Convergence: A League of Legends Story successfully blends a cool visual style with fun time-bending action to make for a Metroidvania that's well worth a shot. Though it's on the short side, Convergence uses this to its advantage to craft a thrillingly well-paced adventure which will likely hook you until its end. That said, it’s important to underline that this Switch port suffers from some noticeable performance issues, even if the rewind mechanic helps remedy mistakes frame drops might cause. All the same, we still enjoyed our time with Convergence and would recommend it to anyone looking for yet another Metroidvania to add to their collection. The genre may feel overstuffed, but this game is a good example of why there’s always room for one more good one.

SteamWorld Dig can proudly sit amongst those top-tier eShop titles that can describe themselves as a ‘must-play’. There is a small desert’s worth of charm packed into this game, with a beautifully high level of polish and sheen just oozing from its very core. We’d love to have more reasons to play the game after its relatively short campaign and, considering this game is a short few years old now, having a UK launch price higher than when it released on previous Nintendo systems seems slightly off, but the gameplay alone will show you that this one is a real winner. If you’re looking to delve into the SteamWorld universe for the first time, this would be a great place to start.

It is safe to say that if you are a fan of puzzlers such as Lumines or Columns you will get a kick out of this. For the admission price of 800 Wii points it is pretty good value for money.

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 was a massive game on other platforms and is even bigger on the Switch. The visual downgrades were expected, but the removal of the gray filter present on other platforms actually makes the Switch version look better overall, in this scribe's opinion at least. The brilliantly rendered cutscenes, deep character customisation and fine-tuned fighting mechanics make for a title that is easy to pick up but hard to put down. This is another case of a game that makes one wonder just how much developers can do with Nintendo's diminutive console. Fans of fighting games and Dragon Ball alike should look forward to picking this one up.

Silence is a game that deserves to be played in docked mode on the Switch. It gives you a story you’ll be immersed in, while the vibrant graphics will keep you playing for just that little bit longer. You may feel like you’re wasting time when it comes to the multiple chat options, as they always conclude at the right outcome, but your curiosity will want you to keep going to find out more about the world of Silence, and to bring Noah and Renie home, whatever it takes. The lack of touch screen control is a disappointment though, and we can't help but feel this should have been priced a little cheaper, considering its age and how much it costs elsewhere.

SnowRunner is an interesting truck driving game where the environment is your opponent. As long as you can put up with its audio and visual issues and understand that it's an extremely slow-paced game, the rewards for sticking with it are worthwhile.

Song of Nunu is yet another great addition to Riot Forge’s growing lineup of games based in Runeterra. The heartwarming relationship between Nunu and Willump carries this compelling narrative, while the linear gameplay along the way is well-paced and engaging. Though performance could be better and combat is a little simplistic, this is an all-around great game that we can easily recommend to any fans of old-school Zelda or someone looking for a high-quality, narrative-focused game that’s on the short side.

Within its solid and increasingly arduous heart of survival and exploration, Don't Starve: Giant Edition beats with a personality head and shoulders above the hoard of Minecraft clones out there.

Cursed to Golf is an interesting and enjoyable golf game, mixing creative power-ups and roguelike game design with tried-and-true golf gameplay. Though we felt the roguelike elements held this one back a bit and the soundtrack can sometimes get irritating, the polished gameplay, appealing art style, and high replay value make this one an easy recommendation. If you’re at all a fan of golf games, we’d suggest you pick this up immediately, but even if you’re just looking to try something new, we’d encourage you to give it a shot.

Although Cronos: The New Dawn doesn't quite reach the heights of Bloober Team's excellent Silent Hill 2 remake, it's nevertheless the result of a studio that has levelled up significantly from the days of Layers of Fear and Blair Witch. It's a celebration of survival horror, paying homage to all the genre greats effectively, although failing to do anything truly original. That said, the setting and story really help elevate the experience. This is a solid Switch 2 version (assuming a rather unpleasant bug gets fixed soon), and there's real potential here for Cronos to become a central pillar of the genre going forward, should Bloober choose to expand upon it in the future.

Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is a startlingly authentic "mixed reality" recreation of Nintendo's most popular racing series which encourages you to be inventive with your course designs and does an excellent job of combining your real-world surroundings with the fantasy environments of the Mushroom Kingdom; add in a second player (or three) and it becomes even more compelling. The tech side of things is undeniably impressive and it's impossible to not raise a smile the first time you play; the question is how long that magic will last, especially if your home limits your track designs and you've only got the budget to cover the cost of a single car.

Sparklite is a fantastic rogue-lite adventure title that provides a nostalgia hit for 2D Zelda fans without feeling like a bad copy. The game’s rich world fuses mechanics and story without it feeling obnoxious, and the cast of characters are lovable and well-rounded, with each one standing out from the crowd. By the end, players will be begging for more, even if the final road is a little bumpy with some awkward difficulty spikes. Geodia is a world no one wants to leave by the end, but it’s one that’s enjoyable to return to again and again.

The Crown Tundra is another fine addition to Pokémon Sword & Shield, but it emphasises many of both the highlights and shortcomings of the base games. The highs are excellent, white hot flashes of wonderment, but they’re a little spoiled by a foundation of ageing game design. We would recommend this to anyone who enjoyed The Isle of Armor, but considering if you’ve paid for that you’ve already paid for this, it’s hard to argue otherwise. The Crown Tundra offers a glimpse of a possible future, and what it does well, it does seriously well, but the series as a whole deserves to be completely dug out of the nearly 25 year-old design philosophies that made the originals great. The world has moved on since Pokémon first arrived, and it’s time for the series to catch up.

Ten Dates is a solid improvement over its predecessor, proving that more is indeed better in some cases. The addition of an extra protagonist, along with the five extra suitors that this naturally brings with it, makes for a more diverse cast of characters and a deeper overall experience for the player. Some of the conversations are a bit lacking in depth and challenge, and the game is currently bogged down by a pretty severe glitch that cycles all conversation scenarios, but Ten Dates is otherwise a fun, relaxing experience that's easy to recommend for fans of the first game.

We’re used to seeing Wii U games transfer to Switch, but for Ultra Smash to have moved across without a substantial makeover would have been disastrous. Aces, wonderfully, is anything but that – it’s a superb arcade sports game that’s generous with its suite of player options and only occasionally guilty of being a little cheap in its Adventure Mode. The presentation is spot on, and the core tennis action is absorbing whether you’re trading simple strokes or firing off special shots. Some animations and voice overs are identical to Ultra Smash’s, but everything around them has been overhauled to quite splendid heights. This is something of a Switch Port Plus, then – not quite a whole new experience, but so improved as to be near unrecognisable next to its preceding title.

The 3DS doesn't yet offer much choice for those who favour lengthy adventures over quick-fix pick-up-and-play games. However, if you are such a person, Tales of the Abyss should quench your thirst.

Often funny, thoroughly charming and a joy to play, but it is also just as often a touch too familiar, seemingly unwilling to really go out on a limb and do something crazy even if the potential to do so is immense.

As you’d expect, LEGO DC Super-Villains doesn’t make many attempts to change up the formula that’s served it so well for so long, but with a vast library of well-applied and famous baddies to draw from it offers a far more engaging and memorable story than the stretched-too-thin LEGO The Incredibles. However, with a brilliant cast on hand (can anyone really compare to Hamill’s Joker?), a vast sandbox hub and all the customisation options you could want in Danish brick form, this familiar playground still has bags of charm.

Kingdom Hearts 3D is a great looking, solid game, held back by a few design choices which stop it from being as enjoyable an experience as it should be. If you are new to the series and want to know what it's all about, then try Kingdom Hearts I or II before diving into this one. However, if you are a series veteran then step this way, as there is still a lot of fun to be had if you can overlook the small gameplay problems.

While Samurai Shodown has taken a very slight visual hit as part of its protracted journey to Switch, the most important thing is that the core 60FPS gameplay remains intact. The downgrade is most noticeable when playing in handheld mode, but it's still incredibly enjoyable and compelling, especially if you appreciate fighting games that exercise your mind as well as your fingers. The single-player portion of the game is perhaps a little too lacking by 2020 standards and some of the ideas don't work as well as they should (Dojo mode, we're looking at you) but with its appealing cast of fighters, decent multiplayer options and a host of new gameplay ideas to keep things feeling fresh, Samurai Shodown is nonetheless a confident and assured update of a classic fighting game series – and bodes well for SNK's future attempts to resurrect its enviable stable of titles for the modern era.

If you’re looking for an unusual little curio that's quite unlike anything else on Nintendo Switch, Rock of Ages 2: Bigger & Boulder is the oddity for you. While it’s very much in the same vein as the original game, the sequel simply ups the ante with more obstacles, more courses and a ton of crazy characters from history, myth art and popular culture to battle in Python-esque fashion (well, in looks at least). Support for four-player multiplayer – with added customisation for those that like to customise their boulders – offers the strangest of detours, and makes this another local multiplayer classic for Switch.

The new control variations offer a fresh spin on the games, and despite looking absolutely amazing on the small screen of the 3DS, the frame rate issues do end up bringing down the overall experience a bit. Ultimately, BIT.TRIP is still one of the best gaming series to come out of this generation, but you can't help but feel that this 3DS compilation could have been much better with a little more polish.

Despite threatening to fizzle under the weight of its reverence for Blade Runner, Observer manages to craft an impressive and affecting horror experience on Switch that doesn’t outstay its welcome. It’s arguably at its best when you surrender to the barrage of imagery and sounds rather than scanning pools of blood with detective vision. This port walks a technical tightrope and falters a little in docked mode, but fares much better as a handheld experience – its ambition and rich world-building are admirable enough to make up for any technical shortcomings. If Bloober Team doubles-down on the horror genre and keeps producing work of this quality, we’ll gladly play whatever’s next in the pipeline.

If you can appreciate a unique and silly platforming experience that doesn't take itself too seriously, you'd be hard-pressed to find a more endearing title than The Legendary Starfy.

It deserves to stand on its own as one of the best recent examples of not only a pixel art aesthetic, but as an excellent combination of run 'n gunning, platforming and exploration. The game benefits from paying homage to multiple 16-bit ancestors rather than strictly sticking to its celluloid source material; The Mummy Demastered is a polished, accomplished and satisfying adventure that will entertain more than just Metroidvania fans.

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles is a worthy sequel to Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles. It nicely fills in the story gaps of the first collection and presents a very good-looking and deep light-gun experience.

Dementium II is a decent game with lots of interesting elements combined with a surprising amount of impressive technology, but sadly it just comes together in a very bland, uninspired way.

With a sci-fi twist on an old formula, Songbringer is almost a breath of fresh air. Occasional stereotypes aren’t as welcome as all of the new ideas the game brings forward, including a tongue-in-cheek style of humour to accompany a truly unique experience and a gorgeous visual style. With so many options and routes through the story, this is a game begging to be replayed for months to come.