That isn’t to say everything is lackluster here, as the artwork is fantastic and the music and sound are also quite solid, but it isn’t enough to carry Tamarak Trail when so much could be improved upon elsewhere.

I played CDA so you didn’t have to. Well, actually, I played CDA because I thought it would be great but it turned out to be one of the most disappointing things I’ve ever played. I have no interest in booting up a second and third playthrough to trudge through the mire of the other storylines and don’t recommend you trudge through even one of them. Play something else.

What sounded like the combination of a management game, Animal Crossing, and The Sims turned out to be barely influenced by all three. If you’re looking for a relaxing Switch game where you can collect clothing, decorate your home, and hang out with animals, there is already the perfect game for you: Animal Crossing New Horizons. If you’ve already played it to the point of needing new joysticks, then there are plenty of other indie alternatives to pick up before giving Calico consideration.

Though the game has nice visuals and is the continuation of a creative series, Two Realms failed to maintain the magic Drawn to Life had on DS. Unfortunately, my disinterest in the story kept me unmotivated to wait through cut scenes to get to the next levels. Levels could be fun, but they could also be terribly too easy or frustratingly hard. The best moments in the game are dispersed too far apart and they don’t feel worth the hassle to get to.

Overall, Miden Tower suffers, not from just being generic, but also lackluster. It’s not enough to say that it has the feel of a cheaply-made mobile RPG, because mobile RPGs have shown they can have polish. There are many quality indie RPGs out there that look cute, play well, and endear themselves. This isn’t one of them. For those reasons, Miden Tower is hard to recommend, especially at the $21 price point.

Overall, while Star Horizon isn’t high art, it’s an otherwise interesting little mindless space shooter that gives you enough things to do to be worth a couple hours of diversion.

Really, PONG Quest as a whole would probably benefit from more time in development. It comes across as incomplete on occasion, with gameplay that might be very engaging with a faster pace of movement and another gimmick or mechanic to go along with the special balls. The dungeon crawling is similarly half-baked, offering a sense of exploration not quite on par with even a game like Adventure on Atari 2600. Even with these shortcomings there’s still enough to enjoy that retro gaming fans or even longtime Atari aficionados may want to give PONG Quest a chance, but for everyone else there are more inventive games of this ilk to consider playing.

Overall, this is one of those games that’s going to appeal based on your tastes. If you like a punishing twin stick shooter that pretty much sends you back to square one each time you die, you might like this game. However, if progress is important to you, you’re probably going to find this game to be pretty frustrating after a while, especially if you make it deep into the stages and then end up having very little to show for it. That will go a long way toward determining if the $14.99 price tag is worth it.

There’s an earnestness to Rogue Corps that makes it even sadder to see the game fail as it has. There have been updates since the game launched, but nothing thus far has been able to elevate Rogue Corps to the standard of quality set by past series installments. If Konami wants to modernize its franchises for future generations, the message should be clear: fans want what made those classics so endearing to begin with, not misguided radical redesigns.

In short, if you’re absolutely desperate for more demonic combat and can’t wait for the all-but-inevitable release of the far superior Devil May Cry 3, then I suppose there are worse options than giving this disappointing sequel a try.

It legitimately feels like the developer created a good linear game based off a solid mechanic, and then tried to throw in some Metroidvania elements at the last minute but didn’t really know what they were doing and, as they were trying to rush the game out the door, forgot to do sufficient QA testing. In other words, Mable & The Wood feels unfinished.

As it stands, RAD will likely please roguelike aficionados who will forgive ill-conceived gameplay ideas because of the challenge it adds to the experience. But I couldn’t help but see the wasted potential from beginning to end. The various mutations could present clever ideas for unique builds and a multitude of ways to solve problems in a planned, not random, world. This course would have also allowed for more balanced combat and a greater focus on narrative. But… NOPE! Roguelikes are popular now and so is nostalgia for the 80s so let’s just squish those things together and call it a day! Thus, RAD was born.

All told, Wolfenstein: Youngblood is a rather baffling experience that doesn’t quite seem to fully understand what it’s trying to be. Many of the factors that made previous games enjoyable are still here: the core gameplay mechanics are solid and the presentation is legitimately impressive considering Switch’s hardware limitations. However, the changes they made both in terms of structure and the addition of RPG mechanics simply don’t work together in a cohesive way.

Ultimately, Chicken Rider really has no excuse existing on Switch, at least not in its current form. Were the game’s economy balanced to reflect its current status as a normal retail product, then it would at least seem somewhat justified. Though the uninspired gameplay and middling execution wouldn’t exactly make it a must play. Heck, even if you were looking for an endless runner on mobile, there are much better options. So, even if the price came down to free, Chicken Rider would be tough to recommend.

Despite some good looking lighting and vistas, the fine details are lacking and the sound design really feels quite amateurish. Still, hopping into the offline death matches and objective modes does allow for some combat focused fun which is where the game shines. Unfortunately, you shouldn’t expect it to hold your attention for too long once you’ve filled your flying fix.

How you feel about The Strike will likely boil down to your preexisting opinion about previous entries. There is a limited variety of fish to catch, which seems heinous for a game where all the player does is hunt them. There are authentic US lakes to explore. How up to date the “lore” is about these lakes is questionable considering not much about The Strike was optimized for 2019. *Sigh* Look, do yourself a favor and go fishing in Ocarina of Time if you want to get in some digital angling. I’ll be over here trying to forget this whole debacle ever even happened. Did you know there was an $80 version of this game back in the day?! Sorry, sorry.

Trailblazers is a compilation of gorgeous race tracks with not a lot to do on them. If a sequel ever manages to come about, it’s easy to imagine a version of Trailblazers with better combat, a wider variety of ways to take advantage of painting the track, and more changes/tweaks besides, but until then this is a wasted opportunity on Supergonk’s part. Trailblazers can be fun, but it’s fleeting.

When Rise & Shine‘s gameplay works, it works well, providing a fascinating take on the run and gun genre that I hope Super Awesome Hyper Dimensional Mega Team has a chance to refine and perfect at some point. If you can take the pounding, Rise & Shine might be worth a look.

The game mostly looks the part, but the gameplay is just far too loose and repetitive to make it a compelling play for all but the most desperate of gamers looking to scratch the Jet Set itch. Then again, even some of those players might be turned off once they actually have to deal with the horrible menus. The fact that the music is pretty decent and the game isn’t unplayable might satisfy some out there, but I think most gamers are better served by simply skipping this one.

Hit detection is squishy, player movement is twitchy, and the field is littered with random weird thingies that cause damage for no obvious reason. Oh, and because of the side-scrolling perspective, trying to chop through brush directly below invites getting hit, because players can’t slash down.

If you relish the days when death by bad jumping mechanics was commonplace in gaming and enemy hits were cheap, you might like the nostalgia Caveman Warriors brings. But, if you’re looking for a refined experience, this is probably not the co-op experience you’re looking for.

Atypical Games obviously put a lot of effort into making Radiation Island stand out among the recent flood of survival games from indie developers and I applaud them for it, but the Switch version is a deeply disappointing port in desperate need of major patches.

Mantis Burn Racing is an incredibly frustrating game. An overview of the game reveals a lot of promise thanks to its solid visuals, rewarding upgrade system, and interesting career structure. However, once you actually start racing, things begin to fall apart; your first few events will be fun but you’ll quickly realize how the content is spread thin and you have a long way to go before you’ll get to experience something new and fun. In other words, there’s some good stuff buried in Mantis Burn, but getting to it is a real slog, thus making hard to recommend for all but the most hardcore of racing fans desperate to relive the top-down experiences of yesteryear.

Fans of the series might find a lot more to like about Fate/EXTELLA: The Umbral Star than yours truly, because without an understanding of the plot or characters the game barely makes sense and has little interest in giving newcomers a reason to care. This would be much more forgivable if the story got out of its own way and placed more focus on the action, but the developers were obviously far too in love with the story they came up with. Of course, one could skip through the story bits, but then you’re just left with a rather mediocre Dynasty Warriors clone. Taking all that into consideration, outside of its existing fanbase, Fate/EXTELLA can only be recommended to those who simply must have a stop-gap as they wait for Fire Emblem Warriors, or those in desperate need of validation from cute anime girls.

As it stands, though, Mighty No. 9 isn’t unplayable, it’s just trifling and uninspired.

I wouldn’t say it was a mistake to bring Rodea to 3DS, but the game is so rough that it either needed more time in development, or the handheld was incapable of fully handling Naka’s vision. For fans of the creator’s previous works and players who enjoy 3D adventure titles, Rodea is worth a look, but be prepared to fight with it in order to get any enjoyment out of the game.

Dedicated fans of the JRPG genre, especially those of you who grew up playing SNES, might be able to find at least some fun with Chronus Arc based on the fact it delivers a mostly competent version of the sights, sounds, and gameplay mechanics of the era. However, when you delve any deeper than that nostalgic veneer the experience feels rather hollow.

Anyone who is on the fence about this sort of game, and especially those who don’t find it appealing at all, isn’t going to be swayed by Senran Kagura 2. It’s okay in bursts, but overall its gameplay doesn’t have the entertainment value to distract from its overreliance on sexiness to ensnare players.

Shapes of Gray is ultimately disappointing. With so many fantastic ideas at play, both mechanically and aesthetically, it is heartbreaking to see the whole thing get tarnished by mere technical errors.

There are better options in the eShop, but if someone is looking for something new, Iron Combat might do in a pinch.

It's Flappy Bird with 3D graphics and a stereotypically French art direction some, myself included, might find charming. Some might find the ultra simple gameplay addicting.

Soon Shine is a hard game to review. There isn’t a whole lot of depth to the title, but it is fun, in spurts. At an asking price of $1.99, it feels a bit difficult to ask for a much deeper experience, however. As it is, it’s a quick diversion that probably would have been more appealing as a portable title.

There are games that are fun because they’re simple yet offer a deep experience. But, there are also games that are so simple in design that it’s hard to find any kind of enjoyment from them. Shut the Box falls in the latter category, as it’s a game that requires barely any kind of thought or skill to play.

LEGO Ninjago: Nindroids isn’t the worst LEGO game ever made, but it certainly could have used a lot of improvements to make the experience more enjoyable.

Farming Simulator 14 is a game that deeply lacks polish.

Turtle Tale is uninspired, boring, and repetitive, but deep down it hides a very simple, yet playable action platformer.

If Cocoro Line Defender featured units with a lot of unique abilities that were available immediately, I would probably be writing a very different review. However, as it stands, every battle is determined by how closely you can fling your units together on the battlefield.

AiRace Xeno could have been something special. The core idea of the game is fantastic and it’s a blast to pilot an aircraft an incredible speeds, but it’s ultimately a fleeting experience that’s confined to its limited features.

My biggest problem with Chubbins is that I never quite found myself having fun with it. Instead, I was consistently frustrated, and longer play sessions resulted in sore thumbs.

Even though I have a lot of complaints with Bit Boy!! Arcade, I genuinely enjoy the core concept of the game. I liked speeding through each phase and setting high scores, but the plethora of flaws it has prevented me from fully loving the experience. The game could have been something fantastic, but it desperately lacks the polish it needs to be entertaining as a whole.

There aren’t a ton of endless runners on Wii U, so anyone who’s been hankering for one can do worse than Run, but not by much.

Governor of Poker on 3DS is a decent game of single-player poker, and if it were the only portable poker option on the market, it would be a must-buy. But it isn’t, so it’s not.

It doesn’t quite live up to its premise, but many fans are still pitching in their two bucks for the downloadable eShop title to tell Nintendo there’s a market for independent games on Wii U. I fully support that! But I still can’t in good faith recommend a game with no sound effects or even any save function.

Romance Dawn is a misfire all around that only the absolute most completist of One Piece fans should give it a look. It’s a shame, because One Piece is normally something quite wonderful. Such a waste.

It’s just too bad that this dungeon crawler just doesn’t live up to what it looks like.

Do not buy LEGO Friends. Do not pass go. Do not collect 200 dollars.

There’s very little here that hasn’t already been done a lot better elsewhere– and as side-note mini-games to boot.

Power Rangers is all over the place in terms of gameplay and presentation, and thus suffers accordingly.

There are many things that are wrong with how TT games ported Laval’s Journey to DS, and they all culminate to create a very jarring experience.

The game cuts its own legs out from under it by locking content so many different ways– whether it’s via toys or play sets. And possibly the worst offense is the lottery system within Toy Box, which holds back cool items like helicopters or assets from Tron (can you tell I like that universe yet?). Disney Infinity shows a spark of brilliance with the Toy Box mode, but everything else in game is rough, raw or boring.

Ultimately, Kung Fu Rabbit just doesn’t cut it in a world where it sits alongside true platforming masters like Trine 2: Director’s Cut and Bit.Trip Presents: Runner 2. It’s cheap, yes, but unless you fancy chewing the cud as a carrot cash-cow, we’d recommend saving your pennies for another day.

A seriously overpriced and uninspired game. It's a bad game, even by the standards of most licensed games for kids. There are flash games on the internet for free that are better than this. The Trash Pack: The Gross Gang in Your Garbage should just stay in the waste basket.

The fact that it looks and sounds pretty good doesn't change the basic fact that the game is, overall, a poor conception of a storied franchise. The design is basic and outmoded, and while in some games that can lend itself to a cool retro feel, it doesn't feel that way here.

The core of the experience is sound, and even works, but a game is only as good as its technical parameters, which means Giants suffers and stutters far too often.

Generic title? Check. Generic setting? Check. Generic graphics? Check. Generic audio? Check. Generic gameplay? Check. As one might be able to see, the problem with Heavy Fire: Afghanistan – The Chosen Few 3D is it's uninspired.

Compared to the slickness of the movie, Spider-Man's DS outing just doesn't make the cut. It's not abysmal, but it also doesn't rise above the mediocre.

This is not the first time an Activision-published title has taken shortcuts on a Wii version of a multiplatform title, and in each case it has left Wii fans not simply with a lower-res product (which ought to be expected), but a completely different and inferior game (which ought not to be).

A collection of missed opportunities. It's a game that wants to be like a Layton game and not be like one, and suffers in the comparison because of all the ways it falls short. The incredible amount of French history, clever story elements and extensive dialogue filling the game establish this wasn't a title that was thrown on shelves with minimal investment.

From its soulless and utterly unendearing cast of characters to its needless backtracking and convulted story, Tales of the Abyss has very little to offer even die-hard JRPG enthusiasts.

Really just The Incredible Machine gussied up with new paint, courtesy of Marc Eckō and his company. The story framework is just that– a very, very loose framework– and new tools, though interesting, don't do anything particularly newfangled.

Ultimately, the game tries to be more than what it turns out to be: a poor, unexciting take at the Mario Party formula. The game is littered with cool little additions that would usually make the game great, but sadly, they're all bogged down by inconsistencies, glitches, and what appears to be a lack of effort.

Virtua Tennis 4 isn't a terrible game, but given that there is a better option on Wii, system owners looking for their tennis fix probably want to look elsewhere.

It's clearly a game with some heart, but it also misses on enough of the tangibles and intangibles alike to stand out among the rest of DS's offerings.

On the whole, Thor: God of Thunder is probably only going to be for people who are seriously hardcore about their Thor, as it's clear the Wii version did not get the lion's share of the development resources.

Even if you are the most hardcore Transformers fan, this is a game to pass up. If you're a Stealthforcer fan, then by all means, get this game– I'm sure you'll love it.

A supreme disappointment. The developer's seemingly lazy decision to replace robot transformation with an armed car mode takes away the principle draw of Transformers, while the game's mediocre graphics, counterintuitive controls, and uninspired mission structure rip the heart out of a franchise that already feels far removed from its glorious past.

This is a pretty lifeless game that, while perhaps appealing to the hardcore National Geographic reader, will probably not hold much value for the rest.

With so much effort going into presentation, it seems like more could have been spent on tweaking the game mechanics.

It is a competent enough game that will generally please the monster truck fanbase, but it is also a fairly limited game that isn't as deep as it might appear.

Purchasing this title is contingent upon whether or not you have any other Namco Museum entry for GameCube or Wii and if you absolutely need your classic Namco fix. All others, it's probably best to stay clear.

Sluggish controls, poorly designed weapons, lousy online functionality.

The mechanics are tried-and-true and the actual gameplay is pretty sound. Unfortunately, the game also hurts itself with long load times, the lack of co-op, fuzzy graphics, and a weird menu system, among other issues.

It's frustratingly hard but well-made; easy to pick up but quickly repetitive.

As modern games go, this one looks pretty bad, is short, and has very little beyond the core game.

The control and QA problems are unfortunate, really, because this is easily the best Spider-Man game in nearly every other respect.

Between the broken controls, the annoying protagonist and godawful soundtrack, Crime Scene is best left, to use police terms, in the dusty backroom of unsolved cases.

There is little reason to recommend Stop Stress: A Day of Fury, especially given its higher price-point. While the developer no doubt had the best intentions for a creative title that would allow gamers to let loose all their stress from the day, the game only seems to generate more, resulting in little more than an ironic title.

The controls are atrocious, a definitely no-no when they're also your big hook. However, the game is not without any redeeming qualities. It really all depends on how much players are willing to pay for a game that ends up being mediocre at best.

The finicky controls, the horrid announcer and uninspired presentation offer little incentive to warrant a purchase.

If parents love their kids, or if anyone loves themselves, they won't get this game.

Fighting game fans, whether into Kamen Rider or not, should bide their time and put their money towards Eighting's vastly superior offering Tatsunoko vs. Capcom.

All-in-all, rent it if cooking is a huge hobby. Everyone else can let this one cook.

Overall, Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks is a pretty forgettable experience.

As it is, this is an incredibly tough game to recommend, especially when the market is stuffed full of similar titles. Only serious zookeepers should apply.

The developer for Marvel Super Hero Squad is Blue Tongue Entertainment, who masterminded the superb Wii title de Blob. That pedigree makes the failure of Super Hero Squad all the more disappointing.

Astro Boy: The Video Game is not a bad game. It's also not a good game.

If you really want a good Astro Boy handheld experience, pick up Astro Boy: Omega Factor if you can. Otherwise, you would be better off looking elsewhere for a platforming experience on Nintendo DS.

If you want a good scare and the experience sounds interesting, rent the game for the first level only. After that ten minutes, take it back for a refund.

When all is said and done, Spore Hero Arena just fails to keep one's attention.

When it’s all said and done, The Price is Right is a classic example of a lost opportunity. Serious fans of the show will do better sticking to the real thing.

The game is unforgivably short, looks bad, the waggle controls hurt, and the game forces players to do too much melee.

Ultimately, it's that combination of small subject matter and small target audience that keeps this game from reaching its goals. I Love Beauty tries, but road trips with your daughter will be annoying as ever.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine only shines in one way. It’s a prime example of how careless publishers and developers can be with video game adaptations of summer blockbuster films.

While Six Flags Fun Park does have a good sense of humor, with various pop-culture gags and characters spouting absurdly funny lines, that's literally the only positive thing the game has going for it.

Tornado is a game that looks to mimic the appeal of Katamari Damacy but instead becomes increasingly annoying, quite monotonous, and not at all fun. Do not be fooled.

Even at $20, you would be better served browsing Amazon for any of a thousand better trivia books.

UFO should be applauded for offering a full retail release of The Monkey King, but we can’t recommend a purchase in good conscience, even if it were a five dollar download. The Monkey King is monkey crap.

Here's the bottom line: Toy Shop is an atrocious game well beyond any hope of redemption.