The set-up is exhaustive, I'll give it that, but the breadth of the gameplay balanced against the length of the story causes it to feel like I've just played through a tiny sliver that was mercilessly sliced off a larger game with little regard for where it was cutting

This is a classic arcade-style sports game that is more about fun than about simulation and accuracy.

Sparkle is great if only to rekindle some of that Zuma nostalgia right in the palm of your hand.

TipTop: The Last March has a fun core gameplay mechanic, and is oozing with style between the excellent art and sound design. If you've been looking for a good Lemmings-like game on the iPhone, look no further.

I love its assortment of mechanics and systems most of all - they're tuned for guys like me who want more and don't want to be beaten over the head for small errors. But I can also get behind its multitudes of levels, it's super bright and colorful look, and its unique enemies that do provide a level of thought, strategy, and creativity on the battlefield.

It's well worth the price tag and you'll find yourself so empathetic for the rocket's goals that you'll push yourself to finish it no matter how hard it gets.

The game itself gets in the way at times of enjoying the art, but otherwise, The Swords is a worthy experience.

It's all a shame because I really want to like Red's Kingdom. I still like the concept, as sliding puzzle games are just collections of single-level vignettes, and this game transcends that. When you dig into it, and get going with the flow of the game, there's the spark of something brilliant and fun. And Red's Kingdom is gorgeous to look at it. But the flaws are deep, that it's tough to recommend despite its great looks and creative ideas.

Mon Amour isn’t the most complicated or lengthy of games, but it has more depth and heft to it than you would initially assume. If you enjoy score chasing, you’ll especially find a lot to chew on here. Like a classic arcade game of old, it takes simple mechanics and gives you enough to do with them that there ends up being a wide range of scoring possibilities. Take that and wrap it all up in the usual quirky Onion Games charm, and you’ve got a real winner.

If you enjoy the time management/resource management of the aforementioned games, you’ll probably find a lot to like in Train Valley. The unavoidable control issues aren’t enough to bring down the experience too much, and once you get the hang of things you’ll be juggling trains like a professional. The charming presentation is distinctive and attractive, which certainly doesn’t hurt. Between the various maps and seasons of Classic Mode and the more relaxed (but still somewhat tense) nature of Sandbox Mode, there’s plenty to dig into here for puzzle fans. A solid port of a rather enjoyable game.

Lucy Dreaming is another fine addition to the Switch’s excellent library of point-and-click adventure games. The sense of humor is on point, the story is engaging, the puzzles are fair and well-designed, the presentation is good, and the interface is about as competent as you can get for a game of this sort on a controller. It manages to thread the difficult needle of being a love letter to the genre while still being its own game, and as long as you don’t have an issue with adventure games you’ll probably enjoy it as much as I did.

Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition is a great way to play this beloved cult classic, especially for those who want a portable option. While you’ll get a smoother framerate on other platforms, this Switch version isn’t hard on the eyes by any means. The improvements are welcome without overstepping, making the game very easy to get into despite its vintage. If you haven’t played it before, it’s worth trying out. Who knows? You might join the folks clamoring for that sequel. And if you have played it before, I’m sure I don’t need to twist your arm to convince you of the merits of a return trip.

Fans of Shin-chan, Bokunatsu, Attack of the Friday Monsters, or those who just enjoy a bit of slow-life low-pressure adventure will likely appreciate Shin chan: Me and the Professor on Summer Vacation. It could be a little fuller, and I don’t know how to feel about how it wraps up its story, but it’s unique, silly, and nostalgic in all the right ways.

Warhammer Quest, while being an excellent port of a classic board game, is actually an amazing dungeon crawler on iOS, no matter what your experience with the source material. You owe it to yourself to check out this excellent hack and slash experience.

In a sea of matching games, few feel simultaneously as rewarding and as respectful of a player's skill as Rise of the Blobs. It may be soft and jiggly on the outside, but it's hard as nails underneath.

I can't praise Checkpoint Champion enough. It's a fun game on its own, with plenty of challenge on its own. But the social features, gorgeous design, and clever features all push it to a level that should leave other developers jealous: this game is just plain sleek.

If you're looking for a taxing puzzle game that won't demand constant perfection to progress, To-Fu Fury is your huckleberry.

But this sequel takes what was already an excellent game and cleans it up in all the ways that count.

The biggest problem with A Musical Story comes in its gameplay mechanics, though. You play the tunes in sliced out sections, and you have to hit every note perfectly before the game will let you move on. And unless you’re really good with audio cues, you’re going to fail a lot. The worst thing is that once you’ve missed a note, you know you can’t succeed but you still have to finish out the slice anyway. It’s aggravating in the worst way. You never get that feeling of being one with the music that you get with better rhythm games. Great music, an uneven story, and unpleasant gameplay make for a very rocky road trip indeed.

A standout in almost every way. From look to setting to the touch-centric gameplay, it shines, and you can tell this title was crafted with much love from its developers. Any horror fan will be thrilled by it.

Orc: Vengeance is not without its issues. However, these minor annoyances are simply that. Even with these, you're still left with a great hack n' slash action-RPG with plenty of loot, decent controls and beautiful visuals.

The fantastic scoring system and randomly generated levels give the game a ton of replay value.

Tobe & Friends' Hookshot Escape is a fine game and I say this with only a minimal amount of bias – a Dragon Punch-enabled character just makes things so much better.

For randomly generated high score game enthusiasts this is one that's not to be missed.

Qbism is all about perspective, and forces you to think in three dimensions.

With a great menu system driving the entire game, excellent AI, and the ability to micro-manage almost everything you could dream of in a sports game, it's hard to want anything else of a mobile baseball management sim.

While Shellrazer may not have a ton of lasting value, due to not much changing in each area besides increasing difficulty, it's still a great game that's definitely worth your time.

Hackycat is a solid game of kick-ups wrapped in a pretty delightful package—and hey, if you're going to kick cats, make it these ones. They need the help, and you need the cheeseburgers if you're going to kick 'em all.

This is an excellent, compelling game, with interesting visual design, a great mood, a subtle but effective story, and awesome level designs that constantly offer new challenges.

So, yes, Starborn Anarkist is pretty rough in the early going, but it's definitely worth sticking to.

It's not going to rock your socks off with its style or innovation, but for those who enjoy playing with balls, iO has plenty to show you.

Mr Jump has a very specific appeal to it. I'm sure you can tell right away whether it's your thing or not.

This is a premium game through-and-through, with no IAPs in sight, and if you are a wargamer of any type, you should play Vietnam '65 so you can see how an innovative take on war can offer many hours of fresh and thought-provoking gameplay.

In truth, from where I’m sitting Thumb Drift is nearly perfect as far as fun little highscore chasers are concerned, and the central mechanic is just ridiculously fun and feels like butter.

Only the most hardcore gamers should play this, but those who do will find a challenge worthy of them.

Kami 2 is a gorgeous puzzle game packed with challenging content, but it allows its sense of style to get in the way of a smooth experience for the player. It's fine that the game throws out difficult and complex puzzles, but the game seemingly goes out of its way to make the process of solving those challenges as tedious as possible. Between its generous pay model, stunning presentation, and heaps of puzzles to solve, Kami 2 is probably worth taking at least a few swings at. It's at least a few folds away from the gameplay living up to the slick visual designs, however, and there are clearly some kinks to work out with the online modes.

While Tengoku Struggle shows the usual high production values and polish seen in Idea Factory’s other visual novels, I found the story here just wasn’t quite up to the usual output we see from the developer. There’s some good in it, and the best route is certainly worth experiencing if the premise has intrigued you. The writer’s tendency to try to shock the reader in cheap ways gets a little out of hand here, and some of the romances really aren’t sold well. A decent effort, but given the generally high-quality output of Idea Factory in this genre, Tengoku Struggle has some difficulty making its mark.

Overwatch 2 is a free to play game, and I’d definitely recommend trying it out if you haven’t to see how you feel about the gameplay and to see how well it runs on Steam Deck. Despite its flaws, it is still worth playing, but some of the decisions with how certain content has been handled in-game are weird. Overwatch 2 is yet to reach the highs of the original Overwatch, but it is still a great multiplayer game to play on Steam Deck. I enjoyed Overwatch 2 quite a bit on Switch despite the visual and performance cutbacks, but it really shines on Steam Deck.

Once you've finished Devious Dungeon, it's well and truly over with, but for the price of admission, it's kind of hard to gripe much.

Used for its intended purpose, Mucho Party is a pretty solid effort.

Blast Brigade vs the Evil Legion of Dr. Cread does just about everything a Metroidvania-style game should, and that makes it very easy to recommend to fans of the genre. I don’t think it’s going to convince anyone who is tired of this sort of game, because apart from its sense of humor it’s not really doing anything unusual for the genre. But what it does, it does well. The graphics are good, the controls are solid, the pacing and progression is more or less where it should be, the boss battles are enjoyable, and the map designs are good. It’s always fun when something so well-made as this comes seemingly out of nowhere.

If you’re new to the world of Amnesia and just bought Amnesia: Memories on Switch or played it across its many ports and re-releases, this is an easy recommendation. It is more than worth the asking price and is one of the better otome releases from Idea Factory International. As far as fandiscs go, this took a while to release in the West, but the wait has been worth it.

If you’re into the idea of a superhero-flavored turn-based tactical RPG, I can happily report that Capes won’t let you down. It brings powers into combat in sensible ways, and goes the extra mile of making sure things like cooperation between heroes is represented properly too. There are aspects of it that could use more polish, and you can feel where the budget perhaps wasn’t up to the ambition, but the meat of the game delivers quite nicely.

SteamWorld Heist II isn’t as novel as the first game, and it more or less keeps to what worked before. It can be a little difficult at times, and you’ll always have to be vigilant for gimmicks because some battles are fond of them. The job system is a treat for people who enjoy searching for broken combos, and the overworld exploration breaks up the action while helping to better establish the setting. If you enjoyed SteamWorld Heist and are ready for more of that gameplay, plus some more of that enjoyable SteamWorld lore, you’ll get what you’re looking for with this one.

NaturalMotion has created something very impressive and they clearly want to show off their little Ninja and what he can do.

Fellow robot sympathizers, players looking for a mental workout, or anyone bitter their iPad still can't play Machinarium: don't let this one pass you by.

Capcom Fighting Collection is a pretty good collection of games, including some titles that we haven’t seen in these specific forms on home consoles before. It leans a little hard on the Darkstalkers games with some very slight variants that feel like they are padding the number out a bit. The overlap with other collections and my bad experiences with the online play keep me from recommending this too enthusiastically, but even with all of that taken into account, this is still worth picking up for fans of Capcom’s fighters.

This is still the flagship fighter of the system, and a must-own if you have any interest in SNK’s ill-fated handheld. It’s been given the same high-quality Code Mystics treatment here as previous releases in this line, ensuring you’ll have the best possible experience with this game.

While I’m sure some players are suffering from a bit of Cotton burn out with so many releases in such a short span of time, but if you like shooters you’ll want to check out Cotton Fantasy. The game is very enjoyable from a design standpoint and it holds up quite well on the technical end, especially compared to a few of the less impressive Cotton ports we’ve seen on Switch. Those who are performance sensitive will find the game runs a lot better in docked mode, but I didn’t mind it in handheld either. I’m a bit torn as to whether or not this game is better than Cotton Reboot, but that’s good company to be keeping.

River City Girls 2 is more River City Girls, with all the good and bad that implies. The expanded playable roster and some minor gameplay tweaks are appreciated, along with the ability to play with others online, but so much here is the same that you probably don’t even need to read a review to know if you’ll like it or not. Want another reason to stomp around River City with Misako and Kyoko? Here it is. Looking for the next great brawler after Shredder’s Revenge? You’ll have to keep waiting.

There's a ton to like about Back to the Future.

The controls are really easy to use, although it's not easy to do precise softer shots (especially with the multi-ball) as the controls seem optimized for harder more direct shots.

The core gameplay is enjoyable and there's a lot of room for strategy while still leaving some of the outcome up to chance. However, it's obvious that Fluxx was meant to be played in-person, and a lot of the fun gets lost in the asynchronous multiplayer.

A big update with new control options is in the works, so things are likely to improve in the future, but it's a shame about TowelFight's controls in their current state because otherwise it's an incredibly enjoyable game.

Blip Blup may make for an excellent exercise in interface design, but it's also quite a fun little puzzle game from the folks at ustwo.

Cling Thing is a great experience for a buck. From its vibrant graphics to its pleasant music to its perfect controls to its increasingly challenging puzzles, Cling Thing offers the kind of experience that makes gaming on iOS a joy.

If you're looking for something a little quirky or you enjoy a good puzzle game, you should definitely give Blek a try.

If you gobbled up Battle Academy, its sequel, and Pike And Shot, you'll find another excellent serving here. I think this game also offers a strong experience for strategy fans who love the serious designs of Slitherine titles but are looking for something a little less serious thematically from their usual fare. Those who burnt out on previous titles using this engine might want to avoid Hell: Fight For Gilrand, however.

This may not be the best entry in the series, but it's certainly the boldest, and though it has a few low points, fans of the Ace Attorney formula should have a good enough time with it.

It does a reasonable job of that most of the time, however. For just a few bucks, you get several hours of fun auto-running platforming that looks and feels like a Sonic game of this sort should. The difficulty curve could certainly use a little straightening out in places, but it's still quite engaging even when it's too easy, and not insurmountable when it's too hard. Overall, Sonic Runners Adventure is an easy game to recommend to Sonic fans and those who enjoy auto-runners. Past that, it's going to depend on how much you appreciate a slick presentation over tight level designs. If nothing else, it's the best original Sonic game on mobile. That's got to be worth a golden onion ring or two.

Pizza Hero doesn’t reinvent the cheese wheel by any means, but its specific seasonings add an extra flavor to the familiar Vampire Survivors dish. The fun theme, bevy of interesting upgrades, enjoyable list of achievements, and solid action make for a game well-worth playing even if you’ve gorged yourself on a large serving of other titles in the genre. Sometimes it’s just one secret ingredient and a bit of charm that can make a dish its own, and that’s what Pizza Hero offers.

Saltsea Chronicles surprised me constantly. Not only does it look gorgeous and feel perfect on Switch, it is a game I see myself returning to often, and I hope it gets a physical release. I liked Mutazione quite a bit from Die Gute Fabrik, but Saltsea Chronicles is just superb. I know adventure games like this aren’t for everyone, but this feels laser focused on my taste, and it delivered.

In its current state, I absolutely recommend getting Resident Evil Village on iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max if you have a controller like the Backbone One USB-C edition or use an external bluetooth controller. The touchscreen interface even with its customization options is not good. Capcom has done a fantastic job so far in bringing this AAA survival horror experience to Apple platforms, and I hope we see more RE Engine games make their way in the future after Resident Evil 4 Remake releases. Resident Evil Village is a free download with an in app purchase to unlock the full game, so I definitely recommend downloading it if you have a supported device to see how good the conversion is.

Yearly sports games are always hard to recommend without caveats given how they sometimes don’t change much between releases, but Visual Concepts has gotten to a stage where the WWE 2K games are really good for the most part. WWE 2K24 has a few issues on Steam Deck holding it back, but is otherwise a very good portable wrestling experience. It is worth grabbing if you skipped the last few games for sure.

Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom is immediately one of the nicest surprises of the year, and a superb platformer collectathon game. It oozes 90s charm with its unique characters, excellent music, and hard to put down gameplay. Steam Deck OLED owners should consider this for how the colors pop on the screen as well.

Most of the time, though, The Walking Dead: Assault isn't much more than a decent tie-in, one that won't make any waves.

While the game is limited to one survival map at the moment, it's hard not to be impressed with the overall adaptation to the iPhone, especially with online Co-op play.

Slayin may not have done much to quell my hopeless addiction to retro visuals, but it may have done me one better: it's raised the bar for all games like it.

Five bucks is a bit steep for yet another re-release, but Crazy Taxi's iPhone-sized package presents the perfect time-killer while you're waiting for a table, bustling along on the commute to work, or looking for a fun pass-and-play style game with friends. Check it out.

If you enjoyed Jet Set Radio, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is the game for you. I wish it did a bit more to stand out, but we don’t really get many games like this, and Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is a polished and straight up fun experience with an amazing vibe and superb soundtrack. It is held back by some technical issues on Switch though.

In the end, Windjammers 2 is a return to the classic arcade experience in more ways than one. It’s a bit threadbare in terms of features, and you really need to pull in a friend to get the best out of it. You’re only given the barest of instructions, so you’ll have to either study up or learn on the fly. Put the time into learning it, and you’ll be rewarded with a truly thrilling game. Those who loved the original game can jump in without worry. The passion for the original game shines through brightly here.

DATE A LIVE: Ren Dystopia is an easy recommendation for fans of DATE A LIVE: Rio Reincarnation with its lovely art, music, and memorable characters. I don’t recommend playing it before Rio Reincarnation though.

If you're a gamer that likes to tear up the slopes on occasion, do not let this one pass you by.

There really isn't a whole lot to Mr. Ninja, but the gameplay mechanics are solid and it's a fun time in either short or long bursts.

Like so many games these days, Lunar: Silver Star Story Touch hit the App Store with some some obvious flaws. The ultimate question isn't what it might become, but whether it can be recommended as-is. The short answer is "yes."

There's a great deal of work and craft on display, and you absolutely should not hesitate to download it for free to give it a shot, quirks and all.

Some RTS fans are going to find GrimGrimoire a little too tedious at times even with the great new features, while those looking to enjoy the excellent visuals and solid time loop yarn will have to come to grips with the strategic elements. Still, I think there’s a lot here worth digging into. I like to think the audience is more receptive to things like this than it was in the late 00s, and that perhaps GrimGrimoire will get its due at long last.

A good game for hardcore platform gamers. It's fast-moving and challenging, with simplistic retro graphics and some heavier than usual background music.

Slam Dunk King masters the frantic, barely-controlled flicking and swiping that makes games like Fruit Ninja so great.

A great diversion. Retro Dreamer has brought in a lot of its brand of charm, with cute in-joke collectables to discover and tongue-in-cheek descriptions for every little thing. It may not be the best game for those looking to dig up a serious challenge, but it's also far from mindless.

This is a game you need.

True, it's no RollerCoaster Tycoon, but it's still a highly competent coaster builder with a nice dose of puzzle objectives. Suffice to say, if you're a fan of making thrill rides, you should give it consideration.

I can't speak to its faithfulness to the subject matter, but it feels like it's very respectful towards it, while still keeping things approachable and fun for the layperson. Fiz: The Brewery Management Game isn't perfect, but it's a very strong first effort for Bit By Bit Studios, and I hope they stick around in the sim scene.

If you've got any love for these super-hard score attack games at all, make sure to check this one out.

It's an easy game to dismiss as "just another match three," much like the original. Hell, I even did that with Candy Crush Saga, as the initial out of the proverbial box experience isn't all that different from any other matching game. If this sounds like you, I seriously suggest giving Soda Saga a fair shake as it's an incredibly good game. Once you give it a chance to grab you, it won't let go.

I see Heavenstrike Rivals as a mobile game that just happens to have connections in console gaming.

Overall, I’m very pleased with how Gori: Cuddly Carnage is on Steam Deck, and expect it to get Verified very soon. The game itself surprised me with its quality, and it is one I won’t forget for a while. It excels with its fun gameplay, good writing, and great combat and feels right at home on Steam Deck from start to finish. It is just held back by a few annoyances.

Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright Trilogy HD is an excellent adventure experience all-round. Sure, the lack of true iPad Retina or widescreen support is a bit of a letdown, but it's hardly a deal-breaker.

Even if you have an adverse reaction to IAP, Lock 'n' Load still offers a decent amount of content with more that can be eventually unlocked (even if it takes a long time).

It's a grand adventure that no JRPG fan should miss, as long as your device can run it.

With an estimated 6-8 hours of gameplay, and side quests to keep you busy long after that, I can't help but recommend Ravensword.

Snowball! is just a solid pinball table, and considering $1.99 seems to be the going rate for pinball tables on mobile, it's a fair price for a charming and entertaining round of pinball. Give this one a shot.

By grounding its setting and keeping the scope of its story more personal (albeit with major consequences), Rise of the Third Power gets to really focus on each of its eight main characters. The nature of the plot means things are always moving, and as such the time just seems to fly away while playing. Its mechanics aren’t quite as impressive, but the combat system does seem to have had a lot of thought put into it in terms of trying not to waste the player’s time. Basically, this is more of a game for those looking to get into a good tale than those who want to crunch on some chewy, innovative mechanics. If you’re okay with that, you’ll definitely want to check this one out.

OrangePixel keep releasing platform games, as if trying to evolve the perfect platforming experience and INC is another step in the right direction.

Each mission has a set of 3 objectives, and eventually 3 more will open up under a higher difficulty. After a few hours of gameplay, a third difficulty unlocks and you will find yourself going back to earlier levels and experiencing them in a completely different context. The game has a really solid flow to it. Unlocking upgrades and purchasing them feels very rewarding and will allow you to complete missions that you thought were previously very tough or even impossible. While the story of JYDGE is barebones outside of its justice related puns and won't be confused for a gamebook any time soon, it's really the run and gun gameplay placed perfectly in a fleshed out atmosphere that will keep you hooked on this twin-stick delight.

Revita isn’t doing a whole lot that we haven’t seen bits of in other games before, if not necessarily in this exact combination. But it’s doing all of it rather well, with reliable controls, challenging and fun boss encounters, enough randomness to add spice but not so much to make it all a crapshoot, and interesting choices to make with your character’s growth during each run. Those looking for their next roguelite action game to conquer will want to give this one some consideration.

While the lack of a story may turn some folks off, it may not be that important. The more I played, the more I realized that Lightopus isn't a game of destinations; it's a game about journeys. Each play through is a new and somewhat unique adventure through this beautiful world.

My only complaint with Splatoon 3: Expansion Pass Wave 2 – Side Order is that it could’ve used a bit more variety for a mode that requires you to replay it so much to get the most out of it. While it may not hit the set-piece highs as past game expansions, this is exactly what I want to see from Splatoon as a series, and I hope it is included in the next game as an optional mode. The team nailed everything here, and if it ever does get more added through free updates, it will be perfect.