Promenade’s visual charm and unique take on the genre make it an immediately impactful title that's hard not to be drawn in by. Each world offers new challenges and the experience feels constantly fresh. It’s noticeable how some of the platforming can be a little stiff, making certain precise platforming challenges a little more frustrating than they should be. However, at the end of the day Promenade is an absolute gem that will appeal to any kind of platforming fan. Don’t let this one sneak past you.

Lords of Exile is a relatively fun, but not particularly noteworthy, NES-like. If you’re itching for some old-school Castlevania gameplay, you’ll probably find something to like here, but for the rest of you, there are more robust offerings out there.

Even if it won't win any style points for its visuals or sound, qomp2 is an enjoyable and light experience that boils video games down to their essence. Bouncing a ball off paddles, through corridors, and around danger makes for a two or three-hour runtime that doesn't overstay its welcome and manages to hold your attention throughout. There's a familiarity to the proceedings that's deceptively comfortable, and therein lies qomp2’s greatest trick: it feels like something you've played, but you haven't. And while I don't have a problem with going back to Pong for a few rounds, I was happy to invest significantly more time than that in this oddly-named psuedo-sequel.

Balatro is flat out a smart game. I don’t even like cards! Yet here I am theorycrafting new ways to play. Should I make a full house deck? That might seem risky, but if I use Tarot cards right… no no. Not now. It’s what I’m thinking about when I’m not playing Balatro. A 20-minute round before bed easily turns into, “holy crap, how is it 3AM?” This is even before finishing the game with different decks and daily challenges are turned on! In generation remix, hell, in generation make-everything-a-roguelike, this may be the best one of 2024. I’m eagerly awaiting the official release just so I can hear about my friends' epic runs. It’s just that good. Now, please, let me play my Balatro in peace. I got an idea for a sick flush strat that I want to try out. So I'll y'all later.

If you go in with the expectation of a loving homage to the Zelda CDi-games, Arzette and the Jewel of Faramore is exactly what you would expect. With its cheeky cutscenes, action-platforming gameplay and side-quests that see you exploring all nooks and crannies of the world, the culmination makes for a fun game to play over a weekend. While I don't expect it to have the lasting impact that its inspiration has had, I am optimistic that Dopply continues to be inspired by games that others have rejected. So, let's hope that Arzette 2 might take after Zelda’s Adventure. I'm definitely excited to see where this series can go.

Your enjoyment of this collection will depend entirely on why you’re playing it. If you want to play using the original graphics, with optional modernized controls, at a high resolution, and with widescreen support, this is essentially perfect. But if you’re looking for a remastered experience, Tomb Raider I-III is both an artistic mess, and a remarkable misunderstanding of some of the original visual game design. So come for the genre-defining original trilogy, but I wouldn’t recommend staying for their remastered incarnations.

Once I rolled credits on Bahnsen Knights, I hadn’t felt like I played a game as much as I participated in a very simple visual experience that wanted to be more than what it was. The mechanics here are all ideas that never pan out to anything substantial, which makes me think this actually was more of an experiment–trying out inconsequential mechanics before releasing something more cohesive. That’s the hope at least because as of right now, Bahnsen Knights is a game that speaks at you instead of to you. It’s got interesting ideas but nothing concrete….yet. I’ll be keeping an eye on LCB Game Studios and Chorus Worldwide Games because Pixel Pulps is something I would be interested in, if fleshed out more. This just ain't it.

I enjoyed Born of Bread despite how much its flaws became more glaring the more I played, and I think that’s the most incriminating and interesting thing about it. The story kept me hooked and the charm of the world made me want to see it through to the end even though my issues with it never got any better. There’s something special here, buried amongst a lot of redundancy. Dial back some of the mechanics and forced humor–trim the fat (or crusts)–and this would be a definite recommendation. As it stands now, though, maybe wait for a Thousand-Year Door-inspired sequel.

Even if you don't get into any of the bonus materials included in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy, there's still well over 60 hours of whodunnit goodness and crime scene evidence to sift through. If you already finished the Phoenix trilogy and have been eager for more, don’t hesitate to dive into the Apollo trilogy. For some, the petition to get the two Ace Attorney Investigations titles and the Phoenix Wright crossover with Professor Layton will now begin in earnest. For me, I’m still trying to find times in my everyday life where I can shout “OBJECTION!”

Turnip Boy Robs A Bank offers a lighthearted roguelite romp in the pursuit of Stinky’s riches, hidden within the bowels of the Botanical Bank. The gameplay loop is pretty fun, and finding new weapons to dispatch the security flora and fauna standing in the way of your heist manages to entertain, at least up until the final parts of the game. The performance on Switch also leaves something to be desired, with more detailed areas of the bank leading to noticeable frame drops. If you wanted a bit more action from your Turnip Boy escapades, this follow up might be the serving of veggies you’re craving. That said, it doesn’t quite do enough to rise to the upper echelons of roguelites already available on the eShop.

The Lost Crown is a title that I hope people remember at the end of the year when recalling the standout video games of 2024 because there’s no doubt this should be among them.

I’m not sure I would overall recommend the Switch version over the PC version of the game, but if portability is a big factor for you (an aspect this game lends itself to very well), then the Switch is a perfectly acceptable platform for stopping an old god from engulfing this sleepy Japanese town in madness.

If you want more from these games the DLC is a solid addition to Scarlet and Violet. But if you found Scarlet and Violet to be lackluster before, this DLC won't do much to change your mind. I have thought so many times: “let's hope that next time Game Freak learns from this for the next game in the series”. But by now they've shown again and again that is wishful thinking on our part. So we'll see where they take it from here. With all the winks and nods to Unova I'm holding my breath as they seem to be gearing up to remake my personal favorite titles. So here's to hoping they won't screw it up.

If you want more from these games the DLC is a solid addition to Scarlet and Violet. But if you found Scarlet and Violet to be lackluster before, this DLC won't do much to change your mind. I have thought so many times: “let's hope that next time Game Freak learns from this for the next game in the series”. But by now they've shown again and again that is wishful thinking on our part. So we'll see where they take it from here. With all the winks and nods to Unova I'm holding my breath as they seem to be gearing up to remake my personal favorite titles. So here's to hoping they won't screw it up.

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.

Superstars should’ve been the new standard to live up to Sonic’s Genesis run, which just makes it sad that the game fails to even match the standard that was set over twenty years ago.

While the general simplicity might hold back some, Super Mario RPG still excels at what it intends to do: wax nostalgia and provide a gentle RPG experience. It’s a gorgeous adventure with tons of personality and a combat system that is often imitated but never fully duplicated. Even with Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi succeeding this game, they truly don’t make them like this wacky, bizarre game anymore. The playful vibe fits so well with the slightly off-brand Mario world that makes this game, with the grimy Wario-like Booster, goofy Axem Rangers, and evil wedding cake, unforgettable. Your mileage may vary with how much the straightforward adventure and unique brand of basic RPG works for you, but I walked away from this remake feeling like Super Mario RPG is solidly one of my favorite games ever.

Most of us don’t have an elaborate story other than being a kid with a skateboard and a curb to learn tricks off of. Skater XL provides exactly that, zero frills, no plot, barely a tutorial, and unimpressive graphics. It’s more of a dream machine for those kids in empty parking lots, but it’s not really a video game. Would I recommend Skater XL to most folks? Probably not, just like I wouldn’t recommend my own mother to step on a skateboard. As a sandbox for skaters to hone their skills, however, it’s second to none, with some Switch concessions, of course.

Prison City is a fun game that nails the look and feel of 80’s action platformers. For fans of that era, this is a no-brainer. Now, for the sequel, I'm hoping for an Echo the Dolphin parody featuring that cybernetic cetacean.

I would’ve better enjoyed any one of these systems had they been more fully fleshed out. As well, the game is certainly visually impressive but lacks depth to its mechanics and character growth. I’m incredibly happy to see more cultural representation in games, but I wanted more from the story than what Thirsty Suitors was giving me. It’s an outlandish take on the Scott Pilgrim story but lacks the same kind of fun.

Even with my relatively minor issues, A Highland Song is a powerful game filled with a distinct mystique. The overall goal requires playing through it a few times, but with each playthrough, you have more peaks and paths accessible right from the get-go. This is a game that is about optimizing your way through the mountains but also grapples with the reality that that level of optimization isn’t feasible. That ethereal otherworldliness lingers throughout every engrossing hour, beckoning you to find the most efficient path to the lighthouse while also tying up every loose end. This is a beautiful, gorgeous game that shouldn’t be missed.

Though I have minor gripes, mostly concerning the early hours of my experience, such as some environments feeling basic or less enjoyable and the initial slower pace affecting combat, persisting through reveals the absolute gem that is Tevi. I had such a good time that I’m eager for a second playthrough, despite its lengthy runtime, taking dozens of hours to complete. After experiencing a metroidvania like Tevi, I wouldn’t rabbit any other way.

Once you make it underground, SteamWorld Build is a delight, but any time spent on the surface is filled with mild frustrations that slowly add up and leave me yearning for the mines. It should come as no surprise, I suppose, that SteamWorld is at its best when you’re digging.

The experience isn’t altogether bad, but it does leave something to be desired. The ideas don’t come together in a way that makes this title stand above the property it’s based on.

Arcadian Atlas makes a tactical misstep in terms of its soundtrack and overall performance on Switch. Even aside from its technical and artistic weaknesses, there isn’t an abundance of strength in its story pacing, even if a few beats do land fairly well. The activity you’ll spend most of your time with, the turn-based battles, are pretty good but feature little in the way of variety. If you’re a diehard tactics fan, Arcadian Atlas may be worth looking up on another platform if the performance is better there, but games like Triangle Strategy and Tactics Ogre Reborn are much stronger options if you’ve yet to play them.

Terror of Hemasaurus is a great “remember when?” kind of game. The way most good indies do, it takes that foundational experience of an underserved genre and tries to flesh out the experience to make it more substantive while retaining the good feelings from playing its inspiration. But with limited gameplay options and a game which can’t handle more than one person on screen, this’ll be relegated to the “fun if you like this kind of game” category.

Ultimately Super Crazy Rhythm Castle is a flawed but interesting game that is wildly creative yet doesn’t always live up to its ambitions or other Konami rhythm games. Still, this was a fun experience that I’m glad I was able to try. I’m hoping this game is only the first of more rhythm game experiments by Konami (or other developers!) because I’d love to see this Castle more polished or with a better tracklist.

Bluey the Videogame’s worst aspect is how short it is. What’s there is enjoyable for its audience, even if it’s over so quickly. It does a good enough job of capturing the look and feel of the animated series, and even after completing the four episodes, my kids keep going back to mess around in the world. There’s a framework here that could make for some electric little kid gaming experiences and I hope to see the world of Bluey in video game form expand beyond this opening salvo. Bluey the Videogame is the kind of game Bandit would roll his eyes about but begrudgingly play with Bluey and Bingo anyway, and that’s okay, because Bandit’s the kind of dad that recognizes not everything is meant for him.