When everything works in harmony, LumenTale: Memories of Trey’s mature twist on the monster-taming genre feels like a genius blend of fan-favourite mechanics alongside smart and refreshing advancements. I hope either updates or a future entry can help evolve things further, as currently both LumenTale and some of the Animon themselves feel buried in a mess of ill-explained and superfluous features. Performance woes frustrate the experience further, alongside some odd control decisions, but any RPG fan looking for a monster-tamer built with clear passion and understanding of the genre's strengths should definitely give this a spin. There’s potential here for LumenTale to actually challenge the very best monster-tamers out there, and I hope Beehive gets the chance to make that happen.

Most troublingly, it isn’t easily playable for the very audience it supposedly spotlights – and its story (while fun and quirky) may muddy its teachings. Still, littler players might enjoy its style and silliness, even if it doesn’t express its take-home message…to a T.

Kabuto Park’s runtime is less than a day (that oft-misquoted lifespan of a fly), but for a low price, it’s worth it. The cycle between catching and battling is simple yet variegated and captivating. And if you’re a completionist, capturing all the bugs and exploring their various battle tactics — not to mention post-game content that ups the ante — could have you coming back like a moth to a flame.

Ultimately, you could do a lot worse than eFootball if you’re looking for an offline, single-player (or co-op) football game. Its World Tour mode is relatively light but it’s fun enough, and the game’s budget price point matches its ambition. With any luck, this will only be the starting point for eFootball’s presence on Switch 2, and Konami will hopefully follow this up with a more fully-featured game, or a straight crossplay-enabled port of the main free-to-play live service title. Judged on its own merits, though, as it stands, only EA Sports FC offers better (albeit less smooth) football gameplay on Switch 2.

Bluey's Quest for the Gold Pen is a substantial improvement over the last game, offering up a bunch of well-realised worlds to explore with charming visuals and engaging puzzles. It retains the essence of the original show, but thanks to the adorable narrative, Bluey and Bingo can finally break free from the overly-familiar TV locations. Repetition does quickly seep in thanks to the focus on collectibles, but I'd wager that younger audiences probably won't care about this too much. The lack of a proper co-op mode is a bizarre omission, however, and the experience would have definitely benefitted from voice acting throughout. Still, this is a fine effort from Halfbrick, and an easy recommendation for the summer break from school.

At $20, Bubsy 4D is a solid budget platformer with levels that are consistently fun, if somewhat underbaked. Admittedly a low bar, it is comfortably the best Bubsy game ever made, with genuinely great controls and speedrunning depth that will reward players who relish climbing leaderboards and shaving seconds off their runtimes. It's an easy recommendation for anyone with a soft spot for '90s mascot platformers or morbid curiosity in the Bubsy franchise. For a series that spent decades as a byword for bad game design, Bubsy 4D is a long-overdue course correction for one of gaming's most persistently maligned characters and a strong foundation for future titles.

Tales of Arise – Beyond the Dawn Edition is a strong port of one of the better entries in the Tales series. Flashy combat, gorgeous graphics, and a meaty epilogue all combine to make this one a worthwhile purchase, even if lingering issues like an overlong story, spongy enemies, and underwhelming DLC can drag things out too much. If you’re looking for a solid action RPG or want a good entry point to see what the Tales games are about, I’d suggest you pick this one up when you get the chance. Some issues aside, Arise has got it where it counts, and provides a good foundation for future series entries to build upon.

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book isn't a bad game. There's a lot of fun to be had in discovering the many creatures hidden within Mr. E's pages, though it also suffers from a repetitive structure that doesn't evolve or provide any sense of meaningful challenge. Visually, it also lacks the punch that Woolly World and Crafted World offered, and it frankly looks pretty bad in handheld mode…If you've got young children who are eager to see more from Yoshi after catching him in the Mario Galaxy Movie, then this will provide a few hours' worth of fun while getting them used to basic platforming tropes. Otherwise, I'd probably recommend a Switch Online subscription to check out Yoshi's Island for the SNES.

inKONBINI: One Store. Many Stories has modest ambitions but mostly achieves them: it tells a small number of unchallenging short stories, set in a 1993 Japanese retail context. Its atmosphere carries it a surprisingly long way, but not far enough to overcome how thin the experience actually is. If you're excited by narutomaki, hanko ink refills and passing business cards with both hands, then consider proceeding to the cash register. If not, you may just want to leave without buying anything.

Outbound is a relaxing journey that will please anyone who wants to get away without going anywhere. Extensive exploration and a satisfying gameplay loop make for a joyful experience, and it’s easy to lose hours to driving around in your camper, collecting logs and unlocking new biomes. A few visual and control gripes might form bumps in the road, but otherwise this is a fun ride.

R-Type DX: Music Encore is an oddity in that it resurfaces a lesser-known R-Type release and treats it with love and attention. A Game Boy Color shoot 'em up that’s been vastly remodelled from the arcade original may not have widespread appeal, but those who enjoyed Aleste 3 for Game Gear or SNK’s Neo Geo Pocket collections will find a lot to love in it. It’s because of, and not in spite of, the fact that Bits Studios largely created an original R-Type experience that the game works. It has all the nuance of its arcade brethren, but makes it pint-sized, curious, and somewhat cute. The frame rate and giant ship size are a learning curve, and there are certain sections that will have you cursing if you forego use of the rewind function, but for series fans this audio-polished revisit is the best version money can buy. And, unlike most shoot 'em ups, this one works wonderfully well in the Switch’s handheld format. If you’re a die-hard R-Type fan or just out to experience all the genre has to offer, it’s well worth the price.

With a patch or two, this one could be worth investigating, but for now, maybe stick to other platforms.

I had a good time with Alien: Rogue Incursion Evolved Edition. It finds a strong balance between the slower, more stealth-oriented gameplay of Isolation and the frantic action seen in Fireteam Elite, blending classic Alien combat with some light puzzle-solving. Visually, it lacks a lot of detail for my liking, but the faithful art design just about holds it together. Its biggest sin, however, is that the impact of the Xenomorphs quickly diminishes thanks to the frequency at which they appear. They also just look kinda goofy, I won't lie. Still, as a fan of the series, the story, atmosphere, and sound design hit the right notes for me.

Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta is a good entry in the long-running action RPG series, but it’s far from the best. Despite the game’s title, the plot is forgettable but the explosive combat, charming characters, and booming soundtrack are engaging enough to keep your attention until the credits roll. Adol has had more memorable adventures on Nintendo Switch, but mapping out the Great Forest of Celceta is still a fun time.

ZPF is an interesting new Mega Drive shoot 'em up that, with its key-collecting secrets, hidden bosses, stage variety and fantasy theme, feels unique. It’s been put together with a lot of love, and while its clear the development team aren’t expert shoot-'em-up designers, they’ve still done incredibly well with the hardware. It’s frustrating at times, and many will be put off by not having continues or any method of practice, but those who persevere will find an enjoyable route to high scores and one credit clears. The issue primarily is the bare-bones Switch port that has zero additions or quality-of-life features, and suffers from a juddering issue that really damages the experience. If you’re buying on Mega Drive — and it’s recommended you do so — add a point to the scoreline.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is the strangest thing you’ll play from Nintendo, bringing with it laughs and creativity in abundance. But even with improvements over the 3DS game, it follows a familiar structure that isn’t always enthralling or hilarious. Tomodachi fans will certainly be living the dream with this new entry, but I’m not desperate to keep coming back to my island. A little more variety would’ve been welcome, but the customisation, and the thought of my cat being best friends with DMC’s Dante, will have me peep in every so often for a little pick-me-up.

With that all said, the core mechanics of online competitive Pokémon battles remain as solid as a Steelix. Predicting whether your opponent will switch out their Whimsicott, protect with their Mega Charizard Y, or try to catch you off guard with a powerful, offensive attack creates mind games as addictive and intense as ever. And as someone who has participated in competitive Pokémon on-and-off since 2011’s Pokémon Black & White, the ease with which I can now train Pokémon has me hopeful that Champions will, much like Scarlet & Violet before it, evolve into a more complete, comprehensive experience. But as it stands, the convoluted monetisation, disappointing performance, and inexplicable bugs make this another lacklustre Pokémon experience to add to the pile.

Easy Delivery Co. won't be for everyone, but if solitary drives and chill vibes are your idea of a good time, it might be for you. Though its rough edges are visible, its repetition is strangely grounding and can be hard to put down. Ironically, it manages to make the drudgery of gig-economy deliveries feel like a meditative respite.

The Marvel Maximum Collection does what it sets out to do well, and its bringing together of titles from various developers is what makes it so interesting. With all the console variations, the library on offer is large, and the emulation quality feels tactile and fairly accurate (although diehard enthusiasts will probably find something to gripe about). It must be noted, though, that there are no truly 'great' games here, and the quality of offerings ranges from 'good fun' and 'worth sticking with' to 'not much fun', 'frustrating', and 'rather poor'. It’s an admirable attempt to combine some of the more prominent retro Marvel titles into a nostalgia package, and Konami’s arcade game is the icing on the cake. Just keep in mind that nostalgia, and not an assembling of gaming’s finest, is what’s driving this thing.

Whilst the Switch 2 Edition has fulfilled most of its promises and fixed some bugs, I can’t help but feel somewhat disappointed that it took this long to fix on Nintendo platforms. With no other new features such as Mouse Mode for building/decorating, it's a little underwhelming. Saying that, DDV looks stunning on Switch 2, and compared to when the game originally launched on Switch 1, this can be considered — finally — the 'full-release' version.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park is a mixed bag. On the one hand, we have an opportunity to replay Mario's best 2D adventure in years with some minuscule single-player adjustments and extra boss fights; it remains a joy from start to finish. On the other, we have all the new multiplayer content, which are perfectly fine on their own but feel out of place sandwiched between the base game's platforming and the Mario Party vibes they're clearly aiming for. If you've never played Wonder before (or if you've been itching for a replay), this is a great excuse, but don't expect to be slotting any of the multiplayer extras into your game night rotation. Rosalina aside, the additions here are inoffensive but underwhelming. If you got your fill of Wonder on Switch 1, you're not missing much sitting out this particular Switch 2 Edition.

Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake is a solid, but uneven remake that nonetheless stands as a strong reminder of the cool ideas that this franchise brings to the table. To its credit, Fatal Frame II very competently executes on the survival horror blueprint. Locales are sufficiently spooky, materials are scarce without feeling too limited, and when you’re creeping around environments scouring for health pickups and stashed notes, there’s a grand sense of building dread. Unfortunately, this is sometimes rapidly deflated through things like drawn-out enemy encounters and some performance snafus. If you’re at all a fan of the franchise or survival horror in general, I’d give this one a recommendation because it ultimately hits much more than it misses. But for genre newcomers, I’d first recommend playing any of Capcom’s Resident Evils from the past several years (or even something a little more low-key like Signalis or Crow Country) before taking the plunge on this one. Fatal Frame 2 isn’t quite the home run some may have hoped for, but it’s an overall enjoyable and worthwhile experience that I’d suggest picking up at some point.

Ratcheteer DX may not break new ground, but it's a genuinely charming, lo-fi action-adventure that feels perfectly suited to the Switch eShop. It boasts clever and engaging gameplay, an evocative chiptune score, and its five-hour runtime feels just right. A little more platforming forgiveness and this would be an easy recommendation. As it stands, it's still a very good one.

All told, this FireRed & LeafGreen re-release is undoubtedly a lazy way to celebrate 30 years of Pokémon. For the asking price, Game Freak and The Pokémon Company could’ve included some extra goodies, like a hard mode or online functionality. Still, this is the most convenient way to experience the charm of the original Kanto adventure, and going back in time to see how much the Pokémon series has grown gave me a newfound appreciation for all the catchin’ I’ve done over three decades, and all that there is to come. Now give us Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver, please.

All told, this FireRed & LeafGreen re-release is undoubtedly a lazy way to celebrate 30 years of Pokémon. For the asking price, Game Freak and The Pokémon Company could’ve included some extra goodies, like a hard mode or online functionality. Still, this is the most convenient way to experience the charm of the original Kanto adventure, and going back in time to see how much the Pokémon series has grown gave me a newfound appreciation for all the catchin’ I’ve done over three decades, and all that there is to come. Now give us Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver, please.

If you’re a super fan of the original game and want every possible version of it, the package totally delivers. But considering how many Rayman games there were, including its sequels and spin-offs, it would have been nice to at least have had Rayman 2 included. The elephant in the room, however, is the absence of the original soundtracks. They have been remixed or replaced across the board with a nice composition by Rayman Origins and Legends composer Christophe Héral, likely due to Ubisoft not fully owning the rights to the original audio.

Performance on Switch 2 isn’t as impressive as RE7, unfortunately. Although visuals and frame rate remain consistent in docked mode, there are a few issues present when transitioning to handheld. It still looks great, but you’ll definitely notice a few stutters here and there, particularly when exploring exterior environments like the central hub and reservoir...I still very much recommend playing Village. Its gameplay and pacing are excellent, and there’s one very specific moment that remains one of the scariest in the series’ history. When compared to RE7’s superb story and the wider franchise lore, however, Village is a bit of a narrative anomaly that I’m not convinced will stand the test of time.

The platforming elements of Love Eternal are delightfully frustrating fun with a limited set of mechanics put to creative and clean use. Multiple levels had me holding my breath, gritting my teeth, and cursing the wayward god who founded the whole endeavour. The hand-drawn levels are as beautiful as their challenges are frustrating. Unfortunately, an overly ambitious narrative coupled with a strange mid-game shift mars the game's myriad charms.