Tag: featured

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for February 9th, 2023. Today we start things off by going through some of the highlights from that wild Nintendo Direct yesterday. After that, we’ve got a bunch of new releases to check out. I mean, it is Thursday after all. Finally, we go through the lists of new and expiring sales as usual. Definitely busier than the usual Thursday in some ways but less busy in others. Let’s dig in!

News

‘Pikmin 4’ Kicks Off an Amazing Nintendo Direct

I know I say this a lot, but that was a great Nintendo Direct. The type of articles I do here aren’t really great for full summaries, but I’ll hit the highlights and let you watch the video if you want more. First up, shadow drops. Metroid Prime Remastered, and Game Boy and Game Boy Advance apps for Nintendo Switch Online and Expansion Pack subscribers respectively. All long rumored, now realities.

There were a lot of remakes in the Direct and we’ll talk about those soon, but let’s call out some of the new games. Pikmin 4 will be coming in July, and it looks great. Samba de Amigo: Party Central is a surprise revival for SEGA’s maracas-based music game. Disney Illusion Island looks like it’s almost ready to go, and it looks to fill the multiplayer platforming hole left by the absence of new Rayman or New Super Mario Bros. games. Professor Layton and the World of Steam was teased, Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon got an expanded trailer, Octopath Traveler II looks ready to go, and both DecaPolice and Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time look promising.

The developers of Style Savvy have a new game coming named Fashion Dreamer, Bithell Games is making a TRON game called TRON: Identity, and Sea of Stars seems to be coming along well. Master Detective Archives: Rain Code looks promising, Harmony: The Fall of Reverie is quite compelling from what was shown, and Omega Strikers seems like a nifty riff on Windjammers. Oh, and that little game called The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. It’s $69.99, so search those couch cushions for an extra tenner.

Okay, on to those remakes. I’ll just fire off some names. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective. Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe. Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster. The aforementioned Metroid Prime Remastered. Advance Wars 1+2 Re-Boot Camp, this time for sure. Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection. We Love Katamari Reroll + Royal Reverie. Just… all kinds of cool games that I’m utterly thrilled will be available on modern platforms at a reasonable price. Like reliving the mid-aughts, it is.

Finally, expansions, downloadable content, updates, that kind of thing. Xenoblade Chronicles 3‘s Wave 3 DLC will be available from February 15th with a new hero and some challenge battles. Wave 4’s story content was teased and it looks like a doozy. The Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania DLC looks fantastic and will be arriving on March 6th. An Expansion Pass was announced for Splatoon 3, with the first of two parts bringing back Inkopolis Plaza from the original game this spring. Fire Emblem Engage‘s Expansion Pass Wave 2 arrives today with some new Emblem characters. Wave 3 will feature more still, while Wave 4 brings the Fell Xenologue story content. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe‘s Booster Course Pass Wave 4 will feature a new character, Birdo, and Yoshi’s Island was revealed as a new course. Phew! Those are the main details, but do watch the whole Direct if you want the full experience.

New Releases

Metroid Prime Remastered ($39.99)

The game that was rumored to appear in every Nintendo Direct for the last five years finally showed up, and it ended up being shadow-dropped right to the eShop. This is a remake/remaster of the original Metroid Prime, complete with additional control methods and a few other improvements to help the game shine its brightest. I’ll be doing a full review of this one as soon as I can make my way through it, but I think it’s safe to say that it’s pretty good.

Game Boy – Nintendo Switch Online (Free)

Lots of surprises today. Nintendo Switch Online subscribers finally have another classic console app to access with the release of this Game Boy selection. The launch titles include Tetris, Super Mario Land 2, Link’s Awakening DX, Gargoyle’s Quest, Game & Watch Gallery 3, Metroid 2, Wario Land 3, Kirby’s Dream Land, and for some reason, Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare. You get a few different filters to choose from but otherwise it offers similar features to the other classic console apps. That includes rollback netcode for online multiplayer in supported games, as well as local multiplayer.

Game Boy Advance – Nintendo Switch Online (Free)

And for those who have a subscription to the Expansion Pack, here is the Game Boy Advance app. Everything I said about the Game Boy app goes for this one, but of course there are different games here. The starting line-up is Super Mario 3 (with the e-Reader card levels enabled), WarioWare, Mario Kart Super Circuit, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, and Kuru Kuru Kururin. No third party games here, which is somewhat interesting. Well hey, if you have the subscription it’s all bonus anyway.

WBSC eBaseball: Power Pros ($0.99)

Yes, that price is correct. Konami wants to bring the Power Pro brand global, and this is their way of doing that. It’s a fun baseball game, though this version is a bit stripped down and focused on its online modes. Still, for a dollar it’s an obscenely good deal for anyone who likes baseball.

Perserverance: Complete Edition ($19.99)

This is a narrative adventure game about a zombie apocalypse, which is an incredibly novel concept that I’m sure will be a breath of fresh air for all of us. We’ve seen Perseverance on the Switch before, but this one includes all three parts of the story in one complete set. Despite my snarkiness about the theme of the game, this one has gotten a really strong reception from folks who have played it, with the story getting plenty of praise.

Rob Riches ($8.99)

This is a decent-looking action-puzzler where you play as a dude who is exploring and plundering ancient temples. They’re full of traps to keep out robbers like you, so you’ll have to out-step and out-wit them if you want to get away with the riches. Collect all the coins in each area and open the path to the next. It sounds so simple, but it gets complicated in a hurry. The isometric viewpoint gives the game a nice little microcomputer feel that will be very cozy for some of you, I’m sure.

Japanese Escape Games The Light and Mirror Room ($9.99)

This is the fourteenth game in this little series of escape games, so you probably don’t need me to tell you much beyond the basic theme. You’ve been sent by a weird guy in a lab coat to investigate one particular floor in a building. Once you head in, you find the way back locked behind you. You’ll have to solve a bunch of puzzles to get out. I’m assuming some of them involve light and mirrors. Just a wild swing there.

Bumblebee – Little Bee Adventure ($9.99)

Oh no, people are getting tired of our cookie-cutter Aery follow-ups! What can we do? Replace the bird with a bee and print it! Yes, this is basically just another Aery game. But you’re a bee. Like Jerry Seinfeld that one time. You’re even still looking for feathers. Couldn’t that have been changed to pollen or honeycombs or something? Ah, I’m probably putting more thought into this than they did. If you want more Aery but with buzz-buzz instead of tweet-tweet, here you go.

Arcade Archives Magical Speed ($7.99)

It seems that Hamster has acquired the rights to another defunct arcade game company’s catalog. Allumer isn’t exactly a household name, but it did have a few modest hits that were distributed by Taito back in the day. To kick things off this week, Hamster is releasing the card game Magical Speed. Originally released in 1994, it’s a variant of the card game Speed that was only released in Japan back in the day. Nice vibrant visuals, but I’m not sure I’m all that interested in this one personally. Still, it’s good to see more obscure releases given a chance to shine again.

Shuttlecock-H ($7.99)

Hm, it has been at least a hot minute since eastasiasoft released a horny game, but here we go. Prepare the Bonk bat. It’s basically a bullet hell game where you can’t fight back, so you have to dodge everything while grabbing the hearts that appear. There are three different women to meet, each with their own story, and you’ll get to see some risque pictures of them as you play through the game. Bonk!

Alice in Wonderland – A Jigsaw Puzzle Tale ($4.99)

A jigsaw puzzle game based on Alice in Wonderland. You get twelve admittedly nice pieces of Alice-themed art to make the puzzles from, and five different difficulty levels to choose from for each. Clearly people are buying these jigsaw puzzle games, or we wouldn’t keep getting them. If you are one of those people, here’s another one for you.

Putrid Shot Ultra ($2.99)

I feel like we saw another game very similar to this come out recently, but I can’t quite place it. Oh well. Another roguelite action game that doesn’t do much to separate itself. Use your magic pistol to fire off a variety of spells and see how far into the crypt you can descend. You’ll earn upgrades as you go to help you keep up with the hordes. Not the most original of things, but for just three dollars I suppose it doesn’t have to be.

Deep Space: Action Fire Sci-Fi Game 2023 Shooter Strike Simulator Alien Death Ultimate Games ($4.99)

The handful of dollars you spend on this steaming pile of garbage from the trash-flingers at Midnight Works could be saved and put towards that fancy remaster of Metroid Prime. Choose wisely.

Sales

(North American eShop, US Prices)

Probably the biggest sale to pop as of this writing is the one for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and its Expansion Pass. If you somehow missed this amazing game and want to get caught up before Tears of the Kingdom hits, this is a great chance. Aside from Radiant Silvergun, I don’t have anything else I feel especially strong about in either list, so I’ll just do the usual thing and tell you to check those sales and see what jumps out at you.

Select New Games on Sale

Gem Wizards Tactics ($1.99 from $12.99 until 2/15)
Broken Universe Tower Defense ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/15)
Space Raiders in Space ($1.99 from $12.99 until 2/15)
Floogen ($1.99 from $3.99 until 2/15)
Gum+ ($1.99 from $7.99 until 2/15)
OMG Police Car Chase TV Sim ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/15)
Detective Di: Silk Rose Murders ($2.89 from $12.99 until 2/15)
reky ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/15)
Balloon Flight ($1.99 from $5.99 until 2/15)
Ethan: Meteor Hunter ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/19)
Buissons ($3.99 from $7.99 until 2/19)
Inside My Radio ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/19)
Stone ($8.99 from $14.99 until 2/20)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild ($39.99 from $59.99 until 2/20)
The Legend of Zelda: BotW Expansion ($13.99 from $19.99 until 2/20)
The Legend of Zelda: BotW Bundle ($53.98 from $79.98 until 2/20)
The Midnight Sanctuary ($2.99 from $9.99 until 2/22)
Tiny Metal ($4.49 from $14.99 until 2/22)
Tokyo Dark Remembrance ($5.99 from $19.99 until 2/22)
Marchen Forest ($6.99 from $34.99 until 2/23)
Fantasy Strike Core Pack ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/23)
Fantasy Strike Collector’s Pack ($49.99 from $99.99 until 2/23)
Pathfinder: WotR Cloud Version ($24.99 from $49.99 until 2/23)
Wing of Darkness ($5.99 from $29.99 until 2/23)
Galacticon ($3.99 from $4.99 until 3/1)
Moonlighter ($3.74 from $24.99 until 3/1)
Moonlighter CE ($4.34 from $28.99 until 3/1)
Children of Morta ($5.49 from $21.99 until 3/1)
Children of Morta Ancient Spirits DLC ($2.49 from $4.99 until 3/1)
Children of Morta CE ($7.99 from $26.99 until 3/1)
Darker Skies ($7.19 from $17.99 until 3/1)
Gunpig Firepower for Hire ($3.99 from $4.99 until 3/1)

Sales Ending Tomorrow, Friday, February 10th

Among Us ($3.50 from $5.00 until 2/10)
Drift & Drive ($9.74 from $12.99 until 2/10)
Glo ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/10)
Growbot ($13.99 from $19.99 until 2/10)
H1.Jack ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/10)
Hatup ($3.49 from $4.99 until 2/10)
Hell Pages ($5.39 from $8.99 until 2/10)
Karma Knight ($2.06 from $8.99 until 2/10)
Lamplight City ($10.49 from $14.99 until 2/10)
Many Faces ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/10)
Mutropolis ($13.99 from $19.99 until 2/10)
Pity Pit (41.99 from $4.99 until 2/10)
Quintus & the Absent Truth ($5.99 from $9.99 until 2/10)

Radiant Silvergun ($11.99 from $19.99 until 2/10)
RIVE: Ultimate Edition ($1.99 from $14.99 until 2/10)
Sonority ($15.99 from $19.99 until 2/10)
SUPERHOT ($12.49 from $24.99 until 2/10)
Swap This! ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/10)
Swords & Soldiers ($1.99 from $7.49 until 2/10)
Toki Tori ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/10)
Toki Tori 2+ ($1.99 from $14.99 until 2/10)
Trenches ($7.99 from $9.99 until 2/10)
Unforeseen Incidents ($13.99 from $19.99 until 2/10)
Vesper Zero Light Edition ($6.99 from $9.99 until 2/10)

That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with the remaining releases of the week, plus what will likely be a healthy list of new sales. I suspect somehow that tomorrow will be rather less exciting than today, but who knows? Surprises come out of nowhere sometimes. I hope you all have a thrilling Thursday, and as always, thanks for reading!

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for February 8th, 2023. It’s one of those days, folks. Big things are happening today, but they’re happening in the future as I write this. We’ll catch up on all of it tomorrow, but for today we have a few new releases to look at along with a small batch of new sales. Will Advance Wars finally resurface? I guess we’ll see. Let’s get to it!

News

Tonight’s Nintendo Direct Featuring ‘Tears of the Kingdom’ and More

I hope I’ve timed this properly. As I write this, the upcoming Nintendo Direct presentation is about sixteen hours in the future. I think this will probably go up before it starts, but if it doesn’t I can’t do much about that. Anyway, there’s a Nintendo Direct today! It will feature about 40 minutes of footage of upcoming Switch games, and it seems very likely that we’ll be getting new information about The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom at the very least. Hopefully not just news of a price increase. That’s a very lengthy presentation, so there should be some interesting things included. We’ll know by the time I speak with you all next.

New Releases

Daily Dadish ($9.99)

If you’ve enjoyed the Dadish series of platformers like I have, I know you have just one complaint on your mind: why isn’t there a new level every day of the year? Well, Daily Dadish is here to address that. It includes 365 levels, one for each day of the year, and the gimmick is that you can only play each of them for one day. We’ve seen games like this on mobile, but can this kind of set-up work on consoles with an upfront price? I suppose we’ll see, but I can’t help but root for Dadish.

I am an Air Traffic Controller – Airport Hero Haneda ($49.99)

The Airport Hero series makes its debut on the Nintendo Switch with this release. Just as the title indicates, you’re an air traffic controller at Haneda Airport, and you need to manage the incoming and outgoing planes so that everyone can get where they need to go as smoothly as possible. There are sixteen stages to play as you take care of the busy airport’s four runways. A popular series on the Nintendo 3DS and other platforms, and I’ve little doubt it will find a footing on the Switch as well.

Prison Tycoon: Under New Management ($24.99)

Imagine Theme Hospital but with a prison theme instead of a hospital theme and you aren’t far off from what Prison Tycoon aims to do. The original game came out around twenty years ago and despite a critical hammering it went on to be a rather decent success. A couple of years back this remake came out, and now here it is on Switch. The reception to it has been somewhat mixed and I suspect the Switch isn’t going to improve on issues like difficulty balancing, so proceed with caution.

Sales

(North American eShop, US Prices)

I suppose the most exciting thing going on in the sales today is that you can get a lot of racers at really cheap prices. I’m not going to sit here and say the Switch versions of games like V-Rally 4 and WRC 9 are top-shelf releases, but for five or six bucks you’ll get a lot out of them. Not much happening in the outbox today, but I will as usual recommend you have a look through both lists just to be sure nothing catches your fancy.

Select New Games on Sale

Space Tail: EJLH ($13.99 from $19.99 until 2/14)
Astronomical Club for Queers ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/14)
Little Bug ($1.99 from $12.99 until 2/14)
Chalk Gardens ($1.99 from $5.99 until 2/14)
Elemetals: Death Metal Death Match ($1.99 from $12.99 until 2/14)
Under Leaves ($1.99 from $12.99 until 2/14)
To Leave ($1.99 from $19.99 until 2/14)
P.3 ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/14)
Inukari Chase of Deception ($1.99 from $7.99 until 2/14)
Boreal Tenebrae ($1.99 from $6.99 until 2/14)
It’s Kooky ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/14)
Ammo Pigs: Armed & Delicious ($1.99 from $7.99 until 2/14)
Art Sqool ($1.99 from $12.99 until 2/14)
Just Dance 2023 Deluxe ($38.49 from $69.99 until 2/17)
Ravenous Devils ($3.49 from $4.99 until 2/22)
HyperParasite ($2.69 from $17.99 until 2/22)

OlliOlli Switch Stance ($2.99 from $14.99 until 2/22)
V-Rally 4 Ultimate Edition ($6.99 from $69.99 until 2/28)
WRC 9 Deluxe Edition ($4.99 from $49.99 until 2/28)
Overpass Deluxe ($6.49 from $64.99 until 2/28)
TT Isle of Man ($4.99 from $49.99 until 2/28)
Monster Truck Championship RH Edition ($14.99 from $49.99 until 2/28)
Super Soccer Blast ($3.99 from $7.99 until 2/28)
Super Tennis Blast ($4.49 from $14.99 until 2/28)
Super Volley Blast ($4.99 from $9.99 until 2/28)
Pure Chase 80’s ($1.99 from $14.99 until 2/28)
RiMS Racing ($14.99 from $49.99 until 2/28)
Hunting Simulator 2 ($11.99 from $39.99 until 2/28)
Niche Genetics Survival Game ($5.99 from $19.99 until 2/28)
Exertus Redux ($2.06 from $4.39 until 2/28)
Adverse ($1.99 from $5.99 until 2/28)

Sales Ending Tomorrow, Thursday, February 9th

Abyss of the Sacrifice ($19.99 from $39.99 until 2/9)
Always Sometimes Monsters ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/9)
Bakumatsu Renka Shinsengumi ($19.99 from $49.99 until 2/9)
Bloody Rally Show ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/9)
Burger Patrol ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/9)
Dog Gone Golfing ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/9)
Dungeon and Puzzles ($3.49 from $9.99 until 2/9)
EDF World Brothers Deluxe ($39.59 from $59.99 until 2/9)
Evil Tonight ($12.74 from $14.99 until 2/9)
Funghi Explosion ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/9)
Goblin Sword ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/9)
In My Shadow ($7.20 from $12.00 until 2/9)
Kamikaze Veggies ($9.09 from $12.99 until 2/9)
Miles & Kilo ($1.99 from $7.99 until 2/9)
Omega Labyrinth Life ($23.99 from $59.99 until 2/9)

Omega Strike ($2.24 from $14.99 until 2/9)
Samurai Maiden ($47.99 from $59.99 until 2/9)
Severed Steel ($12.49 from $24.99 until 2/9)
Sherlock Holmes & Hound of Baskervilles ($6.49 from $12.99 until 2/9)
Signs of the Sojourner ($6.99 from $19.99 until 2/9)
Spinfrog ($4.99 from $19.99 until 2/9)
Tamashii ($1.99 from $11.99 until 2/9)
The Little Acre ($4.89 from $12.99 until 2/9)
The Sinking City Deluxe ($12.99 from $64.99 until 2/9)
The Unexpected Quest ($5.25 from $15.00 until 2/9)
Tower of Time ($4.99 from $24.99 until 2/9)

Trifox ($13.99 from $19.99 until 2/9)
Tunnel of Doom ($6.99 from $13.99 until 2/9)
Uncanny Valley ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/9)
Underhero ($4.24 from $16.99 until 2/9)
Vampire the Masquerade NY Bundle ($5.79 from $28.99 until 2/9)

That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with some news, lots of new releases, and probably a few sales too. I’ll be enjoying the Nintendo Direct presentation through some ear phones in bed because it happens at 7 AM Japan time. Hopefully nothing too exciting as if I hoot or holler my wife will bonk me with a mallet. I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday, and as always, thanks for reading!

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for February 6th, 2023. In today’s article, we’re kicking off the week with a few reviews. The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow, ATONE: Heart of the Elder Tree, and SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake all get their time in the chair of judgement. Quite the variety of games, to say the least. We also have a number of new releases to check out, but they’re mostly dubious. Finally, the lists of new and outgoing sales. They are also here. I’ve checked and everything. Let’s get to work!

Reviews & Mini-Views

The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow ($14.99)

When it comes to modern point-and-click adventure games, you really can’t go wrong with the efforts from Wadjet Eye Games. This is the publisher’s third release on the Switch, following the excellent Unavowed and Primordia, and it’s another winner as far as I’m concerned. The premise this time sees you investigating the barrows in a small village named Bewlay. From the minute you arrive, things feel a little off. Before long, you’ll come to understand that there is more going on here than you could have expected.

Wadjet Eye has sorted out before how to make this kind of game work on a controller, and the familiar interface returns here. It has done everything it can to alleviate the pain of trying to get your cursor just where it needs to be, though I can imagine some folks still finding it a lot more frustrating than playing the game with a mouse. That’s really the only thing to be aware of if you opt to pick up and play this Switch version of the game, as it otherwise runs and plays fine.

As for the game itself, there are three main points of The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow that make it stand out. First of all, the presentation is excellent. The visuals are detailed but stylish, and for the most part they function well. I also really enjoy the animation of the characters. Combined with some strong voice acting, it helps these quirky people be as memorable as possible. The game audio in general is solid, and it will use it to freak you out or just help establish the mood as needed.

That feeds into the second point, which is just how well this game builds its atmosphere. Almost from the very start, there’s a very real sense of dread set up, and it only gets stronger as you go. It uses the unknown as a powerful element, and also revels in taking the ordinary and skewing it just enough to make it unsettling. The only downside of this is that eventually it has to pull back the curtain to resolve things, and the reality almost never matches one’s imagination. Still, it’s compelling stuff while it lasts.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the puzzles. This is the element that can make or break a game in the adventure genre. Fortunately, The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow does a nice job here. Some of the puzzles have ridiculous solutions, but the important thing is that the player can follow the logic to figure them out. I’m experienced in the genre but I wouldn’t call myself an expert, and I was able to figure out everything I needed to without looking up any help. That said, I did have to think about some of them. It’s not just a game you steamroll through. Like the last two Switch releases from this publisher, I would say that its puzzles are just right.

The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow sticks to the standards of the adventure genre enough that you have to have at least some interest in the genre to enjoy it, but provided you do it is an absolute treat. The setting is the star here, and what a star it turns out to be. Add in some reasonably challenging but fair puzzles, excellent production values, and a good interface, and you’ve got another great release from Wadjet Eye Games.

SwitchArcade Score: 4.5/5

ATONE: Heart of the Elder Tree ($14.99)

For the most part, I don’t have a whole lot to add to our review of the Apple Arcade version of ATONE: Heart of the Elder Tree that we posted way back in the Before Times of November 2019. I didn’t write that review, but I agree with its praise of the story, characters, visual presentation, and music. The main difference with this version is that you can use button controls for the rhythm-based combat sequences, and that does make things slightly more awkward. You can also use touch controls, but they don’t work as well here as they did on the mobile version.

The basic idea here is that you are trying to lift a curse that befell the land, and you’ll do that by exploring the world, talking to various characters, solving some very simple puzzles, and engaging in combat. The combat is the unique gameplay element here, as it takes the form of a rhythm game that will be familiar to anyone who has played a game in that genre in the last couple of decades. Hit the buttons as the beats come down the screen and don’t miss too many of them. During the battle the note board will move over for little cinemas to play out, which is neat but also kind of distracting.

It’s good to see this game get a new lease on life after its exit from Apple Arcade. While it wasn’t a game whose name was often uttered when people listed their favorites from the service, it’s one that is well worth playing if you enjoy a good story and think you can keep up with its slightly demanding combat segments. ATONE: Heart of the Elder Tree is if nothing else a unique experience, and it’s nice to see it make a relatively unscathed trip to the Switch.

SwitchArcade Score: 4/5

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake ($39.99)

How well you enjoy SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake depends on what your expectations are for it. If you’re looking for a follow-up to Battle for Bikini Bottom that feels like it could have come out back in the day, you’re in luck. This is more or less that. If on the other hand you are looking for a SpongeBob platformer that reflects the advancements in the 3D platforming genre in the twenty years since Battle for Bikini Bottom‘s 2003 launch, you’re probably going to come away disappointed.

SpongeBob has messed things up again, though it’s certainly not all his fault this time. But he’s the one who’s going to have to fix it, so I suppose it doesn’t really matter who did what here. The important thing is that to save his friends and the fabric of reality itself, SpongeBob has to venture into seven Wish Worlds. These are places born from the wishes of his friends, and each one of them is incredibly distinct and creative in its design. Each one will have you platforming, fighting, exploring, and engaging in other amusing activities. It’s all very meat-and-potatoes, but wrapped up in that classic SpongeBob charm. The presentation is a winner here, with all of the voice actors delivering solid performances and the visuals pulling off the look of the show.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake looks and sounds like a modern game, but it very much plays like something from the PlayStation 2 era. Fortunately, it plays like a good 3D platformer from that era. I think fans of the show or the classic SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom will be satisfied with this effort, while those hoping for something grander may be unimpressed. It’s good enough to be worth playing for fans of 3D platforming games, even if it may not thrill those who aren’t so into the genre.

SwitchArcade Score: 3.5/5

New Releases

Seraph’s Last Stand ($3.99)

A fairly straightforward roguelite action game where you get a new upgrade after every wave of enemies is cleared. It has a striking visual presentation and actually plays fairly well. Easily the best of today’s dubious lot.

NCL: USA Bowl ($14.99)

This one is playable for up to four players via local multiplayer. The idea here is that you are racing your character through the obstacle course that is the field. Mildly amusing but fifteen bucks is probably a little too high for what you get. Perhaps if you have parties with football fans who want to play something silly and light.

Samurai Warrior ($2.29)

Gametry loves using Unity Asset Store templates for its games, and this may well be another one. I’m tired of looking. This is a rather poorly-playing top-down action game with the occasional simple puzzle to deal with. Personally, I’d find something better to spend a couple bucks on, but you do you.

Hentai RPG: Isekai Journey ($8.99)

A match-3 game with some light RPG and visual novel elements. Play the puzzles, get some upgrades, progress your relationship with the three different girls, and enjoy some mildly risque anime pictures. That’s pretty much all there is to it.

Foxy’s Coin Hunt ($2.99)

Gametry has another one for us today, this time an awful Super Mario Bros. knock-off starring a fox. Hit question blocks, collect coins, jump on turtles, all sorts of original stuff. I personally would not spend three dollars on this.

Sales

(North American eShop, US Prices)

I’ll level with you: the only thing jumping out at me from either list is the great sale on Wargroove and its expansion. But you should have a look through those lists yourselves, as there are certainly some solid titles in there and one of them may grab you more than it grabbed me.

Select New Games on Sale

Milky Way Prince: Vampire Star ($7.49 from $14.99 until 2/11)
Faraday Protocol ($2.49 from $24.99 until 2/11)
BeatTalk ($8.99 from $17.99 until 2/13)
Samurai Warrior ($1.99 from $2.29 until 2/20)
Super Cyborg ($2.99 from $6.99 until 2/20)
Foxy’s Coin Hunt ($2.09 from $2.99 until 2/20)
Super Shadow Break Showdown ($6.49 from $12.99 until 2/20)
Pankapu ($2.39 from $11.99 until 2/23)
Suicide Guy Collection ($2.74 from $10.99 until 2/23)
Foretales ($15.99 from $19.99 until 2/23)
Pompom: The Great Space Rescue ($7.99 from $9.99 until 2/23)
Letters A Written Adventure ($10.49 from $14.99 until 2/23)
Ruggnar ($9.79 from $13.99 until 2/23)
Piczle Cross Adventure ($4.49 from $9.99 until 2/23)
PictoQuest ($4.49 from $9.99 until 2/23)
Double Kick Heroes ($12.09 from $21.99 until 2/23)

NeuroVoider ($3.49 from $13.99 until 2/23)
ScourgeBringer ($9.34 from $16.99 until 2/23)
Hover ($6.24 from $24.99 until 2/23)
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure ($11.99 from $19.99 until 2/23)
Before I Forget ($5.59 from $7.99 until 2/23)
Souldiers ($15.99 from $19.99 until 2/23)
Run: The World in Between ($7.49 from $9.99 until 2/23)
Stack Up! (Or Dive Trying) ($6.99 from $9.99 until 2/23)
Out of Space: Couch Edition ($4.49 from $9.99 until 2/23)
Super Rocket Shootout ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/23)
Truck Simulator 3 ($7.79 from $12.99 until 2/24)
Bridge Builder Adventure ($2.84 from $14.99 until 2/24)
Saboteur! ($4.80 from $8.00 until 2/24)
Saboteur II Avenging Angel ($4.80 from $8.00 until 2/24)

Saboteur SiO ($6.59 from $10.99 until 2/24)
Beholgar ($7.99 from $9.99 until 2/24)
Sakura Cupid ($7.99 from $9.99 until 2/24)
Build a Bridge! ($2.84 from $14.99 until 2/24)
Car Factory Driver ($9.74 from $12.99 until 2/24)
Dungeonoid ($2.09 from $6.99 until 2/24)
Cook Serve Delicious 2 ($1.99 from $12.99 until 2/25)
Cook Serve Delicious 3 ($1.99 from $19.99 until 2/25)
Cook Serve Delicious 2/3 Bundle ($2.99 from $24.99 until 2/25)
Longhead ($2.99 from $9.99 until 2/25)
Casino Golf ($2.99 from $9.99 until 2/25)
Boxer ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/25)
Once Upon a Time on Halloween ($2.99 from $9.99 until 2/25)

Sales Ending Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 7th

All-Star Fruit Racing ($5.99 from $19.99 until 2/7)
EA Sports FIFA 23 Legacy Edition ($19.99 from $39.99 until 2/7)
Inukari Deluxe Edition ($1.99 from $7.99 until 2/7)
Live by the Sword: Tactics ($4.99 from $24.99 until 2/7)
Purrs in Heaven ($1.99 from $6.99 until 2/7)
Rolling Car ($1.99 from $7.99 until 2/7)
UNO ($3.99 from $9.99 until 2/7)
Wargroove ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/7)
Wargroove Double Trouble Bundle ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/7)

That’s all for today, friends. I have to make a little trip for administrative reasons tomorrow. I’m hoping to be back in time to write tomorrow’s column, but there is a slight possibility I won’t be able to do it. Provided I can make it, we’ll have more reviews, new releases, and sales to check out. Maybe some news, but who can really tell with this kind of thing. I hope you all have a magnificent Monday, and as always, thanks for reading!

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for February 3rd, 2023. We start things off with a review of Fashion Police Squad from our pal Mikhail. Gosh, he’s quite the keener. After that, we look at the dozen or so new releases that hit the eShop today. A few interesting games, and a fair bit of dubious stuff. Such are many Fridays around these parts. After that, we’ve got the usual lists of new sales and expiring discounts. Let’s get to it!

Reviews & Mini-Views

Fashion Police Squad ($19.99)

Fashion Police Squad from Mopeful Games and No More Robots is a game I played a good amount of when it hit Steam a little while ago. This new take on a boomer shooter has you solving fashion crimes instead of taking on demons with an interesting aesthetic and nice music. I was curious to see how it would feel on Switch because some games in the genre don’t feel as nice to play on Switch.

Fashion Police Squad feels good on Switch, but there are some issues that also affect the game itself. When it comes to the levels and enemies, a lot of Fashion Police Squad is very creative. The last hour of the campaign can get annoying though. Barring that, I love the unique enemies and character interactions.

I wasn’t a fan of the default control and camera setup in Fashion Police Squad on Switch. I’d recommend trying out the gyro controls and also increasing the camera sensitivity. I had a much better time after that and also when I mapped jumping to the paddles on my 8BitDo controller when playing docked. Barring the gyro, Fashion Police Squad also has good HD Rumble support.

Having now played Fashion Police Squad on both Switch and Steam Deck, the latter is a much better experience for sure when it comes to performance and load times, but this is one of No More Robot’s better Switch releases in terms of port quality. It has touchscreen support for the interface and you can even fire by tapping the screen.

Despite some performance issues on Switch compared to the PC version I played, a nice gyro control implementation helps elevate the Fashion Police Squad experience on Nintendo Switch. It is an easy recommendation for anyone looking to try out a unique take on the boomer shooter subgenre. –Mikhail Madnani

SwitchArcade Score: 4/5

New Releases

Helvetii ($16.99)

Helvetii‘s rich visuals and large characters immediately call to mind the works of Vanillaware, and that’s a bar that may be a little too high for it to clear. Choose from one of three characters and go into battle for reasons I have already forgotten, get as far as you can, die, then try again with perhaps one or two permanent upgrades in tow. I’ll have a full review of this one soon, but I’m personally a bit mixed on it at the moment. Certainly some good aspects, but the core gameplay mechanics aren’t vibing well with me yet.

Trophy ($9.99)

Originally released a little while back as an NES cartridge, this action-platformer comes to the Switch in emulated form. There are nine levels to play through, each one culminating in a battle with a boss of some kind. These bosses can get pretty large, particularly given the hardware the game was built for. It looks like a lot of fun, but I haven’t had a chance to play it yet myself.

Chasing Light ($18.99)

If you’re looking for a weird, meta piece of interactive art today, here’s one to check out. You play as the Director, who is trying to make a masterpiece game. It’s not as easy as it seems, and you’ll get to know some of the particular hardships this one faces very well. It takes a couple of hours to blow through and while I can’t say if you’ll enjoy it or not, you certainly won’t forget it.

Sport & Fun: Swimming ($19.99)

This feels like a high price for what you get here. One or two players via local multiplayer can do their best to outswim each other. You have to use the Joy-Con motion controls to play this game, so handheld-only players are out of luck. The idea I think is that you move the Joy-Cons in a swimming motion. You can choose from various characters and swimming styles. That’s about it.

Brightstone Mysteries: The Others ($14.99)

Do you like Ocean Media’s Brightstone Mysteries series of hidden object puzzle adventure games? Well, here another. The Others, to be specific. Anyway, there is some kind of mysterious thing going on in some small town. As it goes. Nothing special here, but if you like this flavor of game this is certainly one more.

Match Ventures 2 ($11.99)

Oh hey, a sequel already. That was a harrowing week of anticipation. It’s another Ocean Media matching puzzle game. Complete the stages and build your castles. You can play this for free on your mobile device, freeing up this twelve dollars for important things like mixed nuts or jam.

Pets at Work ($4.99)

Some pets are trapped in an office and need to escape in this puzzle-platformer. Your goal is to figure out how to open the route to the exit in each stage and then pull it off. Seems like a decent five-dollar game for those who enjoy a little bit of puzzling. You can even pull in a friend via local multiplayer to help you out. Two heads are better than one, I’m told.

Hundred Fires: The Rising of Red Star Episode 2 ($5.99)

The Dollar Store Metal Gear Solid is back for another adventure. Like the first time around, it’s not very good. But it might be good enough for Metal Gear Solid fans pining for something, anything, to scratch their itch. I’m not sure. The six dollar price tag probably helps set expectations, if nothing else.

Tiny Detour ($4.99)

You’re on your way home but the bridge you need to cross is broken. To fix it, you have to take on a variety of tasks that see you venturing into the woods. Mostly a chill little walking game, which is probably all it needs to be for a fiver.

Car Factory Driver ($12.99)

BoomHits is checking in for its weekly release, and it’s another game where you drive various vehicles around a decent-sized area and complete a list of missions. Many of them involve parking, because the kids are all about parking cars these days. I have no facts to support that. I’m just throwing that out there because a lot of these games seem to involve parking lately.

Swap Puzzles ($2.99)

If I sound tired with some of these frequently appearing game concepts, I apologize. But there are only so many ways to write about some of these things. This one, for example. It’s another one of those games where you swap around tile to complete the picture. Like a jigsaw puzzle but all of the pieces are squares. While many games of this sort go for saucy pictures, this one contents itself with some family-friendly art.

Crime Map: Spot the Hidden Differences ($2.99)

Well, I suppose we had to have at least one appearance from one of the eShop Crap Squad members today. Cooking and Publishing has another “spot the differences” game for all you greasy spoon diner placemat fans. But this time it’s mixed with crime.

Sales

(North American eShop, US Prices)

Not a bad list, I suppose. Some Kairosoft games, a new low price for the enjoyable Jetboard Joust, some new low prices on a few Kemco games. Nothing to knock off a person’s socks, but worth combing through. The outbox is less interesting, with mainly the QUByte retro re-releases filling it out. Check it anyway, just in case.

Select New Games on Sale

Sonority ($15.99 from $19.99 until 2/10)
Mutropolis ($13.99 from $19.99 until 2/10)
Lamplight City ($10.49 from $14.99 until 2/10)
Growbot ($13.99 from $19.99 until 2/10)
Unforeseen Incidents ($13.99 from $19.99 until 2/10)
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood ($2.24 from$14.99 until 2/13)
A Plague Tale Requiem Cloud Vers. ($41.99 from $59.99 until 2/13)
Kardboard Kings: Card Shop Sim ($15.99 from $19.99 until 2/16)
Relic Hunters Zero Remix ($6.49 from $12.99 until 2/16)
Spinch ($7.49 from $14.99 until 2/16)
Godstrike ($4.94 from $14.99 until 2/16)
Jetboard Joust ($2.49 from $9.99 until 2/16)
Mars Base ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/16)
Dark Deity ($9.99 from $24.99 until 2/16)
Coromon ($11.99 from $19.99 until 2/16)

Absolute Tactics: DoM ($19.99 from $24.99 until 2/16)
The Jackbox Party Pack 8 ($17.99 from $29.99 until 2/17)
FAR: Changing Tides ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/17)
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 CE ($10.49 from $29.99 until 2/17)
Struggling ($5.24 from $14.99 until 2/17)
Black Wolf ($1.99 from $2.99 until 2/17)
Super Chicken Jumper ($3.49 from $4.99 until 2/17)
Plunderer’s Adventures ($2.49 from $4.99 until 2/17)
Until the Last Plane ($6.99 from $9.99 until 2/17)
Bubsy Paws on Fire ($4.99 from $24.99 until 2/17)
Shiny Ski Resort ($7.00 from $14.00 until 2/22)
8-Bit Farm ($7.00 from $14.00 until 2/22)
Dream House Days DX ($7.00 from $14.00 until 2/22)
Asdivine Cross ($7.49 from $14.99 until 2/23)
Asdivine Saga ($9.74 from $14.99 until 2/23)

Gale of Windoria ($11.24 from $14.99 until 2/23)
Ambition Record ($9.74 from $14.99 until 2/23)
Ruinverse ($7.49 from $14.99 until 2/23)
Sherlock Holmes: C & P ($11.99 from $29.99 until 2/23)
Guntech 2 ($10.49 from $14.99 until 2/23)
Space Lines Puzzle Arcade Game ($1.99 from $5.99 until 2/23)
Chess Brain: Dark Troops ($1.99 from $3.99 until 2/23)
Hidden Shapes: BS & OW ($1.99 from $3.99 until 2/23)
Chameneon ($1.99 from $3.99 until 2/23)
Josh Journey Darkness Totems ($6.99 from $13.99 until 2/23)
SAOMI ($1.99 from $3.99 until 2/23)
Cat Slide Tiles ($1.99 from $3.99 until 2/23)
Host 714 ($2.49 from $4.99 until 2/23)
Animal Puzzle Cats ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/23)
Legendary Heroes ($2.49 from $4.99 until 2/23)

Fashion Friends ($2.49 from $9.99 until 2/23)
Geometric Feel the Beats ($2.49 from $4.99 until 2/23)
Milk Inside a Bag… ($5.35 from $7.99 until 2/23)
Swarmrider Omega ($2.49 from $4.99 until 2/23)
Doomed to Hell ($2.49 from $4.99 until 2/23)
Vasara Collection ($4.99 from $9.99 until 2/23)
In Extremis DX ($2.49 from $4.99 until 2/23)

Sales Ending This Weekend

Chinese Parents ($9.74 from $12.99 until 2/4)
Christmas Tina ($20.24 from $26.99 until 2/4)
Circa Infinite Ultimate ($1.99 from $10.99 until 2/4)
Dying: Reborn ($7.49 from $9.99 until 2/4)
Galaxy Shooter ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/4)
Glyph ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/4)
Golazo 2 ($8.99 from $14.99 until 2/4)
Head Over Heels ($4.99 from $9.99 until 2/4)
Jim Power: The Lost Dimension ($4.99 from $9.99 until 2/4)
Luna the Shadow Dust ($14.99 from $19.99 until 2/4)
Necrobarista Final Pour ($16.49 from $21.99 until 2/4)
Nirvana Deluxe Edition ($1.99 from $7.49 until 2/4)

Radical Rex ($3.99 from $7.99 until 2/4)
Rhythm Fighter ($12.74 from $16.99 until 2/4)
Tcheco in the Castle of Lucio ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/4)
The Humans ($3.99 from $7.99 until 2/4)
The Immortal ($3.99 from $7.99 until 2/4)
Thunderbolt Collection ($3.99 from $7.99 until 2/4)
Zero Tolerance Collection ($4.99 from $9.99 until 2/4)
Family Man ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/5)
Hatchwell ($4.99 from $9.99 until 2/5)
Haustoria ($1.99 from $12.99 until 2/5)

That’s all for today and this week, friends. We’ll be back next week with more new releases, more sales, more reviews, and I believe at least a little news. I have a whole weekend of paperwork ahead of me, so wish me luck with that. I hope you all have a better weekend than me, and as always, thanks for reading!

A little while ago, we put up a list of our favorite shoot-em-ups in Hamster’s Arcade Archives line-up. There are hundreds of games available thanks the weekly releases, so it can be a little hard to find the cream of the crop if you’re coming in a little late. Shooters were of course mainstays in the arcade heyday, but in the mid-80s another popular genre rose up: the beat-em-up. The brawler. The belt-scroller. So many names, but the important thing is that it involved one or more people beating the stuffing out of a veritable army of opponents as they made their way through various locales. There are many of them in Arcade Archives, but these are the ones we like the best.

Renegade ($7.99)

Let’s start by paying some homage to the grandfathers of the genre. By adding some depth to the proceedings, Renegade essentially added one of the last major component the beat-em-up genre needed. It spawned the Kunio-kun/River City and Double Dragon franchises. And despite being such an early example of a brawler, it’s still a lot of fun to play. The enemies are merciless and you don’t have a lot of room to maneuver, but your extensive list of moves is no joke, either. Sending enemies sailing off the edge of the subway platform or into the water never gets old.

Double Dragon ($7.99)

And here’s the last big piece of the beat-em-up puzzle: simultaneous multiplayer. Double Dragon is an icon of the genre, and for good reason. It takes you on an impressive journey through the streets, a construction site, a forest, and a wild enemy hideout, throwing all manner of bizarre foes at you along the way. You can go it alone or bring a friend, though be prepared for some heavy slowdown if you take the latter route. Still, it’s worth it just to see what happens if Billy and Jimmy manage to take down the last boss together. I really love the way the basic punches feel in this game, and just the way hits land in general.

64th Street ($7.99)

Zipping ahead a bit, we have an effort from Jaleco that doesn’t do a lot to hide its inspirations. For the most part, 64th Street follows the template established by Capcom’s Final Fight. It has a cool 1940s gumshoe vibe to it, and the set piece that makes up the climax is definitely worth seeing. But the real fun in this game comes from its key gameplay twist: you can throw enemies into the background. Sometimes it damages or breaks objects or walls, revealing items. Sometimes it sends enemies sailing into the water. The bosses are incredibly cheap, but the game ends up being a blast anyway.

Sengoku 3 ($7.99)

Releasing in 2001, Sengoku 3 is one of the later NEOGEO releases from SNK. It’s also likely the pinnacle of the genre on SNK’s unique console, offering up a nice selection of characters, excellent graphics, some interesting stages to go through, and wild boss fights. There’s an emphasis on building combos in this game, which isn’t something you tend to see in arcade games in this genre. You can also pick up an assortment of throwable objects and make use of them to defeat your foes. While it loses the unique character-switching mechanic of earlier Sengoku games, this is still the best in the series.

Crime Fighters ($7.99)

Konami created some of the most popular, celebrated arcade brawlers to ever exist. Unfortunately, most of them have licenses attached to them so the Arcade Archives selection is a bit more limited. Still, if you want to see where Konami really got the ball rolling on its particular brand of beat-em-up, here is Crime Fighters. It has many of the characteristics of later Konami brawlers like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Simpsons, but in a more prototypical form. A tough one, but worth playing.

Vendetta ($7.99)

A couple of years later, Konami followed up Crime Fighters with Vendetta. Only a short span of time, but it was huge for this genre and Vendetta shows it. Choose from expies of Mike Tyson, Hulk Hogan, Mr. T, and Jean-Claude Van Damme and head out to defeat the Dead End gang. This game makes the bold choice to remove regular jumps which forces you to think differently about crowd control. In exchange, you’re given a wide array of surprisingly brutal moves to dispatch your enemies with. Up to four players can join in on this one, too.

Zero Team ($7.99)

Most of the games on this list come from familiar names like Technos, Konami, SNK, and Tecmo. Unless you’re particularly well-versed in arcade history, you probably haven’t heard of Seibu Kaihatsu. It’s largely known for its Raiden series of vertical shooters, but it made a few other games that don’t seem to get much attention. Zero Team is its entry into the brawler genre, and it’s another one with four-player support. The gameplay is easy to pick up and very enjoyable, and it’s one of the more colorful and silly games on this list.

Mutation Nation ($7.99)

Mutation Nation is a guilty pleasure of mine. It’s not like it does anything particularly fancy with its gameplay, though its assortment of cool super moves aren’t too shabby. Mechanically, it does what you would expect and not much more. But it leans into its theme really well, with some wild enemy designs that sometimes mutate mid-fight and really cool bosses. It looks really good for a NEOGEO game, and the soundtrack has some nice kick to it as well. This is another really fun trip to take with a friend, but cracking mutant heads solo is a good time, too.

Ninja Gaiden ($7.99)

Of the three games carrying the name Ninja Gaiden, this is probably the least successful and least remembered. But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad game. It’s actually quite good, albeit a little different in feel from most other beat-em-ups. You have a set of moves appropriate to a ninja, and your journey through a pop culture view of America is hilarious and interesting. Put on your ninja duds and find out the one story of Ryu Hayabusa that you probably don’t know.

P.O.W.: Prisoners of War ($7.99)

Before there was NEOGEO, SNK mostly made games about war. It was a popular thing in the 1980s, and SNK made almost as much bread from it as Capcom did. The biggest hits were vertical run-and-guns like Ikari Warriors, T.N.K., and Guerilla War, but there was one side-scrolling beat-em-up that managed to break through a bit. You play as a P.O.W. who takes matters into his own hands and not only breaks out but actually brings down the whole enemy operation. Another early example of the genre, but a great one all the same. Bring a buddy for maximum carnage.

And that’s the lot, friends. I hope this list helps you find some new games to play, and if you have any Arcade Archives beat-em-ups you would like to recommend, please comment below. We’re all looking for more good stuff to add to our libraries, after all. Thanks again for reading!

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for February 2nd, 2023. We’ve actually got a little news to look at today, and that’s where we’ll start things. There are also a ton of new games, some of them very good (Life is Strange 2, Drainus), and some of them very bad (the usual trash from Midnight Works and VG Games). We’ve got summaries of all of them, plus the usual lists of new and expiring sales. Let’s get to work!

News

Nintendo Switch Online Vouchers Are Back in North America

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quAoIKj3DuQ

This news won’t be of much interest to readers outside of North America, but Nintendo of America has brought back the Game Vouchers program for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. You can buy two Vouchers for $99.98, with each of them good for any of the select games in the program. It’s a nice way to save a little money on games that normally don’t go on sale, and it’s good to see them return.

Check Out the New Update for ‘Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak’

Capcom has lifted the veil on the latest update for Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak. You can see the details in the video above, but the gist of it is that there are two amazing new monsters to battle, some expanded anomaly research quests to complete, and some new weekly event quests to embark upon. This update is of course free, so anyone who owns Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak can enjoy it without paying anything more. The update will be available from February 7th.

‘Theatrhythm Final Bar Line’ Demo is Now Available

If you were to peek at my Nintendo 3DS’s play logs, you would see that two of my top played games in terms of hours were Theatrhythm Final Fantasy and Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call. And Theatrhythm Dragon Quest, but we don’t talk about that one so much. I also enjoyed Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory which, let’s be honest, was a Theatrhythm game in all but name. So yes, I am rather looking forward to the upcoming release of Theatrhythm Final Bar Line. It’s out on February 16th, just two weeks from now, but if you’re like me and can’t wait to get a taste, there is now a demo available on the eShop. It offers a generous selection of songs to play and allows you to carry your save and progress over to the full game. Give it a go and see how you take to those button controls.

New Releases

Life is Strange 2 ($31.99)

Here’s the latest in the Life is Strange series, I think, now available for your playing enjoyment on the Switch. It follows the story of two brothers on the run to Mexico with the police in hot pursuit. The younger brother of the two has telekinetic powers, you see. You play as the older brother and need to take care of your brother and his needs as you make the treacherous trip to the border. I’m pretty sure our pal Mikhail is doing a review of this one, so do look forward to it.

Drainus ($19.99)

Drainus is a very cool new side-scrolling shooter that I think stands a decent chance of breaking through in the same sort of way Ikaruga did. The gimmick here is that you can drain enemy shots and fire them back, all the while filling up energy cans that you can use to buy upgrades for your ship. It’s less of a score attack arcade game and more one that you just want to play through and enjoy the ride. I’ll have a full review of this one soon, but I will say for now that it’s a good, relatively approachable shooter that should play well with a crowd that usually isn’t interested in the genre.

The Pathless ($39.99)

First up, I should mention that the above screenshot is from the PC version. I couldn’t get my hands on a Switch screenshot in time. Anyway, this is the latest from Annapurna. It has been out for a while on other platforms, and it’s had a rather sunny reception overall. You play as a hunter who travels to a mysterious island on a quest to dispel a curse that is afflicting the land. Explore the open world, seek out secrets, solve puzzles, and hunt evil spirits that stalk the woods. If you need a little air, call on your eagle buddy to give you a lift. Mikhail is also looking into this one, I think. You all know him and his Annapurna games.

Fashion Police Squad ($19.99)

Well, this is a new way to handle a first-person shooter. Instead of hunting demons or Nazis, you’re going after fashion disasters. Jump, climb, and swing your way around the city, solving fashion crimes and searching for hidden goodies. Rather than use shotguns on your enemies, you’ll instead have to choose the right tool to help fix their fashion fumble. Maybe you need to add a bit of color. Maybe you have to take in the seams. I don’t know, I am not a fashionable person at all. The main character in this game would definitely be hunting me. I wear suspenders, for crying out loud. Do not hurt me, Fashion Police Squad.

Cuddly Forest Friends ($39.99)

Aksys has a cute little game here. It features an assortment of animal friends that you need to take care of. There are more than ten different minigames to play in order to do that, and in helping out the animals you’ll nourish the forest’s Tree of Happiness and make it grow stronger. I’ll be honest: this doesn’t look like something I would pay forty bucks for, but I also don’t think I’m anywhere near the demographic this is aimed at. Perhaps you are, and you should investigate accordingly.

Arcade Archives Phelios ($7.99)

Here is one of Namco’s lesser-seen shoot-em-ups, and one I’m largely familiar with through its port on the SEGA Genesis. You play as Apollo, who is riding Pegasus on a quest to save Artemis from Typhon. Your primary means of attack is through a special charged attack as your standard shot is barely useful at all against the enemies you’ll face. There are seven stages in all. This arcade version actually wasn’t released outside of Japan back in the day due to some concerns about the content in the cut-scenes. Hamster has done its usual capable job bringing the game to Switch, of course.

Active DBG: Brave’s Rage ($19.99)

Oh, I see. Deck building game. Got it. So yes, this is one of those deck building roguelite games. We have a lot of those on the Nintendo Switch already. The gimmick in this one is that you can actually interrupt turns to make moves. The description suggests it is inspired by Final Fantasy‘s Active Time Battle system and action-RPGs, which is a little hard to visualize for a game like this. If it works, however, then I would say that is a cool way to stand out from the pack. I haven’t had a chance to play this yet so I’ll have to investigate further.

Jumbo Airport Story ($14.00)

Hey, another Kairosoft simulation game. In this one you’re running an airport. It has a few new twists thanks to its theme, but structurally it’s fairly similar to most of the other Kairosoft games. As always I will mention that you can get this at a lower price on mobile, and it’s every bit as playable if not more so. But if you really want to own it on your Switch, here it is.

Rhythm Sprout ($14.99)

Here’s a cute little rhythm game where you play as a little sprout off on some adventure or another. Walk along to the music and fight along with the beat, just like you would expect. Some extra modes are available to keep the good times rolling once you’ve finished the story. Also to that end there are unlockable outfits and skins for Sprout. I’m probably going to wait it out for Theatrhythm but if you’re a big fan of the genre and want something to hold you over, this might be a good choice.

Oshiiro ($10.99)

Um, so this is a horror game. You explore a haunted arena and need to exorcise evil spirits using some sort of ghost-busting glowstick. Find the hidden idol symbols and swing the properly colored glowstick at them to clear each stage. I can say with some degree of certainty that I haven’t seen a game like this before, for better or worse.

Monster Girls and the Mysterious Adventure 2 ($21.99)

Where did part one go? Let me check on that. Oh yes, there it is on Steam. Well, there you go. This is the sequel. It’s a Mystery Dungeon-like Japanese roguelike featuring parties of monster girls. Befriend monsters to help you make your way through the procedurally-generated floors of the dungeon. As you make friends, they’ll populate the town and take on various jobs or just chill out somewhere. If you like Mystery Dungeon, you very well may enjoy this take on the familiar format. It has a rather solid reputation over on Steam and I have no doubt it will find an equally welcoming audience on Switch.

Pixel Game Maker Series Cat and Tower ($4.99)

This calls to mind bizarre Flash games from the earlier days of the internet. You play as a cat who needs to climb a tower of platforms. You can move, jump, and dash. The game keeps track of your time, so I suppose you could speed run if that’s your thing. There are extra missions to complete and some unlockable additional difficulty levels. The visual presentation is a hodge-podge of mismatched elements that somehow sings a sweet melody to my soul that I remember just scarcely enough to feel something. Is that worth a fiver? Maybe. Maybe.

Sakura Cupid ($9.99)

The latest Sakura visual novel game. The protagonist is a lazy cupid named Lilim who has been exiled from heaven for being terrible at her job. Rather than being down about the whole thing, Lilim is actually thrilled because she can now chill out and watch anime and read comics all day. She blows it by using a love bullet to try to charm a free cup of coffee and ends up causing a waitress to fall in love with her. All the while one of her old friends from heaven is hunting her to try and bring her back. Quite the mess. Make your choices and find your ending.

Exitman Deluxe ($4.99)

This isn’t what I thought it was, but that’s on me for expecting a modern version of Square Enix’s Exit. This game has a rather simple concept. The ceiling is falling and it will crush you if you don’t squeeze into the gap. Each time the ceiling comes down and goes back up, the gaps move around. How long can you survive? There are multiple modes of play, including local multiplayer for up to four players. Could be fun for a fiver, I suppose.

Harvest Yuuka ($25.00)

With so many Touhou games and so many farming games available on the Switch, how can one make their own game stand out? First, combine the two. Second, release a text-heavy game with only Japanese language support. Yeah, I’d like to see the other farming games do that. Advantage: Harvest Yuuka.

Air Jet Fighter Combat – Europe Fly Plane Attack ($4.99)

Some utter trash from the trash merchants at VG Games. Likely cobbled together from a template of some kind. You could use a fiver better by lighting it on fire.

Kart Crazy Race Simulator Game ($4.99)

More trash from the trash merchants at VG Games. Also likely cobbled together from a template of some kind. You could use a fiver better by lighting it on fire and using it to light another fiver on fire. You’d be down ten but you’d still be better off than you would you be if you bought and played this game.

Shark Attack: Fish Predator Ocean Sea Adventure Survival ($4.99)

Another heap of trash from VG Games. Another game likely originating from a template, and another absolute waste of five dollars. You could use a fiver better by lighting it on fire and using it to light a pile of fivers on fire, because even though you would be out a ton of money, at least you wouldn’t have to play this soulless waste.

Radiantflux Hyperfractal 4.0 ($1.99)

Hey, I remember this from the Wii U. It’s a basic scrolling shoot-em-up wrapped up in an oddly appealing early Windows aesthetic, complete with some diversions like a Minesweeper clone and a paint program. It’s cheap, so that’s one thing going for it. And it is certainly unique. It would be hard not to get your money’s worth at this price point, but I don’t know how much enjoyment you’d really get out of it.

Beat Them Up – Box Simulator – Boxing Battle Fight Combat for Nintendo Switch Ultimate 2023 ($4.99)

Here is Midnight Works with an absolute rubbish-tier beat-em-up that was almost certainly pieced together from a template. Same deal as the VG Games stuff. Don’t waste your money on this garbage.

Box Roulette Simulator – Boxing Battle Fight Combat for Nintendo Switch ($2.99)

And another from Midnight Works, this one a handheld mode-only game of Russian Roulette with a boxing glove instead of a bullet. There’s really not much of a game here at all. There are probably better ways to spend three bucks. A delicious Snickers bar or two, perhaps. An egg, in these trying times. I don’t know. Just don’t spend it here.

The Intership ($3.99)

Cooking and Publishing has to get its lick in today, too. This is a very plain visual novel-style game where you just make a series of choices and try to get all of the characters through to the end. There are multiple endings to find. At least it isn’t one of those question-answering games.

Sales

(North American eShop, US Prices)

Not a huge list of new games yet at the time of writing, but there are some good ones in there. There are new low prices on Slaycation Paradise and Monster Harvest, plus sales on Monster Hunter Rise and a lot of the individual DLCs for Capcom Arcade Stadium. Over in the outbox, sales from Ubisoft and others are winding down. Have a look through both lists as ever.

Select New Games on Sale

Retro City Rampage DX ($7.49 from $14.99 until 2/8)
Shakedown Hawaii ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/8)
Spinfrog ($4.99 from $19.99 until 2/9)
Aragami 2 ($26.79 from $39.99 until 2/15)
Slaycation Paradise ($6.79 from $19.99 until 2/15)
Hayfever ($2.99 from $14.99 until 2/15)
Monster Harvest ($4.99 from $19.99 until 2/15)
Rogue Star Rescue ($9.74 from $14.99 until 2/15)
Time on Frog Island ($8.49 from $24.99 until 2/15)
Frogun ($11.24 from $14.99 until 2/15)
Kholat ($2.09 from $14.99 until 2/16)
Monster Hunter Rise + Sunbreak ($39.99 from $69.99 until 2/16)
Monster Hunter Rise ($19.99 from $39.99 until 2/16)

Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water ($29.99 from $39.99 until 2/16)
Fatal Frame: MoBW Deluxe Edition ($41.24 from $54.99 until 2/16)
Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey ($14.39 from $15.99 until 2/17)
Runefall 2 CE ($6.99 from $9.99 until 2/21)
I Love Finding Critters ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/21)
Extinction Eclipse ($4.99 from $9.99 until 2/22)
Super Fowlst ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/22)
Super Fowlst 2 ($2.00 from $10.00 until 2/22)
Dadish ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/22)
Dadish 2 ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/22)

Sales Ending Tomorrow, Friday, February 3rd

Aka ($10.39 from $12.99 until 2/3)
Assassin’s Creed Ezio Collection ($19.99 from $39.99 until 2/3)
Battle Chef Brigade Deluxe ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/3)
Bite the Bullet ($2.99 from $14.99 until 2/3)
Blue Fire ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/3)
Cake Invaders ($2.99 from $5.99 until 2/3)
Casual Challenge Players’ Club ($3.49 from $4.99 until 2/3)
Child of Light UE ($4.99 from $19.99 until 2/3)
Construction Site Driver 2 ($6.49 from $12.99 until 2/3)
Cyber Shadow ($15.99 from $19.99 until 2/3)
Don’t Knock Twice ($3.74 from $12.49 until 2/3)
Double Cross ($3.99 from $19.99 until 2/3)
Family Feud ($9.89 from $29.99 until 2/3)
Football Manager 2023 Touch ($35.99 from $44.99 until 2/3)
Graze Counter GM ($11.99 from $14.99 until 2/3)

Hungry Shark World ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/3)
I Saw Black Clouds ($7.79 from $12.99 until 2/3)
Immortals Fenyx Rising ($11.99 from $59.99 until 2/3)
Immortals Fenyx Rising Season Pass DLC ($15.99 from $39.99 until 2/3)
Inertia Redux ($2.06 from $4.39 until 2/3)
Joggernauts ($2.99 from $14.99 until 2/3)
Legendary Fishing ($4.49 from $29.99 until 2/3)
Lila’s Sky Ark ($4.49 from $14.99 until 2/3)
Lost in Play ($11.99 from $19.99 until 2/3)
Mable & The Wood ($2.99 from $14.99 until 2/3)
Monopoly ($9.99 from $39.99 until 2/3)
MotoGP 20 ($2.49 from $24.99 until 2/3)
Pill Baby ($7.50 from $15.00 until 2/3)
PopSlinger ($7.49 from $14.99 until 2/3)
Project Starship ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/3)

Rabbids: Party of Legends ($15.99 from $39.99 until 2/3)
Restless Soul ($4.49 from $14.99 until 2/3)
Revertia ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/3)
Rule No.1 ($4.19 from $5.99 until 2/3)
Scott Pilgrim vs The World ($4.94 from $14.99 until 2/3)
Super Jagger Bomb ($3.49 from $4.99 until 2/3)
The Enigma Machine ($4.79 from $7.99 until 2/3)
The King’s Bird ($3.99 from $19.99 until 2/3)
Time Rift ($5.99 from $9.99 until 2/3)
Trials Rising ($5.99 from $19.99 until 2/3)
Trivial Pursuit Live 2 ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/3)
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion ($5.99 from $14.99 until 2/3)
Unbound Worlds Apart ($6.99 from $19.99 until 2/3)
Valiant Hearts The Great War ($4.99 from $19.99 until 2/3)
Wheel of Fortune ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/3)
Yum Yum Cookstar ($19.99 from $29.99 until 2/3)

That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with the remaining releases of the week, plus what I am sure will be a healthy list of new sales. Gosh, the games are piling up again already. I hope you all have a great Thursday, and as always, thanks for reading!

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for February 1st, 2023. It’s a slower day today, at least at the time of writing. Now that I’ve said that Nintendo will probably announce a Direct or something. At any rate, there are a few new games to check out today including the rather nifty PowerWash Simulator, and we’ve got summaries of all of them as usual. After that, it’s the usual lists of new and outgoing sales. And that’s where I’ll leave it, because tomorrow is going to be bonkers. Let’s get to it!

New Releases

PowerWash Simulator ($24.99)

The joy of cleaning comes to the Switch in this port of last year’s surprise hit. Use your powerwasher to clean up the neighborhood and other locations, blasting the dirt off everything. You can even clean up Lara Croft’s mansion via the free DLC and can look forward to giving Midgar a shine with some upcoming Final Fantasy VII-themed DLC. And hey, is that a mention of Legacy of Kain I see in those copyright notices? Clean everything, friends. Clean it all. Our pal Mikhail is working on a review for this one.

Puzzle Bobble 2X/Bust-A-Move 2 Arcade Edition & Puzzle Bobble 3/Bust-A-Move 3 S-Tribute ($14.99)

Well, that title is a mouthful and a half. As you might guess from the S-Tribute tag, this is a collection of two SEGA Saturn games running through the Zebra Engine emulator. You get both Bust-A-Move 2 and Bust-A-Move 3 in both their English and Japanese forms, if I am understanding things correctly. On the one hand, there’s probably a little more lag here than in the Arcade Archives releases, but on the other hand you’ll get some extras that were added in for the home versions. At least the price is nice relative to previous S-Tribute releases.

Albacete Warrior ($9.99)

This is a platforming beat-em-up where you play as a Spanish Ninja who uses his chicken friend to… sigh… cockslap the enemies. Because it’s a rooster, you see. The game feels like it was made just to use that joke, so enjoy it. The last boss appears to be a certain notorious president, which is a reference that isn’t as amusing as the many games that use it appear to think it is. It’s janky as heck and I’m not sure if the good parts outweigh the bad parts, but it’s certainly unique.

Gunscape ($14.99)

This game aims to pay homage to first-person shooter classics while also providing players with tools to build their own levels and such. It has support for local and online multiplayer for up to four players, and you can also share your created maps with others online. As long as you enjoy the core mechanics, you could in theory have endless fun here. But that’s a big qualifier, and at least for me one that the game can’t quite manage. It’s not terrible or anything, but it’s not really good enough for me to stick with its creation elements. Maybe you’ll feel differently, though.

Sales

(North American eShop, US Prices)

Dadish 3 rules if you like platforming, and is well-worth two bucks. Dying Light for twenty bucks is pretty nice. The big new sale is Wargroove at its absolute lowest price yet. The outbox is really big today, with sales from Capcom and others winding down. Have a look through both lists and see what strikes your fancy.

Select New Games on Sale

Wargroove ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/7)
Wargroove Double Trouble Bundle ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/7)
Rolling Car ($1.99 from $7.99 until 2/7)
Inukari Deluxe Edition ($1.99 from $7.99 until 2/7)
Dying Light: Definitive ($19.99 from $49.99 until 2/17)
Call of Juarez Gunslinger ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/17)
Dadish 3 ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/21)
Warp Shift ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/21)

Sales Ending Tomorrow, Thursday, February 2nd

Ace Attorney Turnabout Collection ($34.99 from $59.99 until 2/2)
AngerForce: Reloaded ($6.99 from $9.99 until 2/2)
Astebreed ($3.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Bright Memory IG Edition ($15.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Capcom Arcade Stadium 1+2+3 DLC ($19.99 from $39.99 until 2/2)
Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Clustertruck ($3.74 from $14.99 until 2/2)
Community Inc ($3.74 from $14.99 until 2/2)
Cozy Grove ($8.90 from $14.99 until 2/2)
Croixleur Sigma ($5.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
DEEEER Simulator: Average Deer Game ($11.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Devil May Cry ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Dragon’s Dogma Dark Arisen ($9.99 from $29.99 until 2/2)
Freshly Frosted ($7.19 from $9.99 until 2/2)
Gas Station Simulator ($13.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)

Ghosts n Goblins Resurrection ($14.99 from $29.99 until 2/2)
Gnosia ($17.49 from $24.99 until 2/2)
Graveyard Keeper ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Graveyard Keeper UC Edition ($19.99 from $39.99 until 2/2)
Hakinowa Explorer Plus ($5.99 from $11.99 until 2/2)
Hello Neighbor ($9.99 from $39.99 until 2/2)
ibb & obb ($1.99 from $14.99 until 2/2)
Idol Manager ($19.99 from $24.99 until 2/2)
Justice Sucks ($15.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Kero Blaster ($2.99 from $9.99 until 2/2)
Kill It With Fire ($3.74 from $14.99 until 2/2)
Kuukiyomi 3 ($2.49 from $4.99 until 2/2)
Legal Dungeon ($5.99 from $9.99 until 2/2)
LiEat ($5.99 from $9.99 until 2/2)
Mad Father ($5.99 from $9.99 until 2/2)

Maze Blaze ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/2)
Mega Man 11 ($9.99 from $29.99 until 2/2)
Mega Man Legacy Collection ($7.99 from $14.99 until 2/2)
Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Mega Man X Legacy Collection ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2 ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Mega Man Zero/ZX Collection ($14.99 from $29.99 until 2/2)
Mighty Goose ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Monster Hunter Generation Ult. ($11.99 from $39.99 until 2/2)
Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak DLC ($29.99 from $39.99 until 2/2)
Monster Hunter Stories 2 ($19.99 from $59.99 until 2/2)
Monster Hunter Stories 2 Deluxe ($24.49 from $69.99 until 2/2)
Mr Shifty ($3.74 from $14.99 until 2/2)
My Downtown ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Noel the Mortal Fate ($12.49 from $24.99 until 2/2)

Once Upon a Jester ($11.99 from $14.99 until 2/2)
One Way Heroics Plus ($8.99 from $14.99 until 2/2)
Onimusha Warlords ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Orangeblood ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Party Hard ($3.74 from $14.99 until 2/2)
Party Hard 2 ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Phantom Trigger ($3.74 from $14.99 until 2/2)
Potato Flowers in Full Bloom ($14.38 from $17.99 until 2/2)
Punch Club ($3.74 from $14.99 until 2/2)
Queen’s Garden Sakura Season ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Record of Lodoss War: DiWL ($17.49 from $24.99 until 2/2)
Replica ($2.49 from $4.99 until 2/2)
Resident Evil ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Resident Evil 0 ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Resident Evil 4 ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)

Resident Evil 5 ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Resident Evil 6 ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Resident Evil Revelations ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Resident Evil Revelations 2 ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Roundguard ($6.38 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Sail Forth ($17.39 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Secrets of Magic 4: Potion Master ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Secrets of Magic 5: BtS ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Sherlock Holmes: Devil’s Daughter ($11.99 from $29.99 until 2/2)
Shinsekai Into the Depths ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
SpeedRunners (43.74 from $14.99 until 2/2)
SpiderHeck ($11.99 from $14.99 until 2/2)
Strange Telephone ($4.99 from $9.99 until 2/2)
Street Fighter 30th Anniversary ($11.99 from $29.99 until 2/2)
Streets of Rogue ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)

Strikey Sisters ($2.99 from $9.99 until 2/2)
Tasomachi Behind the Twilight ($13.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
The Final Station ($4.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
The Good Life ($27.99 from $39.99 until 2/2)
The Lost Labyrinth ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
The Sealed Ampoule ($11.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Tinykin ($19.99 from $24.99 until 2/2)
TorqueL PM Edition ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/2)
Totally Reliable Deliv. Service ($7.49 from $14.99 until 2/2)
Trash Sailors ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Undungeon ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)
Vertical Strike Endless Challenge ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/2)
YumeNikki Dream Diary ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/2)

That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with a ton of new release summaries, with at least sixteen games on the schedule so far. How many will be dubious? We’ll know soon, pals. We’ll know soon. There will also be some sales, because there are always sales. And if the big news we know is coming happens to happen in the next twenty-four hours, you can expect that too. I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday, and as always, thanks for reading!

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round for January 31st, 2023. In today’s article, we’ve got a few more reviews for you to enjoy looking through. Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection, Trek to Yomi, and Risen all get evaluated and scored in our usual manner. After that, we have one new release to check out. It’s a good one, though. Finally, it’s the usual lists of new sales and expiring discounts. Let’s get to the business!

Reviews & Mini-Views

Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection ($49.99)

What a pickle this release is. Several months ago, I reviewed Wonder Boy Collection. It included four different Wonder Boy/Monster World games, with one version of each. In that review I mentioned the various other ways you may have already bought some of the included games, but recommended it based on whatever your particular circumstances were. At the time I noted that there was a more extensive physical collection on offer from Strictly Limited Games, but there was no digital version confirmed at the time. Well, the physical version more or less just arrived in the hands of people who ordered it, and here’s the digital version to go with it.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this kind of approach from this publisher. Space Invaders and Turrican took similar paths, and since I am a glass half-full fellow, I was able to see at least some cases where a person might want the earlier cut-back collections. I can’t say that here. There is absolutely no reason to own Wonder Boy Collection with Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection available, unless you absolutely need some Wonder Boy games right now and only have thirty bucks on you. It isn’t just about the games, you see. There are also features and improvements over the previous release that make playing the games a better experience, things that ideally ought to have been patched into that first collection. I’m not going to knock this collection for this whole rude mess, but do be aware that the previous collection should be avoided now.

Moving along, what does this collection offer over the previous one? Well, for starters, you get all six of the Wonder Boy/Monster World games instead of just four. Wonder Boy, Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair, Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap, Wonder Boy in Monster World, and Monster World IV are all here. You don’t just get one version of each, either. You get just about every non-Hudson version of each game, which unfortunately does mean that none of the lovely TurboGrafx 16 variants are here. Still, having the arcade originals where applicable along with ports as esoteric as SG-1000 and Game Gear makes for a really interesting picture of Wonder Boy‘s history. All up, you’ve got twenty-one different games across all the different included versions. You probably won’t be playing some of them all that often, but it’s good to have them.

You also get some extras, such as an extensive art gallery, manual scans, and maps for each game. The games themselves are emulated through Ratalaika’s usual methods, and apart from the SG-1000 audio being a little off, I can find no obvious flaws in their work. One thing to note is that some games have some gameplay enhancements that are on by default, and some of them may not be welcome depending on your tastes. You can switch them off if you like, which is something you couldn’t do in the previous collection. One neat feature allows you to give the Master System version of Monster World a richer color palette, which really underlines just how nice that game looked to begin with.

Maybe you’re not interested in ports and variants, though. Six fully distinct retro games for fifty dollars might seem like a hard sell. When you break it down to a little over eight bucks per game, however, it’s not that unreasonable. Basically Arcade Archives pricing, and four of the included games are in fact arcade titles. And they are quite good games in most cases. The original Wonder Boy is still a challenging, fun action game. Monster Land is tough but intriguing in how it tries to marry RPG mechanics to a stage-based platforming framework. Monster Lair is half shooter, half platformer. It’s okay. The Dragon’s Trap is a stone-cold classic example of an early Metroidvania. Monster World was the first console-first release in the series, and it’s another solid action-adventure game. Monster World IV is a game whose praises I’ve sung many times before. Even if you only play one version of each, this is a great set on its own.

As before, I should mention that you may already own some of these games via other means. The aforementioned Wonder Boy Collection, of course. That gets you the arcade versions of Wonder Boy and Monster Land, plus the Genesis versions of Monster World and Monster World IV. You may also already own the arcade version of Monster Land via the SEGA AGES line. There’s the notable remake of The Dragon’s Trap from Dotemu and Lizardcube, and the less notable remake of Monster World IV which includes the original version of the game as a bonus. And Wonder Boy Returns Remix, dubious though it may be, is a partial remake of the original Wonder Boy. But I think if you’re a big enough Wonder Boy fan to own all of that, you’re probably in on this set just for all the various ports here.

It’s a shame there is a bit of a cloud over this release due to the previous collection’s existence, because this really is an amazing package for Wonder Boy fans. It’s hard to ask for more without involving Konami, and I wouldn’t have expected that to happen. Having so many ports included is fantastic, the emulation is where it should be, and you get a fair amount of extra to help round out the package. It’s unfortunate that those who bought the prior collection are left with an inferior product, but otherwise this is an anniversary-worthy release.

SwitchArcade Score: 4/5

Trek to Yomi ($19.99)

If I only gave points for style, Trek to Yomi would be getting top scores. Inspired by the films of Akira Kurosawa, its monochrome visuals and use of various camera angles create an incredibly cinematic feel. It looks great and it sounds great. At first, it seems like it’s going to play well too. And it doesn’t play badly by any means. You basically move through the story, doing some light exploration for extra goodies between fights. It’s the fights where the bulk of the gameplay is found, however. Enemies will close in and you’ll have to use your katana-wielding prowess to cut them down before they do the same to you. They don’t always play fair either, so you’ll have to keep pivoting to deal with attacks from both sides.

So yes, at first it’s all very cool. You play through a prologue set during the main character’s childhood, fight off some bandits, and see some bad stuff go down. The visuals have clearly taken a hit in the process of moving to the Switch, and the sometimes muddy nature of the graphics can make it a little difficult to read the scene. It somewhat breaks the illusion of being an old samurai movie because of these technical issues, but that’s how it goes. We’re Switch owners, we are prepared for sacrifices.

A little time skip happens and you find yourself playing the adult version of your character, surprisingly fighting mostly the same few kinds of bandits you did as a kid. Then another thing happens and you find yourself fighting through the underworld, even more surprisingly meeting those same few kinds of troublemakers. The lack of enemy variety is a major issue, and you end up really only looking forward to boss battles to spice things up. The boss battles are pretty good, though. You have some difficulty options, but they only tend to increase the tedium rather than address it.

Trek to Yomi is something I would hesitantly recommend to fans of Kurosawa flicks or those looking for a stylish action game. It plays most of its gameplay cards too early and ends up being rather tedious for such a brief affair, but it’s worth the squeeze, if only barely, to see its various sights. That said, if you have any other options besides the Switch to play it on, I’d suggest doing so there. This is a game that is all about its visual presentation and the compromises the Switch version makes detracts from that.

SwitchArcade Score: 3/5

Risen ($29.99)

There is a particular flavor to the games of German developer Piranha Bytes Software, and up until now it has been a flavor absent from the Nintendo Switch. The developer makes action-RPGs with a thick layer of jank and opacity to them, with more rough edges than a box of Cap’n Crunch. The games are clunky, unwieldy, and often buggy. It is very easy to paint yourself in a corner due to bad planning, so you’ll have to do some careful thinking and/or research if you mean to get into the games earnestly. But there’s a certain charm to what this developer does, a certain sincerity, ambition, and confidence that makes its games very enjoyable if you’re the right type of player.

Risen on the Switch is more or less the same as the Risen we saw on the PC and Xbox 360 back in 2009. It has been ported as directly as possible without any thought to making enhancements or alterations. Do not come into this thinking it will be approachable or friendly in any way. It was esoteric then and if anything it is more so in today’s context. You’re given very little to go on with regards to how it controls, and those controls are fairly cumbersome. It teaches you practically nothing about how its rather deep skill systems work, so you’ll have to sort that out on your own. There is relatively little direction or guidance, so you’ll have to figure out what to do and how to get where you need to go on your own.

This all may sound unpleasant to some, and if that is you, then Risen is probably not going to be your thing. For a certain type, though, the sound of that kind of chaotic freedom is probably making you salivate a little already. And Risen offers that in spades. After overcoming the initial area, you’ll soon find yourself aligning with one of the factions that vies for control of the island you’ve washed up on. The one you choose will set you on a broad course, but you have a lot of rein in how you handle even the smallest of quests. On top of that, there are all kinds of non-essential secrets and goodies to find along the way, some of which seem to be there just to stoke your imagination and help make the world feel more alive. If you can put up with its quirks, Risen is an excellent RPG.

As for the port, it’s about what we’ve come to expect from THQ Nordic fare. The framerate is wildly unstable, and you’ll get anywhere from twenty-five to sixty frames per second depending on what’s going on. As mentioned, no efforts have been made to pretty things up. It really comes down to how sensitive you are to variable framerates. If that doesn’t bother you, then it’s hard to find much to complain about with this version of the game. If it does, then you’re going to have a bad time.

Risen is certainly of its time and place, but depending on your inclinations there isn’t anything wrong with that. I do wish the framerate in this port had been locked down rather than allowed to run wild, but otherwise this is Risen on your Switch in all of its late aughts glory. It’s not a game that will make things easy on you, especially in the beginning, but if you stick with it you’ll find it gives back a lot more than what you put in.

SwitchArcade Score: 4/5

New Releases

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake ($39.99)

The multiverse is so hot right now. So here’s a new SpongeBob 3D platformer, very much in the vein of Battle for Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob gets his hands on a magical item that causes a bunch of wishes to be granted in some very twisted ways. Now he has to venture into seven different Wishworlds to rescue his friends and save reality as we know it. I’ll have a review of this soon, but if you like SpongeBob or just appreciate a good 3D platformer, you’ll probably enjoy this quite a bit.

Sales

(North American eShop, US Prices)

NIS America is having a sale, presumably to commemorate its anniversary, and you can get a variety of good games at fair prices. Disgaea 6 in particular is at a new low price, so you may want to bite on it now if you haven’t before. There are a few other goodies in there, so do have a look. The outbox has a fair bit in it, with sales from Bandai Namco and others coming to a close soon. Check it while you’re at it as well.

Select New Games on Sale

Gibbous: A Cthulhu Adventure ($1.99 from $19.99 until 2/6)
Disgaea 1 Complete ($17.49 from $49.99 until 2/13)
Disgaea 4 Complete+ ($17.49 from $49.99 until 2/13)
Disgaea 5 Complete ($19.99 from $39.99 until 2/13)
Disgaea 6 DoD ($29.99 from $59.99 until 2/13)
Pix the Cat ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/13)
Yomawari: Lost in the Dark ($29.99 from $39.99 until 2/13)
Yomawari: Long Night Collection ($14.99 from $39.99 until 2/13)
Dungeon of the Endless ($3.99 from $19.99 until 2/13)
The Princess Guide ($4.99 from $39.99 until 2/13)
NIS Classics Vol.1 ($29.99 from $39.99 until 2/13)
NIS Classics Vol.2 ($29.99 from $39.99 until 2/13)
NIS Classics Vol.3 ($29.99 from $39.99 until 2/13)
Void Terrarium ($9.99 from $24.99 until 2/13)

Labyrinth of Refrain: CoD ($17.49 from $49.99 until 2/13)
Prinny CIRBtH ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/13)
Prinny 2 DoOPD ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/13)
Liar Princess & Blind Prince ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/13)
Cruel King & the Great Hero ($16.49 from $29.99 until 2/13)
Poison Control ($4.99 from $39.99 until 2/13)
New Terra ($2.49 from $4.99 until 2/19)
Steve Jackson’s Sorcery! ($14.99 from $24.99 until 2/20)
Primal Light ($8.99 from $14.99 until 2/20)
Warpips ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/20)
Destropolis ($1.99 from $5.99 until 2/20)
The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav ($1.99 from $19.99 until 2/20)
The Dark Eye: Memoria ($1.99 from $19.99 until 2/20)
AER Memories of Old ($1.99 from $19.99 until 2/20)
Unrailed! ($4.99 from $19.99 until 2/20)
Tanuki Justice ($5.99 from $14.99 until 2/20)
Golden Force ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/20)
Flippin Kaktus ($5.99 from $11.99 until 2/20)
Cyjin: The Cyborg Ninja ($5.99 from $9.99 until 2/20)
Nova-111 ($3.99 from $9.99 until 2/20)
Okinawa Rush ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/20)

Sales Ending Tomorrow, Wednesday, February 1st

Adventures of Pip ($4.99 from $9.99 until 2/1)
B.ARK ($5.99 from $9.99 until 2/1)
Captain Tsubasa RoNC ($14.99 from $59.99 until 2/1)
Cricket 22 ($24.99 from $49.99 until 2/1)
Crossroad Crash ($1.99 from $4.98 until 2/1)
Crowdy Farm Rush ($1.99 from $5.99 until 2/1)
Crysis Remastered ($11.99 from $29.99 until 2/1)
Crysis Remastered Trilogy ($27.49 from $49.99 until 2/1)
Disney Tsum Tsum Festival ($19.99 from $49.99 until 2/1)
Dobo’s Heroes ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/1)
Doraemon Story of Seasons FotGK ($37.49 from $49.99 until 2/1)
Doraemon Story of Seasons FotGK SE ($44.99 from $59.99 until 2/1)
Dragon Ball FighterZ ($8.99 from $59.99 until 2/1)
Huntdown ($3.99 from $19.99 until 2/1)
Hunting Simulator ($3.99 from $39.99 until 2/1)

Hunting Simulator 2: BH Edition ($14.99 from $49.99 until 2/1)
Invert ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/1)
JoJo’s Bizarre Adv. All-Star BR Deluxe ($48.99 from $69.99 until 2/1)
Mr Maker 3D Level Editor ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/1)
My Hero One’s Justice Deluxe ($19.99 from $79.99 until 2/1)
My Little Riding Champion ($8.99 from $29.99 until 2/1)
Namco Museum Archives Vol 1 ($4.99 from $19.99 until 2/1)
Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm ($4.99 from $19.99 until 2/1)
One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 Deluxe ($17.99 from $89.99 until 2/1)
Pac-Man 99 Mode Unlock ($9.74 from $14.99 until 2/1)
Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 Plus ($5.99 from $19.99 until 2/1)
QuickSpot ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/1)
RazerWire: Nanowars ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/1)
Roguebook ($12.49 from $24.99 until 2/1)
SCATch: The Painter Cat ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/1)

SD Gundam Battle Alliance Deluxe ($59.49 from $84.99 until 2/1)
Shmup Mania ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/1)
Striker Modes ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/1)
Super Dragon Ball Heroes WM ($8.99 from $59.99 until 2/1)
Super Snake Block ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/1)
Sword Art Online Alicization Lycoris ($34.99 from $49.99 until 2/1)
Sword Art Online Hollow Realization DE ($7.49 from $49.99 until 2/1)
Taiko no Tatsujin Rhythm Festival Deluxe ($40.14 from $54.99 until 2/1)
Tennis World Tour ($2.99 from $29.99 until 2/1)
The Jackbox Party Pack 2 ($9.99 from $24.99 until 2/1)
V-Rally 4 ($14.99 from $49.99 until 2/1)
WRC 9 Official Game ($3.99 from $39.99 until 2/1)

That’s all for today and this month, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with more new releases, more sales, and perhaps some news. There are some rumblings that a Direct is upon us, and yes, it does seem like the right time of the year for one. I suppose we’ll see as the week goes on. I hope you all have a terrific Tuesday, and as always, thanks for reading!