Parkasaurus satiated my dinosaur tycoon demands. For me, a dabbler in the management game arts, I found an enjoyable park designer where I had to balance finances and set up the coolest Jurassic Park-looking place I could muster. For my 4-year-old, he had a sandbox where he could screw around and set up whatever dream-like dinosaur scenarios he wanted to. We were able to do all this with a charming-as-heck visual aesthetic and a complex but workable user interface. Life finds a way.

Overall, Nintendo Switch Sports is an enjoyable return to the classic Wii Sports style that is incredibly fun to play both online and off, even if it does leave a little bit to be desired.

Despite its problems, Blast Brigade is fun if you don’t mind beating your head against the wall at times. While its linear nature doesn’t always do a good job of scratching the Metroidvania itch, what’s there is a solid action game with fantastic boss battles.

This is a wild and weird game that is a welcome addition to the Switch library. There is nothing else out there quite like Bugsnax and while the Switch version is not the best performing version, folks with only the Nintendo console or a desire for portable play shouldn’t have too much to complain about if they decide to journey to Snaktooth Island.

Revita offers a very solid roguelike experience, with a tough but interesting risk-reward system as its hook. The early moments of the game are fraught with uncertainty as very little is explained directly to you, but through trial and error you can gradually figure out how to extend runs and upgrade Memoria Station. Developing the hub area adds to the goals you can accomplish and the loot you can find in each dungeon. That said, there isn't much in the way of permanent stat growth outside of consumable metro tickets you can activate before a run, so it'll take patience, skill, and perseverance to make it all the way through the clocktower, and then again at higher difficulty levels. To make that goal more approachable, though, you can adjust the setting to reduce enemy damage or slow down time. Nonetheless, it will take many hours and many deaths to find every hidden secret and discover all that these darkened subway stops have to offer.

Playing Zombie Army 4 was a really great experience. The campaign stayed fresh from beginning to end with a fantastic climax. The additional levels from the included DLC are just as gripping as well. It’s a great game that you can play solo or with friends, and it does a great job combining horror and action. If the online ends up working as well as the offline does when the game releases, you will lose loads of hours in this world. With all of the customization that you can do for multiple characters, weapons, and abilities with much more paid DLC to come, it’s easy to imagine sinking tons of hours and bullets into this never-ending zombie war.

The Force Unleashed is a heavily flawed though still enjoyable experience from an era where Star Wars was trying to find its next identity. It tells an interesting story, even if its ultimate effect on Anakin’s perceived story arc means it's better left outside of modern canon. While its gameplay is linear, and repetitive, I can’t argue with the satisfaction of pulling down a section of the environment and using it to take out a whole group of stormtroopers at once. It by no means weaves its story into the greater universe with the expertise of something like Shadows of the Empire, but it almost certainly served as a gateway into better things like Jedi Fallen Order. As for this particular version, Krome Studios and Aspyr deserve immense praise for their efforts to preserve this oft-forgotten version. Outside of the missing bonus levels from the PSP version, this is the definitive version of this release. This is by no means a masterpiece, but it is an excellent version of a fairly good game.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with it, but like any game like this, it gets old before too long.

With how barren the world of licensed baseball games have been on Nintendo systems, even if MLB The Show was a middling port with a token amount of modes, it would have been an oasis in the desert. Luckily, MLB The Show 22 on Switch is so much more than that. It has all of the modes of the 4K versions, including the wonderful March to October, Road to the Show, and Diamond Dynasty offerings. While the online and visual aspects falter at times, the good far outweighs the bad here, as MLB The Show 22 is one of the best sports games of its kind and the Switch version is an excellent way to play it portably and an acceptable way to play it on a television. Here’s hoping The Show is a perennial All-Star on Switch because I could get used to having an assortment of killer baseball games on Nintendo systems again.

Being an avid fan of Drinkbox Studios previous games, I can gladly say Nobody Saves the World is another successful addition to their catalog. It brings creative class-based gameplay with a hauntingly fun animated art style that runs like a dream on the Nintendo Switch. Despite the repetitive nature of Nobody Saves the World, the lows never outweigh the highs of completing quests, upgrading abilities, and mixing and matching new class combinations. The map size and story length aren’t overly large, so even if it wears out its welcome a bit, it isn’t as egregious as it could have been. Leveling up and crushing waves of enemies never stopped feeling good, even after this Nobody had rolled credits.

Overall, Chinatown Detective Agency is for sure one of the most unique and interesting adventure games I have played in a very long time, with its focus on using your own personal resources to bring yourself to a solution, providing a sense of satisfaction I don’t often find from mysteries. It is a game that is completely unafraid of letting you make mistakes and wasting your time and money, and this ties flawlessly into its well thought out setting and very memorable characters who will regard Amira with the results of your effort. The pixel art that makes up environments is gorgeous and expressive, with the nighttime streets of Singapore being my personal favorite to just spend time looking at. While it is disappointing how common the minor UI and audio bugs are, this is nothing that can’t be fixed with a few patches and does not take away from what is a mystery-solving experience that fans of this genre absolutely should not miss.

Toodee and Topdee delivers on the promise of its brilliant concept. It can be a little hard to wrap your mind around, but once you start thinking in 2D/top-down hybrid design, the puzzles are a delight and if you get stumped, you can make use of the assist options. This is a remarkable puzzle platformer on Switch that stands out from the crowd.

Gotta Protectors: Cart of Darkness is a delightfully unique twist on old-school retro brawlers that does enough to keep repetitive gameplay fresh enough, especially if you have friends to play with locally or online. It has a ton of content and a wild number of endearing collectables that should supply you (and hopefully your friends) with enough retro love letter magic to carry you right back in time to the 1980s and 1990s styles it evokes so wonderfully.

I first played 13 Sentinels on PS5 after the Switch version was announced because I feared that the Switch would be the inferior way to play it, and my time with this port has left me feeling like I made the wrong decision. 13 Sentinels fits on Switch so well that it feels like it was made for handheld systems—which, in fairness, it kind of was. A Vita version was originally planned before the game was delayed so much that the idea of releasing a new game on Sony’s dying handheld was laughable. Because of that, this version feels like 13 Sentinels is finally where it was meant to be all along. This game is wild and weird in all the best ways, and there has never been a better time to play it than right now.

Should you be into ‘80s arcade games and retro curios, TAITO Milestones is going to have some appeal. The gameplay on offer here hasn’t aged particularly well, but it’s always enjoyable to be able to compare contemporary video games to those that came before, just to see how far we’ve come. Even in the six years between the earliest release and the latest of these 10 games, you can see a massive difference in quality and performance. While the lack of extra features and presentation is a tough pill to swallow, the online leaderboards for each title add excellent replay value to games that are all about chasing high scores. Going into these offerings and not expecting stone-cold classics is sure to be a refreshing and educational experience, and you might even find a few old-school arcade titles to keep on rotation.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is far better than I could have imagined. Its ruined yet beautiful world carries a tone of wonder and amazement throughout the entire game, and HAL Laboratory undoubtedly stuck the landing while transitioning the series’ gameplay into 3D. Though I am disappointed in the small number of copy abilities, the game’s issues are mere bumps in the road compared to its many triumphs. It is the only game I can think of to make me cry from the sheer joy of how cute and heartwarming it can be, and it is in my opinion the best game Kirby’s name has ever been on.

This is a game that understands on a seemingly effortless level what makes the genre work. It is able to build on those concepts while still staying entirely true to that core experience. Simultaneously, it offers an incredible package in terms of visuals and sound. I have some minor complaints about the camera in conjunction with the movement system, and some very select boss design issues, but overall it's hard not to absolutely love Astrodogs. Even with a couple blemishes this is easily one of the best games of this type currently available on Switch.

Happy’s Humble Burger Farm is an incredibly unique experience, taking place in a really well thought out world that has had a frankly absurd amount of work put into the lore of its fictional fast-food mascots. For those looking to have a fun horror experience with a bit of a more humorous slant, this is definitely a title you should be giving your time. However, I cannot fully recommend the Switch being the platform for you to do so. The somewhat clumsy adaptation of the controls, especially in menus, has the unfortunate effect of saddling some of the game’s more fun aspects underneath some extra frustration not present in the PC version of the game. If you absolutely have no other choice, there’s still a fun game to be found here, but it is a weaker version than the original.

THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD: Remake is precisely that, a remake of one of the most iconic and best rail-shooters of all time. In terms of core gameplay and story, there isn’t much; however, the touch-ups are all that was needed for a perfect refresh. To add to this, the gyro controls are surprisingly great and the best way to play. Grab yourself a joy-con and a willing partner, and shoot your way through bullet-hell in THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD.

Let’s Play Oink Games is an incredible value for money. Each game in this collection is very well designed. While not each one is great for every situation, especially with local play for titles like Startups and Mr. Face, every game is completely different from the other. And heck, the game will be supported with free updates over time that add even more games to this collection. I’m hoping that titles like Nine Tiles Panic, Insider, Hey Yo, Modern Arts, and Troika will be added eventually. Oink Games makes some of the most fun board games you can buy and by having them this accessible, I’m certain I’m going to be playing them for years to come.

I went into this review with a little bit of trepidation. I adored Chrono Cross the previous times I’ve played it, but it’s been a good decade or so since I last did so. I was just as riveted playing the game on Switch now as I was years ago, enjoying building a different party and exploring the world in a different way. The speed-up and toggles for enemy encounters and battle boosts were welcome in this playthrough, mostly because I could toy with elements and characters more than I did in the past. While Radical Dreamers isn’t much more than an alternate history curiosity, the fact it is actually localized and legitimately available outside of Nintendo’s long inactive downloadable Satellaview network is incredible. Chrono Cross is a wonderful game - hands down my favorite PlayStation RPG - and the Radical Dreamers Edition is the best and friendliest way to play it.

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga was ultimately a nostalgic yet surprisingly fresh experience that for the most part holds up well on Switch. The films covered in previous games feature entirely new takes, while certainly throwing in some references to those classic titles. My personal experience, unfortunately, was marred with a significant progress blocking bug. In the isolation of this pre-launch period it is impossible for me to know how widespread this issue will be. Hopefully, it will be patched in the near future, especially if it’s not exclusive to one platform. All I can say for now is that while I thoroughly enjoyed Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, I do have to recommend a little caution.

Poor resolution and performance make moving through the world an annoyance. And unfortunately that’s the entire gameplay loop. Even just catching a glimpse of an enemy can be hard from far away given the resolution, and effectively navigating the halls of the shrine to escape is much more difficult at twenty frames per second. So while I could forgive some of the more repetitive encounters and lackluster voice acting, everything compounds into a very unimpressive showing. This isn’t necessarily a bad game, but I’d strongly suggest playing it elsewhere if possible.

Unfortunately, Nun Massacre also adheres to some conventions of the survival horror genre that were perhaps better left in the past, such as a limited three-item inventory and excessive backtracking. I found the backtracking in the middle of the game especially egregious, finding myself running in circles taking items from one visually similar part of the multi-level school to another. During this stretch the encounters with The Nun became less terrifying, and honestly, more annoying than anything, which had an adverse effect on the tension and mood of the experience. That said, it’s an experience seeing through (after a couple of hours of trial and error, a playthough will take roughly 30 minutes). There are multiple endings that recontextualize the story and leave quite a bit to the player’s interpretation. One way or another, Nun Massacre will leave an impression.

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.

Crystar is an excellent story wedged between way too much repetitive and meaningless combat inside gorgeous yet long-winded dungeons. The non-stop button mashing fights add no value or depth to the story except for the simple reason to progress. Unfortunately, what initially started with a shocking plot and opening unfolded quickly into a tedious gaming experience.

While I'm not intimately familiar with the first game, Andro Dunos II is an enjoyable shmup with a novel but intuitive weapon system. The lack of online leaderboards is unfortunate, but the core gameplay and the interesting ways in which the stages scroll and enemies weave in and out, often appearing in the background first as a warning, makes for a satisfying way to spend a few hours. With a tough boss rush, three difficulty options, and a couple other secrets to unlock, it's fairly easy to recommend this one to those who enjoy a good side-scrolling shooter, with yours truly sitting firmly in that camp. It may not be revolutionary, but Andro Dunos II plays well enough and seems a worthy successor to its original iteration.

When designing a farm-sim there is a line between quiet cozy routine and abject tedium. Rune Factory 5 lands squarely in the latter. The occasionally enjoyable combat cannot make up for the unreliable farming controls, repetitive music, poor performance, ugly visuals, and lifeless world. One or two of these shortcomings could have been forgiven if Rigbarth was a world worth soaking in, but it's simply not. The mountain of issues amounts to Rune Factory 5 being lesser than the sum of its faults and one of the year’s biggest disappointments so far.