The majority of games featured in the NEOGEO Pocket Color Selection Vol. 2 are fun, while some fall flat. Overall, I think SNK released a solid selection of titles for volume 2 of this series with some added extra to boot, but they really do need to rethink that price point.

The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me uses a piece of real history to deliver a B-movie-level horror show experience. The H.H. Holmes backdrop makes for a devilishly uncomfortable story experience, while the gameplay design falls in line with the DPA game series. The game does have some technical hiccups here and there, but it should satisfy those who enjoy the previous iterations of the series.

Need for Speed Unbound is what we all needed. In a world full of racing games trying to be the next iRacing or a sim in general. Unbound says, ‘Hey, I’m really just here to have a damn good time,’ and hands you the keys.

The Callisto Protocol is an enthralling horror experience when all its best elements combine. Few games have captured the sheer atmospheric dread and terror that The Callisto Protocol communicates just through sound and atmosphere. With an ambiance that seeks to get under the skin, the game constantly shifts gears, never showing its hand to the player. A few technical hiccups and lack of enemy variety will leave the player hungry for those few scares that could have been. But The Callisto Protocol is a must for horror fans yearning for a new IP that may eventually grow into a new, deadly universe.

Thy Creature is a beautifully woven horror show with a balanced puzzle and bullet hell component. The addition of an unsettling narrative brings it together to make for a more robust bullet hell experience. While more hardcore fans of bullet hell games might find this an easy go around, the less seasoned gamers will get right into the game’s balanced design quickly and without much fuss.

Like Guy Ritchie’s Snatch, Sunday Gold is criminally underrated for MANY reasons. Outside of its gritty and gruesome portrayals of a dystopian London, it executes a well-blended mix of RPG and point-and-click adventures. The great voice acting, sleek comic-book aesthetic, and grungy music offer players a neat and unique package that’s not only worth a try, but worth completing. I can understand that some may not be down for point-and-click gameplay, but please–give it a shot. You won’t regret it.

The best version of Spider-Man: Miles Morales resides on the PC. With a powerful story, compelling gameplay, DualSense compatibility, and a load of customizable options to get the best visuals, you’re going to be happy that this game came to this platform. It’s an absolute gem.

Sonic Frontiers from Sonic Team has all the right moves with controls, level design, looks, feel, and structure. What it needs to work on is making the game more pointed in its narrative and flowing without interruption. This game has a great skeleton, now all it requires is some solid content to fill some of that narrative disconnect. It contains some great elements, but it’s far from perfect.

Atari 50 from developer Digital Eclipse provides a proper path down memory lane with video interviews, old commercials, and a cornucopia of information to dig into about Atari’s history, the good and the bad. The inclusion of early Atari games, arcade experiences, the Atari computing systems, Lynx, and Jaguar are just icing on a well-baked, delicious cake.

Terrible Toybox and Devolver Digital’s Return to Monkey Island hit all the right notes that proper homage to the original. It brought classic humor, a great story, and a new way to play the game to make it faster. It’s one of the brighter spots of a skimpy game release year.

Sifu remains an excellent third-person roguelike that taps into classic kung fu combat. With its multiple free updates thus far in 2022, patient gamers should be assured that now is the best time to try one of the most accessible but still challenging roguelikes of the year. Sure, the Switch’s port is probably a suboptimal experience compared to the PS5’s hardware. But, it runs pretty well on the Switch, and it’s quite fun despite the graphical quibbles one may expect from the Switch’s hardware. SLOCLAP has done a pretty good job with this port and free updates, making Sifu a shoe-in for those wanting a souls-like experience on their Switches.

Old Moon’s Ghost Song has all the markings of a good metroidvania game, literally giving a tip-of-the-hat to the Metroid series, and works to make the experience deeper than a replicated version of a Nintendo classic.

iLLOGIKA Studios’ Atari Mania tugs at the heartstrings of old gamers in a good attempt to reignite interest in Atari 2600 games. The way that the game uses older titles to create mini-games is genius, if not straight from the pages of Wario World. The only caveat is that you get some of that 1980s unforgiving difficulty with it, which at times can make the game a bit unfun. It’s still a solid attempt at creating something new with the Atari brand, and certainly one you should check out.

There’s a reason (err, several) why It Takes Two earned its Game of the Year accolades in 2021, and Switch owners now have the opportunity to play one of the best co-op games of late. The story remains meaningful, the puzzles innovative. The title continues to succeed in navigating interpersonal strife long after its release and the title’s ending being freely available to find online. Even though I knew of some of the events that occurred before reviewing, I was often surprised by its powerful storytelling. It runs incredibly well on the Switch, to boot. Some of the typical Switch-based quirks may be coming with, but it still delivers on a compelling and emotional experience without the compromises that usually accompany a Switch port. With Friend Pass baked into the game, Switch owners are able to play with those in the same room as well as afar. I would personally recommend using a voice comms platform should you play remotely, though.

Though not the same tectonic shift as its predecessor, God of War Ragnarök represents one of the finest pieces of interactive entertainment available. By expanding on all the ideas set forth in 2018, Ragnarök culminates in an emotional, enthralling finale for Kratos and Atreus.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is a continuation of one of the best Call of Duty games in years. Rather than acting as yet another overhaul, Infinity Ward has fine-tuned the standout first-person shooter to provide one of the deepest multiplayer customization options in the space. A campaign packed with highlights boasts a number of missions that spin the formula in exciting ways. Despite many woes at launch, players are treated to top-notch gameplay and movement that continues to satisfy, especially now that weapon stats can be adjust in granular ways. And with more content to come, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is sure to satisfy.

SIGNALIS from Humble Games is a horror fan’s dream. It’s simple and deep, contains a hefty amount of horror in its atmosphere, narrative, and design, and will keep you entertained from beginning to end.

Triangle Strategy is a fantastic tactical RPG, and I’m so very glad to see it ported over to the PC. It offers a near perfect balance of strategy gameplay, active worldbuilding, and passive worldbuilding to get players committed to Norzelia and her inhabitants. While the gameplay may be too handholdy for tactical veterans, its accessible enough to encourage you to spend more time playing the game rather than trying to customize characters to the best they can be. This port doesn’t really offer much of an incentive for those who own the Switch version, but…the game is near perfect as is. Why bother trying to improve on a stellar tactical RPG?

Century: Age of Ashes from Playwing is a good free-to-play game. It is gorgeous, easy to pick up and go, and has some competitive charm to it. The microtransactions and the thin amount of variety in the game might detour some from extending their time with dragon battling, but I think it’s certainly worth a look.

Mario+Rabbids: Sparks of Hope from Ubisoft Milan and Ubisoft Paris is a fantastic and better follow-up to its original 2017 experiment. The characters are better, the addition of Sparks changes how the gameplay works, and the overall tactical strategy options the game provides the player in a huge world make for a consistently fun adventure. Beware of the difficulty, though, as it can get infuriating at times.

The Jackbox Party Pack 9 from Jackbox Games has the variety, entertainment, and creativity to make this one of the top-five Jackbox Party Packs to this point. While not everything works perfectly and provides an even amount of entertainment, most of what you get is absolutely spot-on and replayable.

Gotham Knights may not be the Arkham follow-up players were expecting. Yet it is an admirable addition to the Batman universe, striving to forge a path of its own. Multiplayer fuels the experience, allowing for seamless crimefighting with a friend. Growing pains may exist with loot, crafting, and progression but it balances out in harder difficulties that reward calculated play and thoughtful tactics. While some may be lost without Bats, this family has found a way to survive.

NHL 23 is a good step for the franchise this year, and there needs to be major praise for this. They have been great strides up the ice, but overall I just felt myself wanting something more.

The ultimate/definitive version of Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection now resides on the PC. If you have the hardware to run it and want to enjoy a good popcorn action adventure, then this is the game for you.

Them’s Fightin’ Herds from Mane6 creates a beautiful and unique fighting experience through their fun characters, simplistic mechanics, and gorgeous environments. While the game does run slow in the scheme of fighting, the rest of it makes for a fun time.

Illfonic completely understands what it takes to fulfill every player’s wish of being a Ghostbuster in Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed. While some of the gameplay elements could be tweaked a bit better to provide a bit more of a responsive experience, I truly felt like a Ghostbuster the entire time. With awesome story beats placed throughout to keep the leveling-up experience worthwhile and exciting gameplay to keep every job feeling fun, Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is the realization of the perfect Ghostbusters experience.

There is a lot to like about Pixel Heart Studio’s Airoheart when it comes to harkening back to classic games that made us smile. It has some solid dungeon crawling, a big world to explore, and a fun story that truly does give a sweet kiss to the golden age of action-adventure RPGs. It just needed a bit more cleaning and tightening in some areas before it was released. I think the game can improve with patching, but as it stands now, it still feels like it needs a bit more finish to shine.

I want to believe that the Switch is capable of supporting graphic adventures, compelling stories, and riveting experiences that are expected from other consoles. For the case of Life is Strange Arcadia Bay Collection, I cannot help but express concern that this remaster is less of a remaster and more of a port of the original 2015 game, graphical artifacts and outdated loading times included. Yes, Life is Strange is an outstanding game and very easily one of the best written games I’ve played in my lifetime. The Arcadia Bay Collection comes with all the content associated with Life is Strange and Before the Storm. Switch owners should definitely play Life is Strange during their lives. But, if you own other consoles/a PC, then maybe you should consider trying Life is Strange on a platform that makes the game look and feel better than its original. If you already own Life is Strange, then this collection becomes much more difficult to recommend.