Nintendo Switch 2 Reviews A-L

I have mixed feelings about Donkey Kong Bananza. On one hand, it ticks all the boxes you'd want in a 3D Donkey Kong adventure. It has 15 worlds to explore, a slew of moves, fresh new ideas, and a destruction quotient that's off-the-charts. So why am I not loving it?

In order to exhibit the raw power of the Switch 2, Bananza is a demolition showcase. Not only can Kong punch through just about everything in sight, but he can tunnel up, down, and through walls. Doing so unearths gold nuggets, bananas, fossils, discs, and endless other collectable artifacts. You can practically reduce each stage to rubble.

The smash-em-up mechanic is amazing for the first ten minutes or so. Burrowing can be disorienting as Kong himself is often obscured by dirt and rock. In addition, the endless item collecting gets a little old. I don't have the patience to dig for every last item. You need gold nuggets to enable the "bananza" power-up but they're fairly ubiquitous.

The stages feature all the obligatory locales (beach, desert, forest, ice) and they extend in all directions (especially up). Fortunately a helpful map always marks your next destination. There are a lot of ways to travel quickly including gameways and a new "turf surf" move. Just grab a chunk of ground and use it to surf over the muddy landscape.

I didn't find the stages to be particularly interesting. In fact, I found them to be quite ugly, cluttered with endless junk to bust up. Most are populated by rock monsters that fill you in on what your current objective is. For completists there's plenty of bonus stages to complete, including a few that call to mind Donkey Kong Country (SNES, 1993).

What puts this game over the top is that Nintendo polish. The attention to detail is outstanding, with a cute storyline, charming animations, and upbeat musical numbers. There's a lot to explore, the difficulty is low, and the boss encounters are mercifully short. Donkey Kong Bananza has moments but I'm less-than-thrilled with its "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks" approach. © Copyright 2025 The Video Game Critic.

Unlike the PS5 release, this Switch 2 cartridge contains the entire game. I guess great things come to those who wait! Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a wild adventure that feels like three movies rolled into one. It establishes its street cred up front with a shot-for-shot reenactment of the opening scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark. The jungle looks beautiful with sunlight filtering through the trees, and the orchestrated music is lifted straight from the film. Indiana is a close replica of a young Harrison Ford, right down to the scar on his chin. The voice acting is so dead-on I assumed it was AI, but it's actually voice actor Troy Baker!

The supporting cast is excellent as well. I easily recognized "the giant" as actor Tony Todd. Indy's female companion Gina is played by a beautiful Italian woman. Not only does she provide helpful clues, but she can throw a punch as well. The actor playing Nazi villain Voss chews the scenery in the best way possible.

The story takes place in 1937, pitting Indy against the Nazis in farflung locations like Vatican City, Giza, Shanghai, Siam, and the Himalayas. Its cinematic cut-scenes are wildly entertaining. The dialog is decent by movie standards, and utterly fantastic by video game standards.

The gameplay seamlessly transitions between first and third-person perspectives. When swinging or climbing, you see Indy from behind, and when exploring you get a first-person view of the sights. The graphics are the best I've seen. From a huge blimp docking with a building, to a ship teetering on the edge of a cliff, there are some jaw-dropping visuals. This game didn't tap into my fear of snakes as much as my fear of heights. The toughest aspect of the game is the first-person jumping, as some leaps are hard to gauge. Expect lots of pulse-pounding escape sequences.

Between the realistic physics, grunt sounds, and controller vibration, the game exudes physicality. When Indy is taking punches to the face, you can feel the bruising impact. When Indy is swinging on his whip and slamming into walls, the wear and tear on his body is palpable. In the catacombs vibration is used to convey the feeling of a rat scurrying across your foot.

This game is as suspenseful as they come. You need to do a lot of sneaking around, often in disguise. Fortunately the Nazis have bad eyesight and short attention spans. That said, you don't want to draw any attention to yourself. This is one of the few games where a hammer is more useful than a gun, as it lets you quietly incapacitate a guard and drag his body into a dark corner.

An omni-present destination marker keeps you headed in the right direction, but certain areas are wide open, giving you ample opportunity to explore the exotic scenery or pursue side quests. The puzzles are fun to solve and adjustable in difficulty. In many cases taking pictures of interesting objects in an area will yield clues.

The degree of detail is extraordinary. When you look out the windows of the Vatican you can see people walking in the courtyard. The portraits on the walls are beautiful and unique. Sure enough, I noticed these works of art are actually listed in the credits! The awe-inspiring tombs feel very musty, overgrown, and properly aged.

Since the Switch 2 version is newer, you'd expect all the bugs to be smoothed out, right? Not a chance! The game crashed on me at least a half dozen times, sometimes with audio blaring! Granted, I didn't perform any updates. The crashes really aren't bad because when you reload you pick up right where you left off. That's because the game is saving all the time. More minor glitches include occasional "egg carton eyes" and unnatural walking animations.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a surprisingly long journey. I remember thinking I was at the end, and ended up playing for another two weeks! You know it's epic when the credits run over a half hour! Completing the game unlocks a "plus mode" that lets you freely revisit and explore all the locations. This is the most engrossing adventure I've played in ages. Remember when they used to make blockbuster movies? Well, this is a legitimate blockbuster of a game. © Copyright 2026 The Video Game Critic.

Nintendo continues to pump out unwanted Kirby games like there's no tomorrow, yet I can't get a new Wave Race to save my life. What gives? Judging by the title, Air Riders would appear to be an easy-breezy racer, but it's pretty involved! Upon starting it up I was greeted with a message instructing me to "update via the internet", prompting me to fully extend my right arm and slowly raise my middle finger. I've no time for that nonsense. I bought the cartridge for a reason.

I did feel obligated to work through the tutorials, but didn't realize what I was in for. These things are so tedious and repetitious. Do I really need multiple practice rounds to work on my proficiency in steering? I'm not an idiot! Air Riders uses a mere three buttons, so why are there 29 tutorials? By the time I worked through them all, I had forgotten the basics - and was feeling nauseated to boot!

Kirby Air Riders might be described as a cross between Mario Kart World (Nintendo, 2025) and Super Smash Bros. (N64, 1999). Kirby is a pudgy pink blob who swallows enemies to harness their powers, such as the ability to weild a sword or breathe fire. He races around colorful elevated tracks while standing on a board or floating vehicle. With five opponents and tracks peppered with items and creatures, you can expect all sorts of mayhem between the start and finish.

The control scheme adopts a weird stop-and-go mechanic. By applying the brake when approaching the next corner, you can then shoot forward into the next straightway. This technique works fine on courses with lots of hairpin turns, but in general it's hard to get into a flow. And don't even get me started on having to waggle the thumbstick to initiate a spin attack.

The high-speed tracks are a blur of elevated roadways and flashing colors. You'll glide over lava floes, splash down waterfalls, and wind through caves. Sometimes you'll grind rails like Sonic the Hedgehog. I'm glad the game doesn't let you veer off track or else I'd be flying off every two seconds. I had high hopes for the overhead mode, which offers a perspective similar to Super Off Road (NES, 1990), but erratic controls and confusing icons render it a complete mess.

What salvaged this game for me was the Tour mode, which distills everything down to a series of small, digestible challenges. There are time attacks, treasure hunts, battles, survival challenges, and bosses mixed in with normal races. There seems to be an endless variety. It's all very easy, producing so many unlockables I got tired of clicking through all of them.

Kirby Air Riders has that trademark Nintendo polish and a staggering amount of content. Unfortunately, the underlying game just isn't very good. When playing with friends, most races were reduced to button-mashing and thumbstick-wagging. Brad remarked how everyone would finish within a few seconds of each other regardless of skill level. I gave Air Riders a chance, but this game just makes me want to chip in for Kirby's retirement party. © Copyright 2026 The Video Game Critic.