Yooka-Laylee is a fun throwback to a bygone era of gaming, with more than enough charm, variety, and engaging challenges to make up for its shortcomings.
Angels with Scaly Wings generally overcomes its goofy setup and simplistic presentation to deliver a character-driven plot with some good surprises, making for a decent little diversion of a game.
1-2-Switch contains minigames that are both fun diversions and promising examples of the technology at work within the system’s Joy-Cons, but several duds, a lack of substance or progression, and an expensive asking price make it feel like something that would have been better suited as a pack-in title.
As nice as it is to see a long-dormant retro series return, Super Bomberman R's lack of creativity and unbalance issues result in it not feeling like the proper comeback it could have been.
Simplistic, unpolished, and lacking any sense of inspiration or effort, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Mega Battle will neither entice any new fans nor satisfy the nostalgic hopes of those familiar with the TV franchise’s brand of goofy action.
Shantae: Half-Genie Hero provides the same great sidescrolling action and charm of previous entries, though it also retains the series' awkward progression mechanics and suffers from a short length.
While the idea of a throwback to classic 16-bit era platformers has merit, Orange Adventure mostly squanders it with clunky controls and frustrating, archaic game and level design.
Paper Mario: Color Splash makes some mistakes that prevent it from being one of the iconic plumber’s best role-playing outings, but its level of creativity, wit, and overall charm is irresistible, resulting in a very entertaining time.
Owlboy packs a fantastic amount of retro charm and genuine heart, with wonderful and creative gameplay to back it up. This long-awaited indie darling may be one of the year's best.
King’s Quest: Chapter 5 – The Good Knight makes some notable stumbles, but old-school adventure game lovers will find a lot to like, and the later portions provide a satisfying end to Graham's journey.