There are extra little features that make Mario Party 4 the best of the bunch, but nothing that makes it soar above the rest.

As a co-op game with single Joy-Con support, Shock Troopers is a winner. It may be simple and silly, but I’ll probably find myself breaking this game out on plane rides for years to come. Shock Troopers was totally worth creating a European Nintendo Account for.

The charming story and genuine humor are far overshadowed by the shallow gameplay.

Presentation aside, BurgerTime Party is a sharp reimagining of a classic arcade game. Overall, the original gameplay is focused into more guided and shorter puzzles, but through clever competitive multiplayer, enjoyable co-op, and high score challenges, this comes out the other end of the meat grinder as a solid revival of a series that has too often been served raw or overcooked. BurgerTime Party might not be a flawlessly grilled adventure, but it winds up being something around the ballpark of medium rare.

Electronic Arts has created a great soccer game, but for those who have already played a FIFA game for Wii, you probably won't find anything worth getting excited about.

Fight Crab embodies the feel of a B-movie in its execution. That’s both a blessing and a curse. Some of the time the game can feel clunky and repetitive, and it doesn’t give all its ideas time to breathe. But when the battles heat up, crabs come in (literally) guns blazing, and the game goes full on absurdist; there is nothing quite like it. If you are looking for a deep fighting game, I guess you might be able to find it here, since it does have a style all its own. Personally, however, I can’t wait to play this at parties in the future and have my friends duke it out as gigantic crustaceans. You might not play Fight Crab every day, but if you're looking for a unique and slightly odd multiplayer pick, I think you might have a blast with this one.

A solid GBA game trapped in a DS card. It’s got an issue or two, but it’s a pretty epic undertaking and still has a lot to recommend it. If you need a solid handheld title or don’t have enough consoles to be exceptionally busy this holiday, give it a shot.

There is enough micro-management (keeping your hotel clean, your guests happy, and your sanity intact) that when you get things accomplished you feel good about it, but the game never overwhelms you.

There’s no doubt that Cruis’n Blast is going to serve a relatively niche audience, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The sheer spectacle on display combined with vast opportunity for technical skill makes for an incredibly engaging arcade racing game that focuses on letting the player have pure, unfiltered fun. It’s a shame that there isn’t any form of online functionality to provide a little extra meaning to the experience, since that little extra motivation could’ve elevated Cruis’n Blast from a good game to a great game.

Steel Diver: Sub Wars is a great follow-up to game that had potential, but just wasn’t meaty enough to meet expectations. Sub Wars’ addition of multiplayer more than makes up for the past game’s brevity. When it works, it’s a blast to play; however, you may see more error messages than subs.

Playing Deadly Premonition is not unlike sitting down to watch a bad movie with a friend, and this might just be the perfect way to experience it. The Switch port seems to run quite well, and with an upcoming sequel confirmed alongside its release, now is the best time to jump in. I certainly can’t call it a good game, but I can definitely call it a fun game. If you enjoy a cheesy bad movie from time to time, Deadly Premonition is probably for you.

Even though it doesn’t bring much to the table in terms of innovation or surprise, Anuchard remains a solid and exceedingly colorful adventure that offers a fun, if fleeting, experience. The chapter-based structure lends itself well to the light and optional farm-building elements and the main narrative of bringing life back to the world and its inhabitants. If you’re looking for a fairly charming action RPG that’s more familiar than fresh, Anuchard might be just what the doctor ordered.

Modern Warfare 3 on Wii won't ever astound with its graphics or win over anyone already intent on playing it on another console. It is by no means the definitive version. Despite its various limitations, however, it is a solid approximation of the kind of content that continues to deliver year after year, even if the ride is getting a little predictable.

If EA had actually bothered to update the game in any significant way from last year, Madden 2004 could be amazing. As it stands, it’s mediocre gameplay wrapped in a very neat little package.

Time Recoil is the perfect follow up for anyone that enjoyed Neon Chrome. It takes the structure that made Neon so great, but replaces the RPG and roguelike elements with the time mechanics, creating a whole new experience. Time Recoil is my third experience with this line of games from 10Tons and although I do still enjoy Neon Chrome more, this one comes in at a close second.

It is these elements that kept me from enjoying Super Meat Boy 3D as much as I’d like. Yes, it is still a fun platformer. But it is also the modern embodiment of why ‘just make it 3D’ is still as challenging today as it was back on the Nintendo 64. At times, Super Meat Boy 3D gets to do its own thing and focus on what made that original game a modern classic. Great controls with tight level design that encourage the player to replay it over and over again to get the best time and find the collectibles. Yet, too many times I felt like the meat was left cooking too long. It’s bent into very specific ways to adhere to that original game, instead of standing on its own two meaty legs.

Thankfully, EarthNight wins the day with its enthralling style and art, packing in so many secrets inside its distinctive look. A few issues crop up, chiefly the narrower viewpoint during the fast levels and some long-tail grindy repetition, but the overwhelming killer vibe of this uniquely beautiful video game make it something special, even if dozens (hundreds?) of games have made use of the terms roguelite, procedural generation, and platformers since EarthNight was first revealed half a decade ago.

But the singular failure to execute multiplayer effectively means that the game's merits are not capitalised upon, and therefore it struggles to provide any lasting impact.

I’m glad I got the opportunity to play through Turok 3, though the game itself is something of a disappointment. All of the usual Nightdive options are available to tweak to your heart’s content, and they have done a wonderful job porting this oft-forgotten N64 game to modern systems. Shadow of Oblivion is, however, barely a Turok game, and the levels are much shorter and more directed than they were in Dinosaur Hunter or Seeds of Evil. You can probably breeze through the entire campaign–for one of the siblings, anyway–in a couple sessions. An interesting curio, but not a particularly memorable one.

A pretty likeable game. The presentation and gameplay are both simple and charming, and the budget price makes the shallow premise and minor faults completely forgivable.

Ultimately, this is a solid introduction to Monster Rancher (definitely better than the short-lived TV show). At the very least, it's an enjoyable look back at a series that never quite hit the big time. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I forgot to feed my Golem, and you don’t want to see what his tantrums look like.

It's involved, it's long, it's original, and it represents another milestone in console gaming history - the first time that anyone has truly made a PC-style adventure game work on a handheld.

Most titles are more suited to adults, such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream (which involves the mix-up of Athenian lovers), but more mature children looking for a great read may get some enjoyment of the title as well.

Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World is a unique spin-off that I quite enjoyed. Not everything works about the title, like the investigations and opening portions of the adventure. Particularly the latter could've been so much better by not throwing me into an unskippable tutorial. Once you get handed the reigns over the journey, it is a surprisingly fun town management game I couldn't stop playing.

Absolute Drift: Zen Edition is a cozy, tranquil game with a single mission: to provide the perfect experience to facilitate the player’s growth in skill. It succeeds flawlessly in this mission but could still use a bit more content for those who don’t want to dedicate themselves to becoming drift masters on the same few tracks.

In general, the visual style of each game is trippy and enthralling, and while the extremely awesome title song doesn't pop up that often, the music is still great.

Unfortunately, if you're outside the targeted demographic, the game will most likely make you feel old, or at least bored, or probably both.

Speaking of ill-thought, the controls are maddeningly unresponsive. If it were not for the glitch deaths, all of the frustration would come from repeating the level over and over due to deaths from buggy control response.

Endless is simply an endurance mode, take the between-level break out of Stages mode and this is what you're left with. Survival takes away the chance of surviving an impact, and Zones forces you to contend with a fuel gauge (in the place of shield pick-ups are those that add fuel). While these modes are different from one another, it all just feels the same. There is no feeling of progression in SpeedX 3D, if you can dodge obstacles in one event, you can and will in any other.

On one hand, this is the best version of the game aside from the visual downgrade. On the other, it’s essentially the same game that came out on Wii U in 2014.

The story is entertaining, the gameplay is satisfying, and the overall presentation is decent.

When everything is said and done, Jett Rocket is one of the best WiiWare, even if it does suffer from a couple of shortcomings. Those who get past the short length of the game will find a great adventure with plenty of variety.

Despite a couple of unusual tweaks, Legend of Kage 2 is an unabashedly conventional action game, the kind that we don't often see anymore. Fans of the original Ninja Gaiden titles will adore this less difficult throwback.

Need For Speed: Nitro is a perfectly average racing game on DS. You probably won't be blown away by it, but if you're looking for specific type of game to fill a gap in your DS library, you could pick a worse title than this.

One of the most compelling features of Excitebike: World Rally is the ability to head online and engage in multiplayer races with both friends and random players.

Art Academy: SketchPad is a fun little app, which is essential for Miiverse artists and something to toy around with for others. You must understand, however, that you won't be guided through the experience, so you won't get any help understanding what you need to do. If you can get past that, you will find a fantastic tool to make pictures on the Wii U GamePad.

It may be worth picking up if you never played the previous ones, but you will have to deal with the problems of an Inazuma Eleven game from a bygone era.

A 3D remake of a classic DS shooter.

In the end, Sumico is novel and intriguing, but far more serious than one would expect.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars is a decent game. While it is fun to plan your moves in the various puzzles, the game starts out way too slow and doesn't break any new ground.

If you’re a fan of games like Pac-Man, Dig Dug, and Mappy, I think you’ll find Digger Dan DX to be right up your alley.

When I first picked up Hammerwatch I was expecting it to scratch the Diablo itch, but it ended up scratching an itch I didn’t even realize I had. The wonderfully crafted campaigns present both fun and challenging tasks that can be tackled in a number of different ways depending on which of the seven classes you choose. It’s likely that the game will run thin before really messing around with all the classes, but the soon to launch online mode could help elevate that feeling. Even with a few blemishes with the music and a couple of crashes, the hook of exploration and monster slaying kept me crawling back for more.

Gunhouse is a smartly designed game with some of the best style I’ve seen in a game in a long time. A limited amount of content holds it back from being incredible, though. With its existence on mobile (and at a much lower price), it’s hard to specifically recommend the Switch version. No matter the platform, though, you should check out Gunhouse. It’s a brilliant take on the tower defense genre and the awesome music is still in my head.

While Stikbold is a worthwhile multiplayer experience, the cooperative adventure mode is what sets it apart from other multiplayer-focused titles. Players looking for a primarily single-player experience will be disappointed by the adventure’s short length. However, those seeking a compact experience and a go-to party game for groups of multiple skill levels will find Stikbold up to the task.

80’s Overdrive is a very pretty game with really good core mechanics and some really questionable and frankly unnecessary complications layered on top. The take home here is that I really liked it until I didn’t anymore. I still pop in from time to time, but this is not a game I’m particularly compelled to play long-term.

Agatha Knife is insanely intelligent and strives through its unique narrative. The art direction and music compliment the theme, making it a solid package overall. This brings well-deserved diversity to the point-and-click genre. The developers brought something very new to the table and proved the vast amount of potential in a game focused solely on a fun, weird story.

Ultimately, The Fall feels like you’re playing your way through a movie. Aside from a few control hiccups, it’s a playable movie in a genuinely good way.

There is a clear sense of passion here delivered through pure fun. The developers were successful in creating a new take on concepts originally conceived decades ago. This new shoot-‘em-up not only celebrates its predecessor but delivers a colorful, energetic experience that isn’t easy to put down.

Die for Valhalla! can be appreciated either as a surprisingly complex action RPG or just a fantastic casual beat em’ up. Whichever way you see it, Valhalla is a welcome addition to the Switch’s growing RPG library.

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Trilogy is fine for the most part. A sharp presentation and fun gameplay mechanics ensure that you keep playing for hours. That being said, the first game really shows its age way too much. The overworld structure and boring minigames really don't hold up anymore. Another problem is that the games don't do a good job of explaining you anything. If you are a Naruto fan, and can overlook these issues, you might find yourself happy enough.

While Super Volley Blast is a local multiplayer game to its core, it’s a nicely crafted one that also has enough of an attempt at a single-player story to be entertaining there as well. This is a good arcade sports experience and is very much worth checking out if you want some good Switch multiplayer escapades.

If you are looking for a simulation game to spend some time with on the Switch, Holy Potatoes! A Weapon Shop?! may do the trick. Just be warned: it’s painfully average, not bringing anything new to this genre, and super slow. I feel like this genre is better suited for PCs or even tablets rather than portable gaming systems because it feels too cluttered for the Switch’s screen and not comfortable on any television.

The Mooseman was a beautiful adventure that gave me an appreciation for a culture I had never been aware of before. The art and story told through The Mooseman kept me extremely engaged for my relatively short time with the game. Overall, The Mooseman is a game that offers a fun puzzle mechanic wrapped in a pleasing package.

If the plot was more compact, and delivered more compelling story beats, the slow battles would be more tolerable. If the battles presented unique challenges and were more expediently resolved then the story could afford to be less engaging. The fact of the matter is neither is compelling nor are they offensively poor. Despite logging dozens of hours, I don’t care about these characters nor do I feel like the battles have changed dramatically in a very long time. A fan of this genre would get some fun out of God Wars, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t, but the fun to tedium ratio is just far too low. Instead, take a look at better examples of the genre, such as the two Disgaea games already on Switch.

Joggernauts can be viewed a couple of different ways, with its best side being the party multiplayer. It’s deliriously silly in a way that matches Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime in tone and style. This is built for four friends messing around and trolling each other trying to progress through difficult platforming challenges together. It falters a little bit in longevity and as a solo experience, but those elements are more secondary to the raucous fun in multiplayer.

I had a lot of fun playing My Hero One’s Justice, but all of that fun came from the charm of seeing the characters I love on screen. I was already satisfied being able to take down opponents online with a Detroit Smash, but I probably would’ve been disappointed with it if I hadn’t spent my summer watching the the anime and eventually starting to catch up with the manga. My Hero One’s Justice is all about style over substance. If you aren’t already attached to the students of U.A., this game probably won’t be changing that any time soon.

The competitive aspect of Rival Megagun works really well, and shooter fans who are interested in the local competitive experience might find a lot to like about this game. The online leaderboards and collectable cards add some long-term play, too. However, the lack of players online, the random unlocks, and the pedestrian shoot-‘em-up stages leave a lot to be desired. Some may find good value here, but I can’t wholeheartedly recommend Rival Megagun to a general Switch audience.

The trial-and-error gameplay of Shred! 2 is solid, and there’s always a sense of achievement and hard work once a level is finally cleared. Seeing the camera pan out as a large jump is executed is also a really cool feeling. There’s plenty of levels to choose from and the customizable options give the experience a nice, personal touch. Moving with the controls never felt quite perfect, but doesn’t render the game unplayable. Shred! 2 is simply a pretty solid, fun game that has its moments once you look past its issues.

All in all, while I was honestly a tad skeptical by its initial concept, I found myself slowly falling in love with it and having a good time slowly going through each level and playing multiplayer with my friends. If you’re a fan of mindless arcade fun, I’d definitely recommend adding it to your library.

Skyhill is not the most impressive survival game I’ve played, but it still manages to have its charms. While the story and translation may be lackluster, the art is still charming and it manages to shove a large amount of replayability into such a small package. A successful run may take you no more than around two hours, but you’ll likely find yourself going back for another crack either with different perks or on a higher difficulty just to see how far down you can get.

Eagle Island is rife with outrageous promise, but despite its beautiful art and sound fundamental controls, everything else on the periphery falls short. This is an elegant trip that is overburdened by pratfalls and reiteration.

Ichidant-R comes as a gigantic bummer despite being a super neat and novel game that I never knew about before this release. The mini-games are enjoyable and the aesthetics are neat, but the fact that the Mega Drive options, including an RPG-lite mode and a multiplayer board game, are completely in Japanese renders those enticing options as non-starters. Unless you’re looking for a reason to try to learn some Japanese, this is hard to recommend, even if the basic arcade mode (that’s actually in English) is enjoyable.

I have some misgivings with Voxelgram. It comes at the Picross 3D throne and misses in some respects, but in a world where virtually none of this type of game exists, this is a precious gem. This game succeeds well enough to capture the majesty of Picross 3D on Nintendo Switch. While I’d love to see more charm and smoother controls, I’m just thrilled to be playing one of my favorite kinds of puzzles again, and with the prospect of procedurally generated puzzles, I’ll hopefully always have more to go back to when I feel the urge to chill out to a good puzzle. Even with just the 170 base puzzles though, Voxelgram is an enjoyable puzzle game.

Even with a handful of mild problems, Billion Road is a fun local multiplayer board game on Switch. The most notable potential drawback is that it is at its best when you have two-to-four players that are all down for some whimsical yet strategic tabletop nonsense. If you have a few friends at home or nearby to play Billion Road with, dive into the Japan-themed board game mayhem.

A Fold Apart is a unique experience in terms of what is on offer from a puzzle-solving aspect, with the paper-folding brain-twisters allowing for an enjoyable experience from top to bottom. Pair that with beautifully-crafted environments, vibrant colors, and a compelling story and you have a game that plays and looks great. If the performance was on point, this would have been one of the premier puzzle experiences in the first half of 2020. Still, A Fold Apart is one to pick up and play if you can look past the framerate issues.

It is overall hard to recommend Namco Museum Archives Volume 1 aside from checking out old Famicom and NES versions of games. The two major exceptions are Pac-Man Championship Edition and the previously Japan-only Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti. If you want to see a neat demake of a great Pac-Man game or a cool never-before-seen Namco platformer, by all means go dive into this collection. But aside from those two games, there isn't much here but NES and Famicom versions of arcade games.

Ancestors Legacy is a title I’d love to see a follow up of on Switch. It places the groundwork for a legitimately great RTS implementation on consoles while lacking in a few key areas. The removal of multiplayer certainly hurts it’s long term appeal but the variety of single player options help to make up for it. The controls are excellently adapted to a controller, and bring up relatively few issues in terms of unit control. I do wish the core design allowed for more diversity in terms of unit production and strategy, but that hasn’t kept me from having some great matches. While some of these issues are inherent to the game while others are exclusive to the Switch version, none of them kept me from enjoying my time with it. Ancestors Legacy isn’t perfect, but it just might be the best RTS experience on Switch.

Even though Minoria does little to distinguish itself from similar titles, it remains a fairly satisfying playthrough. Lasting 5-8 hours, its campaign tells a largely forgettable narrative, but the action segments are enjoyable and the boss fights quite thrilling. A lackluster leveling up system means you won’t ever really feel all that strong; maybe the issue is that even the most basic of enemies are incredibly dangerous at all times. Fortunately, retrying after death is decently quick, and checkpoints that save your progres and refill your incense charges aren’t uncommon. Even though it’s not a must-own title, Minoria is quite competent and will likely appeal to fans of the genre, in particular those who enjoyed its predecessor, Momodora.

Even though there may be a time when more people have better online access and cloud gaming becomes viable for Switch owners, such is not the case today. It doesn’t take a Sherlock Holmes, a Poirot, or a Phoenix Wright to see through the disgraceful disguise that is Hitman 3 - Cloud Version. Seek out the genuine Agent 47 article elsewhere.

It’s a laid back, short session skateboarding game with a great style. Unfortunately, it does feel like a mobile game with its simplistic gameplay loop, reused challenges, and few maps. Despite its limitations, I found myself returning over and over again to try to 3-star every challenge long after I maxed out my stats. That’s what Skate City brings to the table. A breezy, no-stress experience that’s addicting for 15-minute intervals. If you are looking for some low pressure coffee shop skateboarding, this is the game for you.

The running time is around five hours, and there are four different endings depending on how much you do in the final act. The game was already getting really frustrating with the clunky platforming by the third chapter, so it was really a massive slog at the end. By the time you reach the end there isn’t much of a reason to go back and try for the other endings since they aren’t that much different. There are some cool ideas here, but the execution never fully loads in.

As a game, Hindsight isn’t difficult to play or frustrating to figure out. Rather, it asks us to consider what questions we might ask our loved ones when they’re gone, perhaps nudging us to start that meaningful work now, while we still have time. If you’re looking for an experience that’s light on gameplay but heavy on the heartstrings, Hindsight is very much a sight to behold.

Thankfully, even when the going gets repetitive, the vibes of Paradise Marsh are off the charts. The tone-setting music from Disasterpeace (Fez, Hyper Light Drifter) is tremendous, and the chunky 3D world is stylish and wondrous. A handful of mysterious in-game achievements encourage further exploration of the world beyond catching the bugs. Your time in this paradise might be short, but it’s memorable and enjoyable.

Decarnation is a game with a lot of potential that it just doesn't realize. There are absolutely good points to the game, such as its fantastic sprite art for the environments around you or the grotesque monster designs you encounter throughout, and the plot is also at times very relatable to anybody else going through a similar downward spiral in life, but this is not enough to counteract the overly long minigames or the unfortunately lackluster puzzles. This is made a bit worse by the fact that the game hits the point where most stories of this type usually end, and then keeps going for upwards of an hour, doggedly refusing to roll credits in favor of a drawn out series of epilogue scenes. I really wanted to like Decarnation–it was near the top of my list in terms of most anticipated indie titles for the year–but sadly it just did not deliver the experience I had hoped. It is not what I would necessarily call a bad game, but it is one held back by its multiple missteps along the way.

Echo Generation is a fun, unique way to spend 8 or so hours, and I don’t regret my time with it at all. It’s a charming experience full of engaging gameplay and fun secrets to discover, and should a sequel ever come out I’ll be first in line to discover those secrets as well.

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is simultaneously a fairly mediocre Star Wars game, while also being one of Aspyr’s best efforts. It still isn’t perfect, but it is largely an improvement on the original release, which I cannot always say for their ports and remasters. The Switch version specifically gets nearly all the new graphical features while maintaining 60 frames-per-second. While you may have forgotten just how repetitive Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is over the last twenty years, this is a pretty solid way to play it, so long as you can put up with a slightly shorter version of Jango Fett than you’re used to.

Castaway offers a pleasant way to pass a few hours for those wanting a light Zelda experience or maybe for those who’ve never had one. Its roguelike mode is definitely a highlight if you’re looking for something a bit different, but it’s a good idea not to go into the game as a whole expecting more than a fun diversion. I’d love to see either a new setting for a sequel or new game modes added in the future as there’s a lot to like about the simple charm of this deserted island and its plucky hero.

I’d imagine a lot of people going to this with ‘90s or ‘00s Nick nostalgia in their eyes could leave a little disappointed due to the overall simplicity, but this is an action RPG for the younger sect. More specifically, it’s an action RPG for adults with said nostalgia (and maybe some love for Diablo-esque games) to play with their children. It’s a serviceable dungeon crawler with a lot of love for the Nicktoons involved that is super cute and playful.

Full Package should be retitled “Flawed Package” because there are a few issues here that are noticeable enough to hamper the experience. It’s prone to substantial bugs to the point where it freezes, and there’s just a dated feel to it, both in the humor and the visuals. However, while there are noticeable issues, the core sandbox gameplay is strong, and if there is one thing I can say about Saints Row: The Third, it’s definitely not boring.

It's so good, in fact, that even if you stripped away the DK license and made it, oh, I don't know, "Raven's That's SO Swinging", you'd still have a great game. Donkey Kong is just the icing on the cake. You want innovation, but still want a full game? It's right here.

Tengami is a game that you need to experience. The lush environments, interesting gameplay and the clever uses of the pop-up book world deserve recognition. It is a short game, no doubt about that, but that grin on my face never faded for a moment.

The multiplayer might not be the best, but the game is a fun third-person shooter throughout. If you enjoy portable shooters, Blood Stone is worth playing.

Darkestville Castle is a love letter to classic point and clicks in the purest sense possible. While it brings with it some of their flaws, it is absolutely dripping with charm. Some of the corners are a little rough when it comes to character design and world building, but the story had me brushing past these inconsistencies without a second thought, not to mention that the Switch port itself is excellently done. If you're craving something in the vein of Monkey Island on your Nintendo Switch, I can't think of anything better than Darkestville Castle. Just brace yourself for the occasional esoteric puzzle solution.

Red Sun Rising is one of the better WiiWare games released yet, assuming you can adjust to the game's awkward style of controls.

he best thing about the game is that it doesn't try to be Pokemon.

At first glance, it’s completely understandable to be entranced by the gorgeous environments and backgrounds of Greak: Memories of Azur. Don’t be lured unaware by its siren call! While there is a decent experience underneath, some inexplicable design decisions, the uninspired sidequests and serviceable story don’t buoy the adventure enough to make up for how badly implemented the game’s primary mechanic is. If you came away from the eShop demo impressed or you’re able to overlook a very obvious fatal flaw, you might be able to derive some pleasure out of Greak’s mission. Don’t expect to find me spending much time reminiscing about these memories.

It's a shame that No Place for Bravery crumbles under the weight of its ambition. Should the performance and technical issues be fixed, it would become something I could easily recommend. The music, story, and visuals are all wonderfully crafted, and it would be unfortunate if this version ended the final product. Fortunately, it does seem like patches are in the works, but it remains to be seen how much of the above issues are fixed by them. Ultimately, No Place for Bravery is a promising title that may be able to live up to its aspirations with a little more work under the hood.

As down as I am on the game, Sine Mora EX shines in its presentation. Each level has a unique theme and feels alive thanks to small touches like little men fishing or animals escaping as bullets fly. This carries over to the boss designs that range from a giant mech to an armed train. They’re a sight to behold and marginally more fun to play than the levels that house them. Sine Mora is a good-looking game and it’s clear that a lot of effort was put into making it that way. It’s just a shame that it’s not as fun to play as it is to watch in motion.

Glyph is perfect for a 15-minute pick up and play session or something you can struggle with for an hour. It's a rewarding experience when you have mastered its controls. Soaring through the sky to the exit like a golf ball in flight is a satisfying feeling. Its difficulty spikes can be dramatic, but if you're up for the challenge and craving some 3d platforming this one is worth a look.

SCHiM is an enjoyable light and dark-based platformer that manages to hit the spot due to smooth mechanics and a simple but charming presentation. There was basically never a moment where I didn’t find the game fun to play, and choosing to make my way through its story over the course of a week rather than all in one sitting alleviated the potential repetition of its gameplay. The aesthetic of SCHiM is fully complementary to the experience, and I find myself being unable to stop thinking about the game after rolling credits. In SCHiM we have another example of how less can definitely be more, a fitting title for the summer season and all of the shadows and shade we’re sure to be seeking out.

The biggest problems are found within the game's presentation, which looks dated and needed an update from its original release. Porting it to the Nintendo 3DS was almost pointless, but it’s saved by some clever uses of StreetPass, SpotPass and Local Play.

Despite its short-comings, Golf Adventure is a wonderful iteration of past Mario sports RPG modes, and it stands as a definite highlight within a mediocre golf bag of lie-filled scorecards and broken tees. Mario Golf: Super Rush takes years of practice at the driving range and blasts a tee shot into the air, only to see it curve far to the right and into an unsuspecting water hazard. It should have been a culmination of the home and handheld versions of Mario Golf, and instead it largely squanders that potential. Only time will tell if content drops for the game will bring it up to par. For now, you’ll have to play it as it lies.

The good does outshine the bad in Origins 2, just not enough to make it worth most people's while.

While it is impressive Taiko No Tatsujin Rhythmic Adventure Pack was made available to the Western market for the first time, it ultimately feels like a lackluster package that only a handful of people will get enjoyment out of. The story mode is too simple and repetitive to be worthwhile, while the Taiko mode’s minimal localization and lack of translations feel half baked, especially to those who don’t speak Japanese. While Rhythmic Adventure 2 is clearly the better game, neither one comes with a recommendation, especially on a system that is home to some fantastic RPGs and rhythm games.

The four levels can be completed in an hour or two, and there isn’t really any reason to come back once you’ve done so. Fortunately, the music is mostly pleasant and the jumping feels tight. More platforming variety, like special abilities, and incentives, like hidden or hard-to-reach collectables would have been a welcome addition, but as it is I would only recommend 140 to the genre-fan who has to play every single game out there.

If you look at the game’s Steam forums, you’ll see that Outbuddies DX is being updated continually (I suspect it was updated at least once since release), so I have some hope that it will, at some point, be a better game. Today, however, is not that day. If you’re itching for a Metroid-like, I did review an excellent one just recently. Without Outbuddies, I feel like the skeleton is there, but the meat needs some more time in the oven.

Those looking to play a Nintendo 64 classic on a modern system will have a great time with Star Wars Episode 1: Racer on Switch. However, those looking for any significant updates will be left wanting. This is a very straightforward port of a game from 1999. Motion controls are its most substantial update and they ultimately fail to impress. That being said, even the most bare bones port leaves us with an amazing racing game with gameplay that has excellently stood the test of time.

While it’s a great first step toward compelling use of the GamePad in a strategy title, the mechanics never really develop enough to fully realize it.