Recoil Games hasn't come up with anything all that fresh or unique in the world of one-touch platformers, but Rock Runners has hooks that work. If the rest of the game worked as well, relied less on repetition and more on thoughtful level design, we might have something special. Instead we find ourselves with a runner that isn't quite the same old thing, but doesn't do nearly enough to stand out.

While the original Heavy Mach was a great sidescroller, the sequel has translated well to the overhead view along with improving nearly everything from the first game.

The sheer volume of content is Dream Track Nation's main selling point.

When you combine the large amount of depth on the gameplay side with a good narrative tale and a fairly decent control scheme, Time of Heroes is well worth a recommendation for any fan of strategic turn-based games.

Block Block Block makes the best of its ruleset, and rarely wastes a step.

And it's a game that has great production values for what it is, as a 2D top-down shoot 'em up. It's just that the game has a lot of issues that keep it from being a solid recommendation.

Super Arc Light is a game that has some key shortcomings, but nothing too damning.

Runner aficionados will find little to keep them hooked in a playing field full of meatier options.

The occasional technical issues aren’t really enough to drag down the overall experience of Fate/Samurai Remnant, though. This is a really cool action-RPG that takes some elements that Omega Force has fully mastered and marries them to some enjoyable new mechanics, resulting in something that feels familiar and fresh at the same time. Throw in an engaging story from the folks at TYPE-MOON and you have a game that is very easy to recommend.

The story CRYMACHINA weaves is the main thing that will keep you playing, as even if it isn’t the most original of tales there’s something a bit grippy to it. The gameplay is as average as it gets for an action-RPG, and it’s decent and interesting enough that it shouldn’t keep you from enjoying that tale. The usual Switch port technical issues are here, so do keep that in mind if you have other acceptable options for playing it. It falls well short of the works that seemingly inspired it, but CRYMACHINA is one of the better games from FuRyu on Switch.

Some of its new ideas could use a bit more hammering out, and I’m not sure it needed as much expanding as it has received. But it, like the game it is based on, is a rather unique game that pulls you in powerfully the more time you spend with it. There isn’t a whole lot like this out there, and it’s handily better than other homages like SolSeraph.

El Shaddai has always been a game that divided opinions, and that’s just as true of this HD remaster as it was for the original version. The beautiful presentation carries a lot of the load here, and the story certainly has its charms. The repetitive gameplay is the biggest issue here, as it fails to offer both the diversity of moves and expanding arsenal of many of its peers in the character action genre. For me, the good outweighed the inadequate here, and nothing was really outright bad about it. But if you think a game needs to get by on its mechanics, you might want to pump the brakes on this Ascension.

It's bland, SimCity type of stuff with Kairosoft's characteristic wrapper.

In its current state with the visual issue caveat, I recommend TopSpin 2K25 if you really like tennis. It could’ve been better, but I’ve enjoyed the time I’ve put into it. I’m not sure if this will become a yearly series for 2K, but I’m glad to see TopSpin return. I look forward to seeing what future updates bring for the game.

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is not the sort of thing we typically see from Nintendo, but if there was any rust on the team it assuredly doesn’t show. It’s perhaps a little too adherent to the original games in its mechanics, and while the plot is mostly excellent there are some times where the pace falls off or things resolve in ways I didn’t find as satisfying as I would have ideally hoped for. Still, these are minor complaints for what is otherwise a thoroughly enjoyable mystery adventure. Welcome back, Detective Club. Don’t stay away so long this time.

A nice little casual game that does a good job of filling the role of a title offering short bursts of quick gameplay with not much else. The combination of platforming and endless running, while not particularly innovative, still provides a good gameplay experience when combined with its somewhat randomized engine.

The Nightjar is a definite bird to catch so check out our forums and see what the community is saying about the experience.

It's a fun little game, and there are tons of tracks. It has a slightly different feel from many of the other racing games I've played on iOS thanks to its focus on giving an actual toy-like experience.

While I feel like LEX is the self-flagellation of word games, it can be a surprisingly pleasurable kind of pain.

If you don't think you'll mind the nasty difficulty or just intend on cheating your way through it using free read anyway, you'll find Bloodbones to be a meaty, interesting quest that feels a bit different in tone and pacing from any of the other Tin Man Fighting Fantasy releases so far. I suspect few will have the patience to see everything it has to offer, unfortunately.

This sequel is just a small step forward, not a huge leap. And considering that it's less than a year later, that's far from a bad thing!

If you want a solid, friendly-enough hack 'n slash, Spirit Lords isn't a bad choice, but not essential.

How utterly fantastic this mobile re-imagination of Lineage II is has the wheels turning in my head of what other awesome MMORPGs are there out there that enterprising developers could re-release as a auto-play mobile progress game that wouldn't also be just as awesome? If nothing else, NetMarble significantly upped the ante on what we can expect in games like this, and I really hope both Nexon and Square Enix are paying attention when it comes to the upcoming mobile port of Final Fantasy XI. NetMarble has really outdone themselves, and it's going to be hard for other developers to catch up.

So while Dissidia Final Fantasy OO is definitely fan service, it's not only that, and that fact alone elevates it above some of the other F2P FF titles we've seen come through the App Store. If you've got a soft spot in your heart for the personalities from the world's most famous RPG series and want to see them all come together in a way that doesn't insult your intelligence, this is worth a download to see if you enjoy the rest of what it has to offer as well.

No Way Home is a must-play Apple Arcade game. While it sometimes might get repetitive by shooting your way through from point A to point B, the engaging story, funny characters, and different game modes make this game a great experience that’s completely worth playing.

Personally, I found the puzzles more engaging than the story, but your mileage may vary. At the very least, I can say that I haven’t played a game exactly like this before. That could be a good or bad thing; here it’s the former.

For anyone willing to buy into Puzzle Quest’s signature mechanics though, Dark Reign is -- perhaps surprisingly -- more robust than its fan service or freemium boondoggles would suggest, packing in enough content and new ideas to keep devotees matching jewels until the inevitable heat death of the Marvel universe.

It's better served as an exceptional entertainment experience rather than an exceptional game.