Unfortunately, the third entry in the Physical Contact series looks like it should probably be the third one that you consider avoiding.
At its best, Tower of Babel has some great auto-running action that will have you flying around the screen at breakneck pace, firing yourself to the top of the speed-running leaderboards. Unfortunately, though, the whole thing is let down by some game-breaking issues and a rather lacklustre aesthetic that maybe answers the question of why there has been so little mention of the game prior to release. A frustrating case of a game that could have been excellent but shoots itself in the foot with its many problems, Tower of Babel is best left for another day.
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime caught us by surprise; we were expecting a great multiplayer party experience but ended up with something much more than that. If you have a great bunch of friends and the necessary controllers, be sure to gather everyone round for some challenging but hilarious teamwork. If you don't, or if you prefer playing alone, load the game up anyway and enjoy an intense, strategically-minded campaign with a warm and welcoming exterior. Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime deserves to be played and should most definitely be on your eShop wishlist – we're in love, for sure.
Stardew Valley offers its players a chance to live a second life – one where you can forget the troubles of the real world and get excited over finding a particularly rare carrot. It is a truly magical experience; games can often be enjoyable but they don't all manage to be as captivating as this. This is the sort of game that ideally requires a significant amount of time to be invested; the enjoyment doesn't necessarily come from the day-to-day actions you perform, but rather from the general growth of pride, satisfaction, and sense of security as the days go by. Fans of games such as Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing will be right at home here and, for those who aren't, there is a decent chance this game might just surprise you. For the asking price the risk couldn't be more worth it.
Unbox gets everything right in theory, but fails to actually deliver on the majority of its goals. The character design, the core ‘unboxing' mechanic, and the collecting side to the game could have been great but there are just too many problems standing in the way for it to be truly successful. We can't help but feel that the game just needed an extra dose of love and attention on the technical side of things because, if that was at the standard of the creativity and fun of the characters and ideas, it would have been a great experience and a whole lot of fun. As it stands, it might not be quite worth your time.
Tumblestone is an excellent puzzle game that definitely deserves to be played by fans of the genre. Aside from maybe Puyo Puyo Tetris, you are unlikely to find a puzzle game that offers quite this much content and such an addictive nature. The lack of any online functionality is disappointing, though, and whilst the Switch's portability could have made this the definitive version, this odd omission takes away a nice feature unnecessarily. If you haven't played the game before, though, or aren't fussed about playing online – this is still a very solid choice.
Squareboy is a decent beat-em-up, if a little on the short side. The Switch version is definitely the better version of the game but perhaps doesn't quite do enough to justify the cost when a free option is available elsewhere. This isn't a bad game by any means – in fact, we had a rather enjoyable time playing through the story levels – but its flaws and inability to stand out from the crowd stop it from being a sure-fire hit.
If the game was considerably cheaper you could potentially justify a purchase for having quick, easy-to-set-up fighting rounds; as it stands, though, this may well be best left alone.
Rogue Trooper Redux boasts an enjoyable campaign with a wonderful supply maintenance system in place. The ability to spend your earnings on whatever you please rather than relying on what is handed to you sets this title apart from the more "standard" games in the genre. The online multiplayer modes aren't as fun as they could be, though, and the main game's relatively short length (anywhere from 5-10 hours depending on your play-style) means that it strays just short of being a truly amazing experience. Despite this, it is still definitely worth your time - whether you've played the game before or not. If you enjoy your shooters, give this one a go.
On a platform that is destined to become almost overcrowded with colourful, vibrant, ‘happy' games, having a burst of horror as an option is very welcome indeed. Unfortunately, this isn't the game to showcase the genre, nor is it one to showcase games in general. Some promising early moments left us with high hopes for this title – there were times where we felt genuine, edge-of-your-seat fear – but it soon becomes clear that it cannot live up to the standards it is trying to achieve. If you're looking for a horror fix, maybe wait until something else comes along.
To answer our initial question of whether or not Party Golf can successfully join the eShop's masterful collection of multiplayer goodness: quite simply, yes. The amount of customisation options are mind-blowing and essentially allow you to make the game be whatever you want it to be. The asking price at launch feels just a tad steep (a bit more polish and a slightly higher level of presentation wouldn't go amiss) but, with the right friends around you, you'll be having so much fun laughing at each other's mistakes that you'll hardly care.
The Count Lucanor is a mostly enjoyable horror tale that is only prevented from being a truly great game thanks to a couple of performance issues and relatively short duration. At its best, the game offers a surprisingly rich story, intriguing (and genuinely creepy) characters and surroundings, and enjoyable puzzle-based tasks to ponder over. The candle and saving systems add to the stress imposed by the castle, forcing you to choose between being safe in the present or keeping supplies for later on (although a harder difficulty setting which provides less of these items could have worked wonders). If you're looking for something a little bit different, this could well be the game for you.
If you love games like Zelda II, and feel at home in front of any dungeon-crawling RPG, you'll undoubtedly get some fun out of this game; for others, though, there are better alternatives in the genre that you could try first.
Poi: Explorer Edition is a great platforming adventure in its own right.
In a strange twist for a series that you would expect to be built around drawing in new consumers, Just Dance 2018 feels like a perfect match for those who already love the games and are really serious about their dancing, yet does nothing to draw in newcomers. In some ways, this year's edition feels like it is almost a ‘greatest hits' for its hardcore fans – the one entry that you'll always fall back to just to play through the best stuff. Yet with such a hefty cost needed to access all of the game's content, only the most serious will get true enjoyment here.
If Monopoly is your thing, you can't really go wrong with Monopoly for Nintendo Switch. It performs exactly how you'd expect it to – offering an almost exact, neatly-executed copy of the experience that you can get from the board game. This is its main problem, though – it does so little to offer anything new that it almost seems pointless having it in the first place. Call us old-fashioned if you like, but we'd play the board game version over this one any day.
To answer our initial question, Sonic Forces hasn't managed to convince us that it is a must-play title in the series, but has at least alleviated some of our initial fears. A relatively short five-hour or so campaign, a lack of difficulty that ramps up unexpectedly on the final boss, and the non-coherent blend of 3D sequences, 2D sections and cutscenes make Sonic Forces a mixed experience, with positive moments undone by weaker areas.It isn't poor as many feared, and for children it could well be a thoroughly enjoyable experience. For the ‘hardcore' (and likely slightly older) generation of Sonic fans, though, perhaps it's best to accept that - for better or worse - Sonic isn't what it used to be. Stick with Sonic Mania for classic Sonic fun, and let Forces attract a new, younger audience.
Farming Simulator: Nintendo Switch Edition is definitely one for the farming fanatics – and not really anyone else. If you're interested in farming from both practical and management points of view – and have an awful lot time on your hands to explore that interest – you won't find a better way (apart from perhaps a real farm) to experience it than this.If you were hoping for a more casual and easy-going experience to play out a mild interest, however, this is not the game for you; the intense realism and complexity of the game's core concept will be far too overwhelming for most players. Giants Software has done an amazing job at making this feel extremely real – whether this is for better or worse depends on you as an individual.
Taking the original games and bombarding them with a whole host of crazy ideas, Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon have easily achieved their goal of becoming the definitive versions of the series' final generation on the 3DS. Combining all of this with the fact that a small handful of new, non-mythical Pokémon have been added mid-generation for the first time in the series, and that the Pokédex has been expanded to natively include over 400 Pokémon catchable in the games without trading, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon have managed to make the region of Alola feel even more alive that it did before – and that's quite the achievement.In some ways, it feels like these games have come too soon; Pokémon Sun and Moon are still so fresh in our minds and we can't help but feel that the Ultra versions would have felt more special – and therefore easier to justify purchasing – if a little more time has passed. You'd be forgiven for not wanting to jump back into the same world again so soon but, in their own right, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are truly incredible entries to the series that deserve to be sitting amongst the elite Pokémon titles. If you're ready for another trip around Alola's beautiful islands, this is the way to do it.
Worms W.M.D. is a good example of a game that can use its original, winning design format, spice things up with a whole bunch of new features, and still come out as an impressive title. The introduction of crafting weapons between rounds adds to the complexity of the strategy in a good way – the game can't be picked up as instantly as games such as Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, but with time and dedication, you'll find a seriously rewarding tactical battle game.Some niggling factors such as the awkwardness of moving your character around, the fact that your movement and weapon's aim are frustratingly locked to the same control stick, and the unfortunate lack of ability to play online with friends prevent the game from being the amazing experience it could have been, though. If you love the Worms franchise or games of the genre you'll likely have a lot of fun by grabbing a copy of this game, just bear these little things in mind as you make your decision.