Nintendo Life's Scores

  • Games
For 5,862 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 Lawnmower Game: Racing
Score distribution:
5870 game reviews
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Punch Club has a fantastic soundtrack, great 16-bit art, and a good amount of content going for it. We can't help but state, however, that this game quickly evolves into a grind, and thus we only recommend it to committed fans of this genre.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Frederic: Resurrection Of Music has plenty of personality to its name, even though the lack of content stops it from being the headline act when compered to other genre titles on the eShop. Still, seeing maestro Chopin coming back with a magical piano to play remixes of his own work and battle against rapper gangsters is certainly an interesting angle. The overall presentation visually is decent, even if the voice acted cutscenes are cheesy and overly long. An intriguing curio that simply needs more content considering the asking price.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    While the Visco Collection doesn’t have high-end 3D menus or the granular wallpaper and filter options of other collections, it’s still a fun and accurately emulated series of seven solid arcade games. Appeal will vary; what’s on offer here won’t have the same arcade allure as the likes of Final Fight or Strider, despite remaining an enjoyable, varied set of titles, elevated greatly by their ability to be played online. It’s a shame, however, that Puzzle de Pon, the Vasaras, and Breakers didn’t make the cut — even if the latter two are available in other Switch collections — as they would certainly have boosted it to the next level.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    As a loving tribute to JRPGs and '80s pop culture, Saturday Morning RPG has rough edges a-plenty and even more bright ideas. It can frustrate and baffle, particularly if you're not au fait with the period, but it's always keen to invite you into its world.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Beyond Blue has noble intentions, with an urgent and vital message about our impact on the Earth. However, it doesn’t do itself justice. Although there is some decent content in here – videos, music, sound design, gameplay, narrative – those parts do little to support or enhance one another. Gameplay is soothing but one-note, the video documentaries don’t frame the missions and neither are well connected to the narrative. While there are moments of majesty in exploring the ocean, the limited draw distance and pop-in frequently interrupt the awe. Edutainment’s a hard one to pull off, and Beyond Blue feels less like an awesome rock concert about dolphins and more like your science teacher trying to do a rap.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Colourful, challenging and most importantly a great deal of fun. You may well have missed it the first time around, but the game's second chance is also yours. Don't miss it.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Gal*Guns Returns is a so-so remaster of a tedious on-rails shooter that features dull, unchallenging and highly repetitive action set against a cringe-worthy story that's neither titillating or in any other way engaging. This is a very short and basic game for the asking price, and one that it's hard to see anyone outside of hardened (no pun intended) Gal*Gun fans deriving even the slightest amount of enjoyment from.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Although The Last Blade: Beyond the Destiny is an excellent little thing, one must keep in mind that it is still a 2001 handheld fighting game, and very much of its time. On its original hardware, it was heaven-sent, but on your Switch you might be somewhat disappointed if you’re going in blind. For SNK aficionados and Last Blade fans, it will delight purely on historical value, but those with no experience of the Neo Geo Pocket or the SNK library will likely feel better served buying the actual arcade ports of Last Blade 1 and 2, which are also available on the eShop. To that end, this is a better bet for fans, collectors, and those enamoured by gaming curios. It’s dinky, it’s charming, and it’s a testament to the craftsmanship of old SNK. And, while imperfect, it plays like The Last Blade should. For certain gamers, that will be more than enough.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Space Invaders Get Even is a wonderful new take on the franchise. Reversing the roles was a stroke of genius. Blowing up buildings never gets old and it’s fun to be the bad guy every now and then.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The quantity of creative features and usability make this one worth adding to any artist's toolkit.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Super Bomberman R 2 is a triumphant and feature-rich return for the explosive icon. The new Castle mode brings some interesting twists to the classic formula (though the level editor feels like it could use a little more work) while all the chaotic arcade gameplay that’s carried this series for 40 years proves to be just as compelling as it’s always been. Pair that addictive gameplay with an extensive multiplayer suite and lots of unlockables, and you’ve got something that’s easy to recommend to anyone looking for the next great multiplayer release to break out on game night. It’s a little less easy to recommend if you intend on playing entirely solo—the single-player offering is a bit thin here—but the endless replayability of the online component makes it a great pick otherwise.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Oninaki is certainly the biggest and most innovative release from the studio yet, but we wouldn’t exactly call it the best. Though the premise is certainly interesting, we felt let down by the story in this one, and the combat is less generally enjoyable than the turn-based affairs that came before. That being said, we also loved the depth offered by the Daemon system, both in terms of what it offers in character progression and combat variety, and the art style of the dark world is truly something to behold. We’d give Oninaki a recommendation to anybody who loves RPGs; although it isn’t the best, this is another solid showing from Tokyo RPG Factory.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Super Beat Sports casts the player into a world ruled over by inhuman alien lifeforms, obsessed with physical, brutal gladiatorial events under the oppressive droning of a harsh synthetic rhythm, without any explanation of why or how things have come to be this way. Aside from all that though, actually it's really rather cute, the games are fun for newcomers or veterans alike, and the local multiplayer options are top-notch. While score-chasers will find plenty of medals to earn for perfect performances, casual play will end up being pretty repetitious, especially with the lengthy load times. Because of this, even though it's broken up into bite-sized chunks it isn't always an ideal single player experience. We'd still recommend it however, especially at a budget price, so if you're looking for a fun party game to try out then assemble your crew and go whack some spaceballs!
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    What we have here is essentially game-length DLC, with almost none of the original faults addressed, and that leaves us feeling relatively disappointed.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Hands On! Tangrams isn't very original or exciting, but the puzzles are fun to solve — if a little easy — and could easily give younger gamers a bit of a challenge
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    inKONBINI: One Store. Many Stories has modest ambitions but mostly achieves them: it tells a small number of unchallenging short stories, set in a 1993 Japanese retail context. Its atmosphere carries it a surprisingly long way, but not far enough to overcome how thin the experience actually is. If you're excited by narutomaki, hanko ink refills and passing business cards with both hands, then consider proceeding to the cash register. If not, you may just want to leave without buying anything.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Rad
    RAD doesn’t do anything particularly new for the roguelike genre, but it doesn’t necessarily need to in order to be an enjoyable game in its own right. The over-the-top '80s neon aesthetic is consistently charming, the level-to-level gameplay is both rewarding and nail-bitingly intense, and there’s a good amount of ‘meta’ progress to be made beyond the limits of a single run. On the other hand, the RNG can be brutal in how it distributes power-ups between runs, and overall performance on the Switch (especially in handheld) leaves something to be desired. Even given these shortcomings, though, we’d give RAD a cautious recommendation. If you find yourself drawn to the likes of Dead Cells, Risk of Rain, Ironcast, or any other release in the massively popular roguelike genre, RAD could be right up your alley – assuming you can look past its annoying problems.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    With three main worlds to get through, Fledgling Heroes isn’t a very long game, but it is a lot of fun while it lasts. If you’re after a meatier experience, or even one that perhaps isn’t quite as cute as this, you might want to look elsewhere. For everyone else, Flappy Bird may well have struck gold when it was released 7 years ago, but Fledgling Heroes rises head and shoulders above it.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    NBA 2K22 is another fine entry in the franchise that continues the developer's habit of delivering satisfyingly solid ports of their basketball sims on Nintendo Switch. Yes, most of the modes don't try anything massively new — beyond MyCareer's revamped Neighbourhood setting — and the loading screens will have you pulling your hair out from time to time, but refined core gameplay and enough content to keep you playing until the end times make this one an easy recommendation for b-ball fans.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Nippon Ichi Software has hit a great formula that avoids the worst excesses of repetition or frustration. An addictive mix of 2D exploration and combat, Lapis x Labyrinth is a cavalcade of colour and complex systems that doesn’t outstay its welcome through a sizeable 20-hour campaign.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Azkend 2: The World Beneath does everything it can to spice up the 'match 3' puzzle genre, boasting a narrative thread, power ups to collect and different objectives at every turn. As derivative and repetitive as the core gameplay is, it does a decent job of maintaining your engagement and does reward your efforts. Overall, it should be commended for its sprawling take on a tried and tested genre. The variety of dynamic scenarios that genuinely affect the gameplay and an overarching story with varied exotic locations make it stand out from its competition. If you're looking for a 'match 3' with more variety, challenge and narrative meat to chew on, this is a good place to drop anchor.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Skylanders: Swap Force for the 3DS is a game that was clearly made with the best of intentions, but it ended up being bogged down by hardware limitations and a shortfall in content.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Putting it simply, at the end of the day it’s Tetris — but that's just fine.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Overall, Johnny's Payday Panic is a fantastic collection of minigames that makes great use of the 3DS hardware. It's a nice looking package with a sense of humour that plays well, but the limited number of available activities will definitely be a turnoff for some. If you're looking for something lighthearted to play in short but energetic bursts, this collection of touch-based minigames is sure to get the job done.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Toy Defence is, in simple terms, yet another tower defence game. It doesn't try anything fancy to reinvent the genre, it simply sticks to what has been proven to work and rolls with it. There's a decent amount of content here for the relatively low price, so if you're just itching for another tower defence game you can't really go wrong with this one - just don't expect anything mindblowing.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    It's not often that you encounter a game that manages to emulate the simple pleasure of old arcade games so effectively, but Pirate Pop Plus makes it look easy; this is everything you could want out of an arcade game. The gameplay is simple and addictive, it positively oozes charm through its presentation, and if the score chasing doesn't hook you, the coin collecting and achievement hunting surely will.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    If you've never jumped in to the enchanted world of Sparkle, this is as good a place as any to start. It's a polished, competent match three game with decent production, plenty of stages and addictive ball blasting action, even if it is very derivative and repetitive. For those familiar with the series or the genre as a whole, Sparkle unleashed is merely a slight variation on more of the same. With Sparkle 2 already out on Switch, as well as it being released for every other system in all the known kingdoms, Sparkle Unleashed is another solid, if unremarkable addition to the console's library.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    There's a decent amount of fun to be had with Earth Wars before a degree of monotony sets in. What starts out as a pretty slick, if straightforward 2D side-scrolling brawler fleshed out by a huge wealth of loot to gather, weapons to customise and skill stats to unlock, It never moves the needle far enough in either variety or innovation to truly hold interest for extended periods. Sure, there's just enough nuance in the combat and giant bosses to slay to you keep coming back, but the uninspired missions and derivative characters never let it realise its full potential.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A short but sweet ride on her majesty’s service saving the Yankees from nuclear terrorism that leaves very little to fault or recommend for what it is: A perfect representation of what a good arcade game used to be and should you feel the need to relive those glorious times, you can now do so conveniently on your Switch. For England, Sly.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    While it’s not going to set your world alight with flashy features or ground-breaking mechanics, we enjoyed our time with Manual Samuel enormously. The joke risks wearing thin, but Sam’s adventure is brief and self-aware enough to hold your interest. Co-op play is surprisingly fun with a willing accomplice and Time Attack offers some longevity, although for most players it’ll be a short ‘one-and-done’ affair. For our money, it’s a pleasant amuse-bouche of a game – a welcome little treat between the larger courses being served up on Switch this summer.

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