The Drifter might hark back to 20th-century point-and-clicks with its pixel visuals, but its smart controls, streamlined interface and smooth scrolling place it firmly in the modern world. Its adult-oriented graphics and language combine with an undercurrent of humour to bring the schlocky plot to life, and joyful backgrounds and animations keep it fresh from beginning to end. Powerhoof has provided yet more evidence that we’re living through the graphic adventure’s Golden Age.

Star Fox on Switch 2 is a sublime remaster of Star Fox 64, and that's both its best and worst feature. This is Fox's best game made even better, with a stunning visual overhaul, snappy controls, and some neat reasons to keep playing thanks to the new challenges and online modes. That said, it is just '64' again, and those who have already played through the '97 classic hundreds of times won't find any surprises here…If, however, this is your first run-in with Fox McCloud, I struggle to think of a better introduction to the series. And if you know the game like the back of your hand, you're in for a replay unlike any other. The series' future looked bleak for a second there, but if this is a taste of what the next original adventure holds, then I've never been more ready to fire up the G-Diffuser.

Wanderstop follows Alta on a journey where little journeying takes place. In fact, this game is all about slowing down, taking your time, and resting, cup of tea in hand. In 12-ish hours, you drink up a story of heroism’s dark side and the need to take breaks. Its response to hustle culture is emotional, yet never sickly sweet. The beautiful art style may not be at its most potent on Switch 2, but if you’re a Nintendo-only household, don’t pass on Wanderstop, especially if you’re a cosy fan. Ironically, if your personality is anything like Alta’s, you might be too impatient to play this. Then again, you might absolutely need to. Now, who fancies a cuppa?

Dark Scrolls does a good job of balancing the cosy repetitiveness of a roguelike with the challenge inherent to the Soulslike genre. There are so many different ways to play, with six characters unlockable on top of the original three, all with their own unique abilities, movement and attack patterns. For the price, there’s very little reason to not give this a shot, especially for those who gravitate towards pixel art or any of the genres encompassed within Dark Scrolls.

Devil May Cry 5 Devil Hunter Edition is another great Capcom port for the Switch 2, maintaining that crucial 60fps gameplay without completely tanking the visual presentation. There are a few blemishes, mind you, and the absence of an entire mode means this isn't the definitive release of the game. If you've never experienced DMC5 before, however, you're in for a treat. This is one of the best action games out there, and the finest DMC entry so far.

The seamless change from turn-based to action combat proves how timeless the HD-2D art direction is. The Adventures of Elliot not only looks beautiful, but has a story to match. Elliot’s journey transcends time and space to deliver an emotional gut punch that’ll stick with me for a while. Despite performance issues on Switch 2, there’s tons of gameplay variety and fun exploration, which makes it one adventure you’ll want to make time for.

Observer: System Redux is an excellent sci-fi murder mystery that packs a lot of detail into a tight narrative package, bursting with reverence for the genre but adding a dark horror twist that offers a compelling exploration of well-trodden themes. Thankfully, the Switch 2 keeps the graphical fidelity intact, and Mouse Mode offers a great way to interact with such a rich cyberpunk world. If you don’t mind some minor graphical compromises, this might be the best way to play Observer yet.

Rise of the Tomb Raider is a great addition to the Switch 2 library, standing as a strong example of the vision of the platform offering full-fat home console gaming on the go. Satisfying exploration, incredible visuals, and loads of content all running at a smooth 30fps combine to make this a must-have buy for your personal library, even if a forgettable story and some occasionally wonky controls hold this one back from perfection. I’d suggest you pick this one up at the next available opportunity – it’ll keep you busy for a while and is especially the kind of game that really shines in handheld.

When everything works in harmony, LumenTale: Memories of Trey’s mature twist on the monster-taming genre feels like a genius blend of fan-favourite mechanics alongside smart and refreshing advancements. I hope either updates or a future entry can help evolve things further, as currently both LumenTale and some of the Animon themselves feel buried in a mess of ill-explained and superfluous features. Performance woes frustrate the experience further, alongside some odd control decisions, but any RPG fan looking for a monster-tamer built with clear passion and understanding of the genre's strengths should definitely give this a spin. There’s potential here for LumenTale to actually challenge the very best monster-tamers out there, and I hope Beehive gets the chance to make that happen.

But where things really came to a head was the Remix, where each of the games I’d already played were swapped between unpredictably, requiring me to interact with them in a much more engaging and different manner, forcing myself to really keep track of all the timings required. Lovely stuff. [Hands-On Impressions]

Most troublingly, it isn’t easily playable for the very audience it supposedly spotlights – and its story (while fun and quirky) may muddy its teachings. Still, littler players might enjoy its style and silliness, even if it doesn’t express its take-home message…to a T.

Kabuto Park’s runtime is less than a day (that oft-misquoted lifespan of a fly), but for a low price, it’s worth it. The cycle between catching and battling is simple yet variegated and captivating. And if you’re a completionist, capturing all the bugs and exploring their various battle tactics — not to mention post-game content that ups the ante — could have you coming back like a moth to a flame.

Ultimately, you could do a lot worse than eFootball if you’re looking for an offline, single-player (or co-op) football game. Its World Tour mode is relatively light but it’s fun enough, and the game’s budget price point matches its ambition. With any luck, this will only be the starting point for eFootball’s presence on Switch 2, and Konami will hopefully follow this up with a more fully-featured game, or a straight crossplay-enabled port of the main free-to-play live service title. Judged on its own merits, though, as it stands, only EA Sports FC offers better (albeit less smooth) football gameplay on Switch 2.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is a tremendous addition to the growing Switch 2 catalogue, delivering an ambitious and content-rich RPG experience that sets a new bar for what players can expect from the best entries in the JRPG genre. The heartfelt story, innovative action combat, and huge amount of open-world content combine in an experience that’s hard to put down for the several dozen hours it lasts. Though there are some noticeable performance and visual concessions, these ultimately don’t detract enough from the game's quality to derail the experience. I’d absolutely recommend you pick this up if you consider yourself a fan of JRPGs - Square Enix knocked this one out of the park, and it more than deserves a spot in your library.

Of all Nintendo's mobile offerings, Pictonico is packing more in the 'surprise and delight' department than any previous effort. It's a brilliantly effective translation of the WarioWare series on a platform it was born to be on. The microgame Volume Packs aren't quite cheap enough to be impulse buys, but I'd wager WarioWare fans will get their money's worth from these first two, especially if you've got kids to share in the irreverence and manic energy. Whether playing alone on the sofa or with a group of us huddled around my phone, we've been wearing massive grins the entire time. Delightful.

Yacht Club Games has successfully made the leap from Mario-inspired side-on platforming to Zelda-style adventure, delivering another retro-styled masterpiece. Mina the Hollower is an intricate, challenging yet accessible adventure packed with content, set against a gorgeous 8-bit gothic backdrop.

Looking at the whole package, Rugrats: Retro Rewind Collection is the epitome of a release that’s carried solely by nostalgia. If you happened to love the show or any of the games in this collection in younger years, there’s certainly a case to be made for picking this one up just to take a trip down memory lane and remind yourself of the simpler times. Yet when you take that aspect away, you’re left with a weird amalgamation of mid-tier games that exemplify many of the game design shortcomings and limitations of this era of the gaming industry. At their worst, these games are janky, difficult to control, and relatively thin when it comes to meaningful content. At their best, they’re inoffensive and passable distractions that you’ll probably never feel like playing again after you put them down. There are much worse games out there, but Rugrats: Retro Rewind Collection makes an unconvincing case for why it’s worth both your time and money. It’s a cool novelty and I think fans of the original show or games will get a bit more out of it, but this isn’t something that I can recommend as something you ought to pick up. If you must, I’d suggest you at least wait for a sale.

Bluey's Quest for the Gold Pen is a substantial improvement over the last game, offering up a bunch of well-realised worlds to explore with charming visuals and engaging puzzles. It retains the essence of the original show, but thanks to the adorable narrative, Bluey and Bingo can finally break free from the overly-familiar TV locations. Repetition does quickly seep in thanks to the focus on collectibles, but I'd wager that younger audiences probably won't care about this too much. The lack of a proper co-op mode is a bizarre omission, however, and the experience would have definitely benefitted from voice acting throughout. Still, this is a fine effort from Halfbrick, and an easy recommendation for the summer break from school.

At $20, Bubsy 4D is a solid budget platformer with levels that are consistently fun, if somewhat underbaked. Admittedly a low bar, it is comfortably the best Bubsy game ever made, with genuinely great controls and speedrunning depth that will reward players who relish climbing leaderboards and shaving seconds off their runtimes. It's an easy recommendation for anyone with a soft spot for '90s mascot platformers or morbid curiosity in the Bubsy franchise. For a series that spent decades as a byword for bad game design, Bubsy 4D is a long-overdue course correction for one of gaming's most persistently maligned characters and a strong foundation for future titles.

Tales of Arise – Beyond the Dawn Edition is a strong port of one of the better entries in the Tales series. Flashy combat, gorgeous graphics, and a meaty epilogue all combine to make this one a worthwhile purchase, even if lingering issues like an overlong story, spongy enemies, and underwhelming DLC can drag things out too much. If you’re looking for a solid action RPG or want a good entry point to see what the Tales games are about, I’d suggest you pick this one up when you get the chance. Some issues aside, Arise has got it where it counts, and provides a good foundation for future series entries to build upon.

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book isn't a bad game. There's a lot of fun to be had in discovering the many creatures hidden within Mr. E's pages, though it also suffers from a repetitive structure that doesn't evolve or provide any sense of meaningful challenge. Visually, it also lacks the punch that Woolly World and Crafted World offered, and it frankly looks pretty bad in handheld mode…If you've got young children who are eager to see more from Yoshi after catching him in the Mario Galaxy Movie, then this will provide a few hours' worth of fun while getting them used to basic platforming tropes. Otherwise, I'd probably recommend a Switch Online subscription to check out Yoshi's Island for the SNES.

Coffee Talk Tokyo may lean into the refreshed stylings of its new, titular locale, but the series’ foundation of listening to deep conversations about the complexities of life while brewing a host of delicious drinks is still intact and just as enjoyable as ever. The issues this eclectic cast of pixies, ghosts, and other creatures face are ironically some of the most human you’ll find in any visual novel out there — and you might just be surprised at how much you take away from their journeys of hardship and self-discovery. It definitely falls more on the iterative side of sequels as far as its gameplay systems go, but there’s still plenty of substance to satisfy regulars and, perhaps, bring in a whole host of new customers as well.

With its lighthearted tone, entertaining characters, and charmingly overzealous commitment to world-building, it feels almost mean-spirited to criticise Starbites - like telling a kid full of starry-eyed passion that they’re just not good enough to make the sports team. However, to look past the game’s glaring technical flaws would require you to avert your eyes from the screen entirely, and we all know that’s not how games are played. Even if you can push past the myriad shortcomings of this shoddy Switch port, you’ll be left with a middle-of-the-road RPG with an undercooked narrative and simplistic gameplay systems that strive for adequacy and little else.

Sektori is a triumph. Blending the core gameplay of Geometry Wars with several engaging new mechanics makes this one of the most satisfying and addictive games I've ever played. It boasts immaculate presentation with gorgeous visuals, a thumping soundtrack, and rock-solid 60fps gameplay. Some of the new mechanics may take some getting used to, and Sektori could do a better job at explaining them. Once you've got your head around all of it, though, it's impossible to put down. As far as twin-stick shooters go, Geometry Wars has been dethroned – there's a new king in town.

A globe-trotting adventure with compelling exploration, crunchy melee, and tomb-raiding puzzles. With a great story and sky-high production value, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is an authentic new franchise entry with a capable lead in Troy Baker. And despite taking the odd hit, the Switch 2 port holds its own admirably.

inKONBINI: One Store. Many Stories has modest ambitions but mostly achieves them: it tells a small number of unchallenging short stories, set in a 1993 Japanese retail context. Its atmosphere carries it a surprisingly long way, but not far enough to overcome how thin the experience actually is. If you're excited by narutomaki, hanko ink refills and passing business cards with both hands, then consider proceeding to the cash register. If not, you may just want to leave without buying anything.

Outbound is a relaxing journey that will please anyone who wants to get away without going anywhere. Extensive exploration and a satisfying gameplay loop make for a joyful experience, and it’s easy to lose hours to driving around in your camper, collecting logs and unlocking new biomes. A few visual and control gripes might form bumps in the road, but otherwise this is a fun ride.

Mixtape’s greatest accomplishment is that it more than lives up to its name. This is a thoughtfully curated collection of music, sure, but before that, it’s an exciting, sentimental, funny game. Rather than simply twiddling your thumbs while the licensed music plays, you’re living life with a soundtrack – the only way Stacey Rockford would have you do it.