Yooka-Replaylee review for Nintendo Switch 2
Posted on 2 weeks ago by Richard in Reviews, Switch 2 | 0 comments
System: Switch 2
Release date: October 9, 2025
Developer: Playtonic Games
Publisher: Playtonic Games
The original Yooka-Laylee released eight years ago during a period of time when collectathon 3D platformers were few and far between. It was developed and released by Playtonic, an indie development team compromised of exciting new game creators and also veterans that were at Rare during their period of dominance in the N64 era. Harkening most closely to Rareware classics like Banjo-Kazooie and Conker’s Bad Fur Day, Yooka-Laylee was a breath of fresh air into a dormant subgenre in gaming that was much beloved and sorely missed. Having been one of the key games in revitalizing 3D platformers that still holds up quite well, it surprised me a bit that the decision was made to remake the title entirely. I had so many questions going into Yooka-Replaylee because it wasn’t something I expected to see. How does the game change things up?
More: highlight, Playtonic, top, Yooka-Replaylee
EA Sports FC 26 review for Nintendo Switch 2
Posted on 3 weeks ago by Richard in Reviews, Switch 2 | 0 comments
System: Switch 2
Release date: September 26, 2025
Developer: EA Sports
Publisher: EA Sports
As a longtime football/soccer fanatic, I’ve played a whole bunch of different video game adaptations of the sport over the years – from ill-fated attempts like Mega Man Soccer, to really fun and engaging versions of the sport like in Mario Strikers or Virtua Striker 2. These are usually exaggerated or watered down versions of the beautiful game that don’t entirely reflect the appeal or the intricacies of the sport at its core, so although they can be serious arcade-y fun, they don’t always scratch the same itch of doing a Cruyff turn and smashing the ball top bins. This is why we have had direct football simulator games, like PES and FIFA, even Football Manager to an extent, really get popular in the late 90s and early 2000s. Getting a red card from a referee in FIFA International Soccer on SEGA Genesis, and choosing to endlessly run away from the official instead of accepting your punishment and coming off the pitch is very silly and fun, but not entirely accurate to the sport itself. As the years have gone on, I’ve played almost every entry in the EA FC/FIFA series, often with my dad. Some of my earliest memories of gaming come from playing against him on the PS1 in FIFA ’99, and as the games have improved in detail and range of play modes, my fondness for the series has grown. I think the newest entry in the series, EA Sports FC 26, truly rivals the best the series has to offer in every department.
More: EA, EA Sports FC 26, highlight, top
Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny review for Nintendo Switch
Posted on 3 weeks ago by Richard in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments
System: Switch
Release date: September 30, 2025
Developer: Petit Fabrik and Fair Play Labs
Publisher: GameMill Entertainment
Everyone has a generation of Nickelodeon that they grew up on. As someone born in the late 90s, my association with the brand comes from the cartoons and shows they were airing between 2000 and 2009. Although I would catch some older Nicktoons on repeat broadcasts growing up, like Rugrats and Ah! Real Monsters, the shows I most associate with the kings of slime include SpongeBob SquarePants, Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom, Jimmy Neutron and Avatar: The Last Airbender (The Legend of Aang back home in Ireland), which all aired their runs in that period, aside from the first two, which had incredible staying power and carried on airing for much longer. SpongeBob right now seems stronger than ever, in fact. I now think of this time as a happy childhood memory of loving Nickelodeon.
Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection review for Nintendo Switch
Posted on 1 month ago by Richard in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments
System: Switch
Release date: September 9, 2025
Developer: Limited Run
Publisher: Atari
There’s something about that bobcat, isn’t there? Since making his debut in 1993, Bubsy has lived in gaming infamy for his in-your-face attitude, and also for the reputation of his games not being the best the platforming genre has to offer. Even still, the character has had an unmistakable impact on the industry, and whether ironic or sincere, he has garnered a following and earned himself a cult status amongst platforming mascots. This led to a revival of the series in the late 2010s with a nineteen year gap between the releases of Bubsy 3D in 1996 and Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back in 2017. Now, in 2025, we have a brand new collection of Bubsy’s original run of games before his near two-decade long catnap.
Particle Hearts review for Nintendo Switch
Posted on 1 month ago by Richard in Reviews, Switch eShop | 0 comments
System: Switch
Release date: August 25, 2025
Developer: Underwater Fire
Publisher: First Break Labs
Underwater Fire Games are a brand new independent studio from Los Angeles, and on the team’s website, the mission statement says they seek to create thought-provoking video games that fill their players with a sense of wonder. Their first video game, Particle Hearts, is an ambitious 3D puzzle platformer that has taken elements from several big name titles like Journey and the more recent mainline Zelda entries. Underwater Fire Games ultimately crafted its own unique title that operates quite differently than anything I have ever played before.
Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution review for Nintendo Switch
Posted on 2 months ago by Richard in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments
System: Switch
Release date: August 19, 2025
Developer: WayForward
Publisher: WayForward
After twenty years of trying, WayForward’s loveable half-genie hero’s lost adventure has finally made its way to consoles in Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution. Originally in development almost immediately after the completion and release of the original Shantae on Game Boy Color, Risky Revolution was intended to be the second entry in the series, but due to mitigating circumstances, the GBA-developed title was put on indefinite hiatus. A lot of ideas and concepts from this game were reused in future additions to the series, like Risky’s Revenge and Half-Genie Hero, but series creator Matt Bozen always maintained his hope and desire to see it make its way to release. Now in 2025, we finally get to see what we had missed out on decades ago.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown review for Nintendo Switch
Posted on 2 months ago by Richard in Reviews, Switch eShop | 0 comments
System: Switch
Release date: August 14, 2025
Developer: Strange Scaffold
Publisher: Strange Scaffold
The heroes in a half-shell have a storied history in gaming, and are back on that scene once more. This time, they are going through a bit of family turmoil and in a new genre for the ninja boys. Tactical Takedown is a strategic turn-based, board game-like beat ’em up where the goal is to get your mutant teen to the end of the stage with three lives and a loadout of different abilities to help you knock out the foot clan as you traverse the rooftops, sewers, and streets of NYC. Everyone has come across the TMNT at some point in their lives, either through their cartoons, movies, video games or comics, so what does this Turtles adventure do to stand up against some of its franchise peers?
Gex Trilogy review for Nintendo Switch
Posted on 4 months ago by Richard in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments
System: Switch
Release date: June 15, 2025
Developer: Limited Run Games / Crystal Dynamics
Publisher: Limited Run Games
The Gex series is one that has been out of the limelight for a long time. While seen as unique and unconventional in his pomp, Gex has faded into obscurity. The gecko is best known these days as a bit of an internet meme, seen more in the ilk of Bubsy than of Sonic or Crash Bandicoot. Even still, the character had several big-time game releases and was the poster boy for Crystal Dynamics for quite a while, and that team has gone on to make some truly brilliant titles. Over time, the franchise has become increasingly less accessible, and so people who may want to try out Gex’s titles to see if maybe time has treated him too harshly. Thankfully, Limited Run Games has seen that cult desire for the wise-cracking TV addict to make a comeback, and have obliged with a trilogy collection of three adventures with the very first entry plus Gex: Enter the Gecko and Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko. In the past, I had only played Gex 2, and I was very young at the time, so when this collection was announced, I was very excited to play it again, as well as what came before and after. How do they hold up nearly three decades later?
More: Gex Trilogy, highlight, Limited Run Games, top
Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut review for Nintendo Switch 2
Posted on 4 months ago by Richard in Reviews, Switch 2 | 0 comments
System: Switch 2
Release date: June 5, 2025
Developer: RGG Studio
Publisher: SEGA
In the very recent past, it looked like there was no future for Yakuza/Like A Dragon games on Nintendo hardware. After the poor sales of the Japan-exclusive Yakuza 1&2 HD Edition collection on Wii U, then RGG Studio head and series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi decreed that the series had no market with Nintendo fans and weren’t going to release their games on those systems. This remained the case for a long time, until a massive staff reconstruction in 2021, when Nagoshi and other notable developers left the team. New studio leader Masayoshi Yokoyama decided to test Nintendo Switch waters October last year with a release of the Yakuza 1 remake title, Yakuza Kiwami. To RGG Studio’s and SEGA’s surprise, the game sold tremendously well and less than a year later one of the most acclaimed titles in the series has a new edition for Nintendo Switch 2’s launch: Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut.
More: highlight, SEGA, top, Yakuza 0 Director's Cut
Fast Fusion review for Nintendo Switch 2
Posted on 4 months ago by Richard in Reviews, Switch 2 | 0 comments
System: Switch 2
Release date: June 5, 2025
Developer: Shin’en
Publisher: Shin’en
I love anti-gravity racers. My very first one was F-Zero GX, one of the two games I picked up with my GameCube in 2003, when I was six. I was addicted. I put dozens upon dozens of hours into the game, with its difficulty level only encouraging me to play more. My dad saw how much I loved it, and he owned a PlayStation 2 at the time. As a gift, he gifted me WipeOut Fusion the following year. A similar style of game, and another one I fell in love with, albeit not to the same extent. Still, as the years went by, F-Zero and WipeOut became series with infrequent releases at best. An itch formed within me for a new futuristic space racer, and unbeknownst to me, there was another one making the rounds from Shin’en.
