Minishoot’ Adventures also has a few difficulty options including the ability to auto-aim, have slower enemies and enemy bullets, with separate options for game speed, invincibility, and infinite energy if you’d like to have a completely relaxed experience. Barring some elements of the aesthetic that are quite forgettable, Minishoot’ Adventures is awesome from start to finish. If you enjoy twin-stick shooters and older top-down Zelda games, this one is worth your time right now.

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.

Children of the Sun is fantastic. Not only does it encourage replays to climb up the leaderboards, but it is exactly what I want to see from Devolver Digital with its vibe and awesome gameplay. I hope it does well while also coming to consoles in the future. Right now, it is a perfect fit for Steam Deck and shines on the OLED screen. Don’t skip this one.

StoryBlocks: The King would probably be a decent time on a platform where you can use the mouse controls it was clearly designed for. Over here on Switch, more care needed to be taken to make the game comfortable to play on a controller. Nothing the game does is especially worth the agitation of merely trying to perform the basic functions of the gameplay. Shame, as it seems like it would otherwise be an enjoyable, chill puzzler.

The Gap on Nintendo Switch was a fascinating experience in its structure as a walking simulator. It brings in quite a few elements you don’t see in the genre and tackles some interesting and important themes. My only complaint is that it was a bit annoying to move the cursor with the right stick to a specific location to interact with some objects. It needs a snapping option.

No Umbrellas Allowed is a great game that is let down by interface issues and performance issues on Nintendo Switch. The font size forced me to play it entirely on the monitor I have on my desk when docked on Nintendo Switch and the constant hitching gave me motion sickness. I hope these can be resolved because No Umbrellas Allowed is a game I recommend, but with big caveats on Switch.

Botany Manor has been a pleasant surprise from start to finish. It is equal parts relaxing, educational, and gorgeous. It also is a perfect fit for the OLED screen on Nintendo Switch in handheld mode. If you’re looking for a five or so hour first-person puzzler that doesn’t waste your time, Botany Manor is for you. Now please release a retail limited edition of it with a physical research book.

If you have a fondness for classic scaling shooters, Missile Dancer 2 is a must-have. It’s remarkably well-crafted for a game of this genre. For fans of Terarin’s previous shooters, I think there’s enough of his usual vibe in here to latch on to and enjoy. For more general shooter fans, just be aware that this is a very deliberate throwback to a certain type of game, and it sometimes imitates that style to a fault.

Considering the pedigree and potential here, it’s hard not to be a little disappointed in PuzzMiX. It’s little more than a Gunvolt-themed copy of Suika Game, and one that plays worse than the game it has patterned itself after. The basic joy of merging smaller things into bigger things remains, and the price is certainly hard to argue with. Still, with little to offer beyond what Suika Game does, there’s no reason to recommend this over its source of inspiration beyond the theme and soundtrack.

In its current state, Stacklands is a fantastic game held back by some interface issues on Nintendo Switch. If you have the option to play it with a mouse or touch controls on Steam, I recommend getting it there. The Switch version and the controller support in general for the game need a bit more work for the game to be an easier recommendation. Stacklands has definitely sent me down the Sokpop Collective rabbit hole and I’ve been checking out some of the team’s other games. Hopefully we see some more come to the console soon.

I ended up liking Expeditions: A MudRunner Game a lot, and keep going back to it almost daily. This is definitely going to be a game I have installed on both Switch and Steam Deck for the foreseeable future to play as a break from other releases. If you have the option to play on a current generation platform, I’d recommend getting Expeditions: A MudRunner Game there. The team has done a good job in bringing this full game to Switch despite its visual compromises. If the performance in handheld mode can be improved, this will be an easier game to recommend on Switch.

While a few aspects of Buckshot Roulette won’t work for some like the art style, I loved the game, and my main complaint is the lack of Steam Cloud support right now. It plays and looks great on Steam Deck from start to finish and is an easy recommendation at its low asking price. I’m glad I didn’t look into it before playing, because Buckshot Roulette has been one of the nicest surprises of 2024 so far on Steam Deck. I look forward to checking out the multiplayer and console ports later this year.

In its current state, Krimson desperately needs some accessibility options when it comes to the screen shake effect. I love the gameplay, level design, aesthetic, and music, but the aforementioned screen shake and clarity issues in some situations hold it back from being an easy recommendation. It also suffers from noticeable input lag and some unstable performance on Switch. I hope these can be addressed because Krimson deserves better. Right now, I’d recommend trying the demo on Steam to get a taste of the game before buying it.

In a lot of ways, playing Open Roads felt like I just experienced a bigger budget and more ambitious take on Gone Home that forgot what made me love that game in the first place. I wish the narrative struck the same chord with me, but it just felt haphazard in some areas. I don’t want to be too harsh on the game because I did like many things and enjoyed the overall experience, but it made me wish for more after all these years.

I actually really enjoyed playing through Xak here, but unless you’re able to understand Japanese I’d strongly caution against picking this release up. You can enjoy poking at it a bit using the included bookmarks, but actually playing the game requires understanding the text. Only the boldest of adventurers, equipped with Japanese dictionaries and/or translation software, need apply. I hope D4Enterprise can figure out a better solution for this kind of thing going forward, but I suspect this is just how it’s going to be.

Hebereke Enjoy Edition offers up one of the NES’s lesser-known greats with a fine assortment of options and extras to help it shine even brighter. While the unusual approach to translating the game is not ideal, it’s hard to hold it against the game too much. Hebereke/Ufouria is a spectacular game that is still as entertaining as ever, and one I would heartily recommend to anyone.

One Last Breath has some good qualities, but they’re counter-balanced by pacing issues, dull puzzle designs, and an overall excess of vagueness. There is some optional content to help extend things, but it ends up feeling like a chore to complete. Some of the sights and sounds are worth experiencing, but I found myself bored with this game at least as often as I found myself entertained.

If you’re looking for an official way to play the NES Felix the Cat, this is certainly the most affordable way to do so. It’s a pricy cart in the aftermarket, so having it widely available again along with its Game Boy counterpart is welcome. The game itself is a pleasing romp, albeit not much more than that. Still, I can’t help but wish there were some extras here. Every game has a story behind its creation, and telling this one would have helped make the package more special. Alas, we just get the game and a couple variants of it in a plain brown bag. Not bad, but it could have been so much better.

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.

For some fans of the original, Not Tonight 2 might feel erratic in some ways, but I enjoyed it almost as much as the original on Switch. I recommend it to fans of the original and those who enjoy Papers Please. It just needs some performance improvements in certain areas.

I love Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective far too much. I’ve bought every single version of it over the years including multiple copies of the DS game. It was always a 5/5 game with its superb story, characters, puzzles, and music, so it is unfortunate that this new version from Capcom is a bit lacking when it comes to how it handles modern mobile screen sizes and its lack of cloud saves. I’m glad we have a version of Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective on mobile that supports modern devices and operating systems, but Capcom should’ve done a bit better in some areas.

Crypt Stalker offers up some decent, cheap, Castlevania-like thrills. You get a solid bang for your gaming buck, with plenty of stages to fight through and a few interesting extra modes to enjoy. Sadly, the lack of in-game button mapping coupled with a reversed default layout for jumping and attacking can make this game very hard to enjoy if you’re a few decades invested into the usual button assignments. Hopefully the publisher sees fit to update this with an option to reassign the controls.

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.

Dungeon Drafters is a decent roguelite game with some enjoyable card mechanics and an above-average level of polish. For players who aren’t too concerned about gameplay balance, there’s a lot to like here. Unfortunately, a few design decisions feel like they’re at odds with the deck customization gimmick that runs at the core of the game and keep it from being all it probably could be. This wouldn’t be my first choice in the genre on the Switch by any means, but if you chew this kind of game up and spit it out then it will keep you happy for a little while.

The early experience can be very frustrating as you get a feel for when you should press on and when you should head back to town. Then you settle into a groove, and it feels good in a fairly mindless way. Then it starts to get a little repetitive, because the game never really tries anything too different and there certainly isn’t much in the way of a plot to keep you going. Grinding-as-lotto makes it an easy game to pick up and put down, and the absence of plot or direction means it’s one of those rare RPGs that you truly can digest in small bites over the course of a long period of time. It serves a very specific need, but if you have that need it does a great job of handling it.

Quilts and Cats of Calico is officially marked as Steam Deck Playable by Valve, but it really should just be Verified. Everything works perfectly including online multiplayer with turn notification support, and it looks gorgeous on the Steam Deck’s screen. Quilts and Cats of Calico is an easy recommendation for anyone looking for a relaxing blend of a puzzle and strategy game.

If you’re looking for a new relaxing puzzle game to sink your teeth into, Sokobond Express is excellent. I haven’t even bothered trying this docked yet because it feels so perfect in handheld mode on the Steam Deck OLED. This is another win for Draknek and Friends, and I can’t wait to see what developer José Hernández does next.

If you’re an RPG fan who likes a good battle system or character customization systems, you’ll find a wealth of enjoyment in Adventure to Fate Lost Island. If you’re looking for an intricate story, hot graphics, or a fancy world to explore, this might not be your cup of tea. You could certainly levy the accusation at Lost Island that it perhaps doesn’t push its design in new directions enough when compared to its predecessor, but what might have felt like going to the well one too many times in 2018 instead comes across as rather refreshing in 2024. Easily worth the asking price, and a game that will do a nice job of filling the RPG lover’s time for hours upon end.

Hades on iOS is incredible. While it has two things I’d love to see fixed in updates, I have no hesitation in recommending it for anyone with a Netflix subscription. The wait for Hades on mobile has been long, but Supergiant Games delivered an excellent version of one of the best games in years with no compromises on iOS here.

Kingdom Come Deliverance: Royal Edition brings the game to the Nintendo Switch in about as good a form as the hardware is capable of, thanks to the talented and experienced folks at Saber Interactive. While there is no mistaking this for the versions on more powerful hardware, this isn’t a bad way to play the game at all. It’s another “impossible port" to enjoy on the go for Switch owners.

If you’re willing to take on the not inconsiderable task of playing through an action-RPG in Japanese, Ys II is a lot of fun. The music is excellent, and it’s surprisingly playable for a game of its time and place. That said, the language barrier is once again very real with this release, and that means that despite this being an enjoyable game and likely the only release of Ys II we’re likely to see on Switch, I can only give it a light recommendation.

While I need more time to see the story to its conclusion and explore more of the vocations and world, Dragon's Dogma 2 is an uncompromised Dragon's Dogma experience that basically does everything I liked in the original better. It is an incredible RPG, but one that isn't without its flaws. I kept thinking to myself how this is a game that I can't believe exists, but here we are. Kudos to Capcom for greenlighting this and I really wish there was a big box PC release for it with a cloth map and artbook. It is that kind of game. In its current state though, I don't recommend playing Dragon's Dogma 2 on Steam Deck. Grab it on PS5 or Xbox Series X if you have those options available. [Review in Progress]

Inkulinati is a very interesting and challenging game at higher difficulties that asks a lot from the player, but those who put in the effort will enjoy the depth and replay value here. The medieval manuscript aesthetic is gorgeous and I ended up loving the blend of roguelite and turn-based strategy gameplay after spending time with the tutorial. If you do plan on getting Inkulinati don’t skip the lengthy tutorial available. I’m glad it finally hit consoles and also has a great Switch port now.

It’s nothing fancy, but if you’re in the mood for a simple yet engaging puzzle game, Match Village might be what you’re after. It suffers from having very little identity of its own and it gets a bit repetitive once you’ve worked out the basic flow, but I’d imagine at this price point people are willing to accept a game that will only provide a temporary and quickly forgotten engagement.

I agree with the sentiment of Limited Run Games on Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties: Definitive Edition. We shouldn’t only preserve and make accessible the good games from gaming history. The bad stuff has its place too, at least in the context of the medium as an art form. But this is also a product, and taken in that context I have a really hard time recommending this. The game itself is as awful as advertised, and while there has been a good effort made here to provide a lot of extra material, I didn’t come away from this with any real insight into how this whole mess happened or even really why we should care about it specifically. There’s probably a story here, but it’s one this release doesn’t do a good job of telling.

Contra: Operation Galuga is a really good run-and-gun action game, one worthy of the name it bears even if it feels somewhat crushed under it at times. I think it’s a Contra game that Contra fans will enjoy, and we don’t see those all that often anymore. The biggest problems here are specific to this version, with an inconsistent framerate that never gets as high as you would like and input lag that makes an already tough game harder in the worst possible way. If all you have is a Switch, there is still some enjoyment to be had here, but those with literally any other option should probably exercise it.

For its low asking price, I have no complaints with Summerhouse, barring a minor controller-related issue I ran into on Steam Deck. Barring that, it plays great on the system, and looks gorgeous on the Steam Deck OLED. I hope it does come to iPad in the future as well as this is something I’d love installed on every device I own. If you’ve wanted to build your own nostalgic dream house or just play around with a creative interactive toy, Summerhouse is for you.

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.

This is another must-have for those interested in gaming history. That it also packs in a massive catalog of games from one of gaming’s iconic independent developers is simply the cherry on top of the sundae, but it also means there’s a lot here for fans of classic arcade action games to enjoy. Having devoured this entire story in a couple of sittings, I find myself once again educated, entertained, and awaiting whatever these folks do next.

The presence of an English option in the game itself makes Hydlide3 a little easier to recommend than some of the other RPGs in the EGGCONSOLE line, but this is still a near forty year old game that feels every inch of it. Fans of gaming history will enjoy poking at it and checking out the included scans and such, but most are going to find it enormously difficult to get into, let alone seeing it through to its conclusion. Still, it’s nice to see more of these classic Japanese computer games made widely available.

If like me you have nostalgia for these games, you’ll be quite happy with the Top Racer Collection. Fans of Horizon Chase who want to see where it draws much of its inspiration from might want to check this out, too. They’re very much of their era, but they were among the best of that era. It’s great to have them all in one place and in fine form.

While there are some small technical issues here that are atypical for a Nightdive release, it’s nothing that should keep you from digging into this excellent remaster of Star Wars: Dark Forces. The old-school charms of the game are given just enough of a boost to make it a blast to play even in the current year, even if some aspects like the save system are perhaps a bit too old-school. Overall, another fine effort from Nightdive and yet another solid Star Wars release on the Switch.

Tamarak Trail has a solid presentation, and the mechanics are sturdy enough to hold your interest for a few hours. The UI is a little fussy, but the bigger issue here is that the combat-heavy nature of the game and the way the battles play out mean you’ll probably fall back on a few reliable tactics. Some games in this genre can be replayed nearly endlessly, but Tamarak Trail petered out after a few runs for me. I think if you’re really fond of the deckbuilding roguelite genre, you’ll have enough fun with what this game offers despite there being many better choices for this sort of affair.

I certainly didn’t have a bad time going through A Void Hope. It has a lot of things going for it, from the slick presentation to the strong atmosphere to the decent puzzles. At the same time, the toothless challenge, sometimes-clumsy platforming set-ups, and less-than-satisfying story progression and resolution manage to hold back the game from being as great as it could be. I think it’s worth playing if you like the look of it, but I can’t see many people revisiting it after the initial four or five hour playthrough.

The game genuinely does a good job of following up on the original, and given the circumstances I think that’s actually quite amazing. If you have happy memories of Ufouria or are just looking to get into the series fresh, I think you’ll have a nice time with this one.

As I dug deeper into my Unicorn Overlord playthroughs across Switch and PS5, it hit me that Vanillaware is like the Australian band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard who keep exploring different genres with each new album and maintaining the quality. It might be too soon to say if Unicorn Overlord is my favorite strategy RPG, but I can confidently say that it and Balatro are the best Nintendo Switch games of 2024 so far.

Slave Zero X is not for everyone, but it ended up impressing me more often than it disappointed me. The few annoyances aren’t enough to hold this back from getting a recommendation from me, especially on Steam Deck, but I do hope the developers can tweak things so it reaches its full potential. If the sound of having fighting game mechanics and inputs in a character action game and beat ’em up hybrid sounds good to you, Slave Zero X will be perfect for you. It is a challenging game that isn’t ashamed of itself, and I love most things about it.

What surprised me the most about Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is how it managed to perfectly blend its varied cast, gorgeous visuals, amazing audio almost throughout its four hours or so runtime. Despite not having any prior attachment to these characters, parts of it made me feel nostalgic. Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley isn’t going to be for everyone, but I enjoyed the relaxed exploration and simple puzzles here. Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley has been a good relaxing experience to play as a break from the more-involved RPGs recently.

Aside from a few issues, I have no complaints with Penny’s Big Breakaway. It is a joy from start to finish with its sublime gameplay, superlative soundtrack, and gorgeous visuals. Playing it on Steam Deck OLED at 90fps made me not want to bother with the other versions at all. Not only is it a great fit for portable play, but having an uncompromised version with no technical issues elevated Penny’s Big Breakaway further. I can’t wait to replay it regularly throughout the year. This is my favorite 3D platformer since Super Mario Odyssey and I hope the soundtrack gets a vinyl release in the future.

In its current state, Warframe is an impressive port of an excellent game. While I was hoping it was better in some aspects, Warframe is worth trying out on iOS for sure. It remains one of the best examples of free to play done right, and the complete game with no major compromises is now playable on iOS with cross play and cross save support. I can’t wait to see how Digital Extremes enhances the mobile version through the year leading into the Android version.

So is Tenement decent? Yes, I think I can say that. There’s certainly a bit of fun to be had here, but battling bots gets tiresome after a while. The missions do their best to keep you engaged and I can enjoy a nice unlock-fest as much as the next person, but what the game is truly crying out for is online multiplayer. I think a lot of effort went into making what’s here as good as it can be, but it feels like it’s in service to a core experience that runs out of gas before it runs out of content.

The elevator pitch for Mediterranea Inferno would be an arthouse film told in the style of a Suda51 game. If that sounds appealing to you alongside the premise, you will not be disappointed. The way Mediterranea Inferno blends horror, humor, desire, and other topics in a way that engrosses you from start to finish is commendable. It also is a perfect fit for the Switch’s OLED screen. I just hope it gets touchscreen support in a future update.

Sympathy Kiss probably won’t knock anyone’s socks off, but sometimes it’s nice to get a game that colors inside the lines with a fair amount of skill. The office setting and highly grounded plotline work as a useful anchor for the often unusual characters you’ll be meeting, and with a total of eight routes to play through there is bound to be a favorite dude here for anyone’s tastes. Its greatest strength is also its greatest weakness; it’s a very ordinary visual novel in just about every regard. Come in with those expectations, and you’ll find this a decent enough treat.

Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story could’ve been a much better experience had it seen a bit more polish and tweaking in some of its mechanics and structure. There’s a lovely base here to build on, but there are a few too many things holding it back from being an easy recommendation, and the technical issues on Switch don’t help. It is however a good pick up and play experience and is approachable even by complete newcomers to the universe.

I always thought Cricket Through the Ages was a great short experience that was a lovely addition to Apple Arcade. As a standalone paid game though, it is a bit harder to recommend unless you’re buying it to play as a hilarious party game with friends. Thankfully the low asking price makes it an easier pill to swallow, and the Switch port is very good. I do hope the developers add more to it though in potential updates.

It turns out Pentiment, just like good cheese (ask Josh Sawyer about this) and wine, only gets better with age. Not only do I think it is a magnificent experience from start to finish like it was back on Steam Deck, but it has found a new home on Nintendo Switch delivering the full experience with gorgeous visuals on the OLED screen. If you skipped it before, now is the time to rectify your error and play one of the greats. Hopefully Obsidian can add touchscreen support in an update because that’s literally the only thing I’d like to see added in this port.

If you have access to a Steam Deck, especially an OLED model, Goat Simulator 3 is an easy recommendation. With how good it is here, I don’t need the Xbox or mobile versions anymore, and will be dipping into the game often to play on Steam Deck. Goat Simulator 3 on Steam Deck is not only my favorite portable version, but my favorite version of the game in general. It has a few issues like prior entries in the series, but is still worth your time regardless of if you are a fan of the series or a newcomer.

I ended up enjoying Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League a lot more than I expected, but it definitely has issues relating to variety and in some technical aspects. I also wish it ran better on Steam Deck. If you enjoyed the likes of Crackdown 3 and Sunset Overdrive, you will find things to like here, but it still is a hard sell at its current asking price. Hopefully the team continues to improve it through updates.

As someone whose only experience with Warhammer 40,000 is through games, I still adored the writing, combat, and music in Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader. It has also been a joy to play on Steam Deck especially with the newest major update. If you skipped out on it at launch to wait for a few updates, I can safely recommend Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader right now. I hope it does well enough to get a nice physical release in the future.

Barring the Midgar Pack, PowerWash Simulator – Warhammer 40,000 Special Pack is easily my favorite DLC for the game so far. Even as someone who has only experienced Warhammer 40,000 through games, this pack was more than worth it. In some ways, this pack felt like the opposite of painting a small Warhammer 40k model or miniature, and I find that very funny. I hope we see more DLC packs of this quality going forward from FuturLab because it is that good.

If you enjoy solving nonograms/Picross puzzles and you have any love for Story of Seasons, this is a no-brainer purchase. It perfectly incorporates the franchise whose name it bears into the very solid Piczle Cross framework. I think it also works as a nice gateway to those who haven’t gotten into nonograms before, and its theme isn’t so overbearing as to turn away those who have no strong feelings one way or the other for Story of Seasons. Probably my favorite game of this sort since Jupiter got SEGA’s chocolate in its Picross peanut butter.

It was always up in the air as to whether or not Spike Chunsoft could get back in the Shiren groove after so long without a new entry, but Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island shows that the developer still understands the beating heart of this long-running franchise. It’s a game that embraces where it comes from, and while that means it might still turn some players off, I think the best thing Shiren can be in this modern rogue-wild world is true to itself. A fantastic game, and I hope this is the start of a whole new chapter for Shiren.

If you want a good 2D action game in the vein of classic Castlevania, Lords of Exile will likely scratch that itch for you nicely. It plays well, offers a solid yet reasonable level of difficulty, and has some cool boss fights. The presentation is also pleasing, particularly the soundtrack. With all that said, this path is starting too feel a little too well-trodden, and Lords of Exile is in sore need of some kind of spice. A fully competent ode to the classics, but one that never quite escapes that definition.

While it isn’t without its faults, Promenade is a game that generally impressed me. As obvious as the idea of doing a 2D take on a 3D collectathon is, doing so successfully is another matter entirely. That this game has managed it without stumbling too much speaks to its quality. It’s one of those cases where if you think the idea sounds good to you, you’ll probably enjoy the results.

I had a real blast playing through qomp2. It puts a very clever spin on the usual precision platformer concept, and executes it almost flawlessly. It can be immensely frustrating, and there are a few gimmicks I didn’t enjoy that much, but overall I think this is an excellent game. I like how it makes use of a certain Atari-ness without fully leaning into it, allowing it to be its own thing while still feeling like an Atari game. This is a game I would highly recommend to those who enjoy a strong challenge, and it’s the kind of thing I’d like to see more of from Atari’s original titles.

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.

Ys is a great game, and this EGGCONSOLE release allows Western players their first chance to see just how much it immediately got right. The lack of in-game English dialogue means the fun will be limited to those who can read Japanese, know the game already like the back of their hand, or don’t mind using a guide to carry them through the game. If you’re okay with that, this is a rather enjoyable trip to the past. Otherwise, it might be best to get your Ys on via other means.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong is as charming as it ever was, and the various additions and improvements to this remake certainly make it a definitive experience for those coming to the game for the first time. Those who got their fill of the original might find there isn’t enough new here to justify the purchase. For my part, I’m happy to see this game come back, but I can’t help but wonder if I wouldn’t have been just as satisfied with the oringal game being added to Nintendo Switch Online instead. Perhaps a new installment is in order?

There’s no question who Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore is aimed at, and that crowd (small though it may be) is going to have a great time exploring the game and finding all the references and homages. If you fall outside of that hardcore CD-i demographic, you’ll still find a quality side-scrolling platforming adventure here, one whose bizarre nature helps it stand out from a very busy pack. It’s nothing fantastic, but given what it was building on, the fact that it’s any good at all is both unexpected and welcome.

Having only tried out Balatro because a friend of mine mentioned the demo, I’ve ended up not only loving it, but putting it directly up with Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Granblue Fantasy: Relink, and Tekken 8 in my top games of 2024 so far. Now I should really delete the game like I said I would to focus on other releases, but I need to play more and get laughed at by the joker.

Gunvolt Records Cychronicle is a confusing release, but one elevated by its amazing music and solid gameplay. I wish it had more game modes and in-game content outside the core rhythm game though. On Steam Deck, Gunvolt Records Cychronicle looks and plays amazing even with touchscreen controls. I don’t see myself bothering with the game on Xbox or PS5 after how good it feels on Steam Deck out of the box.

UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II Sys:Celes is a sublime fighting game with robust online, fantastic music, and deep gameplay. I’ve not even scratched the surface with some characters after focusing on a few since launch, but I adore just about everything UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II Sys:Celes has to offer. I hope it does well enough so we can get crossplay eventually. There are updates planned and early purchases get the season pass free, but a chronicles-like story mode later on would make this package even better than it already is. In its current state, UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II Sys:Celes is brilliant to play on Steam Deck, Switch, and PS5.

Potion Permit is a great game that brings together interesting elements from franchises I love into its own charming package. The mobile version on iOS at least, should’ve been better though. Right now some interface elements don’t feel tailored to touchscreens, and the text size is too small almost across the board. I was also hoping to also see it target a higher frame rate on newer devices like the iPhone 15 Pro. Given this was done by the excellent Playdigious who have released some of the best mobile ports, I expected better. Right now Potion Permit isn’t best played on iOS, but this mobile version isn’t a bad way to play MassHive Media’s simulation RPG, especially at its low asking price compared to consoles.

Mustache in Hell is a short, sometimes frustrating game that has a certain charm to it, but ultimately fails to distinguish itself in a very competitive genre. There just isn’t a whole lot to chew on, and what is here isn’t all that compelling. If you’re looking for something that won’t occupy too much of your time or demand a great deal of thought, you might enjoy your time with the game. I found myself somewhat motivated to play it to the end despite its rough edges, and I suppose that’s worth something.

Regardless of whether you’re new to the series or not, Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II is essential if you enjoy horror adventure games. It has a few small things holding it back from being perfect, but I love the time I put into it on both Switch and Steam Deck. I hope the wait for the next entry isn’t as long and Experience Inc continues to deliver with each new release.

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft does exactly what it says on the tin, presenting the first three adventures of the famous heroine with some optional improvements to help them shine a little brighter. These games have a feel and logic of their own, and those wading into them for the first time might find the games hard to wrap their heads around. For better or worse, this is the original Tomb Raider trilogy, and if you’re going to play them this is the best way to do it. There are a few bugs to address and it really needs a brightness setting for the modern visuals, but otherwise I can’t find much to complain about here that isn’t endemic to the original games.

Dragon Quest Builders on Steam Deck is the definitive version by far offering all content at a lower price than other platforms while delivering solid performance. The wait for Dragon Quest Builders on Steam was long, and I didn’t think it would happen after Dragon Quest Builders 2 shipped, but Square Enix put a lot of effort into this port to make it feel great to play on Steam Deck. If you held off on the original or want to play my favorite Dragon Quest spin-off series, your wait has been worth it. Dragon Quest Builders is excellent on PC and a joy to play on Steam Deck.

Fixeight is the only non shmup in this collection from Bitwave Games. The 1992-released vertical run and gun game from Toaplan had never been brought to any console or modern platform until this new release, and it has been very interesting to play as a fan of Out Zone from a prior collection. I liked that quite a bit, and Fixeight has been a noticeable improvement in many parts. It isn’t essential if you only care about Toaplan’s shmups, but I’m glad it was finally released on PC. It also plays without issues on Steam Deck.

Toaplan’s 1991-released vertical shmup Vimana is the first of two games in this collection I had never played in any form before. I was surprised by the unique setting and visuals for a game released back in 1991, but Vimana’s gameplay excels quite a bit in its levels and weapons. This version has a few sound-related issues that I hope are addressed in patches though. I noticed audio cutting in and out if I used the fast forward or rewind options a lot, and I only did to test and see how the game would handle things. Barring that, Vimana has been a good addition to this collection.

Bitwave’s new version of Batsugun also includes the Batsugun Special Version release that includes multiple loops, changed enemies, different visuals, and more. If you’re new to Batsugun, this release is excellent, and worth grabbing even standalone if you aren’t interested in the other games in the collection. This new version is a much more responsive version of Batsugun compared to the CityConnection release as well.

Toaplan’s 1985 classic vertical shmup Tiger Heli feels great to play in this release from Bitwave, but the sound pitch is a bit off even now. It has gotten updated as recently as a few hours ago from this writing, but it still doesn’t sound exactly like the prior release I’ve played on Switch. Barring that, I have no real complaints with this specific version of Tiger Heli. It delivers a responsive version of the game with a super fast boot up on Steam Deck.

Granblue Fantasy: Relink is a fantastic experience from start to finish that can serve as a brilliant introduction to Cygames’ amazing Granblue Fantasy world. It feels and looks great on Steam Deck, and also is beautiful on PS5. Having replayed the story and now deep into the multiplayer and postgame, Granblue Fantasy: Relink is an easy game of the year contender that I will be playing throughout the year with friends and solo.

Barring the issues with the visuals when played docked, Lil’ Guardsman is worth your time on Nintendo Switch for its writing, puzzles, voice acting, charm, and colorful visuals. It manages to bring in a few styles together well in a compelling package that is only held back by minor issues right now. If you do get it on Switch, play handheld and make use of the touchscreen for the best experience.

Fans of twin-stick roguelites would do well to give Starward Rogue some of their time. The gameplay mechanics are sound, the challenge is right where it should be, and the sheer variety that springs from the many items, rooms, and enemies is impressive. While the visuals are a bit lacking when it comes to the small touches, the action itself is so good you won’t often notice that. An excellent game overall, and I’m glad publisher Klabater brought it to the Nintendo Switch.

While I don’t think either of the games included in The Adventures of Panzer: Legacy Collection are particularly noteworthy, they’re solid enough platformers to get you through a lazy weekend afternoon. Ratalaika has put them in the developer’s usual wrapper, and that means the usual set of features that are welcome if overly familiar. If you’re looking for some silly platforming entertainment for a reasonable price, this isn’t a bad choice.

Dungeons & Doomknights is a decent 8-bit adventure with its tongue planted so far into its cheek that it threatens to burst right through. Nami Tentou has done a nice job packaging it for the Switch, improving on its sometimes too-threadbare earlier efforts. Some collision issues and its tendency to go a little too over the top are the only real flies in this ointment, but those who can get into modern NES games will likely come away satisfied with this one.

Hitman: Blood Money – Reprisal is a game that was clearly ahead of its time, and that means it holds up very well in this Switch incarnation. Feral Interactive has done its usual solid work here, borrowing elements from later games in the series and giving the player the choice of whether they want to use the big new additions or not. If you’re like me and haven’t played a game in this series before, this seems like a good place to start. If you’re more familiar with the newer games it might be a little hard to go back to this game in some ways, but I think there’s still a lot of enjoyment to be had with its clever-for-its-age structure.

I assume that if you’ve taken any interest at all in EGGCONSOLE, you’re willing to accept some of the cruft that comes with games of this time and place. If so, I invite you to check out Yokai Tantei. It’s a great take on some familiar concepts, and one you’ve likely never experienced before.

Overall, this is a decent pack of tables if not a great one. Mechanically, they try some interesting things that sometimes work and sometimes don’t, but the creativity is appreciated. It terms of the themes of each, I feel like some do a better job of adapting the material than others, but they all suffer badly from the lack of authentic voice acting and soundtracks. Budgets only go so far, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t severely bummed out the minute I fired up Deep Space Nine and didn’t hear that theme song. Fine enough, but I’d recommend grabbing Zen’s take on the Williams Star Trek: The Next Generation table ahead of this pack.

I suppose the lucky thing is that you can download Pinball M for free and try out the included table to see how much the heavy technical issues bother you. It hits some tables worse than others, but you’ll at least get a taste for the situation. As for the Death Save Bundle, I would heartily recommend picking up these tables elsewhere. Here on the Switch, I found them to be scarcely playable with the app in its current form.

Having now spent enough time online and offline with Tekken 8 across Steam Deck, PS5, and Xbox Series X, I can safely say that Bandai Namco Studios hit it out of the park with this one. It is a universal improvement over the last game and delivers a superb package right from day one. While it has a few things I’d like to see fixed in updates, Tekken 8 gets my highest possible recommendation right now. I can’t wait to play more. It feels great to not only enjoy playing a new Tekken game, but also have it actually push visuals once again. Tekken 8 has great gameplay, awesome music, superb visuals, a brilliant replay system, and one of the best story modes in a modern fighter.

I feel like the Neptunia series is mostly about preaching to the choir at this point, and in that capacity Sisters VS Sisters is a decent enough spin-off. The thing is, I’m not sure where to send people who want to get into the series at this point, and Sisters VS Sisters presents an equally awkward entry for such people. It assumes you already have some familiarity with the cast, and the emotional beats and twists heavily depend on that. The battle system is really bland, and I feel that the cut corners which are practically a staple of the franchise at this point are getting harder to ignore as the years pass. I had some fun with Sisters VS Sisters, but I was bored a lot more often than I’d prefer to be.

As adventure games go, Another Code: Recollection is a good one even if I don’t think it quite reaches the level of great. Fans of the originals will likely be thrilled with this, as I don’t think anyone expected any of CING’s works to get this kind of treatment. Newcomers looking for a decent adventure game will find one here, complete with some clever puzzles that occasionally get a bit too clever. It didn’t change my mind on Another Code, but I don’t think it was really supposed to do that anyway.

While I need a bit more time to see how Death Stranding Director’s Cut feels later on, I can say that it is a very impressive conversion so far in parts that can look great on the iPhone 15 Pro screen. It isn’t ready for being the only way you experience the game though, at least right now based on the time I’ve put into it. I don’t recommend playing it with touch controls at all either, but if you have a Backbone One or external controller, it will be worth buying after the performance issues can be ironed out. The developers went the extra mile and even added some DualSense features into the release and even implemented gyro controls, but the performance issues hold this back right now.

If you’ve never played Goat Simulator 3 but did enjoy the first main game and spin-offs in the series on mobile, this one is an easy recommendation with a few caveats. While it isn’t perfect even on Xbox Series X, it plays a lot nicer there compared to iOS. I hope we get updates to address the visual and control issues because Goat Simulator 3 feels right at home on a portable and suits the pick up and play nature of the platform while delivering the full game experience from the start.

I’m obviously not going to pretend like this remake’s new visuals, content, and gameplay enhancements make up for the lack of the Persona 3 Portable’s female protagonist option and FES’ The Answer, but Atlus has done a fantastic job with most aspects of this remake bringing out a new gorgeous and modern take on Persona 3 for the current generation. Even if you already played Persona 3 FES and Persona 3 Portable like I did, Persona 3 Reload has enough to justify a replay. It also feels almost perfect on Steam Deck, my favorite way to play it now.

The Legend of Steel Empire is a decent enough way to play a cult classic shooter, even with a few rough points in the overall package. If you’re tired of having your head knocked around by the likes of Gradius or R-Type, you might find this to be the approachable shooter you’re looking for. I appreciate that they made some improvements in the presentation rather than just toss the original game out there, but it feels like there was a missed opportunity to do a little more here.

In its current state, Art of Rally on iOS is sadly not a great port. This should have been the definitive portable version of a superb racer, but it is just in between the bad Switch version and the great Steam Deck version. Performance and visual issues aside, it doesn’t even have good touch controls. I got used to them, but I’d recommend this with a controller for now. Noodlecake is usually great, so this is a rare misstep from the team. I hope it does get fixed because Art of Rally is worth owning and playing at full price, but I can’t recommend on iOS without some caveats unfortunately despite the low asking price on mobile. Hopefully by the time the Android version and DLC release, it will be in a better state.