Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon combines familiar tile-matching puzzle mechanics with rogue-lite elements to make one of the best puzzlers in years.
Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain is a solid collection of mental exercises, but the focus on competition loses the game some of its friendly, self-improvement vibe.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are comfortably nostalgic, with just enough modern tweaks to smooth over the rough edges.
A charming little photo adventure all about leaving home and discovering beauty.
Wario goes back to his roots with a great character platforming-inspired take on the microgames concept.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart looks and plays better than ever thanks to new-generation hardware, but it's still the same lovable, goofy series at heart.
Bravely Default 2 brings the throwback RPG series to Nintendo Switch, but the loss of modern quality-of-life features make this a decidedly grindy experience.
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury packages one of the best recent Mario games with a delightfully odd new experience.
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is Nintendo at its toyetic peak, with a magical AR effect that nonetheless requires some elbow grease to find the fun.
Evergate is a sweet-natured fable that plumbs the depths of its inventive mechanics with precision and grace.
The classic Castlevania homage is back, and it brings Bloodstained's delightful sense of weirdness with it.
Ninjala is a unique melee-focused multiplayer live game with tons of style and depth, but for now it's light on content and heavy on microtransactions.
Minecraft Dungeons is a welcoming dungeon-crawler entry point for newcomers and a lighthearted throwback for veterans.
Trials of Mana adds modern hooks to an obscure classic JRPG, but fluid combat is held back by some frustrating choices.
Nintendo Switch gets a mech game with depth in both combat and worldbuilding.
SolSeraph is a clear homage to ActRaiser, but some of the areas where it forges its own path put a damper on its potential.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night suffers on Nintendo Switch due to distracting technical issues.
Game Freak's ambitious puzzle-action platformer has a neat hook that never quite comes together.
An homage to the full breadth of Mega Man X's history shows that some parts of its legacy have aged much better than others.
An homage to the full breadth of Mega Man X's history shows that some parts of its legacy have aged much better than others.