Twin Hawk is an 1989-released vertical scrolling shmup from Toaplan that has an alternate World War II setting. This one is a bit different to Toaplan’s usual shmup settings with its visuals and the real star is the music of the package aside from the gameplay of course. Overall, I did enjoy my time with Twin Hawk, but I hope the sound emulation can be improved a bit because having heard Twin Hawk’s music before playing it, the end result here is a bit lacking. Aside from that, I recommend this release, and love how well it plays on Steam Deck. It definitely made me interested in the Evercade version if I ever decide to get one of those.

Originally released back in 1992, Truxton 2 is a sequel to Truxton, and it has gorgeous visuals. It is also quite difficult, but really has been the game in this set I’ve revisited the most since getting access to it. As a vertical shmup, Truxton 2 has excellent gameplay, and I’m glad to see the audio issues get addressed quite a bit with updates following the launch. It isn’t perfect, but I’m pleased with the current state of Truxton 2, and it plays flawlessly on Steam Deck with Steam Remote Play Together support.

Some of the quests and open world activities felt repetitive, but on the whole Sand Land is one of the better adaptations we’ve seen from the publisher. Whenever Bandai Namco Entertainment announces a new project like this, I never know whether it will be worth my time or not. Thankfully, Sand Land ended up delivering and is worth your time on Steam Deck. I definitely recommend trying out the free demo if you aren’t sure it is for you.

Hydlide II isn’t the greatest of games even by the standards of its own series, and those coming to it with no nostalgia, nearly four decades later, are probably not going to have a very good time with it. The relatively low amount of text means the language barrier isn’t as big of an issue here as it is in some other EGGCONSOLE releases, so you probably could play through it if you have a mind to. But I doubt many but the most stubborn and dogged of gaming historians are going to try to do that.

If you enjoy logic puzzles, you’ll likely find Sokobond Express to be a treat. It has a nice, simple presentation that makes all of its elements clear at a glance, chill music to listen to as you mull things over, a solid difficulty curve that eases you into the boiling pot, and has some educational value to boot. As path-finding puzzlers go, Sokobond Express is a superb example.

While Picross -LogiartGrimoire- doesn’t do anything revolutionary from a mechanical standpoint, its new framing for the puzzles makes this the best entry point for the series in quite a long while. If you’ve never played a Picross game before, I think this is the one to start with as far as the Switch releases go. If you have played a Picross game before, you probably picked this up the minute it released anyway.

Ikki Unite is a game with two faces. If you play it in the form I assume it was intended by heading online, it has a powerful identity of its own despite being clearly inspired by Vampire Survivors. If you play alone, you’ll find a very challenging game that isn’t quite as fun as the game it draws inspiration from. You can tell the developers really considered how to make this game feel like Ikki despite hopping on to a popular genre-of-the-moment. I’d recommend this to fans of this kind of game, provided they’re okay with playing online. After all, the rebellion that slays together, stays together.

Being able to access your shared worlds across platforms is nice, but for a game that offers cross play and has Microsoft account linking, I really wish it was full cross progression and cross play like you’d expect from a modern game with online components. I can see myself coming back to Grounded to play with friends online, but I’m leaning towards playing it more on PS5 with the faster load times, better performance, and more.

A Tale of Paper: Refolded takes a decent enough swing at the cinematic puzzle platformer genre, but this Switch version is probably the worst way to play it. From the usual technical issues that often come with an Unreal Engine game to a bevy of bugs that lead to a frustrating amount of resets, A Tale of Paper‘s numerous issues pile up to make it hard to recommend in this form. Those who are interested in the premise would do well to try it out on other platforms instead.

This is about as straight forward a take on Sokoban-style puzzles as you can get. There’s a cute theme here where you’re an alien pushing livestock into your tractor beam instead of being a guy pushing crates into designated squares, but that’s really the only distinctive feature of the game. Oh, and you can unlock hats. From an audiovisual standpoint, it comes off like the five-dollar game that it is, but the actual gameplay does what it has to. If you’re a Sokoban fiend that needs another fix, this will tide you over. Others are unlikely to find much charm in it.

Being limited to only two players keeps Ready, Steady, Ship! from being the next party fix for Overcooked fans, but there’s enough enjoyment to be had here that those who don’t mind the smaller player count will find it worth their while to check out. It’s a little awkward and glitchy, but that’s really only a problem if you’re shooting for the best performance in each stage. Otherwise, it’s an added bit of tomfoolery in a game that only benefits from such things.

Keeping the legacy of Flash games alive is important, and in that sense I’m glad Rose & Camellia Collection exists. But its slight nature and clumsy controls make it hard to recommend with much vigor despite its charming presentation. Apart from adding some standard button controls I can’t imagine someone making a better Rose & Camellia collection than this, so if you loved the series on your computer back in the day by all means go for it. Otherwise, I’m not sure there’s enough here to chew on at the price it’s commanding.

Slice & Dice isn’t just one of my favorite games of 2024, but one of my favorite roguelikes in many years already. I’m looking forward to playing it daily on iPhone, and think anyone with a remote interest in roguelikes should download the game and try it for free immediately.

Sometimes a game doesn’t have to do anything too fancy to satisfy, and that’s more or less where I’m at with Mimi the Cat. It’s a fairly straightforward take on the Sokoban-style crate-pusher puzzle game. Mimi’s trying to reach her scratcher in each stage, and you need to guide her there. This will often involve pushing boxes around and stacking them so that Mimi can cross gaps or climb up to where her scratcher is, and there are a few stage gimmicks sprinkled in to keep things fresh along the way. It’s not doing anything new and it comes off as very low-budget, but if you enjoy these kinds of puzzles it will scratch the itch.

If you love Legacy of the Wizard for the NES and are curious about trying a slightly remixed version of it, then EGGCONSOLE Dragon Slayer IV is something you’ll want to check out. If you’re fully new to the game, I’d probably recommend the Namco Museum Archives Vol. 2 set instead. The NES version included there is just as good as this one if not better, and you get more games to go with it. With that said, this isn’t a bad version by any means, and the language barrier is rather minimal by the standards of these releases. An odd game to be sure, but not one that is impossible to love.

I won’t belabor the point here. Freedom Planet 2 takes everything Freedom Planet did right and does it better, while also making sure to improve on the things it didn’t do well. It’s still not a perfect game by any means, and it can’t quite escape the orbit of Sonic the Hedgehog. But maybe it doesn’t have to? Maybe it isn’t meant to? Perhaps it’s just fine if it’s a really great riff on Sonic‘s gameplay. It knows what it wants to be and executes on that amazingly well. If you like 2D platformers, you’ll want to put this game on your shopping list.

There’s a lot to like in Terra Memoria, especially in the game’s outstanding presentation. It’s clear its creators are fans of the RPG genre, and the foundation is here for something really great. Unfortunately, after a solid start the game doesn’t really build on things very well. Characters are paper-thin, the combat system quickly stagnates, and it all starts to feel like you’re just going through the motions. There’s enough gas in the tank here for me to recommend it to fans of the genre, though.

Moonglow Bay has a lot of good aspects to it that unfortunately are balanced against some balancing and pacing issues. All of this is overshadowed by the game’s buggy, unpolished state here on the Switch. Between framerate issues, crashes, collision mess-ups, and other bizarre bugs, it’s hard to properly get into the world the game is trying to build. I’m hoping the game can improve with some updates, because there is something here that compelled me when the problems weren’t pushing me away.

While Tengoku Struggle shows the usual high production values and polish seen in Idea Factory’s other visual novels, I found the story here just wasn’t quite up to the usual output we see from the developer. There’s some good in it, and the best route is certainly worth experiencing if the premise has intrigued you. The writer’s tendency to try to shock the reader in cheap ways gets a little out of hand here, and some of the romances really aren’t sold well. A decent effort, but given the generally high-quality output of Idea Factory in this genre, Tengoku Struggle has some difficulty making its mark.

I know Wildfrost will not be for everyone, and I’d have that caveat with my recommendation, but it is a “free to try" game on iOS, so there’s no real reason to not download it and give it a shot. I think it is more than worth its asking price on iOS, and it is immediately one of the best mobile releases of 2024 so far. While I am glad I finally played it, I’m annoyed I wasn’t obsessing over it last year when it debuted on Switch and Steam. I have rectified my mistake at least with this new port. Go download Wildfrost right now.

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.