Vicarious Visions dresses Crash up with a swanky new outfit that looks and sounds superb in the N.Sane Trilogy, but this dogged commitment to recreating the franchise’s authenticity comes at the expense of some much-needed modernization.

Repetitive dialogue and humdrum filler gameplay will put off anyone who doesn’t already enjoy dressing up characters. But those who appreciate fashion for its power to transform encounters will have a ball with the goofy banter and seemingly infinite design and outfit possibilities.

The Jackbox Party Pack 6 pushes the franchise forward in the right direction with a variety of refreshing, exciting minigames. Whether it’s socially deducing aliens among humans, working on your stand-up craft, discovering new roles for you and your group, creating brand new words, or escaping a ghoulishly menacing ghost hotel, there’s an exceptional time to be had for all.

By revamping its multiplayer efforts and focusing it in a hub that promotes creative expression (both cosmetically and through gameplay preferences), NHL 19 marks the best representation of simulation hockey video games this generation.

While definitely a niche title, Capcom Arcade Stadium is perfect for those looking for a classic arcade experience. It’s a wonderful old-school arcade simulator featuring 32 different titles with a ton of options to adjust everything from visual appearance to in-game settings. Local multiplayer and online tournaments and leaderboards keep you engaged and make this worth every token.

Fantasian was designed by legendary RPG king Hironobu Sakaguchi as a love letter to games like Final Fantasy 6. It doesn’t really reinvent the wheel as it more adheres some pretty stickers to a wheel we’ve already watched spin for years. But for those looking to take that old wheel for a spin, you’re in for a smooth ride.

The attention paid to solo players in MUT and some Franchise improvements are certainly noticeable and deserve credit. However, when the game is littered with a multitude of glitches, a weak story mode and no other big notable changes, it makes Madden’s price tag more difficult to justify.

Ultimately, the expansion is about the bond between human and animal, and with evolving relationships, dog training, and plenty of toys, it’s hard to put down. It may not have the bells and whistles that some players expected, but Cats and Dogs still gets my recommendation if you’re a pet lover.

Pokemon Let’s Go is one part nostalgia trip, and other part re-imagined classic. It’s familiar enough for those who have previously adventured through Kanto but contains some new additions to keep them busy and engaged even after the main adventure ends.

A modern port through and through, Dragon’s Crown Pro offers a more visually and aurally excellent dungeon-crawling beat ’em up adventure that you’ll remember for what it exactly was five years ago.

Serial Cleaners is an interesting puzzle game covered in blood and grunge with a fun ’90s spin. Pop on your yellow rubber gloves and get to cleanin’.

Mario Party Superstars completely rebuilds some of the Nintendo 64 era’s best Mario Party boards of varying difficulty and gives them a gorgeous modern veneer. The game plays exactly as you’d expect from a Mario Party with smooth yet simple controls. The frustrations stem. from the fact that your opponents can benefit from the same perks that just helped you take a lead, equating to more first-to-last-place moments than Mario Kart itself. A lot of the older mini-games can end in a matter of seconds so if you’re playing it mostly for the mini-games, it can be a bit of a letdown when a game ends in under five seconds.

Despite its occasional cringeworthy moments, the story hits the nail on the head when it matters most. While this introductory episode starts off a bit slow, by the end it will have you longing for more.

Lies of P is a fun game with solid combat mechanics and a really pleasing aesthetic. A creepy factor is aided by unique twists. But it falls short when compared to the finesse and balance of other games in this genre.

Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 Plus offers a fun twist on a classic gaming formula along with some great two-player action on the go or on the big screen, it just seems oddly rigid in how it lets you play.

Arise: A Simple Story provides heartfelt storytelling and stunning visuals that will make anyone fall in love.

While Natsuki Chronicles doesn’t add anything new to the genre, it definitely has a lot to offer those who are fans of bullet hell games. Despite a very distracting story mixed with equally distracting visuals, the game is a real fun time with plenty of unlocks to keep the replay value high.

As is the case with Paper Mario: The Origami King, Nintendo’s ability to make consistently beautiful games will almost always manage to keep their scores above average; but, their recent refusal to make a game that does not insist on dragging the player through extremely easy gameplay, holding the player’s hand the entire time, will continue to keep their score low. This is not even mentioning the abysmal battle system.

Eight years after its initial release, VVVVVV is still fun, still challenging, still weird, and still sadly short. There’s nothing new to see here if you’ve already beat the game, but as a cheap, quick pick-up-and-play title, VVVVVV has found a fitting home on the Switch eShop.

Approachable, but surprisingly deep, Knockout City is one of 2021’s biggest surprises and a refreshing take on the team-based competitive multiplayer genre.

From the music to the visuals, from the gameplay to the story, this game packs quite the punch. Scarlet Nexus is a game that has definitely had a lot of love put into it. It isn’t some kind of one-and-done, generic feeling hack and slash game that people vaguely remember six months after launch. It’s a game that deserves the attention from people who like anime games and those on the fence about it.

The gameplay rewards you with lots of variety, while the graphics are still top-notch. WWE fans will feel like the wrestling lords have blessed them with tons of content. The single-player modes are easy to dominate (if you want them to be) but not all of them are worth sticking around for. The hustle and grind of Showcase mode might be a turnoff to some.

Knights and Bikes is a great and a beautiful way to kill a handful of hours with a friend. You can play solo but as a game with such a heavy focus on friendship, it only seems right to have a friend by your side, either physically or virtually, to go on a colorful adventure and deal with some real life heavy subjects.

The game looks amazing, the combat system is great, and some of the comedy is extremely funny. But in terms of plot and humor and even customization, it feels like a step back from the first game, which should never be the case for a video game sequel.

The Touryst overcomes its considerable flaws thanks to its vibrant personality and resplendent environments.

Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe offers the classic 2D Kirby experience: simple platforming, plenty of secrets, and fun power ups with a variety of different moves. The inclusion of new modes and new powerups give even players who played the original on the Wii something new to discover and play with.

Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA MegaMix for the Nintendo Switch is a fun musical romp through the virtual idol’s massive library of songs. Though there are minor graphical issues and new modes that don’t quite hit, it’s hard to take away from the fact the base game is phenomenal.

Yoshi’s Crafted World never pushes back on the player, squandering its charm through a lack of reward or challenge. Even if you’re looking to do nothing other than kick back with a relaxing game, it’s hard to feel motivated enough to return to. Yet it remains mechanically pleasant and is an easy recommendation to anyone with young children.

If you were still playing Pokken Tournament on the Wii U or intend to play competitively, you shouldn’t miss this version’s five new characters and slight tweaks like Daily Challenges and Team Battles. But if your copy of the original was gathering dust, you’re not missing anything more than the equivalent of a DLC patch.

Minit’s constant deaths are far from discouraging; they’re addicting. It’s far too easy to tell yourself “just one more try” in a world so densely packed with curiosities and no fluff. Minit is another wonderful reminder that you don’t need a million systems for a game to be great if you can do one novel idea very, very well.

Dynasty Warriors: Origins is a fun action game to start 2025. If you’re a fan of the previous entries in the series, this is a great pickup to continue the momentum. If you’ve never played a Dynasty Warriors game, Origins can still be fun but you may want to wait until it’s available on sale. The action will keep you hooked, but you’ll want to look away from the screen during the boring story scenes. 2025 is set to be a big year for gaming, and Dynasty Warriors: Origins is a great way to start things off.

Taken together, Prey is a brilliant but flawed descent into a world of science gone wrong, driven by a well told, cerebrally satisfying story which makes up for the mechanical inconsistencies of the experience. Comparing Prey to Bioshock only reveals the relative cracks which explains why the former doesn’t quite live up to the expectations set by the latter, so it’s instead best to enjoy Prey as its own thing, forgiving its flaws to marvel at the results of Arkane’s intelligent approach to game design.

When the Past was Around is an emotional roller coaster of a story told exclusively through gorgeous art and stirring violin music. The puzzles are clever and fun but a little immersion-breaking at times. The addition of touch screen support in handheld mode on Nintendo Switch adds to the experience as well.

Little Rocket Lab succeeds as a welcoming entry point into automation games. It also succeeds as a thoughtful experiment in merging mechanical depth with human-scale storytelling. It may not satisfy players looking for endless complexity, but for those who want to tinker, rebuild, and unwind, it’s a quietly confident success.

While the graphics are slightly lackluster in small areas, like grass, New Pokémon Snap is gorgeous as a whole. The controls are solid, the design is adorable, and the game gives you a wealth of tools to work with. Combined with the fact that each path has more than eight ways to go about it and the professor wants four pictures of each Pokemon, you end up with something that has more replay value than I thought would ever be possible. And that’s coming from someone who still pops in the Nintendo 64 original. This is such a pleasant surprise that I was hyped for this game and it still exceeded my expectations.

Pokemon Let’s Go is one part nostalgia trip, and other part re-imagined classic. It’s familiar enough for those who have previously adventured through Kanto but contains some new additions to keep them busy and engaged even after the main adventure ends.

The King of Fighters XV is great game with awesome animations and deep systems, but it lacks beginner friendly, or any form of, learning tools to let newer players get in the game.

A really fun playing baseball game that mixes arcade with authenticity while featuring some of the sports most legendary players while featuring satisfying pitching and batting mechanics. The new and returning ballparks look great too and add to the environment. However, lack of features like a proper create-a-player mode, Home Run Derby mode and even something small like Replay Mode leaves Super Mega 4 Baseball just shy of a Grand Slam but is a good solid swing up the middle for a base hit to give the team the lead.

Though not the optimal way to play the game, Doom comes to the Nintendo Switch more or less intact and will it does nicely fill the void for anyone looking for solid single and multiplayer FPS experience on the go.

Star Wars Squadrons is a complete, albeit, small package. It really delivers the most authentic Star Wars dogfighting experience to date. The music, the visuals, the details inside your ship, the sounds, it’s a nerd’s dream turned into reality. The learning curve in the game is a bit steep, but rewarding along the way. If you’re able to, try different compatible gaming peripherals to get an even more enhanced flight experience than I did.

Len’s Island is a good game that has a ton of great ideas working for it. Unfortunately, it doesn’t push those ideas to the limit and instead much to be desired. But it comes from a wonderful team that hopefully keeps making games. [Early Access Score = 75]

Shin-chan: Me and the Professor on Summer Vacation -The Endless Seven-Day Journey- is exactly what the trailer promised. It’s a heartfelt summer vacation sim mixed with Stardew Valley-style side quests mixed in with a sprinkle of time travel and dinosaurs, because why not?

I'm not going to be the one to tell you not to buy it, but I'm also not going to be the one to give a glowing review of a game that does leave a bit to be desired. What I will do is simply say that F1 23 is still an enjoyable enough game to justify passing up on purchasing this year's edition.

The lack of gear and infuriating combat mechanics leave much to be desired from what could have been a gorgeous and fun game about monster slaying.

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is a fantastical reskin of Borderlands filled with charm, humor and lots of action. The fantasy theme is enough to keep things feeling fresh, but still familiar to series veterans. Gearbox delivers another solid looter-shooter RPG but with a more welcomed emphasis on the role-playing aspect.

The marriage of co-op gameplay and the story of two unlikely partners and friends is an almost perfect combination right up until the last few minutes of the game, though I expect feelings on that to vary. It could use another round of technical polish, and you’ll need a friend to play along with, but if neither of those is a problem for you, then you won’t want to miss this adventure.

Death Road to Canada is a fun play after powering through the extreme learning curve, combining zombie survival and old arcade art.

The Jackbox Party Pack 5 is one of the most adventurous party game collections yet, concocting interesting gameplay ideas and challenging its players to put their best self forward in front of friends and online audiences. With the exception of one glaring misstep, Jackbox Games continues to innovate and build upon their winning formula.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a fantastic game that elevates itself above the trappings of more general hack-and-slash fests thanks to its incredible and engaging narrative, epic musical soundtrack, and overall fun and fluid gameplay. It's a very worthy successor to Hyrule Warriors as well as an official entry into The Legend of Zelda lore.

Oxenfree II pays deep homage to its predecessor while creating a pretty and creepy game that old fans and new ones alike can enjoy.

Gunplay, a revamped squad system, interesting war stories, and superb maps make Battlefield V a great game to enjoy. However, the lack of content across the entire game at launch weakens the appeal, which ultimately lessens the overall experience.

Marvel Future Revolution is a beautiful game filled with popular characters that mostly look and feel good to play as. The premise is intriguing but the story is filled with plot holes and cliffhangers that are never addressed again. In the end, it’s just another mobile Marvel game that we’ve seen and played before.

Though lacking the polish you see in AAA open-world RPGs, Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen boasts an incredibly deep class and a battle system that makes for potentially dozens of hours of fun.

Aside from its occasionally imprecise aiming and uncharacteristically restricting final moments, My Friend Pedro is a gorgeous amalgamation of the best portions of many wildly different genres.

Fans of Max Payne will find El Paso, Elsewhere a finely-penned love letter to the action franchise, but players will likely discover the game’s heart to burn just as hotly as its gun barrels.

If you have never played Dying Light, this iteration isn’t the one I would recommend for you BUT if you are already a hardcore fan, then adding this to the Switch for playing on the go is a fun challenge and I definitely recommend it.

On the surface, Tropico 6 feels like a marked improvement over its predecessor, but some underlying balance and UI issues hold it back from being truly great. It’s unlikely to be the shining beacon of the series, but it still manages to provide plenty of fun alongside its great visuals.

While not a remake like the appropriately named Final Fantasy VII: Remake, Crisis Core is a 100% labor of love, taking the original game and cleaning it up while only making a few changes that allow people who never had a PSP to experience this somewhat hard to access chapter of Final Fantasy’s lore. The graphics are gorgeous, the gameplay is smooth and fun, the structure of the game respects your time, and Cissnei is in it which is worth the cost of admission itself.

There’s a reason this DLC is called the “Master Trials.” It’s heavily focused on challenging combat, with a few cosmetic rewards. If that’s your forte, you’ll find the design of Master Mode and Trial of the Sword to your liking, though Master Mode is a touch late to the party in terms of time investment and reward. It’s not a new adventure, but it will do just fine until the second pack, complete with story DLC, drops this holiday.

From presentation to gameplay, NBA 2K20 does an amazing job at faithfully recreating an authentic basketball experience. If you can look past the microtransactions, you’ll find a really great basketball simulation.

There are very few times that a trailer for a game with a high-level concept lives up to its promises and Lost Words absolutely nailed exactly what I hoped it would be. The game puts you into the heart and soul of a writer struggling to flesh out their own story while also struggling to cope with their own hardships. While the gameplay itself can sometimes be slow and the game has a few minor bugs, none of this takes away from the fact that this is one of the best narrative journeys I’ve encountered in years.

Frustrations from PC struggles and awkward movement controls were quickly swallowed up in the glorious, but brief adventure that is Rime. Through beautiful environments, clever puzzling, and a soundtrack contending for game music of the year, Rime draws its audience into a truly moving tale that will keep them absorbed in its splendid island world from start to finish.

Solid controls and fun exploration mechanics are somewhat marred by graphical slowdown and constant darkness — both in lighting and in depressing visuals and themes.

The story is so engrossing and with the noticeable improvement in graphics, it becomes almost a new game entirely. Fast response interactions with people and objects, as well as easy mobility, make this game very easy to navigate. Telltale games did an amazing job remastering a game that was great to start with.

Inmost tells a disturbing yet beautiful tale set in a complex world. It balances both narrative and gameplay surprisingly well and offers an experience that will keep you engaged throughout. Despite some small issues, Hidden Layer Games offers one of the best indie game experiences in a while and is worth your time if you are a fan of platforming and puzzle-solving.

A world filled with mystery, beauty, and adventure, Microids put plenty of love in care into the game’s themes of history. World Before beautifully combines classic storytelling with the art of world storytelling, not to mention the intertwining tales of two characters from different eras in time. It’s like a book that takes you in many unique directions within the same story and it’s good fun.

I did not enjoy Graceful Explosion Machine. But you might. It hearkens back to arcade shooters in its repetitive presentation and simplicity, but if you aren’t bothered by that loop, the gameplay itself may be enough to hook you. The controls feel smooth as silk, HD Rumble makes each explosion tangibly satisfying, and the music is chill, if samey. If racking up high scores creating massive alien explosions again and again is your cup of space tea, Graceful Explosion Machine may be the Switch exclusive you need for the time being.

As far as collections go, Capcom absolutely nails it with the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection. The slight graphical upgrade is nice as well as the large collection of backgrounds you can choose from. A talking MegaMan NetNavi at the title screen is also a super nice touch.

Though it introduces new ideas and perspectives to players, the final episode of The Walking Dead drags on a bit too long in order to bring Clementine’s seven-year journey to a close.

The story paints something that feels all too real-world with things like police corruption and right-wing smoke screening. Combined with real-world visuals of the city mixed with gorgeous graffiti-like special effects, it all mixes into a fantastic racing experience that is hard to quit. The only gripe is an incredibly slow progression system.

Back 4 Blood is a fun spiritual successor to the Left 4 Dead franchise. It’s entertaining, graphically well-done and offers a lot of customization for all kinds of players. While the game will get old for some, others will find ours of entertainment cleaning things up with their friends.

Indivisible is a solid enough game to dive into, even if it is seriously flawed. The visuals are stellar, characters are likable as hell, and experimenting with a plethora of different characters in combat can certainly be entertaining. But the inner-core of the experience doesn’t shine quite as bright as its exterior shell, and in failing to do so makes more of a game that seems like it was a bit too ambitious for its own good.

Kombinera promises a classic Atari experience and delivers on that. With the help of developers Graphite Lab and Joystick, they’ve created a puzzle game that constantly delivers enough twists over time to stay fresh. If you’re looking for a classic Atari experience and a solid puzzle game, this is for you. I’d have loved a bit more personality to it and the option to tone back the moments when bright colors assault you between worlds but the game itself is a very clever puzzle experience.

Despite a few technical hiccups, Pacific Drive is a thrilling experience that is unlike anything I've encountered. Beautifully atmospheric with a really well-done story design and more than enough mental stimuli to make your mind terrified of what it doesn't see. Pacific Drive is a game about you and a questionably reliable car, and it is a destination well worth the drive.

Ittle Dew 2+ charms instantly with its open-world freedom, challenging puzzles, and constant snark. With the 2+ added dungeons, there’s plenty here to have you hunting for secrets for hours if you’re in the know. But if you’re stumbling through for the first time, you might find the adventure over too soon and too easily without knowing why.

ARMS is not going to be for everybody, but it tries to present something different in the fighting genre much like Splatoon did for shooters. And I feel like it mostly succeeds. Both the regular and motion controls mostly work well, there’s a lot of strategy and customization involved, and it offers a good variety of multiplayer modes to keep things fresh, even if it’s lacking in single player options.

The Pathless is about the journey. Your freedom to explore and take in the rich, breathtaking environments at your own pace is highlighted by the game’s satisfying traversal system and lack of clear cut directions. The puzzle-platforming and combat mechanics are simple but provide a refreshing break from the potential monotony of dashing through this mythical world.

Straddling a weird line between far too difficult and a touch too easy, Human Resource Machine has a very specific audience in mind and may not appeal to everyone with eyes on a low-cost Nintendo eShop title. But for what it is, Human Resource Machine presents a challenging diversion in the form of code string puzzling amid pleasing and amusing dystopian aesthetic. If this is the sort of mental challenge you like to carry around with you, by all means pick it up on the Nintendo Switch–it’s the ideal platform for such a game.

The Vanquish Remaster brings a ton of much-needed, fast-paced, arcade fun back into the third-person shooter world. Excellent design, goofy characters and vibrant environments make this a pleasant playthrough even 10 years later.

Skyrim VR is the best game available on PSVR right now. The ridiculous amount of content, gameplay, and options combined with flexible movement controls make up for the aged graphics and bugs. This is a must-play for anyone who owns PSVR.

If video games were cars, NHL 20 would be a modest update to last year’s model that looks shinier while functioning and operating better as a whole. Video games are not cars, however, and the lack of new gameplay modes, as well as core functions remaining sadly untouched, hold it back from greatness.

If you are a fan of traversal-based games, or you just want a quick indie game to play through, I do not think you can go wrong with Solar Ash. The repetitive gameplay, poor PS5 optimization, and lack of replayability are definite downsides, but it is still a fun and intense game to play.

The World Ends With You: Final Remix brings a cult Nintendo DS classic to a modern platform that should be a good fit, but some poor choices in how the combat is handled bring down the experience and actually makes it the inferior version.

It’s easy to get lost exploring the giant maps in Rebellion’s Sniper Elite 5, and it’s been a while since I’ve played a game where I lost track of time. The collecting part leaves something to be desired, but the co-op and invasion gameplay modes more than make up for that.

Game Builder Garage is a very solid creation tool at its core, with very helpful tutorials to help creators make the most of what they have. This game is what you make of it. Whether you are a creative yourself or someone who likes to peruse the many creations of other players, there is definitely fun to be had. There are some lacking features that would definitely benefit the game in the long run if they were present. What we have is just a mostly complete package. If you have ever played games like Minecraft, Little Big Planet, or even Media Molecule’s Dreams, there are loads of fun to be had.

The Disney Afternoon Collection is nostalgia done right. While it could have been a little more fully featured, it contains several classics games absolutely worth revisiting, or even checking out for the very first time.

Bravely Default II ticks off all boxes for people looking for an old school, turn-based RPG experience but at the same time makes it very difficult for the casual gamer to enjoy it. Even if you get a hang of the gameplay, the story is such a remarkable slog, and the dialogue delivered at such a slow pace that it could easily replace melatonin as my go-to sleep aid. If you’re here for this sort of game, they do wonderfully with their dedication to the job system and the enemy design, and even if it’s not necessarily my jam, I can absolutely respect the work and effort put into this.

New Super Lucky’s Tale does boast a couple of significant improvements over the original version but it’s still a fairly forgettable 3D platformer on a console loaded with great ones.

Setting the table for a big adventure to come, Batman: The Enemy Within gives players a window into a larger world. Batman and Bruce Wayne must balance their responsibilities and decisions, giving the player a multitude of ways to explore each scenario. Already there are a ton of path divergences along the way, giving us an entry into a series that will test the limits of the Caped Crusader. For now, a ho-hum, plot-seeded opening episode centered around a disappointingly mundane villain is good enough if a better payoff down the road follows suit.

While its character design is nothing groundbreaking, the focus on individual skill and quick reaction times make for a stimulating and entertaining experience. If you are prepared to overcome a relatively high skill cap, LawBreakers adds just enough flavor to the genre to warrant your attention.

Dragon Quest Heroes II is a game that looks good in HD and runs smoothly at 60 fps, but shows that a great-looking and performing game cannot cover for a shallow adventure with repetitive sound, seemingly never-ending battles, and repetitive gameplay. There is a good game in Dragon Quest Heroes II. It is half as long, much more streamlined and features a raucous soundtrack befitting the big battles you experience. This bloated version merely deserves to get slimed.

PGA Tour 2K21 beefed up its career mode with the inclusion of more courses, brands, and rivalries with tour pros. Hitting great shots feels very satisfying and the immense flexibility in difficulty makes the game fun for everyone. Online play is fairly deep with Societies and matchmaking while the course designer continues to be a shining star for the series. If this franchise is the future of golf games, then it’s looking pretty good.

It may be a few years too late, but WWE 2K22 improves on the series in almost every way. The combat system being changed and made more reminiscent of a fighting game makes the matches faster and more exciting.

While the gameplay had its fun moments and it didn’t make me rage quit even once, the saving system (or lack thereof) really put a wrench in the overall experience. Green Hell is the best survival game I’ve played, but let’s be honest, the bar isn’t all that high and it’s like the best house on a bad block.

Chime Sharp takes the simple concepts of the original Chime and brings with it new music and new challenges and puts it together in a robust, affordable and unique package.

With changes to its gameplay engine, combat, visual style and choice-driven narrative, The Walking Dead: The Final Season starts out on the right foot. Though there are moments that take you out of the immersive story, its gripping conclusion sets up what looks to be one of the franchise’s best season in years.

Simply put, Madden NFL 20 just isn’t all that enjoyable as a whole. Gameplay still has unfixed issues that have been prevalent for years and Franchise is still lacking the complete overhaul and player control it’s needed for years. Face of the Franchise is a total flop, serving as more proof that it’s time for EA to give up cinematic sports stories. Sure, Ultimate Team got some needed improvements and some X-Factors are fun to mess around with – but this year is more proof than ever that Madden needs a serious overhaul in nearly every aspect.

Make no mistake, Windjammers’ biggest strength is in its fun and addictive gameplay. It cuts through the white noise and just delivers some fast-paced, super competitive action that anyone can pick up and play.