Scolding myself for buying a game like Smashing the Battle will do nothing to smash the patriarchy and, to be honest, I actually enjoyed it in part. I mean, I played through 62 levels, read some poorly-formatted text, and forgot about the world for a few short hours. It may have produced more remorse than stimulation and there’s a strong sense of repetition across the entire package, but Smashing the Battle certainly is a video game about robots, armour and the absence of both.

There's no reason to buy FIFA 20 on the Switch unless you can find it cheaper than FIFA 19 or you're a mad football fan in need of the latest rosters.

To summarise the contents of the DLC together, there are two new characters with their own skills, two text-based adventures, some shirts and one quick level. For those that purchased the game physically, this DLC is an included bonus. The eShop version isn’t as generous, so I would leave it up to you if you believe the $15 asking price is worth it to you or not.

ARK: Survival Evolved is hard to recommend on two fronts. The Switch Version is an ugly technical mess, and if it does run well the game happens to be unwelcoming and an unfun grind to obtain the actual draw cards to the game. As a big Dinosaur fan, both issues disappoint me so much. True it would be awesome to ride Dinosaurs around and taming them, but not on this console. If this warning isn’t enough at the very least check out the mobile version (which looks better and has a better interface) and see if the game is for you. At the end of the day, ARK is playable, parts of it are even fun, but all the game and technical issues drag this behemoth-sized game back down into the tar pits.

To summarise the contents of the DLC together, there are two new characters with their own skills, two text-based adventures, some shirts and one quick level. For those that purchased the game physically, this DLC is an included bonus. The eShop version isn’t as generous, so I would leave it up to you if you believe the $15 asking price is worth it to you or not.

It's got some neat ideas, a cute art style, a decent sense of humour and some fun songs. But ultimately, I don't think they stuck the landing. If you want a unique rhythm game to play with some friends or you wanna play jam out with Konami bangers, look out for a sale, but otherwise, I'd probably give this one a miss.

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S does add to the original PPT2 in a few small ways to squeeze out a little extra life out of this five-year-old game. However, it’s not enough to justify forcing fans to fork out again, not when you can just purchase the original Switch version. Not offering an upgrade path to the Switch 2 version feels like a needless shakedown of Puyo Puyo fans, especially when there’s no real benefit to online players. If you don’t own this game already, then I would still recommend Puyo Puyo Tetris 2’s Switch 1 version. It is a real shame that Sega has made a great game hard to recommend.

Binaries tries to be two things, and misses the mark on both. As a puzzle game, it lacks any actual puzzle solving. As a platformer, it fails in its horribly floaty and imprecise controls, while asking for pixel perfect precision in two vastly different scenarios. In a binary world of 0’s and 1’s, good or bad, Binaries breaks its own boundaries by being incredibly middle of the road.

There is new content here, and the UI has been updated, but I'm still unsure why this Deluxe version of the game exists. If you have the non-Deluxe version of the game, you're not missing anything. The developers had five years to make the game run better, or at least passable. You're better off playing this on anything other than the Switch; at least it would work despite its shortcomings.

It’s hard to deny the ambition that Hollow brings to the table, and it’s certainly carving out its own niche on the Switch too. Despite this, Hollow feels like an exercise in tedium. Some players may be able to suffer through the slow moving yet brief story, but ultimately it’s an average experience that even genre fans will struggle to enjoy.

Having variety and diversity in games is important, and honestly – with this series still running so long, there’s definitely something there that’s appealing enough to give people a reason to keep buying these games. I just wish I could understand exactly what that ‘something’ is.

As the Adventure Time TV series is coming to a close, it is likely there are only so many more opportunities to make games based off it, so the series could really do with a ‘win’. Pirates of the Enchiridion is not one of these games. It is a very average RPG with Adventure Time characters marred by performance and technical issues that sink this ship down to the bottom of the flooded Kingdom of Ooo.

But the game just feels so slow, overall, that these flashy ways of driving just end up feeling obtrusive to an already frustrating game. A lot of these ‘perform trick here’ areas are on the main track, which doesn’t sound like a bad thing at first. But this leads me into my second issue- there are just too many shortcuts.

As a short time-waster, Crimsonland is perfectly fine, but don’t go into it expecting anything too deep. The option for four local players might suit you and the game might be fun with more people, but probably not. Wait for this one to go on sale.

Yo-kai Watch Blasters was very disappointing for me as a Yo-kai Watch fan because it just doesn’t carry the charm of the mainline games. It’s dull to play and that signature wit and wholesomeness was missing from the writing. While there’s plenty to do in the game, even after you’ve completed the story, it didn’t keep my attention long enough to see it all through. It might be worth checking out if you’re desperate to play something with friends, but otherwise you can treat this one like the yo-kai Dimmy and ignore it completely.

Yo-kai Watch Blasters was very disappointing for me as a Yo-kai Watch fan because it just doesn’t carry the charm of the mainline games. It’s dull to play and that signature wit and wholesomeness was missing from the writing. While there’s plenty to do in the game, even after you’ve completed the story, it didn’t keep my attention long enough to see it all through. It might be worth checking out if you’re desperate to play something with friends, but otherwise you can treat this one like the yo-kai Dimmy and ignore it completely.

Frustrating combat, unreliable platforming and a swag of other minor issues made this game a struggle to play. Castle of Heart is a tough game to review; in all the hours I played I never ended a session happy or feeling like I accomplished something. Every time single time it was closing the game in frustration and anger and dreading to have to go back to it, and I wouldn’t wish that upon anyone.

I really went into The Sinking City with some hope. The Cthulhu/ancient ones inspired story combined with some interesting mechanics. On paper I can see this game appealing to fans of the ol’ cosmic horror, but you don’t need The Mind’s Eye to see it turned out a big soggy mess. There is still a decent story if you’re willing to persevere all the madness, but personally the cost is too high. The game surrounding it is deeply unfun and a chore to play, and it sucks I can’t find something nicer about it. The developer Frogwares has made some good Sherlock Holmes games and you can see what they wanted to do here, but please for Kay’s sake stay away from Oakmont!

There’s honestly a good game to be found in Lifespeed. Unfortunately, the experience I had was plagued with too many problems and flaws to be one that I can say I loved. There’s a lot of potential in a lot of the ideas the game presents, but clumsy execution leads them to be squandered. It would be a delight to see the game with new improvements in the future, whether it’s an updated version or a brand new release.

Since they fell out of vogue, I'm always excited to see a new 3D-platformer, no matter the shape or form. Clive 'N' Wrench isn't my favourite of the genre, far from it. But props to Dinosaur Bytes Studio for throwing their hat in the ring. I'm keen to see what they get up to in hopefully less than ten years.

On paper, GRIP sounds like a thrilling combat-racing experience. In practice, it’s a dull and outdated execution despite its content-rich package.

We’re at that point with sports games where all the focus goes into the new consoles and every year out is one step closer to ‘legacy’ editions. 2K22 isn’t there yet, but it’s not far off. If you want to play basketball, it’s still solid this year, at the very least. If you want to check out the open-world online cruise ship that still thirsts for your money, hop on board.

Has-Been Heroes is a reasonable game to play on-the-go thanks to the portability of the Switch. But the game itself tries something different but in the process, falls apart. Perhaps with more intuitive controls, or a more compelling sense of level design, Has-Been Heroes would be a great game. But in its current state, Has-Been Heroes is unruly to play, generic to look at and quite simply not fun. It’s disappointing as there is potential here, but Has-Been Heroes squanders it.

Overall, Lego Horizon Adventure is nothing but a lot of loading screens, pretty graphics, and entirely too many cutscenes. It’s like they took all the good, enjoyable parts of the Lego games and the Horizon series and threw them away. It is not a good Horizon game, and it is not a good Lego game.

On paper, this Trilogy remasters sounds like a done deal. All the points are there to let a new generation of players enjoy these games - warts and all. However, what we really have is an insult to the legacy of these games, to fans of the series and the word Remastered. These ports should be avoided unless you're a diehard fan. Because these games always had a level of jank that you could put up with, and those fun games are still here if you fight through the pain. But for anyone else, trust that GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas were terrific games and play their legacy in everything else they inspired instead. I don't think there are any amount of patches that can help the Switch version of this Trilogy.

Drawn To Life: Two Realms is likely to serve a niche, but unless you’re hankerin’ for more as a long time fan - or are really starved for some puzzle platforming - beautiful artwork and some occasional brilliance can only get you so far.

For as much as I wanted to enjoy my time with Override: Mech City Brawl there was just never any escaping its issues. The impressive collection of cosmetic items hints at a game with much more character than the one we got but in almost every other way I was let down. The genre could use a game which pays this much attention to its combat systems but performance issues and a general lack of polish prevent Override: Mech City Brawl from being that game.

I wanted to love Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD so much, but ultimately, I walked away with a bitter taste in my mouth. The Super Monkey Ball franchise is one that deserves to thrive again, and it’s sad to say that I think today isn’t the day that happens.