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Damascus Gear Operation Tokyo is a competent slice of mech/dungeon crawler action fest that will mostly serve those who love both genres well. Other gamers might want to look somewhere else for their Switch action fix. There is nothing wrong with the core game and we certainly had quite a bit of fun merrily boosting and slashing metal monstrosities into exploding debris of metal, but we would certainly would not mind slight more visual spectacle to go with the simulated reality of controlling a giant bipedal tank. Despite its age and not being able to shake off its mobile roots, it is (as of writing) the only option out there for mech game fans and those should definitely consider picking it up. We hope that the sequel Damascus Gear Operation Osaka expands on this game's solid core mechanics.
Simple to play, Magical Drop III is hugely entertaining as you frantically move about firing balloons to make lines or ideally set in motion a combo.
TurtlePop: Journey To Freedom is an interesting first exclusive Switch offering from Zengami, but it's sadly lacking focus. While its myriad genres aren't pulled off poorly, their amalgamation might just prove to be slightly too overwhelming for the targeted younger audience. The main reptile protagonists Bebo, Deephi, Slimmie, Smarts, Willis and Sparky sum up the game's overall feeling: jacks-of-all-trades yet masters of none. There are several superior individual options of all the genres represented in this game already out in Switch's library, but if do decide to take a plunge into this adventure, make sure you take someone along for the ride.
Rally Racers is far from being a role model arcade racer. The overall racing experience falls flat on its face primarily due to the cheap and nasty in-game physics that make the vehicles handle like trucks.
Guilt Battle Arena is a lot of fun while it lasts with frantic, fast-paced action that forces players to act quickly in the heat of battle. Our main issue, however, is that everything that the game has to offer can be seen very quickly, and the desire to keep picking up the game, again and again, isn't as strong as we'd initially hoped. Fun in quick bursts, but lacking slightly in gameplay content, we'd urge you to place this one on your ‘maybe' list.
Make no mistake about it - Flinthook is a really well crafted, charming and fun experience. To a certain extent, however, it feels impeded by the constraints of its genre. It is one of tightest action platformers and addictive rogue likes around, but due to the randomly generated levels, you will encounter the odd frustrating spike in difficulty or structurally very similar areas in close proximity. These complaints are reduced to niggles though due to its charm, personality and action packed gameplay. This trek across the galaxy is sometimes a tough and repetitive one, but it's also incredibly enjoyable.
The Trail: Frontier Challenge is too much of a barebones experience for us to give it anywhere near a solid recommendation. The act of getting about is minimal when it comes to interaction, and the performance issues turn the game into far too much of a slog. The skill tree and the art style itself are two brief high points, but they're not enough to make us recall this trip through the countryside with any degree of fondness.
Bleed 2 is a game that prides itself on giving the player a memorable and distilled experience that gets at the heart of what makes arcade games great. Those looking for a deep well of diverse content will find themselves dissatisfied, but those looking for a game about raw, fun gameplay will find more than enough satisfaction in the nearly endless options for replayability. We'd give Bleed 2 a strong recommendation; it combines charming presentation and tight mechanics to provide an experience that's as focused as it is enjoyable.
Packet Queen # features a new, enjoyable type of puzzle gameplay that has you making fast decisions on the fly, and can start to feel pleasingly addictive, but a lack of content and a completely unnecessary story mode that ends in disappointment make the title fall short of greatness. For its relatively low price the game isn't a bad option for passing the time, but the puzzle gameplay itself needs to be placed within a much better overall package than it is currently to truly impress.
NORTH is not a video game, per se, at least not in the traditional sense. It is an interactive piece of electronic art one can choose to indulge in order to better understand the plight of refuges. As such the messages might escape those who are too young to understand the real-life parallels or those who are too old and with prejudice to care. If you like cyberpunk science fiction and don't mind experiencing simulated oppression, give this a shot. There is certainly nothing quite like it on the eShop and for the asking price and a mere moment of your time will give you modern society conundrums that will haunt you for years. The experience is so subjective we have no choice but to leave the score for each individual to settle on their own. The biggest tragedy here is not that number on the bottom of the review, but the fact that if this ‘interactive art piece' was released 100 years in the past or a century in the future, the lingering topics would and will surely still be completely relevant.
Subsurface Circular is a landmark moment in interactive storytelling. The elegance of its escalation is simply unmatched, as it tells a story that makes you feel like you're in completely over your head, and yet still perfectly believable. The characters you meet along the way all feel unique with their own personality, which makes interacting with them a test of wit and cunning as you use the conversational mechanics to their full effect. There's nothing quite else quite like Subsurface Circular, and when that uniqueness is combined with the phenomenal narrative at hand, you have all the ingredients for a simply unforgettable and very special journey aboard the subway.
A competent and authentic 8-bit experience, A Hole New World will be enjoyed by many a retro fan out there, but the some of its mechanical elements are faithful almost to its detriment. Travelling between the dual worlds is cool, but utilised without much ambition or variety. While certainly not a bad game, the methods employed to enforce difficulty feel cheap and frustrating, rather than motivating or rewarding. A few of the bosses are visually impressive, but there isn't much here structurally or gameplay wise that particularly stand out . If you're looking for another title with more nostalgia and 'traditional' challenge rather than sadistic, fast-paced, twitch-based platformers, then A Hole New World is an adequate game that will bring back many memories of the 8-bit era, for better or worse.
Bridge Constructor Portal is a fun and engaging puzzle game that does a great job of appealing to players of all skill levels while offering a relatively hefty amount of content. Though it sometimes feels like an awkward port and it doesn't always make the most of the crossover potential, it gets the core mechanics of puzzle solving right, and there's more than enough quality here to satisfy those looking to scratch that itch on the Switch. We'd give Bridge Constructor Portal a strong suggestion to anybody looking for a fun puzzle game on the eShop; this is a game that constantly makes you think outside the box, and there's nothing else like it available at the moment.
Fear Effect: Sedna is a flawed amalgam of disparate parts. It fails to wholly convince as an action, strategy or stealth game, and the delivery of its story is a little stilted. However, the sheer variety of its mix and its fresh visual style may prove enough to keep you playing through.
Whether playing alone or with a friend Samurai Aces is fun to replay whenever you choice to boot it up.
Super Toy Cars is a decent enough tabletop racer that will have fans of the classics like Micro Machines taking a quick nostalgic trip down memory lane, but it never manages to live up to the games from which it clearly takes its inspiration.
Outlast is a generous package of finely crafted survival horror thrills. It looks and sounds great on Nintendo Switch, and while its brand of hide-and-seek gameplay occasionally falters, it'll still keep you playing right until the grisly end.
Mulaka offers a truly intriguing insight into the culture and mythology of the Tarahumara people, but is let down by some frustrating gameplay issues. Exploring and puzzle solving is a simple but enjoyable affair, and there are elements of the combat system that show real promise, but some oversights surrounding the game's pacing and controls leave quite a lot to be desired. If you're interested enough in learning about the topic it wouldn't be unwise to give the game a go despite its flaws, but players looking purely for great gameplay might want to ponder over it a little longer.
Grid Mania doesn't attempt to revolutionise the puzzle genre in any shape of form, but the things that it does well help to create a solid brain teasing experience. The four game modes offer an excellent initial set of levels with escalating difficulty, and then three distinctive twists on that core mechanic that could all even warrant their own game. Presentational setbacks aside, Grid Mania is well worth your time if you want to feel like a genius.
Paper Wars: Cannon Fodder Devastated is not a good game. It is not a bad game. It is a game. A harmless time-waster that will neither bring a revolution nor it will end the world by its quiet presence on the Switch eShop.