If you have played Shadow Blade, I'd say your money is best spent elsewhere. The improvements are minor enough that you would likely enjoy a fresher experience unless you are dying to replay this.

While the first game felt a bit short, this new one has almost two or three times as much to offer. The mechanics can get a little repetitive after a while, but seeing all of these familiar characters in a slightly more natural setting than usual is a solid hook that pulls the game through its slower moments. A great sequel for fans of the first, and a compelling spin on the Pokemon formula for those who missed the original.

An impressive remake of a fairly old game, and one that should be experienced by fans of mystery stories and Japanese adventure games.

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.

It’s not quite enough to propel the game to the must-have status of some previous WarioWare titles, but there’s still plenty here to like.

It's super cute, it's fun, and it's free. Is there a better recipe for success?

If you find you can’t get into dungeon RPGs, Undernauts probably won’t change your mind. But it is a very good game, one that will likely please the taste buds of most dungeon-delving enthusiasts.

There’s just enough flexibility in Fly Together! that various strategies can work, and whipping your team together to find a winning one for each new challenge is great fun.

Silent Hope isn’t going to light your world on fire or anything, but if you enjoy a good dungeon crawl action-RPG, it’s assuredly worth looking into. Its lack of any immediate fancy flourishes might make it seem forgettable at first, but give it time to unfold a little and I think you’ll appreciate the finer details of its design. It’s the kind of game that is all too easy to slip in and out of, and I like to keep at least a few games like that living on my Switch at all times.

If you want a game that you can play for hours at a time and not feel like you need to spend money, Fishing Break may not be for you. But for other crowds out there that are looking for a zen-like respite every so often, it'll do just fine, especially if you rest a bit in-between progression walls.

The presentation is top notch, there's plenty of content and it's the closest racer to Wipeout that I've played on iOS so far, which is certainly not a bad thing. If fast and frenetic racing is for you, look no further.

More than any other music game I've played on a touch device, Reflec Beat + on iPad has me hooked.

Three modes, touch controls that hop to at the slightest touch, and retro graphics. Doesn't sound like much, does it? Don't be fooled by appearances, Plasma-Sky is a solid addition to the ever-expanding galaxy of shmups available on the App Store.

The simplicity of 7 Little Words' gameplay is a strength, but the whole package might be a bit too simple.

Ultimately, if you approach Egglia on its own terms, you'll find a fun, fresh take on the social RPG genre, one whose premium price tag means you can expect things to be a little fairer than we usually see with this sort of model. Certain design choices may chafe, but the overall experience is well worth the price of admission. Just keep in mind that you will need internet access at all times while playing the game. That could be a legitimate deal-breaker for some of you. Otherwise, I'd recommend gritting your teeth through the timers and the occasional difficulty spike, because the juice is assuredly worth the squeeze.

It's great on the go, fun to play regardless, and a neat little break from the studio's more recent games. I recommend it.

If you enjoyed the last Fancy Pants Adventure on iOS, you've probably already jumped on this one. If for some reason you haven't jumped on it and are waiting for a stranger to push you, consider yourself pushed. You'll have a good time. If you haven't played any of these before but enjoy a good platformer, I can assure that this is indeed one of those. If you do not like platformers at all and spit in the direction of Shigeru Miyamoto and/or Yuji Naka and/or Michel Ancel anytime you can confirm their whereabouts, I'm not sure why you are reading this and don't really know what to tell you. Maybe the missing piece was fancy-looking pants all along? You could give it a try. The virtual controls can be a bit of a bear with everything Mr. Fancy Pants can do, but everything else is quite solid.

Hardboiled remains an interesting RPG that fills the Fallout-style strategy game void that makes a game like this rare to encounter on a mobile platform. If you love RPG's then Hardboiled is a must.

Solely for diehard fans of Chaos Rings and with the first game currently on sale, you'll be better of starting there if you're just a curious passerby. It's not bad by any means, but it doesn't even pretend to offer anything different or new.

While not the most unique of affairs, Milli & Greg offers a reasonably substantial and enjoyable slice of platforming fun for a very competitive price. You get plenty of well-designed levels to play through, solid enough controls, and a decent presentation. If you enjoy your challenging single-screen platformers, you’ll probably have a fine time with Milli & Greg.

It’s a great quick reprieve from the stresses of daily life, with reason to return time after time and a great reason to share your progress on social media with the photo booth. The paid No Ad option does seem expensive to still have to wait for honey, but that’s absolutely no deterrent from the title.

Wizorb's control issues may sound dire, but in reality they're more annoying than game-breaking. Outside of that shortfall, Wizorb is an excellent puzzle title that does a great job integrating a classic brick-breaking experience with a fantastical 8-bit world.

I can only imagine what people will start creating once people with actual musical talent grab hold of the app.

CounterAttack: Uprising doesn’t offer the typical shoot-em-up appeal, nor does it lean into the roguelite end of the genre very much. It’s doing its own thing, and it’s doing it quite well. The core shooting action is pleasing and it never feels like you’re being deliberately hobbled to force a grind, but the absolutely massive list of ship modifications you can unlock still manage to feel meaningful enough to serve as proper rewards. There’s a lot to chew on here, and I think it has a lot to offer genre newcomers and veterans alike as a result.

2360: Battle for Cydonia does a great job in keeping its Mech combat fresh, be it through a huge range of interesting weapons and items to unlock, or its engaging mission objectives, and will undoubtedly be a staple on our devices for a while to come.

I really wish this game didn’t come in as hot as it did. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet represent an excellent new vision of what a Pokemon adventure can be, and it says a lot for how many good new ideas are in here that I still found the game incredibly enjoyable despite the severe technical problems. I understand schedules must be kept. Well, the schedule was kept. It’s too bad what it ended up costing, because something this absorbing shouldn’t come with so many provisos.

Definitely one of the best virtual pet games I've played, largely in part due to how much it utilizes Plus+ for building relationships between dogs. It adds a completely unexpected level of depth and complexity to the game that will likely keep me playing it for quite some time.

Fans of turn-based strategies from Military Madness to Mecho Wars owe it to themselves a treat like this. At $4.99, with the amount of game you're getting Rogue Planet is a no-brainer.

Overall, Turbo Racing League is a very fun game.

Overall, Sushi Go! is a lot of fun and a definite buy for those who like card games on their devices.

It's just flat-out an exceptional game, even a dozen years after the fact. The control difficulties will make for some annoying miscues, but it's as good as you can expect for this type of game on a touch screen.

For now, players have over 100 levels and a way to create an infinite amount more to play locally solo or with friends for $1. If you want a fast-paced game that demands digital dexterity, Finger Tied is an easy recommendation.

If you enjoy games about solving mysteries, you’ll likely enjoy Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE. That goes double if you like the Danganronpa series, as it goes to many of the same places in tone and themes. The mysteries are well-built and fun to unravel, the overall story and the episodes that make it up are interesting, and the overall presentation is really sharp despite some technical shortcomings. Some of its attempts to mix things up might have been best left on the cutting room floor, but overall this is a satisfying ride.

There's a lot of little frustrations that I have with Full of Stars, especially as the charm of the concept of space chaser meets interactive fiction wears off after you continue to fail against the difficulty presented. Still, it's a game that compelled me to sit down and fight against it to try and beat it. And with the promise of future content teased with additional pilots, and a long-term meta-game as you upgrade Blue Sector, along with the rewarding feeling of beating a tough level, there's a lot to like about Full of Stars, even if this game wants to beat you down to the core of your soul, too.

It’s obvious that fans of the series should check out Halo: Spartan Assault right away, but I think it’s one of the better dual-stick shooters to launch recently on the App Store even if you're not a Halo fan.

I really wish this game didn’t come in as hot as it did. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet represent an excellent new vision of what a Pokemon adventure can be, and it says a lot for how many good new ideas are in here that I still found the game incredibly enjoyable despite the severe technical problems. I understand schedules must be kept. Well, the schedule was kept. It’s too bad what it ended up costing, because something this absorbing shouldn’t come with so many provisos.

The action is quite familiar to anyone who has played a few games of this genre before, and the game suffers from a few pacing issues that are made worse by how straightforward it tends to be mechanically. Still, that does little to diminish how excellent the game is overall. The strength of its main characters and the desire to see just what is coming next makes Eastward a very tough game to put down.

It's a solid experience that I'm amused by, and am curious to see what they do with new levels, because the game explores so much of its concept as it is.

If you’re looking for another precision platformer with strong gameplay mechanics and sharp level design, Garlic is your guy. But it isn’t the only game to do those things by any stretch of the imagination, is it? The thing is, I can’t say I’ve ever played a game of this sort that had Garlic‘s ridiculous energy to it. There’s a Wario-ish bent to it, but it’s even stranger than that series tends to be. I think that kind of thing is subjective and as a result you’re either going to love it or hate it, but it really worked for me.

At the end of the day, Neon Shadow could have done a lot more with its concept, but it's more than serviceable for any FPS fan.

Both smart and fun, making it a worthy successor to the Cubis titles of old. It also fits in nicely amongst its modern peers, with Game Center support, lovely art, and a cheery soundtrack-the whole package when it comes to top-notch presentation.

Sid Meier once famously said that games are a series of interesting decisions. I think it’s that inherent push-and-pull that made The Oregon Trail a fascinating game then, and it continues to make it one here in its latest form. The game can certainly wear thin if you play too much of it, and the framework of its design sometimes betrays its fifty-year-old origins. But in the end this is a game about making hard choices without clearly correct answers. It’s as compelling as it ever was, and Gameloft has done a good job of updating the right parts of it to make it more palatable to modern tastes.

The graphics in Blades of Fury are great, and the ten different levels in the game are equally awesome.

There are tons of new power-ups, a new mission mode that tasks you to complete various challenges, local co-op play for all modes, and online leaderboards for just about everything. You also have a new ability that you can charge up that allows you to take out a bunch of enemies at once. The vector-like stylings of the Recharged line are a perfect fit for Black Widow, too. It’s the best Recharged game so far, and an enjoyable twin-stick shooter in its own right.

There's 5-star potential that Rust Bucket can still reach, but until then, this game has to settle for being merely very good, though it could be one of the best roguelikes on the App Store at some point.

It’s a fun puzzle game that has a super simple and quite clever physics-based mechanic at its center, and it works well.

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.

Adventure To Fate: Battle Arena is an excellent sequel to the first game. It cuts some of the stuff that didn't work that well, doubles down on its strong points, and adds a bunch of new things for players to play around with.

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.

The game's multiplayer implementation is also a mixed bag: user friendly, but a bit limited at present, with no way to download other people's custom maps or create a game just for your friends.

Overall, Cafe Enchante is yet another excellent otome game. It is a perfect entry point into the genre and a great game on its own right. After Piofiore, which definitely went to some dark places, Cafe Enchante is a refreshing experience that feels like a nice cappuccino with its gorgeous art, amazing soundtrack, and well told story that is longer than expected.

iPhone gamers on the go will find Train Conductor to be a game particularly well-suited to quick, pick-up play sessions. It's right into the action and in moments you're in the heat of the connecting track shuffle.

This is the Lumines I suspect most of us have always wanted on our iOS devices. It's a little light on gameplay modes and I'm not sure I could ever get enough skins to be satisfied, but Puzzle & Music nails the core gameplay and the exceptional aesthetics of the beloved series, and I'm not sure if we can realistically ask for more than that.

It can be slow-going at times near the end of the progression loop, but Dash Quest is relatively fair with doling out carrots with very little sticks involved.

It's easy to get your money's worth out of this one, and it's perfect to just pick up and play whenever.

LISA: Definitive Edition, taken as a whole package, is an RPG unlike any other I have played before. Sometimes that’s a good thing, sometimes it’s a bad thing. This is a very heavy, raw game in terms of its story. It hits on some very tough topics and it pulls zero punches. If you’re squeamish about violence or gore, or just aren’t into the idea of a very rough and frequently cruel narrative, you might want to hold off on this one. But if you’re okay with that kind of thing, I recommend playing this to see what it has to say.

The setting is a lot of fun, the characters are interesting together, and I really liked how I could shape the story a little bit both by choosing my character's gender initially and by making various dialogue choices as the game progressed.

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

It's not the best point-and-click adventure game you'll ever play, nor is it the lengthiest experience. But it's got charm in spades, and is a great way to spend a couple of hours.

I found A Midsummer Night's Choice to be quite a refreshing gamebook. While it isn't laugh-out-loud funny like Ryan North's To Be Or Not To Be, it almost perfectly captures the absurd tone of Shakespeare's comedies. The overall plot is satisfying, the characters are well-done, and the references to both the original play and Shakespeare's works on the whole are a lot of fun. As long as you don't mind that it doesn't venture outside of the box mechanically, it's an easy gamebook to recommend.

The only real negative to speak of is the virtual D-pad, which is hard to get around in retro titles such as this, but it's been implemented here as well as anywhere.

Level 22 is a delightful re-creation of some of the best parts of the retro stealth action games. It's mostly a "one and done" affair as there is little reason to return after you've completed it, but odds are you'll spend an entire afternoon playing through it.

Munch is a good port of a fun but flawed game that unfortunately shows its age and era a little too much. If you have the patience to see yourself through the parts of the game that don't work very well, however, you'll get a good time out of the parts that do.

As a WarioWare-inspired affair, Atari Mania falls a little short of that series while still being good enough to be of interest to those enjoy quick-fire gaming. If we look at it as a celebration of Atari, it’s very well done. There are lots of little details in here for the true-blue fans, and the sense of humor hits the right spot as far as I’m concerned. The Switch version has some technical issues that mean you’re probably better off playing it elsewhere unless portable play is critical for you, but if the Switch is your only (or preferred) option, it’s playable enough to get into.

I personally think it's a rather excellent off-shoot of HeroQuest that lays down a foundation for even greater advancement in the future.

Accompanied by gorgeous art and a great soundtrack, you'll discover all the skills it takes to save the multiverse.

I'm satisfied with my time with Early Bird, and it's more than just another also-ran bird game. I just don't know if we'll see it soaring up the charts for long.

Pepper Grinder is an enjoyable, unique platformer with a zippy pace, interesting mechanics, and some cool level designs. The boss battles are a bit clunky and only subtract from what is otherwise a very tight experience. It’s also worth noting that the game is quite brisk in its run-time, so do take that into account before buying. I personally think it ends a little too soon, but that’s not a terrible problem for a game to have.

Gilbert and Kauzlaric do a great job of hiding the childish playfulness of the game under dry wit and game trappings like missions and goals, but underneath all that it's pure play time.

All in all, it's a very solid gamebook, and if you've enjoyed any of Tin Man's other conversions of Livingstone's work, it's a journey worth embarking on.

Is Death Squared on mobile the first version of the game that I'd pick up? No, I'd probably go for one of the console versions first, particularly the Switch version, because Death Squared is at its best when playing with a friend. Or three, as the levels that support up to four players are not in the iOS version. But, the core concept is great, and the game has a lot of cool moments. If you're gonna play the game solo, or maybe want to share your iPhone or iPad to play together, you can do so.

Superficially it’s easy to overlook Dream Quest. However, once you get past its peculiar looks there’s a somewhat deep rogue-like that’s fascinating to play.

It’s pretty hard to mess up Puzzle Bobble, and thankfully that hasn’t happened here. It’s also rather difficult to add to it, however, and I think the fact that Puzzle Bobble Everybubble! has managed to do so fairly well is to its credit. For puzzle fans it’s an easy pick-up, built around a time-honored core concept and loaded with things to do. Those who like to play games with their family will also want to give this a look as it’s a surprisingly good party game, too.

If you're looking for a Marvel-flavored version of the DC brawler, this is probably close enough to satisfy you, and it might even pleasantly surprise you in some ways.

I really enjoyed playing Alina of the Arena. It sticks to the recipe for the most part, but it does it well. The arena aspect gives it a slightly distinct flavor, one that I found compelling. It was a little tough early on, but once I unlocked a new class or two I found things clicked really nicely. I wish the UI was a little less awkward, and it’s a little light content-wise compared to some of its peers, but on the whole this is a battle worth fighting.

Sonic Dream Team gets a lot of things right, and I think anyone with an Apple Arcade subscription will have a really good time running through its various nooks and crannies. Even those who aren’t subscribed might want to pick up a month just to play through the game. The 3D Sonic pantheon definitely has far worse efforts than this. But that’s part of what makes it frustrating. It overcame a lot of the challenges 3D Sonic often struggles to get over, only to retire before the race is finished with a relatively short run-time. This could have been an amazing chapter in Sonic history, but instead it has to settle for being a good one.

While Luigi’s Mansion 2 wouldn’t have been my first pick among Nintendo’s selection of first-party 3DS games to make the trip to the Switch, it’s still a fun game that newcomers should enjoy well enough. It would have been nice to see more done here than an admittedly well-done boost to the presentation, especially given it’s a full-priced release, but it’s not as though it’s a game that feels incomplete or in need of any particular additions. I’d recommend Luigi’s Mansion 3 over this game, but if you’ve tapped that out and are hungry for more, you’ll find that here.

It’s very well-constructed and polished to an impressive degree. But it doesn’t do anything particularly unexpected, and for some people that may be enough to make them want to take a pass.

This is a very fun action-platformer with excellent mechanics and some interesting twists that will at times have you laughing and other times have you reeling in shock. It has some bugs that the developer will probably fix, and you can feel some unrealized potential in various aspects as the game runs its course. But if you come to it because of the idea of a game built around an umbrella that is also a gun, I can promise you won’t likely be disappointed with what you get.

This is a good, well-made Ridge Racer game for your mobile device

Don't think twice about tagging along with Guy as he journeys to and from the stars in a journey crafted from charming storybook graphics and a unique twist on puzzle games that only a platform as diverse as the App Store can provide.

It's also a great choice for those who just want to get into a good story or experience a unique, surreal atmosphere without any of the hassles of trying to make a cat-hair mustache.

If you enjoy tough puzzle platformers that will have you pulling your hair out for hours trying to solve a single stage, Time Master is for you. If you are easily frustrated, then Time Master really isn’t for you. It has a great presentation and the way it subtly ramps up the complexity in each stage despite mainly being built around one core mechanic is the mark of a game with great design. Some of the platforming is a bit more awkward than I would like, and you’re either going to love or hate the protagonist, but otherwise I can’t find much to knock on with this game.

It's not just unique, Breath of Light is pushing boundaries in terms of what a game can or should be and is definitely worth a look.

The only thing that I didn't really like about McGuffin's Curse is, perhaps, the controls.

If you're a fan of catapult games, there isn't much to not like about The Horrible Vikings. Yes, the core gameplay element has been done to death on the App Store, but few of them can even begin to rival the amount of refinement seen in The Horrible Vikings.

This Switch version carries things over nicely. You can use buttons or touch controls, and while the original version was built for screens of a different aspect ratio, you can barely tell. A special tip of the hat to the writing. There are some very talented authors working at Tin Man Games, and they went all-out here. It shows.

It does well in scratching my occasional, admittedly paradoxical itch for pick-up and play RPGs with a bit of substance to them.

Cannon Cat is precise and easy to play, it's fast, and it's a lot of fun.

Princess Peach: Showtime! sometimes feels a little too scattered for its own good, but the gameplay variety and usual Good-Feel relaxed atmosphere make this a nice game to chill out with over the course of a weekend or two. If you’re not interested in replaying stages to find hidden goodies, this might be a bit too brief and breezy a game. The game also sorely needs an option to skip the lengthy cutscenes when going back into previously-cleared plays. Overall, this is a solid outing for gaming’s most famous princess, one that easily out-does her Nintendo DS star debut. Here’s hoping it’s just the start of her adventures.

The high production values and ridiculously in-depth history, bestiary and other reading material alone is enough to make Dofus: Battles an easy recommendation, so it's nice the game itself is actually enjoyable.

If you don't mind dropping a dollar to see what it's all about, Summer Sports Simulator offers a deceptive amount of depth and playability. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but if it clicks for you then you likely won't hesitate in dropping an extra couple of dollars to unlock all the events.

Ultimately, how much you will enjoy Across Age 2 depends on if you're okay with how little it's actually doing new.

The lack of multiplayer might be berated by some, but since only one character can attack at once as according to the intentional design of the game, I don't think of it as a missing feature.

In between all of this, crammed between the good and the bad, nestled between the occasional guilty crystal expenditure, that's where the magic happens.

There are frustrating levels – you try climbing over a sheer wall using only your arm – but most of the current levels are great. Some are even delightful.

In the end, Rowdy Wrestling doesn’t try to set the world on fire or change the face of mobile gaming as we know it. Rowdy Wrestling is exactly what it says on the box – it’s easy to pick up, hard to put down and sometimes that’s just what you need.

If you like puzzle games, you need to give Blockoban a shot. If you're a developer, it's also worth a peek to see a really great implementation of a free to paid in-game microtransaction system.