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.
As long as the online keeps running well, Mario Tennis Aces will be worth revisiting. I still have my concerns of the new mechanics being a little too focused on the ability to block, but Mario's grand sports return has more than enough good in it to make up for smaller miscues like that. This is an encouraging return to form for Camelot.
For what it is, Hexologic is a pleasant experience. I always feel weird discussing price in reviews, but since this game launched at $2.99 on Switch, expectations of what it should be need to be adjusted accordingly. At $3, Hexologic is a light, worthwhile experience. It's not going to surprise you with oodles of content, but it's a great foundation for a much deeper and longer lasting puzzler.
The music is positively sublime especially when paired with the gorgeous art and animation. If you're craving a good fantasy story and are down for some fun tactical turn-based fare, this series is one to follow through on. The finale can't come soon enough even if the battles and story segments along the way might thin the party in tragic ways.
Soccer Slammers is an amusing multiplayer game that isn't really worth checking out unless you have others to play it with. It might not live up to the titans of soccer video game history, but it'll do as a nice compliment to FIFA, especially for the less technical crowd.
Legendary Eleven just kind of feels and looks like a fuzzy drawing of EA's FIFA games. It's passable at best, but is off enough to not be worthwhile if you're seeking out some good old-fashioned arcadey soccer on your Switch. The only hope for Legendary Eleven is that developer Eclipse Games is going to update it over time, but as long as the base feels this raw and frustrating, I can't recommend it.
This offbeat and peculiar puzzle game takes a ridiculous concept and manages to shape it into a shockingly deep, balanced, and varied low-key masterpiece. I was looking forward to checking this game out since it was shown off, but I never expected it to be this good. Don't sleep on Sushi Striker, but be mindful that you'll probably really want to eat sushi after playing it for a while.
I never knew I wanted a bullet-less shoot-'em-up that was dripping with rhythm game style, but that's exactly what Just Shapes & Beats is. It's a thoroughly unique game with a myriad of options that can be played in a variety of ways. It's awesome.
Treating this game like a super-serious RPG is the wrong way to go about it, as that's where the holes start to emerge, whether it's the middling combat or the mildly annoying quest and item management troubles. This is a comedy, pure and simple, and thankfully it's one that's clever and funny in a way that makes up for any lesser gameplay segments. It's a great chaser between the ample supply of serious games out there, especially if you have Stupid Walking turned on.
On their own, the 12 games in this collection might not be worth it to most people outside of series fans, but the full Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection is a package of interesting past significance. It's the kind of thing that could be used in the future to explain the first decade of the series. Even if you would inevitably get thrashed taking this game online, this collection's overall production values and ease of use make it something that can be toyed with and enjoyed even if you can barely Hadouken. Outside of the lack of a good arcade stick option on Switch and rough online play, if you want to play some old Street Fighter games, this is likely the best option out there and should be for a long time.
Yoku's Island Express is far from bad. It has great ideas, a very good soundtrack, and competent gameplay. But while there's not too much actively wrong with it, it doesn't do anything exceptionally well either. It'll do.