Andrew Rockett
There are restaurant meals out there that cost less, are more satisfying, and somehow last longer than Guilt Battle Arena. Stay far away.
There are plenty of solid mobile ports on Switch–see Riptide GP: Renegade and Astro Duel Deluxe–but Jumping Joe & Friends is not one of them. The local multiplayer is the game's best feature, but ultimately the game is just way too bland.
Brakes Are For Losers is like a toy you find in a Happy Meal. A cheap distraction good for a few minutes of entertainment. It's not meant to be played on its own. Instead, it is at best the sort of game that you mess around with for ten minutes while cooling off between sessions with meatier games. BAFL is reasonably fun, but a novelty at best.
Negatives aside, Clusterpuck 99 is much less insufferable when experienced with a few friends, if only because any human who has ever touched a controller can play with more intelligence than the AI.
Ultimately, Knight Squad simply does not have the quality of gameplay to take full advantage of its impressive list of modes. A complete experience could have left a mark, but nobody will be knighting Knight Squad when all is said and done.
A great time with pointless constraints, Battlesloths takes a winning formula and shoots itself in the foot... again, and again, and again.
Promised free updates may redeem this title down the line with better modes and more carefully crafted arenas, but for now, clunky menus and long load times make an obstacle out of even setting up Brief Battles, and excessive stage hazards, wonky controls, and trite objectives mean that the prize for navigating those menus isn’t worth it.
Like many other eShop multiplayer titles, BATTLLOON is a decently fun, unique, and budget-friendly supplement to more complete multiplayer experiences like Super Smash Brothers Ultimate and Mario Kart 8. However, it is bested by many of its download-only peers–you are doing yourself a disservice if you pick up BATTLLOON before investigating alternatives like Ultimate Chicken Horse and Towerfall. Still, it is by no means a bad purchase, provided you are okay with a bare-bones but good time.
As a budget local multiplayer title, Circle of Sumo isn't a bad deal, but it's far from the best available on Switch. Gameplay is simple, easy to grasp, and pretty fun. The gamut of colorful, inventive stages go a long way in keeping the game fresh round after round. That said, Circle of Sumo is not something you'll play for more than a few minutes at a time. It wears thin pretty quickly, and the added minigames just aren't that fun. As a quick refresher between Grand Prix in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Circle of Sumo will serve well, but that's the height of its potential. As far as local multiplayer goes, you can do a lot better elsewhere on the Switch eShop, especially in a post-Ultimate world.
If not for light content and clunky online, Morphies Law would stand out on the Switch indie scene. Offline, the unique size-changing gameplay works very well and the available maps and modes are encouraging. The game will be much easier to recommend if online stability and more content are ever added via DLC in the future. In the meantime, though, if you have several Switch-owning friends who can get together for some download play, or if you just really want to run around with misshapen offline bots, then Morphies Law may be a worthy addition to your library.
If you buy Oh My Godheads, you will get an exciting local-multiplayer CTF game with a few tacked-on, lesser modes. There is not much to it outside of Capture the Head, and even that probably will not hold your attention for too long. Frankly, it is hard to recommend when party games like Ultimate Chicken Horse and Towerfall are available on Switch.
A decent game, but nothing groundbreaking, SkyScrappers is not among the eShop's best local multiplayer games.
While it is hard to recommend Varion over the rest of the Switch's fastly-improving local multiplayer catalog, you could certainly do much, much worse.
This is not something you will play for hours at a time. As a cheap, content-light package, it is most enjoyable in small doses. Still, Soccer Slammers definitely has a spot in any local multiplayer-oriented catalog. If you and your friends are looking for something immensely frantic and easy to pick up and play, then Soccer Slammers is a worthy addition to your library.
Pizza Titan Ultra is solid at best, frustrating at worst, and is overall just a bit above average. That's a shame because I had higher hopes for this title, but ultimately, I am not walking away too disappointed. If you find this title as intriguing as I did, it may still be worth a shot–just keep in mind that Pizza Titan Ultra is thin crust through and through.
Cattle Call moved a bit closer to greatness with The Alliance Alive, but they are still not quite there as one of the 3DS's last RPGs falls short.
This Switch port is non-offensive, but several of the coding and error window effects were definitely intended for PC. Still, ICEY is fine. If you are seeking a short, functional, and fundamentally different experience, then you will find a lot to love. If you want a traditional story, a long adventure, or lots of action-packed gameplay, then search elsewhere.
Ultimately, though, Trigger Witch is still a worthy venture on Nintendo Switch for fans of twin-stick shooters or for fans of The Legend of Zelda that are looking for something a little different. Should you dash into the game, you'll find fun combat, an enjoyable story, and a few great puzzles. The game's positives are more than enough to establish its presence as a solid entry in a growing population of Zelda-likes. Despite a few yawn-inducing puzzles and not enough early difficulty, Trigger Witch will certainly charm its way into the hearts of plenty of players.
It is unlikely to find a permanent spot in anyone’s local multiplayer rotation, but if you’re in the market for a unique, colorful game that does a whole lot with its conventions, Headsnatchers is a great choice.
Astro Bears enjoys a new competitive mode, new bears, and better presentation than its predecessor. It is a very simple game, and always has been, but it is appropriately priced and a fantastic local multiplayer experience to boot.