Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order is a standard, run-of-the-mill, hack and slash action RPG. Its shining moment squarely falls on the shoulders of its Infinity mode, with boss fights flying by in a close second. But its lack of polish and attention to detail means gameplay falls by the wayside, leaving a gaping, sore wound that no ultimate alliance can solely heal. Nothing more than a fun beat ‘em up that’s best played with friends, not CPUs.

Layton’s Mystery Journey is a mixed bag of tricks and treats. There’s never a dull moment with the fantastic voice acting and clever script, but without an overarching narrative and below par puzzles, the game’s missing one of its largest draws. The Deluxe Edition for the Switch, though, has a truly unique experience in that it can be enjoyed by many in one fell swoop; a good addition to the family catalogue. For Katrielle, she’s not quite there yet.

Another Code: Recollection does a good job at bringing the duology to the Switch, and there is an excellent level of consistency in the quality of the two titles, with the updated visuals and gameplay providing a cohesive experience. The additional voice acting breathes new life into the story which, although it may be too slowly paced for some, is nonetheless emotional and heartfelt. However, the decision to combine both games into a single narrative experience seems counterproductive when there is a clear transition between them, and the quality of life changes made don’t quite do enough to disguise the ageing gameplay mechanics. These weaker elements, such as the awkward camera angles and mandatory motion controls, often offset the enjoyment to be gained from the narrative, making this an experience that won’t appeal to everyone. Another Code: Recollection is an experience players will definitely remember, but this may not always be for the right reasons.

Nintendo’s first batch of DLC tracks that join the 48 courses already available do well to add an extra bit of needed spice to a game that’s still being played, and bought, by millions of Switch owners. With 40 more tracks arriving by the end of 2023, it’s worth getting excited over if this first handful is anything to go by. Sure, not every track earns a place in Mario Kart’s prestigious Hall of Fame, and it would have been nice to see design updates to make them truly special, jumping back into what’s already a sublime kart racer was a blast, and being able to share tracks that I have fond memories playing years ago with friends online was a real treat.

As it stands, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are faithful remakes in terms of storyline and post-content material. However, there are real issues here with the game’s level balancing, pared down content and overall user experience that does not go unnoticed. There’s no denying that these games are still enjoyable, especially for youngsters that haven’t experienced the originals. But for veterans yearning for a polished remake, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are a beautiful disaster.

Mario Strikers: Battle League pulls all the punches in providing an intense soccer-like gameplay experience that can only be achieved within something as special and whimsical as the world of Super Mario. Battle League is clearly a worthy successor to its GameCube and Wii counterparts, and is easily one of the best Mario sports titles in recent memory. Although it has a severe lack of single-player offerings, you’re sure to get a kick out of this undeniably excellent franchise revival, as long as you have friends and/or family that are willing to play with or against you either locally or online.

Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain recycles much of what we’ve seen before and it still doesn’t have a true online feature, but it’s a step in the right direction given the inclusion of the Ghost Clash mode. There’s plenty of fun to be had when battling against players’ ghost data online, but households with more than one person that can get together face-to-face will undoubtedly find more value here. This is the most accessible Big Brain Academy to date, thanks to its generous difficulty options. Plus, if you care enough for collectable accessories for your avatar, then there’s a lot of replayability to be had, too. Solo players, on the other hand, may be left wanting more as the slim catalogue of mini-games wears thin quickly, moreso if they’ve been under the watchful eye of Dr Lobe before.

With a small selection of sports to participate in and a lack of options to choose from when it comes to modes, Nintendo Switch Sports won’t, in its current state without updates, keep solo players interested for long. It’s abundantly clear that this title is aimed at local multiplayer, and it will go down as a treat when it’s coupled with an intense round of Mario Party Superstars. There’s a fair chance that my overall thoughts may improve when the online portion of the game becomes available, as there’s a Pro League Rank feature and, of course, the ability to tackle sports with faraway friends. We’ve also got Golf on its way in a summer update, but, right now, there’s still a modest amount of local fun to be had thanks to its obvious competitive nature and quick set-up with each sport. I’m left hoping that the online functionality will boost its longevity, due to it being the only way to unlock any accessories and outfits. For now, though, it doesn’t offer a whole lot more than what Wii Sports gave us nearly 16 years ago, and that came at no additional cost. [Review in Progress]

Scarlet and Violet takes the evolution of the Pokémon series one step forward and two steps back. It excels in providing an excellent open-world gameplay experience, but falls flat on a technical level, feeling more like an alpha build than a final product. Unfortunately, the severe lack of polish and optimization holds Scarlet and Violet back from what very well could have been the best Pokémon generation yet. That doesn’t mean I didn’t have enough enjoyment to make it well worth my time, but Pokémon Legends: Arceus tickled my fancy just a bit more.

Scarlet and Violet takes the evolution of the Pokémon series one step forward and two steps back. It excels in providing an excellent open-world gameplay experience, but falls flat on a technical level, feeling more like an alpha build than a final product. Unfortunately, the severe lack of polish and optimization holds Scarlet and Violet back from what very well could have been the best Pokémon generation yet. That doesn’t mean I didn’t have enough enjoyment to make it well worth my time, but Pokémon Legends: Arceus tickled my fancy just a bit more.

It’s a real shame the game’s intriguing cast of characters and witty scripting isn’t paired with inviting, challenging gameplay.

Despite its unexplored potential and repetitive gameplay, Miitopia remains a fun pick up and play game. If you missed it the first time around and enjoyed the Switch demo, the extra features certainly give this game a new lick of paint. Besides, the mii interactions are certainly worth their weight in gold. Now, where’s Tomodachi Life 2? Because I think I’d like a new hat. Oh, and I want my bear back.

The Indigo Disk is a surprisingly challenging inclusion to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, and in this respect at least, it is extremely satisfying, and will no doubt delight long-time series fans who have been asking for something more difficult than the norm. However, as a conclusion to the story of The Hidden Treasures of Area Zero, it falls short, being disappointingly sparse in both character development and narrative. It fails to capitalise on the setup from both Pokemon Scarlet/Violet and The Teal Mask, largely ignoring its returning characters and rushing its conclusion. Although it goes some way towards making up for the shortcomings of The Teal Mask, there is a lot of missed potential and slightly off execution in its new ideas (most notably the grind for BP to access some of its features) that hold it back from being as enjoyable as it could have been.

Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainer pulls the punches in providing an accessible workout experience that encourages a more active and healthy lifestyle. The charismatic personal trainers excel at properly motivating you to reach your goals with the help of fun, albeit finicky, motion-controlled rhythm-based boxing exercises. While the game doesn’t do quite enough to differentiate itself from its predecessors for those that have them, it’s still a fairly good fitness regime for those who are looking to get an early start on their New Year’s resolutions.

With speed taking precedence, Mario Golf: Super Rush is for players who want to experience the thrills of golf at quadruple the pace. However, traditional Mario Golf fans may feel snubbed here as there is little challenge outside standard golf and solo play, with character unlocks and incentives completely excluded. Perhaps with the promise of continuous updates due to its rather limited base game, Super Rush may feel less one-sided, though for now it values velocity over proficiency – the complete antithesis to real-life golf. Not quite an eagle, almost a birdie, but absolutely on par.

While the Vehicle kit is no show-stopper, Nintendo Labo is still surprising us in very fun and clever ways. It might not be everyone’s calling, but there’s no limit to creativity. We just can’t wait to see what’s next.

Essentially more of the same with a small handful of minor additions. It’s still a sight to behold to witness the unity of a couple household names in gaming, especially in retro-inspired settings, but two of the most iconic faces in the entertainment world deserve better.

With a 15+ hour storyline, Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers is fun when played in short bursts. The varied map terrain and heated battle action helps keep the monotony at bay, but the daily minigame-to-money grind and the odd, forced inclusion of Amiimals leaves this tower defence game with a bitter taste. Frankly, Dillon deserves better.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is, rather unfortunately, far removed from the game it once was. The quality of life additions, changes to Friend Areas, and a distinct lack of challenge until post-game have stripped out what the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon community most loved. It’s a shame Rescue Team DX doesn’t live up to its original gameplay, especially when the storyline deserves so much more. Newcomers may love it; veterans may fear disappointment. Toss an apple to a Pokémon veteran, they’ll hunger for more.

With an intriguing story, pretty solid gameplay, vigorous customization options and a promising online component, Daemon X Machina is a welcome addition to the arsenal of third-person shooters on Nintendo Switch. All in all, it’s a fresh take for Nintendo fans and – for the most part – an enjoyable experience.

What has the ingredients to be a compelling RPG with roguelike side dishes, unfortunately, boils down to a mediocre cold buffet of half-baked ideas and passable visuals that never fully gets the taste buds tingling.

Although the entire idea of Labo is to use your creations with the software, it’s a little disappointing that there isn’t an option to just play through the software with the Joy-Cons in a normal fashion. Echoes of the cancelled Project Giant Robot are haunting.

Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes is not exactly the full-fledged sequel fans have been asking for, but it’s a step in the right direction and a sign of good things to come from Goichi Suda. With more than 10 hours of gameplay and further content planned via upcoming DLC updates, the game may very well keep you busy for a while. Another positive take that could be realized from the latest release: it’s a relief to know that Travis is back and he’s most likely here to stay.

While there’s no discernible reason that DK Island shouldn’t have been included as a bonus layer at the end of the base game, especially with the DLC releasing so soon after launch, Emerald Rush nonetheless adds worthwhile replayability to Donkey Kong Bananza with an engaging new mode that encourages you to take full advantage of the game mechanics. If you’ve already completed the main story and are looking to prolong the game further with a more challenging roguelike twist on Banandium destruction, Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush is paid DLC that is worth your consideration.

Kirby’s Dream Buffet is a well-prepared sweet treat that gets stale rather quickly without friends to share it with. While its £13.49 price-tag certainly makes it easy to swallow, it admittedly feels like a missed opportunity for it not to have been a free bonus for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers alongside the likes of Tetris 99 and Happy Home Paradise. For a budget title though, there are definitely many hours of enjoyment to be had in this adorably competitive game, especially if you can convince a few pals to pick it up for themselves for some online play. If you’ve finished Kirby and the Forgotten Land and are looking for more cute Kirby action to tide you over until the next main-line release, then Kirby’s Dream Buffet will surely satisfy your hunger.

Unless you’re a Pokémon fan that loves to read and are looking for something easy to play casually, Detective Pikachu Returns unfortunately doesn’t have too much to offer outside of charm. While the game does have some interesting interactive elements, it focuses more on story rather than having super engaging gameplay. It’s clear that a lot of love and care was put into the narrative and character dialogue, but the decision to rehash certain plot elements from the movie gave a strange sense of deja vu and made some of the twists feel less impactful. If for some reason you haven’t seen the movie though, I recommend playing Detective Pikachu Returns beforehand, as you’re likely to gain a lot more from the overall experience by doing so. Otherwise, it’s difficult to fully recommend this sequel that doesn’t quite live up to the quality of the 3DS original.

The Teal Mask is, for better and for worse, more of the same. It tells an enjoyable story with some excellent lore that makes Kitakami feel as alive as any past region, and offers the same freedom of exploration that made Paldea so captivating. Unfortunately, it also comes with all the performance issues and poor optimisation that made Paldea so frustrating, and its short length, poorly-designed level scaling, and failure to deliver a proper conclusion to its story make it a less satisfying experience than it could have been, particularly if you’re coming into it from an endgame save state with a powerful team. The value of The Hidden Treasures of Area Zero as a package will of course be determined by both parts of it, but The Teal Mask is not as strong of a start as it could have been.

Chocobo GP has a lot of decent ideas with its Magicite attacks, and a large roster of recognisable characters that each have their own unique ability. You can play a good chunk of the game for free, and Square Enix promises Season Pass DLC, but racing as Cloud Strife won’t shift the bad taste from unimaginative race tracks Chocobo GP has to offer. The Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass may not be far away, and this won’t do the Final Fantasy kart racer spin-off any favours, but the free version of Chocobo GP offers a mediocre alternative to Nintendo’s crown jewel with plenty of modes to enjoy, even if the road is a little on the bumpy side.

Fans of the Style Savvy/Fashion Boutique franchise looking for a spiritual successor may find that Fashion Dreamer doesn’t live up to their expectations however, as the lack of a narrative and extremely slow progression in solo play make this feel like a tedious grind that actively hampers your creative freedom with extremely high costs for customization. I enjoyed my time with the game for what it is, but your mileage may vary.

While the staggering amount of things to do may be appreciated by some, it’s another example that demonstrates how quantity shouldn’t always be a priority over quality.

Drag x Drive tries too hard to reinvent the wheel, putting more focus on the unique (yet intuitive) mouse controls of the Nintendo Switch 2 than having enough gameplay content to give you the drive necessary to play more than a few times. Priced accordingly, shooting some hoops online with friends can be a real ball, and rolling around a skate park-like arena in a wheelchair is even more fun than it looks, but Drag x Drive doesn’t reach its full potential and is far from being a slam dunk.

As long as you don’t approach it with a completionist mindset, Endless Ocean Luminous is a relaxing and overall fulfilling experience that is perfect for short solo gameplay sessions or group dives with friends. The limited variety in the procedurally generated maps means that the novelty of exploration will likely wear off for most long before they catalogue everything, and the story mode is disappointingly sparse and disjointed, but what it lacks in depth it more than makes up for in sheer volume of content. If you are looking to try something with a slightly different flow, this might just be worth diving into.

Deadly Premonition 2 is up there with Travis Strikes Back levels of weirdness, but much like Suda 51’s hack ‘n’ slash Switch exclusive, Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise isn’t really a blessing for Nintendo’s hybrid console. If this second title in the Deadly Premonition series sacrificed its Switch exclusivity and had more development time, it may have been saved from being a sloppy mess that doesn’t deserve its otherwise fantastic story and loveable cast of characters.

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour fulfils its intended function admirably, quite literally taking you on a tour across the Switch 2. It explains how each part was made in a way that is easy to understand and fairly engaging, and then lets you try it out for yourself with some minigames and tech demos that are fun (or at least sufficiently demonstrative) for a few minutes, and there is quite a substantial amount of content here. However, it lacks the replayability or thematic cohesion of past titles that demonstrated the capabilities of new hardware, such as Wii Sports or Nintendo Land. If you’re at all curious about the technical aspects of the Switch 2, this is more than worth the cost of admission, but otherwise, there is very little reason to take this tour.