Buena Vista does a remarkable job in setting the difficulty level at a place in which older players like myself are not turned off, while still making sure the experience isn’t so hard as to alienate the younger demographic it outwardly targets.

The controls in the game take some getting used to, as they try and follow the basic platform layout, but at the same time try and do something a bit more Zelda-esque.

Though I can’t freely tell everyone to go out and buy A-Train, I think that any player looking for a steep challenge and elaborate system of controls and menus to learn will have a blast with this game.

Overall, Spelunker Party! is a solid time. It’s easy to pick up and play, which is good for a title that clearly wants multiple people joining in. The cheap deaths that the game subjects players to can be real momentum killers, but once you find yourself in a groove, it’s hard to not want to keep going from stage to stage. With over 100 stages to explore and no micro transactions to speak of, this is a much better value than its predecessor and helps make Spelunker Party! another worthy addition to Switch’s library.

Overall, I am very pleased to see the Pikmin series getting more attention and finding a larger audience. The slow and steady, steps-focused progression makes the game the app a great motivator for easy exercise. But Pikmin Bloom is best described as an app that gets you walking more, rather than a hit new game. It has plenty of thoughtful features that will likely have you checking in on it daily, but its various minor flaws leave me a little disappointed that the precious little Pikmin didn’t quite get the app that I think they deserve.

Casual RPGers may or may not latch onto this one, but longtime fans of the genre will should pick up Opoona without hesitation.

The game only loses points because of limited replayablility and a poor story.

Where most titles stress the importance in challenge in completing a level, Yoshi's Story emphasizes challenge in exploration--something rarely done in two-dimensional games. While Yoshi's Story isn't Yoshi's Island II, it is another shining example of simple, unadulterated entertainment in gaming.

Mazes Of Fate is more a love letter from its developers to the beloved PC adventure games of yore than an enjoyable experience.

Yoshi’s New Island suffers from a few issues, mainly the lackluster soundtrack and some new features feeling flat and shallow, but at its core this is a fun title that takes the classic platforming formula from the SNES game before it and brings it to 3DS. A pleasing art style, fun enemy encounters, and solid controls make Yoshi’s New Island a good, but not great, experience that’s worth your time overall.

All in all, this is probably the worst Dragon Ball game available, and there is no reason as to why this game wasn’t given the attention it deserved.

Regardless of whether or not the setlist is everybody’s cup of tea, Band Hero’s many additions and mechanical enhancements easily make it the most solid of the franchise’s handheld iterations.

In the end, Where the Wild Things Are delivers a far more passionate experience than one might expect. Griptonite Games went with a wholly original plot that is far darker and, in many respects, more compelling than the movie’s take, but the developer does so at some risk.

Great visuals and over-the-top hack-n-slash awesomeness.

The lack of depth is rather disconcerting when there are so many bigger games out there carrying the same price tag.

The fleshing out of the Dig Dug world in story mode was enjoyable, I only wish that the gameplay was a bit deeper, or at least more challenging.

With a little extra time and resources, I imagine Poi could be made into a tighter, and all around better experience. That being said, it still does suffer from a general lack of creativity. Despite having its own aesthetic and musical sensibilities, Poi’s structure and mechanics are simply so close to those of Mario 64 that it’s impossible to avoid making comparisons. Also, it feels somewhat unfair to Poi that if was released in such close proximity to Mario Odyssey. However, putting it all into perspective, we are left with a perfectly decent game. Poi does nothing to move its genre forward and even though its wanting for polish in many areas, its faults are small enough that they will likely prove little more than minor annoyances for those looking to kill some time after they complete Mario’s latest.

None of the problems seem too large or frustrating, but together, take away from the entertaining base experience. The arcade action, variety of characters and shooting aspect all work so well that it's disappointing to see the skill system not fully polished nor is online expanded upon further. That's why Mercenaries 3D is merely a good game, with the future prospects of becoming great on 3DS.

Ultimately, I found solving Ghost of the Dusk’s mysteries to be a tad rote by the end. Still, despite some slight repetition, the mechanics here are soundly implemented and I rather liked my time in Jake Hunter’s world. There are multiple extra cases (which were formerly mobile releases in Japan) available to play, including a hilarious bonus that depicts Jake in a chibi form, which should keep players busy for a good, long time. Don’t sleep on Ghost in the Dusk; it’s a pleasant addition to the 3DS library of games.

Onimusha Tactics wouldn't be that bad if there weren't so many strategy games already available to the GBA. But there are. And compared to the rest of the flock, Onimusha sucks.

Still, it's not so much that Spyborgs is bad -- just incredibly generic.

As a mini-game compilation, Go Vacation falls short of the standard set by Wii Sports Resort due to its middling selection of activities and its frustrating motion controls; as a sandbox game, however, it fares significantly better, offering up four expansive resorts to explore and a myriad of collectibles to find. While its extensive use of gesture commands nearly ruins the entire experience, there is still quite a bit of fun to be had with the title, particularly if you have a companion to share it with.

The online multiplayer especially is leaps and bounds better than that of the first game, a welcome change. Overall, Conduit 2 is one of the few decent hardcore games to come down the pipeline in awhile and it's worth a look, especially for those who like their sci-fi shooters.

The presentation could have been a little cleaner, especially with the colored box units that are present throughout entire battles, and the forced combination of touch screen and button control could be a stumbling block for some players.

Simple and colorful, perfect for that rugrat who just crawled from his Fisher-Price collection to his brother's N64--but he's the only one who'll really enjoy it.

The love and care that Next Level Games put into Federation Force is evident throughout.

While Time Hollow doesn't necessarily bring a ton of new ideas to the adventure genre, it does provide a satisfying, if somewhat short, experience for fans of investigative gameplay and time travel story lines.

It's just a shame that Tekken 3D Prime Edition is so lacking in features, both in terms of single player and multiplayer. For an entry from a heralded fighting series almost unheard of on Nintendo platforms (remember Tekken Advance?), this one seems to be half-hearted at best.