Citizens Of Space offers a ton of worthwhile content for anyone in search of something light. Technical issues keep the adventure from matching its scenario's quality, but the excellent music plays on in my head. The last 9% of Earth still calls. The galaxy may be saved, but this ambassador ambasses on.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a welcome return to the exploration-heavy Castlevania games of the past. Visually, the art style is likely to be off-putting for some, but the gameplay is fun and varied throughout, and finding hidden passages and treasures never gets old.

Overall, this is a solid collection of classic action games that have enjoyable boss fights and provide a great challenge, but it doesn’t feel like a definitive compilation.

Graveyard Keeper is a strange beast, offering a truly unique spin on the management sim. It’s systems are robust and plentiful, but frankly many are downright confusing. The developers decided to do the player no favors, leaving much of the complexities a mystery without searching online. That is enough to scare some away, but if it isn’t a dealbreaker, there’s more than enough here to keep you busy for hours on end.

The Switch version plays great, but Capcom could have included more ways to customize the gameplay, visual, and audio settings. Street Fighter fans who have always wanted a way to play the game at any locale will love having the game on a super portable system like the Switch. As a single-player experience though, this version of Street Fighter leaves a lot to be desired and you might be better off downloading a NeoGeo fighter.

Furwind definitely hits some high notes, but also falls short in other regards. The platforming is solid and outside a few abilities that missed the mark, combat is satisfying. Level design and variety are wonderful, continuing to stay fresh throughout. However in contrast, the enemy design was a let down due to a small pool of enemies. Fun boss battles and the cutest protagonist ever do help to mitigate the shortcomings resulting in a brisk and enjoyable experience.

Wonder Boy: Monster Land is ultimately a weird deep cut for Sega Ages, but it is one I’m glad exists. I’d never seen the arcade version of this game, and I always ignored the console re-releases previously. That said, this is a very enjoyable old-school platformer that is charming enough to warrant some attention more than 30 years later.

This game had issues at launch, particularly it’s unbalanced combat system, but over a decade later these issues stand in stark relief. Ultimately, even if everything else were great, and the combat system worked exactly like they wanted, the game would still feel unfair. And in a 100+ hour JRPG, that constant grinding unfairness will poison any joy a game can create. There are times where I enjoy playing it, but always know a kick in the teeth is lurking around the corner.

We. the Revolution is a well-presented, fascinating look into one of France’s most significant historical chapters. The courtroom cases themselves could be a tad more interesting, but the game’s overall narrative is strong and engaging. We know the story of the French Revolution, but we can’t necessarily imagine what it was like living in those tumultuous times. We the Revolution is a fascinating look into the moral struggles of the era, where things weren’t as clear-cut as they seemed.

It’s a cute RPG that’s not super demanding and can easily be played while you watch TV or lie in bed. There are a few places where it’s not super clear what you’re supposed to do next (find all the Mysterious Grasses before visiting the fairgrounds, kids, and those Grasses are all in the Twin Mountains) but overall it’s pretty straightforward. And there's swimsuit DLC coming in July, so that's cool.

While the roughshod nature of the Switch port doesn’t quite make Crash Team Racing a dominant kart racer on the system, the solid single-player mode and finicky yet rewarding boosting and driving still adds up to an enjoyable time, as long as you’re fine with a visual downgrade and a long wait between races. I really enjoyed revisiting Crash Team Racing with Nitro-Fueled and it reminded me of how great the single-player component of this game is. I just wish there weren’t such large caveats that held it back on Switch.

American Fugitive hits most of the bullet points you look for in a functional open world game, but some glaring omissions, sparseness to the world, and a lack of developed characters keep it from being GTA in the boonies you might hope for. This far into the Switch life cycle, you can find better alternatives for your open world fix.

Super Mario Maker 2's newfound strength is hidden within the details, and that is what I really like about it. In its wake, it lost some of its Mario Paint roots, but Story Mode brings enough fun to overcome that sadness. Players and creators, rejoice.

Much of the enjoyment of what my friends and I affectionately call “Settlers” or “Sottlers” (don’t ask) is the social element of chatting, taunting, teasing, and laughing while gathered around a table. One potentially neat thing is that you earn experience points while playing, and by leveling up you can unlock new tile, game piece, and table themes, but earning some of these bonuses can take a lot longer than you are likely to want to play. Catan on Switch doesn’t have that, so unless you really enjoy playing board games against A.I. or have the patience to wait for potentially unsatisfying online competition, you are better off building the largest army or longest road somewhere else.

​The limited modes of play and lack of strategy necessary make Mowin’ & Throwin’ best suited to casual party-gamers who are looking for something fun in short bursts. Silly characters and colorful graphics along with a clever concept make it pretty entertaining. For anyone looking for a simple party game to add to their library, give this one a try!

The biggest issue with Wet Dreams Don’t Dry is its Mature rating as it has a sense of humor that would only appeal to the most basic of teenagers. If the concept of having sex isn’t the funniest thing to you, then you won’t find much to like here. Beyond its failing humor, all that is left is an uninspired adventure game that isn’t particularly fun to play since the puzzles are never interesting to figure out. Even a franchise like Leisure Suit Larry deserves better than this.

My Friend Pedro seems like the kind of game that either clicks with you or it doesn’t. If you’re a patient player who likes killstreaks, points, and stylish gameplay, you might like this a lot. If you’re like me and have less patience for a game that feels unintuitive for the first 20 levels out of 40, the final product might not click so easily.

Boxing Champs has promise, but a lack of depth makes it more fleeting than I hoped it would be. Still, the fusion of boxing and beat-’em-up is a strong concept if you’re hankering for a vaguely Punch-Out!!-inspired good time. Just don’t expect to be wowed by personality or variety.

Rock of Ages 2: Bigger & Boulder is a good game with a great sense of humor. A worthy sequel to ACE Team’s first Rock of Ages title, fans of its predecessor are sure to find Bigger & Boulder a worthy successor. Some of the stages overemphasize jumping, and the process for unlocking traps seems to give too much to the opponent. I wish I had more fun with the tower defense mode, but the fun the presentation provides helps smooth over these concerns. If you’re looking for a laugh on your Switch, you’re not going to find anything on Switch more willing to laugh at itself than Rock of Ages 2. In spite of some of my gameplay concerns, I recommend it.

At the end of the day, your enjoyment of Dandy Dungeon hinges on a few factors: Do you like cute, quirky, and simple RPGs? How do you feel about rogue-lite elements and grinding for items? The unique presentation and charm are definite positives, but the gameplay does become worn out given that you have almost no agency in the dungeons outside of drawing your hero’s path and activating a handful of limited-use items like fireball scrolls, healing potions, and stat buffs. Like Black Bird before it, Dandy Dungeon is certainly an oddity, but it has enough strong points to make it worth a look.

Hiragana Pixel Party's main issue is that it is just merely an okay rhythm game on the Switch eShop. Even as somebody who doesn't play a lot of rhythm games I have a hard time believing that there are not better games in the genre available for the Switch. If you're interested in learning Japanese, the game might be a solid investment but otherwise the repetitive nature makes it difficult to recommend to anyone who isn't both a fan of rhythm games and interested in learning Japanese.

Cadence of Hyrule successfully earns its place in the pantheon of Zelda adventures by carving a distinctive rhythmic path that brings new ideas to the series while also hitting the right nostalgic keys.

Verlet Swing is one of the most outlandish games I’ve played in a long time. The presentation is simply delightful in a weird drug-induced kind of way, and seeing what was in store for me next was something that helped push through the frustration that cropped up. The core grapple gameplay is fun, and the levels were generally designed well. However, it’s evident they were designed with mouse and keyboard in mind, especially towards the latter portion of the game.

Ultimately, Refunct is incredibly simple, severely brief, and painfully easy, but this is exactly how it bills itself on eShop. The description contains a bullet list of selling points like “Peaceful,” “Relaxing,” and “Seamless,” and it certainly delivers on these promises. The controls feel good, too, with the actual platforming being very forgiving, and there are little collectables you can pick up but to no real end. If you need something to take your mind off a stressful day or an impossible Dark Souls boss, or just as a break between 30-hour RPGs, Refunct might do the trick. Just don’t jump in expecting Mirror’s Edge or Portal.

With the growing library of roguelikes and card-based strategy games accumulating in the eShop, new entrants continuously need to find new ways to stand out from the crowd. Slay the Spire succeeds in this regard by foregoing a traditional story or narrative and allowing the player to become completely immersed in strategic thinking. It may not be the prettiest or flashiest roguelike out there, but it certainly has my attention.

If you aren’t interested in Kirito and Asuna’s budding romance or Yui playing the dual-roles of both game guide and in-game daughter, you aren’t likely to derive a lot of entertainment from Hollow Realization. There are better action-RPGs on Switch, such as the aforementioned Ys VIII, but certainly none that give the freedom of exploring and interacting your favourite SAO personalities.

Timespinner is a highly enjoyable Metroidvania that plays wonderfully on Switch. While it’d be even better if the time travelling theme felt more integral to the gameplay, the game gets so much else right, ranging from the exploration to the dynamite soundtrack. It’s highly reminiscent of its Castlevania inspirations, but through an engaging story and diverse abilities, Timespinner weaves its own path through the annals of Metroid-inspired video games.

While I’ve only played the Switch version, I have to imagine that the original PC release of Golem Gates would be a lot of fun. All of the actual game design is fantastic and very addictive. Unfortunately, this is another instance of a great RTS game not translating well to a traditional controller. Add to that the performance issues on Switch and the console release becomes an even harder sell. Were it not for a truly delightful core gameplay loop, Golem Gates would be an easy pass. As it is, there is a compelling experience to be found, but it’s buried deep.