The fundamentals are sound, and the game has enough personality to differentiate itself from the pack. I imagine that genre fans that love a challenge should check it out, as the last two-thirds of the game offer enough difficulty to keep any veteran happy.

On the whole, Haunted House isn’t bad. Its greater focus on stealth gives it a bit of distinction compared to the typical roguelite action game, and the presentation is quite good. It doesn’t quite nail the pacing of its grind, and the isometric perspective can cause serious and fatal visibility issues at critical moments. Still, there’s something here that kept me coming back, even if it took more than a few gameplay sessions to push through it all. Hardly a homerun for the genre, but if you’re looking for something spooky to play during this Halloween season, you could do a lot worse.

If the game sounds interesting to you, by all means, it's worth checking out, especially at such a reasonable price with no particularly nasty IAP. Just be aware that the game gets quite frustrating in the long run, and not in a very fun way.

If you don't find yourself even slightly amused that a vertical shooter now exists revolving solely around the font Helvetica, you're probably better off sticking with some of the other more colorful shooters out there. However, if you're the kind of person who smugly lists Helvetica first whenever defining the font-family attribute, you need this game.

Guerilla Bob does a great job raising the bar for how a top-down dual-stick shooter should be packaged.

If you're the hardcore music and rhythm gamer that likes to master songs on lower difficulties before mastering them again on higher difficulties, you can easily enjoy this game for a few more hours in free mode.

I enjoyed exploring the various content and commentary which is what kept me playing the game.

The location-based MMO is a genre still growing into its own. Location-based anything is still quite new -- only since we've had GPS technology in our phones has it really caught on. Please Stay Calm is a fun example of where the genre is today, but ultimately it feels like a novelty.

It feels most at home on the larger screen of the iPad, where you can set the device down and put all your fingers to work, but I was surprised at how well it works on the smaller screen of the iPhone and iPod touch using two thumbs to fire.

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.

If you’ve not played Monster Rancher before and are wondering if these new ports are worth your time and money, the answer is yes with a few caveats. While I’m pleased with the controls, visuals for the most part, and new features, these two games are quite dated. The asking price might turn some people off given the visuals and screenshots, but I’d definitely look into getting one or both of the games in Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX when discounted as a curiosity. For longtime fans, Koei Tecmo has done a good job of retaining the original aesthetic while implementing a nice compromise for the CD-generation system for monsters here.

Rangers of Oblivion is bound to entice those with limited experience in the genre, and it’s a great opportunity to dip your toes in the field. But the lack of truly terrifying monsters and subtitles that regularly deviate from the words coming from your speakers, it’s difficult to truly immerse yourself in the world NetEase and GTArcade has attempted to build. There’s plenty to see and do, but only newcomers may want to stick out the ride.

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.

Party Hard Go finally hitting mobile feels like a big deal since the game was so iffy on hitting mobile. And here we are. It's a unique game, from its ultraviolence, to quasi-stealth gameplay, to its...well, unique themes, let's put it that way. It's a one-of-a-kind game, nowhere near excellence, but if you've been intrigued to give it a shot, why not do so now on mobile?

Escape from Doom has enough depth to keep you raiding tombs for hours, even though you might not want to log those hours all at once.

Thexder is certainly one of the easier games in the EGGCONSOLE line to pick up and play. Learning how to handle the transformation and flying the ship takes some practice, but that’s really the only tricky part of the controls. With that said, the game is very hard. Enemies will glom on to you and chew through your energy at rapid speeds if you let them get close, and it can be hard to shake them off. You’ll have to be very patient and make careful use of save states and rewind if you want to see the game through. If you’re okay with that, this is worth trying.

But as a ridiculously cute time waster with a stupidly catchy soundtrack, Baby Monkey knows what it's doing. Dynamically generated levels and a challenging difficulty curve will keep you entertained while you drive your friends insane playing the song on loop.

If you remember the Scott Pilgrim game, this is it. The 2010 game on your Switch. No more, no less. Improvements that could have and perhaps should have been made are not part of the package. If Scott Pilgrim is new to you, this is a competent, energetic River City Ransom-inspired beat-em-up with a memorable, charming presentation and enough secrets and Easter Eggs to keep you invested for a while. There are better brawlers on the Switch, but none of those will let you beat up a telekinetic vegan until he explodes into a pile of Toonies. That’s worth a couple of points at least.

The best way to sum up Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard is that it's very competent in every area, but far from the killer app that many might have hoped it would be.

In another time and place, Elderand would be a game I could easily recommend to anyone. But in a market where we’ve seen the same ideas pop up so often, it just doesn’t really bring anything novel to the table. If you’re okay with that, by all means proceed. It has a few technical issues and the boss battles are a bit limp, but otherwise it’s a very well-rounded take on the genre. On the other hand, those who have slaked their thirst for meandering around a map looking for abilities to help them meander more will probably want to give this one a pass. Decent, but decent only gets you so far these days.

The game ends up being a roller coaster ride that starts fun, becomes frustrating, then gets enjoyable again until it cedes to tedium, taking one last-minute hairpin turn into frustration depending on your party build.

Like a top notch student handing in a rush job, Mittens sags not under the weight of what it does wrong, but all that it could have done much better.

If you’re into the idea of some slightly more approachable shoot ’em ups from the past, you might want to look into Over Horizon X Steel Empire. While it’s really just two distinct games, the two versions of Steel Empire differ from each other enough that I think you’re getting a decent value here. I really wish ININ and Ratalaika would do more to make these releases feel like they aren’t just dropping off the assembly line into a decent emulation wrapper, but if you’re only here for the games you’ll be well-served with this set.

Beyond the technical flaws, the biggest problem Bassmaster Fishing 2022 has is in where its attempts at realism clash with its more arcade-ish elements. Realistic fishing tournament goals run counter to the more casual reality of how lures work. The graphics look great but your boat behaves like an air hockey puck. A whole lot of waiting around and finding good spots, but a minigame-like focus when it comes time to catch the fish. This conflicted approach means that both fans of sim games and fans of more casual fishing experiences are going to have to accept some compromises. Nevertheless, fishing fans will likely find enough to enjoy here to make it worth the trip.

My one knock on the game involves the physics. They feel stiff.

Letterbox is one more play on traditional word game mechanics, and it isn't quite cool enough to overcome the creeping sense of familiarity.

Given how rarely Falcom seems to let the original Wanderers out versus Oath in Felghana, it’s nice to have a chance to play this game again. It’s grindy and there are parts that don’t quite work, but that Ys flow that runs through just about all of the games is present and accounted for. This release only offers Japanese language support in-game, so make sure you know what you’re getting into if you decide to pick it up. If you’re okay with that, then this is worth the spin.

Caverns of Mars: Recharged is another solid entry in the Recharged line, though perhaps not the most revelatory of the bunch. It’s a good straightforward action game with a pleasing presentation and a variety of options and modes to maintain your interest. It sacrifices some of the unique elements of the original game in favor of a more crowd-pleasing design, but how much that bothers you is going to vary from person to person. It doesn’t let down the Recharged name, but it’s also not the first one I’d recommend.