Slopecrashers embraces its arcade snowboarding identity with enthusiasm and charm. It's a game that understands its influences and target audience, delivering a colorful, silly, and engaging experience that thrives on multiplayer mayhem. While it doesn't reach the refined heights of the great arcade racers or snowboarding titles it takes cues from, it confidently delivers something unique in a space that doesn't see much attention anymore. At $17.99, it's a worthwhile pickup for players nostalgic for SSX, Snowboard Kids, or party-style racing games and one that delivers more than its surface-level whimsy might initially suggest. For all its quirks, Slopecrashers is a reminder that games can still be about pure, uncomplicated fun.
Hungry Meem is a unique, sometimes exhausting strategy simulation that blends chaos and charm in equal measure. It's the kind of game where watching your village slowly thrive feels satisfying, but getting there is a bumpy, often repetitive road. Between the Meems' antics, the overlapping progression systems, and the sheer weirdness of it all, there's a peculiar joy in trying to make everything work. It's not for everyone, but it might be exactly what you're looking for if you're craving something experimental, unpolished, and full of strange heart.
Ultimately, Day of the Shell is a compelling idea that doesn't fully realize its potential. It nails its core concept of accessibility and snappy tactics, but falters in the systems meant to support long-term engagement. For players seeking a bite-sized, brainy strategy game to play in short sessions, there's a lot to like here, but those hoping for deep progression, rich variety, or meaningful replayability may find themselves burning out quickly. It's not a bad game by any means; it's just one that feels like the first draft of something greater. With more content, balance tweaks, and expansion of its mechanics, it could become something special. As it stands, Day of the Shell is a promising and modest experience that is unique, but not unforgettable.
Death Relives is a strong idea wrapped in a conflicted execution. The mythological angle is compelling, the gameplay systems offer a clever survival loop, and the atmosphere occasionally hits unnerving highs, but the AI implementation, mechanical jank, and uneven design choices keep the game from reaching its full potential. As someone who values artistic integrity and thoughtful design, it's disheartening to see such a unique concept compromised by shortcuts that dilute rather than enhance the experience. Still, there's enough intrigue here for horror fans to chew on, especially those curious about games that experiment with form and format. Just know going in that you're not getting an Aztec horror masterpiece, but something messier, stranger, and far more divisive.
In a genre saturated with surface-level scares, Luto stands apart. It is a landmark psychological horror experience that is unafraid to be abstract, emotionally ambitious, and structurally inventive. For those willing to engage with its rhythm, its difficulty, and its solemnity, Luto offers one of the most hauntingly profound journeys in modern horror gaming. It is more than a spiritual successor to the horror classics it evokes. It is their evolution.
In the end, Somber Echoes succeeds in most of the areas that matter. It's a thoughtfully made Metroidvania with some standout mechanics, beautiful environments, and a solid gameplay loop. Its combat is serviceable, occasionally frustrating, but never fundamentally broken. Its story is intriguing, if emotionally distant. Its traversal and level design are its greatest strengths, occasionally held back by finicky controls and minor mechanical flaws. For fans of the genre, especially those who appreciate atmospheric worldbuilding and mythological themes, Somber Echoes offers a rewarding, compact experience that's worth the investment.
Klaus Lee – Thunderballs is a love letter to an era of gaming when skill and patience were the only ways forward, but it's delivered with a modern, smartly designed touch. It's tough, sometimes unfairly so, but it's also addictive, well-paced, and endlessly replayable thanks to its level creation tools. Whether you're blasting through the main campaign or diving into player-made deathtraps, the core mechanics remain solid, the humor stays sharp, and the satisfaction of threading the needle with your jetpack never gets old.
Ultimately, Against the Storm succeeds because it is full of confidence with its vision and it embraces its concept without hesitation or weak underdeveloped design choices. It trims the fat, focuses on the moment-to-moment thrill of problem-solving, and keeps you moving forward. It's thoughtful without being overbearing, rich without being bloated, and endlessly replayable without losing its sense of identity. Few games blend atmosphere, mechanics, and challenge this elegantly and fewer still feel this good on a handheld.
Rooftops & Alleys: The Parkour Game succeeds in creating a focused, technically demanding, and rewarding experience. It captures the adrenaline and freedom of real-world parkour while grounding it in a precise control scheme and performance-driven progression model. The result is a game that appeals to players who value mastery, fluid movement, and creative experimentation. It may not be for everyone, but for those who connect with its core principles, it offers a uniquely satisfying experience. It is a game about learning, control, and self-expression within movement. It's a bold, confident entry in a genre that's long overdue for a game this focused.
Star Overdrive isn't trying to be the next massive open-world blockbuster, but what it offers is focused, stylish, and incredibly fun. It captures a sense of movement and freedom that's hard to describe until you've flown across a massive dune, trick-boosted off a rock, and landed mid-swing into an enemy group. It's got bugs, some literal, some framerate related, but it also has soul which becomes clearly apparent as soon as you start playing. It knows what it wants to be and hits the mark with flair. If you like style forward games with movement based exploration, layered dungeons, and a keytar that hits like a truck, Star Overdrive is the perfect addition to your collection.
Overall, Breakout Beyond has a few notable flaws, mainly in its visual effects and paddle speed, but it remains a highly engaging and fun arcade experience. The level progression, unlockable content, and multiplayer modes add to its replayability, and the Switch's handheld mode makes it a perfect pick-up-and-play title. While the blinding flashes and overly fast paddle movement can be frustrating, the core gameplay is strong enough to keep you coming back for one more breakout attempt.
Shadow of the Orient is a perfect blend of nostalgia and modern action-platforming. The difficulty might scare off casual players, but for those who love a challenge, it's an incredibly rewarding experience. Whether you're in it for the gorgeous pixel art, the tight combat, or the speedrun challenges, there's something here to keep you hooked. It's not just a game, it's a journey into a beautifully crafted world where every battle won feels earned.
On Your Tail is a refreshing game in the mammoth sea of what you normally see out in the wild west of gaming. You can easily tell that On Your Tail is a well thought out game filled with purpose and ambition. The games' fully explored ideas and established implementation of its mechanics effortlessly sells you on its intentions. The great graphics, character designs, and other elements of the gameplay like going on dates, delivering mail, making phone calls, collecting artwork, solving riddles, and finding hidden star constellations create a game with a lot of merit. Sadly, the Switch version is just not worth anyone's time due to uncompromisable issues that completely halt your experience making this game frustratingly unsatisfying.
Path of Fury is a very active game that will give you a serious workout given that the game is all about patience and perseverance. You can't go into it randomly punching; you need to be accurate and agile. The game takes full advantage of large playing spaces since you need to turn around and fully extend your arms if you want to use the game's mechanics properly. When the game works, it works really well, with you feeling like a martial arts master. When the game doesn't work due to odd inconsistencies with character placement, it is discouraging and can feel like an idle endeavor. This arcade-like game is snappy and flows deftly and while this is just episode 1, there is plenty of content here to mess around with. If you are a fan of action flicks or old-school martial arts movies, then picking up Path of Fury – Episode 1: Tetsuo's Tower is a no brainer.
Tiny Terry's Turbo Trip is a very special game. The simple outline of the story is entertaining and the way the game goes about telling it with its jarring obtuse jokes is unique. The blank stares of the characters and chaotic manner of events create a creative and impactful experience. An unruly camera and dreadful framerate seem minuscule in the presence of superb and effective gameplay. Tiny Terry's Turbo Trip draws you in with its novelty and silliness, but holds you with its charm and joyous disposition, making this high-speed trip with the adorable Terry a noteworthy adventure that all should partake in.
I thoroughly enjoyed Undying although it feels like it is missing an extra layer of something unique to make it innovative. There are so many different gameplay mechanics that it feels more like busy work than actually playing the game to have fun, especially since the story and the combat are uninspired.
Big Helmet Heroes is a really fun game with a cool cartoon style. The action never lets up as you are either going to be involved in imaginative fights or undergoing puzzling platform trials. The game can prove to be quite the challenge on harder difficulties and playing with a buddy definitely proves to be more enjoyable and successful during strenuous moments.
Eternal Strands is a big game with some big guts. It's awesome that this small team can make a game that stands tall on its own against other big names from the industry. Eternal Strands is entertaining, clever, and spontaneous. The game's different mechanics fold nicely into each other and produce a grounded gameplay loop that is super addicting. Exploring the extensive and differing lands never gets tiring and the voice acting that guides you are magnificent. Climbing is clumsy, controlling your character is incongruous, and multiple art design choices reads wrong, but everything woven together fabricates a game that is meticulous and endearing.
Everything about this remaster is incredibly true to the original, so while it may look cleaner and more crispy than the previous versions, it still plays the same. The framerate is better, character models aren't as low res, and the game looks brighter overall. While sticking to the source material is good for a lot of reasons, it is also bad for other reasons. Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is a taxing game in a lot of different ways. The stiff controls are cumbersome and the game would feel a lot smoother if they were more snappy. Not only do unfair gameplay moments provide you with no challenge, but they also make the game incredibly boring to go through when you are losing in arbitrary ways. Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles has a decent amount of content and nonsensical entertainment with the co-op modes, but I find my lack of motivation to play this game disturbing.
Even though I love Donkey Kong, having the only games starring Donkey Kong released on the Switch being rereleases of older games is disappointing. Not only that, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD has the least amount of extra content to it compared to games like Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and Mario vs. Donkey Kong. That doesn't dismiss the fact that this game is extremely fun and still has a great amount of content. If you haven't played the Wii or 3DS version of Donkey Kong Country Returns, then the HD Switch version is a must-play as it is one of my favorites in the series, but returning fans might not care for the touch ups that much.