Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants is not the steaming cash grab that you might have assumed by seeing the publisher involved. Neither is it anything close to the action-packed highs that we have seen from the heroes in a half-shell in recent years. Instead, we are left with a game that is perfectly serviceable but ultimately forgettable, let down by repetitive levels and combat and lacking any reason to go back for more. If, for some unknown reason, this is the only Turtles beat ‘em up that you can access, then you will likely have a perfectly fine 90 minutes of playtime. But the alternatives on Switch deliver much more memorable, satisfying TMNT experiences.

Grounded is a fantastic survival game, a colourful, unique, and original slice of joyful adventuring that everyone should play if they have the opportunity. It nails the Honey, I Shrunk The Kids vibe, its core gameplay loops are moreish, and its setting and enemies are often breathtaking in how they reframe the mundane. However, and as usual for these big efforts on Switch, this port has plenty of issues. They've had to tank the visuals, the all-important online co-op is flaky, the frame rate is fine until you start going big on bases — just all the stuff we've come to expect at this stage, really. If you can handle the issues, or if Switch is your only way to play, this game can still deliver the goods and the quality shines through. However, if you have another way to play it, we'd definitely recommend you do that instead.

Lunar Lander Beyond is a solid recommendation for fans of the lander sim genre. It performs well on the Switch with no discernible frame rate issues and looks great. But as it stands, its missions too often feel abbreviated at around three to six minutes and too tightly sandwiched between narrative. The issue is not its gameplay mechanics, but the strictures of its campaign structure. It’s a problem the developers could solve by staying the course and creating a mode focused squarely on what made the original compelling: flying, landing, and scoring better than everyone else.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is the epitome of a flawed gem—the kind of game that does a lot of things right and we’re sure will command a dedicated legion of fans, but has legitimate problems that are tough to overlook. The expansive narrative, gorgeous spritework, and addictive combat all help make it an easy recommendation to any classic JRPG fan, but bear in mind that it can feel dated in its design philosophy and that the Switch version has a lot of performance problems, at least at launch. If you can get past those issues, this is an enjoyable and immersive RPG that mostly achieves what it set out to do.

Kudzu is a good adventure, and we’re sure we would have loved it back in the day. We can even imagine kids at primary school asserting that, in some ways, Kudzu is better than Link's Awakening. This is in part because young kids are often deliberately contrarian, but also because Kudzu’s character and game world are genuinely noteworthy. This comes through in some tight writing and an enjoyable gameplay experience. Its slight lack of polish might knock a point off, but the Switch pricing is reasonable. We’re confident that fans of retro games will find a lot to love, and playing Kudzu on an actual Game Boy would be a genuine treat.

Rose & Camellia Collection gets away with a lot of its technical imperfections simply because of the strength of its concept and its solid presentation. The music and art style will keep you interested for at least a few hours – which is all it will take to complete the story mode. However, the bizarre anime logic can’t distract you from the frequent loading screens or the frustratingly imprecise controls. This one is worth picking up, but only if you catch it on a good sale.

Planet of Lana intelligently combines elements of classic cinematic platformers to make something distinctive and characterful. For a tight five hours or so, it keeps up the pace, with very few taxing puzzles or tricky action segments to slow progress. Leaning into easier gameplay in favour of visual and auditory spectacle, it looks the part and runs consistently well. It’s a treat for the long-suffering cinematic platforming fan – perhaps even destined to join that short list of classics.

The Gap may suffer from some overly basic puzzle design and visual ticks, but this is ultimately an enjoyably mysterious narrative that's still worth the few hours it takes to see through. Its launch price feels a bit high for what’s on offer here, but we’d suggest scooping this one up the first time it goes on sale.

We really wanted to like Moonglow Bay. It has the bones of a great fun cosy game: collectibles, a heartwarming story, fishing! Unfortunately, between the bugs, bland characters, and unnecessarily frustrating boss battles, the meat is a little thin. We enjoyed collecting the fish and restoring the town for a spell, but even the fun quests didn’t have the compelling pull of many other games. If you really love fishing in your cosy adventures, this could be worth dipping your toe in. But if you’re just in the market for a cosy game, there are plenty of fish in the sea.

MLB The Show 24 delivers a solid third season of baseball on Switch in a port that keeps the gameplay fluid and delivers a full suite of modes, even if it does feel as though the console is really being pushed to its limit now. There are the expected visual downgrades, longer loading times compared to other platforms, and online can be dodgy, but a slew of modes, deep and satisfying gameplay, and that handsomely expanded Storylines mode patches over most of the rough spots.

It looks like The Witness and it plays a bit like StreetPass Garden, but Botany Manor blooms into something that's not only entirely its own, but also something quite special. Don't let its cosy aesthetics fool you — Botany Manor is packed with nicely challenging, well-designed puzzles, and isn't afraid to tackle heavy subjects, too.

I Am The Hero is aesthetically pleasing, and its pixel art characters would have been at home on the SNES. The soundtrack also keeps you pumped, with a steady beat that compliments the fast combo-building pace. There are occasional lag issues sprinkled around when enemies start to swarm the screen, and particularly when you knock multiple foes into a wall. This is especially evident in co-op multiplayer, which only doubles the amount of chaos on the screen. However, this is a minor fault in an effective beat em’ up with layers of depth. While some may find it a tad on the easy side and lacking in story, the unlockables, great visuals, and just plain fun combo-building make it a good time.

Storm Boy is a compelling emotional tale that has a phenomenal soundtrack that will get even the stoniest-hearted player tearing up. It’s gorgeously presented and is a wonderful piece of interactive art, but its length severely diminishes its value. If you rush through, you can finish the game within ten minutes. However, writing it off entirely would be doing a disservice to its brilliant atmosphere and immersive plot. If you’re a fan of story-driven experiences and gorgeous soundtracks, then you may wish to check it out.

While not a revolution in the point-and-click adventure genre, the crude humour and amusing story keep Demetrios feeling fresh and fun. While it won’t be to everyone’s tastes, if you’re a fan of cynical commentary and games that self-satirise, then you won’t go far wrong here.

Soap Dodgem is perfectly functional as a five-minute app to get you through your train journey but doesn’t feel worthy of a console port. The simplistic gameplay may give you some challenge in navigating its increasingly difficult puzzles, but there simply isn’t enough here to recommend.

Freedom Planet 2 is an excellent achievement by GalaxyTrail, setting a high bar for quality that will be tough to beat if we’re ever lucky enough to get a 'Freedom Planet 3'. A compelling story, well-designed levels, tons of gameplay variety, and gorgeous visuals all come together to make this an absolute must-play for fans of high-speed platformers and a certain blue hedgehog. Freedom Planet 2 exudes quality and passion in just about every way imaginable.

Screencheat is highly recommended and will provide hours and hours of multiplayer fun. The matches might start off basic, but you’ll be itching to unlock more and more content to dial the crazy factor up to 11. This is a great concept with smooth gameplay that culminates in really enjoyable multiplayer pandemonium, although the lack of online play in this Switch version (the 'Unplugged' of the title), does limit things to local-only multiplayer, unfortunately.

If you’re interested in a three-hour narrative adventure in the vein of Gone Home and Tacoma, and you can justify the current price, then there’s a memorable-enough time to be had with Open Roads. There’s not a wasted detail in the game’s storytelling and there's a lot to appreciate in the subtle and skilful way it leads you through its tale. We enjoyed the little moments of character growth that came from Opal and Tess throughout. By the end, we felt as if we knew them. The game’s ending also, genuinely, surprised us, which is an impressive feat. There’s a heartfelt originality to Open Roads. But, yes, the gameplay is also limited. The ‘pick up an object, have a conversation’ repetition only has a temporary appeal. Whether the game is for you or not depends entirely on how you feel about the genre as a whole.

NES enthusiasts, parents looking for an approachable retro game for their kids, and anyone with nostalgic sentiments toward Felix the Cat will find something to enjoy here – all the better if it’s on sale. This relatively sparse package boasts little else than two versions of the same hour-long, three-decade-old game, making it hard to justify at its full price point.

Oxto is a solid recommendation if you’re a fan of Hotline Miami and are after something to scratch a similar itch. Ultimately, its roguelike structure hinders the experience rather than enhances it, but if all you want to do is shoot a few bad guys, then you can’t really go wrong.

Pepper Grinder is a wonderfully inventive and fun platformer that no fan of the genre will want to miss out on. It may have a runtime that feels a little too short, but this is ultimately a deeply enjoyable, challenging, and highly replayable game with lots of personality. If you think you’d be interested, we’d suggest you pick up Pepper Grinder at the next opportunity (and there's a even downloadable demo if you're on the fence).

The irony is that Aspyr has done a nice job with remastering the visuals in both games and we enjoyed seeing the results. But the reality is that these games often feel old, they're extremely buggy, and the online play is hit-and-miss. This should have been a slam dunk. Instead, playing Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection made us feel sad. If Aspyr can fix the slew of technical issues, this might one day be worth picking up on Switch. Until that happens, though, the Force isn’t with this one.

South Park: Snow Day! has a lot of potential with some of its roguelike-inspired mechanics but ultimately fails to deliver an engaging experience whether you're playing it solo or in co-op. Combat feels unresponsive, the technical issues are numerous (on Switch at least), and the writing is some of the weakest in the series.

If you give yourself over to Warhorse’s muddy opus, it will reward you with a hundred hours of grueling and enjoyable trial and error. It’s buggy and rough around the edges on Switch, but Kingdom Come Deliverance is a singular RPG experience. The pacing and constant juggling of mechanics is not for everyone, but invest the time and you’ll experience an engrossing, grounded adventure.

Princess Peach: Showtime! sees Nintendo finally give everyone's favourite imaginary princess the rollicking adventure she deserves. We had expected a rather throwaway offering here, a bunch of minigames and Mario-lite platforming maybe, but what we've got is one of the better kid-focused games on Switch. There's creativity, style, and fun to spare here, with levels packed full of secrets, cool outfits, and enough new mechanics to ensure nothing ever outstays its welcome. Come for the fashion, stay for the boss battles, slo-mo bullet dodges, and cardboard horse chases. Besides a few niggling performance issues, this is Nintendo on rather cracking form. Encore!

Although certainly designed to be disorienting in terms of its visuals, Krimson’s levels can be a tad too difficult to parse at times, with safe platforms and deadly obstacles often blending into one another. This is exacerbated by the swirling, gooey textures on every surface, along with strobe effects that briefly come into play upon death. It’s a lot to take in and the game never lets up, so we often found ourselves wanting to put it down for a little while just so our senses could have a little break. We appreciate the artistic intent, but some accessibility features to perhaps tone down the effects or better highlight certain platforms would be most welcome.

Rebel Transmute is probably the best Metroidvania you’ve never heard of. Though its visuals are just okay, its skillful blend of high difficulty, obscure narrative, and rewarding exploration all make for a thoroughly great entry that no genre fan should miss out on. New Metroidvanias are certainly a dime a dozen, but releases like Rebel Transmute demonstrate that there’s always room for one more good one. We’d recommend you pick this game up if you’re a big fan of the genre, particularly if you want something that scratches that Hollow Knight itch—Rebel Transmute has got it where it counts and is certainly worth your time and attention.

The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered is a decent, though unspectacular, dungeon crawler that does a good job of defying some traditional RPG tropes. Mechanics like the elemental system and the randomized character progression help this stand out from the pack, while its simple dungeon-crawling format carries the basic, but satisfying gameplay for dozens of hours. Still, it doesn’t take very long for this one to feel like it’s overstaying its welcome, and more could’ve been done to sand its rougher edges. Legend of Legacy may not be the best example of this genre, but it’s still an enjoyable release for the dungeon-crawling cognoscenti.