If you enjoyed the first Koumajou Remilia game and want another serving of the same, here you go. If you’re a big Touhou fan, this is above average in terms of the spread available on Switch. Perhaps you have happy memories of the original release from back in the day? Well, you might appreciate the few extras that have been added here. For everyone else, this is a very average side-scrolling action game with a very good soundtrack. There are better ways to spend your time and money.

Excluding the wonky jumping mechanic, I like all of the ideas in Pixel Ranger. Its look and style, its enemies, its attrition-based vertical shooting, and its power-ups are strong parts of a whole that, unfortunately, doesn't feel cohesive.

The unusual mechanics make MetaHuman Inc. interesting from a gameplay point of view, but overall, I found this to be one of the weaker recent releases from Choice Of Games.

I struggled with this game, despite being attracted to it. Your mileage may vary, of course, but I wonder if the concept is just a little too abstract for the average puzzle player. If geometric puzzle games are your thing—or you're a big-time puzzle aficionado looking for a challenge—noded will provide you with plenty of challenging levels for a very low price.

Fearmonium‘s creative premise and interesting themes help it stand out in the crowded sea of Metroidvania-style action-adventure games on the Switch. In practice, however, it’s never as cool to play as it is to describe. In isolation I could forgive its awkward writing, somewhat clumsy gameplay mechanics, or troublesome bugs. But taken all together, it hamstrings what would otherwise be a genuinely fascinating game. I feel confident a patch will fix the bugs, but the rest of it will proably have to lay as-is. A little disappointing given how much it got its claws into me with its set-up.

It's really a shame because outside of this frustrating facet of the game's story mode (as well as the pop-up) Dream Chaser isn't that bad of an endless runner. As it stands, genre fans will probably still find it worth checking out, if anything for its style and story mode. For everyone else, it's probably worth a pass.

You should download this if you have a 3D Touch device, just to see what's possible in games with that functionality. And if you love the Warhammer universe, giant robots, or just want an action game you can play for quick bursts, you will enjoy some time with this game. But the constant monetization attempts, while fair, do wear down your nerves. And that energy system is a killer that keeps this from being a good game and a solid recommendation.

If Madfinger can fix the crashing and save-game deletion issues with a patch, they're still left with a repetitive, but lovely looking shooter. There are hints of true quality in the boss fights and some minor sections of the campaign, but the majority relies on a simple, corridor design that's hard to find engaging for very long.

Once the performance issues are addressed and some tweaks are made to the actual soccer during matches, Soccer Story will be an easy recommendation on Nintendo Switch. If you’d rather not wait, you are better off playing it on Steam Deck right now. Having tested it on Switch, Steam Deck, and Xbox Series X over the last few weeks, the Switch version definitely needs more optimization. Right now, I enjoy the open world and exploration aspects of the game a lot more than the actual soccer. There is a lot of potential here, but Soccer Story is a few updates away from being a great experience.

My only real complaint about the title is that, when next-move hints are enabled, they appear after just five seconds of idle time.

An average tower defense game with small twists on the gameplay that don't particularly propel it above mediocrity.

If you missed Lightning Fighter the first time around and can look past the somewhat greedy IAP system, Lightning Fighter 2 is certainly worth checking out.

Movement is stiff, you can’t see very far ahead of you, enemies fly at you almost out of nowhere, and the level designs are more perfunctory than interesting. An interesting relic of the past, but not much more than that outside of its original context.

The biggest issue I have with Ion Racer is that the game never really evolves beyond what you see at the onset. You can buy different skins and upgrade attributes, but the gameplay never really feels different. Even the environments hardly change, with the same futuristic tunnels with each run. It's a shame, because the visuals are excellent and, when combined with the framerate and sense of speed, look very much like Wipeout.

When you get Battle Golf going with a friend, it's fun to play. But those moments are often fleeting, and that enjoyment will likely plummet once you're alone with it.

The imprecise controls, and surprisingly small song selection hold the game back.

I can really only recommend Everybody 1-2-Switch! to those who regularly entertain large groups of friends who aren’t averse to playing games. Even then, there are so many better party games to play, with Nintendo itself offering several that are better than this. Not even a wacky horse head guy can save it, and I didn’t think I would ever say that about anything.

One of the biggest concerns I have with Hired Gun 3D is the overall lack of variety.

Tin Man Games did their best here, but there's only so much you can do when the source has this many issues.

I could imagine some people getting into Monster Menu. As I said, it’s not as though it doesn’t work as a game. But its signature mechanic isn’t fleshed out enough to carry an otherwise rote affair with so many other far more interesting roguelike games out there to enjoy. I would like to see a sequel hammer some of the ideas in here into something a lot better, because there is almost something to it. For here and now, it’s hard to generate much enthusiasm for this particular title.

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.

The story is unfortunately forgettable, and raises the question of why Square Enix did not tap into its sizable library of popular licences to provide something more of substance.

The equation for NOOB – The Factionless probably changes a bit if you’re a fan of the NOOB web series. Speaking as a Spider-Man fan, I know all too well how an average game with the right license can be elevated for those who like that property. So if you dig NOOB and the people behind it, I can give this a small recommendation. For everyone else, this is just another average RPG on a platform that probably has a few too many of those as it is.

The overall plot of Wonderland Nights is reasonably interesting, but the stunningly poor voice acting and simple gameplay mechanics make it hard to stick with long enough to reveal that whole story. It reminds me a lot of one of those old flash games where you combined various items to see the results, playing over and over again until you got the ending you were after. The art has a unique and striking style, but the rest of the presentation is quite weak. It’s a mildly amusing game to poke at, but it could have been a lot better.

There's merit in a game where the buttons are integral to the world. It's just too bad that didn't quite happen here.

Star Trader is an interesting piece of gaming history, showing a developer working outside of the lane we usually associate them with. Unfortunately, what joy could be had from poking at this curio is severely dampened by the fact that there is a ton of Japanese text in here that most Western players won’t be able to read. You might still get something out of messing around with it, but it’s hard to recommend it with much vigor.

For most people, the game is a really enjoyable pick-up-and-play little app that will likely give those who download it something to do for a long time.

For all its charm and cleverness, Party Wave falls on the wrong side of the line between originality and accessibility. There's promise and style to be found here, but not nearly enough entertainment.

Huge fans of FFIV will probably want to check it out After Years regardless, but honestly, I don’t think you’re missing much.

Tomb Raider 2 is a great game, probably the best of Core's Tomb Raider titles. From a technical standpoint, this is an excellent port, and it includes all of the official content ever released for the game.

In trying to place one foot on each side of the line, the game ends up falling into the divide between the two. In a genre that is among the most fiercely competitive on the platform, it's a fatal mistake.

The controls are passable, but nowhere near the likes of Street Fighter IV Volt, King of Fighters-i, or SoulCalibur on iOS.

Check it out only if you're a die-hard runner fan or want to see what it feels like to get sick from playing a so-so game.

There’s a fun wrestling game at the core of AEW: Fight Forever. Probably the best licensed one in a couple of decades. I greatly look forward to seeing where this franchise goes in the future. I can’t say I didn’t get some enjoyment out of this Switch version, even. But the technical performance here really is below-par, and not just in the usual ways we’ve come to expect on the platform. Hopefully some updates can get things running the way they should, but I can’t guess at the future. I can only see how things are right now, and my advice would be to seek this one out on another platform if you can.

The games are fun and this collection is appreciated in principle, but it’s hard to recommend in its current state.

In the end, I'd say Songs Of The Mystics is probably most likely to appeal to gamebook veterans who are willing to put up with its somewhat messy design and appreciate what it's trying to do, even if it doesn't quite pull it off.

Unfortunately, the massive amounts of input lag leave the game feeling unresponsive, which adds a layer of frustration that Cotton 2 certainly didn’t need. It doesn’t make the game unplayable by any means, but it hurts the playability whenever the action gets hot. There aren’t many options for playing this game at a reasonable price, so I don’t blame anyone for choosing this one. I just wish the emulation had been better handled.

A game with well-done visuals and a system in place that at least keeps you coming back.

As a result of the overall high difficulty, the games meager eighteen stages don't go by quite as fast as you think they might.

The humor hovers on that level, a mix of pop-culture references, tough guy 'tude and "Jackass" worthy stunts. Maybe that, combined with shooting punks and rudeboys, coshing juves, and riding a AI motorcycle equipped with machine guns and a laser, is enough.

Overall, Hero in Residence didn't deliver the same kind of entertainment Season 1 did, and I'm hoping the rest of the episodes give us a stronger narrative and fewer fight scenes. Telltale games are at their strongest when they give us entertaining and challenging narratives rather than puzzle and fight scenes, so I'm hoping to see more of that kind of a Telltale game in the next episodes.

Cyber Citizen Shockman 2 is, to me, clearly more enjoyable to play than the first game. The problem is that to get there it had to ditch everything unique about its predecessor, and it still ended up being a rather middling affair. Was it worth it? I’m not sure. That’s a question for the past. Here in the present, the question is whether this rerelease is worth it for you. It’s too different from the first for me to fall back on the reliable “if you liked the other one, you’ll like this" spiel. So instead I’ll rely on the old faithful “this one is really only there for the students of gaming history, and those who have nostalgia for it". I’m glad Ratalaika is releasing these, but they’re hard to recommend in the modern age.

The truly unfortunate thing about Warheads is the lack of any kind of online scoring.

The serialized story idea is tough to wrap your head around in a RPG and figuring out a way to balance gameplay with variety and story is going to be a serious challenge moving forward. If they can pull it off, Emissary of War could be something truly special.

The main gimmick Skautfold: Usurper has going for it is that combat is highly lethal. Like, a single mistake can be devastating and it doesn’t matter how deep into the game or upgraded you might be. Your defense is temporarily weakened when you attack, so the more aggressive you are, the less damage you can survive. That’s something, but that’s the only real trick the game has up its sleeve. Otherwise it’s thoroughly average in every other respect. If you really need a new Metroidvania-style game right now, Skautfold: Usurper will do. Otherwise, it’s hard to find much enthusiasm for this one.

I also have no doubt that a lot of gamers will simply glance over this game for its lack of gameplay. However, the sheer psychedelic nature of the game is worth noting and at least struck a chord with me.

It's a great experience, but I think you need to be in the proper state of mind to enjoy it, and even then I'd lean more towards describing the game as "this is really neat" rather than "this is really fun."

Despite some interesting extra modes and a basic level of competency in most aspects, the places where Shinorubi falters really hurt the whole. The claustrophobic play field, muddy visuals, framerate issues, and overall bland design all add up to a game that feels like it wants to hang with the big dogs but has trouble keeping up with the chihuahuas at times. Shinorubi has a lot of heart behind it and it shows, but I really can’t find my way to recommending it with much vigor.

Without a doubt, the biggest thing that Star Wars: Cantina has going for it is how successfully it captures that Star Wars charm– from the music to the background art and the notorious characters you encounter– you almost expect Luke and Han to walk through the door next.

Bonds of the Skies isn't a bad game by any means, but it's strikingly average in almost every way.

The Bradwell Conspiracy does a lot of good, though. It introduces us into a relatively interesting story, opens up what could be a great mechanic for future games, and creates a character you’re invested in even though you’re never invested in your own at all. I wished for more the entire time and I very much am interested in a second game if there should be one. It’s a basis of a good game but that’s all it ever lives up to as the game is neither long nor varied. Puzzles and platformer aspects get stale far too quickly and I feel it relies too heavily on Amber which gives your own character just the status of Tool #6428.

While it's well-written and even genuinely funny in places, Congresswolf ends up heavily emphasizing the 'congress' at the expense of the 'wolf'. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but with the game leaning hard on the campaign management, that element has to carry the overall experience. Unfortunately, pulling out a victory over your opponent ends up lacking in challenge, leaving it all feeling rather empty. Maybe it's just as well, though. Who could ever believe a story about politicians who are secretly monsters?

If you have Netflix it doesn’t cost you anything to try the game, and if you’re a fan of the show and somehow aren’t that familiar with chess, I encourage you to give it a shot. Queen’s Gambit Chess will assuredly teach you how to play the game, so if that is what you’re looking for you’re all set. But it will only take you so far, choosing to show you what to do instead of teaching you what to do. Experienced chess players will probably find it a bit unsatisfying overall thanks to the low level of difficulty and excessive handholding. Throw in some fairly serious technical issues in the current version that deeply affects multiplayer and you’ve got a game that struggles to find its own winning move.

Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 4 originally came out eight years ago, and I imagine at the time it might have been nice to see any signs of life from the series. But since we’re this many years down the road without any follow-up, there’s no need to pretend this has any chance of being a Hail Mary that saves Ty and brings us the game we really want. This is a thoroughly average 2D platformer in every sense of the word, and while my mind can conjure up far worse things, I still can’t recommend this with any vigor at all.

The controls can be a point of frustration.

Cryptic Keep is good, but not great. For adventure fans looking for a fix, it may provide some entertainment, but there's something about it that feels a bit generic.

I appreciate a lot about 8bit Doves: I just know it needs a lot more to be the best game it can be.

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.

If you actually burn through every monthly Kemco release, this one will do you just fine, as it's hardly their worst effort, but if you're sitting there trying to pick between this and a few others you've missed, you're probably safe to give Rusted Emeth a pass.

Roping Rob is a simple game, with basic yet strangely appealing graphics. There's a fair amount of entertainment provided, with replay value if you choose to better your own level completion times.

Superfrog HD isn't a bad platformer, but it's not a very good one, either.

I think if you are okay with a pure grind, Elrentaros Wanderings might not turn you off the way it did me. But if you have even the slightest allergy to excessive banality, then this game is likely to have you heading for the hills. Its few good ideas are squandered by watering down the broth too much, stretching far too little content far too far. Not without any merit, but thoroughly disappointing.

There are some decent ideas in here if you can tolerate its fundamentals being so sloppy, like being able to add bits to your sword to improve it. But none of those ideas matter all that much when it just isn’t enjoyable to play.

While God Damn the Garden is affordable and isn’t completely without merit, I didn’t find it enjoyable at all to play. Irritating, perhaps. Frustrating, definitely. I know it has its fans, but I just can’t see any reality or circumstances where I would recommend buying or playing this over similarly affordable games on the eShop like DOOM or QUAKE. Yes, even if you’ve played those a million times before.

Overall, the game feels like a series of mediocre mini-games tied together by scenes from the original movie.

Word Laces does good things. The difficulty is perfect, the images are all high quality, there are no bugs that I’ve seen, and it does entertain at first. Unfortunately, the grind in the game is unreal and the lack of variety makes it less fun the more you play it. The game has its strong points and would be great for helping children learn spelling and vocabulary, but for the general public it’s just not good enough.

My understanding is that The Barbarian was made by a one-man team. That's very impressive, of course, but it doesn't change the actual game, which falls short in a few too many ways to give it a solid recommendation.

The idea of a mini RPG is a good one, and perhaps Kemco can find some gold in these hills with a bit more experimentation. Archlion Saga feels like a step along that road at best, and unless you really need a way to fill a few hours mindlessly, it's one you can pass up on without much regret.

What's there is fun, but at five dollars it's difficult to support Sega's apparent decision to treat Virtua Tennis Challenge as an afterthought.

It's not that it's a thoroughly bad game. In its own right it could have been a decent endless runner, as the visuals are sharp and the concept is sound. Yet it unequivocally fails to earn a place in the Zaxxon canon, and with only one game mode and a greedy in-app store, it struggles to demonstrate its value as a standalone title.

Kingdoms: Merge & Build is technically more interesting than, like, counting spots on the ceiling or twiddling your thumbs, but just barely. It comes off very much like a free-to-play game that has made a couple of tweaks to fit the Apple Arcade rules, and those changes end up squeezing out what little mechanical engagement the game likely had to offer. The story and characters don’t help matters, either. Just a dud all around.

There are lots of ways this could be a game that I'd want to recommend to others, but right now, the only thing I can truly say about my feelings on this game is that it's not worth it.

Hatsune Miku – The Planet Of Wonder And Fragments Of Wishes is a game I recommend on a big discount if you like Miku. I try to play just about every Hatsune Miku game I can across platforms, and Hatsune Miku – The Planet Of Wonder And Fragments Of Wishes would’ve been easier to recommend if it cost about half of what it does and didn’t have a constant scrolling issue. As a short adventure game for Miku fans, it gets the job done, but the asking price makes it a non starter right now.

I wish those middle sections were strong enough for me to recommend Demon Mark in spite of its slow beginning and disappointing end, because I absolutely love the idea of this one. When the story is reveling in its source material, it was almost enough to push the needle in that direction. But when a game's interactivity depends entirely on player choice, it's the rare game that can gracefully handle disregarding said choices. Outsmarting Baba Yaga might be a lot of fun, but that lack of proper agency, especially in the ending, is why Demon Mark misses its own mark.

Skylanders: Ring of Heroes is a solid turn-based RPG, but it’s quite clearly a Summoners War skin slapped onto a familiar franchise for a very transparent reason.

With a lot of great RPGs on the Switch to choose from, Mato Anomalies really shouldn’t be on anyone’s radar. That’s unfortunate, because there are a lot of promising elements here that could have added up to something neat. Execution is key, however, and that is where Mato Anomalies seems to fail in every category. Even without the significant performance issues, the underlying design flaws result in something that I really can’t recommend to anyone except those who enjoy picking apart misfires.

If you're just a pinball fan, go ahead and load up Haunted House again. There's not enough new here to make it worth dealing with the hassle of the token system and its absurd wait times.

This is a less than stellar package of two less than stellar games. Those who aren’t fussy about emulation accuracy can probably find some fun with Radical Rex‘s 16-bit version, but there’s practically nothing good to say about the game in its Game Boy form as presented here. More of a Dubious Dino than a Radical Rex.

It's all very well-made, and it's still a fun, solid experience with a lot of charm.

Fightback is a game that will let you have some fun, but for only less than ten minutes at a time, and only if your character's stats and gear are up to date

Aquarist is probably a really enjoyable game on PC. On Switch, its severe interface problems combined with a few technical issues makes it really difficult to just chill out and enjoy the simple pleasures of building the aquariums of your dreams and taking care of your fish. Nearly unreadable text, especially in handheld mode, combines with clumsy controls that were obviously designed for a mouse, and the result is very hard to recommend.

I am a sucker for ARPG games, and I really was hoping Uprising would be able to evoke some of the feeling I get when playing my favorites. I think with some updates it has the potential to improve but until then Uprising is going to be in the 'miss' column for me.

These design issues are really a shame, considering how much potential the underlying game actually has. Unfortunately, in its current state, I can't recommend BridgeTheGap for anyone other than the most diehard of puzzle fans that are willing to look past all the problems. For everyone else, it's best you steer clear.

What's baffling is that this game is so tilted against being fun and accessible, and that's the polar opposite of what Radiangames' games do.

Those who are buying up every EGGCONSOLE release don’t have much need for a review. Go ahead, it’s another one. Others who are being more selective would do well to look at other titles in the line, as Marchen Veil simply has little to offer anyone who doesn’t already have some degree of nostalgia for it. All this game really does for me is make me look forward to the upcoming EGGCONSOLE release of Ys, and it can do that perfectly well for you without spending your money or time on it.

It all adds up to a game that is frustrating for all the wrong reasons. It’s not unplayable, and it’s fair to say the Souls series has suffered its own share of technical issues over the years, but it’s awfully hard to recommend Hellpoint in this particular state.

Destiny Fantasia is basically a microwave pizza JRPG. It's almost devoid of taste and you probably shouldn't eat it, but if you're hungry and want something that vaguely resembles real pizza, it will probably hold you over.

Session: Skate Sim is a great game I recommend on literally any other current platform. It is a shame about how it turned out on Nintendo Switch. I still found myself having fun on and off, but I cannot recommend Session: Skate Sim on Nintendo Switch in its current state. You’re missing out on too much of the atmosphere by playing a subpar version on Switch right now.

Punch Hero's invisible paywall feels terribly mean-spirited.

I don’t dislike the game. It’s serviceable. There’s a reasonably interesting job system to tinker with, and while the soundtrack is a bit thin what’s here is very good. Dragon Lapis is the kind of game that I could recommend to some if it were half the price it’s going for on Switch, but at fifteen dollars I don’t think it does anywhere near enough to justify its cost.

While I can feel the appreciation dripping from the visuals and the overall game design, the lack of attention to the core gameplay makes Arcane Ghosts feel less like a love note and more like a poison pen letter to the games it admires so clearly.

Although it's clear a lot of thought was put into it, TITAN - Escape the Tower ends up being considerably more bitter than sweet, particularly for fans of the original.

If the floaty jumping and difficult dashing are things you can live with, then Super Heavy Sword might be worth your attention. Otherwise, you're better off giving this one a pass and hoping, like me, that Monster Robot Studios are someday able to address the chronic problems that are holding back their excellent ideas and enthusiasm.

This is a textbook example of how a poor port can ruin what a game is trying to get across. The Switch version of As Far As The Eye suffers from numerous bugs that significantly impede attempts to play it, and decisions like tiny text and not allowing touch controls would cause issues even if everything was running smoothly. These problems stack on top of a game that already had its fair share of flaws in its original form to wash away most of the goodwill from its more clever moments. If you’re looking for a unique strategic survival game, you may want to give As Far As The Eye a chance, but I can’t recommend doing it on Switch.

There's just no reason to go back to something that might have been an okay (if slightly familiar) title two years ago when there are so many fantastic games coming out right now.

Dusk Diver 2 builds on the original in its scope, visuals, and music, but is held back by its dungeons, quests, and some aspects of the combat. The Nintendo Switch version especially feels far too sluggish compared to the original. If you enjoyed Dusk Diver and want more of the world, Dusk Diver 2 on Switch is something you can consider when it gets a price drop. I would really recommend checking it out elsewhere though in its current state.

Jet Point is a visual treat and has loads of potential but at this stage it's just too darned hard for the average gamer. A few small fixes and Jet Point could easily attract a stronger recommendation.

In the here and now, it's hard to come up with any compelling reasons to play this instead of just running through a better game once more.