When everything works as intended, AO Tennis 2 is a contender for one of the best tennis games on Nintendo Switch. Closing out tense rallies and the satisfaction of winning from a losing position is immense. However, various performance issues on Switch limit its full potential in comparison to its beefier console counterparts. Updates will come, but the Xbox One and PS4 versions of AO Tennis 2 are much easier recommendations right now.

Although Disney Magical World 2 does not quite achieve the same level of depth and sheer unadulterated fun that the Animal Crossing series does, it is definitely a worthy placeholder while we wait for what is hopefully a worthwhile Animal Crossing mobile game.

Harvest Moon: One World has a few good things going for it, but ultimately it’s a disappointing entry in the farming RPG genre.

Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers makes the most effort to provide an experience that doesn’t grow old, but the scenarios it puts in place aren’t enough to cover its lengthy playtime and it comes across as feeling rather repetitive. Dillon hasn’t quite got his big break yet, and this definitely steps in the right direction, but he’s not quite at the point where he can mingle with the Inklings and Spring Boy.

I wish I could be a bigger fan of No More Heroes 3. There's a lot to like about it, from its enjoyable combat to its solid character design, and even the story setup is absolutely fascinating. Unfortunately for every given thing I liked, there was just as much that I disliked, and its visual fidelity holds it back for far too much of its runtime. If you’re like me, jumping into the third game in a series you’ve never touched before, there’s probably more than enough to turn you away. However, mega-fans of the series will likely find a lot to love.

Football Manager 2019 Touch fills a very specific niche, and I fully recognise that I’m not the target audience. That said, football superfans and management sim aficionados will no doubt find a lot to sink their teeth — and time — into. It doesn’t look perhaps as good as it could, and the user experience leaves a lot to be desired, but deep down, there’s something compelling here, even if it’s not for everybody.

If potty-mouth platforming is your jam, then you’ll probably have an enjoyable time with Rad Rodgers - if you can overlook the untuned graphics. But for me, the games spends too much time trying to party like Poochie instead of delivering a coherent experience.

Dog Man: Mission Impawsible is a game aimed at a younger audience, and while it looks the part, it ultimately feels like a bit of a chore to play through. The content is fairly barebones—there are 50 levels, but aside from a few gadgets and the occasional interesting boss battle, the core gameplay is rather dull and stiff. You’d really need to be a big Dog Man fan to look past its shortcomings.

If you want something short with a little kick of humour, then Cinders is probably right up your alley. It’s nice, but not much more than that.

I do enjoy playing a good, solid party game with my family. Though Party Crashers does miss the mark as a good, fun party racing game. With some additional love and care, Party Crashers could be great fun, and we’ve seen Giant Molecule do good party games before with Party Golf. I am sure that the partying won’t stop in the near future, and I do hope whatever comes next from these party animals will be a step in the right direction.

Almost There is perhaps the most aptly-named game in recent memory. I love platformers more than most other genres, and have spent my whole gaming life jumping across 2D plains. But this game just doesn’t meet the expectations set by others, nor does it have enough depth (in content or control) to give it any legs. Instead it leaps toward a completely different direction, but doesn’t stick the landing.

Super Dragon Ball Heroes is an overwhelmingly mediocre game from a gameplay or narrative perspective. It’s not bad, but it’s quite boring and shallow. There’s probably more here for avid fans of the series than there is for someone looking for an interesting game or a challenging strategy experience.

It’s all well and good to have a solid, proven design, and some interesting ideas for plot, aesthetic and gameplay, but when you’re slapped at every turn by slippery controls and difficult visuals it makes things very, very frustrating. Dying repeatedly doing tedious single jumps in not-particularly-challenging levels sure Wrecked my Giga. I don’t think it’s impossible to have fun here, but I’d recommend seeking out a better Alt-ernative.

For someone else, The Stillness of the Wind might be a lovely parable about the challenges of living out your final days after everyone else has moved on. Too few mediums highlight the experiences of the elderly, so this game deserves praise for going where few others go. Unfortunately, I found it to be a plodding and meandering affair due to its excessively slow pacing and frustratingly vague instructions, among a struggling frame rate on Switch.

Technically difficult to fault, Neon Chrome's sins lie in its bland presentation, reflective of its unsatisfying sense of progression.

In a year full of gourmet dishes, sometimes you just crave a little bit of junk food. Sonic Forces is that junk food. Quick, easy to consume, and fails to leave a lasting effect. You might feel a little gross afterwards, but you’ll probably go for more later anyway.

Go Vacation can provide silly sandbox fun given the right company, but the actual structured mini-game content lacks the same level of polish, charm and depth that other Switch multiplayer games feature in spades. With such conditional dependency on enjoyment for what is a steep initial investment, it is difficult to recommend Go Vacation.

I love the concepts and world of Heaven's Vault, but I know deep down I would have loved them more as something other than a game.

Music Racer is a great concept but unfortunately fails to deliver on either of its namesakes. The lack of precision note placement results in a disconnect from the music that can’t be overlooked despite all the flashy lights. It has its moments, but for the most part, this is just an interactive music equalizer that doesn’t offer much of a compelling reason to hop along for the ride.

Kao the Kangaroo's first outing in years is fun but not without fault. As nice as it is to see an old platforming IP with a new release on the Switch, the game shouldn't be at the top of your list. But if you're a fan of the genre, take Kao the Kangaroo with a grain of salt, and you may have some fun.

If you have a love for punishing old school platformers that provide no handholding and really test your endurance, there may be something here. For those of us who aren’t gluttons for punishment though, you’ll likely find this adventure too archaic for its own good. There’s no shortage of excellent side-scrolling adventures on the Switch that pay homage to the great games of old whilst providing a modern twist, but unfortunately, Battle Princess Madelyn leans too hard on design choices that were perhaps best left in the past.

In short bursts, Big Bash Boom is a reasonably fun depiction of T20 cricket with splashes of arcade action but lacks the same level of polish and content seen in the Don Bradman and Ashes cricket games - for the same asking price. Knowing Big Ant’s track record with post-release updates, Big Bash Boom will keep improving with time, but it’s not there yet.

Legend of Kay Anniversary seems very much to be a product for fans of the original PS2 release. Being a remaster means there’s not a huge amount of changes, if any other than the camera, meaning a lot of the shortcomings of the original are still here. And for the price tag of $45 AUD, it’s hard to recommend unless you really are a fan.

Aces of the Luftwaffe is a decent shmup with some neat features, but there are so many issues that weigh it down. If you’re a shmup addict and don’t mind the asking price than you’ll get a few hours out of this. For others, it’s hard to recommend this game, especially when NEO GEO has better and cheaper games in the genre. Maybe get Aces in a sale.

King Oddball isn’t a bad game, but it does feel misplaced on the Switch as it would any console; the handheld or tablet mode isn’t enough to make it work here. As the Switch library continues to grow at such an exponential rate there are more than enough games to drown out titles like this. At the time of writing King Oddball is currently a little more expensive on the Switch than it is for mobile. But both prices are still quite cheap. If you’re having trouble finding small time wasters to fill your Switch with then there’s worse ways to spend your time than King Oddball, but there’s also many better ones for not much more.

To be clear, I didn’t hate The Count Lucanor. But I really didn’t enjoy it either. It’s a game that just feels merely mediocre in nearly every way, leaving me wishing it had more to it. There are a lot of good ideas that are just not developed to a satisfying standard, but I hope this game leads to more interesting games from these developers in the future.

Even though there is a lot to do in the game, much of it is going back and forth, backtracking which, once again is another thing that got on my nerves. The gameplay is also quite repetitive and for the most part on the easier side. Just as I started to enjoy and appreciate the game for what it was, it was nearing the end. Because of its downfalls, I can’t see myself wanting to play this game more than once, but for those who are fans and want to experience everything within the world of Yo-kai Watch, there might just be enough extra content in here to warrant you playing through again? Yes, that is a question and not a statement. What kept me going, however, was how nice the game looks. The story is also surprisingly captivating and legitimately interesting and the humour, while at times a little juvenile and crude and did make me laugh out loud. The gameplay though just isn’t up to scratch.

Sniper Elite V2 Remastered is a middle-of-the-road game with one top-class element. Too many times the game takes you away from what makes it great, and into the mediocrity of its unsatisfying stealth and close-range combat sections.

All the charm from the movie has been stripped out and all that’s left is a bland ‘minecraft’ inspired open world game that happens to have characters from the movie. If you enjoyed kicking around in Lego Worlds there’s more of that here, especially for those with kids who might enjoy anything Lego. If you’re after the usual fun Lego game take on the movie prepare yourself to lower expectations dramatically.

While I enjoyed the opening hour or so of Dandara, it soon descended into repetitive, hamstrung gameplay that kept upping the ante before I’d managed to adjust to the original challenge of just moving around and shooting in time. Hardcore gamers might enjoy the challenge, but this reviewer did not.

I have to be honest and say I was disappointed with Hover. It feels like the game is fighting against you in most places when it gives off the feel of being about freedom of expression and movement. I really hope it can be built upon because the passion for the project can definitely be felt through a lot of the game, but the cohesion of all the parts just doesn’t work as well as it could.

Ary and the Secret of Seasons really just needed a little more time in the oven. The foundations are there: solid dungeon design, a clean and colourful aesthetic, and a robust combat system. It just needs a little more though - something extra to do in the open world, some more finely tuned pacing and progression, and most importantly a proper QA run to make sure that everything actually functions. I can’t recommend you go visit the land of Valdi in its current state, but hopefully the developers can tweak some code and make this fairly competent adventure playable.

No Straight Roads is a little hard to recommend on Switch. It's a solid enough game at its core, with some neat ideas and a very solid soundtrack, but its visuals are lacking, its text is too small, and its controls lack the fluidity to make it a truly great experience. It still may be worth picking up on another platform, but for now the Switch version is more miss than it is hit.

Despite a cool concept on paper, Double Cross spreads itself too thin trying in vain to emulate the platforming action of Mega Man and the investigative intrigue of Phoenix Wright to do anything original. Instead, Double Cross is a derivative, flat game with tepid combat and very little actual investigating to do.

Little Big Workshop is like running a business. No, that’s not a metaphor. Build yourself up from a humble 5 figure sum to a table-trotting titan of industry. Just watch out for crashes along the way. Yes, that one was metaphorical. And literal.

Even being a $10 (or slightly cheaper with a MyNintendo discount) eShop title, there is simply not enough quantity or quality to justify a purchase – Chase tries its best to make the two-hour trek a grind. The characters are merely nothing more than hollow vessels for driving the plot forward. It is totally disappointing that there is no thrill or cognitive challenge to the game – this is one investigation not worth chasing.

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.

Bubble Bobble 4 Friends is so full of unrealised potential. Whether it be the unfairly punishing difficulty, unsatisfying rewards, or confusing visual design, the game felt frustrating to complete. The short campaign feels like it lasts a century, and the multiplayer does little to enhance the experience. Unless you’re a diehard fan, give Bubble Bobble 4 Friends a skip.

I feel bad calling this a bad game as I can see the makings of a good game in here, it's just unfortunate that all the technical issues completely destroy whatever chance this game has of being even remotely playable. I like to be the optimist and hope that with a future patch these issues can be resolved but at this point, I'm not sure if 2K is going to put the effort into it. Hopefully, 2K give it a decent shot with their next attempt if they try for another wrestling game on the system, be it WWE 2K19 or the ever hoped for follow up to No Mercy, heck I'd take an Allstars 2 at this point. Until then our hopes for a decent wrestling game on a Nintendo system will be just that, hopes.

Scribblenauts Showdown is an incredibly disappointing attempt to resurrect the Scribblenauts franchise. It’s neither a fun party game nor a fun Scribblenauts game and is hard to recommend to anyone unless you’re incredibly desperate for a party game on the Switch.

I don’t like using this word much, but Vaccine seems like a cynical cash grab. A game that is designed to cash in on the nostalgia of games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill, while mixing together elements from today’s school of game design with disappointing results. The presentation feels okay, but the art and style of the game feel awfully run-of-the-mill and generic. Vaccine is tone-deaf to the games it's trying to emulate and misses the mark in almost every department.

Storm Boy is very difficult to recommend. There are some nice (but very limited) visuals and music, but there is also very little content combined with minigames that serve no purpose, to the point of feeling incomplete. The selling price isn’t high, but it’s cheaper to pick up the original novel for the Kindle, and you’ll own a classic book too.

I’m sure that the game will receive updates over time, and it could possibly be a good game eventually. That will require a lot of work however, and the fact that the game released in the state that it did is mortifying. The game costs almost double of Minecraft and doesn’t contain half the fun. I’m not sure why the game exists outside of the idea that maybe some fans of Ark: Survival Evolved may also enjoy this for some reason. When the Switch gets almost 30 games every week, it’s easy to recommend that you open up the Recent tab on the eShop, pick a number between 1 and 10, and chance are you’ll find something better than PixARK.

I derived no enjoyment from playing the broken Troll and I, or in writing this review. Do not buy this game in favour of the many wonderful Switch eShop titles on offer representing a significantly better return on time and monetary investment.

I believe Poisoft is capable of creating something much better. It’s such a shame. What’s presented here isn’t awful, but it’s not necessarily good either. Giving the game more time to develop would have benefitted it greatly. In its current state, Vroom in the Night Sky feels more like an alpha build rather than a full release.