In true arcade fashion, the game is unforgiving: deplete your shields and your craft will blow up as a giant Game Over page appears. If you’ve saved up enough credits (quarters, anyone?) you can buy a new life, otherwise it’s all the way back to the first region. The only thing this game is seriously lacking is an online leaderboard so you can compare scores with your friends. Currently there is only the option to rank yourself against other users on the same Switch. Otherwise this is a gem of a game, perfect to play for a few minutes, but easy to play for longer as you try to get through as many levels as you possibly can.

Despite hearing great things, I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with Style Savvy: Styling Star the way that I did. I wasn’t prepared to get sucked into a fashion simulator, literally spending dozens and dozens of hours matching the colors of a bag to a customer’s dress. I certainly didn’t expect to find characters whose success I was even remotely interested in. It’s a fantastic boutique sim that is fun to play, even if you don’t know a thing about fashion. I certainly didn’t, but I’d be hard-pressed to show you a game I was more addicted to than this one over the last year.

For a one-man indie studio, ACORN Tactics is impressive. The amount of polish that went in and the lack of bugs that can often plague titles developed by small teams truly demands applause. The issue though is that a single person development team isn’t capable of matching the same quality of similar titles like Mario + Rabbids that are developed by a large team. Had ACORN come out prior to Ubisoft’s release, I think it would have been a nice preview to the tactical RPG genre on Switch, but trying to play it now just reminds me of how good Kingdom Battle was and that you would be better suited to investing your money into a big budget game that will provide better gameplay and much more replayability.

Like most kids, I grew up playing and absolutely adoring classic Zelda games. Blossom Tales successfully accomplishes it’s goal of recreating the tried and true simplistic gameplay found in the classic action/adventure genre, but also adds a bit of its own personality as well. By adapting new mechanics for a more fluid experience and combining that with the charming story-telling narrative, Castle Pixel has created an elegant love letter to one of Nintendo’s most cherished and beloved titles. So if you yearn for a polished Zelda experience, look no further - Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King is a beautiful homage.

Max: The Curse of Brotherhood is a very enjoyable puzzle platformer. The game often surprises you with the solutions to different puzzles and overall is a very rewarding experience. Those seeking out an interesting twist on the platforming genre will find a lot to love in Max’s latest adventure.

While Puzzle Box Maker isn't executed well in every way, it delights more than it disappoints. Sure, your creations may not always work for all modes, but the results are funny to witness nonetheless. The bigger problem is the Claw mode, and the random placement of certain objects. It loses some of the polish found in other places of this collection. Overall though, alone or with a friend, Puzzle Box Maker offers hours of content for those willing to jump in.

Romancing SaGa 2 has a certain old school charm that invites any old school RPG fan to give it a shot. I don’t think it’s as polished as Square Enix’s other titles that came out during this ’90s era, but it’s something worth investing in if you want a different take on the standard RPG formula. It’s not for everybody, but Romancing SaGa has enough good qualities to give it a go if you’ve never played it before.

With five difficulty levels and randomly generated ships, I can honestly recommend SteamWorld Heist to anyone. The world is rich, the combat is engaging and the portability of the Switch pairs perfectly with the short missions (even if the game is beautiful on a big TV). Plug in your headphones and play this game.

The Deer God is a tough sell, its visuals and music can’t help make this game any less frustrating. If you have a lot of time and more importantly a lot of patience maybe this game is good for you, but as it stands, I would stay clear.

Overall, it’s a game that feels explicitly made for fans of a very specific series in a very specific genre. If you don’t like Advance Wars, you almost certainly won’t like this. If you like Advance Wars and come into Tiny Metal with slightly measured expectations, you will find a good strategy RPG that borrows unashamedly yet reverently.

Bleed mostly does a good job of making the most out of its relatively simple design, with the time slowing mechanic resulting in a unique feel that sets it apart from other run and gun games. The checkpoints and upgrades, as well as variable difficulty settings, make it very accessible in a way you don’t always see in this genre. Bleed is yet another compelling indie experience on the Switch eShop.

Slain: Back from Hell is not a game that everyone will enjoy. It’s difficult and requires a lot of patience to see it through to the end. It’s also not a very long game. My first playthrough clocked in at around seven hours, though better players could certainly finish it more quickly. There’s also nothing new to do once you’ve slain Vroll. But if you have a thing for the difficult platformers of yore, Slain: Back from Hell is a satisfying blend of what made those games great.

For a smaller title, Kid Tripp is actually quite enjoyable. The game isn't exactly a thrill ride, but it is an enjoyable venture. The 20 levels are challenging and can be played on a whim, making them highly replayable. Kid Tripp looks nice as well. It doesn't stand out, but the grassy plains do their trick well enough. Above all, the title just feels nice to toy around with. It is why I will go back and better my runs a couple times down the line!

While the short length is somewhat disappointing, Gorogoa is still a breathtaking experience. The gorgeous art and engaging puzzles fuse together for something otherworldly. I don’t know if I’ll revisit Gorogoa, except to maybe show friends, but the focused, impressive design will stick with me for a long time.

While Brawlout won’t become a staple of my local multiplayer hangouts, it’s a fun game that apes the Smash Bros. experience as well as any other competitor has. Being the best Smash Bros. clone might not add up to much, but Brawlout is very much that. It’s unfortunately bogged down by a dearth of single-player material and ultimately, this game is doomed by the fact that it stakes so much in online play that doesn’t run well. If the online was workable, Brawlout would be much better. As it stands, it’s not, and this is a highly flawed experience.

Poly Bridge takes an interesting gameplay concept and pairs it with a simply charming presentation. With all the building blocks in place, it seems like we’d have a great physics based puzzle game that allows freedom and creativity on our hands. However a rushed port with horrendous controls and a game altering bug turn this into an utterly frustrating experience on the Switch. It’s almost impossible to recommend in its current state, but with promised patches coming, all hope might not be lost. Keep your eyes out for our thoughts on future patches/updates as they release.​

Lumo succeeds as a new entry into a genre that had been lost in time. It delivers an experience that feels retro while including the option for modern gaming conveniences to take a genre that would likely be unapproachable for newcomers to a worthwhile experience for anyone who is willing to try something challenging and new.

While there certainly will be a market of people that will enjoy Yodanji I think that selection of people will be fairly narrow. In a year that has seen dozen of roguelikes becoming increasingly popular, one from a text based era may have some issues finding a following. For me personally, although I have enjoyed many of the recently released permadeath titles, the prospect of the collection of yokai just wasn’t enough to overlook the minimalist gameplay and 80s inspired graphic design.

At the end of the day, The Next Penelope isn't a racing game. It is an adventure game that happens to use racing as one of its core mechanics. There are many little things that you need to keep in mind to nail down a challenge. Strategy is the magical word here, and you shouldn't forget when the game throws you yet another curve. The journey is over before you know, which is a slight shame, as I was hoping for it skew a bit longer. Of course, it comes down to what a game does with its running time. In that respect, I couldn't be happier.

Overall One More Dungeon is an interesting take on how to make a roguelike dungeon crawler that has a look and feel all its own. I appreciate what it is trying to do, and some aspects of the design were unexpected. Unfortunately as a whole there are also elements that feel unrefined and not necessarily complete. With a patch or two I think it could still have room for improvement but as it is I’d say it is likely an acquired taste, even for roguelike fans.

No deep experience hides in Mom Hid My Game, but it’s an absolutely joyous romp. This is absurdist video game comedy and that’s awesome and unique.

Overall Monster Jam: Crush It is a hot mess of a game that is coming to eShop in a state that’s simply baffling. While on paper the license mixed with the various modes sounds like a lot of fun, the execution of not just the graphics but the overall gameplay makes it feel more like a game from a previous generation and I’m not only talking about the previous one. It’s really hard not to believe that this has been slapped together and is being sent out to market to simply ride on the assumption that Monster Truck fans, and more likely their parents, will buy it on sight. That’s a shame and especially when you throw the $40 asking price onto the package Crush It is a disappointment.

In the end, L.A. Noire holds up. It’s a little odd to play as an open world game because of it’s strong focus on story, but the immersion is unreal. Every aspect of my detective work felt like a genuine adventure in a world I could never be a part of. There’s plenty of content here to be played, and I strongly recommend giving L.A. Noire some time, even if you’re not a shooting, car chase thrill seeker. The focus are the cases themselves, and that’s awesome.

Enter The Gungeon is about as good as it gets for scratching that roguelike itch. The dungeon-craw- excuse me, gungeon-crawling mixed with twin-stick shooting has proven in the past to be a solid gameplay setup, and here mixed in with the smooth dodge-roll mechanic plus the great amount of customizable guns makes every run-through fun and exciting. The colorful and idiosyncratic style of the sprites and animation are absolutely delightful, and almost make you root for the cute little bullets shuffling around trying to kill you. The game runs great both docked and in handheld mode, the latter being what makes the Switch the amazing console it is. Obviously, if challenging games aren’t your thing you may want to think twice before purchasing, but if you are in market for an excellent roguelike, look no further and Enter The Gungeon.

When Yooka-Laylee was originally announced as a Kickstarter project by former Rare developers, it gave fans of the 3D platformer hope that a nearly dead genre could return to its former glory. It’s unfortunate, then, that Yooka-Laylee is no more than a mediocre attempt to capture nostalgia from the days of yore. In a year that has given us some truly innovative and special 3D platformers that pushed the genre to new heights, I can only really recommend pushing through Yooka-Laylee’s pedestrian campaign to the most enthusiastic of old Rare’s fans.

When all is said and done, Phantom Breaker Battlegrounds Overdrive is an okay game. One that, if you have a few minutes to spare, you can easily crank out a level or two, but not one of those games that will bring you back that often. Beautiful art, animation and music can’t seem to pump up the repetitive nature of the whole package.

I’m pleased to say that Letter Quest Remastered does a pretty fine job of carving out a place for itself in the lineup of Switch gamers looking for something more casual. If you like to get out your thesaurus and flex your vocabulary while having to contend with the obstacles your enemies love to throw in your path, it does a fine job. What helps distinguish it is the level of strategy you’ll be able to employ while doing so.

All in all, I really enjoyed my playthrough of Serial Cleaner. The stealth gameplay combined with the puzzling environment worked together well by both keeping my attention and baffling my brain. The whole 70s aesthetic and music are fantastic and complement the small story set aside from the main missions. While the controls can feel inconsistent at times, the experience as a whole was very enjoyable. Sure, it’s fun to bring on the onslaught - but who knew it would be so much fun to clean up after.