Review: Tengai for Nintendo Switch

Tengai, known as Sengoku Blade in Japan, is the 1996 sequel to Psikyo’s first arcade shoot-em-up, Samurai Aces. Samurai Aces is a vertically scrolling shoot-em-up which stood out from the crowd in 1993 thanks to it’s lovely feudal Japanese steampunk design and eclectic bunch of pilot characters. Read my review of Samurai Aces for Nintendo …

Review: ACA Neo Geo Blazing Star for Nintendo Switch

Blazing Star is widely considered to be one of the best shoot-em-ups on Neo Geo. Released in 1998 by Aicom (later known as Yumekobo), it is the sequel to Pulstar, which is also a highly regarded Neo Geo shooter that looks and plays very much like R-Type. Debate rages between fans about which of the …

Review: Jurassic World Pinball FX3 Pack for Nintendo Switch

For the uninitiated, Pinball FX3 from Zen Studios is a free to download pinball game, available across multiple platforms including PC, PS4, XBox One, iOS and most recently Nintendo Switch. The game comes with one free table - Sorcerer’s Lair - with other table packs available to purchase separately. FX3’s virtual tables have some realistic …

Review: Samurai Aces for Nintendo Switch

Japanese publisher Zerodiv has done a sterling job of bringing Psikyo’s classic arcade shoot ‘em ups to the Nintendo Switch. Their latest offering, Samurai Aces (Sengoku Ace in Japan), released in arcades in 1993 and is actually Psikyo’s first shooter. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it If you’ve played any of Psikyo’s vertically-scrolling shoot …

Review: Strikers 1945 II for Nintendo Switch

Fans of top-down shoot ‘em ups will be pleased that yet another blast from the past has returned in the form of Psikyo’s excellent Strikers 1945 II. The game, ported by Zerodiv, adds to a growing library of quality arcade games which are quickly turning the Switch into a retro gamer’s dream. But does this …

Review: Arcade Archives Double Dragon for Nintendo Switch

I recall the moment I fell in love with beat-em-ups as if it was yesterday. A young boy in 1987, I stood in awe as a friend played an arcade game, the likes of which I’d never seen. That game was Double Dragon. As a child of the 80s, some of my fondest gaming memories exist in dark, …