Your enjoyment of Petit Novel series - Harvest December will depend entirely on what you're looking for. This isn't an adventure or puzzle game, and it's got a very heavy anime feel. If you have a love of Japanese culture and reading, Petit Novel series - Harvest December makes for a fun novelty for your 3DS.

Those looking for a more 'premium' tennis experience on the Wii U would probably be better off with Wii Sports Club: Tennis. However, Family Tennis SP certainly holds its own as cheaper, motion control-less alternative.

Ultimately, Penguins & Friends does provide for fun with friends even with its slight drawbacks, but we can't help but feeling that you may be better served sticking to the table-top version.

We’d recommend this to anyone looking for a relatively shallow game that doesn’t take a whole much of a time investment; for what it is, Yonder is a decent game, though it’s hardly a must-play.

Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas is an ambitious title that does some things rather well, finding a way to endear itself to players. It has a few problems, some from design choices and others from its mobile legacy that should have been adjusted for console, but what it doesn't lack is heart. The desire of the developers to pay homage to classic adventure series, but in their own way, shines through. It's a flawed title, but if you're willing to overlook those issues you may find it to be an enjoyable experience on the Switch eShop.

Smash Cat Heroes is a hack-and-slash game distilled down to the bare essentials: flashy attacks, waves of enemies, a combo system, and plenty of kittens.

Castlestorm II is a mixed bag; a combination of some equally intense highs and lows which almost feels worse than if it was simply not a good game. The issue is that it is a good game on a fundamental design level. The integration of several strategy elements alongside the hands-on gameplay makes for a thrilling and fun experience that is truly unlike anything else out there. That level of quality and innovation, however, is hamstrung by frequently poor controls, performance, and presentation which dramatically lowers the pedigree of the experience. Unfortunately, Castlestorm II feels like a step back from its predecessor, as it acquires more new problems than it fixes the old. Even so, we still feel it’s worth a light recommendation as a ‘buy it on a deep sale’ title. There’s always a chance that patches will fix up the rough edges, and if you can get past the issues in execution, there’s a legitimately great game to experience here.

Playing The Long Journey Home can often be rewarding as it is frustrating. The creativity of the writing, the whimsy of the soundtrack and vast number of cosmic variations you’ll encounter makes each new jump a leap into the unknown. But it too often airs on the unfair, with a careful and calculated set of jumps undone by a sudden and unpredictable calamity or a trip to a planet that cripples your lander, effectively ending your game. The resource management aspect really is a drag, but push past the constant need to spin those plates and there are some really wonderful moments to experience. The procedurally-generated nature of each jump warrants countless replays – you’ll just have to deal with a game that’s often doing its best to scupper its own best characteristics.

While its presentation is in some cases downright lacking, the Irem Collection Volume 1’s essentials are at least in order, delivering three great games, several port variations, and enough adjustable options to satisfy. That said, both Image Fights are utter taskmasters that require a hardened disposition, and that limits their broader appeal. X Multiply makes up for this by being a lot more accessible, with a visually superb aesthetic, but also feels like the odd one out because of it. We can’t help but feel an Irem Collection combining eight to ten titles would have been something worth shouting about, but with further volumes in the pipeline, this does feel like yet another exercise in squeezing a niche consumer base over several releases. Despite our appreciation of the games on board, it's hard to get too excited.

FIFA 13 for Wii U is a fine simulation of the world's favourite sport. In footballing circles, the only game that beats it is its own sequel, which is already out for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and also happens to be called FIFA 13. The chances are that if you're really into football games, you've been playing FIFA on one of the other home formats for a while and will have played this edition of the game to death already. If you aren't, then you'll have no interest in FIFA 13 anyway. That makes us wonder exactly who EA was targeting when it drew up the plans for this one.

A solid, enjoyable 2D platformer particularly suited to less experienced gamers.

Beyond Blue has noble intentions, with an urgent and vital message about our impact on the Earth. However, it doesn’t do itself justice. Although there is some decent content in here – videos, music, sound design, gameplay, narrative – those parts do little to support or enhance one another. Gameplay is soothing but one-note, the video documentaries don’t frame the missions and neither are well connected to the narrative. While there are moments of majesty in exploring the ocean, the limited draw distance and pop-in frequently interrupt the awe. Edutainment’s a hard one to pull off, and Beyond Blue feels less like an awesome rock concert about dolphins and more like your science teacher trying to do a rap.

Longer load times and softer image quality are a couple more (expected) nicks in the older hardware version's armour, but overall, despite my complaints, Legends: Z-A on Switch is.... okay! It's a step up from the last two mainline games, but still far from Pokémon's best-looking titles...And I think it's the Switch 1 version's fault. I absolutely get why Z-A is on the older console; The Pokémon Company isn't going to give up that huge player base with a mainline game yet. But its limitations hold Lumiose City back from its full potential. What could've been a vibrant, varied city instead comes with caveats, restrictions, and a fair few visual compromises.

Stay Cool, Kobayashi-san!: A River City Ransom Story is an interesting entry in a genre that is experiencing a revival of sorts on the Switch thanks to the ever-increasing number of re-releases and brand new experiences. Long-time Kunio fans will find this a rewarding and worthy experience, but newcomers – or anyone who wants to jump into this series – should opt for the far superior River City Girls instead. The time we spent with Kobayashi-san was fun, but a bit repetitive; the franchise can do much better than this, but it's a neat little side-story nonetheless.

Darts Up 3D is an extremely simple game, and a bit off the mark with its presentation, but fun gameplay, satisfying motion controls, and a bevy of multiplayer modes for single- and multi-system play nudge it much closer to the centre of the board than the edge.

At its heart, Minecraft Dungeons is the sort of release that feels like it rides on the coattails of greater games a little too much. If this game did not have the Minecraft branding, it’s not much of a leap to assume that it would scarcely garner any attention based purely on its own merits. The gear system, combat, level design, and presentation is all fine and entertaining in its own right, but there’s little here that we could point to that elevates this game alongside or above peers such as Torchlight II, Diablo III or Path of Exile. Bearing this in mind, we’d give Minecraft Dungeons a very light recommendation to those of you looking for a surface-level introduction to the ARPG genre or for something to play in co-op with the kids. If that doesn’t describe you, then we’d suggest going with either Torchlight II or Diablo III, which both offer a more substantial and fulfilling experience of this genre.

It’s a shame, because Pure Chess is otherwise a well-made title with a lot of visual sheen behind it, and one in which it is fun to learn or practice chess. If your interest only extends to the latter, then Pure Chess is potentially a worthwhile investment, although you may be able to achieve the same goals with cheaper alternatives elsewhere.

The perfect gaming analogy of Jack Sparrow. At times brilliant and able to thrill, while on other occasions accident prone and unsteady on its feet.

Armikrog feels like a game for a different era, for good and ill. While point-and-click adventures can play to the nostalgia of some, they can feel mired in traditions that just don't translate to a more mainstream audience. If the former sounds like something you'd be into Armikrog will probably push your buttons. If the latter sounds like something you fear, Armikrog's lack of clear goals and an expectation of excessive patience means it's probably not for you.

A mixed bag, then, but certainly not unenjoyable.

The games in this third Clubhouse Games Express package are all good fun and certainly executed well, but it's difficult to recommend them too highly when you can get the entire package of games for less than $20.

So, throw away the dud story, the awful presentation and the violence-and-shame-based soft porn and haven’t we got a great little shoot-em-up here? The fact is that this mechanically competent shooter in a classic style from a proven team comes with all those crummy decorations attached. It’s up to you if it’s worth overlooking all the ugliness for the sake of a good game that isn’t particularly world-changing.

A deceptively simple idea that can become laboured and bewildering as well as oddly compelling, Kingdom: New Lands is certainly a curious take on the strategy genre. Its ambiguous, incredibly minimalistic nature will initially intrigue and could easily frustrate in equal measure. Fans of roguelikes or tower defence-style games may prefer more complexity, as the simple mechanics give you control over choices rather than actions and rely on astute observation and perseverance, rather than on skill or improvisation. There is a balance to learn and a set of rules to be discovered, but even with the admittedly gorgeous aesthetic - and progressing beyond the initial stages to where the dilemma of ambition over security ramps up - it may still not be enough of a pay off to reward your time. Definitely one to consider, albeit carefully.

A beautiful game with potentially hundreds of hours of gameplay, there's still no getting away from the fact that this is a 15-year-old GBA title at its core. The dungeon crawling genre has evolved over the years to try and make things feel less repetitive, and while Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX does add some features to try to modernise the process a bit, they tend to fall flat. It's still fun in bursts, it just gets samey after a while.

Despite its strong points, though, it has that feel of a 'second-tier' Nintendo release, not helped by the limitations that 2D play places on the core concept. It's solid but a tad uninspiring, fun but unsurprising, accessible but lacking in witty design.

Just Dance 2022 is okay. It's more of the same with some cool new tracks, a slick and smooth experience overall that plays it safe and works just fine as a result. However, it also constantly pushes its subscription service and ends up feeling a little convoluted and tacky as it spends more time flogging tracks you don't own over letting you enjoy the ones included with the base game. Fans of the series — or anyone who's just danced to even a single track from the series — will know exactly what they're getting here, but newcomers should be aware that they'll need to fork out more cash after buying the game in order to enjoy the full experience.

Behind a laundry list of complaints is an exceptional game of pinball and a loving tribute to the star-spanning story of good vs. evil, but compared to the Wii U version it’s a downgrade in almost every way.

Party Planet looks wonderful on the surface with a bright, colourful, and slick interface that suggests you have a top-quality game in your hands. Unfortunately, though, a series of mini-games that vary from being good to disappointing may well start to feel rather stale after a short time; everything is nice and interesting at first, but there’s little reason to keep playing once you’ve seen each game a couple of times.