Pangeon is simply a bad attempt at trying to capture the nostalgic feel of a classic dungeon crawler. With its lack of attention to detail, gameplay continuity to give confidence to the player, and a design that feels incomplete and uninspired, it struggled to keep my attention.
In recent history, we've seen a lot of indie games launch with hardcore combat with musical soundtracks that could be considered a good album. Down to Hell looks to create that same feeling but forgot to make a quality game in the process. The number of glitches and bugs are by far too many to ignore. They impact the game to the point where it's unplayable and not worth the frustration.
Delta Squad is a four-player local co-op game that completely misses the mark. Even with its basic controls and simplistic gameplay, nothing about the game warrants a first playthrough. With enemies that seem confused as to what to do, an imbalance in ammo, and the cookie cutter level design, it's hard to see how this game can get four people in the room together at the same time to play. With a price tag of $5.99, it's a hard buy when there are many free mobile games that offer more enjoyment.
These are one of those times when games are simply made to capitalize on the license of an intellectual property. Though there is a lot of potential in the story for the gameplay and mechanics to flesh out, it never does. There are moments when you believe there's something special to experience, but then you're constantly loading into areas, slowed to a snail's pace, and burdened with unnecessary banter.
Crysis Remastered is an amazing technical achievement to have it run on the Nintendo Switch, but at what cost? On the surface, in handheld mode, it suffers from framerate issues and stability; in docked mode, things get better and make the gameplay tolerable. Unfortunately, it's the technical issues that hurt the game the most.
Riverbond is a game that feels as if it were meant to be part of a larger and more ambitious world. It's great for jumping into a quick game to feed your hack and slash needs throughout the day, but with no in-game saves, no perks for skins collected, and a world that offers no room for real exploration, I find it hard to want to play with four friends because the enemies aren't challenging enough. Coupled by an imbalance in weapon damage and objectives that don't fit the style of play, I'd say Riverbond doesn't stand out in a genre that's already crowded.
Ultracore is a blast from the past game that really nails what many side-scrolling shooters were like in the 90s; and coupled with modern controls, it's a game worth playing. Though there are a few oversights like getting hit and not knowing it, unlabeled special items, and low difficulty, it's worth a try.
The visuals and 80s soundtrack are amazing and look great whether playing on a TV or on the Switch in mobile mode. Too often did I feel I was on the back foot when it came to weapons, upgrades, and dealing with random enemies. There's definitely a balance issue when it comes to the procedurally generated mechanics.
Samurai Shodown is a breath of fresh air to the series, because of its choice to make the battles more of a duel and not a button mashing frenzy – and I respect that. With each character feeling different enough to make your mind race with possibilities of offensive and defensive strategies, it almost fails because of the timing system.
3000th Duel is an amazing action-adventure game that pulls out all the stops to give us the experience of nostalgic gameplay with current videogame nuances. With a rich world to explore, visuals and audio hints that make you believe that the world is constantly evolving, and boss battles that shake you to the core, this is a must on the Switch.