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All told, Yooka-Laylee is a worthy modern tribute to the collectathons of yore, and it is highly recommended for Switch owners. This feels like a game that belongs in 1996, but with all the quality improvements of a game made in 2017, making for an excellent blend of new and old. Though it can be a little uneven at times, the game as a whole manages to succesfully achieve its goals.Do yourself a favour and give this one a go; it may not have been too well received to begin with, but Playtonic has polished it up quite nicely; it is a worthy addition to the Switch library.
Despite its ongoing technical hiccups, along with the game having done the rounds for well over a decade, it's still a worthy sequel and a good addition to the genre on Switch.
The Next Penelope may be quite a short experience but it's one that will challenge your skills and dazzle you at the same time.
Riptide GP: Renegade boasts many of the qualities that you would hope for from a racing game; a rewarding career mode, a solid racing experience, and – delightfully – a rather different element in the way that the waves throw you around a little. There are some little niggles and difficulty spikes that keep it from sitting alongside the best of the genre, and there isn't quite enough fun in the racing alone for multiplayer to be particularly exciting, but if you're after a slightly different racing game to dip in and out of on the fly, this wouldn't be a bad choice, especially for the asking price.
If you would like to deliver some justice on the streets in a wacky anime world with appropriate modern touches in all the right places, this latest iteration of Phantom Breaker might be worth checking out.
There's no doubt about it - The End Is Nigh delivers excellent platforming. It's a manageable challenge from start to finish, and a game that becomes more and more enjoyable as you slowly adapt to its seemingly unforgiving design. At the same time you'll never feel completely unstoppable like you would in other notable platform titles. It keeps you on your toes from start to finish and has a balance few other games associated with this genre manage to achieve.Where The End Is Nigh falls short is the fact it doesn't expand a great deal on the initial foundations laid by Super Meat Boy many years ago. What we have here is a spiritual successor, but with the open-ended adventure elements not having as notable an impact on the game as you may expect. The main character and settings in this aren't quite as likable as Meat Boy and his own game world, either. In saying this, if you are a fan of the source material and happen to enjoy well-crafted and tough platform games, check this one out.
This rerelease of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney is an interesting one because it doesn't really do anything that we didn't see when it originally came out 10 years ago, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Rather than of a rebuilt game with shiny bells and whistles that clutter up the core experience, we're instead treaded to a faithful rendition with updated visuals for a modern console generation. It's the easiest way to experience the game if you haven't before, and it's a great way to pay it another visit if you have. As its lifecycle crawls to a close, the Nintendo 3DS has become somewhat of an archive, collecting franchise favorites and housing them all in one place. With the rest of the mainline Ace Attorney series already available on the 3DS eShop, it was just a matter of time before Apollo Justice had his day in court.
80's Overdrive really nails the presentation side of things with its eye-catching 2D visuals, superb 3D effect and pumping soundtrack. It also controls well and the Career Mode is challenging enough to keep you glued to your 3DS for quite some time. The Out Run-style Time Attack mode and the Level Editor extend the lifespan of this title further, but the occasionally cheap difficulty level has an annoying habit of ruining your race as well as your mood. This is a relatively minor complaint in the grand scheme of things however, and fans of old-school arcade racers will almost certainly forgive this issue in order to play a true tribute to the classics of old.
ACORN Tactics has its heart in the right place, but it plays it very safe. It's a very solid strategy RPG, taking elements of games such as Fire Emblem and Advance Wars and wrapping it in its own aesthetic. However, for as liberally as it borrows from its inspirations, it never goes above and beyond and does anything that might be construed as unique. Without many peers at the outset of the Switch's life, ACORN Tactics might be the kind of game to sate your SRPG cravings until something meatier comes along.
Kid Tripp is a polished, simple little platformer that will put your skills to the test from the very beginning. It's a no-frills experience that's light on ceremony, giving you 20 levels of rapid gameplay that's perfect for short sessions and high-score chasing, but falls a little flat in terms of creativity and content. While it's undoubtedly a fun ride while it lasts, the whole game can be beaten in under an hour, so don't expect much in the way of post-game content or extreme replayability, unless you really want to dig into the nitty gritty of mastering each level. That being said, it's a solid budget title and one well worth looking into if you want a delightfully punishing dose of retro gameplay. It's a Tripp worth taking.
While co-developer Blind Squirrel has stated publicly it is working on implementing some post-launch improvements, it doesn't change the fact WWE 2K18 ever existed in this form at all. Switch has had an incredible 2017 and played host to some truly awe-inspiring ports, but as it stands the latest slice of sports entertainment is best enjoyed elsewhere. Wrestling fans with a Switch deserve better games than this sorry jobber.
Nine Parchments is a game with an awful lot of potential; the combat is fun, the multiplayer co-op works a treat, and the gorgeous art creates a visually impressive world to explore. Repetition in the format and layout of levels - and the incredibly strange decision to delete your save data when wanting to switching between single player and co-op games - are unfortunate shortcomings, however. If you love your co-op adventure-type games, and especially if you like the sound of the light RPG elements, you may well get a good time from this game – just keep our warnings in mind.
All told, River City: Rival Showdown is a worthwhile beat 'em up game, certainly worth the price of admission.
Plantera Deluxe is definitely a relaxing change of pace from the average video game experience.
Whilst World Heroes can provide some fun fights, those desperately looking to pit historically-inspired fighters against each other would be better off with one of the sequels.
Traverse USA is unlikely to be the Irem game people wanted HAMSTER to start with, but still works as something to dip into for a quick bout of highscore chasing.
Those waiting for a an actual tennis game will not find an interim solution here. Despite tennis being 'in the face' regarding its presentation here, it's another single screen, physics-based puzzle destroyathon. It is also, however, vibrant, fun, funny and chaotic. The main character is a likeable amalgamation of both tropes and celebrities from the sport, and while the mechanics are pretty well worn in by now - especially in the mobile space - Tennis In The Face is probably among the top seeds in its genre on Switch. If you are over this kind of game it won't change your mind, but it's a well presented and addictive slice of structure (and tie) breaking action.
Plague Road is a valiant attempt at combining divergent concepts into a cohesive and interesting package. But as interesting as it may be to make the first roguelike base-building strategy RPG, it's missing a layer of depth to drive it beyond curiosity into the realm of compulsory design. There's plenty to like here, and if you're in the mood for a morose adventure down a bleak path to a ruined world this may be for you. If you're just looking to casually save the world from an outbreak, however, you may want to think carefully.
It's a short game, but Caveman Warriors still entertains as you work through the levels figuring out how best to deal with the threats encountered and then how to defeat the bosses. There's some good character designs in the game and fun moments - like the way scared foes flee in panic only to knock themselves out by running into a wall. It's not without fault however, with the over-the-top knock-backs from hits being the biggest irritant. There's some replayability in trying to track down all the fuses and then tackle the harder versions of the levels and the co-op play works well. If you've got some friends around and are looking to pass the time with some platforming action, then Caveman Warriors is a good pick.
MUJO is a decent casual puzzler with a pleasant aesthetic, but the total lack of effort made to bring the game in line with its new platform is deeply disappointing. The game's poorly optimised user interface and ill-fitting legacy in-app purchase system smack of a rush job.We've got no problem with developers bringing mobile games across to Switch. This is a portable system that's built on mobile technology, and there are plenty of top mobile games out there that would make for a good fit with just a little effort. MUJO, however, is a deeply lazy and cynical port.