Resident Evil Revelations Collection bundles two of the better entries in the long-running survival horror series. The first game is hit-or-miss but the sequel is legitimately great, and the added portability and motion controls make the Switch port the definitive versions of these two games.
Pix the Cat remixes classic arcade concepts into an addictive new concoction of high scores and vivid art and sound. It has many similarities to Pac-Man Championship edition but definitely possesses its own style and gameplay quirks. At $10 it's a real bargain.
Child of Light is an artist's RPG through and through. Combat is more thoughtful than intimidating, the story is at once archetypal and clever, and the game's visual and auditory flare is truly something to behold.
Adventures of Pip is a solid platformer with a clever premise. Those two aspects combine to make a game that is deceptively simple, charming and memorable.
Splatoon has a huge amount of potential wrapped in an addictively bizarre visual style. That said both the solo and multiplayer aspects are relatively simple and have a lot of room to grow with DLC and updates. Hopefully Splatoon will get better with age but for now its inky competitive action should keep you busy for a month or two.
Super Mario Maker is tricky to review and score. It's a heck of a first effort from Nintendo when it comes to level editors, with a shockingly deep number of options. However its few limitations are puzzling, and its time-based content gating makes it very slow to start creating.
System Shock Enhanced Edition is clunky, confusing and still absolutely brilliant. Night Dive has done impressive work to make this game playable on modern hardware, but the game still has a steep learning curve. A complicated and chilling experience await those who dare to enter System Shock.
Typoman is a challenging, if at times frustrating platformer with a great core concept. It relies too heavily on trial and error and the controls could be a bit tighter, but the puzzle design and stark, haunting aesthetic more than make up for any drawbacks.
You wouldn't think it, but the Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright series complement each other very well. This game is fanservice at its best: gameplay styles that work beautifully together, two iconic characters teaming up to use their deductive skills, and thankfully a lack of cameos and franchise clutter. While not as challenging or involved as the best games from either series, this is still a crossover fans of both Wright and Layton don't want to pass up.
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes is the most unique co-op game I've ever played, but it's also a brilliant idea that is well executed, and it suits the Nintendo Switch particularly well.
Telltale’s first Batman episode is marred by technical issues, but the writing, gameplay and presentation are superb as always. Maybe hold off for a couple weeks while it gets patched, but after that, Batman fans should definitely take the plunge.
Phoenix Wright: Spirit of Justice is a satisfying and appropriately crazy end to the second trilogy of Ace Attorney games. It retains a few of the persistent annoyances I have with the series, but the story is just as insane as ever and the cases are tough, lengthy and fittingly absurd turnabouts.
Hey! Pikmin is a radical shift for Nintendo's quirky RTS series. It changes or eschews many of the series' longtime mechanics in favor of a 2D platformer-adventure. Longtime fans might be disappointed, but Hey! Pikmin has the same charm and quality that garnered the original games a cult following—just in a more accessible, bite-sized form factor this time.
Embers of Mirrim has a fantastic core concept: controlling two characters simultaneously in a 2.5D platformer. Developer Creative Bytes have leveraged this concept against a deep variety of puzzles and challenges, and wrapped the whole thing in a majestic, understated graphical style.
Observer is a tad clunky as a straight detective game but its story, setting and mind-diving conceit make it much more than that. It's gorgeously depressing, uncomfortable in a number of ways, and you won't be able to shake it from your own thoughts for some time.
Battle Chasers: Nightware is pretty typical as far as turn based RPGs go, but its tight combat, beautiful production values and faithfulness to its source material make it worth checking out on Switch.
Are you in the mood for an absurdist yet cheerful adventure-platformer about corporate sabotage? Pikuniku just might be your game.
While it's a bit slow to start, frontloaded with tutorials and exposition, and generally muddled at the outset, Rage 2 shapes up into an incredibly fun time and a natural evolution of a franchise I was worried Id had written off as a dead end.
While its procedurally-generated nature produces some annoying issues, Nightmare Reaper has a creative story, punchy edge-of-your-seat action and a deep, entertaining arsenal. This is one bad dream you won't regret ripping and tearing your way through.
Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze is a master class in the art form of 2D platformers, but it's way too difficult for its own good and this makes the inherent flaws and limitations of the genre all the more obvious. Tropical Freeze is probably the best side-scrolling platformer we'll ever see from a technical standpoint. Now it's time for Nintendo to stop making them for a while and actually do something new.