Without wishing to sound like the kind of grumpy gamer you’d expect to object to this harmless update, Rainbow Islands: Towering Adventure! is a classic case of “if it isn’t broken, don’t try to fix it.”

There's only eight characters and the simple combat setup means there are not as many moves available as in other one-on-one brawlers. The slow speed of the fights is another negative, but death matches liven things up a bit even if you can lose from poor positioning rather than something your opponent has done. Though not the most fully-featured series, subsequent games would add characters and tweak the gameplay (the regular World Heroes 2 also features death matches, though handled a little differently), and so whilst World Heroes can provide some fun fights, those desperately looking to pit historically-inspired fighters against each other would be better off with one of the sequels.

Both the Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha and Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo collections are pretty close in value to one another. While Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha is perhaps the better of the two due to the consistent quality of the Strikers games, we also harbour a soft spot for the Gunbird series on Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo, especially Gunbird 2. Sengoku Cannon is so poor it might as well not exist in the collection, but Samurai Aces Episode 1 and Gunbarich are stronger than Alpha's Sol Divide and Zero Gunner 2, so which collection is better is mostly going to come down to preference between the Gunbird or Strikers series. Another constant between them, sadly, is the high level of input lag and lack of bonus material to make the collection really stand out.

In the end, even the fun puzzles began to grow stale after only a few hours of play as they're so quick to complete and pop up so often, which dampened my enthusiasm for unlocking Mudkip and Jirachi plushies to decorate my rooms with. I have no desire to boot up Pokémon Friends daily for a few quick puzzles like how I rip packs in TCG Pocket, leaving me with the sense that this puzzle package will fade into the background with other casual spin-off titles, forgotten about until the next Pokémon Direct that announces a handful more overpriced puzzle packs instead of Generation X.

Quick Fill Q should have been a great game for simple, quirky fun, but poor controls, lacklustre presentation and outright dull gameplay all conspire to hold it back from getting our recommendation. For its low price it may be worth a gamble for those on the fence, but we doubt that the number of people who would return to this game after one or two play sessions would fill even a small, uncomplicated hole.

Pet Inn 3D doesn't have much at all to interest experienced players, but its lighter substance might be appealing to young audiences who want to spend some time with critters and not have to worry about any sort of failure.

The Last Remnant Remastered is the sort of game that we wish we could recommend more highly. Though it has plenty of interesting ideas, like the Union battle system and the SaGa-esque character progression, these are all so mired in obscurity and confusion that their impact is considerably lessened or nullified outright. The Last Remnant Remastered is the best ‘bad’ RPG out there; it’s a game that undeniably has some excellent qualities, but it can never manage to get out of its own way. If you can get past the hokey tutorials and confusing mechanics, The Last Remnant Remastered on the Switch stands as one of (if not the) best versions available, as the enhanced visuals and quality of life improvements are now offered alongside the ability to play on the go. We’d give this one a very light recommendation; if you’re an RPG nut and you have the mettle to get through the more frustrating entries of the genre, this is the game for you. If not, we’d recommend you take a pass.

Judge was only the fifth Game & Watch to be released, and it shows – it just isn't as addictive as other titles in the series.

Alphadia isn't a bad game — and players looking for pure comfort-food gaming will certainly find some old-fashioned fun here — but on a system with what is hands down the best library of JRPGs in recent memory, 'not bad' isn't enough to stand out.

Dragon Skills is far from being the greatest brick break title available. It does not feel anywhere near as refined as a modern kingpin such as Peggle, and it's not half as addictive, either. The optimum level of control responsiveness one would expect from a game like this is also not quite present. In saying this, if you are craving an experience on Wii U that falls under this classic genre, Dragon Skills provides a reasonable experience.

It’s difficult to land on a fitting score for Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light. On one hand, historical context is vital and you can’t expect too much out of a thirty-year-old game. On the other hand, granting a generous score to a title as fundamentally flawed as this would be dishonest; by modern standards, it’s really not a good game anymore. Considering the low cost of entry and the inclusion of new features, we’d say it’s probably worth a look for long time Fire Emblem fans who are curious how it all began. If you don’t fall into that category, we’d encourage you to look into more modern games for your strategy gaming fix.

Ultimately, I am glad The House of the Dead 2: Remake exists. Control woes aside, I suspect many players will eventually find some enjoyment from the game, provided you're willing to spend considerable time in the settings menu beforehand. It's a fascinating blast from the past, warts 'n' all, and a real showcase of some truly terrible voice acting from the '90s. Just make sure you toggle the 'Mute "Reload!" Scream' option – good lord.

It's best in small doses, and unlocking the Detective mode sadly borders on masochistic. Hardened criminals who are up for a truly difficult heist (including cheap captures along the way) will likely get a rush out of the close-quartered action, but more mild-mannered felons should think carefully before breaking into The Phantom Thief.

Even with extra content and performance enhancements, a frustratingly limited camera and lack of variety reduce Woodle to a cheap and cheerful but flawed and basic 3D jump and collect-athon. While its cute and whimsical charm and uncomplicated nature make it suitable and accessible to younger audiences, there are still plenty of contemporaries on the eShop that are more accomplished and polished. While adequate considering its price, it's nonetheless an idyllic yet simple little game.

Family & Friends is a mini-game compilation with decent production values and a good premise behind what is being offered. The main issues are lack of depth, absence of originality, unbalanced difficulty in some of the challenges, absence of Wi-Fi play, poor audio effects and it's steep asking price.

Even if you do decide to trudge through to completion, the game is far too easy to complete, so the scope of the Green Lantern's inventive green energy construct power is yet to make a successful transition to video game land.

G.G Series VECTOR is unfortunately just another "me too" block puzzler that you'll likely grow bored with after a few extended plays. The basic gameplay is sabotaged by being a little bit too complex and the presentation is nothing more than passable.

All told, Teslapunk is a very middling game. It has tight enough controls and fun shmup gameplay that has the potential to entertain for hours, but there's a lingering sense that this is a game too content to ride on the coattails of its superior predecessors, and it does so at the cost of forging its own identity. What we're left with is a game that's perfectly functional, but forgettable in nearly every way. If you really like shmup games and want to own a new one for the Wii U in particular, this may be worth a punt, but we'd otherwise recommend you take a pass.

Ultimately, while the game mostly succeeds as an engaging, fun multiplayer experience, there’s only so much you can squeeze from the four modes available. They all feel relatively similar to each other, and despite the individual tasks presented, the gameplay feels the same across all of them. It’s unlikely to be a game you’ll go back to after a couple of sessions, and take it from us, don’t even consider purchasing Can’t Drive This if you don’t intend on playing local or online multiplayer.

3 Heroes - Crystal Soul is certainly not a bad game, but its repetitive nature and somewhat sluggish pacing make it feel more like work than play. There's some nice sprite design at work, but it too ends up being heavily overshadowed by the game's monotonous gameplay.

Nadir: A Grimdark Deckbuilder succeeds in delivering a visually beautiful experience, but the game around these gorgeously metal images doesn’t feel like it had the same care as the art design. It is frustratingly difficult, a fact exacerbated by the inconsistently presented information and issues around how the game’s controls were ported to the Switch. This is a game that feels unfinished, despite the visual flair it offers.

Visually unspectacular, Zombie Gold Rush is saddled with very repetitive action. The game is not devoid of entertainment as there's some fun in figuring out how best to take out as many zombies as possible for a bigger score, and trying to move up the online leaderboards adds some genuine replayability to the package. Ultimately though, while Zombie Gold Rush could be seen as a quick gaming fix, you'd probably be better off doing a Picross puzzle instead.

Adults, or any gamers over the age of 10, will needless to say find very little here to keep them interested.

It just feels that the creative force behind Dodge Club Party had something more special in the Dot Arcade collection. The spark is still around, too; just take a look at the joyful writing and art in the electronic manual. It's disappointing that it couldn't better be portrayed this time around in the actual game, either with aesthetics or added variety.

This is where we usually say your enjoyment will depend on how you liked previous games, but there’s one notable difference here: as of the time of this review, Chapter 4 is a full $3 more expensive than the previous titles! Veterans should consider whether this game is worth more of their change, while curious newcomers should definitely take one of the other chapters for a test run.

Spirit Hunter: NG is a fascinating, dark and brutal game which is hugely gripping thanks to its strong plot, spooks and protagonists. Sadly, the Switch version of the game is scuppered by crippling technical problems which make it borderline unplayable at times. The core game is strong enough that it is still worth a look if you can endure these issues, but you should play this on something else if you can – or hope that the developers can fix the issues in a future update.

Hints Hunter is a fun game overall, presenting a number of puzzles that are varied, entertaining and pretty, but the majority of challenges are far too simplistic.

There's really nothing wrong with TOSS N GO as software. It's decently packaged and works perfectly well, but the tabletop game it portrays is arguably unserved by a digital translation.

If you enjoyed the first or were slightly on the fence, then this one improves upon the original formula in many ways, adding more events and fixing plenty of issues by allowing for backtracking, but hasn't innovated enough to garner a wider appeal.

Poor decisions in the wardrobe department, tedious animal treatment sections, useless "party games" and bad QA take a lot away from what could have been a pretty fun game to play with your kids.

Overall, Ninja Usagimaru: The Mysterious Karakuri Castle comes off as a very middling experience. When the difficulty isn't wildly ratcheted up, the puzzles can be quite fun to solve, and the presentation is quite charming. Unfortunately, you'll probably be spending a large portion of your time with this game on a handful of levels that present a disproportionately high difficulty that prevent you from playing the rest of the game.

Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympics for the 3DS is not exactly a bad game - especially if you liked previous entries in the franchise - but it could be so much more.

Road to Guangdong is a tough one to score, because what it does right – the character interaction and small-scale personal dramas – are engaging enough to be worth praise. It's just that the mechanical glue holding it all together is close to disastrous at times. As a result, we can't give it a recommendation without enough caveats to make it sound like a warning. You might like Road to Guangdong, but even if you do, you'll like it despite it doing its level best to push you away.

We want it to be clear that the version we played for this review was the full Switch eShop release. We've been told that the game runs much smoother on PC in the launch period, so you might want to make that your platform of choice if you want to check this one out – and honestly, you should. There's nothing groundbreaking to be found here, but it's a decent game with interesting ideas that unfortunately aren't fully fleshed out. We just can't fully recommend the Switch version in its initial form, and it's disappointing that this one falls under the category of games released in a sub-par state that leave owners hoping that promised updates will save the day.

Tank! Tank! Tank! does a few things pretty well, but a torturously mind-numbing solo campaign and a high price tag keep it from being a hit. The younger crowd will definitely enjoy the photo-taking aspect and simple multiplayer, but other than that it's pretty barren. If Namco Bandai had lopped off the limp campaign mode and released the game as a multiplayer offering on the Wii U eShop for $15 then it would be easier to recommend, but as it stands now, Tank! Tank! Tank! is better described as Lame! Lame! Lame!

AfterZoom is charming, interesting and works well, not to mention the perfect tool for someone who needs help with multiplication. It just doesn't last nearly long enough, and while it does, it's simple and repetitive.

While the program itself is quite well executed, it's still basically just a standard calculator, and most people already own at least one of those in some shape or form.

Fire: Ungh's Quest is functional, and has classic cartoon graphics and quality audio, but is ultimately an insipid offering. Right down to the name, it makes little effort to stand out from the crowd. This is definitely a title for a younger audience - although it may even struggle to hold their attention.

It's a little hit-and-miss and quite generic, but card-loving gamers may want to give it a go.

V-Rally 4 is an old-school rally game at heart, for better and worse (but mainly the latter). If you stick with it you’ll eventually start to master and enjoy it, but the slippery handling and unforgiving ‘no mistakes allowed’ rally races make getting to that point a real slog. On top of this, its numerous performance issues are so severe that they aren’t just ugly, they’re downright distracting: the result being that although this is now the best rally game on Switch by default, pretty much every aspect of it leaves acres of room for improvement.

By no means is it a poor game, it's just shallow to the point where even a unique and compelling concept such as this, one that utilizes both the Wii Remote and GamePad, becomes dull rather quickly.

With more polish, Hometown Story could have been a worthy successor to Harvest Moon, but sadly the final product doesn't come close to matching the highs of that famous franchise.

Puzzle Fever isn't bad, just completely mediocre.

For just 200 Nintendo Points, Escape the Virus: Shoot 'em Up! certainly isn't a bad game – it just doesn't particularly excel either.

Word Searcher Deluxe isn't a bad game, but it's not a particularly practical one either, and as such it comes recommended only to word-search fanatics who are keen on doing their puzzles on the big screen.

Its status as a hard-to-find title may have amplified its status with collectors, but in reality this is actually a very average racing title which lacks longevity and won't keep you occupied for very long. The range of different vehicles is a nice touch and the game controls well, but outside of cutting seconds off your time and finding every shortcut there's little to keep you coming back for more.

Unfortunately, Ascent of Kings can at times feel sparse, and it doesn't exactly scream replayability; that's an issue for a game that can be completed so quickly.

Pathway is a competent game. Just competent. Definitely not great, maybe not even good, but certainly competent. It’s blend of randomized storytelling and XCOM-style combat is well done, but it doesn’t prove to remain consistently entertaining in the long run. Those of you who are absolutely starved for this kind of game may want to cautiously investigate. Otherwise, just pick up the XCOM 2 Collection or Mario + Rabbids for a much more enjoyable take on the genre.

Jambo! Safari could have been a pretty solid game if the animal-capture or animal-care sections were cut out and more time was spent polishing the remaining parts.

For the money you ultimately get two figurines, three cards and a game package with snippets of fun and charm - it's ultimately up to you whether that's worthy of your cash.

Unfortunately, the chess clock option is about the only real option available in Chess Challenge. The rest is barebones to the point of being as straight of a no-frills chess game imaginable.

We didn't hate Elrentaros Wanderings' grindy dungeon-crawling gameplay. There are things to like, even if those moments are interspersed with long stretches of boring, repetitive enemy-bashing. There are hints of the trademark Rune Factory charm here and there, and the art is genuinely lovely, but this sparse action RPG feels like a new skin stretched far too thinly over the skeleton of a much better game.

Performance issues could be (at least, partially) ironed over with likeable, interesting characters and a compelling mystery, but Dread Nautical just doesn't deliver one. It's all rather trite and lacking in atmosphere. Yet despite the generally negative tone of this review, there is fun to be had here. It doesn't seem to do anything new whatsoever, and even Mario + Rabbids (ostensibly a game for children) has more tactical depth to it – nonetheless, it's occasionally fun to nip onto one of the bite-sized decks and wail on some Thralls. We just wish it was a little deeper; this kind of thing is acceptable on Dread Nautical's original home of Apple Arcade, but not on Switch, where the likes of Mutant Year Zero vie for the same audience.

One thing's for certain, though – DSiWare is not the knight's most appropriate suit of armour.

If you're a big fan of the movie and you can take advantage of the multiplayer with your kids, the exploration aspect of How to Train Your Dragon 2 is a soothing, enjoyable romp through a detailed island gameworld accompanied by a triumphant soundtrack. As a retail game, though, it's a steep asking price for a dragon adventure with repetitive minigames and little depth.

Like so many action-RPGs before it, Moonfall Ultimate is driven by the minutia of its combat model, but considering battles often rely on one attack (regardless of weapon) and a handful of special moves, you’re left feeling oddly unempowered and frustratingly disconnected. There’s your usual mix of quests to undertake, various medieval-style locations to explore and loot to collect, but none of it ever offers an interpretation you haven’t seen done better elsewhere; while the game calls upon the likes of Golden Axe and Dungeons & Dragons for inspiration, it never hits the same heights. A serviceable experience, but one that won’t linger in the memory for long.

If Grill-Off with Ultra Hand had a Weber-bound equivalent then it would be a cheap hot dog: it's okay to indulge in once in a while but not something you'll care to have again very often.

Little Friends: Dogs & Cats invites comparisons with the Nintendogs series with its structure and overall presentation. However, once you’ve enjoyed petting your fill of digital 'good bois', you’ll be left marvelling at how little there is to do even compared to that most lightweight (though fondly remembered) of Nintendo offerings.

Let's Create! Pottery sets out to offer a relaxing and easily accessible experience, but unfortunately misses the mark. While the improved controls do make this a more playable experience than its DSiWare counterpart, Let's Create! Pottery is still far from being the zen-like experience that it sets out to offer. If you really enjoy spinning virtual clay then this might be the game for you, but the daunting lack of fun here is enough to make any potential potters turn away.

VectorRacing is graphically impressive, with its deliberately understated visual design allowing for smooth animation and impressive draw distances. When that's the best thing about your racing game, however, there's a problem. Uneventful tracks and a dire lack of variety means that racing on any one level feels like racing anywhere else, and that gets dull fast. Online leaderboards and local multiplayer are welcome additions, but the experience feels a bit slight for the cost of entry.

Among the Sleep benefits from a fresh setting and the odd spooky set-piece, but it's let down by disappointingly generic puzzles and stilted gameplay. It takes a number of baby steps in the direction of Firewatch and Gone Home, but it's got a lot of growing up to do before it deserves to be mentioned in the same breath.

Lollipop Chainsaw RePop's zombie-killing mayhem is just as childish, stupid and fun as it was in 2012. This remaster brings with it a streamlined experience and decent visual polish. Unfortunately, RePop suffers from poor optimisation, lapsed musical licenses and an extra mode that brings nothing new to the table. If you can, seek out the original.

SolSeraph is a tale of two games; it manages to successfully add some depth to the strategy elements of its inspiration, creating a fun little top-down side to things whilst falling way short of that game in its platforming sections. Even if you're a diehard Actraiser fan and you've been chomping at the bit for this day to come and even if you're willing to put up with the shoddy action sections, there's the matter of the extremely blurry, odd-looking graphics and unstable framerate to contend with. It genuinely feels like an unfinished game in places, and it’s a real shame. If Ace Team had managed to put together any sort of decent side-scrolling action here it would have been on to a winner but, as it stands, this only goes to highlight what a miracle, what a classic for the ages Actraiser really is, whilst confirming itself as, unfortunately, one to avoid.

Buried deep within Neverwinter Nights' loins remains an entertaining, engrossing and lengthy RPG adventure, bundled with oodles of extra campaigns and one-off adventures. But to enjoy that you're going to have to put up with some of the most stuttery, bug-riddled nonsense we've seen on the Switch. Fun and frustrating in equal measure.

Bright Memory Infinite is a short but could-be-much-sweeter shooter, and a hard one to recommend. It's glitchy, it has an incoherent story that ends abruptly, the AI is inconsistent, and the whole thing is over in just about two hours. And yet, in spite of all of that, we still had fun due to its strong core gameplay and frankly, ridiculous story and setpiece moments. For a game made by just one person, it has a really solid foundation and some impressive production values despite the glitches. However, it desperately needs further iteration to be worthy of recommendation for anyone outside of a select few.

Fans of the WiiWare release might be pleased to see this one landing on a new platform, but be warned that it hasn't carried over well.

We like the Oddworld series, and we wish Soulstorm were better. The ingredients are there: the world itself and Abe’s story have a uniquely grimy charm. No section of Soulstorm’s 15-hour adventure feels quite like the last, with enough new enemies and mechanics introduced to keep things both interesting and challenging. Yet at the same time, technical issues mar the experience much like the dirt and rust that covers Oddworld, and small inconveniences add up to make completing the game much more trying than it should be. We hope one day an Oddworld game will be a must-play adventure worthy of the series’ late-'90s prestige, but Soulstorm on Switch hasn’t quite freed Abe and the Mudokons from the fetters of poor performance and archaic design.

PlataGo! has some value as a learning tool for would-be designers of all ages, and it offers a surprising depth of tweakable options to help you put an individual stamp on your levels (and campaigns). However, if the low quality, generic feel of the graphical and audio assets don’t quickly sap your enthusiasm, the frustration of wrestling with the interface to fine-tune more complex creations will.

While there are some Lord of the Rings games that should not have been forgotten, this one is barely worth playing the first time.

Farming Simulator 14 isn’t the cream of the crop, it’s not a load of crop, it's just struggling to grow and waiting on a little rain to bring better days.

Paper Wars: Cannon Fodder Devastated is not a good game. It is not a bad game. It is a game. A harmless time-waster that will neither bring a revolution nor it will end the world by its quiet presence on the Switch eShop. It is, however, hard for us to recommend it at the current price point considering there are far more viable options content and gameplay wise for the same price. What we have here is yet another incredible kusoge whose existence made us remember not to take life too seriously. Plus the title did remind us to replay the Sensible Software developed classic Cannon Fodder. In conclusion: Paper Wars: Paper-thin Fodder.

If you like retro-styled graphics and old-school FPS games, you'll find plenty to like here; if neither of those appeal to you then you may be out of luck. If you like the concept and can overlook the technical problems here you may have an unexpectedly good time.

For the low price of entry it's worth having on your 3DS just to relive the nostalgia of the Nokia version, but we would not expect Sssnakes to be one you rave to your friends about. It does not have the originality of other classic action puzzle games, and unfortunately the graphics and music do little to reel you in.

After a couple of passes through its four worlds, there's little if anything to keep you coming back. Even the single-player mode is merely a series of encounters with AI opposition and is really not worthy of sustained attention. Tilt Pack deserves credit for offering the kind of instant arena brawler thrills that anyone can partake in. But that comes at the expense of any lasting appeal.

Hooked on Bass Fishing has a certain charm to it, and it can be exciting to battle with and land a giant fish when it happens. But those flashes can ultimately carry a game so far when it doesn’t have much sense of an overarching goal, progress, or player direction.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 has the potential to be a strong platform fighter, but on Switch it’s wrapped up in a frankly incredible amount of poor performance and presentation. Fighters feel weightier, and the new campaign adds context and charm to the package, but it'll take a miracle patch to save it from being a choppy, blurry, flat-looking barrel of disappointment on Nintendo's console.

Mistover follows too closely in the footsteps of a game that overshadows it in every possible way. Its combat is unspectacular and its dungeon-crawling suffers from a lack of atmosphere and a bunch of harsh gameplay systems that ensure you never really feel like you're relaxing into a rhythm, getting any sort of foothold or extracting any real or lasting joy from proceedings. If you're going to studiously pay homage to a game as expertly-crafted as Darkest Dungeon you'd best bring your A-game, and, unfortunately, in this instance, developer Krafton has failed to do that.

Pallurikio isn't a bad game, but it's just not a terribly interesting one.

There is fun to be had in Farming Simulator 23: Nintendo Switch Edition, but those who find it will need to be intimately familiar with the farming process. This version feels like a significant downgrade over the PC edition released in late 2021 and has some gameplay quirks that hinder the actual experience of running a farm. Unless you are desperate to take your farming on the go with the Switch, there are better entries in this series out there to play.

Fast Draw Showdown is one of those games you just want to enjoy. If you should find yourself hosting a party one day but have no party games on your Wii to play, then rest assured that this game mixes well with friends and moonshine. However, it is otherwise not quick enough on the draw to earn its place in video game history.

Treasure Hunter X is certainly not a horrible game by any stretch, but it's not exactly that good either. The game relies too heavily on gameplay touches that have already been done many times before, and in some cases far better.

The branching narrative of Front Mission 3: Remake is the strongest of the series for me and kept me engaged with it long after I had grown frustrated with the combat system. The new music is solid, but also highlights some of the older sound effects that haven't been updated. And, to top it all off, the new artwork for the Switch port is bafflingly bad and gives strong AI-generated vibes, making this feel like a rushed, half-finished remake of a beloved tactical RPG.

At its low price point, Turtle Tale is an entirely functional platforming adventure from a small indie studio that you can breeze through in a day or two.

Heavily pixelated graphics, aggressive resolution scaling, scenery pop-in and an unreliable framerate all ensure that there are just too many barriers in the way of you freely enjoying the top-notch rally action.

Aqua Moto Racing Utopia initially appeals for being a rare water-based racer. Scooting around on your jet-ski often feels more like riding a bucking bronco than driving a vehicle, and that makes it stand out from regular landlocked racers. However, it's lacking several layers of finesse and balance, the presentation is deeply unappealing, and those aggressive water physics are a mixed blessing. We're just going to have to wait patiently for Nintendo to return to the Wave Race universe, aren't we?

However you end up playing Ninja Shodown, it's unlikely that it will hold attention for more than a handful of rounds. The core mechanics are solid, the action is relatively fast and fun - especially in four player mode on a big screen - and it can be rather entertaining. However, the difficulty spikes and lack of depth in single player, coupled with the lack of modes, no online and minimal options in multiplayer, ultimately make the game little more than a brief but fun time filler. It's becoming more and more apparent that party games like this need more meat on the proverbial bone to stand out, and in this respect Ninja Shodown struggles to make its mark.

Cotton 2, Cotton Boomerang and Guardian Force are a lot of fun, and let down not by their age but the quality of these Switch ports. What should’ve been a complete no-brainer purchase for anyone looking for more arcade action is now something to carefully consider first and possibly wait for a sale or a patch. There are many other shmups — retro, arcade, and brand new — on Switch that are all more deserving of your hard-earned money.

Blackwind is as utilitarian as a bank statement and painfully middle-of-the-road. It’s tough to recommend that you play this game because we can scarcely remember anything notable about it from our own playthrough. Yet at the same time, it doesn’t actually do anything egregiously wrong to make it instantly destined for the garbage bin. If you’re looking for an entirely unremarkable and unoriginal sci-fi themed hack ‘n’ slash, Blackwind certainly ticks those boxes. Unfortunately, if you’re looking for a meaningful way to spend your limited time and hard-earned money, this ain’t it. We won’t go so far as to say that you should definitely give Blackwind a pass, but we'd understand entirely if you did.

If you're hankering for a semi-educational game to play with your kids Word Party is an adequate choice, but otherwise there are far better Wii U 'party' games to play.

Those looking for a more casual take on the sport might find some enjoyment here, but the rest will just have to stick with Real Soccer for now.

SkateBIRD is a creative addition to a genre lacking in variety, and its fun concept has clearly been realised with a lot of love. However, despite its potential, the best parts of the concept are underused, with neither the miniature skaters nor the addition of wings bringing much to excite. While the core gameplay is functional, the play feel is not fluid and the level design and laborious structure are always working against the fun. To top it off, the rudimentary graphics are needlessly hazy. More of a turkey than a pretty boy, then, unfortunately.

Sparkle 2 EVO has an interesting visual and sound design, but lacks a truly compelling gameplay hook. In its attempt at catering to both the tense competitive gaming crowd and the chill experiential group, it fails to fully entertain on either front. it's neither challenging nor relaxing, which in turn limits its appeal.

Ultimately, we have to ask ourselves one crucial question when it comes to Half Past Fate: Romantic Distancing: do we really need yet another reminder of the truly awful situation we’re all still in? The story being told here is an uplifting one, but it’s also stuffed with terms we’ve become all too familiar with over the course of the past year: social distancing, flattening the curve, remote meetings… we could go on. Games are – perhaps more than ever – a means of escapism, and Serenity Forge’s new title strays a bit too close to reality for our liking. We’d probably recommend other developers try again in a few years time when the dust has settled.

Super Toy Cars is a decent enough tabletop racer that will have fans of the classics like Micro Machines taking a quick nostalgic trip down memory lane, but it never manages to live up to the games from which it clearly takes its inspiration. You’ll get some fun out of throwing your car around the cute tracks, but the temperamental physics and inaccurate contact between your car and its surroundings has the potential to frustrate players before that happens. Not a bad game, then, but one that is a few grid positions behind its competitors.

The simulation just isn't something that the average gamer is going to find worthwhile, especially with the high price tag at launch.

Visually, the game looks more or less as it should, albeit with very little additional flair. There are several characters to choose from, and their background images are decent enough, but there’s actually no incentive to choose one character over another, other than personal preference. Overall, it lacks a lot of personality, and with nothing to really set it apart from its contemporaries, there’s very little to recommend here unless you’re a huge fan of the genre. On the flip side, the music is pretty great, offering catchy tunes that really stick with you.

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.

We'd recommend you pick up Blast Ball in its free incarnation (which is permanent in Europe but not North America) as it's an entertaining mini-game that offers up some mindless fun, but it's not necessarily the best advert for Federation Force.