Mysterious Cities of Gold: Secret Paths does nothing special, but it's — for the most part — a well constructed and enjoyable adventure.

Human Fall Flat recognises a simple truth - People falling down is hilarious, and when they're seemingly impervious to damage that's just an added guilt-free bonus. Playing as a wobbly, awkward avatar takes a lot of getting used to, and perhaps you never really get used to it at all, but the game leaves each level wide open to a variety of solutions to suit your own personal style.

Gekido: Kintaro's Revenge is a love letter to the original Game Boy Advance game that many probably didn’t notice was pushing the envelope as far as graphics, animation, music and presentation were expected on Nintendo’s 32-bit handheld. As such and despite excellent added extras to this Switch package, it stubbornly restrains itself in the past and as is only truly recommended if you fell nostalgic towards the original game.

Longevity will ultimately depend on how often you’re able to play Spitlings with friends. The story mode won’t take long to conquer, and even though there are plenty of additional characters to unlock, they’re ultimately only cosmetic, providing no real incentive to unlock them all. On the other hand, party mode is great fun, giving you complete control on how you customise your experience, from selecting a specific level to implementing various parameters (including a neat retro filter) to make the sessions more difficult.

Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol.2 is a perfectly able collection, albeit less enticing than the first volume. Several games in the library here — notably Card Fighters' Clash, Mega Man Battle & Fighters, and Biomotor Unitron — have already received standalone releases on Switch eShop, which may well dissuade you from a purchase if you already own them. Die-hard fans of everything Neo Geo Pocket Color will likely enjoy getting stuck into what’s here, but it’s not a must-buy.

Go Vacation's main problem is that its controls are, nine times out of ten, too unresponsive to make it any fun.

Yes, it's unoriginal, but Bloo Kid always has a smile on his face while jumping on those generic enemies and at least the inspiration is coming from the right places. Give him a chance, he's trying his best.

There’s a genuinely brilliant game hidden away somewhere in AO Tennis 2, but you need to have the patience of a saint to put up with its horrendous frame rate issues and the impact they have on its already tricky stroke timing system. The Career mode is a joy and the level of customisation and user creations is unlike anything we’ve ever seen in a tennis game, so tennis fans may still want to give it a look, as long as they can cope with its infuriatingly erratic performance. It may not be a popular thing to say on a Nintendo site, but if you have access to another system, you may want to look into how it runs on that instead.

Gear.Club Unlimited is a highly entertaining racing game that sits firmly at the casual end of the realistic racer spectrum. It can be a thrillingly immediate experience, particularly on the go, where you can blast through one of its sweeping courses in just a minute or so. Switch owners hoping for a Gran Turismo or a Forza to call their own will have to wait a little longer, however. What was a commendably rounded console-like racer on mobile seems just a little bit lightweight on Switch, while a few ill-fitting parts have survived the console rebuild.

The Conduit got a free pass for being relatively ambitious for Wii shooters, but those days are over: Conduit 2 is a mess of undercooked ideas and impotent execution. It's not that it's a drastically worse game than its predecessor, but the design has been so far surpassed multiple times in the past two years that there is very little reason to return to this underwhelming well.

Star Wars: Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast has an opening five chapters that will test your patience to its absolute limit. In some ways, this is down to its age and in others it's just bad design coupled with the odd decision to hold back the game’s best aspects for such a long stretch. This poor pacing is the one thing standing in the way of us giving this a hearty recommendation. However, If you think you’ve got the fortitude to push on through to the good stuff – a trial worthy of Yoda himself – you’ll be handsomely rewarded with some top-notch Star Wars action. It’s a shame the multiplayer fun has been excised here and we did run into that save file bug but, all in all, if you can persist with the dark you’ll be rewarded with the light and – for at least half of its duration – this old classic is still just about as good as Star Wars games ever got.

Despite the undue hate it has been subjected to over the past year, Metroid Prime: Federation Force is a very impressive, polished and playable package - the only real grumble we have is that during online play the lack of voice chat can become maddening, and the game's built-in chat function is an inadequate substitute.

It's sad to see such a potentially great game be held back by a few poor design choices and a wonky camera, but it's worth a gamble at only 500 Points.

Full of creativity and enjoyable moments, this is worthy of booting up that Wii U.

Vesta does a remarkably fine job of aping the design and simple brilliance of Zelda puzzles, while putting its own unique spin on things as it does so. Though its puzzles can sometimes be unfairly or frustratingly designed, a pleasing visual style, meaty campaign and generally satisfying gameplay loop make this a win in our book; we’d absolutely suggest you give Vesta a try (especially if you’re a Zelda fan). There’s plenty to love about this quirky puzzle game, and it’s one you’ll likely want to revisit from time to time.

On paper, Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3 does so much right, with a bigger roster of racers, more kart customisation, and the oft-requested addition of voice acting, which does add to the atmosphere considerably. But on the track it's hugely disappointing, with a severely reduced frame rate compared to its predecessor, making everything feel more sluggish as a result.

Farmagia offers a fun and solid experience for fans of the fantasy genre. With great art and entertaining dialogue, this game is the perfect fit for those longing for a magical adventure. Although it is not necessarily a great farming game, Farmagia works well as a bridge for players who might want to try a more action-oriented adventure. On the other hand, seasoned players of action RPG games might feel frustrated because of how simple combat is in Farmagia. Still, we believe the game's positive aspects make Farmagia a great example that, when done correctly, even the simple feels fantastic.

With Alien Crush Returns, Hudson has somehow managed to retain all of the unique and addictive elements of the original game while simultaneously adding in enough fresh game play ideas to bring the cult classic properly up to date.

League of Evil on Nintendo Switch is a savagely addictive, gleefully fun and at times brutally challenging platform game, with super tight controls, bold visuals and an accessible level editor that paves the way for a forever increasing Switch community to embrace. League of Evil feels perfectly suited to the big or small screen, and the bite-sized missions are great for any length of play session, be it solo, taking turns in a group, or just kicking back to make a level which will enrage your friends. While it may test some player's skill level and patience a little too much, persistence and determination are rewarded in a way only the best of the genre can.

The Quiet Collection possesses good-natured humour and a throwback charm that pays nice tribute to adventure games of yesterday.

At first glance you’d be forgiven for thinking Puzzle Adventure Blockle was a cheap and nasty mobile port. This is not the case. While simplistic in terms of its design, the game’s art, audio, and overall execution is hard to fault. The weakest aspect of this title is ironically the story. The excessive script that sets it apart from many other puzzle games is what prevents it from being a more tolerable, accessible and generally more enjoyable title at the same time. The positive to take from this is that the puzzle segments are at least fun to play for both short and prolonged periods, and cater to all skill levels as each one can be merely passed or completely perfected. Anyone looking for a good puzzle game, that continues to add extra layers to its core mechanics as progress is made, may want to take a look at Puzzle Adventure Blockle.

It's good clean fun, straightforward to an absolute fault, and for the low asking price there's enough here to make this worthwhile. If you're expecting a magical doggy story mode, or some imaginative level design however, you'll be left feeling a little ruff.

A decent start. The microtransactions aren’t massively intrusive, the energy system isn’t too debilitating and the stages aren’t Candy Crush Saga-style efforts where it’ll take you 70 goes to get lucky enough to eventually clear them. These are all qualified by the word “yet”, though, and that’s the thing to bear in mind as this game evolves on a fortnightly basis. It’s yet to be established whether this is the sort of mobile game that lulls you in with a false sense of security and then, later down the line, hits you with ridiculously difficult stages that will almost certainly need power-ups to clear (we see you, Dr. Mario World). For now, though, we’re happy.

All in all, the fun and challenge that's undoubtedly present in Rez Plz dies a death of a thousand irritating cuts. A resurrection isn't entirely out of the question, but it'll require a couple of hefty updates to jolt it into life.

Overwhelming for newcomers and probably too generic for genre aficionados, Touhou Gensou Wanderer Reloaded is difficult to recommend to all but die-hard series fans. The beautiful hand-drawn presentation and high production values are hindered severely by a contrived and intrusive interface, unimportant dialogue with very little character development and derivative mechanics. It certainly looks the part, but there are more fun and interesting adventure roguelikes such as Crypt Of The Necrodancer on the eShop right now.

The overarching story within NUTS is probably worth experiencing on its own, despite the repetitive gameplay. It’s reasonably well written and is just about compelling enough to hold your attention for its 2-3 hour duration. There’s nothing here that you’ll connect with on an emotional level, but the voiceover work really helps drive the mystery. Unfortunately, there also a number of framerate dips throughout the experience that will really hamper your enjoyment; hopefully, this will be ironed out in the future.

A good if unspectacular Tekken transition. Its 41 characters and 60fps frame rate is unmatched on 3DS, and while it arguably lacks a truly meaty challenge for a single player it's enjoyable enough that you won't really mind. It won't set the world alight, but it's another strong addition to 3DS's array of big name scrappers.

Fans of Mickey will get some enjoyment from the better stages and adore the presentation, while others may bemoan the fairly regular blips of confusing design and messy execution.

Blanc is a pleasant, easy-going co-op experience that will provide a couple of hours' worth of enjoyment along with a few frustrations. The camera can be a bit messy at times due to the two-player setup, and the game could definitely do with a hint system in some areas, as we imagine children in particular would struggle with the overall lack of direction. That said, it's a lovely-looking game and an entirely inoffensive experience that anyone can pick up and enjoy with little fuss. If you're looking for a new, emotionally driven co-op game, then Blanc is an easy recommendation.

When GoldenEye 007 works it feels like one of the best shooters on DS, but the combat blemishes are frequent enough to become quite maddening.

The console version is nothing but a quick cash-in for Square Enix.

If you fancy yourself a brutal challenge that hearkens back to gaming's days of yore, this is a one-way ticket to the 80's and 90's that won't cost you much more than a bad new wave CD.

Yu-No: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World was clearly once an incredibly daring visual novel, but some of that sense of mystery is done a disservice when revisiting the concept via this remake. Games like Steins;Gate or the Danganronpa series have since eclipsed it. That said, there’s nothing as expansive or daring as Yu-No’s branching timeline system, which still comes across as impressive even today. Despite all of its archaic design elements, cringeworthy perverted dialogue and now-bland characters, you can’t refute the fact that the modern visual novel genre would simply not exist without Yu-No. It's just a shame that this remake feels like it has lost some of the soul of its original release, with nothing but bland character designs to refresh it for a modern audience.

The combat kept us from enjoying Front Mission 2: Remake due to its over-reliance on dice-roll luck to succeed, but the plot has some decent story beats if you aren’t bothered by obvious localisation errors. We did enjoy the customisation options of the Wanzers, but battles felt slow and dull when the RNG gods weren’t on our side. Just like with the first game, this one will service longtime fans of the series and its combat adequately if they can overlook this remake's rough edges.

Developer Nnooo has certainly balanced the title well and while it's unlikely to withstand prolonged play, it offers enough depth and enjoyment to keep you coming back for short bursts.

In an era where every RPG - and every genre that’s assimilated roleplay mechanics into their DNA - have used grinding and oversized maps to extend their playtimes into figures only a select few can truly undertake, Little Town Hero has confidently opted for a shorter experience that’s more akin to the pace, style and sedate pace of Animal Crossing than a traditional RPG or JRPG. However, with a battle system that trades XP levelling for a purer sense of tactical planning and experimentation (albeit with an unpredictable spike difficulty), Game Freak proves that a ‘casual’ game can still have plenty of imagination, even on a smaller scale. It's far from essential, but if you love CCG-style combat and can't stomach another 100-hour RPG, there's much to like in Little Town Hero.

It may be a little uneven, but Adore nonetheless stands out from the pack as an innovative new entry in the monster-catching RPG subgenre. The fast-paced combat, detailed team customization, and high level of replayability all make this one easy to recommend, though we say this with the qualifier that performance could be better and the gameplay loop can get pretty grindy. All the same, we’d give this one a recommendation to anyone looking for an interesting new monster catcher — it’s a welcome addition to the genre and we hope to see its ideas further explored in future games.

Apart from some mind-boggling decisions in terms of difficulty, lilt line is a pretty smart buy. Just don't expect to return to it as frequently as you do the adventures of Commander Video.

Had 99seconds an arcade cabinet yelling for our attention, we would stroll right on up to it and put in the equivalent of 200 Nintendo Points for a quick challenge of skill. It's a title limited in scope but 99seconds does one thing and does it with competence, and that's probably all that we could reasonably ask of it before marching on to the next cabinet.

Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper is an uninspired port of an excellent game. There are missed opportunities regarding the Wii U's unique features and the slow down, frame rate and draw distance issues make this version the least appealing on the market. It never breaks the experience completely though, and its bonkers narrative and absorbing hack 'n' slash action is so engaging that's it's easier than you might think to look past the limitations and enjoy the oodles of content.

With three games’ worth of content all stuffed on to a single 3DS card, Cut the Rope: Triple Treat is certainly the best entry in the series that you can pick up for the system.

Ultimately, this game is one that we'd recommend, as you simply don't find many modern attempts on the classic-style of the JRPG genre that feel as well rounded as this. That being said, if you weren't a fan of games like Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest back in the day, Dragon Fantasy definitely won't change your mind.

If you're looking for a challenging, thought-provoking puzzler for your 3DS, Delusions is a solid choice.

Olympia Rising is a good platformer, but in such a saturated genre it needs to impress more than in does. The characters, story and visuals contribute to the positives, but more care needed to be taken with controls and hit points to make the game less frustrating. There is much to be enjoyed if you are able to look past the negatives, and if that's the case with you it is a worthy addition to your library.

Tank Troopers is exactly what you would expect from a game about tanks. Adding to this is the fact the title manages to adhere to Nintendo's family-friendly criteria while at the same time filling the void when it comes to the lack of shooters across the company's current generation of hardware. The problem is, despite solid foundations, the title falls short simply because it does not offer online functionality. It's this one glaring problem that lets Tank Troopers down. Beyond technical limitations, it is hard to guess why this would be left out of a game that is dominantly focused on player connectivity. Unless you have a close group of 3DS companions you can play with locally on a regular basis, Tank Troopers is hard to recommend sorely for its single player mode.

One More Dungeon is a loving tribute to the first person shooters and dungeon crawlers of the early '90s, but with the kind of longevity-boosting roguelike touches that will be familiar to modern gamers. Whether deliberate or not, some of its retro touches feel a little too clunky for their own good, particularly when it comes to the controls and interface. Still, there's no denying how absorbing an extended run through its randomised environments can be.

With plenty of replay value to be had through mission rankings, in-game collectibles and a vast list of missions to undertake, Dustoff Heli Rescue 2 certainly offers plenty of aerial bang for its buck. The mission template does repeat a little too often, but thankfully the art of maneuvering your helicopter around each level often elevates whatever cookie cutter goal you’ve tasked with completing. Silly and challenging in equal measure, this little port makes a relatively painless landing on Nintendo Switch.

Mugsters is a decent action puzzle game that will no doubt prove to be satisfying to a certain kind of audience. Goofy, physics-based puzzles, fun multiplayer, and a solid amount of content are definite positives, though these are hamstrung by the poor camera and grindy repetition of the gameplay. We’d give this one a light recommendation, as there’s plenty of enjoyment to be found, but this is by no means a must-play.

While its overly simplistic art style isn’t going to linger long in the memory, Unexplored's unusual approach to balancing combat and map generation certainly will. There’s very little story here to be had, but like any great dungeon crawler, the real adventure is the one you write yourself. With plenty of scope for weaponsmithing and all plenty of permanent perks to unlock to help negate the sting of its permadeath, Unexplored: Unlocked Edition offers danger and delight in equal measure.

Deponia is a fine example of the genre, but there's no getting around the fact that the game's price on Switch will be your main barrier to entry here. It plays well and has that charm that Daedalic is famous for, and it constantly reminds you of the Monkey Island series – no bad thing at all. But when you're able to find the same game for under a quid if you look hard enough – and you take into account that this Switch version has no added benefits – it becomes harder to recommend. You'd be better of waiting for a price drop, or, if you're still interested, investigate if Deponia is available on an alternative platform at a cheaper price.

Anodyne mixes solid old-school dungeon crawling with a delightfully weird and warped narrative set in a fever dreamscape full of bizarre secrets and surprises. The gameplay mechanics might not offer anything particularly new but Young's adventure still manages to throw up plenty of original and off-kilter scenarios and is something of a gem in the Switch's line-up of retro action-adventure titles.

You're not ready for Fly Punch Boom. No really, you're not. You might think you were born to play a game that essentially throws you into an anime royal rumble, but neither your eyes nor your reactions are up to the task. Not yet. It's going to take time to acclimatise to Fly Punch Boom's level of madcap hyper-kinetic arena-brawler action. Thankfully, it's well worth the effort, and you'll have a lot of fun in the process.

Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris takes forever to get moving. By the time the training wheels come off, players will likely have switched off in frustration. Pacing is a big issue for the first half of the game, with hours spent in unskippable cutscenes or repetitive tutorials before the best features become available. There is a decent game locked away behind the multiple missteps and technical issues, and if you've got the requisite patience and high regard for the source material, there are things to like — most notably the smooth, engaging combat. The problem is that getting to it feels like work rather than play.

Nightmare Reaper does, however, achieve most of what it sets out to do, pushing boundaries in terms of weaponry, spectacular abilities, and more trinkets than a fully loaded cargo ship. It’s at its best when it devolves into a spectacular bloodbath at the whims of your creative weapon and ability choices. And, while imperfections exist, its violent, adrenaline-fuelled highs will make it very appealing to fans of the old-school FPS.

My Time at Sandrock is a decent new entry in the farm sim genre, though not one that we’d say you need to play. To its credit, its mixture of open-ended farming, crafting, socializing, and questing is compelling and could easily drive dozens of hours of gameplay if it gets its hooks in you. However, everything My Time at Sandrock does has been done elsewhere, and better. Couple this with the mess of technical problems at launch, and you’ve got a game that has its draws but does very little to demonstrate that it’s worthy of your attention. If you’ve already started and finished several farms across the likes of Stardew Valley, Harvestella, and Story of Seasons, and are looking for something new — and you're not too bothered by bland presentation and technical hiccups — then My Time at Sandrock could be a decent way to keep working the land. That said, we’d recommend you wait for a deep sale, ideally several months from now once time proves whether those patches ever come.

Lunar Lander Beyond is a solid recommendation for fans of the lander sim genre. It performs well on the Switch with no discernible frame rate issues and looks great. But as it stands, its missions too often feel abbreviated at around three to six minutes and too tightly sandwiched between narrative. The issue is not its gameplay mechanics, but the strictures of its campaign structure. It’s a problem the developers could solve by staying the course and creating a mode focused squarely on what made the original compelling: flying, landing, and scoring better than everyone else.

Clocking in at a fairly short six-to-eight hours, Lego Horizon Adventures offers up frequent, brief bursts of fun with its excellent combat encounters. However, this is wrapped up in an experience that feels way too shallow and repetitive to recommend to anyone other than the most enthusiastic Horizon and Lego fans. It's clear that the intention is to woo new, younger gamers to Sony's flagship franchise, but if you already own Zero Dawn and Forbidden West on PlayStation, we can't see any reason why you'd want to check this one out. Mind you, if all you've got is a Switch, then this endearingly light-hearted introduction will have to do for now. It could have been so much more, though.

If you’re after something challenging and, shall we say, different, then PUSS! could well be right up your alley. Its gameplay is simple enough for anyone to pick up, but the difficulty ramps up quickly to outrageous levels. Nevertheless, it remains strangely addictive, and will likely hold your attention for a good while as you pour blood, sweat, and tears into progressing through its levels, inch by inch.

While Mario Sports Mix may lack the depth of Mario Tennis and Golf, it's a great example of a more casual Mario title that multiple players can enjoy. Not all the disciplines on offer will be to everyone's taste, but there's enough good stuff here to last you a fair while and Square Enix have given it oodles of imagination.

It's difficult to determine who Brain Training's audience is. The casual audience who would have happily bought a cheap DS for the original won't buy the far more expensive Switch, and existing Switch owners can find a slew of other brain games that may not be better, but are certainly cheaper. What's here is entertaining enough, but you're likely to have lost interest within a month; if ever there was a series that Nintendo should have turned into a mobile game instead, it's this one.

Made in Abyss is an odd game to recommend; the gameplay is great once you unlock the mode that actually features it, but until then you’re stuck having to trudge through a stripped-down, too-long-for-what-it-is easy mode that isn’t actually easy. If you aren’t willing to do that, you won't get to play the actual game that makes the price tag worth it. For those who do make it past that hurdle, the survival mechanics are well-implemented, the character progression is satisfying, and this is overall a perfectly enjoyable release. We wouldn’t necessarily recommend you pick up Made in Abyss, nor would we say you should pass on it outright; it’s an interesting game with plenty of redeeming qualities, but it’s gonna make you work to see them in ways that feel unnecessary.

The improved frame rate makes WRC 9 a better experience than WRC 8, but it still suffers from a number of issues through no fault of the developer, such as a lack of analogue triggers and a reduced rally count. However, the extremely distracting nature of the scenery, which is constantly drawing itself in right in front of you, makes it difficult to get properly immersed in the action. It's probably the best rally game on the Switch so far, but for fans of the sport, the wait continues for something truly brilliant on the system.

While a few extra puzzle elements could have been employed, as well as a bit of customization with music and some multiplayer options, Tappingo’s price tag makes it easy to recommend to anyone who thinks they’d enjoy its brand of pixel puzzling.

Urban Trial Tricky mashes together elements of the Trials series, Tony Hawks and Joe Danger resulting in a fairly decent motorbike stunt experience that's fun when you're speeding around and pulling off ridiculous tricks, but is let down by some shoddy level design and an overall lack of finesse. If there was more space to manoeuvre and environmental obstacles and general placement of objects had been more carefully considered, this could have been an absolute blast. As it stands, it's a fairly decent time in short bursts that slides into infuriation a little too often to heartily recommend.

Like the petri dish in which it takes place, Escape the Virus: Swarm Survival is shallow, but there's fun to be found. It's quick, hectic and has that "one more try" quality that makes for a good on-the-go game. It's let down by slightly lacklustre presentation and having no way to compare your high scores with friends, and the difficulty is artificially inflated by the small screen resolution, but for 200 Points these are quibbles. If the concept appeals to you and you enjoy beating your own records, you'll have a good time surviving this swarm.

Urban Trial Freestyle is a good game with a few blemishes that keep it from greater things. It’s nowhere near as good as the Trials series on XBLA, but it’s a solid handheld alternative that offers up plenty of fun for the price.

As a game that aims to let players experience the wonder of flight, Chasing Aurora succeeds brilliantly. Arcing through the air feels sublime thanks to the smooth controls and satisfying physics, and the atmosphere crafted by the sound and art style is positively dreamlike. Wonder aside, Aurora is perhaps not for everyone; while the multiplayer modes have universal appeal, the single-player experience is best enjoyed by players with an affinity for simplicity who will enjoy, rather than tolerate, replaying stages. But anyone with access to a few feathered friends for multiplayer and/or the score-chasing sensibilities needed to get the most out of the game's solo flights will have a wonderful time in the world of Chasing Aurora. A joyous game.

Overall, Pokémon: Magikarp is a fascinating package. It has great style, but it severely lacks in gameplay. It feels like the epitome of a generic mobile title with a Pokémon twist, which is somewhat unfortunate. With no gameplay other than feeding the fish and playing "whose stat is bigger?", there's just unfortunately so little to the game. It's definitely something fun to play on the bus or the train to kill time, in a style similar to other mobile games that have you looking after animals or buildings, but it just lacks the depth that we've come to expect from the other Pokémon mobile titles such as Pokémon GO, Pokémon Duel and Pokémon Shuffle. While it's easy to recommend having it on your mobile device, it's hard to recommend paying for microtransactions.

SpongeBob SquigglePants formidably follows the nanogame formula established by WarioWare, and its simplicity, quick pace and silly humour are an entertaining, accessible and addictive combination.

Without sugarcoating it, Comic Workshop 2 is nearly identical to the original Comic Workshop application that released just under a year ago. There are a few minor tweaks that optimize the overall package, including the notable ability to post your creations to Miiverse, but it hardly feels like a completely new release.

Trine 3: Artifacts of Power is by no means a bad game. It’s visuals are exemplary, the characters charming and delightful, and the overall tone of the game is very well suited to the Switch. Unfortunately, in transitioning over to fully 3D environments, the poor depth perception and limited sense of progression really hurts the experience. If you enjoy collecting items, there’s just about enough here to warrant a purchase, but everyone else would be wise to hold off until the upcoming Trine 4.

What’s most baffling about Simulacra is why more wasn’t done to make it a more authentic mobile experience. Touch controls are available, but bizarrely there’s no option to play the game in TATE mode. Instead, the phone display is slap bang in the middle of the Switch’s (or TV’s) screen, with a bland background surrounding it. We guess it's a neat way to make it more of a straight-up horror title, but if you’re playing handheld, some aspects may be a tad small for those who are a bit more long-sighted. Still, with multiple endings, this is a horror game that's worth a look if you're after a quick fix.

Rock of Ages 3 failed to impress us on almost any level. It's definitely a game with character, and it could feasibly work its charms on you, but in its drive to be different and unusual it seems to have neglected to be fun. Still, it certainly has an audience; broadly speaking, you don't get to a second sequel without your game mattering to someone. If you can muscle through the frustrations, you might be able to roll with Rock of Ages 3, but with so many other worthy titles on Switch, we can't say we'd recommend it.

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is a formidable challenge, particularly by modern games' standards, but one that's been ported rather brilliantly and is certainly a lot of fun to play. It may outstay its welcome to some extent with gameplay that's not quite complex enough to warrant its lengthy campaign, but the port is one of the very best we've seen, improving the visuals of the original and maintaining a flawless framerate along with a UI perfectly suited to handheld play. However, this is the game exactly as you remember it from 2001. If that's enough for you, you'll have fun with this version. If you're on the fence — or if you're not ready to get kicked on your ass a lot — we'd recommend waiting for a sale.

Seven Pirates H is not a title that wishes to be taken seriously. While there is a decent story and fun characters behind the fan service, the shallow combat can become tiresome after a few hours. It is fun and a lot of the humour lands, but the actual gameplay can be a bit threadbare. While the headline Booby Training mechanic is an interesting way to customise your party, it doesn’t break up the monotony of the gameplay. This is a title that won't keep to occupied too long and is best enjoyed in in fits and starts, and very much within the privacy and comfort of one’s own home.

At just a handful of hours, Trek to Yomi sadly still manages to outstay its welcome. It asks its visuals to carry the gameplay, but their novelty wears off before the final act. This is particularly true on Switch, where dropped resolution and simplified scenery steal some of the magic and ugly character close-ups blemish the overall aesthetic. As imaginatively as Yomi is realised, the game still feels like a trek.

On one hand, these two levels are really outstanding and well executed, but on the other hand, there are only the two and they are basically the same every time you play them.

Even with the lack of online multiplayer, the enormous amount of unlockable content will keep the brawls going long after the first punch is thrown. Blazblue has finally landed on a Nintendo console, and there's truly no better time to find out what all the fuss is about.

RiME on Switch is a disappointing experience, despite the obvious quality of the game itself. As a puzzle-led adventure RiME is enjoyable, atmospheric and at times deeply moving; all of these qualities are undone by spotty performance, low resolution visuals and a frame rate which sputters along like a battered car engine. When played docked things are just about passable, but in handheld mode the game's technical problems sap away the satisfaction of playing it. If you have any other means of accessing the game on other systems then you should pick those over this port; while enough of RiME's magic remains on show, the Switch version of the game is almost crippled by technical problems which unfortunately rob this captivating quest of its lustre.

If it were a launch title, we’d recommend tactics fans investigate Mercenaries Wings: The False Phoenix, at least until something better came along, but something better did come along – several things, in fact. If you’re an insatiable tactics fiend who’s munched through everything else, including the previous collection, this is stodgy, competent filler that should keep you going for a while; it’s a supermarket meal deal or a plate of cocktail sausages. It’s no-frills and fine, but with a veritable buffet of tasty, interesting alternatives, who wants a sausage on a stick? Perfunctory, cliched writing and a lack of niceties make it a tougher sell when there are literally hundreds of hours to be had elsewhere.

Screenshots really don’t do The friends of Ringo Ishikawa justice. What looks like a traditional side-scrolling brawler is actually something far more intricate. It’s more of a teenage simulator than anything, and with some really well-written dialogue (filled with the kind of malaise and sense of directionless rebellion we all experienced in our formative years) there’s a really interesting story to be found. Its everyday activities will remind you more of Bully or Shenmue than Street Gangs/River City Ransom, just don’t expect to have your hand held as you head out into the world to discover them.

While we did grow a little weary of the overwhelming amount to explore and backtrack through in Afterimage, we didn’t grow tired of whacking its wide range of enemies, nor did its gorgeously hand-drawn environments — which Switch unfortunately struggles to do justice to when docked — ever disappoint. It's best experienced elsewhere if you're playing on a television, but if you primarily play your Switch handheld, Afterimage offers a lengthy, lovely-looking Metroidvania adventure.

If you’re really after a quick knockabout and want to take up your only chance to play as Altair and Jade on Wii, you’ll find some enjoyment in Academy of Champions, but be prepared for plenty of frustration mixed in with your pie and Bovril.

Dragon Ball: The Breakers isn’t likely to challenge titles like Dead by Daylight for the top spot in this growing asymmetrical multiplayer genre, but it is a fun game that stands out among the rest of the Dragon Ball franchise for daring to do something different. Despite some technical issues at launch and the need to do a lot of grinding if you want to get enough experience with the different Raiders, this is still a worthwhile multiplayer timesink for anime fans.

Sports simulators continue to raise the bar of quality on Nintendo Switch, and Snooker 19 keeps that upward curve moving with an officially licensed recreation of all things baize-based. With an impressive number of facially-scanned pros and real-world snooker halls, and an incredibly precise simulation of striking the ball and setting up future shots, you’re treated to one of the best snooker games of the last decade. While still very rough around in the edges in terms of animations, commentary and accessibility, this is a must for snooker devotees who want an officially-licensed sim on Switch.

Time on Frog Island is a charming and intriguing game, but whether it's an enjoyable one will very much depend on how you approach it. The silly frog characters and the little society they’ve developed can be cool to interact with, and there are plenty of surprises to be had as you get deeper into the trade network, but the deeper in you get, the more Time on Frog Island turns into a one-trick pony. Running errands for frogs is good for a little bit, but the lack of a map or any effective means of managing requests means that even this sole task is made needlessly more difficult. We’d give this game a light recommendation, as the chill vibes and the charming atmosphere do a great job of making Time on Frog Island worthwhile, but bearing in mind its frustrations, you might want to wait for a sale.

RPG Maker Fes is quite an achievement; it’s a powerful, relatively easy to use set of tools that can turn your story ideas into full blown games, playable by anyone with a 3DS and an internet connection.

Arc Rise Fantasia does pretty much everything you'd expect a Japanese RPG to do - problem is, it doesn't do much beyond that.

WayForward set out to push the DS to its limit, and by Odin's beard, it succeeded with thunderous applause.

Alpha Mission II may not be the most visually stunning shooter on the block - in fact, fellow Neo Geo blasters Pulstar and Blazing Star are much better looking - but it has enough new ideas to make it a worthwhile download for fans of the genre. The Armour weapon system is interesting and takes some time to fully appreciate, while the somewhat dazzling array of pick-ups constantly keeps you on your toes. The end-of-level bosses are excellent too, and it's only the rather repetitive levels which prevent this from gaining a more hearty recommendation.

Atelier Lydie & Suelle is a rather standard entry to the Atelier series. Content with relying on a pretty standard setup, the game doesn’t innovate or move forwards, although fans of the series will no doubt be interested in the new story alone. It’s a pretty interesting take on the ridiculously wide genre of RPGs, with a much heavier focus being given to its deep crafting system, but that might not be enough to convince new players on its own.

Omega 6: The Triangle Stars is a small game from a big talent. It’s a bit too simplistic at times, lacking any taxing challenges beyond having enough credits and finding the right screen at the right time. However, the comedy is light, the action is breezy, and the combat system is deliberately accessible. Old fashioned but frequently nodding to newer genre entries, it's a well-designed passion project from an industry legend.

For fans of the genre that are happy to master the controls and live with compromises this still represents an attractive option, nevertheless.

You might find more polished versions of the game out there, but if you've ever wanted to take this arcade classic with you on the go, this is the version you need.

Though the story is compelling, the character building is satisfying, and there’s lots of content to experience, Bandai Namco’s near-nonexistent efforts to scrub out the rough edges of this 20-ish year old game definitely hold it back from greatness. Things like the stiff combat, dated visuals, and awkward writing limit the appeal here, which makes this remaster feel like a missed opportunity. It’s easier to recommend this to those who have nostalgia for the original and want to relive those memories, but it's tough to say whether newcomers should pick it up. This is far from the best action RPG on the Switch, and it’s arguably not even the best Tales game on the Switch. We’d give this one a light recommendation as its positives do outweigh its negatives, but with the caveat that you should probably wait for a deep sale or buy it used. There are much better RPGs to play on the Switch today, and this one doesn’t quite deserve a spot near the top of your list.

InnerSpace is a really intriguing title that we wish we didn’t want to ever put down; the game’s worlds give such a strong sense of amazement that you will want to spend every second flying through them. Unfortunately, you’ll likely be left too frustrated by the sometimes near-impossible-to-find story progression tasks to keep going. We really want to love this game, and we very nearly did, but we just can’t quite manage it.

You’ll find many hours’ worth of content available here, and learning how to best use your magic calculator abilities for maximum success is highly enjoyable. In the end we felt a little let down by the need to repeat earlier sections to unlock essential equipment, and the time wasted thanks to having to redo entire levels that were too difficult in our current state, but we’d still recommend giving this one a go if the core idea intrigues you enough.

Citizens of Earth is a rare breed of sprawling RPG that doesn't take itself too seriously, and blends solid mechanics with parody and imagination very well indeed. The style is there, but when it comes to overall experience, a long list of glitches rains on this Vice President's parade somewhat.