Dreamlight Valley is 'Disney meets Animal Crossing', but there's more to it than that. With a healthy supply of quests on top of the usual foraging, crafting and house-building, there's a proper story here too for any players who want a goal to aim towards.
This is the fifth time Switch owners have been asked to pay at least $40 for little more than updated kits and rosters, and the fifth time we urge you not to reward such disrespect with your hard-earned money. FIFA 23 still plays a good game of football but so did all the other identical ones, so if you absolutely must have a football game on Switch, track down a cheap copy of FIFA 19-22.
The 70-odd holes have been meticulously designed, the shooting mechanic is wonderfully executed, and it nails that ‘one more go’ urge that only the best rogue-likes manage to accomplish.
While it takes a while to get going, Arcade Paradise is an outstanding celebration of the '90s arcade scene with a generous helping of fully playable retro love letters.
Two Point Campus takes its predecessor's lighthearted premise and expertly transfers it to a different environment. Its difficulty curve can be erratic andit has some bugs, but it's a laugh-filled time nonetheless.
Stray is a masterclass in environmental design, with one of the most engrossingly detailed game worlds we've explored. Like its protagonist it's a little on the short side, but what's here will stay with you for a long time. Essential.
Another wonderful retro compilation from Capcom. It's sorely lacking in supplementary behind-the-scenes content, and it's a shame it couldn't have just been a big DLC pack for the first Arcade Stadium, but what's here is a nice, varied selection of vintage coin-op titles.
Cuphead - The Delicious Last Course is a great little expansion that adds new life to one of the Switch's most entertaining games. It may be a tad on the short side but what's here is absolutely fantastic and it's reasonably priced to take its length into account. If you have the original, this is essential. If you don't, they both are.
Wreckfest is one of the more impressive Switch ports we've seen, taking a game that already had performance issues on more powerful hardware and delivering a relatively stable version with reasonable loading speeds and all its debris-flinging carnage fully intact. Handheld play is a little less visually acceptable, and the Switch tax rears its ugly head again, but just like the rough-and-ready roadsters in the game, we ultimately had a great time behind the wheel.
F1 22 is the best game in the series, but not by a distance. The improved handling and supercar challenges are cancelled out by the lack of a story mode and the superfluous new F1 Life mode, making for a game that gives as much as it takes away.
Three Hopes is one of the best musou spin-offs released to date, combining its tried-and-tested gameplay with a level of story depth that was missing in the first Fire Emblem Warriors. Its sheer scope may be a bit much for players simply looking for a hack-and-slash action game, though.
At its core Battle League is a brilliant arcade-style football game, offering fantastic multiplayer fun. However, the lack of single-player modes, the exploitable AI and the small launch roster mean solo players may find it lacking.
Nintendo Switch Sports really is a game of two halves. Offline the game is sorely lacking in features but may still be enough for 'casual' families looking for some simple fun. Solo players, however, will want to head online, which is where the game's progression system (and its real longevity) can be found.
Formula Retro Racing is far from a bad racing game. It's perfectly fine, it handles well enough and it does a good job of replicating the art style of the early '90s arcade era. But its performance issues on Switch and the frustrating AI behaviour means that it should only really be considered if you've absolutely rinsed everything to do in Sega Ages Virtua Racing and are looking for something else to scratch a similar itch.
When it all works like it should, The House of the Dead: Remake is a fun update of a Sega arcade classic. The performance can be janky and the controls clunky on its default settings, but if you're willing to put the time in to tweak them you should get something you're happier with. You shouldn't have to do that with a light gun shooter, though, and the fact you do has to go down as a failing on the game's part.
Slipstream's retro design feels a little by-the-numbers to us (its cool 2D/3D visual effect aside), but that's not to say it doesn't pull off the mechanics well. It shouldn't be the first game in your retro racing collection with the likes of Sega Ages Out Run and Horizon Chase Turbo already available, but if you've played through those and are itching for more then you could do a lot worse than this, especially given its modest price.
WRC 10 contains significantly more content than its already packed predecessor, and can provide extremely satisfying rally gameplay once you get used to its (accurately) unforgiving handling. This is let down, however, by the game's visuals, which are tolerable while docked but look awful when playing in handheld. As long as you can put up with how it looks, there should be enough here to keep you busy for months.
WWE 2K22 is the comeback fans of the series have been hoping for. While it still won't trouble WWF No Mercy for the 'best WWE game' title, it's the first time in many years that the series has delivered both in and out of the ring.
Chocobo GP is second only to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe when it comes to modern karting games. On the track it delivers brilliantly satisfying karting gameplay, and all at a beautifully smooth frame rate.
Triangle Strategy is an enormous tactical RPG with a solid turn-based battle system. Its epic plot and lengthy dialogue may be a bit overbearing, but anyone willing to take on an extremely detailed story will have a wealth to do here.