TC Staff Writer, Author at Thumb Culture

Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training Review – Dumb or Dumber?

20Jan

By TC Staff WriterNo Comments

Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training Review – Dumb or Dumber?

Dr Kawashima's Brain Training helped make the Nintendo DS popular with non-gamers and as a result of this, Grannies and Mothers all over the world were putting down their knitting needles and picking up a stylus. Fast forward to 2020 and Nintendo are back with an updated version of the classic, however does it still have the same appeal as previously? Gameplay Following in the footsteps of its predecessors, Brain Training gives you a range of exercises to complete which helps you in preparation for the dreaded 'Brain Age' test! These training exercises focus around maths, logic and memory-based task, which I know doesn't sound terribly fun but trust me, it is! Due to how the game tracks your progress, you constantly want to better your score and as a result, you'll pick ...

16Jan

By TC Staff WriterNo Comments

Switch Reviews

Super Crush KO Nintendo Review

Since its launch, the Nintendo Switch and Indies have complimented each other beautifully. In the early months of the systems life, after besting Ganon, it was Indies we all turned to. Of those, Graceful Explosion Machine stood out with its bright visuals and tight action gameplay. Skip forward a few years, and the team over at Vertex Pop are back with Super Crush KO. Released on 16th January (for Nintendo Switch and Steam), it's time for another injection of bold colour and fast action into your game library. Gameplay Super Crush KO keeps with the gameplay sensibilities seen in Vertex Pop's past titles, but applies them to an action brawler. As Karen, you find yourself victim to the most heinous of crimes. Rule Zero has been broken - someone's taken your cat! (Also they're also i...

14Jan

By TC Staff WriterNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Hardcore Mecha Review- Lock And Load

So today I bring you Hardcore Mecha made by RocketPunch Games. More importantly, I have managed to get my hands on the PlayStation 4 version before general launch. Gameplay The first thing that hit me when I started Hardcore Mecha was the OST. I sat at the main menu listening to the opening soundtrack because it's that damn good. Hardcore Mecha starts you off with a tutorial for your first level. It's more like dangling a treat in front of you. Your tutorial level is in an all singing and all dancing mecha. This thing does everything and is a glimpse of things to come. Hardcore Mecha is at its heart a 2D side-scrolling shooter. Although in my opinion, it runs far deeper than just that. You can collect and research new weapons, defensive parts etc. you get to customise your mecha t...

9Jan

By TC Staff WriterNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

AO Tennis 2 Review – Ace Or Fault?

As the first Grand Slam of the year is on our doorstep, tennis aficionados start to dust off their classic tennis games to get their fill of the sport they love. Some may argue that the last great game was Virtua Tennis 2, others may side with Top Spin 4, however the one thing that fans can agree on is that as of late, tennis games have been awful. With that in mind AO Tennis developers, Big Ant Studios, returns to the baseline ready to serve with their aptly named AO Tennis 2. Echoes of their poorly reviewed first outing haunts them as they prepare to deliver their sequel. Sweat slowly dips, the furry ball has been firmly caressed. Will this be another fault or an ace? Gameplay If you are looking for an arcadey tennis game where you can speed around the court and pull off ridicul...

BurgerTime Party Review – The Salad Dodger

18Dec

By TC Staff WriterNo Comments

Switch Reviews

BurgerTime Party Review – The Salad Dodger

Introduction Ever wondered what it's like to be a McDonald's employee? Despite the fact you've to build burgers in this game then you're probably looking in the wrong place. At least I'm hoping the employees aren't standing over the ingredients or being chased by life-size pickles. As a salad dodger, I seemed to enjoy BurgerTime Party a hell of a lot more than I should. The amazing publisher/Developers G-Mode Games & XSEED Games have brought what I believe is one of the most fun games for the switch I have played yet. An arcade-style game with multiple ways to play it means I can even get my womb raiders involved. Gameplay BurgerTime Party is an arcade game where you need to navigate the screen using ladders and various platforms. This includes ones you can use with a lever ...

Sparklite Review – A bright spark, or a blown fuse?

12Dec

By TC Staff WriterNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Sparklite Review – A bright spark, or a blown fuse?

So, you want to make an indie game? Let me tell you the three basic things you need to do: 1. Pixelate those graphics, 2. Randomly generate your levels, and 3. Pick a classic Nintendo game for your gameplay. With an abundance of games following this plan on every platform, it's difficult for any developer to stand out from the crowd. Sparklite, the first game from Red Blue Games, aims to grab your attention with its own take on classic action-adventure titles. Released on 14th November (for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC/Mac), let's find out if this will be shining star in your game library. Gameplay Sparklite puts you in control of Ada, a mechanic who finds herself in the middle of Geodia, a land held together by a resource called Sparklite. In typical fashion, all is not...

Trover Saves the Universe Review – Surreal Space Odyssey

6Dec

By TC Staff WriterNo Comments

Switch Reviews

Trover Saves the Universe Review – Surreal Space Odyssey

If you’re familiar with Rick and Morty, Accounting or anything else by the extremely talented Justin Roiland, then you know exactly what to expect from Trover Saves the Universe: a crazy nonsensical adventure. As soon as the game starts, a giant Abstainer named Glorkon steals your puppies and inserts them into his eyeballs in order to destroy the universe. As a result of this, you befriend Trover, and together you have the task of hunting down the psychopath in order to save the universe and more importantly, your puppies. From that paragraph alone, you should know whether or not this is the type of game for you. At the forefront of the game is the humour. Trover and the range of bizarre secondary characters’ ad libbing will keep you laughing, chuckling and sniggering through...

5Dec

By TC Staff WriterNo Comments

Uncategorised

SuperEpic Nintendo Review – Supergood

SuperEpic, developed by Undercoders and published by Numskull games, is an action platformer with strong Metroidvania elements... wait, come back! Yes, Metroidvania games are ten a penny at this point, but SuperEpic innovates with its intriguing "cross-media" features, taking the experience beyond the console. Gameplay SuperEpic is set in an alternate reality in which a greedy company called RegnantCorp, which is literally run by pigs, have brain-washed the world's population into constantly playing terrible, loot-box and microtransaction-ridden games. You play as TanTan, a household object-wielding raccoon who rides atop a llama called Ola. I was initially put off by story of SuperEpic, which I found a bit too memey and ham-fisted (pardon the pun). These reservations melted away...

Simulacra – Another “Another Lost Phone Game” Game

4Dec

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Simulacra – Another “Another Lost Phone Game” Game

Simulacra is the latest "lost/found phone" game to come to the Nintendo Switch. If you are unfamiliar with the genre, these games centre around the player being asked to dig through some unfortunate's phone to discover how they came to be parted from it in the first place. Simulacra was developed and published by Kaigan Games and released on Switch on December 3rd 2019 for £9.99. Like "Sara is Missing" from the same developer, Simulacra attempts to find horror in the mundanity of social media platforms, this time around placing a heavy emphasis on the dismal world of online dating. The phone this time around belongs to Anna, a pretty 20-something who was undergoing a number of personal crises before disappearing altogether. Gameplay If you have used a smartphone in the last 10 ...

4Dec

By TC Staff WriterNo Comments

Uncategorised

Construction Simulator 2 – A Jack Of All Trades

Simulator games have risen in popularity for a number of years now. No longer do you need to pick up a technical manual alongside your new game - low impact job sims let you dive straight into a new life. Construction Simulator 2 US – Console Edition (catchy name), is brought to us by Astragon Entertainment and Weltenbauer. SE, and is the first of their popular Construction Simulator series to be ported across to consoles. Last year saw a Playstation 4 and Xbox One release, which Thumb Culture awarded a Silver medal (click here for that review). So now the games finally ported to the Nintendo Switch, how’s the build? Gameplay Construction Simulator 2 is very much what it says on the box. You start-up a company, and after completing a quick tutorial, it’s your goal to become a t...