Nindie Spotlight
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When it comes to arcade racing there’s simply nothing out there as impressive or as complete as Horizon Chase Turbo. Not only does it look and perform great, aside from a lack of online multiplayer it really offers up everything you could ask for and more. Incentives to return to unlock new areas, tracks, sweet rides, and upgrades is fair motivation, matching your times against buddies or the world are icing on the cake. While it may offend the sensibilities of more modern racing fans who have a taste for realism, I’m happy to say the spirit of Out Run and its contemporaries is alive and well in this outstanding title that’s chock full of terrific content.
I really appreciate the love and effort into bringing the R-Type experience to the Switch. While playing it old school has a nostalgic appeal seeing it all gussied up in 3D is a blast. I’d say it’s worth experimenting with the various looks they offer as not all of them may be great or practical, but they can be novel. In particular the 3D Crazy Camera looks really cool, just since it affects your depth perception a bit I don’t know if it’s practical in some sections. All said though it offers up many ways to experience the same terrific core game and fans of classic arcade shooting action should have a great time with it, and quickly become reacquainted with how tough it can be.
Given the theme and morbid action of the game it’s absolutely not something for everyone. With its pixel art looks it never gets terribly graphic but playing a game in the role of a mass murderer won’t be for everyone. The fact that every time you hit a party you can’t count on any specific element being in the same place or present at all is a terrific touch that guarantees there’s no consistent path to success, you’ll just need to improvise sometimes. I’ll give Party Hard credit, it’s a unique and challenging spin on a puzzle game that delivers some fun if you’re on board with its style… and have a fair amount of patience.
While it works and is the only game in town of its type in the eShop I still would consider the Sudoku included with Brain Age back on the DS to be my personal gold standard in terms of functionality and feel. Additionally while 240 puzzles is certainly a fair amounts of puzzles again for real Sudoku fans that may not amount to much if the simpler challenge levels aren’t very rewarding. It’s a solid Sudoku experience but it’s all relatively simple as well.
As a whole Ms. Splosion Man is a brilliantly twisted, splosion-powered action extravaganza. There’s something enormously satisfying when it all comes together and you manage to string a long chain of splodes to success, blowing up scientists and anything else in the environment along the way. The balance of challenge to both your abilities to analyze as well as improvise is pretty substantial and consistently rewarding. While not everyone may dig the constant flow of excited pop culture references (some being pretty dated at this point) I actually found it funny. Regardless, if you’re looking for a game that’s refreshingly different and challenging Ms. Splosion Man is a powder keg of fun, you just need to bring the matches.
While YouTubers Life is certainly a novel experience and there are aspects of it I can appreciate somewhat personally given what I do it’s also not a terribly deep experience either. While it has some fun aspects like creating your videos this really just gets to be a grind after a while as your focus is far more on maximizing your numbers and not too much about creativity. While you have the ability to change your character’s clothes and surroundings to a degree that can also be expensive and it competes with putting money into new equipment so it really takes a back burner, though the game tries to incentivize you buying new fashions to unlock some content. While there’s certainly nothing like it on the Switch and it can be fun in some regards the simple and grindy roots of the experience coming from the mobile space aren’t hard to spot. But if you’ve ever wanted a sort of window into the world of building a social media empire perhaps you’ll find it of interest.
The premise has you trying to save the city of Steamburg, as well as your fiance, from a robotic invasion...
Overall there isn’t too much to know, you’ll start out in one of eventually 5 different arenas (you’ll unlock new ones as you level up), and your objective is to rack up as high a score as possible within the time limit...
Overall I really can’t find any significant fault of note in the game, it plays well, borrows some classic concepts while still doing things its own way, and even offers hidden bonuses in each level that more obsessed fans should enjoy trying to find. The branching paths don’t simply make you choose to move ahead, you can circle back and hit everything if you’re determined to give yourself as many options as possible. Make no mistake, this has old school arcade sensibilities so while it won’t be stealing your quarters the first time you try to get through some stages you’re going to get taken down by some environmental surprises in some stages. All in all it’s a great arcade shooting experience that feels like it was lost back in the 80s and just rediscovered. Highly recommended for classic arcade shooter fans!
With a community of people playing the game as intended I think Trailblazers could have had potential to be quite interesting. If you’re able to play with friends you can begin to see what the goals were and it is at least a different way to race. Unfortunately, as a single-player experience it is hard to feel the teamwork vibe working with bots and that makes for a pretty bland driving experience. Despite looking great and having a cool soundtrack there’s no escaping the somewhat ho-hum results in a typical race in Trailblazers.
While Toast Time: Smash Up works reasonably well as a very different single-player game and an oddly chaotic multiplayer experience it falls into the “acquired taste” category. If you’re seeking something arcade-ish that’s cute and a bit different it may well do the trick. Mixing action, some physics, and a minimalist art style in a new way was ambitious, whether or not that will equate to sustained enjoyment will likely vary in this case.
Starting with the positive it has a visual style that’s a bit different, going for a somewhat pixelated but semi-realistic kind of look rather than the typically more cartoony or space-based style...
Much like a very different classic released on Switch, Another World, though it can be pretty easy to see and appreciate what made the title so revered that isn’t to say some aspects of it have aged well. The interactions and humor certainly have a certain timeless quality to them but mechanically there’s no question it’s all a bit clunky now. If you’re a classic adventure fan looking to reminisce or a true Adventure genre lover who wants to take some time to appreciate a cornerstone title in the genre Grim Fandango Remastered is well worth a look but for just about everyone else it may be too aggravatingly dated to be worthwhile.
The idea is that just you, or you paired with up to 3 friends, control a squad of super agents who each possess some different abilities...
For the most part it’s a simple premise: You have your bar of soap and your goal is to move in straight lines to wipe out gross dirt...
All in all I’d say that Mother Russia Bleeds is likely a game best left to genre fans due to its level of violence and difficulty. In general just about anything else will be a milder experience, or at least not as excessive. That said, if you’re someone who loves a tough beat-em-up experience I’d say this is pretty well a must-buy for doing the genre proud with challenging gameplay and quite a number of surprises along the way. If you’ve been bemoaning the same old same old in brawlers get ready for a kick in the teeth with Mother Russia Bleeds, it’s hardly ordinary.
At the end of the day Sky Force Anniversary is a gorgeous and challenging arcade shooter, and deserving of your attention on Switch even though the genre has become more crowded. Its looks are top-notch, it offers a significant degree of challenge for shmup fans, and its controls are buttery-smooth. Just be prepared to invest in the game for the long-term if you really want to see all it has to offer, which doesn’t have to be a bad thing. I just feel like the game could and should perhaps ease up the throttle, at least early on, to give people a few unlocks to better see what’s possible earlier on so they don’t necessarily give up before seeing much of what the game has to offer.
While GRIP may not be everything you could hope for in a combat racer it also nails some crucial elements when you play the right modes that make it worthwhile. Perhaps it tried a little too hard to find a more broad appeal with modes that are more focused on racing, and though changing up your vehicles to match the mode can help quite a bit in general the straight racing simply isn’t anywhere near as fun as when you’re trying to wreck your opponents. I’d be fascinated to see what they’d do with a sequel if they focused on the elements that worked well and expanded them and perhaps expended a little less effort on trying to be a racing title.
As a whole Crashlands may be the most friendly and mainstream survival-ish game I’ve played. It manages to incorporate all of the elements of the genre with exploration, challenging combat, and a pretty extensive crafting system but has also generally left out the aggravation. It’s possible that genre purists would turn their nose at this but I think it could also be an excellent title for slowly introducing a new audience to what the genre has to offer without scaring them off quite so quickly. If you’ve ever looked at survival games from afar but have been hesitant Crashlands is extremely approachable while still not easy by any means, it just won’t punish you as heavily for your mistakes as is typical with most titles in the genre.
As a game that you can enjoy with a group of friends (the more the merrier) Full Metal Furies is a unique take on a beat-em-up, peppering in some ranged characters elements of action RPG progression as well. It’s smart, sassy, and really forces you to work together to get through some tough spots that will require coordination. Unfortunately as a solo experience it suffers and ends up almost being a completely different game in the process, relatively forcing you to favor use of your melee characters and then hoping your ranged ones don’t become liabilities when you use them. If you have a group that’s looking for an action-based challenge with personality it’s a solid choice though.