While Team Sonic Racing makes a statement with its collaborative squads of racers, its identity is lost in the amorphous complexion of a conventional kart racer. Worse, its gorgeous locales and myriad customization options aren't quite enough to support a despairing imbalance between luck and skill. Silver the Hedgehog's presence is one of many indications Team Sonic Racing is burdened with deadweight and light on inspiration.

The SNK 40th Anniversary Collection had some classics in it, as well as some games that I have never seen before in my life. The addition of the extra content was brilliant, and makes the collection worth your time. If you’re an SNK fan, or you just like old games, then add this to the list.

Sniper Elite V2 is a good game at face value, and a great game if you’re into the genre or the franchise. The Remaster is very well done in terms of being complete, providing a massive upgrade in visuals, and sprinkling in a few new goodies as well. The core game still has some quirks and rust as it did originally seven years ago, but the overall experience, especially when played co-op with a buddy, is well worth it.

A Plague Tale: Innocence transforms a hopeless period of human history into an intoxicating drama. Personified as a supernatural torrent of rats, The Black Death bookends a brother and sister's struggle to overcome the impossible, giving players a piece of entertainment that is unforgettable in its emotional resonance.

Overall, the gameplay design for World of Warships Legends is simplistic, though complicated underneath the hood. The game doesn’t do anything special to magnify its intentions, but it does keep the process smooth and uninterrupted by not overcomplicating how you play. It wants you to feel like you’re playing a moving version of Battleship, but insists on taking all the potential PC obstacles out of the way. It just simply wants you to have fun, and it achieves that in the most uncomplicated and uninterrupted way. While most people might be turned off by the pay part of the game, there is still fun to be had here.

Arca's Path strips away familiar virtual reality gimmicks and gives players a serene, occasionally challenging puzzle game that requires no controllers, just the simple motion of your head. Though it runs quite short, it's a peaceful space that offers another glimpse at what the platform offers.

Overall, Konami Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection brings some classics home, while also reminding us how absolutely insane and brutal the arcade age was in its heyday.

With just a little more time in the cooker, Fade to Silence could have fleshed out these mechanics. This is the kind of game that thrives off an expanded scope. The vision for this unique world is there and, for the most part, it delivers.

Guard Duty, for me, came out of nowhere, but instantly became a fun, short experience that I tip my cap to. It doesn’t revolutionize the genre (was never intending to, nor does it need to), it won’t make you suddenly like point-and-clicks if you don’t already (you’re missing out!), and yes, there are many other games in this old genre that have done it better. Nevertheless; for only $10, you can’t really go wrong, and if it supports future endeavors by this studio, all the better.

Overall, War Theatre for the Nintendo Switch is a tough hoss of a turn-based game, which harkens back to the day of Dragon Force and Advance Wars, though not quite as perfect as those games. It ups the ante of difficulty, while requiring you to think before you move, or else you’re in for a long day. It’s a challenge, but a welcomed one.

Unsteady motion requires forgiveness. Exacting movement demands precision. Giga Wrecker Alt’s puzzle-platforming wants to have it both ways and gets trapped between frustration and satisfaction. For all of its inventive mechanics and generous agency, Giga Wrecker Alt could have benefited from more clarity and cohesion.

If you liked the game in one of its previous releases, you’ll like it here as well. If you didn’t, well, the portability of the Switch might help, but if not, there’s no reason to look at the Switch version any closer. Many would agree that this is one of the best open world RPGs in the last several years, so if you haven’t played it yet, this at least gives you another reminder to consider moving it to the top of your backlog.

I wish that the game visibly was a bit sharper. The game does not look like it was released in 2019. Sharper graphics would take this game to the next level. The music in the game is fun and perfect for being on an island. It gave the game new energy and I was always pleased with the upbeat tunes. Fun to play and a good game for anyone interested.

Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Champions is not your typical card game. It adds some simple rotation changes that end up adding a thick layer of strategy to the entire gameplay design. All of this sits on top of neat and well thought through card designs and is driven by a solid difficulty arc that forces you to learn the ins/outs of the gameplay.

It’s fun and I feel like I get something out of playing every time. I also love the presentation; technically it’s an impressive feast for the eyes in 4K HDR. Framerates are silk; animations are great, maybe a bit too cartoonish on the blood at times, but to be sure it’s a great looking game. The audio package is excellent.

Running on a treadmill and Days Gone are very similar experiences. You put in time and effort, yet you remain in the same spot. Thrilling gameplay and crazed “freakers” cannot save this game from its LONG, uncompelling story. Ultimately, the number of hours invested in Days Gone do not pay off. This is not a full throttle Sony exclusive that we’ve come to know and love, it’s miles away from that.

Jupiter & Mars presents a sincere restoration of the radical environmentalism that permeated pop culture in the early 90's. Steering its pair of dolphins through a neon post-human wonderland measures against its persistent undercurrent of despair and culpability. Jupiter & Mars lets players smile at what's left while scowling at the wreckage we're doomed to leave behind.

Final Fantasy X remains a genre-defining legend while Final Fantasy X-2 still dances through its saccharine and exploitative expectations. Neither feel especially ravaged by time. As either an academic interest in turn-of-the-century gaming or a hopeful re-acquaintance with a bygone phenomenon, the collection makes it easy to invest another lifetime across Spira.

Gearbox's release of Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition brings the missing piece of the franchise to current generation consoles. Mechanical and visual improvements solidify Borderlands has always been a fun, beautiful game that was quite forward-thinking despite some things not aging well.

Katana Zero’s blade isn’t sharp enough to cut through its self-indulgent idiosyncrasy. Inventive action sequences that neatly divide improvisation and orchestration and a novel time-rewinding mechanic both suffer under an overwrought style miserably impressed with its own posture. Katana Zero works best when it’s not auditioning to change its title to Edge Lords.

Ultimately, God’s Trigger’s grindhouse kitsch is effective because you can believe it was made by deeply inspired people who barely knew what they were doing. Blundering adrenaline has an unconscious authenticity which, by its nature, translates to a gnarly player experience. Misadventure is technically still an adventure.

HOB: The Definitive Edition made a good jump to the Nintendo Switch, a system that needs more than first-party titles to make it a legitimate contender late in this generation. HOB is a cornucopia of genres in one title that focuses heavily on action-RPG than puzzles, which means you will be moving and shaking more often than stopping and thinking. It is entertaining, engaging, motivating with its intentions, while slightly flawed in its design. It’s definitely worth looking into, though, if you’re looking for something to fall into without a huge commitment needed.

Overall, Dragon Marked for Death isn’t a perfect title, but damn it’s fun. It has all the right elements of a simple action platformer, but RPG attributes to make the experience deeper and more engaging.

One Piece: World Seeker falls flat. Its poor mechanics, sloppy combat, slow pacing, and repetitiveness all made me want to stop playing. The game has a decent story but was not worth the frustration. I would not recommend.

If you’re a fan of the genre, appreciate fine artwork and want to experience a fairly interesting story, Trüberbrook is worth a look, just go in with expectations in check.

I have not replayed through the Warmastered Edition on Switch as I write this, but I have played it some — enough that I feel ready to report that the game is still great but that this release is quite simply a direct port to the Switch with no new features or changes that I can discern.

Dangerous Driving bets that spurned fans of Burnout still want more Burnout made by the only people they would trust to make more Burnout. It’s a skilled recreation, albeit one that forgets wild innovation and grinning novelty were as important to Burnout’s identity as racing and smashing up outrageous cars. Dangerous Driving, ironically, is defined by familiarity and comfort.

Overall, MLB The Show 19 shows that San Diego Studios isn’t sitting on their butts doing nothing to improve the player experience. They are still making this game better and better each year. This year’s game brings more refined game modes, a more engaged baseball experience, and it does enough to stay fresh. It isn’t perfect, but it’s damn near it.