Road 96 brings an original approach to adventure games by putting its experience on the road and structured along episodes and vignettes as the characters attempt to flee the rule of an authoritarian despot. The game features an array of interesting characters and a marvelous art style, but it's also harmed by unsolved issues, as well as by development choices. The game's structure makes it vulnerable to an inescapable feeling of repetitiveness, which coupled with some inconsequential player decisions ends up preventing Road 96 from living up to its potential, despite an innovative take on the adventure genre.

Urban Trial Tricky is simple...simple and fun, and it's good at what it does. While the game doesn't harbour AAA ambitions, this is without a doubt a very fun way to pass some time and to enjoy the kicks and adrenaline rushes given by performing stunts on a bike. The experience would be better if the levels felt a little less claustrophobic but as a quick, fun experience, Urban Trial Tricky is a welcome addition to the Nintendo Switch catalogue.

LUNA The Shadow Dust looks much better than it plays. The game looks gorgeous, with its hand-drawn like style and its colouring but the gameplay experience doesn't live up to the same threshold set by the visual environment. Its puzzles are accessible enough to most players and the game doesn't push too hard but what's presented here could perhaps fit better in a visual novel rather than a point and click adventure, especially when its control system is far from perfect.

Days of Doom puts us amid a post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested world that ticks the required boxes when it comes to delivering a roguelite, tactical RPG experience. Its gameplay is simple and accessible, and the visual art style is stunning, featuring gorgeous designs and illustrations, but the game ends up becoming too repetitive for those less versed on roguelite experiences, and the amount of combat rounds that end up feeling nearly identical can turn this gameplay component into a chore.

The difficulty curve is accessible enough to let everyone in and the game doesn't impose anything too harsh on an unsuspecting audience. At the same time, Bob Help Them is too simple for its own good. There are many puzzle games available on the Nintendo Switch with more ambitious challenges and audiovisual production, which makes it difficult for Bob Help Them to stand out for players beyond the core target of puzzle fans.

Super Mario 3D All-Stars is a commemorative edition and one that's mostly about nostalgia. This means that players looking for a reinvention of the three classics included herewith will not find what they're looking for, as the contents on this release consist of something as close to the originals as possible, with only a few tweaks added. This will satisfy those looking for a strictly nostalgic experience, but it will also highlight how Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine did not age perfectly. Beyond that, it's difficult to understand why there's a one-year time limit on the availability of this release, or why there's so little additional content for an anniversary edition other than the three games' soundtracks. In any case, those looking for a revival experience will be well served.

Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical is not, as its name would suggest, an RPG but rather a visual novel where music is the main theme. Once that settles in, Stray Gods does a good job at appealing to fans of visual novels and at doing its own idiosyncratic portrait of Greek mythology in modern-day settings, with a gorgeous visual outlook and fun musical moments. The game's scope is rather limited in its options, though, and those who are not keen on visual novels will soon find themselves with little to do. For a music-themed game, Stray Gods also displays some inconsistency in the singing performances.

The main game mechanic, with emphasis on combat and management rather than on plot, is definitely a point in its favour, as is its wide and varied game world. Where Battle Brothers falls short of expectations lies mostly on how the game was adapted, namely its control system, which is difficult to get used to on the Switch. Its difficulty level also feels unbalanced at moments, and its player interface feels like it doesn't fit with the game. Players able to look beyond these shortcomings will find a great tactical RPG challenge, but others will feel put off by those elements where Battle Brothers fails to deliver a consistent experience.

Darius Cozmic Collection Console is the other half of the Darius Arcade collection for the Nintendo Switch and it follows the same principle. Unfortunately it cannot make the same boasts, mostly because there's too many relevant games lacking from this collection and its heavier price tag means this effort represents less value for money than its arcade-based counterpart. This is not to say that the reproduction work in this release is not stunning because it certainly is, but what is being proposed here ends up feeling more like a shortcoming than a proper compilation of Darius console games.

Given the short number of similar games, it's always good to see the Nintendo Switch catalogue accepting more proposals of less represented endeavours. In the case of Nexomon: Extinction, it features a laudable amount and variety of creatures, appealing art style, and it's fairly simple to get into. At the same time, it's far from a groundbreaking game, though competent, and it feels like it follows its main inspirations a little too close. That said, it's a welcome arrival for those looking for more creatures to capture and collect.

Short, simple, though with varying degrees of challenge, original, and with a decent presentation and introduction in its common areas, Short Games Collection #1 is a bit too expensive for its ambition, given that there are several high quality compilations available in the same price range.

With a minimalist art style and a perfectly accessible formula, Bamerang could definitely benefit from an online multiplayer component and some more solo play options, especially given the times we're in. Nonetheless, for a simple party game with local multiplayer, Bamerang is great fun, even if too short given the simplicity of its formula.

DC Super Hero Girls: Teen Power is a fun, simple, and accessible animation-licensed game that will without a doubt appeal to its target-audience. While veteran players will more likely be put off by the game's simplicity, fans of the animated series will find a good representation of the source material, an intuitive gameplay, and a very fun - if not very challenging - combat system.

Summer Catchers resembles an endless runner, except this one is based on a soapbox car. Its concept is as simple as possible, and the game's pleasant pixel art style is a charm to look at. Where Summer Catchers doesn't succeed is in delivering an experience that rewards players for their skills, as nearly every success here is a matter of sheer luck, and the random tracks aren't always adequate for the gameplay on offer.

There are several good ideas put to work here, including a wide cast of characters and a simple but functional combat system. At the same time, Pathway's ideas don't quite live up to their potential, and while the game is indeed a competent effort, it loses appeal rather quickly and won't captivate many players to pick it up again once finished.

Over The Alps is a game with a lovely looking presentation and a concept that's original and interesting. If those two elements raise the game's threshold, it's also not any less true that the plot development and the way the gameplay flows is hardly passionate or exciting. For a game based on espionage, the plot choices are strangely inconsequential and this makes players feel like their actions have little impact on what's happening, which ends up standing as an impediment to the ambitions of Over The Alps.

Gothic II: Complete Classic brings us an opportunity to experience a landmark action RPG using today's means. While some of its elements need improvement, namely a graphic performance which suffers from occasional frame rate losses, and a control system that feels less natural on a console than the original game's did, this version of Gothic II stands out when it comes to its exploration, the way we approach our tasks, and multiple interactions which will keep players looking under every nook and cranny for a long time.

This new incarnation brings an updated audiovisual field and an adventure mode with RPG elements, as well as online multiplayer and two very welcome new game modes, known as Speed Golf and Battle Golf. Nevertheless, this latest effort feels more like an update than a new game - longtime fans of the series won't find too much to discover here, and the game's adventure mode feels too drab and empty. There are also online performance flaws that need to be corrected.

The Red Lantern is a survival game that gets some things right...and some things wrong. This is a game where players can marvel at the beauty of the Alaskan landscape, portrayed with stunning detail, and the characters' animation is executed with a great degree of authenticity. At the same time, the gameplay experience is constricting as the player has very little control over what happens, and the survival mechanisms end up too dependent on sheer luck, which raises the difficulty level to very frustrating levels.

HyperBrawl Tournament brings a heap of chaotic fun to the Nintendo Switch, especially on multiplayer. Therefore, it's difficult to understand why the multiplayer options are so restricted and, for a game that doesn't stand out on a solo experience, why its artificial intelligence shows some consistency problems. In any case, for those having multiplayer brawls, HyperBrawl Tournament is jam-packed with frantic action.

While it's no revolutionary feat of gaming, there are elements worthy of note such as an intuitive and accessible gameplay, an interesting system of vehicle development and a great amount and variety of content. It doesn't feel like a major leap forward, though, as some of its components are rather lacklustre, such as the visual detail, the soundtrack and the skills system. Still, for fans of the original game and of the monster truck genre in general, this is a fun and long-lasting proposal.

Space Invaders Forever is a collection that consists of three adaptations of Taito's timeless classic and if the presence of Space Invaders Extreme is by itself a major highlight, then a bigger effort should have gone into adapting these games to the format of the Nintendo Switch. Local multiplayer is a very fun experience, but an online component would have made everything much better.

RiMS Racing is not the average motorcycle game. Everything here is about going into the nitty-gritty details of what makes a motorbike go, and players will have to sharpen their skills when it comes to management and engineering in order to carry out a successful season. RiMS Racing is a blessing for hardcore fans of motorbikes, while at the same time it's not the most welcoming game for those less versed in the sport. Unfortunately its graphics on the Nintendo Switch look subpar and below what we've come to expect from Nintendo's console.

Night Call has an unusual formula - it's not an orthodox adventure game, it's not quite a visual novel either, but it has elements of both, all set against a Parisian noir aesthetic that goes along perfectly with its premise. Funnily enough, Night Call can be more enjoyable as a literary piece than as an interactive game and while it will not be everyone's cup of tea, this effort is definitely rewarding for those who look into the characters' backgrounds and personal stories.

Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion is undoubtedly aimed at fans of mecha-based games. Its frantic combat featuring giant metal machines and especially, the boss fights, will keep players on their toes. However, Titatnic Scion could have done better at addressing its performance flaws, which sometimes prevent the game from standing out in the Switch 2 hardware when there's a lot happening on the screen at once, and beyond the combats, its plot and secondary missions are rather repetitive and end up pushing this game into a more niche territory.

Namco Museum Archives Vol. 1 & 2 is a compilation of arcade classics similar to other collections we have seen in the last decades. The emulation of the games included in the two releases is extremely competent at every level. At the same time and unlike other similar works, including others by Namco, these two titles are very bland beyond the games included and have nearly nothing to offer in terms of additional content, something which seems to particularly affect the European release of Namco Museum Archives Vol. 1 & 2.

Namco Museum Archives Vol. 1 & 2 is a compilation of arcade classics similar to other collections we have seen in the last decades. The emulation of the games included in the two releases is extremely competent at every level. At the same time and unlike other similar works, including others by Namco, these two titles are very bland beyond the games included and have nearly nothing to offer in terms of additional content, something which seems to particularly affect the European release of Namco Museum Archives Vol. 1 & 2.

SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated is a long name for a game that does not have a lot to offer. This remastered version of an older work brings a 3D platforming formula that worked much better in its original day than today. On the other hand, this new version brings an updated visual environment and a multiplayer mode, even though the latter only provides the bare minimum. Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated fits better within a specific group of players rather than with a wider audience.