Chicken Assassin: Reloaded is being marketed as an action RPG and while it certainly does have its fair amount of upgrades and shenanigans, in the end, it is exactly what we already discovered back in 2016: a clicker game dressed up in humorous and stylish art that effortlessly manages to make other clicker games look appalling by comparison. While this bird does nothing wrong and snugly fits among the other avian heroes already out on the Nintendo Switch, we are not sure if the general audience will greet him with open arms or clenched fists.

The slippery controls and repetitive gameplay can be annoying at times, but there's still some fun platforming to be found for those who manage to stick long enough to come to grips with it.

Lost Reavers is bitterly frustrating. Not awful, not unplayable, but frustrating.

Scrabble Tools tries to be educational, but its method of teaching is so slapdash that you'll probably come away with only a few more random words for your vocabulary.

It feels like Blade Assault could be a good game with a few more years of focused, iterative development, but what we have today doesn’t quite cut it. Its uninspired visuals, chaotic combat, and overall lack of identity all work against it in a popular and overcrowded genre. Though it passably executes on the basic blueprint of an action roguelite and it can be fun to buildcraft around its cast of playable characters, Blade Assault simply doesn’t do enough to justify a spot in your library. If you’re absolutely fiending for another roguelite and somehow haven’t been satisfied by the extensive selection of excellent titles already on Switch, then maybe this is worth a punt.

It’s a solid base on which to build future portable billiards games, but for right now it’s simply decent.

This game didn't need to be a roguelike, and the quirks of its structure cast a bit of a pall over the entire product. There's an abundance of content here, with multiple campaigns per faction and plenty of scope for tactics... but enough of it falls into the category of "luck of the draw" that it's somewhat outrageous just how much essentially unchanged content it makes you play through over and over again when you fail — or even when you succeed. Warhammer fans will likely enjoy the lore drip-feed and typically portentous writing, but everyone else should probably steer clear of Age of Sigmar: Storm Ground. An impressive game for sure, but not in the way that counts most.

Invisiballs provides us with a competitive party experience that uses HD Rumble to good effect, allowing players to battle it out using only vibrations and quick thinking. The concept is a solid one, and the presentation does the job nicely, but a saddening lack of content across the game’s modes leaves us feeling rather underwhelmed. With multiple updates planned for the near future this issue could soon start to be addressed so, unless you’re entirely sold on the concept alone, we’d recommend holding off until these new features have landed.

As a child's game it does its job very well, but for anyone else it's a solid pass.

You'll need to be the kind of person who truly enjoys word-search puzzles in order to enjoy this game, because this is a very plain, no-frills release that will otherwise bore you to tears.

Its cheap scares and repetitive gameplay fail to live up to the promise of that first hour and winds up feeling like you're just going through the motions.

Imagine Fashion Designer 3D is a competent and hugely accessible treat for the wannabe preteen fashion designer who can forgive the interruptions to the campaign, but it'll prove too simplistic and shallow for those who want to spread their creative wings.

Let’s School is a business simulator dressed up as a school simulator, with a heavy focus on the business side of keeping a school operating and not much on the warm, fuzzy feeling that you might get from education and helping kids reach their goals. There are some visual bugs and some frustrating menu layouts to deal with in the Switch version of the game, but there is a deep, engaging – if a bit soulless – simulator here.

Mouse House isn't a bad puzzler and is certainly a nice-looking game. We feel younger players who like puzzling about with cute characters will enjoy it, but for most fans of the genre there simply isn't enough content or challenge here to occupy them for long.

Captain America: Super Soldier for 3DS has a fair amount going for it. However, for everything it does well, Super Soldier stumbles somewhere else, its most heinous crimes being iffy production values that go so far as to be detrimental to gameplay and a camera that's more maniacally evil than Red Skull himself.

Is Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend for you? Well, that really depends on one huge factor. Did you play these games as a kid? If so, then this compilation may be worth the punt for a nice trip down memory lane. If you don’t fall into that camp, however, it’s difficult to recommend picking this up. These three games are simply okay when at their best, and rather disappointing when at their worst. The hard truth is that both your time and money are much better spent on the mountain of new or old RPGs you can buy for the Switch. There are worse games out there, but there are much better ones, too, and Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend really only has value as a curiosity or nostalgic piece.

Miami Nights is not a terrible game as much as it is painfully average. Life sim fans can gleam some fun out of this, but it’s over before you know it and you likely won’t care to go back. It’s worth a shot if you’re looking for a quick dance, but just like its theme song it’ll wear thin fast.

With a bit more variation to its gameplay, Colossus Down could have been an easy recommendation. Despite its unlikeable main protagonist, there’s a heap of potential here that could well be realised if the developer decides to go for a sequel. As it is, it’s a great looking game that unfortunately falls foul to repetitive and shallow gameplay.

Its biggest fault being the extreme difficulty of its more challenging levels, Bloons is otherwise a simple, moderately enjoyable puzzle game. Those ready to face the frustration will find a challenge worth committing themselves to – unless its most obdurate stages cause them to be committed.

Legend of Kay felt dated in 2005, back when the PS2 platforming renaissance was already fading, so its transition to Wii U - and now Nintendo Switch - brings with it all the same tropes that were already out of fashion long before its inception. Anniversary's combat offers something of a saving grace, with plenty of depth to be found with its combos and warping, but you’ll have to contend with camera issues and poor voice acting while you’re at it.

We really wanted to like Moonglow Bay. It has the bones of a great fun cosy game: collectibles, a heartwarming story, fishing! Unfortunately, between the bugs, bland characters, and unnecessarily frustrating boss battles, the meat is a little thin. We enjoyed collecting the fish and restoring the town for a spell, but even the fun quests didn’t have the compelling pull of many other games. If you really love fishing in your cosy adventures, this could be worth dipping your toe in. But if you’re just in the market for a cosy game, there are plenty of fish in the sea.

Aqua Moto Racing 3D has good intentions, and in its better moments will bring waves of nostalgia and earn some affection in its own right, with fun racing and a kicking soundtrack to match. And then it judders and creaks, course designs confuse, and the fluidity that so benefits a game like this is lost in a sea of poor optimisation.

With its bland gameplay and lacking amount of content, there's a lot more fun that can be had with 800 Nintendo Points.

Here's the thing, and it's a bit of a kick in the pants. Genesis Noir is a very cool, very interesting and exceptionally well-presented game. It tells its esoteric story in an effective, exciting way with a litany of memorable visuals, fantastic artwork and a genuinely brilliant soundtrack. And, unfortunately, we simply can't recommend playing this compromised, ill-fitting, arduous and glitchy Switch port in the slightest. Maybe it's just us, but knowing we could be experiencing the spectacle of this clearly brilliant piece of art in a much higher resolution, at much greater fidelity, and with an order of magnitude less frantically wriggling the left analogue stick because we're convinced the game has broken is just a sobering reason to ask why we would even bother if this version isn't your only option. Even if you do only have a Switch, we'd recommend waiting until you have something else. This is a game that deserves better.

Aeterna Noctis has a lot of potential; however, it feels like the developer got a bit too ambitious. A game that was shorter and had more focus has the potential to be something fantastic. but it ends up being a bit of a slog for a lot of its runtime due to its sometimes-tedious difficulty, despite some great platforming segments. Long loads and some frustrating design choices mean Aeterna Noctis is a derivative but sporadically satisfying game that some players may absolutely fall in love with. It has clearly had a lot of love put into it, but we didn't quite vibe with it.

Super Stickman Athletics definitely isn't a contender against other full-priced Olympic themed games, but we shouldn't expect it to be for its low asking price. Gamers who enjoy having something to play in short bursts now and then might enjoy this title as a budget cost, but those who want a little more longevity and incentive to play may be left underwhelmed.

Sometimes Nintendo puts out distinctly 'B-list' games, and Kirby Battle Royale falls into that category. While the main games in the series on 3DS offer creativity, smart design and generous amounts of content, this ultimately falls short on all counts. It's not a bad game, but it is mediocre, and the mileage and value it holds as a retail release will vary drastically depending on the players. For families and minigame enthusiasts able to dabble in local multiplayer it offers some fun, but sparsely populated online servers and a repetitive Story Mode leave little to write home about. Kirby may have many of his iconic abilities here, but the copy-and-paste approach and limited minigames mean this doesn't get close to the mascot's other 3DS games.

Though there are both Wireless and Download Play options for Multiplayer, the loading times are long and the battles are just as monotonous and repetitive against a human player as the CPU. This game is fine for young children, but adults will want to skip it.

Monster Harvest is a good example of why great ideas also need to be followed up with great execution. There’s nothing wrong with the idea of a farm sim with monster-catching elements, but Monster Harvest does a rough job of convincing you of that. The monster RPG content is so poorly done that it might as well have not been implemented at all, as it clearly took focus away from the decent farm sim portion of the gameplay. Amazingly, the farm sim gameplay still redeems this enough that it’s not a complete dumpster fire, but we’d only give this the barest of recommendations to anybody looking for another entry in the genre. Take our word for it, you’re much better off just starting over with a new farm in Stardew Valley, or picking up Rune Factory 4.

Taking clear inspiration from the seminal BioShock series, Close to the Sun promises much but delivers a somewhat lacklustre exploration of a world 'enhanced' by Nikola Tesla’s fascinating vision. The horror is ramped up with a tense and unsettling atmosphere, but cheap and repetitive jump scares lower the tone and the rudimentary puzzle sequences provide little in the way of real challenge. To make matters worse, the Switch is far from the ideal system to contain such a visually striking game; while the Helios remains a sight to behold, there’s little here to warrant jumping aboard.

XEL takes many of its cues from the Zelda franchise, with combat and puzzles that keep things interesting throughout as well as a charming, fun cast of characters. However, technical glitches in the Switch version make it difficult to enjoy at launch. There is the potential for a great game in here, possibly after a hefty patch to fix some of the bugs, but despite its obvious promise it fails to live up to its potential in its current state.

Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2 is one of those games that acts as an important reference point in realizing how far a genre has come in the last couple decades. While it was likely once considered a solid and perhaps even a little daring example of an ARPG, it’s now been resolutely left in the dust by more modern releases. Sluggish combat, drab environmental design, and low build variety all hold this one back considerably, though it’s saved somewhat by its equipment upgrade system and dark atmosphere. Fans looking for nostalgia already know what they think about this release and have probably already snapped it up, but if you’re a newcomer who’s thinking about a purchase, we’d recommend you pass. This simply isn’t a good enough game to justify the $30 price tag at time of writing, and there are much better examples of the genre on the Switch that are more worth your time and money.

Grime is a beautiful, well-designed, challenging game with a ton of content, but it runs extremely poorly on Switch, to the extent that it’s hard to recommend this version of the game if you can get it on another platform. It’s disappointing, because Grime does so much right, and developer Clover Bite has clearly put a lot of love into it over the years. But all of that love can’t save an action game that just doesn’t run well. In this genre, that’s a deal-breaker. It’s a shame Grime’s Switch debut is so rocky, because playing as a rock creature with a black hole doubling as its cranium is really cool. Don’t get us wrong: Grime is playable on Switch, but until (or if) things get ironed out with updates, this brutal world is one you might want to avoid.

SPLASHY DUCK has a fun look and competent functionality, making it a solid entry for its type of game, but will likely prove much too simple for many to get hooked for long. It's easy to see younger players being charmed by it, however, and it could be a good way for them to develop coordination skills.

For a Mike the Knight fan this could provide some entertainment; that said prospective purchasers should note the short length of the game, the rather paltry nine mini-games and the simplicity of the overall package when considering a purchase.

Frustrating controls, simplistic gameplay and relatively poor graphics make for a forgettable title.

Worms Rumble is a reasonably fun game in its own right; the battles feel fast, the weapons pack a decent punch, and the addition of zip wires make traversal a blast. The problem is that in transitioning to a multiplayer-focused battle royale style game, much of what made Worms so iconic in the past is now gone, with far fewer weapons and absolutely no destructible environments. Add to this a rather limited selection of levels, and you’ve got an experience that may well be fun for a short while, but certainly won’t keep you engaged for the long haul.

Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet is one of the stronger outings for the series in a video game format. However, it’s still bogged down by heavy-handed and often thematically troubling melodrama that’s delivered at a glacial pace and prefers to eschew the potentially interesting aspects of the world it depicts in favour of stereotypical male heroics, teenage matters of the heart and questionable attitudes to its female characters. Beyond this, and judged solely as a game, the combat of Gun Gale Online itself is a rather bland, clunky and repetitive experience – albeit one with a ton of customisation options and modes of play to engage with. Fans of Sword Art Online will already know whether they’re into this or not; for everyone else, it’s a pretty tough sell that doesn’t really manage to do anything it attempts well enough to earn a recommendation.

If you’re a die-hard Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba fan, you and your friends might find enough enjoyment in Demon Slayer – Sweep the Board to get you through a game or two. However, the underwhelming and forgettable minigames, glacial pace of the gameplay, and connection issues that made online play unusable for us greatly overshadowed this party game's positive points.

It’d be easy to look at the bobcat’s resumé, look at this and dismiss it out of hand. Unfortunately, although Bubsy: Paws On Fire has the foundation of a decent runner and developer Choice Provisions knows what it’s doing in terms of creating levels with an engaging flow, less than stellar performance, bland and repetitive stages, superfluous gameplay additions and long loads combine to drag the experience down. It’s not awful, it’s just nowhere near as good as the Runner series and ultimately we’d recommend ditching the bobcat and spending time in the company of Commander Video instead.

Fantasy Pirates is a fairly pleasant game – whilst it lasts. Clocking in at around two and a half hours to complete and bearing in mind that most of that time will be spent trying to finish the last level, it's hard to recommend this underwhelming shooter.

Considering how integral the back-and-forth tussle between El Patron and DEA is to the show, recreating such a violent game of chess in 'tactics' form seems like a match made in heaven. But even with some welcome gameplay twists – namely those real-time Kill Shots and Counteractions – the slow nature of its single-unit turn mechanic and the totally unremarkable AI makes this generous offering of missions far less exciting than it should be. As a genre, a turn-based tactics setup really suits the cat and mouse nature of this real-life-inspired cartel war; it's just a shame certain elements let it down.

Imagine Donkey Kong Country with none of the flair, none of the momentum, none of the secrets, none of the style and none of the grace. It doesn’t even have a funny face. There’s very little to get your teeth into here, though die-hard platform game fans may get some measure of satisfaction from its limited, low-risk take on the genre. We must reiterate – Stitchy in Tooki Trouble is not a badly-made game, it’s just a relentlessly unimpressive one that offers nothing new or even any kind of twist on an existing trope or mechanic. A sequel to Stitchy that perhaps saw fit to include something — anything — to make the game stand out, that could marry its impressive visuals with similarly good level design... now that would be worth a go. As it stands though, this scarecrow excels its most famed pop-culture analogue by lacking a brain, a heart and any courage to speak of.

While it’s possible to get into the retro groove of Prinny’s perilous platforming, neither game does anything interesting enough to earn your patience. And collecting two games together only reveals how much of the same ground is covered by both. If anything, additions in the sequel water down the formula. If you simply must experience an unathletic penguin falling to its death again and again, stick with the simpler original. Or better yet, search for ‘penguin falling over’ on YouTube. Cheaper and a lot more entertaining.

As it stands, there's definitely still enjoyment to be found here, though it's only in the latter half of that combination: the simple fun of the flying sequences could be enough to carry the game for some players, but the severely limited dress-up side of the experience will leave fashion-conscious enchantresses disappointed.

World’s End Club has some good ideas and a lot of heart, but it ultimately doesn’t come together as anything particularly notable. Though World’s End Club looks and sounds great, the monotonous platforming sections and hit-and-miss storytelling really drag the overall experience down. We’d give this game a light recommendation to fans of visual novels, but otherwise you're better served playing the various better visual novels and puzzle platformers already on Switch. This is the very definition of ‘okay’.

Tilelicious is a puzzle game with solid, market-tested core gameplay, but it's marred by archaic design choices that hold it back from being a stronger offering.

Fashion Dreamer’s main focus of creating outfits is enjoyable, but there isn’t a whole lot else going on in the game. Some players might be able to spend hours just collecting clothing items and putting together different combos for their muse and other avatars to show off. However, those who enjoyed the more mechanics-heavy and story-influenced elements of the Style Savvy series aren’t going to find the same charms in Fashion Dreamer. Either way, it’s probably worth waiting for the price to drop before trying this one on for size.

The Lost Child is a JRPG with a number of quirky and interesting elements, not least of which is its Pokémon-like monster capture system. However, its dungeon crawling underpinnings are just too dull and repetitive, and its narrative approach too stilted to draw in anyone but die-hard fans of the genre. Even then, you'll need to come prepared to grit your teeth and grind.

We’re always fans of seeing lesser-known games in any genre get a bit of love and exposure to new players, and the two games in the NIS Classics Volume 1 collection both have a lot to offer tactics fans. Phantom Brave’s combat system is unique among tactical RPGs and Soul Nomad’s take on the hero’s journey is still interesting 15 years after its PS2 release. However, both games feel even older than they are; the unattractive visuals and uneven voice acting of this compilation re-release aren’t going to change anyone’s mind who wasn’t a fan before, nor prove attractive for a new audience.

Cozy Grove measures out its game sessions in snack-size portions, and its gorgeous artwork and genuinely laugh-worthy dialogue almost make up for its metered-out gameplay. Sadly, with a few technical issues on Switch, and the game's refusal to let players set the pace, it's one best played on a mobile device for now.

What felt fresh and enjoyable four years ago doesn't cut the mustard in 2011, particularly when some elements have been stripped out or reworked to poor effect. London Party mode is a poor alternative to the dozens of superior Wii party games, and while its cast of gaming greats is enough to forgive some of its mistakes it's still pretty far off the mark.

Even on this second go-around, Battle Princess Madelyn Royal Edition is not up to scratch. It's almost maddening because the stuff that works is very enjoyable. The core game is fun, with a pleasing set of influences coming together to make for a knockabout, challenging time. A host of major and minor flaws – and the notable removal of the non-linear Story mode from the original release, which could have offered more enjoyment if its issues had been fixed – make this a nostalgia trip we can't recommend. It's a genuinely disappointing example of a game that's so close to being a good time, but its problems completely spoil the fun. A little more tightening up and Battle Princess Madelyn would be a bit of a cracker, but we sadly suspect that after this Royal Edition there isn't going to be a third time around the block.

While the central conceit sounds promising as an FMV experience, The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker fails to find a consistent tone or fully engage the player in its story. It offers a couple of nice ideas and the odd smile, but if you don’t care about the central mystery, you’re left with madness, and the disparate threads never weave together in a satisfying way. The two ominous notes of the soundtrack (only a mild exaggeration) are left to supply tension, and with The Bunker and Late Shift showing how the genre can be relevant and entertaining in 2018, it’s hard to recommend this over the alternatives.

There is no shortage of quality games to play - covering a wide range of genres, styles and just about any other criteria you could ask for - in the Switch eShop library. Red Game Without a Great Name ends up being disappointing, then, as you'll likely become frustrated with its occasionally inconsistent touch-based controls, along with its initially cool but repetitive mechanic and devilish level design. It attempts to hide its flaws behind some stylish yet derivative silhouette designs and some pretty cool jazz tunes. In the end, though, we have an average game with a bad name.

The concept of B3: Game Expo for Bees is imaginative, but it leaves a sting of disappointment. What's there can be amusing while it lasts, but the sum total doesn't really feel like a full game.

If we've made this game sound thoroughly generic, that's because it is. But it's not a disaster — Operation Blackout has plenty to do, with unlockable skins and modifiers to mess around with if you get into it, and there's love for the G.I Joe property here, so fans of the toys may get a kick out of it. For everyone else, though, it's a very difficult game to recommend. If you want a third-person shooter on Switch, Rebellion's Rogue Trooper or Zombie Army Trilogy are both better buys. And now you know. And knowing is half the- actually, no, forget it. We're not even going to finish the thought. We're better than that.

Despite deriving a lot of its influences from games like Animal Crossing, especially with its island life and anthropomorphic animal inhabitants, Hokko Life severely lacks in personality and unique identity. For a game that promises a relaxing experience, you spend more time walking around trying to find something to do rather than sitting back and enjoying the game's gentle progression. There are a few redeemable factors through customisation and its sound design, but outside of that, Hokko Life doesn't offer anything we haven't seen before.

At the rate DSiWare has been going, you should have another, hopefully better, option coming in down the line to put your chips on.

Monster Combine TD is an interesting take on the tower defence genre, building off of the gameplay of Plants vs. Zombies, but the inherent flaws in some of its gameplay aspects will quickly come to light and put a damper on the experience.

If you're looking for a single player game, you will come away severely disappointed. It's just not long enough to warrant the high price tag of 1000 Wii Points, it’s too repetitive, short lived and there is no reason to go back to it. If you're looking for a multiplayer game, then the battle mode is actually relatively decent.

Despite having some fun wrinkles on the tactical RPG formula, Redemption Reapers is too frustrating in its early levels to justify the thin plot and undeveloped characters. The music is the only consistently stellar part of the game, which is let down by uneven visuals and poor gameplay balance. You’re better off looking elsewhere for your tactical RPG fix on Switch.

Speedway Racing is a mostly competent but ultimately unexceptional attempt to emulate the thrills and spills of Daytona USA – a courageous endeavour indeed. But like the many faux sponsorship advertisements dotted around this game’s speedways, closer inspection drops the curtain to reveal some hard-to-ignore shortcomings. The fun we got out of it clearly demonstrates potential, but a severe lack of customisation options, absence of smooth 60FPS performance and the availability of better racing games on the Switch all conspire to put an unavoidable dent into the bodywork. This is still fun for a few days without ruining your bank account, but it is forever left-turning near the back of the pack.

If you enjoy complex brainteasers with simple rules, then, this will be a fun but limited way to while away some time. The Wii U's GamePad is far more expensive if you break it out of frustration than a little wooden toy is, though.

Away: Journey to the Unexpected is the sort of game that’s disappointing because of how good it could have been if more thought had been invested into certain systems. There’s a good game buried in here somewhere, but it’s so mired in confusing or irritating game design elements that it becomes incredibly difficult to recommend. If you’re really into roguelikes and want to try out an okay one in first-person, Away: Journey to the Unexpected is perhaps worth a punt, but even then, we’d highly suggest that you take a pass. There are far better roguelikes available on the eShop for a comparable price; you’re sure to get much more out of those.

While the basic concept and gameplay may be enticing for many players, the fact is that BUGS vs. TANKS! is a repetitive and overly simplistic experience. The campaign is short and involves a plot that delves much deeper than simple survival, but the gameplay quickly becomes boring and loses its charm. That's not to say that this is a bad or broken game, but it falls flat in its attempts to create an experience that is both engaging and fun.

Cumbersome controls, poor AI and a few other clunky features get in the way, though some selections can still provide some uncomplicated on-the-go fun.

Ping 1.5+ is a very hit and miss experience, but at least it's a noble one.

Packet Queen # features a new, enjoyable type of puzzle gameplay that has you making fast decisions on the fly, and can start to feel pleasingly addictive, but a lack of content and a completely unnecessary story mode that ends in disappointment make the title fall short of greatness. For its relatively low price the game isn’t a bad option for passing the time, but the puzzle gameplay itself needs to be placed within a much better overall package than it is currently to truly impress.

SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos is a very average arcade fighter, a game that wasn't great over 20 years ago, and still isn't now. For retro-fighter enthusiasts, there's some interesting aspects to this port in the form of an online mode and the fact the whole thing looks and sounds so great. However, with a very low player count in its lobbies, and nothing more besides a gallery and practice mode by way of extras, this is a very hard experience to recommend to anyone outside of history buffs.

Corpse Party: Blood Drive is the very definition of a mixed bag. Its 3D exploration aspects never quite work and just when you’re finally able to settle into playing the game, it suddenly switches back over to another visual novel stretch. Combined with poor pacing in the game’s early hours and a lack of any options to help explain the events of the prior games to new players, it feels like Corpse Party: Blood Drive struggles to decide what it wants to be, and despite the occasional show of strength in its writing and characterisation, it ultimately results in a frustrating, inconsistent experience.

The bottom line is what is on offer here doesn’t represent good value for 800 Nintendo Points.

In short bursts it's fine, and even enjoyable for a spot of casual gameplay, but if Cake Ninja wishes to truly impress there are some vital creative ingredients still missing from the recipe.

Overall, Gemology is a mental exercise that's challenging without razzle dazzling the other senses, making it a semi-precious, average gem of a game.

Overall it feels a little like death by a thousand cuts with American Fugitive, with one too many niggling little problems letting the whole thing down. There is still some fun to be had here, we can’t emphasise enough how impressive Red Rock County itself looks and feels to knock about in, stealing clothes off washing lines and running around doing murder in a pink dress never gets old, the story has a handful of reasonable missions around its middle section, including a standout, multi-part bank heist and the music and ambient effects are perfect. It’s just a shame then that those gameplay mechanics didn’t have a little bit more time in the oven because there’s only so many times your best laid plans can fall apart due to things beyond your control before you lose patience with the whole thing and jack it in for some GTA 2.

The difficulty, in most cases, leans towards the easy side in order to keep things accessible for younger players. If you fall into one of the audience categories mentioned then this may be worth consideration. If you don't, the low difficulty, awful music and premium price tag are all factors to bear in mind.

Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter is a game with potential; a lot of potential. Unfortunately in many respects the designers seem to have been sorely lacking in the strength of their own convictions.

Super Dungeon Maker has a lot of potential and perhaps with time it’ll become something great. For now, it feels like an egg that still needs significantly more time to incubate before it can hatch. Intuitive creator controls, an endless well of community-crafted content, and charming visuals are all big positives here, but the lack of any overarching progression, no touchscreen controls, and it feeling generally unfinished really hold this one back from being anything exceptional. If you have faith that the developers will eventually realize the full scope of their vision, then we’d certainly encourage you to crack this one open, but those who are more wary of early-access titles will want to wait and see. Super Dungeon Maker is just an average experience for now — here’s hoping that it eventually delivers on its promise.

Overmorrow has its share of satisfying eureka moments and is a compelling concept. While there is a genuine purity of intent behind its development, it would benefit greatly from more fine-tuning and playtesting. If its numerous bugs and issues are eventually ironed out, and quality-of-life improvements added, it would indeed be a journey worth taking for players interested in its premise – but be prepared for moments of frustration along the way.

Crazy Kangaroo offers decent value for its cheap price. It's simple and easy to grasp, the story mode has potential to last a few hours depending on the level set-ups you're given and the endless mode can be played infinitely for high scores as long as you don't mind the omission of leaderboards. However, the way objectives are set is flawed and the randomly generating story mode levels can feel unbalanced and leave you hopping mad.

Despite appearances, Midnight Deluxe is a completely different game to 36 Fragments of Midnight before it. While it's a solid enough casual golf game, however, it lacks the precise control, generous level design and joyful spirit of the best examples of the genre.

Spontaneously hopping from maddeningly difficult to mindlessly simple stages and providing a somewhat dull experience all around, Despicable Me: The Game – Minion Mayhem is largely tedious and frustrating, though with some spots of fun and imagination.

Frogger: Hyper Arcade Edition is a reasonable attempt to inject new life into an ageing franchise. A couple of the new game types are great, and the original is still pretty decent a few decades on, but unfortunately the other modes aren't really up to par. At 1000 Nintendo Points, it leans on the expensive side for what is a rather slim package that you'll only get the most from if you have a few Frogger-loving friends to hand. Think carefully before you dive in.

If you like the idea of steering a furry rectangle between rocks and over waterfalls, then this is certainly the game for you. If you're looking for something with more originality or staying-power though, it just might be worth looking elsewhere.

Overall, Blacksad: Under the Skin is both a faithful adaptation and a frustrating example of modern adventure game pitfalls. Fans of the original comics will enjoy seeing Blacksad himself brought to life so accurately, but some inconsistent performances in the voiceover department and some frustratingly unresponsive controls make it a far less enjoyable experience. There’s a really intriguing mystery to unfold and solve, but with some technical problems and a little too much blurring for our liking, you’ll have to grit your teeth if you really want to crack this case on the go.

Is Star Wars: The Force Unleashed worth picking up? Eh… potentially. What we have here is a shallow, short, and rather mediocre action game that’s relying awfully hard on nostalgia and the popularity of the Star Wars IP to draw in players. Based solely on its own merits, there’s little here that’s really worth your time. Simplistic level designs, weak combat, frequent quick time events, and low replay value make this one hard to recommend. It’s got a decent story and soundtrack, but neither of these things are good enough to outweigh the negatives. If you’re just looking for another Star Wars game to add to your collection, this certainly fits the bill; if you’re looking for a high-quality hack ‘n’ slash, it doesn’t. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is simply a passable game; not one we’d actively avoid, but you’re not missing much if you choose to skip it.

Even without bugs, though, not everyone may go for Frederic’s stylings, and some hardcore rhythm game fans are likely to find it too easy. That said, those who feel closely attuned to musical fusions and arrangements should still consider taking up the keys on this one, especially if it receives an update; you could even feel comfortable adding one or two stars to its score yourself if that improvement arrives.

For players of a certain persuasion there's plenty of love to go around for EnjoyUp's latest: costing about the same as a few plays at your local arcade, 99Moves offers a rock-hard retro challenge. But just the same as the coin-munchers of yore, one person's challenge is another's cheap trick. 99Moves doesn't do a great job at differentiating the two.

For its price, iSpot Japan is indeed a passable time waster. It has more than its share of frustrations, but ultimately it accomplishes what it sets out to do.

It looks basic but Blue's Journey can still entertain with some fun moments and precision platforming. Other times developer Alpha Denshi favours an increase in enemy numbers rather than cunning level design to provide the challenge, and it's at these points that the game can get really repetitive. There remains enough charm to prevent boredom setting in, but there's not much content to keep players coming back. The standard ACA Hi-Score and Caravan modes add replayability, but Blue's Journey is one players will be unlikely to take often.

If you don't mind slower games, it could be decent fun, but with only two modes and shallow gameplay it will get repetitive very quickly.

While not a bad game by any stretch, Collateral Thinking struggles to draw players in. Its control issues (which are apparently being addressed in a post-launch update) and uneven music only serve to accentuate the trial-and-error gameplay that will frustrate most casual players enough to make them give up early on. Give it a try if you're looking for a retro arcade experience, but be warned that you'll be replaying the levels a lot.

Like cotton candy, this sweet-natured treat is ultimately fluff. Kids may eat it up, but that doesn’t mean it’s good for them — or particularly enjoyable once something with a little more substance is introduced.

Secret Mysteries in New York is a bit difficult to recommend fully. While it definitely provides a narrative and atmosphere that far outsteps any other hidden object game you're likely to play, the unfortunate game design choices and unintentional comedy of somehow being in both New York and London at the same time does drag things down a bit.

A precise, challenging, laser-focused platformer that lacks the joyful sense of movement, ingenuity and sheer generosity of its inspiration. Awesome Pea might emulate the look and feel of the Game Boy classics, but it lacks their soul.

It's deeply disappointing to play Gordian Quest and encounter the amount of UI-driven issues that permeate its menus, because it has some really cool stuff going on beneath its bristly, frustrating outer shell. It's decidedly easier to pick up than most other deckbuilders, and combat has a good flow to it, with lots of combinations and deck variations to explore. Unfortunately, it's a horrendous Switch port that makes even simple things difficult. It's worth your time, just maybe not on the Switch.

The Island of Diamonds isn't going to win any new gamers, but it's a fitting conclusion to a series that tried its hardest and ended up falling just short.

At its heart, Chronicles of Vampires: Awakening is a very middle-of-the-road hidden object game. Fans of the genre won't be disappointed as the puzzles are decent, and it makes for a serviceable time-waster, helped in part by its at times interesting gameplay choices and slightly above average story. It's a step up over its predecessor, then, but not a big one.