2D side-scrolling action games like The Messenger may be a dime a dozen these days, but you’d be missing out on something special by passing this one up. Featuring a surprisingly long campaign, an incredible soundtrack and tight, challenging level designs, The Messenger stands as a shining example of great game design. We’d highly recommend you pick this one up; it’s the very definition of a modern classic.

Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate may lack the smoothness and accessibility that made Monster Hunter: World such a smash hit, but it more than makes up for it by being a sort of ‘greatest hits’ collection of the high points of the series, giving you hundreds of hours of content to play through. Couple this with the HD visuals, easy to use multiplayer, and the ability to play the full experience on the go, and you’ve got a game that will easily appeal to both veterans and newcomers alike. It may not necessarily represent the future of the series, but Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate is an utterly fantastic experience in its own right and a worthy follow up to the 3DS original, and one that no Switch owner will want to be without.

If you have no interest in retro gaming and aren’t willing to look past its limitations, Night Trap’s repetitive nature is likely to confuse and irritate you. Come at it with an open mind and an enthusiasm to discover (or relive) the brief period when we all foolishly thought FMV was the future, and you’ll find a charmingly silly game accompanied by a host of wonderful features that elevate it to more than just a remaster, but a digital museum piece commemorating a unique time in gaming history.

The Banner Saga 2 expands on the series' existing foundations with more of the same. There’s no drastic overhaul to the text-based elements or battle segments, and similar systems are in place when it comes to managing your caravan party, fighting enemies, and talking your way out of a tight spot. If you’ve played the original, you’ll know exactly what to expect. Subtle refinements make this a sequel that truly lives up to the standards of the first entry, however, paving the way for the final chapter.

From the beginning, this series has very much been about the journey to the destination in both a literal and figurative sense, and now we’ve arrived at the end, it's clear that this was the strongest point all along. The development of characters and the gradual progression of the story naturally have less emphasis this time around, as this is the end of the saga, but what you do get is multiple endings with fitting outcomes. Now all that's left is for you to decide whether or not this game and series are for you, much like the many choices present within the games themselves.

Space Ribbon is not without merit – and the closer it inches into F-Zero’s slipstream, the better it gets – but a terribly humdrum beginning, lacklustre implementation of items and a central mechanic which forces you to slow down to speed up makes it a tough proposition. There’s fun to be had if you persevere but considering how the alternatives provide pretty-much instant diversion, this makes you work too hard for it.

With all manner of pre-designed and freeform modes - and a haul of DLC included as standard - the last thing you’ll be doing with Prison Architect: Nintendo Switch Edition is hard time. The sheer amount of interconnected systems you need to track and maintain are as vast as they are intricate, but learn to spin its penal plates and you’ll have one of the deepest - and most rewarding - simulation games ever made at your fingertips. It’s still an awkward fit for console controls, but the game beneath them is worth the effort nonetheless.

Shio is a lovely surprise which offers up a precise and beautiful platforming experience. Although it lacks the level of polish as something like Celeste, if you’ve already conquered that mountain (or – sacrilege! – you’re not a fan of its pixel aesthetic), this is a tightly crafted, technical platformer in a similar mould that’s well worth a look.

All told, Tiny Hands Adventure manages to provide an okay platforming experience, but not one that we’d particularly recommend you jump for. The current price puts it in the same ballpark as plenty of other much more polished platformers on the eShop, and considering the forgettable presentation and uneven level design, there’s not much here that’s worth your time. You could do much worse than Tiny Hands Adventure, but you could also do much, much better - especially on Switch.

Followers of melancholic-looking puzzle titles who like to sit down and cosy up on a rainy Sunday afternoon and test their brain with some slow-paced, solo gaming sessions will want to give this one a spin. The title does a good job of churning out challenges that will keep you entertained for hours at a time. However, if a deep story that whisks you off your feet with a meaningful narrative, tight plot and likeable characters is more your bag, then Flood of Light isn’t the title for you. We recommend spending your cash on something like Candle: The Power Of The Flame to scratch your 2D Puzzler itch.

A slice of Viking strategic combat right out of the heart of Scandinavia’s indie development scene, Bad North joins the likes of Element at the vanguard of a new wave of smart yet intrinsically accessible real-time strategy titles. With enough enemy variance to convince you you’re playing an interactive episode of the Vikings TV show, this endlessly entertaining sea of bite-size battles will teach you to fear - and love - the sound of the oncoming horde.

Four years on, and Kero Blaster is just as engaging and rewarding as it was when Pixel first unleashed from within the Japanese indie scene. It doesn’t just look like the classics that made the genre such a pillar of gaming three decades ago, it confidently recreates the deep mechanical prowess of Contra and its ilk, with just a sprinkling of modern persistent systems to make it more palatable to newcomers and replayable far beyond those first few hours of froggy firefights.

While Morphies Law lacks the grandeur of Splatoon 2 and the F2P gratification of Fortnite, there’s no denying that its mass-shifting gimmick has legs - giant ones, at that. It just needs the right kind of post-launch TLC from its developer and some smart adjustments to both net code and player progression. With added gyro controls making the most of those Joy-Cons (should you want to gather mass via motion controls) and support for local play with up to eight players (as opposed to online's four), this indie shooter has the potential to grow into a genuine sleeper hit.

While it’ll be a bittersweet goodbye to Clem and AJ when we reach the final episode later this year, it looks like Telltale could be giving one of gaming’s most nuanced and well-developed heroines the farewell she deserves.

There’s plenty to like about Next Up Hero. Turning death into an applicable AI co-op mechanic is a neat spin on a game with a high death turnover, and its cartoon art style complements an impressively large menagerie of monsters to kill. Unfortunately, there are inherent problems with balancing and some disastrous technical problems. Its grinding takes too long, melee characters are all but pointless due to the high damage output of enemies, and those technical issues make committing time and effort a constant risk.

Don’t let Polygod’s low-poly aesthetic fool you - this is no amateur hour shooter experience. With seven realms to explore (each with their own unique environmental motifs, enemy types and bosses), the game’s procedural nature and old-school mechanics make for a frightening deep source of replay value that harkens back to the good old days of Quake. The shot delay takes a lot longer to overcome on Switch, mainly because this is the kind of game that greatly benefits from the precision of mouse control, but persevere and there’s a speedrunning treat that’ll answer your prayers with violence.

While it’s not going to set your world alight with flashy features or ground-breaking mechanics, we enjoyed our time with Manual Samuel enormously. The joke risks wearing thin, but Sam’s adventure is brief and self-aware enough to hold your interest. Co-op play is surprisingly fun with a willing accomplice and Time Attack offers some longevity, although for most players it’ll be a short ‘one-and-done’ affair. For our money, it’s a pleasant amuse-bouche of a game – a welcome little treat between the larger courses being served up on Switch this summer.

If you’re looking for a family-friendly puzzle/platformer that offers a mixture of quick satisfaction and gradually building difficulty, Tetra’s Escape will certainly appeal. Its soundtrack, graphical style and general presentation are a little rough around the edges, but look past those visual first impressions and you’ll find a cute little indie with puzzle chops that are more than skin deep.

Red’s Kingdom is full of cutesy charm and clever puzzles that act as a nice way to pass the time in small doses. Longer play sessions are ruined by repetition, and the game struggles to really fulfil its potential due to the occasional lack of creativity, but there’s definitely some fun to be had in its nutty world. With a decent level of challenge for all ages, and a puzzle mechanic that can go a surprisingly long way, this one is perhaps best suited to those looking for quick sessions of chilled out puzzle gameplay.

CastleStorm is a wonderfully well-rounded package that offers up enjoyable RTS gameplay in an approachable fashion, with a high skill ceiling that caters to players of all skill and interest levels. Although we do wish the control scheme was better thought out, the addictive gameplay, appealing art style, and hefty amount of playable content make this an easy recommendation for anybody looking for a solid strategy game on their Switch.

While it’s as much a tribute act to Bubble Bobble as it is a game in its own right, Robbotto still manages to offer a fun trip down retro memory lane. The simple chiptunes will have you longing to dust off your Commodore 64 or ZX Spectrum, while its 20 enemy types (and ten bosses) do a decent job of keeping you on your toes as the difficulty starts to ramp up. It’s just a shame starting a co-op campaign will wipe your single-player progress and vice-versa. It’s a bizarrely backwards issue in an otherwise positive retro celebration.

This is a homage to the classic sci-fi RPGs of the '90s that successfully takes out many of the annoying bits but boasts a fair amount of the depth and consistency. Cosmic Star Heroine is a JRPG for those who long ago grew bored of JRPGs, but committed fans might find it just a little too slight an offering.

From its violent yet contrasting and beautiful appearance to the fine-tuned and comical combat - thanks to the well-balanced selection of weaponry - this title is well worth a space in your Switch’s indie game library.

Cycle 28 disguises itself as a solid arcade shooter with minimalist aesthetics but slowly reveals itself to be something far beyond that. It successfully manages to engulf the player in the mystery that led to the player character's current predicament and entices you to seek the truth, find answers to questions you didn’t know existed and attempt to break the cycle and… who knows, maybe freedom and a happy conclusion? We rarely get to play video games where each ‘Game Over’ offers the possibility to solve a mystery, so we kept coming back to it again and again - and so will you.

2064: Read Only Memories INTEGRAL takes the classic point-and-click genre of old, strips out many of the annoyingly exacting puzzle systems, and injects a refreshingly positive and progressive outlook. A cast of memorable characters and some spot-on retro presentation should seal the deal for fans of a good story and snappy dialogue.

State of Mind has its moments to shine - certain plot beats in the final act do offer some genuine payoff, and some of those visuals are a joy to see running in docked mode or in handheld - but they’re too often lost in a mire of storytelling cliche and science fiction tropes you’ve seen done better countless times before. A set of in-game achievements do help break up the lengthy plot, but the awkward voice acting and lack of cohesion between its gameplay ideas ultimately make for a muddled experience at best.

With a different visual style to most of the retro shmups on Switch, and dinosaurs and similar enemies to blast, Prehistoric Isle 2 stands out visually from the other options on the eShop, although the presentation is harmed by instances of slowdown and unremarkable (if inoffensive) audio. Overall, Prehistoric Isle 2 can provide some fun, but we wouldn't class this as a must-play title amongst the many shmups currently on Switch.

While its overly simplistic art style isn’t going to linger long in the memory, Unexplored's unusual approach to balancing combat and map generation certainly will. There’s very little story here to be had, but like any great dungeon crawler, the real adventure is the one you write yourself. With plenty of scope for weaponsmithing and all plenty of permanent perks to unlock to help negate the sting of its permadeath, Unexplored: Unlocked Edition offers danger and delight in equal measure.