In a way, the shallow nature of play, the points system and the short run time make me think Monster Prom XXL would be better suited as a hyper-casual board game brought out on a Friday night, but in its current incarnation, this finned, furry student falls far short of a passing grade.

In short, I was satisfied with the game, but not overly impressed. The faint thrill of Jedi-dom was indeed there, but in the end it's just another action game in a vast, overflowing ocean of them.

While it’s certainly familiar, the amount of variety on display makes Superstars feel like a proper follow-up and evolution of the old school entries, rather than just a simple retread of those past ideas. And in a way, that’s what I love about Sonic Superstars — it knows what the fans want, but it’s not content with playing it safe. Rather, it introduces new ideas to the well-established, crafting one of the finest 2D platformers around. If Sonic Frontiers set a new standard for what 3D Sonic should be, then Superstars is arguably the new blueprint for his 2D adventures.

Starpoint Gemini Warlords is an impressive effort by Little Green Men, especially in light of its crowdfunded origins and community-driven design. That they’ve managed to expand the scope and scale of their game to encompass a whole other genre outweighs the concerns raised by poor balancing and a less-than-smooth final result. All the same, those concerns remain, so those who are willing to put up with the rough edges are the ones who’ll find themselves most satisfied.

The Eternal Castle Remastered isn’t for everyone and I can easily imagine many prospective players being turned off by the controls or the abstract visuals, but there’s no denying the fact that it’s a strong addition which adds depth to the Switch library, and it comes absolutely recommended to anyone with a taste for those bygone classics or eccentric art-house titles.

Despite its lack of complexity and failure to capitalize on its oversized world, I found it easy to like Misc. A Tiny Tale. The chunky, expressive little automatons immediately drew me in, and its earnest narrative of self-acceptance and mutual aid proved a pleasant counterpoint to the ever-growing hellscape of the real world. While these elements aren’t enough to propel Misc. A Tiny Tale into the annals of the genre giants it’s modeled after, I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a smile on my face as I watched the credits roll over a saccharine song espousing the power of friendship.

Mulaka is a treat for the eyes that’s just fine as it is, but I can’t help but feel there were many opportunities where it could have, and should have, done more.

Avalanche has built a gorgeous open world with as many framerate hitches as there are load times (i.e. basically none) and id has filled it with their usual incredible gunplay. It’s not quite a replacement for Doom Eternal, but it’s made the wait far easier.

Bartlow’s Dread Machine has a great set of bones. The concept and the core mechanics of being on rails are a great starting point, and the story (which I have not spoiled here) was surprisingly effective. However, the key phrase here is “starting point”. Despite its appeal, there’s a lot of polish that needs to happen before I would be able to recommend this one to shooter fans.

Finest Hour is a heavily-scripted experience, almost to the point of being completely on rails. Things happen because they're scripted to happen, not because they're an organic outgrowth of the gameplay.

While I still respect the concept and gameplay at the core, this superfluous follow-up stretches the definition of what a sequel is, and the majority of what it changes isn’t great. More than anything else, Nidhogg 2 is like someone drawing a mustache on the Mona Lisa with a sharpie – it was perfect the first time, and ‘touching it up’ has only marred that beauty. I’ll be sticking with the original.

Yes, the EyeToy has potential. Groove is an example that the potential has yet to be realized.

All-Star Battle R is an extremely daunting affair to jump into. Yes, the developers have done a good job of offering ways to ease players into its eccentricities, but at the end of the day, it’s still a game where a fashionisto who can zip and unzip any flat surface might find themselves facing off against a woman with prehensile hair. There are fifty playable characters here, and even though I completed most of the All-Star mode and collected a huge amount of unlockable content, I’ve just dipped my toes into what the game has to offer. Whether they’re fans of the manga and anime or not, this is worth a look for any serious fighting game aficionado.

I didn't love it as a survival experience—maybe I couldn't have—but I enjoyed The Flame in the Flood as a tour of a drowning America.

I recently revisited the original Banjo-Kazooie as part of the Rare Replay compilation and still found it to be the best of its genre, and I’m not one of those people who believes that a mascot platformer has no place in the modern gaming scene. I was ready to celebrate the return of this genre, but Yooka-Laylee is simply a chore to play. The folks at Playtonic have demonstrated that they can recreate the spirit of old-school 3D platformers. Now, critically, they need to recreate the quality.

With its online implementation and improved strategic combat, there are certainly appealing qualities to Temtem, but its entrenched ties to old-school Pokemon prevent it from blossoming into something greater. It isn’t redefining what we already know, so for those simply looking for another Pokemon-like experience who just wanna catch ‘em all, this one might be a good fit.

Despite the small bugs and a skewed economy that diminishes the experience, West of Dead is still something I can’t put down. The developers seem committed to fixes and I expect the experience to improve as time goes on, but it’s already an incredibly solid game that I enjoy and can easily recommend.

It's sad. It boggles the mind to think that this much time was spent on presentation and backstory when none of it resonates in the slightest.

Like the best crime films, Mafia: The Old Country succeeds thanks to a complex and dark tale of revenge and familial ties. It’s a short, yet satisfying ride, and Enzo’s tale is easily one of the best of the year. While some may lament the lack of an open world, the narrative and solid gameplay delivered by the developers makes this an offer no one should refuse.

If one can stomach the questionable story choices, Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 has some of the most engaging sniping action around. Whether a player wants to simply click a button and watch a slo-mo bullet explode a head, or whether they want to be forced to calculate exactly how far an enemy will walk in the one and a half seconds between the bullet leaving the barrel and closing the deadly distance, SGWC2 scales exactly to any level of interest and skill. It may be brutally violent, but it’s an intensely satisfying sniper experience.

Anarchy Reigns is an attractive, bombastic entry that retails for half the price of a normal title while delivering a fantastic level of quality. If you ask me, smaller-budget titles that try to do something different should be supported and celebrated-definitely give this one a shot, but keep an eye out for double chainsaws approaching from the rear.

For a game that’s almost ten years old, the ideas and gameplay in Red Faction: Guerilla has barely aged, and there’s still nothing like it on the market. It’s unfortunate that the engine and performance can’t do this fantastic game justice, but it remains an essential play for anyone who missed it the first time.

That’s a minor flaw, however, in a game that is a sparkling and unique addition to the Metroidvania stable. While Dandara’s world has ostensibly little to do with Dandara the historical warrior apart from inspiration, I hope that players finish the game and feel as interested to explore her story as I was to explore Long Hat House’s gorgeous and intricate world.

With just an hour of main game content and no online leaderboards to encourage replaying levels, Sneaky Bears is more of a minor diversion than anything else. It’s cute and funny, and just a little upsetting when stuffed bears start threatening each other with brutal murder. That throwing mechanic, though – I spent five minutes in the level select screen just enjoying the simple act of knocking things over with my tossed guns. The goal of VR is to make fantastic spaces feel more natural, and by solving this problem, the developers at WarDucks have taken the medium one step closer.

Despite the overpowered nature of the stealth, Heretek does include enough new content to whet the appetite of Mechanicus fans and gives them good reason to come back. The new battlegrounds are a nice reprieve from the planet scenarios of the core campaign, and the new items and units give players more choices. All in all, it brings glory to the Omnisaiah once again.

Small issues can’t detract from a solid puzzle game. Worm Jazz offers plenty of challenging head scratchers while providing a relaxing gaming experience at the same time.

Eastern Exorcist is brisk and engaging. Despite a few rough points, the combat is solid, the world is beautifully rendered, and the extremely depressing story is was interesting enough to carry me through to the end. After the credits (which are entirely in Chinese, just FYI) there’s footage promising DLC or a sequel that’s is already in production, and I’m absolutely interested to see how this franchise moves forward.

While Vaporum: Lockdown initially seems like an intriguing proposal, especially on the Switch where dungeon crawlers are fairly few and far between, it ultimately it ends up being just a perfectly fine experience overall, if perhaps a bit too derivative to be memorable. Only recommended for diehard dungeon crawl or steampunk fans.