Yasai Ninja is an undercooked mess of a dish, with ideas that weren't implemented well. The entire game seemed to be against the player, from the colour palette and fighting style, right down to the annoying camera and silly AI partner. Nothing seemed to work as it should, and even the characters played as if they were being held down by weights, resulting in their sluggishness. The response time between the button press, and the resulting action was atrocious, and the story was so generic that there was no motivation to continue playing just to see how it would pan out. This title had gotten one thing right, however: the onion will make the tears pour, but for all the wrong reasons.
Tiny Racer is an extremely hard title to recommend to anyone. The non-contact racing is fine, and if there was an option in the settings to complete races without bumping into other cars or getting flung off the course by a ramp, then this might have had more going for it. Heck, even if it threw the racing out the window, and instead became a stunt-game that focused on accruing points for performing crazy and whimsical stunts, this would've been a more enjoyable experience - but alas, Tiny Racer takes the best parts of 'yeeting' toy cars in a bedroom, and turns it into a highly frustrating digital experience.
With no shortage of zombie games to purchase or browse through in the store, it's hard to understand what void Yet Another Zombie Defense HD is trying to fill. It's a top-down twin-stick shooter that doubles as a base-defence zombie game... however it doesn't do anything to push the boundaries that other titles have already established. It is fun to play in short bursts, and its longevity is only extended by finding some local or online people to play with, but even still, the many shortcomings are impossible to ignore. While Yet Another Zombie Defense HD didn't have to bring anything new to the table, it still needed to be a zombie-stew worth eating and unfortunately, despite having some potential, it's still missing quite a few ingredients to make this experience worth anyone's while.
The controls are an absolute mess and it's a shame, as Surgeon Simulator CPR is a funny title that is great entertainment for team of friends. While the aim is to "save" patients, doing the opposite is what eventuates most of the time thanks to some unintentional, but humorous moments. With a better control scheme, more responsive controls, and less glitches, Surgeon Simulator CPR would be an easier title to recommend on the Switch. However, beyond the poor controls, there is some enjoyment to be found here for those who don't take these too seriously.
For cycling purists who just want a game to race in, this is fine, but its issues will test even those with a lot of patience.
Alteric had the potential to be a good alternative to the difficult platforming genre. However, the various issues that rise up, from "sliding" off during intricate platforming sections, to respawning on top of a boss for another immediate death, can be very annoying.
While it has all the makings of a long-lasting space adventure, Morphite lacks any real emotion in the story it tries to tell, while lacking the denizens to populate the various planets found within. Everything feels quite empty and lifeless, made further haunting by Myrah's need to scan everything on the planet while breaking into temples to steal the rare Morphites that turn out to be…not so rare. This feels more like a concept piece for a brand new title, and it's hard to justify this as a purchase for what it offers currently. The story is bland, the procedural worlds are even blander, and the side-quests are completely broken and poorly maintained.
This is a mess of broken mechanics that has a lot of potential, but unfortunately potential is all that it has going for it.
Manual Samuel sounded great on paper, with the weird and wacky control scheme promising a tonne of potential for some fun gameplay elements. Unfortunately, the misses really drag down the overall tone. From the unresponsiveness of some button presses, to the cumbersome deaths caused by forgetting to breathe out while trying to control a manual car, to the humour-filled moments that seem to forget the humour - it just seems like a frustrating experience from beginning to end. The story is also weird, with each character playing a caricature of a usual stereotype found in other stories, but they do not seem to come together well at all. The only thing that does flow from scene to scene is the aggravating control scheme, coupled with the equally as annoying characters, and, as such, Manual Samuel is a tough game to sell.
The art style is beautiful and it makes for some nice shots of the locations, but other than that, there is really no need to delve into this endless-platformer.
Armikrog looks amazing, with the stop-motion claymation performed to perfection. However, that is as good as it gets, with clunky gameplay mechanics and the significant glitches found that are the true enemy for Tommynaut and Beak-Beak. This is the equivalent to being thrown into the deep end of a swimming pool without learning how to swim, and then trying to select the nearby life ring, only to discover that only the dog can select that option for some illogical reason. Armikrog feels like an unfinished game that was rushed out the door, with any form of character progression or story left on the cutting room floor. While it was created with good intentions behind it, Armikrog only serves as a sad reminder of just how great The Neverhood truly was, and that it may never be successfully replicated.
Super Toy Cars feels like a preview build of a game that is not yet ready for home release.
Nightmare Boy is a fun experience for a few hours, and a lot of the glaring design choices around the gameplay can be overlooked or ignored for the most part. While Billy may feel heavy to control, he does almost always make it to the platforms, while the fighting systems are quite basic, but it allows for the focus to be on the exploration side of things instead. In terms of the aesthetic of the various areas as well, The Vanir Project has done a terrific job in stylising the different sections and making every area feel fresh and new, without getting bogged down with repetitive enemies. While the platforming-based abilities work well, the combat-based abilities leave a lot to be desired, as they lack any flexibility within the combat arena, and even when those abilities are fired off, they do little damage to be worth its while compared to the base attacks. While this can be replayed, there's very little incentive to do so.
Tour de France 2020 is an improvement over its 2019 counterpart, thanks to the improved loading screen times, and reduced crashes that may take place. However, by and large it is still pretty much the same game otherwise, with minimal changes or quality-of-life features to make the experience more engaging. For those who love the sport of cycling, then this may fill in the time until the real-life racing starts up again - however for those with no interest in the sport, then it may be a tough task for Tour de France 2020 to latch newcomers into the title. The ingredients for a really engaging micro-managed cycling-simulator is here, but it is let down by the AI.
Bouncy Bullets is fun in short-bursts but it won't last any longer than a couple of hours and it probably won't be an experience worth going back to after the initial run, due to its lack of depth.
Vambrace: Cold Soul is not bad, but it quickly becomes a mindless, repetitive, grinding slog of the same battles that require very little strategy, not to mention the lack of any sort of enemy variety.
Pumped BMX Pro is a fun BMX platformer - when it wants to be. But, on the Xbox version anyway, the right-stick for tricks is a temperamental control that only sometimes performs the tricks, despite being held in the correct direction. Plus, the "pump" system is extremely specific with when to use it, and Pumped BMX Pro takes no prisoners in miss-timed presses that will basically cause the rider to fail the stage. But once these kinks are worked out, this is definitely a BMX title worth checking out for those who don't want to invest in a heavy sim-based game, and opt for the more arcade-styled versions instead.
It looks like 2019, but it plays like 1991. Despite the fact that Gods Remastered is a good-looking re-skin of an older title, the most important factor in any title is the gameplay.
Ironically, by trying to bring to light all the issues plaguing video games in recent times, Shadow of Loot Box is not an overall enjoyable game to play because, as the novelty wears off quickly. Luckily, this is a two-hour experience, so at least it ends quite quickly. The loot box enemies are funny at first; but they are bullet sponges that get quite annoying, especially as weapon-upgrades do little to destroy them quicker. While platform elements and open-world stages creep in, the control mechanics are still clunky enough to detract from the larger issues that Shadow of Loot Box tries to commentate on.
While Race Arcade does a good job of recreating the arcade racing style of old, with the top-down fixed camera and basic vehicle and track set-ups, as well as featuring time trials and local multiplayer, it is otherwise an uninspiring experience. Three of the six vehicles are worth racing due to their ease of use, especially against the AI, while the other three, being the sportscar, tractor, and UFO, are not worth bothering with at all because of how clunky and poor-functioning they are on the track. Race Arcade will also fail to set a party alight due to how one-dimensional the mechanic of racing seems to be. While the simple gameplay lends itself well to allowing for newcomers to jump in and adapt quickly, it also robs it of an immersive experience.