You may be able to clear the whole game loop in under 30 minutes, but we very much doubt you will play it once and never touch it again. It's quite simply brilliant, addictive and another must-have shmup you need to add to your growing digital arcade Switch collection.
Tengai is part of a distinguished niche shmup pantheon we like to refer to as the 'flying-person shooter'. It sits comfortably on top of other great examples of the genre such as Forgotten Worlds, Space Harrier, Lords of Thunder, Cho Aniki and Gynoug (aka Wings of Wor). It's not only one of the finest shmups developed by Psikyo during its active years, but an absurd luxury to have it at this very sensible price. It offers an arcade perfect, single- or two-player horizontal scrolling shmup that still manages to not only pack a punch and a challenge but make current age efforts looks dull by comparison.
Gotcha Racing 2nd is an incredible slice of generous retro racing content with hidden depths; one you can play for two minutes or two hours and always have incredible fun while at it.
Super Rocket Shootout is a bit short on single-player content, but what it offers for the lone rocket-strapping, shotgun-wielding player is a welcome addition to what is, at its core, an excellent party game package. As such, if you happen to have one to three friends available feel free to bump that final review score by one. The over-the-top insane action and laughs you will get with your friends more than justifies it.
Spartan is the agōgē of platforming video games: If you manage to clear it all the way you will be able to say you have conquered an extremely hard video game. However, and much like the Spartans of old, we doubt you will be having a very good time while at it.
Sol Divide tricks you into believing this is yet another Psikyo shmup, but it turns out to be something refreshingly different.
Gekido: Kintaro's Revenge is a love letter to the original Game Boy Advance game that many probably didn't notice was pushing the envelope as far as graphics, animation, music and presentation were expected on Nintendo's 32-bit handheld. As such and despite excellent added extras to this Switch package, it stubbornly restrains itself in the past and as is only truly recommended if you fell nostalgic towards the original game. Other players should by now have learned where to better pick your side-scrolling street fights on Switch's library. The quest for the ultimate side-scrolling Switch brawler continues…
Clustertruck stands as a metaphor for life itself. Where do these trucks come from? Where are these trucks going? None of that matters now that you can play this game anytime, anywhere free from the tyranny of non-portable entertainment centres. An exquisite balance of arcade first-person action and physics puzzle that leaves little but one single course of action when faced with a glimpse of its pure brilliant absurdity: Keep on (cluster)truckin', baby!
Bad Dudes offers up a nostalgic slice of some of the purest arcade fighting action you could find in the late 80s salons and despite not being mandatory it is certainly a more enjoyable experience if you bring a friend to the ninja onslaught.
Bad Dudes offers up a nostalgic slice of some of the purest arcade fighting action you could find in the late 80s salons and despite not being mandatory it is certainly a more enjoyable experience if you bring a friend to the ninja onslaught. Emulation wrapper kinks aside, the overall experience aged gracefully and it is certainly a great retro choice when you have some minutes to spare and just feel the need to take on an entire ninja army.
Danmaku Unlimited 3 is a brilliantly executed ‘best of' bullet hell shmup ideas wrapped up into a phenomenal package. It is the very best shmup money can buy in the whole Switch game library (plus it will cost you about half what it should!). Even if you don't particularity like shmups - or if Japanese bullet hells are not your particular favourite flavour within the genre - exposure to the insane lightshows provided by this game might just turn you into a die-hard fan. We can only fault the new king of Switch shmups with one particular ‘glitch': Every other shmup on the system now feels slow and dull in comparison.
Neonwall is a fresh new take on the old physics puzzler genre, immensely enjoyable thanks to the Joy-Cons IR tracking control mode. A beautiful package of endless neon glows and electronic music filled with some stiff concentration and reflex challenges makes it very easy for us to recommend this unusual yet deeply satisfying addition to Nintendo Switch's digital library.
Damascus Gear Operation Tokyo is a competent slice of mech/dungeon crawler action fest that will mostly serve those who love both genres well. Other gamers might want to look somewhere else for their Switch action fix. There is nothing wrong with the core game and we certainly had quite a bit of fun merrily boosting and slashing metal monstrosities into exploding debris of metal, but we would certainly would not mind slight more visual spectacle to go with the simulated reality of controlling a giant bipedal tank. Despite its age and not being able to shake off its mobile roots, it is (as of writing) the only option out there for mech game fans and those should definitely consider picking it up. We hope that the sequel Damascus Gear Operation Osaka expands on this game's solid core mechanics.
TurtlePop: Journey To Freedom is an interesting first exclusive Switch offering from Zengami, but it's sadly lacking focus. While its myriad genres aren't pulled off poorly, their amalgamation might just prove to be slightly too overwhelming for the targeted younger audience. The main reptile protagonists Bebo, Deephi, Slimmie, Smarts, Willis and Sparky sum up the game's overall feeling: jacks-of-all-trades yet masters of none. There are several superior individual options of all the genres represented in this game already out in Switch's library, but if do decide to take a plunge into this adventure, make sure you take someone along for the ride.
NORTH is not a video game, per se, at least not in the traditional sense. It is an interactive piece of electronic art one can choose to indulge in order to better understand the plight of refuges. As such the messages might escape those who are too young to understand the real-life parallels or those who are too old and with prejudice to care. If you like cyberpunk science fiction and don't mind experiencing simulated oppression, give this a shot. There is certainly nothing quite like it on the eShop and for the asking price and a mere moment of your time will give you modern society conundrums that will haunt you for years. The experience is so subjective we have no choice but to leave the score for each individual to settle on their own. The biggest tragedy here is not that number on the bottom of the review, but the fact that if this ‘interactive art piece' was released 100 years in the past or a century in the future, the lingering topics would and will surely still be completely relevant.
Paper Wars: Cannon Fodder Devastated is not a good game. It is not a bad game. It is a game. A harmless time-waster that will neither bring a revolution nor it will end the world by its quiet presence on the Switch eShop.
The Final Station is a unique journey among the current Switch library you will not want to skip on, especially if you managed to stay away from the original PC release up to this point. World building and plot is brilliantly delivered by numerous little details of which we have rarely seen developers explore with such efficiency to deliver so much tension and sense of urgency from the player. Despite linearity, when you do reach the end game you can immediately jump into the ‘The Only Traitor' DLC included in the Switch version, which will enable you to experience the same events under a new character. Make sure you don't miss out this train ride.
Radiation Island is a good survival horror premise that sadly never delivers.
If you played and enjoyed the previous versions, there are enough new additions to warrant a new visit while players meeting Watt and Volt for the first time will find this a rather pleasing package whose only really fault is the fact that is landing on a console with a library filled with several other exceptional platforming games.
Charming, challenging yet never frustrating to the levels of the designed to do so Super Meat Boy, this little triangle that could might just turn you into a geometry fan for life. Recommended from every angle.