Posted on 3 weeks ago by Nicholas Serpa in Reviews, Switch 2 | 0 comments

System: Switch 2
Release date: July 24, 2025
Developer: Nintendo Cube
Publisher: Nintendo

Back when I reviewed Super Mario Party Jamboree last year, I called it “biggest and best Mario Party game that Nintendo has made in a very long time. Beyond that, it’s probably my personal favorite in the series; whenever I have friends or family over and we decide to boot up a party game, there’s a very good chance Jamboree will be in the rotation. I was very open to the idea of an enhanced version of the game for the Switch 2, and one that takes advantage of the console’s new features such as mouse controls and the Nintendo Switch 2 Camera with some fresh modes and minigames. Unfortunately, an upgrade that should have been a slam dunk doesn’t bring enough new content or features to justify its own existence as a paid upgrade.

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Posted on 1 month ago by Nicholas Serpa in Reviews, Switch, Switch 2 | 0 comments

System: Switch 2 (also on Switch)
Release date: July 17, 2025
Developer: Bandai Namco
Publisher: Bandai Namco

I wish I could have been a fly on the wall during the pitch meeting for Shadow Labyrinth. Of all the ways Bandai Namco could have commemorated the 45th anniversary of Pac-Man, the idea the company landed on was to release an exploration-driven action-platformer set on a sprawling sci-fi planet. Not only that, but Bandai Namco greenlit, developed, and released a game in which the player is accompanied by a dark (possibly evil?) take on Pac-Man named Puck, who devours the souls of slain enemies to help the player level up. It’s a bonkers concept for a spin-off, and one I knew I needed to experience for myself to fully understand.

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Posted on 1 month ago by Nicholas Serpa in Reviews, Switch 2 | 0 comments

System: Switch 2
Release date: June 5, 2025
Developer: Hazelight Studios
Publisher: Electronic Arts

Generally, my wife does not play video games very often, as she’s always been more keen to cozy up with a good book and warm cup of tea during her free time. There are exceptions, of course – she did complete two 70+ hour playthrough of Hogwarts Legacy, to her credit – but for the most part, she simply hasn’t found many games that have piqued her interest. The only major exception to that trend is when a new game from Hazelight Studios comes out. She and I had a blast playing the studio’s previous two titles, A Way Out and It Takes Two, on the couch together over the past several years, and from time to time she would ask me if there was a sequel or something similar to those games that we could play. Needless to say, I was excited to learn that the studio’s next game, Split Fiction, would be a launch game for the Nintendo Switch 2, and was eager to put their latest genre-mashing, reality-shifting co-op adventure through its paces.

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Posted on 2 months ago by Nicholas Serpa in Reviews, Switch 2 | 0 comments

System: Switch 2
Release date: June 5, 2025
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom

When Nintendo revealed Switch 2 earlier this year, of all the games announced to be releasing alongside the system on launch day, it was Street Fighter 6 that had me the most excited. The original Nintendo Switch missed out on some major releases in the fighting game genre; outside of Smash Bros. Ultimate and some iffy Mortal Kombat ports, the pickings were slim for those seeking a flashy modern, 3D fighting game (although we did get what felt like roughly a thousand retro fighting game collections.) These titles have always felt like such a natural fit for handheld play to me, so when Street Fighter 6 released to near universal critical acclaim on other platforms a few years ago, I was eager to someday play it on a console where I could hone my skills at home or on the go. Fortunately, while Street Fighter 6 had to make a few compromises to make it onto Nintendo Switch 2, for the most part this is an excellent way to enjoy Capcom’s premier current-gen fighting game.

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Posted on 2 months ago by Nicholas Serpa in Reviews, Switch 2 | 0 comments

When the original Nintendo Switch launched in 2017, it shook up the very notion of what a gaming console could be, offering unprecedented versatility by allowing players to experience true console-quality gaming both at-home and on the go. Eight years later, the experiment has proven a success. Switch is one of the best-selling gaming systems of all time, boasting a staggering library of both first and third-party games, so it makes sense that Nintendo would choose to iterate on the platform rather than reinvent the wheel for its next console. Enter the Nintendo Switch 2, which finally landed in the hands of players nearly eight years after the launch of its predecessor, boasting more power, a bigger screen, and a few quirky new features.

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Posted on 5 months ago by Nicholas Serpa in Switch | 0 comments

As much as I enjoy cooking in real life, cooking in video games often is either so simple (i.e. combining ingredients in a menu) or so complex (i.e. Cooking Simulator) that it can struggle to truly feel fun. Maybe that’s why it was so easy for me to fall in love with Fruitbus, an upcoming first person adventure game that tasks the player with running a food truck business in a playful world. I had a blast demoing the game, and I can’t wait to spend more time exploring the game’s tropical paradise, hunting for exotic ingredients, and cooking up a storm for the locals.

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Posted on 9 months ago by Nicholas Serpa in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments

System: Switch
Release date: November 12, 2024
Developer: Digital Eclipse
Publisher: Digital Eclipse

It’s easy to take Tetris for granted. Tetris games have been released on, apparently, over 65 different devices. Many have described it as the perfect puzzle game. Very smart scientists have even performed psychological studies about how Tetris affects the human brain. It has, incredibly, been about 40 years since the release of the very first Tetris title. To help celebrate such a monumental anniversary, the historians at developer and publisher Digital Eclipse are releasing Tetris Forever, a package that’s as much a digital museum as it is a compilation of retro Tetris games. While it’s hard to argue with the core quality of the experiences available in the package, overall I found the focus of Tetris Forever to be narrower than I had hoped – not just in terms of the history being shared, but the games themselves. It’s a good glimpse into the origins of this massive franchise, but not quite the definitive Tetris package it could have been.

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Posted on 9 months ago by Nicholas Serpa in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments

System: Switch
Release date: October 17, 2024
Developer: NDcube
Publisher: Nintendo

Like clockwork, roughly about every three years, Nintendo releases a new Mario Party game. That may seem like a lot, but it’s easy to forget that that for most of the series’ life these titles were getting cranked out on an annual basis. Nowadays though, Nintendo is spending more time and resources on these games than ever before – and it shows. While 2021’s Mario Party Superstars felt like a refreshing trip down memory lane, Super Mario Party Jamboree raises the bar for the series on multiple levels, from its clever and dynamic game boards to its robust suite of online options and modes. My nostalgia for the older entries aside, this one represents easily some of the most fun I’ve ever had in a Mario Party game, and it’s secured a spot as my new go-to title for multiplayer madness on the. Switch Lite players will want to pause before picking this game up – but everyone else has a lot to look forward to.

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Posted on 10 months ago by Nicholas Serpa in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments

System: Switch
Release date: October 31, 2024
Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture / Engine Software
Publisher: NetEase

When a game is given the label of “cult classic,” in my experience, this is typically due to one of two possible scenarios occurring. The first is that the game itself was generally deemed above average in terms of quality, but for business or marketing reasons never found a huge audience; this is the optimistic perspective. The second, more cynical perspective is that the game itself ended up as a middling experience due to creative or technical decisions, but managed to find a small fanbase in spite of these issues. Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered boldly labels itself as “a cult classic born from the most creative minds in the industry” on its store pages, so it begs the question: exactly what type of cult classic is this 2011 third-person shooter, and how does it hold up 13 years after its initial release?

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Posted on 11 months ago by Nicholas Serpa in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments

System: Switch
Release date: September 24, 2024
Developer: Purple Lamp
Publisher: THQ Nordic

I’ve had a 2010 Wii copy of Epic Mickey sitting on my shelf for years, and as much as I had intended to experience Warren Spector’s twisted Mickey Mouse tale well before this point, for one reason or another I’ve just never gotten around to it. In this case, my patience definitely paid off. Developer Purple Lamp – who is quickly garnering a positive reputation for their work in the 3D platforming space – has invested considerable effort to free this ambitious game from the Wii’s limitations and make it accessible to modern audiences. While the Switch version of Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed has some disappointing performance issues here and there, overall, this remake is a stunning effort that deserves to be experienced by fans of both Disney and platformers alike.

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