The game you're looking at right now is called Prehistorik Man and it's one of four old school games coming to the Nintendo Switch Online service on February 17. I bet you're wondering if it's worth playing. Well, of course it is. But you don't have to take my word for it, because today we're going to be looking at what classic magazines like Electronic Gaming Monthly, GamePro, Super Play and Die Hard Game Fan thought of all the games coming to the Nintendo Switch Online subscription. These include Doomsday Warrior, Psycho Dreams, Fire 'N Ice and the aforementioned Prehistorik Man, all of which we're going to talk about in this episode of The Nintendo Switch Online Review Crew.


We're first going to start with the month's only 8-bit game, Fire 'N Ice from Tecmo. First released in March 1993 in both the U.S. and Europe, this quirky side-scrolling puzzle game is actually the sequel to Solomon's Key, though you wouldn't know it by its Western name. The goal is to create blocks of ice in order to extinguish the flames in 100 diverse levels. You'll also need to use the platforms and pipes to avoid enemies and get the upper-hand, reminding me a lot of a more colorful version of Lode Runner.

When Electronic Gaming Monthly reviewed it in their 45th issue, they found it "repetitive and uneventful." Steve Harris complained that "while each puzzle was different, the idea didn't change." Sushi-X gave it the lowest score with a 6 out of 10, complaining that the puzzles were too easy. He also took the moment to kick the aging Nintendo Entertainment System, noting that "[Fire 'N Ice] is the type of game I expect to see on the NES. It seems that's all it can handle." With most editors visibly bored with the 8-bit generation, Fire 'N Ice averaged a so-so 7 out of 10 from EGM.

From the people that brought you 16-bit greats like Gaiares and the Valis series comes a one-on-one beat 'em up released in the wake of Street Fighter II. When intergalactic punks trash the neighborhood's cars and pollute the drinking water, it's up to the seven Doom Squad heavyweights to become the ultimate Doomsday Warrior and save the Earth.

As you probably already guessed, this is not one of the best-remembered Street Fighter II clones. The critics at the time were unmoved by the boring characters, limited backgrounds, ugly graphics and generic moves. GamePro gave it a 3 out of 5 and concluded that "Street Fighter II may be old news, but for head-to-head fighting, it's still tops. Doomsday Warrior is just an interesting prelim to the main event." Over at Nintendo Power, they liked the good animation but hated the inappropriate music. They summed it up this way: "Weird characters with unusual moves are featured in this Street Fighter II wannabe." With GamePro giving Doomsday Warrior a 3 out of 5 and Nintendo going slightly higher with a 3.5 out of 5, there's a good reason why you've probably never heard of this middle of the road fighting game.

Now here's something you don't see every day: A Super NES game that never hit the United States coming to the Nintendo Switch Online service. Psycho Dream first came out in December 1992 in Japan and was scheduled to come to America under the new name Dream Probe. Unfortunately, Renovation went through an extensive restructure in 1993, ultimately leading to the game being axed for the American audience.

In case you've never heard of it, Psycho Dream is basically a Valis clone that traps a young girl in a dream machine science project. Although it is only now coming to the U.S., Electronic Gaming Monthly still posted a review in their 46th issue and called it "too easy and repetitive" to be much fun. Martin notes that "the graphics are above average at times, but the overall look is thin. The main character is choppy and the power ups are unimpressive." Sushi-X complained that the action moves too slow and the entire game is plagued by flickers and slowdowns. Then again, GamePro ended up giving the game a 4.5 out of 5 and calling the action "hot and heavy," so who knows, maybe this long-overdue American release may actually be worth playing.

You might not expect it based on the name, but Prehistorik Man is not only the month's best-reviewed Nintendo Switch Online game, but it's also the newest. Released in January 1996, this was at the very tail end of the 16-bit generation. But even with the PlayStation and Saturn taking up most of the conversation, this little caveman hero from Titus forced the critics to take notice. In fact, the game was so good that it managed to be Electronic Gaming Monthly's Game of the Month in their 70th issue, beating out Ogre Battle, Fatal Fury Special and Knuckles Chaotix.

If you're surprised to hear that, then you're not alone. Ed Semrad put it bluntly: "I was really surprised by how much I liked this game. Not only does it sport some above average graphics, it plays really well, too. Not many games can hold my interest for long, but I had a good time with this one." Sushi-X was also surprised, raving that "Prehistorik Man really excels with a cool story, the ability to buy items and the fun gameplay." Although the game averaged an 8.9 from EGM, that's still slightly lower than what we saw from Die Hard Game Fan. Over there, Skid called the game an "8-meg wonder." "The developers of this premium platformer really know their way around the SNES development system." They raved that this is "a legendary platformer with a great sense of humor" and gave it an average score of 90 out of 100, easily making Prehistorik Man the best-reviewed retro game hitting the Nintendo Switch Online service on February 17.