We always knew Garfield was something of a rebel, but taking a bad six-year-old game, making it even worse to play, pretending it’s a sequel and charging Switch owners more than double the price to suffer it is some pretty subversive stuff. The original Garfield Kart is extremely cheap on Steam: considering this is a more broken version of the same game, you might as well buy that instead. Even if you don’t have a PC, you’ll have wasted less money.

Just Dance 2020 is a celebration of the series’ tenth anniversary in more ways than one, with years’ worth of releases all leading up to a formula that has truly been perfected and a decent new song list to boot. You’ll want to be subscribed to Just Dance Unlimited to get the most out of your purchase, however, and a combination of your needs, budget and access to previous titles makes the decision much more difficult than it should be. Newcomers to the series won’t find a better experience out there, but seasoned players might want to think about saving some cash and sticking with their current setup.

New Super Lucky’s Tale is a solid port of an underrated platformer with a greatly improved camera. It's a little on the short side and may not provide much of a challenge to more hardened gamers – and if you already own it on Xbox One there really isn't enough new here to warrant a second purchase – but what makes it worth a look is its uncanny ability to make you smile, and this is something that can't be overlooked, especially in modern times.

Corpse Party: Blood Drive is the very definition of a mixed bag. Its 3D exploration aspects never quite work and just when you’re finally able to settle into playing the game, it suddenly switches back over to another visual novel stretch. Combined with poor pacing in the game’s early hours and a lack of any options to help explain the events of the prior games to new players, it feels like Corpse Party: Blood Drive struggles to decide what it wants to be, and despite the occasional show of strength in its writing and characterisation, it ultimately results in a frustrating, inconsistent experience.

A strong puzzle game in its own right, although compared to the highs of its predecessors, it doesn’t nearly hold up as well. Even so, the pleasant visuals, wonderful writing, and (mostly) strong puzzle design make this an easy sell, even if the occasional missteps in some of the puzzle answers and the lack of compelling new features for this re-release prove to be drawbacks. We’d give this a recommendation to anybody looking for a slower-paced game that still demands lots of attention. It’s an excellent ‘winding down before bed’ sort of game, and though it might not fully live up to the series legacy, we’re still excited for whatever Level-5 is planning next for Kat.

Mistover follows too closely in the footsteps of a game that overshadows it in every possible way. Its combat is unspectacular and its dungeon-crawling suffers from a lack of atmosphere and a bunch of harsh gameplay systems that ensure you never really feel like you're relaxing into a rhythm, getting any sort of foothold or extracting any real or lasting joy from proceedings. If you're going to studiously pay homage to a game as expertly-crafted as Darkest Dungeon you'd best bring your A-game, and, unfortunately, in this instance, developer Krafton has failed to do that.

Putting our opinion on the cynical Ryan phenomenon to one side, the resulting game is nevertheless a slightly below-average kart racer that handles reasonably well but generally underwhelms, from the pitifully small number of tracks to the uninspired, floaty-light weaponry. Give your kids a Mario, Sonic or Crash racer instead; they may be young, but they aren’t stupid.

Ritual: Crown of Horns is a challenging yet hugely rewarding western-horror themed action game which will go down well with veterans of the ‘horde’ genre. The difficulty bar may be set a tad too high for casual play, and some people will never get used to the mechanics, but everybody else will have a gun-slinging blast with this one.

Its 34 events provide welcome variety and there are far more hits than misses in its line-up, but once you're finished with Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020's four-hour Story mode it becomes notably less enticing for solo players. With no real incentives or unlockables to aim for, this should be considered a strictly multiplayer affair if you want to still be playing it by the time the actual Tokyo 2020 Olympics roll around.

Xeno Crisis feels like a lost classic from a bygone era of gaming – a brilliant twin-stick arena shooter which wears its influences on its blood-drenched sleeve. The stern challenge may prove to be off-putting for casual players, but it rewards dedication with some of the most intense and addictive blasting action you can find in the genre. Convince a fellow player to join in and you've got the makings of a co-op classic.

Let’s Sing 2020 works as a karaoke video game and the point-focused levelling-up system and subsequent unlockables add a sense of satisfaction as you beat your score, unlock avatars and the use of songs in other play modes. Aside from all this, Let’s Sing 2020 has a real sense of fun. Mediocre singers aren’t punished by crowd boos or negative sound bites, the easy to follow on-screen prompts are vibrant and the colour schemes, as well as the full music videos playing behind each track, definitely give off a party vibe. Admittedly the game at release is clearly aimed towards teenagers with its dance-pop heavy tracklist, but some well-chosen DLC packs should allow players to tweak the game to their own preferred styles.

Dusk Diver is a solid Musuo-style hack-and-slash action game that throws you into some massive battles with a fun and flexible combat system at your disposal. Its narrative is fairly derivative but it's bolstered by a strong, wise-cracking cast of highly likeable characters that we really hope we get to see more from in the future. It's a shame that it's let down somewhat by a pretty but very empty setting in Ximending and, outside of combat missions, much of what you do is simple padding and busywork. However, if you're a fan of this type of action game, there's plenty to enjoy here taking on endless hordes of chaos beasts, unleashing the powers of the Kunlun gods and stringing together screen-filling attacks until that combo counter explodes.

Override: Mech City Brawl is a solid port for Nintendo Switch. Any graphical downgrade isn’t noticeable in handheld mode, and the action of the game distracts from anything that would stand out. Single-player and local multiplayer can provide hours of fun, but the online multiplayer lets the game down massively. The choice not to implement cross-play harms its long-term appeal, rendering what should enjoyable game modes almost entirely irrelevant. This is still a neat little title, but if you're keen to take your skills online, you might want to look elsewhere for your kicks.

Atelier Ryza lifts the series to new heights with a reinvigorated, newcomer-friendly alchemy system and an excellent combat overhaul. The new graphics engine looks glorious and runs beautifully on Nintendo’s console, the story is thoughtfully paced and heartfelt and the traditionally slow early hours do a fantastic job of detailing Ryza’s journey from complete beginner to master alchemist. Gust has done a brilliant job of taking this long-running franchise and making it appeal to the mainstream more than ever here and, if you’ve ever been tempted to give the world of Atelier a try, this is a perfect jumping-on point.

If you’re looking for a new fighting game experience and you’ve somehow managed to avoid Skullgirls over the last seven years, then Skullgirls 2nd Encore is as good as any opportunity to do so. It doesn’t bring anything new to the table to distinguish it from the other iterations of the update that dropped back in 2016 – and some new characters would have really helped sell its arrival on Switch – but with its catchy jazzy soundtrack and memorable character animations, it’s still one of the most underrated fighters to emerge in recent generations.

Hamster's done the very best with what it had to work with, but the reality is that VS. Castlevania, while still essentially the same fantastic game at its core, is more frustrating to play than the NES version. You’re better off buying Castlevania Anniversary Collection, unless you’re a diehard fan of the series.

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.

An unfortunately tough release to recommend. Though Digital Eclipse did a fantastic job of emulating these releases and throwing all manner of extra features in to sweeten the deal, the hard truth is that the two games that lie at the core of this package just haven't stood the test of time all that well. Aside from the excellent presentation quality, the years have not been at all kind to these releases, and given the wealth of similar retro content available on the Switch eShop now, it’s tough to recommend that a newcomer pick them up. If you played these games as a kid and want a nice walk down memory lane, this is by far and away the best way you could possibly experience them – and that’s not something to be dismissed out of hand. Bearing that in mind, we’d give this release a light recommendation to those who are willing to shell out some cash for pure nostalgia. If you don’t fall into that camp, you should probably steer clear.

Taking clear inspiration from the seminal BioShock series, Close to the Sun promises much but delivers a somewhat lacklustre exploration of a world 'enhanced' by Nikola Tesla’s fascinating vision. The horror is ramped up with a tense and unsettling atmosphere, but cheap and repetitive jump scares lower the tone and the rudimentary puzzle sequences provide little in the way of real challenge. To make matters worse, the Switch is far from the ideal system to contain such a visually striking game; while the Helios remains a sight to behold, there’s little here to warrant jumping aboard.

Resident Evil 5 is a natural progression of the gameplay mechanics seen in its predecessor, with classic survival-horror tropes taking a backseat to more over-the-top action. That said, it’s not necessarily a bad thing, as it’s actually a really fun experience with a story that long-time fans of the franchise will absolutely adore. Performance takes a hit on the Switch, with noticeable frame rate drops and a decrease in texture quality, but it more than makes up for this with the introduction of gyro aiming, which works much better than we could have hoped for. One can only wonder that if Capcom had managed to keep the performance on par with other consoles, the Switch version could have been the definitive way to experience Resident Evil 5. As it is, it’s a perfectly serviceable port that serves as a nice reminder that Resident Evil’s so-called ‘action phase’ really isn’t as bad as some think.

Back in the day, we gave the Wii version a crushing 4/10 score and said ‘if the controls were good then you could double the score’. Little did we know that over a decade later, our words would ring (almost) true. With more usable controls you can finally enjoy this batch of 100 levels for what they are, but the wider game is let down by weird leaderboard decisions and those lacklustre mini-games. The best monkey-in-a-ball game since Super Monkey Ball 2, sure, but not quite a return to the series heyday.

Vampyr is a brilliant take on the vampire fantasy, focusing more on drama, relationships and inner conflicts than on sucking blood. The temptation at its core can lead to frustration, as the challenging boss fights feel designed to urge you towards killing more innocent NPCs. Anyone attempting a no-kill playthrough may struggle unless they’re willing to invest the time, but if you’re enjoying the story and characters, it’s time well spent.

Luigi’s Mansion 3 is not only a graphical powerhouse and showcase for Next Level Games’ unrivalled mastery of video game animation, it’s also an immense helping of spooky fun as well. The amount of care and consideration poured into every facet of the game is abundantly clear, and it all results in one of the most enjoyable and attractive Switch titles of the year. It's also the undisputed high point of a franchise which – following this sterling release – will hopefully get even more love and attention from Nintendo fandom, and the gaming community as a whole.

Doraemon: Story of Seasons is an enchanting, relaxing romp through a world that is so much simpler than ours. With gorgeous visuals and a never-ending list of things to do, it’s unlikely that you’ll get bored while playing it. While its slow-pace might turn off some, it’s incredibly welcome to play a game where the fate of the world isn’t at stake, and you can instead just sit down and decide what plants you might want to grow for the upcoming year.

It’s hard to recommend a game such as Disgaea 4 Complete+, as it’s the sort of game that you either love or hate – there really is no in-between. On one hand, you have a mountain of engaging content, oodles of complex gameplay systems to learn, and a refreshingly irreverent tone to keep it all interesting for dozens of hours. On the other hand, these things are presented to you in an overwhelming and difficult to digest manner that will only appeal to a small subset of players. All that being said, we’d give Disgaea 4 Complete+ a high recommendation to veteran fans of the genre who are looking for something specifically geared to them. For newcomers, we’d still recommend it, but we’d also encourage you to do your research and make sure you’re prepared for what will likely feel like a demanding experience at first.

Destiny Connect: Tick-Tock Travelers is very much a "My First JRPG" type-affair. Its story is overly-schmaltzy and safe, the game world is small and disappointingly sterile and its cast of bad guys won’t give you too much trouble over the course of its short running time. However, the combat here is entertaining stuff, intuitively laid out and clearly explained, it’s filled with fun skills and makes light and breezy work out of systems that more grown-up JRPGS tend to get bogged down in. It has a likeable central cast of characters and, although there are many more exciting games of its ilk available on Switch, it does do a commendable job in providing a safe starting point for younger players looking to sink their teeth into the genre for the first time.

AeternoBlade II is a mess of overly-complex mechanics and ill-fitting systems that struggles at all times to keep up with itself. Its core combat is solid but it's marred by input lag, slow animations, messy enemy placement and a struggling framerate. The time-based mechanics are far too numerous, confusing and tedious, while its long and winding storyline – delivered by some of the worst voice-acting we’ve ever heard – is almost totally nonsensical. Somewhere under all of the technical problems and confusion here there’s a solid game, but there’s just far too much jank for players to be expected to wade through to get there and it's impossible to recommend that you commit yourself to trying.

Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Complete Edition is a content-packed RPG with plenty to see and do. Its evolution system feels wholly unique when compared to another monster-breeding game series you might find on Nintendo hardware, and while the grind may be too much for some, it’s comfortably one of the best creature-catchers on the Switch – although Pokémon still holds the crown, of course.