It's not perfect. Matt Duchene Hockey Classic is badly let down by a complete lack of difficulty. Even on "Pro" difficulty, I was scoring easily after just a couple of minutes play, and the opposing AI hardly put up a challenge. This severely limits its replay value. Severely.

Ultratron is a good arcade game with the simple goal of surviving as long as possible in order to avenge the human race and earn a good score to brag about while doing it. While it might not do anything we haven't seen before, it is a fun time for those that love the retro style.

The Crew 2 really isn’t all that engaging. Sure, The Crew 2 can be recommended as an arcade game that controls well for casual racing fans, but those updates are going to have to be really good in order to give this title longevity.

The levels are hard and they offer a good challenge for those who are willing to stick it out through the long loading times.

LEGO DC Super Villains is another example of how TT Games haven’t just sat back on its LEGO titles to simply release “just another game” with a reskin. It doesn't always work, but the developer has tried to do something new while also keeping elements of previous titles that worked. Add in the iconic slapstick humour and you're in for a reliably good time.

It is a passable Smash Bros. clone, but to be honest, if you're that much of a fan of the Smash Bros. formula, surely you already have a Wii U.

Destiny 2 Forsaken is a whole new game, a whole lot of game, but it’s also the exact same game. It's "fun" – Destiny always was – but it's a loop of endlessly increasing numbers and loot and numbers and loot and more numbers and not enough numbers and I just don't know why I'm doing it anymore.

Hexologic is beautiful in its zen minimalism. The soundtrack is gorgeously relaxing, the beautiful aesthetic makes wonderful use of crisp lines and white space to be the kind of thing I'd happily point design students to as a way of doing interfaces and modern chic properly. That beauty is backed up with an elegant, efficient, and clever logic foundation, and as a result it's all very classy and the kind of experience you can enjoy with a glass of good red wine. It's just disappointing that Hexologic didn't prove testing enough on the intellect to be a truly spectacular example of a puzzler.

For its flaws Aragami is my kind of stealth game, and I had a good time with it. After spending a bit more time studying Japanese literature, and perhaps a couple of field trips to Japanese castles, graveyards and shrines to really understand how Japanese storytelling should look and feel, I really think an Aragami 2 could be something special.

Sword Art Online: Lost Song is an interesting title, because its intuitive combat is an easy way for newcomers to experience the game. At the same time, it has a story and history that really is geared towards those who are already familiar with the series and the prior video game entry. Those two items are somewhat at odds with one another, but if you can get past that and the middling story, I found the actual characters and humour engaging.

Soldner-X 2: Final Prototype is fine as a Vita game. There are better shoot-em-ups out there for the handheld though, and I could only recommend this to the SHMUP diehards. The levels are a tad too long for a handheld game which holds it back somewhat, and unfortunately it doesn't do much to push the genre forward.

The Weaponographist is a solid game to play if you're ever in the mood to dwindle a few minutes or hours off the boring day you're having. The pick-up-and-play quality, easy-to-understand nature and lightweight gameplay all come together to make The Weaponographist an easy recommend for everyone.

The setting and atmosphere, as well as the idea to situate the whole game in a small, interconnected space, are wonderful and lend well to the developers’ overall vision. That being said, the core gameplay loops hold the experience back, and while I loved the Eastern spiritualism theming, there was a lack of emotional weight to the stories of both the protagonist and the ghosts themselves. This is a game which gets me hoping that there is something like it, but better, out there in the future.

Whilst there’s an admirable amount of content and game modes on offer here, I would’ve liked to see a more varied experience overall which could capture a group’s attention for a bit longer. That being said, Giant Margarita has proved that it knows its stuff, and we’re excited to see what the team brings to the table next time.

If you are the type that might have bought a Terminator 2 game back in the 1990s when it was something of a cultural institution, and as long as you stick to the regular difficulty modes you’ll enough to entertain you here. Otherwise, though, this is going to be a bit niche for everyone else.

I alternated between enjoyment and stretches of indifference. I am genuinely glad, though, that we have this addition to our growing Western library of visual novel hybrids (!).

A refreshing experience and well worth the time. If only there were more adventure games of this ilk.

Mugen Souls is a game that’s great at pushing buttons. Not everybody’s buttons, not my buttons, but someone out there is going to get their buttons pushed so hard by adventuring with Chou Chou and Altis.

It certainly offers a unique story in the realm of video games. Fans of the genre will certainly get a kick out of the game, others may just be intrigued enough by the story to try it out. But will it stand out as a classic in the genre when we're getting so many of them at the moment? Probably not.

I don’t quite think Shin Chan is that bad as Matt makes out, but the tone is jarring, and I do kind of feel that I’d get on just a little better with the core game that’s here without him present – though I’ve little doubt that his presence probably helped shift more than a few copies when Shin Chan: Shiro and the Coal Town first debuted in Japan earlier this year.

What really lets Our World Is Ended down is its lack of narrative focus. On the one hand you'd got a compelling discussion about fluid reality - something that, much like AI and robotics, is quickly falling out of the area of "science fiction" and into "we actually need to talk about this, because it's happening" territory. On the other hand, you've got a lot of stories about a bunch of generally unlikable characters and their obsession with breasts. With the way Our World Is Ended is designed, these don't mix anywhere near as well as they needed to to take this to the upper echelons of the genre.

Some people won’t like Yuki’s Silent Quest because of the need to replay levels constantly to complete objectives. It does get tiring but feels like you have achieved something when you finish a level. In terms of gameplay, it’s a solid game. It looks great and plays great. Downloading it will not be a mistake. It’s just disappointing that it feels like fallen ever so short of being a classic mobile game.

It's great when you need free chips, but Poker Club was built entirely around the social experience and that's largely absent here. I love Poker Club's design and philosophy, but unfortunately, where Ripstone's other games on Switch are exceptional, this is a vastly inferior port and experience.

BurgerTime Party! should scratch an itch for those who remember and enjoyed the classic BurgerTime game the way I did, with more levels, modes and a pleasant presentation. It makes a fun enough diversion, even if your enjoyment will probably taper off after a handful of hours, because there is no real story to chase and the mechanics of the game never really progress into anything more than their initial hook.

Elite Dangerous is a very cool, atmospheric experience with an outstanding presentation. The flexible gameplay and progression loop are two great reasons to keep coming back for more if the game's mechanics click for you. However, it is easy to see why some people might be turned off by its aimlessness, and with the lacking narrative contextualising what you're doing, you might be left with the nihilistic question of why you're bothering doing anything at all.

Tharsis is an incredibly meaningful game that has picked a woefully inadequate format to express an innately intelligent idea.

There's a lot I want to like about Legends of Talia. A fantasy-themed visual novel that isn't an isekai is almost refreshing, and a morally conflicted, exhausted "hero" at the centre of the story is a nice idea. Unfortunately, this game is trying to do too much with too little, and in the end, it doesn't achieve much of anything. You can't achieve an epic narrative arc, culminating in an earth-shattering battle with a dragon, in a two-hour visual novel. The developers should have considered something a little more modest in scope and built up to this if they wanted to make this protagonist and setting really hit home.

Unfortunately enough time has passed since the last C&C game that I would have liked to see a few more risks taken, because I don't see the newer generation of RTS fans biting with this one.

Cyberpunk is a demanding genre, and Synergia is a better effort at it than we generally see. It's willing to tackle difficult moral questions, it shows genuine distress at the class systems and the hubris of corporations, and it's science fiction without being gratuitous about it. I can think of a certain big-budget blockbuster "cyberpunk" game that doesn't even come close to understanding the genre as well as this humble visual novel, and that's saying something.

That is not to say Fantasy Hero: Unsigned Legacy is a bad game. Far from it, there are moments when it is fun and most of its mechanics come together. The problem is that the overall experience is rather short, and very little about the game is memorable once you put the Vita down.

It remains true that Cat Quest is a hugely reductive game that strips the RPG formula to its very roots, and that lack of depth becomes tiresome towards the end. I'm glad that this is not a game that outstays its welcome, but at the same time it's not a game I'll remember, beyond that adorable skipping run of my adorable little furrball.

Tesla vs Lovecraft is enjoyable enough for what it is: a simple, energetic twin-stick shooter fat doesn't push any boundaries but gets most of the fundamentals right. At the same time, there's so much untapped potential in the idea of Lovecraft/Tesla crossover, and that leaves me wanting so much more from this game than it actually delivers.

Maquette - and the development team - deserve better. There's some real talent evident in the unique, interesting, contemplative and rewarding puzzle design here, and that kind of quality occurs less and less frequently in this vapid and action-obsessed industry. The development team also know how to write interesting and emotionally engaging narratives - we don't see stories about love told with this kind of sincerity anywhere near often enough. Unfortunately, the one and only problem that the game has is also the thing that almost breaks it; the two elements that the entire experience relies on are at near-complete odds with one another.

This Is The Police aims to be something of a higher production values take on Papers, Please. For the most part it succeeds, and certainly Lindsay loved in, as you can see from her perfectly fair take on the game. But truth be told the simulation/ strategy gameplay isn't that involved, so what I was left with was the narrative storytelling, and while every moral conundrum gave me real pause to think, too often I thought my emotions were being exploited and toyed with by a game that was going to play out the same way regardless. That in itself is worth talking about in the context of a conversation around determinism, but I was still left feeling a little cheated, truth be told.

For Honor takes some risks and creates a new property that I'd love to see more of in the future. Unfortunately, there is this impression that perhaps Ubisoft was not entirely confident in this first outing. The online modes are fun enough, but they can get grindy and their lack of depth begins to show after a time. This when coupled with the lack of dedicated servers leaves For Honor feeling somewhat incomplete, despite some beautiful environments and engaging combat.

While it doesn’t offer a whole lot to do and risks getting overshadowed by bigger party racers like Nintendo’s own Mario Kart, Chiki Chiki Boxy Racers is good for an afternoon of fun with up to eight players. It doesn’t overstay its welcome and it’s simple enough that players of all ages can immediately understand the controls and goals.

Dragon Ball: Fusions takes a familiar tale and style of play and decides to mix the whole formula up. Some aspects of the formula work better than others, but the end result is still an enjoyable experience that takes an overly well-known property and manages to make it fresh in several ways.

You have to be a rally game fan to enjoy WRC 6 much, but if you are, then I suspect you’ll appreciate the authenticity the game offers that other, more general interest rally gamers, like Dirt, do not offer.

As a horror experience Outlast 2 works as a bit of grindhouse exploitation. It’s intense, it’s sharp, and it’s a grisly, beautiful game. But it’s also so linear and tries to be so cinematic that it opens itself to comparisons to similar stories told in other media, and as weird as it is to say, Outlast 2 is also far too safe.

I'm actually disappointed that I didn't like Golf With Your Friends more. I enjoy party games, I enjoy minigolf, and I do think that the fundamentals of good minigolf are in there. However, it's worth remembering that right back at the start with the Nintendo Switch Zen Studios released Infinite Minigolf - a minigolf game with character avatars, personality AND the ability to create and share courses, giving it much greater value as a single-player experience. It doesn't have the ability to provide the kind of wildly entertaining large party experience of Golf With Your Friends, though, so I guess the question then becomes which of the two scenarios will more likely describe how you're playing games most of the time?

For fans who've desired to take Trials on the go, there's a lot to enjoy here, but there's no denying that the F2P mechanics and digital controls sink the ruts a bit too deep at times.

NBA Live 16 has a lot of really solid pieces that are starting to come together. These disparate parts still need smoothing out and the game itself still has room to improve, but those looking for a more arcade-like NBA experience with a variety of modes should enjoy what the game has to offer.

The Last Ninja is not likely to find new fans. The archaic nature of them makes them awkward to play, whereas there are plenty of other retro options that are much more instantly familiar and comfortable to play. They are enormously important, influential games, however, so if you’re here for the history and heritage of video games, then by all means, struggle through this collection, because it is right up there with the most famous retro series that we just don’t talk about that much.

Sadly Shadowgate remake falls into a trap of not adding anything to Shadowgate, making it rather redundant to play. With that being said, Shadowgate is still Shadowgate, and there's an inherent classic quality to this adventure that, coupled with the dark fantasy atmosphere and general difficulty, also makes it inherently rewarding.

Smash Cat Heroes is a decent little game that packs multiple challenges. It might not be a classic game that will be remembered in the years to come, but it's good fun.

It’s still a lot of fun, don’t get me wrong. I’ll be playing this with my brother for our weekend gaming catch-ups for quite some time, there are already lengthy periods where there is not a single online game of Machi Koro With Everyone available, and you can be sitting in a lobby that you’ve created for 10 minutes just to get a group to join randomly (in a game that is less than a week old). Given that, it’s unfortunate that the party game flavour makes it less viable as a long-term single-player experience. I love it, but at the same time, Machi Koro With Everyone is an almost excellent adaptation of a brilliant board game that made one very big, unforgivable mistake.

Fatal Fury: First Contact is still a joy to play and - I really can't say this enough - it remains impressive that the developers were able to create such pristine fighting games on such modest hardware. With that being said, the five games Neo Geo Pocket Color games that have now been released really should have been compiled together into one collection, and I would really like to see some of the other, non-fighting games that appeared on the console given the same emulation and restoration process now. I don't begrudge SNK going to the effort with the five fighting game classics that it has, but enough's enough with this genre. It's time for something different, please.

Spirit of the North almost nails it. From the art to the characterisation, and even the wordless narrative structure, the developers have clearly put a lot of thought and creative energy into this, and it shows. You might want to play on another platform to get the full scope of the vision, because on Switch it is a little limited by the hardware, but even then, Spirit of the North has moments where it soars. It's just unfortunate that it keeps crashing into walls along the way, as the developers tried to justify the existence of the game by what can only be termed "gameplay bits", and every time that happens the motor takes a while to get going again. If you can handle the clumsy pacing and arbitrary puzzles and collectibles, though, Spirit of the North really is beautifully earnest in what it is looking to achieve.

For a couple of dollars, though, A Winter's Daydream is the kind of indie visual novel that deserves support. It tells a good, interesting, and original story, with presentation that is inoffensive on every level, and some truly pleasant moments throughout. It's not a visual novel I'll ever replay, but I did enjoy every second I had with it.

Dead Rising 4 takes a few steps forward in terms of the gameplay mechanics, but also takes a giant zombie-infected shamble backwards in regards to the narrative elements. Taking away the ticking clock, making the maniacs nothing more than a mere annoyance instead of the stuff of nightmares, and having civilians easily rescued really pulled away from what I liked in the previous games. Dead Rising 4 is fun, but it’s also a little hollow and it’s lost a significant chunk of the series’ soul.

Despite moments of brilliance and an overall lovely aesthetic, there are mechanics which seem to be at odds with each other and thus the game seems conflicted. One moment you’re slowly following an enormous, glowing beast through an oceanic tunnel, and the next you’re chaining drifts together to zip through tight caverns while breaking through cracked glass panes.

If you did have nostalgic love for Snow Bros 2, it would clearly hit you a little harder, though I do have to note that if it’s just the arcade game you want in a legal fashion it is part of the Amusement Arcade Toaplan app too – and there it’s a fair bit cheaper than Snow Bros 2 Special’s asking price too.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven isn’t going to send a ripple through the video game community, but it was never intended to. As a simple little love letter to fans, it succeeds despite taking its faults and the lofty requisites to truly treasure it.

Unfortunately the transition to the current consoles leaves room for improvement. WWE 2K15 is fine for the fans, but hardly in the leagues of the best wrestling games ever made.

The genre has been able to tap into this to make it the core feature, and while we’ve seen better and more creative applications of that feature in the past, Adventure Bar Labyrinth is a solid, vanilla, example of that appeal.

Taken from within a vacuum, NHL 15 is a perfectly solid hockey title, however longtime fans of the series are bound to be disappointed by the things that they have grown used to over the years that are missing.

Unity plays well, but it's not really good enough for a AAA-game to play well, and this especially applies to Assassin's Creed, which has always been a franchise with stronger narrative and thematic value than its counterparts.

That the developers apparently haven’t considered this suggests that they’re been far too modest with their own game. Which is fine, but the audience for “more of the same Tactical Mind, just with a few new levels” may just be small enough that the modesty has killed the future of Tactical Mind, because I can’t imagine too many people who played the original will find this essential… and those that overlooked the original aren’t going to be converted on the minor changes made this time around.

I can see what they were going for with Park Beyond, and they did get achingly close to it, but right now, and at least in its console variant, it’s not quite a recommended game without a little bug stomping and AI fine tuning. Also an option to switch on total bastard mode, so I can be the truly evil park operator of my dreams wouldn’t go astray, Limbic Entertainment. Just a thought, you understand.

Recipe for Disaster, thankfully, was anything but. Yes, it was in-depth to the point of seeming complicated for me; but it’s hard to judge if that’s because the tutorials don’t explain things well enough or if it’s just my brain not linking the obvious together. Like I said, I need things shoved down my throat and even then I might not remember what to do. It also lacks a bit of charm, especially compared to games like Cat Café Manager. Regardless, all in all, it’s a solid game and I’d expect fans of management sims to gobble it up (see what I did there?)… but I’m left wondering if it might not be a hair too complex to really be enjoyed.

This carefully crafted feel extends to the player as well; there’s a definite feeling of weightiness to your actions, and consequences will rear their ugly heads should you make rash decisions.

Forged of Blood is ambitious well beyond its means, and it has so many systems at play at once that there are moments where, mechanically, they fall down. Thematically, however, it’s a gorgeous blend of complementary fantasy genres and approaches, and it's done differently. We need to see more original and different games being made, and it’s great to see something of this vision and presentation coming out of emerging game development nations like Indonesia.

An interesting title that almost looks like an old-school point-and-click adventure game, but its mix of platforming and exploration make for a deeper if flawed experience. It is unfortunate that the controls and some of the more vague environmental puzzles are not more refined, because they hold back what otherwise is still a memorable game. Even with those blemishes, the way the world is woven together and the interesting premise are more than enough reason to spend some time exploring.

Wrack is fairly similar to the games many of us have played at some point or another, albeit with a cel-shaded art style and a tweaked combat system thrown in for good measure.

I would define this game as a nice game that was very well cooked and served. No, it wasn’t one of those rare breed that practically forced me to sit and play. Mystralia's is a more down to earth experience, gaining most of its credit through its adorably vivid presentation. It also does very well in the puzzle department.

The Gap is in an intriguing and compelling idea. Unfortunately, it’s underdeveloped, and structured in a way that undermines something critical for any psychological thriller: if you’re not connected to an invested in the characters, then you’re not going to care about what they’re going through enough for it to chill you. The Gap also comes across as something that is badly trying to be analysed in intellectual terms, but fails to land on a distinctive theme that it can call its own. It’s great to see projects like this, from a games-as-art perspective, but it’s not one of the finest examples of that, either.

There's fun to be had in Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark, but it's a dialed-in action shooter game, which is a mistake since there was never a chance that this game would compete with the big budget games in the genre, such as Destiny, Call of Duty, or Titanfall.

I hope Rideon continues to produce Mercenaries titles. They’re genuinely entertaining as “no-frills” examples of the tactics JRPG genre. However, the Switch has so many of them now. Recent years have brought us the incredible remake of Tactics Ogre, the stunning Triangle Strategy, and earlier this year we got, arguably, the finest Fire Emblem to date. I don’t expect Rideon to get to that standard, and I think there’s plenty of room for a “no frills” and inexpensive little experience in between the big guns, but I would still like to see the series continue to evolve, rather than simply find ways to continue to repackage the existing assets.

When you start to feel like luck is determining the result of a game it's difficult to really enjoy what you're playing.

Here’s hoping Wales Interactive are able to keep working on Soul Axiom, because these game-breaking bugs are holding back a game that’s otherwise creative, intriguing, and utterly gorgeous.

While Earth Defense Force 2 offers a lot of repetition over the course of its missions, it’s a fun distraction for fans of bad science fiction that want to indulge in a bit of wanton destruction. While it may not offer depths of narrative or even the real semblance of one, the gameplay more than speaks for itself, and it’s quite easy to see why this series has managed to develop the core fanbase that it has over the years.

I genuinely enjoyed this game. It's no Bloodstained, but it plays really nicely, and offers up the kind of B-tier delights that we just don't see much of any more.

There’s not much else I can say about St. Dinfna Hotel. If you’ve played horror games then you know what you’ll be getting from this one. If you haven’t played many horror games in the past then the clumsiness of the combat, and the lack of assistance through the puzzles, makes this a poor entry point to the genre. Indeed, if you’re not familiar with the classic horror titles St. Dinfna is in homage to, the entire experience is almost pointless. I do think the developers have talent and passion for the genre, and I hope that this is successful so they can get a second run at it. If they do, all they need is to have their own voice and the confidence to add to the genre, rather than parrot it, and I do think they have it within them to create something special.

A very competent, but ultimately unremarkable game.

I do think that the game is one or two elements and patches away from being a truly enjoyable party experience, so while I’m putting it aside for now, hopefully this will be one worth coming back to.

It's rough around the edges, but it's an intense and even emotional experience, and still one of the better examples of a zombie survival game.

Given that this is a port to a console, and the Switch has consistent hardware specs across the board, it’s clear the game’s stability wasn’t re-examined prior to its Switch debut. No cheeky philosophical quip is going to make that look anything short of lazy.

It sets out to offer a nostalgic JRPG experience, and it achieves that. It might lack the style and substance of a truly good game, but I can think of worse ways for JRPG veterans to eat away a lazy Sunday or two than this.

The visuals and music deliver as always and it is great to see some more times spent on actually developing the story and fleshing out our three protagonists. However, in giving the heroes a better story, they somehow have even less to do in the game. Perhaps more frustratingly, the story is short and incomplete, making the game feel rushed or like the development team has unannounced DLC planned for down the road.

Silk is a noble idea, presented nicely, and once you get the hang of it, the sheer scale of the game, as well as its exotic themes, make it a wonderful blend of history and adventure. As with many ambitious indie games, however, its ambitions clearly outweighed the capabilities of the team. While this may well be one of the largest environments ever created, and it's a rare example of a game that does that for a reason other than just providing content to players for the sake of content, a lack of refinement and context to the exploration leaves Silk feeling like a far lesser experience than its ambition deserves.

The historical setting, the devotion to detail and colourful artstyle are sure to draw its share of fans, and the gameplay is also a perfectly functional modern reimagining of 80’s era beat-em-ups. It is my dream that there forms a devoted fanbase who appreciate both of those things, but for now this is a game divided between two aims.

There are 80 tracks to painstakingly unlock in I*CHU, and by the time you have them all, you’ll also have a team of pretty boys who are powerful enough to make hard mode for these tracks playable. At that point, it’s finally a full-scale rhythm game, and indeed more generous with the content than many of the others on the Switch. Unfortunately, it really needed to be redesigned to remove all the mobile game elements from it and leave players with a simple, straightforward, but enjoyable rhythm game. That core heartbeat of I*CHU is a lot of fun and very worthwhile, but it’s let down by an annoying gacha system being kept over from the mobile original (despite no longer costing players anything) and an infuriating series of visual novel “minis” that you need to spend hours in to unlock all the music.

For all my disappointments with what LUNA The Shadow Dust could have been, there was a fair share of impressive moments that kept me going. I did want to see what each next puzzle would look and play like, and the mysterious tone did keep me wondering if there was going to be a big payoff at the end. I think that with a proper story, perhaps with some dialogue or written text, LUNA could have been a far stronger game. It feels like the puzzles are the lengthening elements to what could have been an epic narrative. But as it is, LUNA The Shadow Dust is very pretty, plays well, but unfortunately doesn’t do anything meaningful with its high production values.

Minutes is a simple, minimalist, but high-action arcade game. It's an impressive, creative and enjoyable indie game, though it lacks the brilliant high thinking and narrative that went into like-minded arthouse games like Hohokum and Entwined.

Technical issues and a lack of training to ease in newer players conspire to hold the title back from being as good of a game as it should be.

Damascus Gear is fun. It’s clean, well-playing fun. It could have been an awful lot more, and it’s a little frustrating that the game didn’t make better use of the opportunities that the setting provided it. It’s also not a game that you’ll remember a year down the track, let alone feel nostalgic for in a decade. But it’s, again, good clean fun, and if you’ve got a weekend to kill, this one will do it.

So, again; fried chicken is awesome. Choc mint gelato is delicious. Combining the two is not the great experience that does justice to either flavour.

I have no doubt that when everything is said and finished, this chapter will prove to be important to telling the story as a whole, it just lacks the depth and impact I have come to expect from The Wolf Among Us up until now.

Star Wars Battlefront is fun, but it doesn’t take long for that fun to be reduced to monotony.

Spectra reminds me a great deal of Audiosurf, which is meant to be high praise as I have spent a lot of hours with both games in that franchise. However, while the soundtrack provided in Spectra is an excellent one, the inability to import more music of your own choosing and the lack of visual variety in the levels makes this title quite inferior.

Warside’s single biggest flaw is that it fails to do anything to step out of the shadow of Advance Wars in any meaningful way. Without its own personality it is, ultimately, not as memorable as it should be, but that cross-play multiplayer and the fact that you don’t need your gaming group to all own Switches to enjoy playing together does save it. For not just locked to PC, but by the time it comes to consoles, I expect it will have a pretty dedicated following.

It's still a great looking game, and the core narrative is a fun, if underdone and derivative one. It's simply disappointing that this game had a reasonably large budget, and in the process it lost some of its identity and seems to be shoehorned into some very unnecessary and destructive mechanics. This game would have been far better off being made for a fraction of the budget by a small team willing to take real risks.

The goodwill that it builds at the start does starts to suffer as you realise just how limited the spelling mechanic can be, and start to run into the rough edges around he platforming.

Proof that bigger isn’t always better. The additional gameplay mechanics only get in the way of how fun the original was, and makes the screen a busy mess at times. The saving grace is that the Switch version of the game is perfect for short play sessions, which makes it a decent purchase for those that want Pac-Man on the go.

I will say, however, that Samurai Shodown! 2 is the slightly weaker of the three Neo Geo Pocket Color titles we have on the Switch right now. It's purely a result of the hardware limitations inhibiting the aesthetics rather than the way it plays though. Samurai Shodown was always about the ambient mood, with very careful use of music and exquisite implementation of weapons-based violence and bloodletting. That mood just can't translate to the limited hardware, and so while the game is perfectly playable and enjoyable, it doesn't maintain the atmosphere quite as well as the other two.

I don’t think we should completely give up on it, though. Games have been turned around from disastrous launches to become quite well-loved things, and I do think there is room for Babylon’s Fall to grow, while also being a decent time (in the right conditions) right now. It’s certainly content rich in its current state already, and while it’s probably a bit of a gamble throwing money into something that might not be around for too long, I can still see this developing a community.

Shephy is mechanically sound and intrinsically fun, but it’s also a harrowing experience if you think about it hard enough. I can’t tell if Pawn intended the game to be darkly humorous or outright desolate, but either way the grim story both tempered my enjoyment and drove me to play more. It’s an emotion that I’ve rarely experienced from a game, and that itself lends Shephy merit beyond the extent that the randomisation within the game actually hurts it.

As a puzzler, Yuso is definitely a mixed bag. It has wonderfully cute aesthetics that are pleasing to the eye, Yuso is an attractive game for sure. The implementation of the puzzles leaves a bit to be desired, some puzzles feel very clever, some are very easy, and some are too difficult, to the point that they require trial and error to pass.