As a combat experience The Legend of Tianding is up there with the Guacamelee! series, showcasing excellent gameplay that allows you to string together multiple attacks and use your enemies’ weapons against them. With distinct chapters introducing their own standalone missions, however, the game stubbornly forces you to endure a huge amount of set-up, with long conversations with NPCs and arduous treks across the hub world of Taipei. Trimming this fat would have benefited the overall pacing greatly, but push through this and you’ll be rewarded with one of the most thrilling combat experiences we’ve encountered in a while.

A good game with lots to unlock and good multiplayer support. But do please be warned: if it’s Lego you’re after, this title probably isn’t for you.

Slayers X is an enjoyable but basic entry in the boomer shooter genre that manages to satisfy without excelling in any one area. The levels are fun to explore, the gunplay feels good, and the gags can be amusing in small doses. Even so, little things like the increasingly grating sense of humor and lack of gyro controls drag this one down a bit, while the core gameplay feels just a little too vanilla. We’d give Slayers X a recommendation, but with the caveat that you should probably first play through a few other old-school shooters before getting around to this one. It's pretty decent, but this isn’t a top-shelf example of the genre.

While it may not be the longest game ever, with the campaign being beatable in just around two hours, there is enough diversity in it to make it worth more than one playthrough. Priced at only 500 Points, this fun, intriguing and innovative game is one not to be left in the dust.

If you need a 2D platforming fix you can't go far wrong with Pankapu. While the polished, crisp, beautiful presentation and gameplay are engaging enough, it is nevertheless slightly let down by a few elements that affect the beat by beat and overall flow of the game. The charming characters and parallel narrative are intriguing, and while the resonant themes, fantastical atmosphere and wonderful locales enchant and are especially vibrant on a big screen, the controls aren't quite tight or precise enough considering the challenging level design an enemy combat. An enjoyable game, if not quite as strong as it could have been.

But in the end Ant Nation is just a fun, quirky game that most people with a sense of humor and at least a passing interest in strategy will get some pleasure out of.

Despite the fact that you'll occasionally find it hard to see what you're doing the gameplay is very tight and addictive; though it would have been nice to have initials or Miis rather than generic names against high scores. If you're at all a fan of the genre you should definitely give it a go!

A competent puzzle platformer that tends to satisfy rather than entertain.

While it will likely only appeal to a certain demographic, there's more than enough content between the story and creative mode to keep gamers busy for hours, and the achievement system makes a 100% completion that much sweeter. If the concept appeals to you we'd recommend that you pick this one up; it's the best train sim on the 3DS yet.

Chariot is not for the faint of heart, it's a game that requires patience and a slightly stubborn nature to stick with, whether in co-op or single player.

Ghost Blade HD is a good bullet hell shooter. The training mode is a solid addition for newcomers to the genre, but in the end if you don't like this kind of game you won't find much to persuade you otherwise here. For score chasers and fans of hardcore arcade shmups, though, there's a lot to like about Ghost Blade HD.

Pac-Man World Re-Pac isn’t a game that we’d suggest you rush out and buy at once, but it does a good job of reviving a decent 3D platformer for modern audiences. Tight controls, lots of collectables, and enjoyable level design ultimately outweigh minor performance hiccups, and a general lack of imagination. If you don’t consider yourself a fan of platforming or Pac-Man, nothing here is going to change your mind and we’d suggest you pass. If you like classic-style 3D platformers, Pac-Man World Re-Pac will absolutely prove itself worth your time, even if it doesn’t impress like the best in the genre.

Rogue Company is a solid, if pretty unspectacular addition to the online shooter genre. It's highly derivative – you won't find anything you haven't seen before here – but it performs impressively well in both docked and handheld, features cross-play and cross-save with other versions of the game and provides plenty of variety and strategy in its impressively large roster of rogues. With only two gameplay modes currently available there's definitely a lack of ways to play as things stand right now but this is undoubtedly a strong base on which Hi-Rez Studios can build. Add a few more modes - there's already extraction and 2v2 wingman incoming - and a steady drip-feed of new characters and this one could have a pretty decent future on Switch.

Abyss is a small game with limited appeal: tight, difficult controls, a grainy aesthetic, and not much variety in gameplay outside “get to the end of the level.”

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is a solid platform fighter with an awful lot of hidden depth, and also an unfortunate lack of polish outside the fighting. If hardcore gameplay is the number one concern you’ll have a wealth to sink your teeth into here, but expect to be underwhelmed by various elements that surround it. There's a grand old time to be had, but it's no Super Smash Bros. (damn it yet again).

Both Monster Rancher games are fun throwbacks and this package is a tribute to a series that arguably never got the love it deserved, especially in Europe. Retro gamers and those who enjoy finding hidden gems should definitely consider picking up Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX for a taste of late-'90s non-Pokémon monster battling. Once you get your head around the unusual controls and the dated presentation, there's lots to like here — and it feels like nothing else released before or since. Go in expecting to make mistakes and stumble through some of the gameplay features and there is plenty of fun to be had.

Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues might look like a lazy cash-in, but in reality, it's a strong effort that breezes through the cheesiness of its license by making said honking gorgonzola work for it with its brilliantly evocative '80s soundtrack paired with a cheeky, silly style to match its cheeky, silly gameplay. With no shortage of levels, plenty of playable characters and respective upgrades, Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues goes above and beyond the standards set by licensed games. Grab a friend and wax on, wax off. (Actually, that sounds a bit rude.)

All told, Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket's collection loop is heavily monetised with about six too many currencies to keep track of, but the kinetic feeling of opening packs and pulling gorgeous cards of your favourite Pokémon transcends most of the annoyance that the monetisation causes. The battles, on the other hand, function as a great baseline for newcomers but currently lack the competitive or strategic edge to invest a lot of time into them. In this way, Pokémon TCG Pocket mirrors the real-world TCG as the collection aspect once again proves much more appealing than battling despite reworked mechanics.

Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission is the best version of the long-running card-battling series yet, boasting a raft of new adjustments, extra cards and fresh missions to keep you coming back for more. It’s packed to the rafters with content, from a heavy-duty story mode to local and online battles, so if you’re a fan of the series you’re going to lap up this entry now it’s finally arrived in the West. While it lacks the deeper tactical nuance of Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Champions, it’s still a fun and unapologetically Japanese arcade experience right there on your Switch.

Despite its shortcomings, The DioField Chronicle is still a solid tactical RPG experience with enough JRPG tropes to interest fans of both genres. The unique gameplay provides plenty of challenge, though it can require a lot of grinding to keep pace with the difficulty curve. The art style is beautiful both in and out of combat but the characters and plot fail to live up to the same standard. In this case, its ambition outstretched its means and it fell just short of where it wanted to be.

Railgrade doesn’t try to recreate the railway management sim game, but it polishes and bolsters what is there to become one of the better examples of this niche genre. The story, light as it tends to be, pokes fun at late-stage capitalism without it becoming the sole focus of the game. It falls short of greatness due to repetition and a lack of depth in its later hours, but there is still more than enough here for resource management sim fans to not feel like they've been taken for a ride.

Crystal Crisis isn’t going to dethrone the kings of the falling block genre anytime soon. It’s a solid puzzler with a heart of gold, but it doesn’t have the decades of improvements that its peers have. With a solid amount of content, an amazing cast of characters and fantastic presentation, though, we recommend this as a fun alternative if you tire of Tetris 99.

StarBlox Inc. is a fun and unique little experiment of a game, let down only by the results of that experiment that don’t quite come together. At the same time. the sheer satisfaction that comes from victory helps overcome some of the fundamental flaws in the concept and the net result is an original, if convoluted, puzzle-fighter. Ultimately, this is a still an enjoyable title that gets a qualified recommendation.

Get past the iffy localisation and maybe the cutesy characters if you have to, and DragonfangZ is a fun and interesting genre mash up. The roguelike element makes it ideal for a quick pick up and play session, but you'll also be rewarded if you invest more time to build up stats and learn the increasingly deep systems that are more in line with traditional JRPGs. All in all, it's simple-looking yet increasingly deep experience, one that can be as absorbing as it is perplexing.

Do Not Feed The Monkeys isn't a perfect game by any means, and its minor interface and design hiccups are unfortunate. Thankfully, these small irritations do not serve to massively undermine what Fictiorama Studios has achieved here; the capacity for indie developers to come up with novel ideas never ceases to impress, and this is a doozy of a concept. Weaving together the "monkeys'" stories is rewarding and satisfying, and there's an impressive sense of foreboding to the whole thing. You'll play Do Not Feed The Monkeys through to the end more than once, believe us.

Time Recoil feels like the most refined of 10tons' three top-down shooter titles on Switch, and while initial frustration and slightly unspectacular visuals are drawbacks, it is the crux of the game that makes it both more enjoyable and immediately more satisfying. Having a more fleshed out story - as well as quick missions, the time manipulation mechanic and twin stick arcade thrills - sets this game up to be a more layered take on the now familiar genre. While there are some technical drawbacks still present, progressing through Time Recoil and achieving high combos of slow motion kills makes for an enjoyable experience.

PixelJunk Scrappers Deluxe is a good, fairly unique idea with several interesting challenges to juggle, and, if you enjoyed the original, the expanded worlds and new additions will fulfill your craving for more recycling action. Clever though it is in premise and arrangement, however, it isn’t a very thrilling single-player game until around halfway through. If you do decide to give it a spin, you want to be online-ready, because multiplayer is where its engineering comes to the fore.

Shaq-Fu: A Legend Reborn is a solid side-scrolling brawler. We were unsure of what to expect from this whole 'Settle the score of ‘94' tagline, but were pleasantly surprised with the amount of fun it offers. While it lasts, it serves up a fun-filled ride with silly dialogue, politically incorrect humour and excessive amounts of ‘Shaqness’. You might even be entitled to get this game for free but those who must part with their money and are on the market for some mindless brawling, you could do far worse than this Shaq attack.