I'm not mad at Shakedown: Hawaii, just disappointed. Vblank demonstrated a deep understanding of mechanics-based story cohesion in its last release, but that seems to be forgotten here. The disconnect between plot and play in Shakedown leave both shallow and underwhelming.

Ultimately, it serves as an unexpected but welcome send off to a game that sadly ended too soon. For the faithful, attach that giant plastic Arwing to your Joy-Con one last time, and head back into Atlas.

There’s no shortage of arcade shooters on the digital shelves of the eShop and because of that, it can be difficult to stand out among the masses. That said, Hell is Other Demons separates itself not only with stunning visuals, but with its wonderfully designed campaign mode. I prefer how upgrades work within the campaign more than the arcade mode, but the fast-paced arcade action is still a blast to play. My chief complaints have been addressed in a post launch patch, making this a strong experience front to back.

Mortal Kombat 11 is an incredible fighting game, and Shiver Entertainment’s work in porting the game to Switch is beyond impressive. I wish that I could’ve enjoyed playing it so much more, but the arduous grind for cosmetics permeates so strongly through the backbone of this game that picking it up to play at all can be frustrating. NetherRealm has promised a patch to make the grind easier, but all it seems to do is increase the rate you gain currency without removing the always-online restrictions. I hope that someday they relax a bit more and make Towers of Time more playable on the go, because right now I can’t recommend Mortal Kombat on Switch nearly as much as I want to.

Overall, I’d say I like World Mission as a fun game to pick up once in a while, watch DB characters beat each other up, and enjoy a Japanese arcade experience on the go. For longer play sessions, the game can sometimes dip into monotony, but as far as fanservice-powered Dragon Ball spin-offs go, you could do a lot worse.

An excellent triumph that takes the idea of a roguelite Zelda and turns it into something distinct and wonderful.

Overall, VA-11 HALL-A on the Switch is a marvelous port that works far better than I ever expected it to. The new controls may take some getting used to, but after a few minutes tinkering with them I found they came pretty naturally, and overall the game has kept the charm and likeability that drew me to it back in 2016. Gameplay may get a bit stale after long sessions of play, but for small relaxing wind-down sessions at the end of the night, you’ll find no better place to be than in Jill’s head during yet another shift at the bar.

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.

Homo Machina is a one trick pony, but one that has been tremendously cared for. The puzzles are fun, and the fact that the human body is controlled by little people is a neat touch.

While I did wish the controls were better, I did like the puzzles a whole lot.

As an experience, it did the trick somewhat convincingly, but don't expect anything majorly engaging during your playthrough.

Dig Dog is effective in how straightforward it is. You’re a dog. You dig. Go get those bones and survive. Part of me wishes the experience were smoother and more polished, but I also appreciate how raw Dig Dog feels.

GIGA WRECKER ALT. lacks the charm and fun of previous Game Freak titles. I found playing through it more of a slog than a fun way to spend a dozen hours.

A number of different modes, including a franchise campaign, challenges, and tournaments, provide a variety of play options, but ultimately the gameplay just isn’t all that compelling. As a silly multiplayer game that you’re looking to have some dumb fun with a group of friends, Super Blood Hockey succeeds. For a hockey experience worth sinking countless hours into, the wait continues.

Unless you are terribly nostalgic for the games in this package or a die-hard shoot-em’-up fan, I can’t fully recommend it when there are such better value propositions out there.

BoxBoy+BoxGirl is a successful and enjoyable puzzler with enough new additions in co-op and the rectangular box segments to feel fresh and new. While some aspects of BoxBoy’s design are well-worn and overdone in the fourth entry, the entire package is endearingly charming with its minimalist presentation and clever twists that make most retread portions mere bumps in the road that don’t detract from the overall fun.

Picross S3 is another solid entry in Jupiter’s long-lasting Nintendo-centric series. While the lack of touchscreen support is still disappointing, the puzzles are as good as ever and the addition of Color Picross is presented in a smart way that makes me wish more of the puzzles made use of the new hook. Maybe we’ll see that mode expanded on when Picross S4 inevitably hits in 2020.

Shadow Blade: Reload is not a terrible game by any means, but it doesn’t do anything to make it worth playing over others in the genre.

I loved my time with Pitfall Planet, but felt that the experience was a tad short as I neared the 100% completion mark after only 6 hours. The difficulty of levels climbed slowly but steadily over that time period and I felt a few more hours with the ever increasingly complex levels would have been nice. However, that shouldn’t detract from what is presented in the package as it is a tightly designed cooperative puzzler that can compete with the best in the genre.

This experience is not for me, and I suspect a lot of players will feel the same.

My time with SteamWorld Quest was thoroughly satisfying, and in between playing lengthy Final Fantasy ports, I was glad to have a more compact experience close at hand. Rather than running out of steam, Hand of Gilgamech plays its cards rather perfectly.

Arcade Archives VS. Ice Climber isn't a game for everyone, but I'm confident in saying it's the definitive version of Ice Climber. While it may not be a top tier title, I'm really happy Hamster and Nintendo are working together to bring these hard-to-find games to home consoles for the first time so it's easier for people interested in Nintendo history to experience. I've honestly never seen VS. Ice Climber in any arcade and probably for good reason. Still, it's nice to see how Nintendo went about improving the original game in different ways.

Before playing it on Switch, I always understood Dragon’s Dogma as one of the most underrated RPGs around. Having played it now, I really hope it doesn’t get overshadowed by the big RPGs, whether ports or original content, that are coming out around it. Dark Arisen has some of the most unique systems in modern RPGs, and great combat to go along with it. It’s a great adventure, and if they can improve the loads after the inns it’ll be essential.

Between Joker, Mementos, Stage Builder, and Shared Content, the 3.0.0 update is the most excited I’ve been about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate since launch. Tools to create and share user-crafted content are always my favorite features in any video game, and Joker is the perfect realization of both a beloved series and a unique and fun fighter. The Stage Builder alone could add hours of new experiences to Ultimate, and I’m incredibly excited to see what features and characters are still to come before all five new challengers have been released by February of next year.

Functionally, Silence works as a basic point and click adventure game, but I feel as though it shows growth beyond the well-trod genre expectations. A blend of traditional old-school mechanics mixed with advances in storytelling and gameplay variation allows Silence to stand above what I have seen served up over the last few years. Some lackluster audio and a missed opportunity with the bevy of characters detract slightly, but not overly so from this generally decent package.

Completing each of the 11 missions only took a few hours but my playtime increased dramatically trying to earn each of the different endings. In so many aspects I was left wanting more. I want to play more as the secondary character, I want to understand the story better, and in so many cases I just want to know what the hell is going on. Katana Zero is such a wild drug-crazed adventure that I just can’t get enough of and I will continue to be getting my fix of it for weeks to come.

As it stands now, it’s impossible for me to recommend Our World Is Ended. The older version of the game we’re getting is missing a lot of quality of life improvements. Little things in the text set off my editor senses. The plot quickly derails and is so overbearing with the focus on fanservice that I wanted to scream. Maybe PQube should try again with the Judgment 7 version next year, but I’m not holding my breath for it.

I find the game is best in short bursts. I think we’ve all played 3D brawlers that outclass Smashing the Battle in virtually every category. Having said that, I do find myself enjoying the game. It’s not perfect, but it has heart. Well, that and an impossibly voluptuous woman in ill-fitting battle armor.