Rise of the Guardians: The Video Game is simply not very good. The action becomes repetitive almost immediately and it only gets worse from there, with collectibles almost impossible to see against the environment, glitches preventing important things from spawning, and a complete and total lack of challenge. Done right, a mindless button-masher can be a lot of fun; this game seems to exist only to remind us how easy it is to do them wrong.

Thymesia has all the ingredients necessary to make for a solid indie Soulslike, but falls short of greatness due to messy implementation of mechanics, bland level design, weak lore, and issues with difficulty balancing. Add to this the fact that we experienced serious performance issues with this Cloud Version — problems which fundamentally hampered our timing and control input during combat, ruining the most promising part of the game — and you've got a Switch experience that's best avoided at all costs.

Having Swords & Soldiers on the go should have been an easy war to win. Instead, we advise you to beat a hasty retreat.

With seven months until the release of Part 2, we can only hope that EA learn from their mistakes here and step things up for Harry's grand finale.

Everything works, but with lifeless aesthetics and barely any reward for playing, kids will find this dull and slow-paced while adults would only view it as lacking and simplistic.

Arcade Hoops Basketball is not a terrible time-waster, but it never tries to be anything more than a very simple diversion. Only the most diehard basketball fans will care enough to keep firing it up after the first few times around.

There is very little to recommend in Secret Agent Files: Miami. The poor story, unintuitive interface and atrocious presentation make for a thoroughly disappointing game that gamers will likely regret purchasing. There are plenty of quality adventure titles on the 3DS and DS; Secret Agent Files: Miami doesn't even come close.

With sluggish gameplay, off-putting presentation and bafflingly poor design decisions at every turn, Langrisser Re:Incarnation Tensei is an entirely underwhelming revival of a once-beloved series, and a subpar SRPG besides.

Whether you're looking for exploration or monster-rearing, there are far better options on the 3DS - for an eShop alternative, try The Denpa Men 3 - so we regretfully recommend leaving this one lost in space.

With incredibly linear and sometimes confusing levels, painfully tedious combat and bland, dated-looking visual design, Beast Quest is a crushing disappointment when you consider the rich source of inspiration that the famous book series supplies. Speaking of the books, this game was only ever going to appeal to those who have love for the kingdom of Avantia, and it's a real shame that after such a long wait for a video game adaptation of the series, those same dedicated fans have to endure this unflattering and lifeless adaptation. Put aside your affection for Adam Blade's novels and just play one of the many other amazing RPGs on Switch instead.

Moorhuhn Kart 2 takes a game that's nearly two decades old, tweaks the visuals a bit, then actually removes elements from it (such as its character animations and speed settings). With only eight tracks on offer it would be underwhelming at a budget price, but given it's selling for $30 at launch there's nowhere near enough content or quality to justify that price.

At its core, Puzzled is essentially a Tetris knock-off that tries to do something clever with it but in doing so removes what makes Tetris so enjoyable. Its poor stage design leads to some frustrating moments and the more you play it the more each level feels like a chore rather than an exciting step forward. The only thing we’re Puzzled about is why this was chosen for the Switch treatment ahead of far more deserving Neo Geo games.

Despite EnjoyUp's efforts to improve and refine the experience, Rock 'N Racing Off Road DX just doesn't do enough differently or better to warrant a purchase.

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole is a tedious, uninspired effort marred by repetitious combat.

Even if you've been searching desperately for an air hockey simulator on 3DS, we can't possibly recommend this bare-bones, repetitious attempt, at least not at its current price.

Joe's Diner is a bad game with a good premise.

Unfortunately Neopica has not revolutionised the pet simulation genre with its latest offering. The whole experience is both repetitive and mundane, even for the most ardent of pet simulation enthusiasts.

Dream Trigger features some really unique and original gameplay ideas - maybe a few too many for its own good - and ultimately tries to do too many things at once, overwhelming the player with its rather steep learning curve. Toss in the barrage of game crashes and you're left with a game that had a lot of potential that was never in the vicinity of being reached.

For the most part, Haunted Castle is a pretty miserable experience, and in a strong contest with Castlevania: The Adventure (the first Game Boy game) for being one of the worst in the Castlevania series. The options in this collection help allay some of the issues – or at least allow you to cheat through them – and it’s still (begrudgingly) worth struggling through for its unusual place in the Castlevania series. However, in the cold light of day, there's no denying that this is a pretty poor video game and one that most people will want to ignore.

At 200 points, Sea Battle is a good deal for those desperate for something new to play on their aging DSi, but once you get past the nostalgia factor of its source material Battleship is a shallow, luck-based board game remembered best by children for its fun plastic game pieces and tactile feel, that Sea Battle's low-budget presentation doesn't come anywhere close to replacing.

As a visual novel, Wheels of Aurelia is a lacklustre experience. As a driving game, it’s even worse. However you wish to identify it, this title lacks genuine substance; it's a solid idea executed poorly.

You'll be hard-pressed to find a game more difficult to complete than Stonekeep. Not because its design is devilishly clever or because it has fantastic AI, but simply because it is a pain to play. The game suffers from frequent slowdown, a nonexistent plot and motion controls that are completely sanctimonious.

Put this notebook back in your desk.

There's not much to say about Ice Station Z, other than that it feels like a prototype or a proof of concept more than a final game. If there's hidden depth to be found, we certainly didn't come across it, and if things pick up later in the game very few are going to stick around for the experience. Ice Station Z, unfortunately, is not worth your time or money.

M2 has done a typically peerless job of porting Altered Beast from the Mega Drive, and proves once again that it is the master of retro emulation. However, one has to question the wisdom of wasting so much time and effort on converting such a dismal game; Altered Beast fails to entertain during its criminally short length and really should have been relegated to the mists of time by now.

Decay of Logos is a mess. It looks bad, has some crippling performance issues and is stuffed full of nonsensical and overly-punitive gameplay systems that make every minute you spend with it feel like a slog. The world that Amplify Creations has created here does occasionally feel like it could be an interesting and worthwhile place to explore, but there are just far too many bugs and problems that get in the way of you settling down to enjoy this game in any way whatsoever. Avoid.

The controls are flat-out bad, but at least the stages are animated nicely. Maybe taking your own real life dog outside and tossing the ball around with it is a better option if you're up for a good round of fetch.

It's not the best looking or most original game, but this would be somewhat forgivable if it was at least fun to play. It isn't. There's very little variety in the way the gang members attack and in a scrolling beat 'em up that greatly reduces the enjoyment provided. Playthroughs can be tedious as a result and the biggest challenge becomes trying not to quit the game early. There's very little replay value in the game but you could always get a friend to join you for some two-player co-operative fighting so you can at least share the suffering. Burning Fight is one to avoid.