Without the problems that stem from the, evidently, rushed production, The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep is a mediocre-to-good dungeon crawling RPG that's reminiscent of the genre's humble beginnings. With those problems added, however, this is downright annoying, and even unplayable.

Detective Dotson would be a neat pixel-art screensaver that depicts the vibrantly coloured, densely populated world that is India. As an actual interactive experience? It’s a boring fetch quest and mini-game heavy kind of mess hiding behind a pretty face.

If looking for a simple port, as well as a bundle of the Shenmue duology, you are in for a treat, despite the fact that the enhancements of this version are underwhelming. Those expecting an action-adventure that is as good as it is popular, though, get ready for a rude awakening, because, nostalgia, and pioneering innovations aside, this just isn't fun anymore.

A game that started with a good idea but chose to build this upon a bad concept.

It is easy to see what Fortuna Magus was aiming to do. It tried to be a short and sweet JRPG, something that is always appreciated, since the biggest flaw in the genre is that games sometimes feel padded. However, it maintains the same ratio between padding and the actual story as in longer games in the genre. Worst of all, it does not give important plot points and characterisation the space they need. Combined with a poorly implemented currency that makes characters way more powerful than they should be, it removes the spotlight from the wonderful combat system. Fortuna Magus is sadly a hard pass, except for those who feel the need to play any retro JRPGs on the market. Although there are many great ones published by Kemco alone, one should never have to dive this deep into the barrel for something new to play.

Legna Tactica's biggest flaw is that it simply cannot compare to the 3DS' already strong strategy library. The combat lacks the depth of Fire Emblem, the story doesn't hold a candle to Devil Survivor, and the price is much higher than either Mercenaries Saga title, despite being similarly generic. The actual campaign is tedious and the maps are reminiscent of Final Fantasy Tactics in the worst ways possible. There's no thought behind any mechanic, leading to a distinct lack of identity, where every possible positive quality can be attributed to a far better game. Legna Tactica may work on a technical level, but that's hardly a reason to justify a full playthrough, let alone a purchase.

A visual treat in search of better gameplay, Itorah is an action-platformer that wears a metroidvania skin. The eight or so hours needed to reach the end of this journey are boring, the main heroine feels clunky to control, and the frame rate will make you nauseous. The strongest moments here will come from admiring still frames, not playing through them.

At the end of the day die-hard pet simulator fans will enjoy the game, young children might get a kick or two out of it for a little while but we can't see it sticking in the long haul.

Even though it is aimed at children, Penguins of Madagascar is far too simple, repetitive and unimpressive to warrant a purchase even for the most eager of Penguins fans.

Pixel Paint is a tool only the experienced should really consider. The lesson it teaches is to work within confined limitations. Unfortunately, newcomers to pixel art will likely find themselves spending more time trying to interact with the app than actually creating their masterpieces. Perhaps it shouldn't be as simple as drag and drop, but it should feel a lot more fluid than it does here.

Rodea the Sky Soldier is simply a game that really needed more time, and a course correction. A lot of promising concepts are seen and experienced throughout, but the flying and Sonic homing-style combat would have been executed so much better with a bit more polish.

Megalo Polis works... and that's the only good thing about it. There's absolutely no strategy involved, and the comedy expected from something dealing with the US elections, is restricted to a two-second smile-worthy art-style - you'll have more fun watching the actual elections.

The game does have some potential to host a well rounded sandbox experience but fails through what seems like an experimental, first-stab-at-it approach with little in the way of refining and testing.

Iro Hero already has its own identity, so there's no need to stray further from the pack by implementing so many strange design-decisions. Having to sit through several minutes of filler just for another crack at the real obstacle is not fun or challenging. This shmup is only recommended for those out there willing to put up with a lot of tedium.

While Cyanide SA may have had the best intentions to ship a complete and fully-immersive racing experience that perfectly replicates the highs and lows of the Tour de France, it is evident that the 2019 edition needed a lot more time in the oven. The loading screens take way too long, the game constantly crashes mid-race, and the fast-forward option causes an obliteration of the in-game graphics. Of course, this was probably rushed out to try and coincide with the grand race that this title is based off, but it does ruin the overall experience. For cycling purists who just want a game to race in, this is fine, but its issues will test even those with a lot of patience.

Groove Heaven is clearly one for the kids, but even then, it's far too short of an adventure that lacks variety in its levels and music tracks. The presentation is lovely and the idea is welcome, but it's difficult to recommend this rhythm title over some of the greats already available on the Nintendo 3DS.

For four times the price of the eShop game, this is definitely not worth the investment. Stick to the original or opt for something far better for creative minds, New Art Academy.

While any content added to Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV is obviously welcomed, the Diplomacy and Strategy Expansion Pack sadly falls far short of what is to be expected, considering the significant cost of the additions. With just two headline gameplay features and no change to how the base game operates, this is very much a disappointing development. It would be great if Koei took stock at this point on just where the series is at in comparison with some heavy competition in this genre, and went all out to make the RTK franchise what it deserves to be.

Forget the utterly nonsensical story, the unbalanced combat mechanics, the aggravating insta-deaths, the glitches, bugs, translation errors, and so on. Bright Memories: Infinite's biggest issue is that it's not a complete package. It's a two-hour tech demo, and not even an impressive one. The general idea behind it is great (one-woman army who is both a gunfighter, a ninja, and a high-tech wizard), but the execution is subpar to say the least.

The groundhog day style repeating story was so promising and yet it has been produced in such a terrible fashion. There are plenty of good elements to the dungeon crawling, yet the levels themselves are dull and frustrating. A big disappointment.

This is the Zodiac Speaking sets itself up as a moody and mature take on a series of still unsolved murders, but the game in practice lacks a considerable amount of finesse. Beyond running poorly on the Nintendo Switch - to the point where anyone who exclusively plays undocked should avoid a purchase outright - the script is as overindulgent as it is clunky and what few attempts there are at building tension are downright comical. This is the Zodiac Speaking might have been worth suffering through the flaws if the game had tighter controls and ran better, but the Switch release simply isn't worth the money.

Like many games that are smaller budget, when a game has remotely fancy graphics, gameplay tends to almost always suffer. This is no exception, while the space survival idea is cool, from frustrations in the UI, to constantly glitches and freezes it’s hard to even see the game at its best when so many other things get in the way.

Barbie and her Sisters: Puppy Rescue would have done well as a Facebook game or smartphone app. However, as a console title, it suffers from downtime and repetition.

For fans of NISA/NIS games in general, this is a complete let-down. None of the systems work well or are even that interesting. The story is bland, the combat unnecessarily complex and unfulfilling, and the lack of conventional progression against scaling difficulty results in an experience infuriating all the way around. Nearly everything is far more complex than it needs to be, from issuing battle commands, to simply trying to know what is being equipped or what effect is has. If one had to choose between one word to describe the whole experience this would be a battle between 'frustrating' and 'disappointing.'

Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee adds one more dimension, but throws what made the original a classic out of the window. Not only this doesn't have the beautiful visuals of the PlayStation duology, or its fantastic atmosphere and narrative strength, but it's also far from a fun, cinematic puzzle-platformer - in fact, it's not even a puzzle-platformer, but just a collection of boring tasks sewn together, and masquerading as an adventure.

A decent Super Smash Bros. clone that clearly improves on the first iteration, but Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 is rife with problems on Nintendo Switch. The 30 frames per second gameplay, unbelievable load times, poor presentation, and glitches that force reboots of the game mean this isn't going to be a joyful time unless playing on one of the more powerful systems. Underneath the numerous issues, there is fun to be had here, and crossplay will at least help ensure match-ups when battling online, but it is difficult to recommend this version of the game.

Good, fun games are good, fun games, and even with glitches and the numerous issues this trilogy brings, that's what these still are. However, seeing the state of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition, there just isn't any way to let Rockstar off lightly here. This is one of the most successful video game companies in the world, with goodness knows how much raked in from GTA Online, so there can be no excuses to have loaned out these iconic games to a small team with a poor track record and showing absolutely no respect for its own creations. Fifty pounds is a big ask for such old games that have been what one might say "demastered", and even with numerous future patches, these may never be the upgrades they should have been, but Switch owners new to this trilogy can find plenty of entertainment - and not just because of the glitches. This is still a hard sell, though, with the advice being to hold off for a major sale.

Despite what seems like a sincere attempt at trying to stray away from the typical licensed game pitfalls at first, Cars 3: Driven to Win strays off course almost immediately and winds up just another disappointing movie tie-in. The amount of content packaged in almost feels illusory at times, as the presentation gives the impression of a deeper experience. The Hall of Fame mechanic promotes tedium instead of overcoming challenge, and a lack of online multiplayer severely holds the content back. Tracks with no discernible identity and mechanics that feign complexity only serve to make Driven to Win feel even more like a blatant advertisement. With Mario Kart 8 already out for the Switch and better than ever, there's little reason to give Lightning McQueen the time of day.