We’d give this one a very light recommendation; if you’re an RPG nut and you have the mettle to get through the more frustrating entries of the genre, this is the game for you. If not, we’d recommend you take a pass.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Judge was only the fifth Game & Watch to be released, and it shows – it just isn't as addictive as other titles in the series.

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