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.