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.

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.

I remember reading about Darius first in early 90s game magazines, and thought I’d have to make do with the console versions. Playing the arcade versions actually made me even more excited to try the console games in the other collection that came out. There’s some frustration to be found in this collection, but overall it’s another quality batch of shooters for Switch owners.

Working Zombies is to Diner Dash as Scribblenauts: Showdown is to Scribblenauts. A mini-game collection that feels like a shadow of the greater whole, where the enjoyable and addictive gameplay is outdone by a lack of content and variety. The multiplayer emphasis could be a good or bad thing depending on your household, but the fact that difficulty doesn’t change based on player count means you’ll either struggle alone or have an incredibly easy time with friends.

Nostalgia is a powerful drug and can obscure some of the problems that remakes like Rehydrated have. But I feel confident in saying that Battle for Bikini Bottom still retains a fun core gameplay loop that has stood the test of time.

Super Soccer Blast is a top-shelf multiplayer sports game on Switch thanks to the great controls, smart design, and ease of play. The single-player content might be a little lacking, but overall, this is a well-crafted sports game. Honestly, it’s not a surprise given Unfinished Pixel’s track record with the fundamentally sound Super Volley Blast and Super Tennis Blast. I look forward to their next entry in their Super Sports Blast series that hopefully tackles hockey or American football.

Overall, I very much enjoyed Railway Empire, as can be told by my shoulders being sore from being hunched over my Switch while my wife watched the 10th hour of Millionaire Matchmaker. This definitely scratched an itch for me and will be my go to Railroad Tycoon-ish game from now on. I love that it is now on the Switch since I can now bring it on long flights. I would 100% recommend this to all trains fans and anyone who likes this breed of intense economic sim. A few hiccups minorly hinder it at times, but once you learn your way around the tracks, Railway Empire is a very sound game.

Huntdown should be lauded for how a clear vision was deliberately and consistently executed on throughout. The gameplay alone is rewarding, but its marriage and devotion to the tone of a grungy, anarchic city and a vision of the future that feels ripped from the ‘80s both feels retro in its sensibilities and contemporary with the incoming swell of cyberpunk-inspired titles. Huntdown had the foresight to get-in on that trend early with the understanding of how to make a gratifying shooter, making it one of the more complete feeling indie titles to date on the Switch.

Summer in Mara has the workings of a breathtaking and chill farming adventure that feels like it should be perfect for the summer, especially now. Instead thanks to everything from fetch quest repetition to a muddled interface, it’s more of a wistful addition to the Switch library. The pleasant vibe of Koa’s undiscovered world can’t carry the whole game despite the best of intentions. If tweaks and improvements can clean up some of the menus, Summer in Mara could be better, but I worry even that won’t make the repetition more enjoyable.

Bioshock: The Collection is an excellent way to experience some of the finest first-person shooters of the last 15 years. Admittedly, it’s hard to ignore the fact that this compilation is regularly available at a deep discount on other platforms, but if the Switch is your only option, you really aren’t sacrificing much in the way of graphics and performance. For those who may have only experienced the initial release of these three titles, the added DLC and visual improvements make a return trip to Rapture and Columbia worth the price of admission.

Overall House Flipper is a great game to kill time with, and also the perfect game if you find that you need to be able to shut your brain off and just do something for a little while. It’s not perfect and it is definitely not for everybody, especially if you’re actually in the market for something more exciting, but those who enjoy sitting down to slam out a mundane task should strongly consider this game on Switch. While some of the decisions they made in terms of controls were a bit strange to me, I eventually got used to them and found myself enjoying the process just as much as I did on PC. So get in there and paint those rooms the ugliest colors you can find, and put down a chair for good measure, House Flipper is the place to be if you’re just looking to relax.

Compelling presentation and mission variety are vital for a winning turn-based strategy title, and Warborn struggles with these elements. While it manages to nail the basics of combat, movement, and deployment, it struggles to hold your attention over its 40 plus missions. Adding to the replay value are a map editor, an AI Skirmish mode, and even online multiplayer, so there is a sizeable amount of content on offer here. Ultimately, the experience feels rote and played out; even though there is some fun to be had, it doesn’t last long enough to make the whole campaign worth fighting through. Fans of the genre should consider picking this one up, but it’s true what they say: Warborn never changes.

Turmoil is a satisfying experience, much like getting your house cleaned up feels good at the end of the day. Being able to discover all of the oil, drill for it, and then sell it feels great, but unless you’re good with basically doing just that for a while, the tedious loop and lack of interesting upgrades will keep you from feeling like this was anything but an okay experience, even if you’re really into management sims.

Evan’s Remains tells a story about life and death that doesn’t quite hit the mark. The monolith puzzles are enjoyable, but the narrative surrounding them doesn’t serve as a worthwhile reward for their completion. If you’re looking for a light puzzle-platformer with mostly attractive pixel art, Evan’s Remains might be worth considering. If you want a more thrilling or satisfying narrative experience, keep searching.

There are better games out there, folks. I appreciate Liberated’s attempt to blend comic storytelling with action sequences, but hopefully somebody will take this baton and do it better.

51 Worldwide Games really came as a surprise. With 51 games to choose from, I wasn't lacking in choice. More than half of the games I kept playing almost every day, with others being picked up ever so often. Naturally, there could've been more 3- or 4-player offerings for you to play, but that doesn't diminish the fun we had. What helps is that the games are well represented, offer small tweaks and offer crucial information for newcomers. In a multiplayer setting, be it locally or far away, this game is one of the better offerings on Nintendo Switch to date. This is where many will get the most mileage out of this new Clubhouse entry.

If you’re gearing up for some hardcore precision platforming with a relentless streak, Skelattack is good for that, even more so thanks to its cute presentation and great soundtrack. It offers no quarter, however, and if you’re committed to anything less than a minimal death trip through this adventure, a bad time is likely on your horizon. For as good as the controls can feel, the only real lifeline is frequent checkpoints, but that doesn’t make the frustrating design and punishment much better. I wish Skelattack reminded me more of the great things of its Konami progenitors or its modern inspirations. Instead, this game just makes me want to go pick up a Castlevania or dig up Super Meat Boy again.

The question of whether I would recommend you getting the Borderlands: Legendary Collection is a simple one. If you haven’t played the Borderlands games before and don’t own another system that can play them, these ports are an amazing and great way to play the games. If you have played the Borderlands games before, this collection does a great job of presenting the games you’ve loved and adds the benefit of handheld play and all previously released DLC. But be aware that for the visual and performance aspects you will not get the same experience as on other consoles or PC. Still I commend 2K and Turn Me Up for giving the Borderlands series a great treatment on the Nintendo Switch.

XCOM 2 is a wonderful strategy game, but the Switch version makes it frustrating to play what can already be a pretty stressful campaign in the best of circumstances. It felt like I was spending more time waiting for the game to load or process than I was actually playing, and eventually I just ended up with a strong urge to redownload it on Steam and play it there instead. Since XCOM 2 is entirely turn-based, the poor performance doesn’t really have an effect on the gameplay, so if you can put up with it then the game is still just as good as it ever was. I couldn’t really put up with it, though, so sadly this is one Switch port that really drags down an otherwise excellent game.

There are a lot of good points about The Outer Worlds: it’s got a very interesting setting, and the characters and companions you can pick up along the way are fun and well written. If you liked Fallout, you would likely enjoy this game, but once again I don’t think this is the place to play it. Even if your biggest factor would be the idea of being able to play it portably, sadly nearly every technical problem listed above is exacerbated a great deal in handheld mode, with the added issue of the game becoming a blurry mess on top of all of it. For some, the world of Halcyon will be a welcome place to visit, but unless you are super attached to the idea of a portable Fallout game, it is likely better to look to one of the other platforms for which this game is available.

Atomicrops is more bullet hell than farming sim, but the unique creation is something that is extremely satisfying to look at and play through. Difficulty from a less than awesome health system mixed with the brutal roguelite mechanics makes for an experience that gets frustrating as it regularly takes you out of the fun and forces a restart. Even with that and the slight performance issues, Atomicrops is still a real good time.

I feel that Streets of Rage 4 shares a lot in common with Sonic Mania. Both game’s were led by development teams who had the challenge of continuing classic and beloved series. I’m happy to say that the dev teams creating Streets of Rage 4 have completely succeeded in making a new 2D entry in the series much like the Sonic Mania dev teams did. The utmost respect for the source material is clear throughout Streets of Rage 4 and I’m thrilled that we have this great new brawler in 2020.

Despite Cannibal Cuisine finding a way to differentiate itself from Overcooked, it’s not nearly as polished or enjoyable as the latter. That said, it provides some of the same multiplayer mayhem, and is definitely better when experienced with friends. The online functionality is seamless and easy to use, and it’s one of the best implementations I’ve seen on Switch. However, the same can’t be said for the controls, and the glitches that pop up go from funny quirks to annoying obstacles after a couple stages. Unfortunately, the design of the stages does no favors for the game’s controls either, and so you’re likely to spend a fair amount of time waiting to respawn or waiting for your teammates to slowly wind their way around obstacles. Cannibal Cuisine is worth a pick up if you’re looking for more Overcooked but with a twist. Just be prepared to pick a few human hairs out of this soup.

It is hard to call Myst anything other than a masterpiece, and this modernized version is no exception. The worlds of Myst continued to be developed for years after the original's release, and while its sequels developed on the incredibly rich lore and plot, for my money none of them ever quite recaptured the feeling of the original. While the Switch version has some minor performance issues, they’re more than made up for by portability and the option to play with touch controls in classic mode. If you’ve never played Myst, or if you grew up with the original, take this excuse to journey back to the ages of Myst and get lost all over again.

At its core, Journey to the Savage Planet is an incredible game that only misses a couple quality of life issues that make navigation a little more frustrating than it should be. That being said, the rest of its excellent design blows right past that oversight. The Switch version in particular brings with it its own unique issues, but once again the design outshines these issues. While I can’t say the Switch is the ideal way to play this game, it is worth playing in whatever form you can.

At the end of the day, Bug Fables is wearing its inspirations proudly on it’s sleeve, and still adding on its own experiences that are both meaningful and fun for players. I had a blast with this game, and I highly recommend it to all kinds of players, whether they be looking to dive into a fun story with lovable characters, trying a more tangible, interactive combat-focused game, or just attempting a challenge. Bug Fables does not pull its punches, especially in it’s hard mode, but it gives such bountiful rewards, that I am simply left having to return the favor.

SEGA AGES Thunder Force AC isn’t a must-own shooter, but it’s a solid one that fans of the genre will really enjoy. The final boss is a bit of a letdown, but the leaderboards and unlockable ships add decent replay value. The accessibility options are robust, too, as we’ve come to expect from these classic SEGA re-releases. Although Thunder Force IV, which released as Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar is the better game, its predecessor still manages to bring a healthy dose of shoot-’em-up goodness.

At the end of the day, Golf With Your Friends is a fantastic package that is extremely accessible with its large breadth of customization options for both local and online play. It has a lot of content to experience, and while I can’t say I will spend much time with it by myself, I know that it has now become a staple game to pull out at any gathering.