Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel is a bit of a rough outing for those who didn't play it back on the Super NES and Genesis, but the port makes it a lot more accessible. The extra features menu looks a bit plain and could have been done better (especially the instruction manual), and if you plan to play without utilizing save states or the rewind feature you'll be in for a rough time. If you're looking for a good challenge and don't want to shell out a bunch of money for a physical copy of the originals, six dollars makes it more than worth it to pick this one up.
Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland is a fun little game based on the classic Nicktoon, but unfortunately it's a little too short and too easy for the price. The ability to swap between the four main babies and each having their own strengths and weaknesses is nice, plus the graphics and audio are pretty spot on from what Klasky Csupó gave us over three decades ago. However, the high price point for a rather easy game that can be completed in under ninety minutes will likely be a bit of a turnoff for a lot of people. If you're able to wait for it to go on sale, it's definitely worth checking out.
DROS is a fun game but it can be a bit too easy at times. That combined with there not being much reason outside of in-game lore to get all of the optional goals might turn some people off. However, the stages aren't incredibly long and the game is one that can be enjoyed in spurts, plus it can be a challenge to collect everything there is to find, allowing for some fair replay value.
Rainbow Cotton is a fun arcade-style shooter, but it has a couple of flaws. While the game plays pretty well and I did enjoy my time with it, the lack of any information on even the basics of the game's mechanics as well as it sometimes being hard to see what Cotton's shooting at can make the game a bit more difficult than it should be, even on the easiest of difficulty settings. It's still an enjoyable game, but a few additions could have made it even better.
Kudzu is a fun outing inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening but it's not perfect. While the adventuring and puzzle solving are well done, the combat can be a bit clunky between the weird knockback when you get hit, the hitboxes themselves being a bit inconsistent when sprites overlap, and the enemies resetting to their spawn points when you pause, including some bosses. Still, Kudzu is definitely worth checking out on the Switch if you're a fan of these kinds of games.
Momodora: Moonlit Farewell doesn't do anything groundbreaking for Metroidvanias, but it really doesn't need to. The art style and music suit the game well given the story and the various sigils, relics, and companions to collect, along with health and magic upgrades, give you plenty of ways to customize your playstyle, though they can make things a bit easier than it seem like they should. If you enjoyed Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight or just have a bit of a Metroidvania itch, Momodora: Moonlit Farewell can definitely scratch it for a while.
TEVI is an enjoyable game with a great art style, fun dialogue, and a combat system that can somehow be both simple and complex at the same time. The Metroidvania-style gameplay isn't quite as strict as others in the genre and most of the bullet hell scenarios take place during the boss fights which require a good amount of patience and strategy. If you enjoy the demo, I definitely recommend checking out the full version.
I enjoyed Astral Ascent when it was in Early Access and I still enjoy it after it's official release. Multiple characters, spells, and abilities along with procedurally generated areas and some fun and interesting boss fights against the Zodiacs give Astral Ascent plenty of replayability. If these kinds of games are up your alley, you'll get plenty of gameplay out of Astral Ascent.
Slay the Princess is my first visual novel in my roughly thirty-five years as a gamer and I enjoyed every minute of it. With so many dialogue options to choose from, no two runs of the story are the same, and even when you get to the story's finale there are still a few different ways it can ultimately end. The voice acting and soundtrack ties everything together beautifully and for someone who never got into visual novels, I can't recommend this one enough. If you're looking for a psychological horror story with quite a bit of comedic dialogue thrown in, then definitely prepare to Slay the Princess…that kind of came out weird.
Gravity Oddity is a roguelike game that plays differently than other games in its genre. Instead of improving yourself every time you die, you actually improve yourself with every completed run, unlocking new game modes and mods. While each run isn't necessarily that long once you know what you're doing, getting the hang of the controls and mechanics can be a real challenge, especially when a lot is happening on screen. Once you can master that though, you'll find a game with a lot of customization, challenge, and replayability that's good to play in small bursts of time. Strap on your gravity boots, save your roommate, and pay your rent.
30XX is a marked improvement over its predecessor. Beyond the permadeath Standard Mode, you can check out Mega Mode if you'd rather choose your level order and can also create and upload your own levels or chunks of levels. The ability to play as either Nina or Ace and can switch between runs in Standard mode, or play co-op, means you can choose whoever better suits your playstyle. Make no mistake though - even if you're a fan of Mega Man (specifically Mega Man X) you'll still find plenty of challenges as you make your way through, but for it's a challenge I definitely recommend checking out.
Master Detective Archives: Rain Code is a great game that really goes deep into each of its cases to prove who the real culprit is, sometimes to a fault. The Mystery Labyrinths can tend to go on for a bit despite knowing who the real culprit is halfway through and Shinigami's sense of humor can get a tad annoying at times. It also doesn't help that after going through a few hours of how the crime was committed, you then basically get to relive the entire crime two more times which at that point just feels like the game is padding itself. Overall though, if you're up for solving some mysteries with a purple ghost sidekick, Master Detective Archives: Rain Code is definitely worth checking out.
Nocturnal may seem short on length but is enjoyable throughout and doesn't seem to overstay its welcome. The "light your sword on fire" mechanic to reveal puzzle clues and help defeat enemies shrouded in the mist is unique and helps the game flow smoothly. While it can be a bit annoying to miss some lore collectibles or extra ashes to help you get to that next perk upgrade since you can't backtrack after certain points, it does make for an interesting risk vs. reward scenario: do you want to just press ahead or take the chance against the mist and learn more about the game's lore?
Hunt the Night requires a lot of skill and a lot of patience, but becomes more enjoyable once you learn how everything works. Everything looks, sounds, and controls great, and you'll definitely begin to feel the challenge even in the opening areas of the game.
If you're into Metroidvanias, Elderand is a fantastic entry for the genre.
Blacktail is a great game with some minor flaws here and there, but nothing that really takes away from the experience. The morality mechanics do a great job at shaping your abilities and what you're able to do and the storytelling is pretty well done. If you're not great at survival games you might struggle a bit with the game's resource management, especially since your bow and arrows are your only physical weapons. Overall though, as long as you remember that survival is priority one and firing arrows at everything in sight is priority zero, you should still have an enjoyable time with Blacktail.
Astlibra Revision can be a bit grindy at times and has a lot of dialogue, even for an action RPG, but I'd be remiss if didn't say this is one of my favorite games I've played recently. The game looks and feels like you're playing an anime (complete with intro sequence at the start of each chapter) and the music is really hard not to rock out to. If you're into action RPGs or just want to give this a shot, you can check out the demo before hand to get an idea how mostly everything works. Once you're ready to dive into the full game, there's not much more to say but enjoy.
Knights and Guns takes arcade-style shooters like Buster Brothers and adds a few things to make it unique. I can understand some people getting bored by the repetitiveness of the game and if you're looking for something that majorly shakes up the genre, you likely won't find it here. What you will find is a simple always-firing-upward shooter that lets you shoot monsters with several types of weapons, a campaign where you can take multiple paths to get to your final destination, and the ability to bring a friend along for the ride. For ten dollars, I'd say that's a pretty solid deal.
XEL looks great on the surface, but unfortunately it has too many bugs and technical issues to warrant recommending it to anyone. The framerate drops and slow-loading zone transitions alone can cause some frustrations, but add in an uncontrollable camera that is overly distant from the action, difficult to detect enemies, and terrain that is easy to get stuck to - forcing you to reload from your last save point, and you have a game that is near unplayable in its current state. Patches may resolve these issues, but as of right now XEL is too frustrating to fully enjoy.
Wonder Boy Collection may be a bit short on the extras, but the four games included still make for a very solid collection. Wonder Boy and Wonder Boy in Monster Land are great for arcade gamers and the options let you tweak things to make the games easier or harder to suit your skill level. Meanwhile, Wonder Boy in Monster World and Monster World IV are great for console gamers, offering very fluid controls and a more relaxing style of gameplay where you're not rushed by a timer wanting to devour your quarters. Whether you're a fan of the series or just stepping in for the first time, Wonder Boy Collection is bound to have at least one or two games that everyone can enjoy.