Posted on 1 week ago by Richard Ford in Reviews, Switch 2 | 0 comments

System: Switch 2
Release date: March 26, 2026
Developer: AM2 and RGG Studio
Publisher: SEGA

Virtua Fighter 5 is back …again! Originally released in Japanese arcades back in July 2006, Virtua Fighter 5 is the most recent title in the legacy SEGA series that helped shape modern 3D fighters. There have been several revisions for arcades and consoles over its 20-year history. Now in 2026, we have another version that is almost unrecognizable from its first home release on the PlayStation 3. Running in RGG’s Dragon Engine, in use since Yakuza 6, Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage has a whole new facelift, UI redesign, improved sound design, battle changes, new costumes, DLC and rollback netcode for online fighting at an optimal level. If Nintendo gamers want their first taste of the magic that made Virtua Fighter 5 a game so good they’ve been releasing it for two decades, the ultimate version of the martial arts masterpiece is here on Switch 2.

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Posted on 4 weeks ago by Richard Ford in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments

System: Switch
Release date: February 26, 2026
Developer: Bandai Namco
Publisher: Bandai Namco

My experience with Bandai Namco’s storied Tales of franchise amounts ultimately to my time playing Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Vesperia, two games I loved playing dearly a few years back due to several of their characters appearing in the Nintendo 3DS Project X Zone series of games and piquing my interest in learning about their original stories. After Namco’s recent remasters of the above mentioned Tales titles, I was excited to branch out and play some titles in the series I had yet to experience; Tales of Berseria was one of them. The slightly different style of JRPG gameplay and more intense storytelling appealed to me, and having the main protagonist be a female character was a cool switch-up to what I’d experienced previously and was curious how that would impact the way the story was presented. While the storytelling of Tales of Berseria is unquestionably the highlight of the game, this specific version perhaps has not done enough to justify a brand-new release with a ‘remaster’ title.

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Posted on 1 month ago by Richard Ford in Reviews, Switch 2 | 0 comments

System: Switch 2
Release date: February 12, 2026
Developer: RGG Studio
Publisher: SEGA

With Nintendo now a certified home for the Yakuza/Like A Dragon franchise following the releases of Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut, Kiwami and Kiwami 2, Switch 2 players get to experience a new adventure in the series day-and-date with other console users for the first time. This is thanks to RGG’s latest remake title Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties, a shiny new version of the early PS3 title Yakuza 3 with a brand new campaign added onto the package. Seen as a bit of a black sheep in the franchise for taking a less action-focused story in favor of a slower, more character driven plot, for me personally it is my favorite entry. The reaction to the announcement of this remake was mixed to say the least, but I was super excited to play a cleaner, more polished version of a game I was already fond of. There’s quite a lot to unpack here, so let’s start with the plot.

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Posted on 2 months ago by Richard Ford in Reviews, Switch 2 | 0 comments

System: Switch 2
Release date: January 22, 2026
Developer: Omega Force
Publisher: Koei Tecmo

As a franchise standing at about three decades, one could be forgiven for feeling that maybe the Dynasty Warriors series had gotten a little stale. With an addictive gameplay loop that can be satisfying on a basic level of dishing out lots of damage to hordes of enemies with powerful weapons to the deeper tactical side of managing a battlefield, it has been so popular that spin-offs following the same formula have been released with different franchise coats of paint. Persona, The Legend of Zelda, One Piece, Dragon Quest, Fire Emblem, and more have all gotten the Warriors treatment over the years, so chances are you have at least played one of Omega Force’s hack-and-slash titles. Criticism has been labeled at the last few Musou games for just sticking to the core formula without evolving or shaking it up. Some have argued there hasn’t been any strong innovation in the series since 2003’s Dynasty Warriors 4, and although that’s a statement I don’t agree with, I can understand the sentiment of burnout with the franchise and its many iterations. Now after a seven-year gap between Dynasty Warriors 9 and Origins, what has changed and what have the developers done to tackle the notion of the series needing a refresh?

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Posted on 4 months ago by Richard Ford in Reviews, Switch, Switch 2 | 0 comments

System: Switch 2 / Switch
Release date: December 1, 2025
Developer: Tribute Games
Publisher: Dotemu

Dotemu and Tribute Games have assembled once again to deliver a brand new beat ’em up, this time around delivering a unique Marvel super heroes beat ’em up game that takes you from the streets of NYC to Asgard and beyond. With the two sides hot off the heels of their well received 2022 title TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge, many fans including myself were very excited to see what they could cook up with the vast Marvel library to pull from. The gameplay in TMNT was widely praised for how smooth the movesets for each character was and how good the control felt, which is key for a beat ’em up game. With a strong IP like Marvel to create a story around, what did the team come up with?

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Posted on 4 months ago by Richard Ford in Reviews, Switch 2 | 0 comments

System: Switch 2
Release date: November 18, 2025
Developer: Purple Lamp
Publisher: THQ Nordic

Are ya ready kids? Everyone’s favorite absorbent and porous fry cook is back in a new 3D platforming adventure. With Battle for Bikini Bottom and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Game both considered cult classics of the GameCube era of gaming, and this style of SpongeBob game making a return through developer Purple Lamp’s remake of Battle for Bikini Bottom: Rehydrated, and wholly original title The Cosmic Shake, I was very excited to see what was to come next. I thoroughly enjoyed the Rehydrated return to platforming for SpongeBob, but I was a little more mixed on The Cosmic Shake, which felt to me like it had too much back-tracking in its design and only having SpongeBob be playable felt like an odd decision at the time. However, it was a very ambitious game and a strong base to build off for the next entry and before you can stop on your right foot (don’t forget it!) and bring it around town, THQ Nordic has already cooked up a new original game with a supernatural twist. The story?

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Posted on 4 months ago by Richard Ford in Reviews, Switch 2 | 0 comments

System: Switch 2
Release date: November 13, 2025
Developer: RGG Studio
Publisher: SEGA

SEGA’s series of Japanese underworld epics continue to release on Nintendo systems with Yakuza Kiwami 2 on Switch 2. Much like its predecessor, it’s a remake of a classic title in the series built from the ground up for modern hardware. With it, you have the best version of that story and that game available to play. Much like the remake of the previous entry, this game similarly adds plenty of new quests, new cutscenes, and builds on the core of what the most recent mainline release did. If Yakuza 1 is like a crime drama, Yakuza 2 is closer to an action film, which has Kazuma Kiryu again in the spotlight – though we won’t spoil the story here. The narrative this time around isn’t too difficult to follow, but it still follows on directly from the previous one, so if you haven’t played that yet, please do.

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Posted on 5 months ago by Richard Ford 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?

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Posted on 6 months ago by Richard Ford 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.

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Posted on 6 months ago by Richard Ford 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.

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