You can do pretty much whatever you want, whether it's play every game with your favorite team, sim seasons and be a manager, invent your own team, bring in legends to the modern NBA, or play through cinematic stories. It's a lot to take in and sift through, but if you have a passing affinity for basketball, a mode is likely here for you. NBA 2K19 is a top-tier sports game, even on the Switch. It's just a shame the microtransactions are ever present.
The fun here makes for a good time, but I can't help but wish it was backed up by the actual soundtracks from the games it was referencing instead of chiptune artists calling back to better songs.
My time with Broforce followed an arc of first loving the concept, then being exhausted by it before coming back around and loving the blend of nonsense bro jokes and amusing gunplay and levels. This all works best with a bros playing locally, but even if you're playing solo (brolo?), Broforce is still a fun romp.
While the difficulty and lack of hand holding might hold it back for some, Hyper Light Drifter is an alluring and contemplative 2D Zelda-esque experience. It's so easy to get lost in this world and stumble upon new paths and items to make your exploration justified. Putting in the time to learn the intricacies of this mysterious game is worthwhile because when Hyper Light Drifter all comes together, it's poetic and brilliant.
On top of that, it layers on an onslaught of laudatory elements, whether it's a winning, humorous tone, the excellent linear level design, or the marvels of the late-game exploration. When I first sat down with The Messenger, I thought it'd be hard for it to live up to my brilliant, childhood memories of Ninja Gaiden on NES. It didn't just meet those expectations, it annihilated them. The Messenger is a straight-up brilliant addition to the Switch and if you have any affinity for platformers of nearly any shape or size, go play it right this second.
Bad North is, broadly speaking, a hard game to recommend even if I came out the other side enjoying it. The style and thoughtful minimalist reworking of the real-time strategy game is exemplary, but the unrelenting back half of the roguelike adventure can sour a good time. I can wholeheartedly recommend Bad North if you fall into either of these camps: someone who's into a novel RTS twist on the good old-fashioned hard-as-hell roguelike or someone who can chill out to a brutal yet serene RTS that has some rough edges.
Kero Blaster is lighter fare, but the well-thought-out weapon balancing and fine-tuned platforming make it an amusing little journey. If you crave more gameplay and challenge, harder modes await, but even if you were to just play through the short initial story, Kero Blaster is still a game worth checking out.
Treadnauts has a lot to like about it, but the narrow focus on local multiplayer makes it a bit of a one-trick pony. On one hand, sitting down with three others to play is a blast, but on the other, it wears thin by yourself and doesn't offer anything other than a harder-skewing time-trial target shooting mode. Get this one for your next party, but maybe don't get it when you're home alone.
Minit might not last that long, but it is a memorable experience that cuts out fluff and just delivers clever puzzles and concepts. You might not spend a lot of time with it, but playing through it once is as insightful a meditation on 2D Zelda-style gameplay as any game multiple times its length.
Okami is as polished as a Zelda-like experience as they come and the Switch port is close to its best realization. If you've played it through before, there's nothing new here for you other than the soft warmness of a pleasant visual presentation and a smartly made adventure that stands up to the test of time. Okami HD is wonderful.
Not since Spelunky have I been so completely taken by the play and craftsmanship of this style of game. Every run is engrossing and fun and when I die, the only thought rushing through my brain is to start over and try again, pushing as far past my previous run as I can. This is a tremendous newcomer to the Switch indie scene and as long as you're up for a challenge, Dead Cells is spectacular.
Ska Studios smartly transformed the core concepts of a Souls game and turned it into a side-scrolling action game with an ample amount of Metroidvania influence. The result is tough as nails, but doable with perseverance and gumption. Salt and Sanctuary is not for the faint of heart, but it's a journey worth suffering through for those who think they are worthy.
This vibrant, gorgeously animated tale feels as alive as the top live-action fantasy worlds, even more so with the knockout Austin Wintory soundtrack. The battle system reaches a rewarding crescendo and the story hits a lot of excellent beats as it hurtles towards its thrilling conclusion. From the opening moments of the first game to the finale of the third, this is a trilogy worth playing and this is a great close to an excellent narrative-driven turn-based tactics game.
While the camera and a few other nagging issues can make things vexing at times, Pool Panic shines past the mild blemishes as it's a dazzling display of artistic buffoonery. It's hard to recommend for people that have to get the high score or complete every optional challenge, but if you just want to sit back and roll through a world with oodles of inventiveness and creativity, this is an acid trip worth taking.
Sausage Sports Club is a weird, ridiculous, and absurd game that is much better being treated as a playful jaunt than a deep experience. Keep it around for parties where the concept of sausage-shaped animals hitting each other would be a good fit, or maybe it's the kind of thing that is just fun to romp around in by yourself or with a friend or two. Sausage Sports Club is delightful in its silliness and makes up for the slapdash nature with its charm.
While Super Volley Blast is a local multiplayer game to its core, it's a nicely crafted one that also has enough of an attempt at a single-player story to be entertaining there as well. This is a good arcade sports experience and is very much worth checking out if you want some good Switch multiplayer escapades.
Fill-a-Pix is disappointing even if Lightwood Games brings its puzzle game-making competency to it. It's packed with content, but it's hard to really care to do more of these slow, painstaking, and weirdly easy puzzles. I'd much rather dive back into Pic-a-Pix to play any new DLC they put out for it. In lieu of Fill-a-Pix, go buy Pic-a-Pix Deluxe.
The end result might not be the modern classic so many hoped for, but Octopath Traveler is an excellent RPG that's only major sin is a loose story structure.
Sonic Mania Plus took a well-made game and made it even better, with two interesting new characters and remixed levels. The new content seems a little more geared for the superfan rather than the newcomer, which at the end of the day, is totally okay because whether you bought Mania last year or you're only just getting to it now, it is still worth checking out. It still feels very weird to say that I like playing as Ray more than playing as Sonic because it's so much fun flying around levels as a flying squirrel.
If you find yourself with friends and family down to play some wacky riffs on Pong, this is a masterpiece, but if your playtime on Switch is mostly by your lonesome, this is a more limited and short romp, though even in that brevity, SpiritSphere is excellent.