Nathan Birch
This author account hasn't been claimed yet. To claim this account, please contact the outlet owner to request access.
Writing For
WCCFtech Latest Reviews
Kart racing fans have been eating hearty in 2025, with the arrival of the ambitious Mario Kart World and solidly-entertaining Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, and now they have a chance to end the feast in an unexpected fashion with Kirby Air Riders. Released on the Gamecube back in 2003, the original Kirby Air Ride wasn’t exactly a smash hit, critically or commercially, but series creator Masahiro Sakurai has seen his star rise precipitously thanks to another Smash (Bros.) hit – enough so that he’s managed to make Kirby Air Riders happen after two decades of series dormancy.
Hyrule Warriors has grown from a spinoff to a full-fledged series in its own right relatively quickly, with the soon-to-be-released Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment being the third Zelda-themed Musou game to arrive in roughly a decade. Age of Imprisonment once again serves up a hearty helping of Dynasty-Warriors-style hack ‘n’ slash action while promising to fill in some key details of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s backstory.
In recent years, the trend for core Pokémon RPGs has been to push for ever-larger sandboxes, with the recent Pokémon Scarlet and Violet offering a full-on Breath-of-the-Wild-style open world. The newly-released Pokémon Legends: Z-A bucks that particular trend, instead restricting the critter catching to a single relatively compact city map, while introducing a number of other tweaks to the Pokémon blueprint.
The Little Nightmares franchise has been a bit of a surprise hit, moving over 20 million units to date, so it’s not surprising that publisher Bandai Namco has opted to continue on with a third entry even though series creators Tarsier Studios has decided to move on. Little Nightmares III instead comes to us from the horror specialists at Supermassive Games, who have made a clear effort to recreate the look and feel of previous entries in the series.
Sonic may not need a car to get around, but a hedgehog has to rest his feet from time to time, and Sega's mascot has amassed a fairly hearty collection of racing games over the years. While most of these racers have struggled to escape the shadow of a certain mustachioed rival's racing efforts, a few have managed to stand on their own and carve out respectable fanbases. Now, only a few months after the big release of Mario Kart World, the blue guy is also hitting the asphalt again in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds.
New Nintendo consoles tend to launch with a mix of heavy-hitters, like Mario and Zelda, and smaller, quirkier projects designed to show off the system’s unique features. So far, the Nintendo Switch 2 has offered plenty of the former with big games like Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza, but, surprisingly, not really any of those oddball experimental titles. That's about to change with the release of Drag x Drive, a sci-fi-flavored arcade sports game that closely resembles wheelchair basketball and makes use of the mouse functionality and motion controls of the new Joy-Con 2 controllers in ways only Nintendo could dream up.
There’s been no shortage of The Lord of the Rings games over the years, but precious few of them focus on the real stars of J. R. R. Tolkien’s books, the humble hobbits. Granted, outside of the unlikely adventures of the Baggins family, hobbits are known for living rather unexciting lives, so perhaps it’s not surprising that game makers would rather focus on Middle-earth’s elves, orcs, and dragons. But, of course, not all games have to focus on action and excitement – enter Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game, a new cozy life sim in the vein of Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing that aims to celebrate hobbit life in all its sleepy glory.
Despite being the franchise that started it all for Nintendo, Donkey Kong has never been as meticulously managed as, say, Mario or Zelda. For decades, DK was largely entrusted to teams outside Nintendo’s core Japanese development structure, with the likes of Rare, Retro Studios, and the occasional third party offering their own varying spins on the franchise. That said, between a major role in the recent Super Mario Bros. movie and new Universal Studios attractions, it seems clear Nintendo is interested in returning Donkey Kong to true top-tier franchise status. As part of this, Nintendo is rolling out Donkey Kong Bananza, a new Switch 2 3D platformer from the EPD Tokyo team behind the likes of Super Mario Odyssey.
It’s been a while since Mario upgraded his wheels. To be fair, Mario Kart 8 is a pretty tough act to follow, selling over 75 million copies between its Wii U and Switch iterations, but with the long-awaited launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, the Mushroom Kingdom crew are once again hitting the asphalt in Mario Kart World.
While not a smash hit, the 2021 EA Originals release Lost in Random has earned a modest yet dedicated fanbase thanks to its memorable Tim-Burton-meets-Double-Fine setting and unique combat system that incorporates cards, dice rolls, and other board-gamey elements. In the years since its release, the main creative minds behind Lost in Random went their own way, recently releasing a rather charming little horror game called The Midnight Walk, while original Lost in Random developer Zoink (now merged with another studio and rebranded as Stormteller Games) have opted to take the series in a new direction.