If you haven't dabbled in any of the other Capcom collections, maybe it's worth seeing the wider assortment of genres here. Strider (in the second pack) and Progear (in the third pack) are the two clear standouts to me, especially since they aren't also available in another more fully featured package on the platform. I hope Capcom builds out Capcom Arcade Stadium more, because at the very least, it's a really cool place to mess around with different arcade cabinets.
Unless you're extremely against the principle of free-to-play games, Pokémon Café Mix is a delightful little puzzle game with some neat ideas and an adorable visual presentation. It's a gentle game for tough times.
It's rough around the edges, specifically in the ridiculous faux-bad-ass story and presentation coupled with the restrictions on local multiplayer. The actual shooting has enough there that could make it a fun multiplayer game, but with so much of it hinging on the online play, I can't draw a total conclusion. I hope the weapon customization and upgrading can gel well with online multiplayer so that way Rogue Corps can transcend its issues and be a boisterous and enjoyable action game.
I look forward to the other modes, which an earlier datamine hinted at might be some sort of team-based mode, because those should hopefully enrich Tetris 99 even more as an offline experience. If you're not a Nintendo Switch Online subscriber, I can only recommend this if you're desperate for the Tetris 99 experience against computers. There are better, fuller Tetris games out there - even Puyo Puyo Tetris is a fuller experience (and comes with a whole lot more).
As a single-player experience, Tri Force Heroes has its moments but playing through it solo is just a stark reminder of the game's multiplayer focus. At its best, single-player can be nice when you're trying to lock down a specific material for an outfit. But, if you're planning on getting Tri Force Heroes and playing it by your lonesome, I don't recommend it.
Bounty Battle is a disappointment from start to finish. It completely squanders a sincerely impressive character roster with a mixture of convoluted gameplay and poor technical performance. If you're looking for indie Smash Bros., you're better off grabbing the Undertale and Cuphead costumes in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and making the Shovel Knight Assist Trophy the only item.
Don't take yourself out with this crowd. For unenjoyable baseball video games, maybe it should be one, two, three strikes, you're out. I don't care if it ever gets back.
I'm aware that Carnival Games doesn't need my approval, but even with an open mind, I came away disappointed. I will always think fondly of my time with Wii-era party games and mini-game collections, but the Carnival Games revival will not be my preferred method of reliving that charming and gimmicky time period. Maybe this was a series worth leaving buried.
A modest Kickstarter success, this was never pitched to be a massive, huge game. Even still, it's not something I'd recommend to the majority of people. Unless you're really into the idea of a kaiju dating sim that is actually just a set of trial-and-error multiple choice quizzes with nice animation, there's no reason to take Gigachu on a world tour of destructive dates.
Princess Maker might be a series worth keeping an eye on, but Go! Go! Princess is one to avoid. The only positives are aspects it lifts from the mainline games, yet they're poorly implemented here. This digital board game works best as a solo experience, but if you're playing it that way, you might as well just get Princess Maker 3.
I admire Solo: Islands of the Heart for its ambition, but virtually every aspect of the game falls short of the noble goals of making an introspective puzzle game centered on love and relationships. The narrative is limited and mildly antagonistic, the block puzzle gameplay transforms into a disaster once the magic staff is introduced, and the serenity of the islands and graphics are dragged down by a middling port to Switch. If you really want someone to question your decisions on love, go see a therapist. This isn't the game for that.
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.
A whimsical bird-focused take on skateboarding seemed delightful, but in execution, frustration dominated my playtime, whether it was struggling to find missions or battling with the loose controls. Charm is the saving grace that led to me having short-lived enjoyment. Overall, SkateBird is way more reminiscent of the janky but sometimes enjoyable games that came out in the wake of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater's success than the original product itself.
The idea of Trenga Unlimited seems neat at face value, as it twists the concept of a 3D Tetris game. While it’s certainly cute, the game never meaningfully clicked with me and after wrapping up the short story mode and spending time with the multiplayer and survival modes, I don’t know if more content could salvage the underlying mechanics.
Ichidant-R comes as a gigantic bummer despite being a super neat and novel game that I never knew about before this release. The mini-games are enjoyable and the aesthetics are neat, but the fact that the Mega Drive options, including an RPG-lite mode and a multiplayer board game, are completely in Japanese renders those enticing options as non-starters. Unless you're looking for a reason to try to learn some Japanese, this is hard to recommend, even if the basic arcade mode (that's actually in English) is enjoyable.
I desperately want to love Treasure Stack, but as it is right now, it's a colorful sketch of a video game at best. Simply, there just isn't much of anything to do and a frustrating interface and a seemingly absent online landscape (including crossplay with Xbox One and PC) makes the future for this heavily online-focused game look bleak. Maybe someday this could be a richer, fuller experience, but it isn't right now.
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.
It's unfortunately bogged down by a dearth of single-player material and ultimately, this game is doomed by the fact that it stakes so much in online play that doesn't run well. If the online was workable, Brawlout would be much better. As it stands, it's not, and this is a highly flawed experience.
The arcade focus is fine, but this doesn't coalesce into a long-lasting, memorable experience. It treads mostly on its raunchiness and doesn't have the substance to match its gross style. Even on a system without Madden, Mutant Football League is too rough around the edges to be worthwhile.
If you can make hay out of the physics and not run into the maddening frustration that dominated my playtime, then Pumped BMX Pro might just stick the landing. But if you want something that's more freeing and interesting, you're better off checking out any one of the other similar games hitting Switch in 2019.