Wallachia sticks to the 16-bit gaming template – warts and all – to deliver a fun ride for fans of retro 2D scrolling adventures. Repetition may limit the appeal however; this is a Dracula story that perhaps lacks bite.

Never Alone falters somewhat where the gameplay is concerned, but you’re unlikely to mind as you learn more about the rich culture it portrays. Its stunning environments pair perfectly with the deep meaning behind every aspect of the world, making for a truly unique experience.

Bubble Bobble 4 Friends is more Bubble Bobble. One that was possibly intended for a new generation whilst also appealing to the old. Unfortunately though, it is unlikely to provide a memorable experience for either.

As beautiful as Heroki may be, its gameplay unfortunately doesn’t compliment its design, making for an unfortunately mediocre platformer.

Arietta of Spirits buckles under the weight of its own premise. Telling such a detailed story in such a small game means no idea quite gets its due, and the moments of greatness are too fleeting to make a real impact.

Exit the Gungeon is as crazy, manic and ambitious as its predecessor. It has addicting gameplay and the range of guns, items and enemies to experience is overwhelming. I only wish its level design was as great as the original.

LEGO Bricktales attempts to capture the excitement that accompanies building LEGO and certainly comes close, however, the experience is unfortunately marred by poor controls and unremarkable puzzles.

Resident Evil 6 on Switch offers staggering value and bombastic action, but its muddled tone and lack of survival horror may leave long-term fans torn.

Strategy and board game fans seeking a mixture of challenge, quirkiness, and randomly-generated excitement will find that in Curious Expedition. Although its simple presentation and unforgiving nature may turn off some, it’s a well-rounded, replayable experience.

Hoa is short and, at times, you’ll be forgiven for forgetting you’re even playing a game. That’s not all bad, though: Hoa gives you room to breathe, to escape into its spectacularly-painted world for relaxation rather than challenge.

It's hard not to be impressed with FIFA 18 on the Switch, but it's also hard to overlook the omissions and silly little things that hold it back. It's the best FIFA on Nintendo yet and you will have fun. If you are OK with it being cut-back then it's essential, as long as you didn't want to play online with friends.

One Piece: Unlimited World Red tries to be more than just a licensed brawler but unfortunately the RPG elements are lacklustre and can't help elevate the shallow core gameplay. Fans of One Piece might be able to find joy in the story present here and there's plenty of content to dig into for those having a good time but it's difficult to recommend this average game to everyone.

Her Majesty’s SPIFFING provides a short jaunt into space. The gameplay is a shallow enactment of the genre, played out as a prolonged joke, but at its core, this is a game that places Britain in the spotlight and has a right old laugh.

Black Hole is a dull title that lacks any lasting appeal. It works and runs well but bad design decisions just leave the core gameplay loop far from ideal.

INK is a highly enjoyable platformer with a strong core mechanic of inking platforms in order to progress. Sadly, there's just not enough of it, and most players will breeze through it in just a few hours.

If you don’t mind plenty of death and repetition, with some unfair-seeming failures, Mana Spark can offer an engrossing adventure in which, with patience, you can craft your character and battle your way to victory.

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy might be 17 years old, but its ability to believably set you on the path of a Jedi Master is still successfully maintained. There might be some multiplayer quirks, but the primary solo experience is out and out Star Wars.

Lydia is a point-and-click novel that allows players to glimpse the horrors of a childhood plagued by substance abuse. An uncomfortable yet important experience. But for those triggered by substance abuse issues, caution is most definitely advised.

Snack World: The Dungeon Crawl – Gold offers plenty of content without taking itself too seriously, and the mix of quirky humour and looty goodness is delightful. Although the story could have been more captivating, I still enjoyed every second.

If you want to party with strangers, Crash Drive 3 is a great option for a party-like game that is mostly focused on online play. It has a good variety of modes and many unlockables to keep you hooked during short gaming sections.

It's more expensive than the Variety Kit and although initially more impressive, is perhaps even more niche and surprisingly suffers from getting old much quicker. If you have a burning desire to unlock your inner Optimus Prime and have £70 that you want to throw down, then you'll be impressed.

One of the craziest ideas for a plotline ever is matched by a pretty enjoyable game. And it's really cheap on the eShop, which can only be a bonus.

Saturday Morning RPG is a wacky take on the genre with a setting that's never been seen before and a battle system that dares to be different. It's a little short which can be somewhat disappointing, but it's also a suitably entertaining adventure.

RAD is an excellent roguelike, that oozes the signature Double Fine charm from its terrifyingly mutated pores. Beautiful art direction from Lee Petty’s team and solid replay value from the extensive combination of powers each run make it extremely worthwhile.

Fledgling Heroes takes the blueprint of what a colourful side-scroller should be and runs with, polishing the core flapping mechanic so that it’s always fun and bundling in some creative extras.

NBA 2K22 is an actual upgrade in relation to the previous version. The game is more realistic, immersive, and full of quality of life upgrades, boasting several different modes to play and a beefy story in the Career mode, all making it a decent addition for anyone who needs a sports game with plenty to do.

Lapis X Labyrinth nails its combat loop and reward system to provide a dungeon-crawler that both veterans and newcomers will adore. Minor technical hiccups could do with being fixed, but otherwise this fully deserves a place on your Switch.

Terror Squid has all the pros of a classic arcade game. Mechanically simple but surprisingly difficult gameplay, with a beautiful pick-up-and-play methodology baked in. Unfortunately however, it is a shallow experience if you are not interested in chasing high scores.

Azkend 2 is a puzzler which is addictive and retains your attention with the use of mini-games to break up the puzzles. With sixty boards to solve altogether, it doesn't outstay its welcome, but I fear it may be hampered by Switch's dense pool of games from the same genre on the eShop.

Sparkle Unleashed is a fun and addictive puzzle game with plenty of content to keep you playing for a good 6-8 hours. Its downside is that it reuses content to keep its longevity going which can be a bit disappointing.

A fun retro romp, Johnny Turbo's Arcade: Sly Spy captures the arcade feel of the original, and features some of the gloriously retro writing we all love. Some more variations in the levels would have been nice, but getting through it while holding onto your health is a steep climb.

Manual Samuel is a fun but irritating experience, and that's the point. A patience test that literally makes it difficult to put one foot in front of the other, its charming cartoon graphics and hilarious narrator contrast nicely with the gameplay, and it changes things up just enough to keep you entertained to the end.

Gravity Duck is a nifty little puzzler, offering plenty of levels to try your hand at. Although frustrating at times, with a price tag of only £4.99, its stunning pixel aesthetic and enjoyable gameplay more than justify your purchase.

What’s in a name? A lot of enticing words, it seems. Super Mega Space Blaster Special Turbo offers a chance to chase those high-scores in space, if you can find a game mode to suit your play style.

Slayin 2 takes a pretty niche gameplay concept and absolutely runs with it, being a near-perfect arcade game filled with fun bosses and bite-sized battles.

Haven Park is the kind of game that will completely absorb you until several hours have passed and, suddenly, you’ve beaten the game! The story is warm and fuzzy and bittersweet, and if you’re a fan of a quaint, relaxing game don’t hesitate to put this one in your collection.

SYNTHETIK: Ultimate manages to encapsulate the retro-Sci-Fi boxy aesthetic of games like Starwing, whilst still feeling modern and fresh to current sensibilities. The game can be tailored to your difficulty preference, but the challenge is its own reward.

Jydge is a fun yet difficult twin stick shooter brimming with customisation and content, it can be difficult at times but its varied mission types and unlockables should keep you busy for a good while.

Minecraft: Story Mode – The Complete Adventure is the first adventure game from Telltale to come to the Switch. It is the ultimate package of the narrative-driven take on the famous block-building franchise. With an enjoyable D&D-like story, it is an enjoyable experience, in which your choices seems to matter - at least as long as you allow yourself to play along with the magician trick.

Neon Chrome was a good twin-stick shooter when it first came out last year and thankfully it holds up well on Switch. Thanks to flexible straightforward gameplay and the randomised replayable nature of the game it's definitely worth a look for any fans of shooters looking for a smaller title to kill some time.

While its audience will of course be niche, this is a genre that the Switch needs to start seeing more of. Less a game than a Kindle app, the medium is perfectly suited to visual novel titles like this.

Word Search by POWGI is a fun word search puzzle game that works well on the Nintendo Switch. It's little more than that.

Nuclien attempts to offer up an addicting arcade puzzle game but unfortunately the experience is too boiled down and fails to offer up anything overly interesting to anyone not explicitly chasing the top spot on leader boards.

Star Renegades takes inspirations from different sources to create an extremely engaging turn-based RPG, encapsulated with a beautiful pixel-art style. Unfortunately, constant performance issues take away some of its shine.

A fun experience whilst it lasts, Urban Trial Playground provides some solid motorbike action on the Switch. The sunny setting is the perfect backdrop for this laid-back, yet sufficiently challenging game.

My Brother Rabbit is a short experience which is oddly missing touch controls, but is enjoyable while it lasts. There’s room for improvement, though.

Sky Force Anniversary is a visually stunning game, but it can’t make up for the shallowness of its mechanics. With a superior sequel available on the Switch for the same price, it is hard to justify bothering with this release.

While performance and visual downgrades make it difficult to recommend the Switch version, Chronos: Before the Ashes is an intriguing and enjoyable rework of a once VR-exclusive title. Its unique ageing mechanic makes it worth looking into for souls fans.

Say No! More is a brief title that makes up for underutilising its core mechanic with some hysterical moments and a lot of heart. If you could do with a game to cheer you up after a hard day, don’t say no to this one.

Atomicrops is a challenging twin-stick shooter with light sim elements presented in beautiful, bizarre pixel-art package. Lacklustre farming controls and frame-rate drops prevent the label of greatness, but at £13.49, it’s well-priced and definitely worth your time.

In its ten or so hours of gameplay, Travis Strikes Again throws up a messy concoction of minigames within a loose ‘main’ game that gets worse as you progress. The story is confusing and irrelevant, co-op is an afterthought and with muddy and jaggy visuals, it makes you wonder what the direction developer Grasshopper Manufacturer wanted to take with this spin-off. It’s clearly evident they didn’t know either.

Once you get into the groove of its logic, it has solid pacing, clever puzzles, and enough charm to keep players engaged.

Soul Axiom Rebooted is an improved effort over the original, with its quality of life features and rearranged plot. It’s still difficult to follow, though, so go for this if you enjoy exploring some wild 3D environments during your puzzling.

Picross S is a solid entry to the series, offering a good place to start for newcomers as well as a whole bunch of new puzzles for veterans to sink their teeth into. The puzzles range from nice and easy at first to extremely tricky (the last level took me one and a half hours to complete on its own!) and the gameplay is very enjoyable. Perhaps best for those looking for something to do on their daily commute, Picross S is a definitely a decent option for puzzle fans.

Infernium delivers a strong visual representation of Hell that bucks the standard trend in entertainment media. Sadly, the game also plays like hell with poor controls and frustratingly obtuse design choices.

Eternum EX is a solid arcade experience, but is unlikely to hold the attention for long. £12.99 seems steep for a game like this in this day and age.

80’s Overdrive gets enough of its core concept right to provide an enjoyable, highly playable racing experience. It’s unambitious, and the overall package is lacking in polish and reasons to keep playing. But there’s plenty of fun while it lasts.

Technical issues and an occasionally awkward player experience take some of the shine off this game, but EQQO nevertheless offers an intimate, poignant, and comforting story that any fan of narrative-driven adventures will appreciate.

A-Train: All Aboard! Tourism is just about as complex as management sims get, full of menus, variables, budgeting and countless other aspects that genre fanatics love. It’s far too complicated for your average player, though.

If you can ignore heavily downgraded graphics for the sake of playing a game on the go, Last Stop can present you with an anthology of three different narratives that are fun, dramatic, and weird in very unique ways.

As a walking simulator, Shape of the World delivers a more simplistic experience from the gameplay perspective. As a relaxing exploration experience, though, it delivers something unique, with a world that grows around you.

At a first glance, Crossing Souls is one of the most impressive indie games of the year thanks to its superb art style. Unfortunately, some nasty bugs and annoying platforming section takes away some of its charm.

Save Me Mr. Tako! succeeds in its aim of recreating a Game Boy game. Unfortunately, that is all that it succeeds in. It is a competent game but relies too much on cheap deaths to pad out its mediocre gameplay.

10tons' spelling RPG-lite is good fun in short bursts, but the grind will grate after a while. While I wouldn't recommend Spellspire to the majority of Nintendo Switch owners, if you are a fan of mental puzzle games then you will find something to enjoy here.

Screenshots don’t do it justice, but Yuso is a pleasant and engaging puzzle game that provides the pickup and play mentality you want from this type of game and follows through with the depth.

Potata: Fairy Flower isn’t going to boil your spuds, but it’s a perfectly enjoyable title. It may have some unfinished edges and lacklustre puzzle content, but the solid platforming experience, accidental comedy, and excellent audio-visual presentation make up for it.

Nine Parchments is a charming little dungeon-crawler that boasts some truly stunning visuals and intuitive gameplay, but suffers from a distinct lack of depth. Nevertheless, if you can get a group of pals together, you'll be in for a spellbinding time.

Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas tries a little too hard to copy the game that clearly inspired it. While good fun to play, if a little easy in parts, I feel that if Cornfox & Bros had been a little more adventurous and set out on their own path, they may have found that this good homage could have been great game by its own doing. If you are a fan of the Zelda series, you will definitely find Oceanhorn enjoyable - just don't expect too much from it.

North is a brave entry into the Walking Simulator pantheon. Though not for everyone, it can be quite interesting to see how deep this rabbit hole goes.

Battle for Bikini Bottom felt as much a battle to play at times as it did to defeat those robots. It’s great to see a cult classic get a fresh lick of paint, but style over substance just isn’t enough.

The age-old adage that you wait ages for a bus and three come along at once is most apt. Super Street: Racer could have been lost in relative obscurity, but it offers a fresh take on racing on the Switch.

Peaky Blinders: Mastermind is a strategic take on a TV show tie-in that could have easily been mindless violence. It’s not as sharp as Tommy’s wardrobe, but for fans of the show, there’s definitely fun to be had.

Roguebook is an interesting roguelike deck-building game with a difficulty curve that could either frustrate or excite you. If you like a challenge, and enjoy card battles, consider picking this one up.

Crysis Remastered can be a good-looking FPS. It’s just a shame that the act of actually playing it can feel like a chore thanks to a repetitive first half, poorly implemented stealth and unsatisfying gunplay.

A fresh coat of paint and a new look for the crazy chimp don’t do enough to escape the aged level design and frustrating trial-and-error gameplay loop.

Darius Cozmic Collection Console is a must-have for hardcore Darius fans. However, given its shortcomings and steep retail price, it’s not as essential a purchase as the arcade edition of Taito’s shoot-em-up classics.

Cluedo had the potential to be a great digital board game experience on the go but is hindered by its inability to embrace the Switch or more broadly to make concessions to a digital experience.

Golem Gates is generous with its content, but is for a fairly particular audience. Its complexity is enough to put off people that are new to the genre, but strategy fans will get a kick out of it.

A lack of a current alternative and bags of nostalgia may see you go for Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers and both outlooks will probably be satisfied by what's here. However, releasing it at a premium is shocking, and Way of the Hado is pretty rubbish. If you MUST have it, wait for it to go on sale.

Super Meat Boy Forever makes changes to its predecessor which add to the difficulty but also serve to make things less memorable. There’s immense satisfaction in finishing levels, but bugs throw a dampener on the experience in places.

Definitely one for the kids, Qbics Paint is something that will provide some enjoyment for a younger audience - or simply those wanting a simple application to pass the time. The features included do the job to a decent standard, although other titles have managed to provide a more streamlined artistic toolkit in the past. There are perhaps better alternatives available for art-based games, although the premise behind Qbics does stand out as being its own identity, and this cetainly isn’t the worse purchase you could make.

In spite of having some minor teething issues, Infinite Minigolf compensates with entertaining gameplay built inside an ever-growing package. It is fun, creative, and certainly gives you your money’s worth - even at the title's launch price.

With some decent pinball gameplay at its core and the addition of a rotated view in Tabletop mode allowing that classic feel of a vertical arcade game, GUNBARICH could have been an interesting title for the Switch. Unfortunately, it is far too hard to complete on its original settings, leaving most players to ultimately get rid of the ‘lives’ and ‘continues’ system, instead dying over and over again until they reach the end. Adding an overly congested screen into the mix on top of this results in a game that is hard to recommend.

Sausage Sports Club is an enjoyable party title with bags of humour. It's a little silly, but you should get some enjoyment here.

VSR: Void Space Racing is difficult to control, and takes a lot of effort to get to grips with. If you’ve got the time, then great – but attention spans are short these days with so much games appearing on the Switch’s eShop.

Red’s Kingdom is a pleasant surprise – clever puzzling under the disguise of some very cutesy visuals. There’s a lot of gameplay here – so short bursts is the recommended play option.

Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk DX is a passable JRPG that hardcore fans of the genre will find positives in. However, minimal explanation for the main draw to the game, and the limiting of your time in the world are rough spots.

Although relatively simple in its approach and execution, Night Call is a brilliant, stylish, and deeply intriguing example of how a narrative investigation game should be delivered on the Nintendo Switch.

While a range of convoluted upgrades and currencies add more hurdles than just the ones out on the racetrack, Disney Speedstorm is a dynamic, engaging kart racer at its core, with carefully re-imagined characters that will encourage fans to go the distance.

Tennis in the Face is a good game heavily stifled by borrowed ideas and an insultingly short length. Its cheap price may entice you to pick it up in between bigger releases, but at the rate the Switch's eShop is expanding, you're best off saving your pennies for something more worthwhile.

While these punishing levels will take some patience to master, the charm and presentation help to keep you coming back. It’s a few more levels and some accessibility options short of being essential, but for platforming fans looking for a challenge this is a great purchase for the price.

BIT.TRIP FATE is a twin-stick rail shooter that is somewhat bullet hell-esque as well.

Code of Princess EX takes many influences from the classic brawlers, but, like a lot of them, it delivers a repetitive and boring gameplay loop. It tries to compensate that with tons of content, but it is hard to be encouraged to try it all when the basics are so weak.

Despite providing a lot of content, Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition is a sports game undecided about its audience. It mixes elements typical of both simulation and arcade experiences, but ends up coming touching down too early on both fronts.

A lack of multiplayer at release detracts from how brilliant (and essential) Tiny Metal could have been, but it's the next best thing to Advance Wars that's currently available on the Nintendo Switch. Fans of that and/or turn-based strategy games will find something worthwhile here, despite that not so tiny price.

Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World should be looked upon as an example of what a 25-year-old game could look like with the graphical technology of today. It doesn’t veer far from the source material, though, so the game itself feels basic compared with what the modern-day gamer is used to.

Although Mr. Shifty is clearly inspired by Hotline Miami, it sets itself apart with the speed of the gameplay and the focus on quick reflex action. The Nintendo Switch version has some bugs as at launch, and the game can be beaten in just a few hours, but the fun and addictive experience makes this a worthy addition to your Switch library.

If you're familiar with the Lego franchise, you'll know exactly what you're getting into here. Lego: The Ninjago Movie Videogame is a fun, accessible title marred with some bizarre design choices and some unfortunate technical issues. Nevertheless, it'd make a great present for the kids.