Neither side of the game will exactly challenge your mastery over their respective genres, but the cutesy aesthetic, light sense of humour, and general balance of the game is spot on. This is something that’s easy to play in the background while watching television or a movie, and sometimes that’s all you’ll need or want.

This game will not be for everyone, and there are superior platformers available on the market that offer a greater gameplay experience. With that said, control issues aside there is replay value, with each level giving you a ranking out of four stars based on how well you perform.

The Coma doesn’t outstay its welcome, and tells its story over five or so hours. Sadly it’s just not frightening enough. The implications of the story it’s telling are terrifying, and certainly this will discourage anyone who thought they wanted to do a couple of years education in South Korea, so the themes that form the basis of game are potent. But where Creeping Terror had me gripped with its aesthetics and tension and never let go, The Coma is simply too inconsistent and clean to really work as a piece of horror.

Unlike Nintendo's Mini NES retro console that was released last year, this is a more difficult package to recommend to people that didn’t grow up playing the games. I don’t think there’s been a better effort to archive the games on the Atari 2600 and bring them to modern players, but I just don’t think the people used to complex worlds, storytelling and gameplay that we have today will understand the value of these older games. But older players may well get a kick out of playing Basic Math again, to remind them of just how hard it was to act out excitement on that Christmas day when their parents thought they had found the perfect gift.

Jet Car Stunts is the kind of game that appears simple on the outside, but smacks you in the face with its sheer difficulty.

Unlike Nintendo's Mini NES retro console that was released last year, this is a more difficult package to recommend to people that didn’t grow up playing the games. I don’t think there’s been a better effort to archive the games on the Atari 2600 and bring them to modern players, but I just don’t think the people used to complex worlds, storytelling and gameplay that we have today will understand the value of these older games. But older players may well get a kick out of playing Basic Math again, to remind them of just how hard it was to act out excitement on that Christmas day when their parents thought they had found the perfect gift.

Overall Gravity Badgers is worth the time and thankfully the levels that cause the most frustration can be overlooked and forgotten thanks to the exceptional boss battles.

I can see myself replaying Crystalis at some point, and working at Athena until I do finally beat it, but for this collection to be really worth the price of admission, SNK needed to dip into its more recent history, and particularly the fighting game genre, where the company has a genuine leadership position. It didn't do that, so it's hard to shake the impression that you'd be better off with a couple of the dozens of Neo Geo Classics that are available as individual purchases on Switch.

Still, How to Sing to Open Your Heart is worth a look if you want some cute, lighthearted romance. It's full of heartwarming moments backed by fantastic artwork, and even if the attempts at dealing with more serious matter fall short, that's reason enough to join Myana on her adventures.

To criticise Pocket Academy; things tend to happen more slowly than in some of Kairosoft's other titles. You unlock new buildings and facilities more slowly, and run out of cash more quickly. Time also ticks by at a slower rate. The most directly comparable Kairosoft title, Hot Springs Story, is much more sprightly, and therefore the superior place to start if you're looking for just one Kairosoft sim for your Switch.

I shouldn't allow the presentation to bug me, but for Rory McIlroy, it does. Coupled with the limited range of play modes and a relatively shallow range of courses, and I was left with the impression that this game was certainly not EA Sport's focus this year.

The limited budget of an independent developer is clearly on show from start to finish, but there's an earnestness to the game that is really quite appealing. But if "walking simulators" don't do much for you, don't expect to get much out of this either.

The danger with coming up with something that is a clearly different creative vision is that you set expectations for what the rest of the game will be like. The art and concept of Pinku Cult are so compelling that the contrast with the incredibly mundane RPG mechanics and puzzles is all the more disappointing. This is a well-meaning but inconsistent experience. I hope the developers get a second shot, because there are more stories to tell here and I do think with a bit more experience they’d be able to build a game as strong as the concept.

Sparkle 2 may certainly be a game that has been played a hundred times before, but as it is on the PlayStation 4, it is truly a treat. The pick up and play aspect shines and the difficulty curve is spot on. It does get repetitive though, so short bursts are recommended. And I just can't get over how disappointing the lack of multiplayer is.

Of the two, I give the tip to the first Revelations, as that boat setting really is up there with the original Resident Evil’s mansion, and Resident Evil 0’s train as a distinctive and brilliantly designed environment. Otherwise I find these games to be unremarkable. Entertaining, but unremarkable.

Full Mojo Rampage isn’t exactly a genuine look at the mythology and aesthetic of voodoo, but the name drop of Baron Samedi and the other Loa lords is a nice touch. Still, it’s hard to imagine you’ll get much from this. Not when there are so many other great roguelikes out there.

Ittle Dew 2 has many good things going for it, but I am wondering whether Ittle might thrive more now if she sets off on her raft, unencumbered by trying to be part of another franchise's tradition, to discover a new land all her own.

Jump Force fulfils its central purpose - anime fighting - splendidly. Instead of focusing on that brilliance, the developers piled disconnected features from other games on top. With better utilisation of fanservice and context for the characters present, this could have gone down as Bandai Namco's best outing in the category, but the love still shines through.

10 Second Ninja X is fun, but I definitely had to limit it to smaller sized doses.

It’s only around 14-20 hours from go to final blow, depending on how frequently you need to repeat boss battles, and that feels about right. Flintlock isn’t a majestic epic in the vein of Elden Ring, and nor did it need to be. This is a nicely streamlined, elegant, and focused Soulslike, with an interesting setting to explore and some excellent, refined combat. This is a tough genre to get right, and the developers, in realising their limitations, have not over-extended themselves. The result is very playable and enjoyable.

Voltron VR Chronicle would have been far better if it was limited to being a “VR experience” rather than a VR game. An episode of Voltron like any other, but one that you watch from inside the cartoon’s world rather than through a TV.

Hopefully, in the not too distant future, THQ Nordic will see fit to bring out a new de Blob game that takes the core idea of what makes de Blob an enjoyable time, and builds upon it by modernising the more archaic elements of the game.

The game itself is balanced quite well, and aside from blurry text that is nearly impossible to actually read, it’s an attractive and charming enough game. Where Of Mice And Sand ultimately suffers is that it doesn’t tell a story of survival, like its betters, and never convinces you of the urgency and desperation that you’re facing. It’s simply too gamey for its own good.

There are plenty of puzzles to work through of varying degrees of difficulty, and then there are daily puzzles to encourage you to log in each day. As with every mobile puzzle game, you earn experience points and "titles" as you play, which don't have any impact on the game whatsoever, but it's fun to see numbers going up. The real problem with Sudoku Simple+ is just how efficient it really is. Minimalistic elegance is fine, but this game doesn't even have a title screen, and the menu is just a block of text. Perhaps it's not a big issue for Sudoku, but there is a point where "no-frills" step into the realm of being just plain cheap.

For all its mechanical competency, The Surge feels as mechanical as its enemies through most of the experience. No where near enough was done with the science fiction theme, and after catching my attention with an intriguing set up, the game then lost me with a generally dull plot that it was never quite able to claw back.

Ultimately, the best way to play Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate is in exceedingly short bursts. As a “switch your brain off and button mash” kind of experience it works and in so closely emulating Hades it is inherently entertaining. But it’s also soulless and draining to play for longer than a half hour here or there. It doesn’t even work as TMNT fan service since it behaves more like Hades. It is, simply, a pastiche that is simultaneously a decently made game but also a very bad creative work. If only the games industry were better at using the language to grapple with stuff like this.

Particulars is a game by smart people for smart people. It holds many instances of clever design choices that both entertain and educate, although its complex subject matter might leave some players in the dust.

Howl is an earnest effort with a strong aesthetic and creative vision. It’s easy to imagine that it’s going to find an audience among people who pick it up on a whim – because in screenshots and video, it does stand out – and then find themselves absorbed in the puzzles. Unfortunately, while it does get challenging, Howl outlives its welcome, and the strange decision to deliberately add repetition into something that should have focused on forward momentum really hurts it in the end. If it was half the game it would have been twice as impressive.