All in all, I feel that while Ultra Space Battle Brawl may seem strange and absurd at first, it is an enjoyable experience that you wouldn’t want to miss out on.

Bad North is, broadly speaking, a hard game to recommend even if I came out the other side enjoying it. The style and thoughtful minimalist reworking of the real-time strategy game is exemplary, but the unrelenting back half of the roguelike adventure can sour a good time. I can wholeheartedly recommend Bad North if you fall into either of these camps: someone who’s into a novel RTS twist on the good old-fashioned hard-as-hell roguelike or someone who can chill out to a brutal yet serene RTS that has some rough edges.

The exploration will satisfy the adventure crowd, the asset management of finding ingredients and developing better meals will please the RPG fans. It will melt time away as you push to complete just one more day, but values your time because there really aren’t very many wasted moments. It’s a complete package that is hand tailored to be consumed as intended by the developers, and they’ve delivered a refreshing experience.

It’s just too long and player engagement is so minimal. I don’t like games that pretend to be games but are really just movies. State of Mind would make a great mini-series or book, but it’s not a great video game.

Blackjack is a timeless classic, but when it comes to its virtual representation, it generally doesn’t offer enough to keep things interesting with nothing on the line. I thought Super Blackjack Battle II Turbo Edition - The Card Warriors had the potential to spice things up to add longevity, but sadly it failed to do so. With poor AI and no online play, the only truly redeeming factor are the visuals and superb soundtrack. However that just isn’t enough to keep your attention for more than a few hands.

Overall, while this game has a unique charm and an interesting world, the gameplay failed to make it a fond experience. For big fans of the genre, this might be worth picking up for a few hours’ entertainment, but it’s definitely not for everyone.

Kero Blaster is lighter fare, but the well-thought-out weapon balancing and fine-tuned platforming make it an amusing little journey. If you crave more gameplay and challenge, harder modes await, but even if you were to just play through the short initial story, Kero Blaster is still a game worth checking out.

Pato Box has a neat idea: take your boxer out of the ring and into the corporate world. It tells a story fittingly silly for a boxer with a duck’s head. However, the lack of checkpointing and overly long exploration segments are a one-two punch of frustration. Some floors of Deathflock HQ seem impenetrable and while the boss fights are the star of the show, even they aren’t without problems. The concept isn’t beyond saving, and it’s still possible to have a good time, but too often Pato Box just left me incredibly frustrated.

Even if you don’t have a fondness for Amiga like I do, it is a wonderful contemporary take on a classic puzzle platformer with a visual flair, well-thought-out puzzles, and a cheeky personality. Attention to detail was paid in making Road to Ballhalla, and elevates it from good to great.

If Iro Hero was updated to create a better balance, I would definitely want to play it again. The game has a lot of potential. There are great bosses with different fighting styles, the graphics are fun and non-distracting from the gameplay, and the music and sound effects all add to the overall action. However, throwing endless enemies and obstacles at a player all in the name of creating a difficult game does not inherently produce a rewarding challenge. Unfortunately this title sorely missed that mark.

Based off the name alone, Guns, Gore and Cannoli 2 will likely garner an initial response that is ultimately undeserving. It implies complete silliness, and while the story most certainly is, albeit in a good manner, the gameplay proves to be fun and engaging. Running-and-gunning through the campaign was a blast and with co-op as an option, it gives more reason to revisit the relatively short campaign. Online matchmaking can be a bit of a hassle, but when it works, it works well. However, I thoroughly enjoyed what is offered as a single player experience.

Treadnauts has a lot to like about it, but the narrow focus on local multiplayer makes it a bit of a one-trick pony. On one hand, sitting down with three others to play is a blast, but on the other, it wears thin by yourself and doesn’t offer anything other than a harder-skewing time-trial target shooting mode. Get this one for your next party, but maybe don’t get it when you’re home alone.

The Mooseman was a beautiful adventure that gave me an appreciation for a culture I had never been aware of before. The art and story told through The Mooseman kept me extremely engaged for my relatively short time with the game. Overall, The Mooseman is a game that offers a fun puzzle mechanic wrapped in a pleasing package.

Too many stages rely on the two basic victory conditions, and I would have liked to see more boss stages or more complicated objectives. Regardless, CastleStorm is engaging not just for those who enjoy tower-defense games; there is enough fun, customization, and challenge for all Switch owners. Your princess might not be in this castle, but it’s worth taking a look around anyway.

There’s fun to be had from the mechanics of a Diablo game set in a Greek mythology universe with its gods and monsters rather than exploring the depths of hell. It’s clear though that its inspiration is also where its limitations lie, and they painted over cracks in the foundation that are showing through. And like Clash of the Titans, Titan Quest has a story, setting, and characters that end up being completely forgettable. That said, it fills a gap in the genre offerings on Switch, and if you’re looking for something to scratch that itch until something more recent gets announced, it’ll fit the bill.

The number of good pure party games on the Switch is short, so it’s great to have another title that encourages participation and results in chaotic race-against-the-clock fun.

Squids Odyssey has a lot of great content available to play from the get-go, and it’s a really fun summer title to keep coming back to in the midst of all the other heavy hitters.

Essentially most of the experience ends up feeling like a grindfest, and how much grinding you have to go through depends on how much money you care to spend. If that wasn’t enough, the developer tracks and stores your gameplay data, IP address and any interactions you have with customer support. Don’t think that playing offline is a clever way of avoiding big brother, you can’t get past the title screen without an internet connection so portable for most is not an option.

While BlobCat on Switch does capture the essence of Chu Chu Rocket’s cat-and-mouse gameplay, it doesn't do quite enough to replace the original in my heart. It’s worth grabbing for on the go, but I’ll be here hoping the original pops up again.

You might be able to derive some enjoyment from this game, but it requires overlooking absolutely essential elements gone awry, making Hello Neighbor very difficult to recommend. If you don’t mind solving abstract puzzles and throwing everything (including the kitchen sink) at your objectives all while constantly avoiding a particularly annoying antagonist, then you might give this game a try.

At first glance SubaraCity appears to be a somewhat generic iOS puzzler ported to the Switch, but after just a few rounds its apparent that’s not the case. A relaxed and casual take on the classic block-matching genre, there’s a level of charm I found to be enduring with its simplistic nature and easy to grasp gameplay. There is a level of strategy needed, as just one or two wrong moves can sink an otherwise promising run. Unfortunately though, with just the single game mode there’s a good chance the legs fall out from underneath it sooner rather than later.

Minit might not last that long, but it is a memorable experience that cuts out fluff and just delivers clever puzzles and concepts. You might not spend a lot of time with it, but playing through it once is as insightful a meditation on 2D Zelda-style gameplay as any game multiple times its length.

In spite of a few, mostly minor, dated problems, the raw beauty of the world made me happy to be revisiting this game.

Ultimately the experience feel flat for me as I tried to trudge through the non-stop references to the most obvious and overused aspects of the ‘80s. Yes, I enjoyed ET and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as a kid, but I’ve become numb to the overuse of catchphrases and plots that are continuously rehashed over and over. I’m at the point now where you either need to use these references sparingly as a complement to an original idea, or really dive deep into ‘80s culture that many probably wish would be forgotten. Unfortunately for Crossing Souls, neither of these ring true.

Iconoclasts is one of the biggest surprises of the year. Despite occasionally suffering through the story sequences, I found that I couldn’t stop playing (it’s about 10 hours long). I can’t recommend the game highly enough--go play it.

After a few short tries to get a handle on the combat and learning to traverse the dungeon, I began consistently making multi-level runs. The unfortunate part, is that those runs really weren’t increasing in enjoyment the further I ventured. With the ever increasing amount of roguelite titles to choose from, I think I would rather just play one with better combat and a better crafted dungeon.

The humor is top notch like usual, but the game is such a refined product. The puzzles are clean and easy to grasp, there is some solid replay value, and every character you possess does something unique. The only disappointing thing is that it feels cheap to rely on the game’s helpful tools. Personally I felt that I lost a little something in the process by doing so. In the end though, it all depends on the experience players find most desirable. All what matters is this though: Flipping Death is an adventure game everyone can enjoy.

New players to the series will enjoy this on its own and since online is now available, this opens up multiplayer play to just about everyone whether you have friends next to you or not. Whichever way you play, this is a fun and frantic experience that everyone deserves to enjoy.