Those looking for a solid substitute for Mario Strikers on Nintendo Switch won’t find it in PandaBall. It’s a confusing mish-mash of aesthetic charm and undercooked play mechanics, all of which ends up being frustrating for solo and co-op players alike.

Overall, Epistory – Typing Chronicles is a beautiful and touching experience that also doubles up as a way to improve your typing skills. Though it can be played with Joy-Con, keyboard is absolutely the way to go.

Banana Mania takes the best Super Monkey Ball games and combines them into one solid package. Frustrations from those original games remain, and the lack of online play is a disappointment, but new options allow for a less stressful time.

Castlevania Advance Collection is exactly the jolt of excitement Konami’s classic series of gothic action-platformers needs to succeed. All games featured look and play great, with newly installed quality-of-life features making them more accessible.

Generous enough to offer all 20 of its challenges from the outset, DroneRidge is a test of reflexes through a distinctive landscape. There’s little original content in this short diversion, but it’s worth it for the rainbows.

Staxel offers some fun gameplay, but it retreads a lot of familiar ground in the process, and nothing about it stands out as unique or exciting. Fans of the genre might like it, but don’t expect any innovation here.

While the nineteen-year hiatus was a difficult one, Metroid Dread delivers what fans have waited for and more, building a familiar yet unique experience with brand new ideas to help push the genre forward.

The Long Gate succeeds in providing the most challenging – and often satisfying – puzzle experience I’ve played on the Switch, but that comes at the cost of accessibility for those of us who aren’t geniuses.

A Night at the Races is a challenging arcade platformer that will put your fine motor skills to the test. If you’re a fan of the genre, definitely pick this one up as the story is quite juicy.

With a combination of classic adventure gameplay and a unique battle system, Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan is a refreshing game with a deep message. Its thoughtfulness making for an incredibly wholesome and affecting experience.

Overall, Cruis’n Blast is a simple and light-hearted arcade racer that, had it not been for the heavily scripted AI, would be a ton of fun to play. Unfortunately, this overrules all features in the game and leaves it feeling unfair and frustrating.

Humorous dialogue and bird customisation don’t do enough to stop SkateBIRD from falling far down the pecking order of skateboarding games available on Switch, with boring levels and controls that are janky and frustrating at best.

While perhaps sacrificing a little of the series’ identity, WarioWare: Get it Together! goes in a bold new direction on Switch that largely pays off. It’s great, clean, wacky fun.

Virtuous Western is very short and very easy. It sets up some vaguely interesting mechanics without ever doing anything challenging with them. If you want an easy way into speedrunning, this might be it; otherwise, steer well clear.

Baldo is a mixed bag of delights and disappointments. I don’t think it will ever become the game it should have been, but for those willing to overlook or approach with an open mind, there’s a decent game here.

Rush Rally Origins demands a place in your Switch starting line-up. It’s second only to its Rush Rally counterpart, and is far and away the best racing game to release on the Switch in the last couple of years.

Button City is an adorable little adventure-arcade game that is both lighthearted and heartfelt, with an amazing soundtrack, a lovable cast of characters, and a story with all the feels. It’s a worthy addition to any Switch library.

Monster Train First Class earns its seat as one of the best card battlers on Nintendo Switch. Its complex mix of mechanics and systems are initially overwhelming, I’ll admit, yet seeing it all come together can be absolute bliss.

A wealth of complex systems can be overwhelming, but Samurai Warriors 5 combines an engaging gameplay loop with exciting mechanics to deliver an action-packed game that provides countless hours of fun.

Where’s Samantha? Well, she’s only gone and gotten lost in a competent puzzle platformer that can’t hide its lack of thrills behind its charmingly woven art style! There’s some appeal for puzzle fans, however, over the course of the journey.

Eastward may not be perfect, but it doesn’t need to be. The creativity on display is fantastic, and the gameplay is fun and varied. It’s an adventure you won’t be quick to forget.

Overall, King’s Bounty II was an enjoyable experience with some unique gameplay elements. It’s slightly let down by its frame rate and graphical issues and I can’t really justify it at its current price point, but if it goes on sale it’s definitely one to pick up.

Kitaria Fables does a lot of things well, and a few things a little less well. It’s cute and colourful, and the adventuring is absorbing, but the farming falls a little flat.

Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town is a great callback to classic point-and-click adventure games but is let down by the frustration its puzzles can cause. However, a unique visual style and story are still worth discovering underneath.

Rustler won’t win any prizes for originality, but it largely succeeds in aping the GTA format and infusing it with all things medieval. Could the technical performance be better? Yes, but where else can you ride horseback with a beatboxing bard?

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.

TOEM is one of the many wholesome games available on Switch, but it is one that stands out thanks to its unique hand-drawn art style and enjoyable perspective mechanics. A short but sweet, frame-by-frame adventure.

Shing! is a unique beat ’em up experience on Switch, with a good presentation and fresh gameplay ideas that are mostly satisfying. Local co-op, unlockable costumes, and online high score lists give it additional replay value for fans of the genre.