Tag: Games

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for July 12th, 2024. It’s the end of another week, and we’re not exactly going out with a bang. Three new games today, all starting with the letter D by pure chance. Some new Nintendo Switch Online retro games that no one would have called before they hit. And the lovely, lovely sales we all enjoy blowing money on. It’s a quiet way to finish things out this Friday, but that’s more than fine. Let’s get to the weekend!

News

‘Starfy’ Arrives to Nintendo Switch Online’s Game Boy Advance App

Another unexpected drop of games for the Nintendo Switch Online retro apps, this time for the Expansion Pack’s Game Boy Advance library. What makes this one unusual is that it consists of three games that up until now have not been released outside of Japan. You might remember a Nintendo DS release called The Legendary Starfy. Well, that wasn’t the first game in its series, but rather the fifth. We can now play the first three Starfy games, albeit without a single word translated from the original releases, on Nintendo Switch Online. The fourth one is a Nintendo DS game, so… you’ll have to wait on that. These aren’t the most story-heavy affairs, but I will admit it is somewhat odd to see them just released as-is. Have fun exploring them!

Select New Releases

Deathchron ($4.99)

Some nice pixel art in this one, I’ll say that much. Anyway, side-scrolling action-platformer. Run, jump, shoot. I wish it played as good as it looks, but it lives up the five-dollar platformer energy it’s giving off. It’s really rough around the edges, but you can have some fun with it.

DROS ($24.99)

It’s Red.Deer, so as usual wait for the sale to bring it down to the intended sticker price. It probably will have kicked in by the time you’re reading this. That aside, this is a pretty enjoyable puzzle/adventure game. You control two characters, each with their own abilities, and play through forty levels with traps, puzzles, and enemies. New gimmicks are sprinkled in as you go to keep things feeling fresh.

Disaster Band ($9.99)

A silly little rhythm game for up to four players via online multiplayer. You don’t have to play according to the music, though you can if you want. You have the freedom to improvise as you see fit, creating your own cacophony since the audio is actually matching what you’re doing. Look, I don’t know if this is good, but it might be a decent laugh if you’re in need of one.

Sales

(North American eShop, US Prices)

If you want to shoot zombies, you’re in luck today. Rebellion’s Zombie Army games have never been cheaper on Switch, so get them if you want them. You also can’t go wrong with the puzzle games from Draknek & Friends, including things like A Monster’s Expedition and Sokobond. I will always recommend the Alwa’s games, and I will do that again here. Over in the outbox, the latest ININ sale is wrapping up. That includes some great Taito games and more, so give that a look.

Select New Sales

Evoland Legendary Edition ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/18)
Zombie Army Trilogy ($6.99 from $34.99 until 7/18)
Zombie Army 4: Dead War ($12.49 from $49.99 until 7/18)
Strange Brigade ($5.24 from $34.99 until 7/18)
Honeyland ($3.99 from $4.99 until 7/18)
Deadcraft ($5.99 from $19.99 until 7/19)
Senran Kagura Peach Ball ($8.99 from $29.99 until 7/19)
Gal Metal ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/19)
Loop8: Summer of Gods ($9.99 from $39.99 until 7/19)
Heroland ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/19)
Freedom Planet ($4.49 from $14.99 until 7/19)
Graceful Explosion Machine ($2.59 from $12.99 until 7/19)
BurgerTime Party! ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/19)
Ys VII: Lacrimosa of DANA ($19.99 from $39.99 until 7/22)
Aka ($4.54 from $12.99 until 7/25)

Tiny Thor ($11.99 from $19.99 until 7/25)
Anomaly Agent ($8.99 from $14.99 until 7/25)
SANABI ($11.24 from $14.99 until 7/25)
Patrick’s Parabox ($13.99 from $19.99 until 7/25)
A Good Snowman is Hard to Build ($3.74 from $14.99 until 7/25)
Sokobond ($3.74 from $14.99 until 7/25)
A Monster’s Expedition ($12.49 from $24.99 until 7/25)
Cosmic Express ($3.74 from $14.99 until 7/25)
Sokobond Express ($11.99 from $14.99 until 7/25)
The Long Dark ($17.49 from $34.99 until 7/26)
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams ($4.99 from $29.99 until 7/26)
Alwa’s Awakening ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/26)
Alwa’s Legacy ($8.99 from $17.99 until 7/26)
Alwa’s Awakening + Legacy ($10.99 from $21.99 until 7/26)
Kraino Origins ($5.99 from $11.99 until 7/26)

A Void Hope ($12.79 from $15.99 until 7/26)
Cathedral ($7.49 from $14.99 until 7/26)
Slime Rancher: Plortable ($9.99 from $24.99 until 7/26)
Aery: Peace of Mind ($9.10 from $13.00 until 7/29)
A Guidebook of Babel ($13.59 from $15.99 until 7/30)
Hand in Hand ($10.20 from $12.00 until 7/31)
Torn Away ($12.00 from $15.00 until 7/31)
Graze Counter GM ($7.49 from $14.99 until 8/1)
Armored Lab Force Vulvehicles ($5.99 from $9.99 until 8/1)
OXENFREE ($3.99 from $9.99 until 8/1)
OXENFREE II: Lost Signals ($7.99 from $19.99 until 8/1)
Starward Rogue ($8.24 from $14.99 until 8/1)
NASCAR Arcade Rush Project X Edition ($20.99 from $59.99 until 8/1)
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl ($4.99 from $49.99 until 8/1)
Cobra Kai 2: Dojos Rising NE ($8.99 from $59.99 until 8/1)
TMNT: Wrath of the Mutants ($17.99 from $29.99 until 8/1)
Witch’s Rhythm Puzzle ($3.49 from $4.99 until 8/1)
Castle on the Coast ($1.99 from $14.99 until 8/1)
Best Month Ever! ($5.99 from $19.99 until 8/1)
MECHBLAZE ($4.99 from $9.99 until 8/1)
Demon Sword: Incubus ($7.49 from $14.99 until 8/1)

Sales Ending This Weekend

Air Twister ($12.49 from $24.99 until 7/13)
ANIMUS: Revenant ($3.44 from $22.99 until 7/13)
Cannon Dancer Osman ($5.99 from $29.99 until 7/13)
Choo-Choo Charles ($11.99 from $19.99 until 7/13)
Cotton Reboot ($11.99 from $39.99 until 7/13)
Darius Cozmic Collection Arcade ($17.99 from $44.99 until 7/13)
Darius Cozmic Collection Console ($17.99 from $59.99 until 7/13)
Demong Hunter ($1.99 from $7.99 until 7/13)
Dungeon Limbus ($2.24 from $14.99 until 7/13)
Hazelnut Hex ($2.39 from $7.99 until 7/13)
Ikki Unite ($11.99 from $14.99 until 7/13)
Irem Collection Volume 1 ($12.49 from $24.99 until 7/13)
Metal Mind ($13.49 from $17.99 until 7/13)
Ninja JaJaMaru Retro Collection ($2.99 from $14.99 until 7/13)
Ninja JaJaMaru: Great Yokai Battle ($3.99 from $19.99 until 7/13)

Puzzle Bobble 16-Bit Console Vers. ($5.59 from $7.99 until 7/13)
Puzzle Bobble Everybubble! ($25.99 from $39.99 until 7/13)
Ray’z Arcade Chronology ($29.99 from $49.99 until 7/13)
Redden: 100denarii ($1.99 from $7.99 until 7/13)
Spelunker HD Deluxe ($4.99 from $24.99 until 7/13)
Taito Milestones 2 ($21.99 from $39.99 until 7/13)
The Legend of Steel Empire ($14.99 from $24.99 until 7/13)
The Ninja Saviors ($5.99 from $19.99 until 7/13)
Trip World DX ($12.99 from $19.99 until 7/13)
Turrican Flashback ($11.99 from $29.99 until 7/13)
Wall World ($5.99 from $9.99 until 7/13)
Blasphemous ($6.24 from $24.99 until 7/14)
Cat & Ghostly Road ($5.99 from $9.99 until 7/14)
Cybertrash STATYX ($6.99 from $9.99 until 7/14)
Descenders ($6.24 from $24.99 until 7/14)

DREDGE ($16.24 from $24.99 until 7/14)
Earthshine ($2.49 from $4.99 until 7/14)
Edge of Reality ($2.49 from $4.99 until 7/14)
Fusion Paradox ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/14)
Hero Survival ($2.49 from $4.99 until 7/14)
Knowledge Keeper ($3.49 from $4.99 until 7/14)
Life of Slime ($3.49 from $4.99 until 7/14)
Moving Out 2 ($14.99 from $29.99 until 7/14)
Neon Abyss ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/14)
Overcooked 2 ($6.24 from $24.99 until 7/14)
Re:Touring ($6.99 from $9.99 until 7/14)
Stranded Deep ($12.49 from $24.99 until 7/14)
The Escapists 2 ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/14)
Time Traveler’s Guide to Past Delicacies ($2.49 from $4.99 until 7/14)

That’s all for today and this week, friends. We’ll be back next week with more new games, more reviews, more sales, and perhaps some news where it occurs with sufficient fervor. I finally finished that big project I was spending my weekends on, so I’m going to have a slightly lazier one this time. I mean, I still have a lot of reviews to do, but that’s just the usual stuff. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and as always, thanks for reading!

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for July 11th, 2024. In today’s article, we’ve got the nicest bunch of new releases we’ve seen in a little while. Ace Combat 7! Muv-Luv! Princess Maker 2! Parasol Stars! Tinkle Pit? We summarize all that is worth summarizing, then roll on over to the usual lists of new and expiring sales for the day. Let’s get to the games!

Select New Releases

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown Deluxe Edition ($59.99)

Oh hey, an actual recent-ish Namco game on Switch that isn’t licensed fare. That doesn’t happen often. This is a port of the rather excellent 2019 game that released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows. I’m not sure how well it has made the transition, but I’ll give it a try and see how it goes. But yes, if you’re looking for fighter jet combat and plenty of dramatic storytelling, you can’t really go wrong with the Ace Combat games.

Muv-Luv/Muv-Luv Alternative Remastered Double Pack ($64.99)

All the Muvs, all the Luvs. This gets you the whole Muv-Luv saga in all its bonkers glory in one nice package. This visual novel series starts as a rather generic rom-com but ends up being something quite different and a lot more interesting halfway through the first included game here. The games are also available separately, but really, you’ll want the whole thing if you’re getting any of it. This is a much beloved part of the visual novel canon, and it’s well-worth digging into if you enjoy this genre and somehow haven’t played it yet.

Parasol Stars – The Story of Bubble Bobble III ($9.99)

It’s the third game in the Bubble Bobble series! No, not that one. No, not that one either. The other third one! The one on TurboGrafx-16! With the umbrellas! It’s a good game. I think it’s better than Rainbow Islands, but not so good as Bubble Bobble. An entire continent disagrees with me. Well, now you can find out yourself. It’s a pretty typical Ratalaika wrapper release, but some work has been done to make it feel a little less like a plain brown paper bag. I’ll be reviewing this one soon, but if you already know how you feel about Parasol Stars, you can probably work out the rest of the equation on your own.

Princess Maker 2 Regeneration ($39.99)

A remake of the popular child-raising simulation game from 1993. This one is based on the 2004 Refine release, with some visuals redrawn by Takami Akai here and there to clean things up. It also has a new opening animation done by Yonago-Gainax, so that’s nice. At its core, however, this is still the classic game that captured the attention of many players back in the day. Do your best to raise your daughter so that she’ll grow up to be a fine, upstanding, happy adult. Do it badly and… well, a lot can go wrong. I’ll be reviewing this soon as well, so look forward to that if you want more details.

EGGCONSOLE Popful Mail PC-8801mkIISR ($6.49)

Wow! Popful Mail! I imagine most of us in the English-speaking world know this game through its SEGA-CD incarnation if at all, and sadly I have to ask you to slow the train down if you’ve just seen the words “Popful Mail” and are running to the shop. Like other EGGCONSOLE releases, the in-game text here is just as it was in the original Japanese release, which is to say that it is in Japanese. And there is a fair bit of text here. This is also the original PC-8801 version of the game, and the SEGA-CD version was more of an enhanced port that had a lot of features you won’t find here. I’ll be reviewing it early next week to let you know the fully skinny, but if you can’t read Japanese, carefully consider before buying.

Arcade Archives Tinkle Pit ($7.99)

Here’s a nice obscurity. In 1993, Namco released this game as a celebration of sorts of the company’s history in video games. It’s a maze game where you’re trying to defeat the enemies, and you do that by… okay, do you know those vacuum cleaners with the retractable cords? You step on the button and whoosh, the cord comes flying in at the speed of sound? Imagine a game where you attack enemies with that, and that’s Tinkle Pit. It’s a lot of fun, and also the name has had me giggling for about thirty years now.

Ogre Tale ($19.99)

You know, when I think of MAGES, I tend to think of visual novels. Not grindy action-RPG beat ’em ups, for sure. But that’s more or less what this is. It’s been out on PC for a few years, and I would characterize the general reception to it as “meh”. Since it is MAGES, you at least get a half-decent story to go with the action. Not really enough to save it, but it’s something.

Night Reverie ($14.99)

One of those slightly spooky mystery adventure games. You’re a child wandering around a distorted, dream-like version of his house. Talk to various characters, collect items, solve puzzles, and explore. Try to find out what’s really going on, if you think you can handle the truth. Jack Nicholson thinks you can’t. Prove him wrong.

Moonshine Inc. ($19.99)

We’ve seen a few kinds of brewing sims over the years, and here’s one dedicated to the practice of making moonshine. A little extra spice, since it’s technically not legal and all. Build your base, make your moonshine with your recipes of choice, and so on. The reviews for it over on PC are a bit soft, but I imagine if you have a sufficient interest in the topic you’ll likely be able to overlook some flaws.

Prune & Milo ($10.49)

This is a turn-based puzzle game with seventy-eight levels to play through and two different characters to use. It’s alright, but it does feel more like a five-dollar game than a ten-dollar one. I leave it up to you and your wallet.

Sunlight Scream ($6.99)

A rather affordable visual novel with multiple endings and some choices to make along the way. The story sees the main character moving from a big city to a small town, getting swept up in all manner of drama almost immediately. I’d put that seven bucks towards Muv-Luv as far as visual novels go today, but you do you.

Gluck ($6.99)

If you dig digging games, you might dig Gluck. You’re trying to restore the water supply by exploring the underground, but in order to do that you have to pose as a miner. And that means doing actual mining work, collecting and selling ores to upgrade your equipment, allowing you to progress farther. We’ve seen plenty of games like this, but not so many that one more isn’t welcome.

Let’s Aim! Shooting Gallery ($5.00)

Continuing the festival theme of its recent releases, SAT-BOX today has a shooting gallery game for up to four players. It is very firmly in the mini-game camp, so don’t expect much longevity or variety out of it. For a fiver it might be some good quick fun for gaming parties, though.

Sales

(North American eShop, US Prices)

There’s a big indie game sale going on in Japan right now, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some spill-over from that by the time I talk to you again. For now, we have a nice little list with things like Ender Lilies, Rainbow Moon, and Golazo! 2 on it. There’s also a really big list for the outbox, and I imagine you’ll want to go through that just to be on the safe side. Do that thing we do!

Select New Sales

Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights ($10.49 from $24.99 until 7/24)
Thunder Ray: Origins ($9.99 from $19.98 until 7/25)
Golazo 2 ($2.99 from $14.99 until 7/25)
Electronics Puzzle Lab ($3.49 from $4.99 until 7/26)
My Incubi Harem ($3.49 from $4.99 until 7/26)
Master Maker 3D Ultimate ($2.99 from $4.99 until 7/26)
Sunny Cafe ($9.89 from $14.99 until 7/26)
Synthetic Lover ($12.49 from $24.99 until 7/26)
Another World Mahjong Girl ($5.99 from $9.99 until 7/26)
RunBeat Galactic ($1.99 from $4.99 until 7/26)
Sea Horizon ($5.99 from $14.99 until 7/26)
Rainbow Moon ($9.89 from $14.99 until 7/26)
Sophia the Traveler ($7.19 from $8.99 until 7/29)
Terraformers ($7.99 from $19.99 until 8/1)
Terraformers New Frontiers ($4.19 from $6.99 until 8/1)

Sales Ending Tomorrow, July 12th

Abarenbo Tengu & Zombie Nation ($5.99 from $11.99 until 7/12)
Akai Katana Shin ($23.99 from $29.99 until 7/12)
Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 ($14.99 from $29.99 until 7/12)
Batsugun Saturn Tribute Boosted ($20.99 from $29.99 until 7/12)
Blaster Master Zero 3 ($7.49 from $14.99 until 7/12)
Bloodstained Curse of the Moon 2 ($5.99 from $14.99 until 7/12)
Clea ($7.49 from $14.99 until 7/12)
Clea 2 ($7.49 from $14.99 until 7/12)
Cleopatra Fortune S-Tribute ($10.49 from $14.99 until 7/12)
Corbid! A Colorful Adventure ($7.99 from $9.99 until 7/12)
CosmoPlayerZ ($7.69 from $10.99 until 7/12)
Deathsmiles I-II ($27.99 from $39.99 until 7/12)
Demon Turf ($12.49 from $24.99 until 7/12)
Doomsday Hunters ($10.79 from $17.99 until 7/12)
Dorfromantik ($11.99 from $14.99 until 7/12)
Dragon Blaze ($3.99 from $7.99 until 7/12)

Elderand ($7.99 from $19.99 until 7/12)
Erra: Exordium ($15.99 from $19.99 until 7/12)
Final Exerion ($10.49 from $14.99 until 7/12)
Football Manager 2024 Touch ($24.99 from $49.99 until 7/12)
Gal Guardians Demon Purge ($13.74 from $24.99 until 7/12)
Grabitoons ($5.59 from $7.99 until 7/12)
Gunbird2 ($3.99 from $7.99 until 7/12)
Gunvolt Records Cychronicle ($11.24 from $14.99 until 7/12)
GyroGunner ($5.76 from $7.20 until 7/12)
Hades ($9.99 from $24.99 until 7/12)
Hell Blasters ($3.74 from $14.99 until 7/12)
Jorel’s Brother & TMIGitG Complete ($7.49 from $14.99 until 7/12)
Later Alligator ($4.49 from $17.99 until 7/12)
Layer Section/Galactic Attack S-Tribute ($20.99 from $29.99 until 7/12)
Little Kitty, Big City ($19.99 from $24.99 until 7/12)
Luminous Avenger iX 2 ($12.49 from $24.99 until 7/12)

Manitas Kitchen ($9.09 from $12.99 until 7/12)
Master Key ($10.00 from $12.50 until 7/12)
Megaton Musashi W: Wired ($24.99 from $49.99 until 7/12)
Moon Dancer ($13.29 from $18.99 until 7/12)
Neko Journey ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/12)
Notebook Artillery ($1.99 from $4.99 until 7/12)
Pretty Girls Rivers ($2.39 from $5.99 until 7/12)
PuzzMiX ($3.19 from $3.99 until 7/12)
Redemption Reapers ($21.59 from $29.99 until 7/12)
Retro City Rampage ($4.99 from $14.99 until 7/12)
Saga of the Moon Priestess ($3.89 from $5.99 until 7/12)
Samurai Aces III: Sengoku Cannon ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/12)
Shakedown Hawaii ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/12)
Space Mercenary Defense Force ($3.74 from $4.99 until 7/12)

Star Gagnant ($22.80 from $38.00 until 7/12)
Strikers 1945 III ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/12)
Surmount ($10.04 from $14.99 until 7/12)
The Battle of Polytopia ($7.49 from $14.99 until 7/12)
The Kids We Were ($7.99 from $15.99 until 7/12)
The Many Pieces of Mr. Coo ($9.99 from $19.99 until 7/12)
TOEM ($3.99 from $19.99 until 7/12)
Treachery in Beatdown City: Ultra ($5.99 from $9.99 until 7/12)
Undead Darlings: No Cure for Love ($2.99 from $29.99 until 7/12)
Viviette ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/12)
We Know the Devil ($1.99 from $6.66 until 7/12)
Witch Explorer ($9.99 from $19.99 until 7/12)
Yohane the Parhelion BitD ($20.99 from $29.99 until 7/12)
Yonesawara Hospital ($9.00 from $18.00 until 7/12)

That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with the remaining releases of the week, plus whatever sales and major news items roll in over the course of the day. I’ve been playing more Breath of Fire recently. Just in the right mood for it. 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 July 9th, 2024. Another quiet release day today, but don’t worry because Thursday is looking loaded with new games. Good new games? I guess we’ll see. For today, I have a detailed hands-on with the cute SPYxFAMILY game that came out recently. Our pal Mikhail will be reviewing the Steam version of the game soon, so do keep an eye out for that. There’s one new release to check out, and that’s a licensed thing too. Then we have the usual lists of new and expiring sales, because we can’t run the show without them. Let’s get to the games! I can use a plural because there are two!

Hands-On Impressions

SPYxANYA: Operation Memories ($49.99)

This is one of those games that is tough to score, so I’m not going to. I’ll leave that particular problem to Mikhail with his review of the Steam version. Anyway, that difficulty mostly comes down to some serious X factors. The biggest one is whether you’re a fan of SPYxFAMILY or not. If you have no or minimal investment in these characters, just keep on walking. You won’t get much of anything at all out of this game. Yeah, that isn’t a good sign, I know. But if you do love Anya, Yor, Loid, and the world they live in, this game treats all of that well. The lighter side of it, anyway.

The next factor is how you intend to play the game. Are you the sort that likes to camp on a single game, playing it in long sessions until it’s finished? That sort is going to find this game gets intensely repetitive if you try to chug it. The set-up of the game sees Anya trying to fill out her picture diary for a school assignment, and a huge chunk of that involves going to one of a small number of locations and taking photos. This is by leaps and bounds the least interesting part of the game because it comes down to doing the same thing again and again. It’s not so bad if you slowly digest it over time, but the game won’t stop you from trying to stuff it all in your mouth at once if you want to.

The highlight of Operation Memories turns out to be the various mini-games. Sure, they run the gamut in terms of how enjoyable they are, but it’s here where the madcap humor SPYxFAMILY excels at can be found. There’s a nice mix of the expected, homages, and mini-games that incorporate elements of the series to put an interesting spin on things. Fans are going to have a really good time with this part of the game, perhaps even more so than the interactions between the characters.

That part of Operation Memories is merely fine. The presentation is quite good, with graphics that do what they need to and a ton of voice acting from the Japanese anime cast. So, you know, everyone looks and sounds the way they should. There just isn’t much good dialogue between them, despite raising affection with several of them being a major goal in the game. None of them really feel alive, instead often coming off like cardboard cutouts with a limited voicebox attached. There are some decent moments, though. Anya and Damian’s interactions tend to be very amusing, and Yor’s brother gets his usual treatment, which I generally find to be kind of hilarious.

If you like SPYxFAMILY, and you are willing to take a game in small bites over a period of time, and you’re willing to put up with some routine gameplay to get to the really good bits, you might be the right person for SPYxANYA: Operation Memories. I don’t think this is a property that necessarily lends itself well to being a video game, so I’m personally willing to overlook some of this game’s flaws. One for the fans to be sure, but I think the fans will be satisfied if not thrilled. Stay tuned for Mikhail’s review of the Steam version to see what our official TouchArcade score will be.

Select New Releases

Naheulbeuk’s Dungeon Master ($29.99)

Here’s another game based on Naheulbeuk, and it’s something of a Dungeon Keeper-style affair. But there’s also an aspect where you’re raiding other dungeons, too. It’s all soaked in that usual Naheulbeuk humor, so if you’re into that then you’re all set. Otherwise, it’s a bit of a messy affair that is probably trying to do too many things to do any of them particularly well.

Sales

(North American eShop, US Prices)

An interesting list this time, but the two games I really want to call out are Ziggurat and its sequel. Well-liked and rarely discounted, and thus worth considering. In the outbox, the latest sale from Atari and its subsidiaries Nightdive and Digital Eclipse is coming to a close. Plenty of great games there to think about buying.

Select New Sales

Dakka Squadron ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/15)
Orten Was The Case ($11.24 from $14.99 until 7/15)
Pinball FX Star Trek Pinball ($11.24 from $14.99 until 7/16)
Pinball FX Charlie Brown Xmas ($4.11 from $5.49 until 7/16)
Army of Ruin ($5.99 from $7.99 until 7/16)
Ziggurat ($7.49 from $14.99 until 7/16)
Ziggurat 2 ($12.49 from $24.99 until 7/16)
Cats Hidden in Cozy Places ($2.99 from $3.99 until 7/22)
Undead Horde ($5.94 from $16.99 until 7/22)
Undead Horde 2: Necropolis ($5.94 from $16.99 until 7/22)
DYSMANTLE ($6.99 from $19.99 until 7/22)
Trine Enchanted Edition ($3.44 from $14.99 until 7/23)
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger ($3.99 from $19.99 until 7/29)

Figment 1 + Figment 2 ($5.99 from $39.99 until 7/29)
Sakura Succubus ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/29)
Beach Bounce Remastered ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/29)
Moorhuhn Remake ($3.49 from $6.99 until 7/29)
Starlight Drifter ($13.39 from $19.99 until 7/29)
Summer Daze: Tilly’s Tale ($3.99 from $14.99 until 7/29)
Lucy Got Problems ($5.35 from $7.99 until 7/29)
Please Fix The Road ($6.99 from $9.99 until 7/29)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire ($7.49 from $29.99 until 7/30)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire – New Edition ($8.74 from $34.99 until 7/30)
XIII ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/30)

Sales Ending Tomorrow, July 10th

Asteroids Recharged ($4.49 from $9.99 until 7/10)
Atari 50: The Anniversary ($27.99 from $39.99 until 7/10)
Atari Flashback Classics ($17.99 from $39.99 until 7/10)
Atari Mania ($11.24 from $24.99 until 7/10)
Berzerk Recharged ($7.99 from $9.99 until 7/10)
Black Widow Recharged ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/10)
Blade Runner Enhanced Edition ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/10)
Breakout Recharged ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/10)
Bubsy Paws on Fire ($12.49 from $24.99 until 7/10)
Caverns of Mars Recharged ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/10)
Centipede Recharged ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/10)
Days of Doom ($16.49 from $29.99 until 7/10)
Ebenezer & the Invisible World ($15.99 from $19.99 until 7/10)
F-117A Stealth Fighter ($1.99 from $4.99 until 7/10)
Gravitar Recharged ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/10)

Haunted House ($13.99 from $19.99 until 7/10)
Head over Heels ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/10)
Kombinera ($6.74 from $14.99 until 7/10)
Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story ($26.99 from $29.99 until 7/10)
Lunar Lander Beyond ($23.99 from $29.99 until 7/10)
Missile Command Recharged ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/10)
Mr. Run and Jump ($13.74 from $24.99 until 7/10)
My Child Lebensborn Remastered ($5.99 from $9.99 until 7/10)
PO’ed: Definitive Edition ($17.99 from $19.99 until 7/10)
Pong Quest ($6.74 from $14.99 until 7/10)
PowerSlave Exhumed ($9.99 from $19.99 until 7/10)
qomp2 ($15.99 from $19.99 until 7/10)
Quantum Recharged ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/10)
Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition ($13.99 from $19.99 until 7/10)
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 CE ($13.49 from $29.99 until 7/10)

RollerCoaster Tycoon Adv. Deluxe ($31.99 from $39.99 until 7/10)
Shadow Man Remastered ($9.99 from $19.99 until 7/10)
Snow Battle Princess Sayuki ($4.50 from $15.00 until 7/10)
Spirits of Xanadu ($2.49 from $4.99 until 7/10)
Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster ($20.99 from $29.99 until 7/10)
Strife: Veteran Edition ($2.99 from $9.99 until 7/10)
Swords & Soldiers 2 ($4.49 from $14.99 until 7/10)
Tempest 4000 ($5.99 from $19.99 until 7/10)
The Making of Karateka ($17.99 from $19.99 until 7/10)
Turok ($5.99 from $19.99 until 7/10)
Turok 2 ($9.99 from $19.99 until 7/10)
Turok 3 Remastered ($26.99 from $29.99 until 7/10)
Wizardry ($35.99 from $39.99 until 7/10)
Yars Recharged ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/10)

That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with more new releases, more sales, perhaps some news, and if I’m feeling frisky maybe even a review. I took a bit of a day off today, and it felt nice. I hope you all have a terrific Tuesday, and as always, thanks for reading.

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for July 8th, 2024. It’s a new week, and we starting things off with our usual review foot forward. I take a look at Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD and Cyber Citizen Shockman Zero, and I liked both of them. After that, there’s a new release to dig into. It’s not the most exciting of affairs, but some might pick it up anyway. Then, the sales. It’s the way we like to finish the articles around here, and today won’t be upsetting the order. Let’s get started on the week!

Reviews & Mini-Views

Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD ($59.99)

Just in case you were confused by the naming, this is a remake of the 2013 Nintendo 3DS game known in North America as Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon. Not exactly a shocking revelation or anything, but that game was Luigi’s Mansion 2 everywhere else. With that sorted out, the name really and truly does all the work here. This is the Nintendo 3DS game with spiffier graphics. No 3D, no second screen, but really and truly, I don’t think either of those things are that big a deal for this game. The more detailed assets, improved resolution, and better lighting and other effects are a fair trade.

At least in my opinion, the second game in the Luigi’s Mansion trilogy is the weakest one. It was very much built as a portable experience, so the game centers more around little missions with less freedom in general than what came before and after. That isn’t to say that it’s bad or anything. It’s a lot of fun catching ghosts and knocking things over looking for goodies, the puzzles are well-made for the most part, and the bosses are really interesting set pieces that are fun to figure out and beat.

One highlight of this game that carries over to the new version is the multiplayer mode. With the Nintendo 3DS offline now, it’s good to see this enjoyable element of Luigi’s Mansion 2 living on. ScareScraper mode really shows the potential this kind of gameplay offers, and if you’re an old fan of the game looking for a way to keep the good times rolling, here you go. And if you’re picking this game up for the first time, I can only urge you to not ignore the multiplayer.

While Luigi’s Mansion 2 wouldn’t have been my first pick among Nintendo’s selection of first-party 3DS games to make the trip to the Switch, it’s still a fun game that newcomers should enjoy well enough. It would have been nice to see more done here than an admittedly well-done boost to the presentation, especially given it’s a full-priced release, but it’s not as though it’s a game that feels incomplete or in need of any particular additions. I’d recommend Luigi’s Mansion 3 over this game, but if you’ve tapped that out and are hungry for more, you’ll find that here.

SwitchArcade Score: 4/5

Cyber Citizen Shockman Zero ($6.99)

It’s only here at the end of all of these releases that I find a Cyber Citizen Shockman game that I broadly enjoy. The previous few games have all been quite different from one another, and each one made some choices I can only describe as baffling. Not the kind of games you would have regretted renting back in the day, but you probably would have only rented them once, if you know what I mean. But Cyber Citizen Shockman Zero? I could see myself renting it a few times. Maybe even buying it, if I was in the right mood. It’s alright.

The gameplay this time is more like a single-plane beat ’em up, albeit one without too much depth to it. You can play alone or with a friend, though you’ll need to do that via local multiplayer. It’s all pleasant enough. You run and jump through the levels, punching or slashing up any baddies along the way and picking up the score items or health pick-ups they drop. You can still charge up a beam attack, but most of the time you’ll be getting up close and personal. The presentation is very “Super Nintendo”, and that’s fine. Not very difficult on the whole, but that’s nice sometimes too. You can activate a selection of cheats if you want to make it even easier.

Ratalaika has done the usual job here, with a similar-looking wrapper and familiar features and options. The game seems to be emulating properly, but I can’t say I have played the Satellaview-exclusive original to properly compared. This version has also been fully localized for the first time ever, and that’s nice. Not much in the way of extras, and that’s not so nice but expected by now. Not much new under the sun in this case.

Cyber Citizen Shockman Zero is the most orthodox entry in the series, and while some might lament the loss of the quirkiness that is probably the main tie that binds the first three games, sometimes you just want a plain old ordinary platformer that doesn’t drop any serious balls. And that’s more or less what you get here. If you only pick up one game from this series, this is the one I would recommend.

SwitchArcade Score: 3.5/5

Select New Releases

Kubits Gallery ($9.99)

Everyone needs another Picross-style game, right? I know folks were lamenting how few of these there are nowadays. Well, here’s one more. There are more than 120 puzzles to solve here, themed around the idea of repainting art that has mysteriously vanished. Sure, that’s a good enough excuse. On to the pile with you!

Sales

(North American eShop, US Prices)

Well, that’s a list. Grapple Dog. That’s the winner. A great game and getting it for under five bucks feels like you’re getting one over on someone. That’s really all that’s standing out for me today, but I’ll do the usual thing and advise you to check both of those lists.

Select New Sales

Choo-Choo Charles ($11.99 from $19.99 until 7/13)
Cavern of Dreams ($6.49 from $12.99 until 7/15)
OTXO ($7.49 from $14.99 until 7/15)
Lone Ruin ($3.79 from $14.99 until 7/15)
Post Void ($2.99 from $5.99 until 7/15)
Grapple Dog ($3.79 from $14.99 until 7/15)
Evolings ($4.49 from $8.99 until 7/15)
Split ($2.24 from $8.99 until 7/17)
Shockman Collection Vol. 1 ($7.69 from $10.99 until 7/18)
Donuts’n’Justice ($2.49 from $4.99 until 7/18)
Roommates ($2.99 from $19.99 until 7/18)
Nicole ($2.84 from $18.99 until 7/18)

Right and Down and Dice ($7.99 from $11.99 until 7/21)
Paper Dash Invasion of Greed ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/22)
Dash & Roll ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/22)
Stolen Realm ($11.99 from $19.99 until 7/23)
Cyber Hunters ($10.99 from $19.99 until 7/25)
Burst Hero ($7.19 from $11.99 until 7/25)
Titanium Hound ($8.25 from $15.00 until 7/25)
Escape First Alchemist ($5.19 from $7.99 until 7/25)
Missile Dancer 2 ($11.99 from $14.99 until 7/27)
Outbreak The Fedora Files ($9.99 from $19.99 until 7/27)
Backpack Hero ($15.99 from $19.99 until 7/28)
Dark Days ($2.79 from $7.99 until 7/28)

Sales Ending Tomorrow, July 9th

Backbeat ($17.49 from $24.99 until 7/9)
Boreal Tenebrae ($1.99 from $6.99 until 7/9)
Cat’s Cosmic Atlas ($1.99 from $19.99 until 7/9)
Colsword ($1.99 from $4.00 until 7/9)
Cryptrio ($2.99 from $4.99 until 7/9)
Ekstase ($7.99 from $19.99 until 7/9)
Golfinite ($1.99 from $12.99 until 7/9)
Hexagroove: Tactical DJ ($13.99 from $19.99 until 7/9)
Monument ($1.99 from $7.00 until 7/9)
Syndrome ($1.99 from $24.99 until 7/9)
Wira & Taksa: AtMoG ($1.99 from $16.99 until 7/9)

That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with more new games, more sales, more reviews, and perhaps some news. I’m on the last push of the project I’ve been working on, and I can’t wait to have it in the rear-view mirror. I’m proud of it and all, but I need a proper weekend again soon. 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 July 5th, 2024. It’s Friday, and freedom has been defeated for yet another year. That means it’s time to look at the remaining Nintendo Switch releases of the week, plus a good bunch of sales coming in and going out. For a refreshing twist, our pal Mikhail also has a few reviews for you to check out. Let’s sally forth and get to the weekend!

Reviews & Mini-Views

TSUKIHIME: A piece of blue glass moon ($49.99)

Many years ago, I played Steins;Gate as my first ever pure visual novel experience and loved it. Since then, I’ve read many across platforms and even found some of my favorite stories in the medium through visual novels. I still love Steins;Gate, but now consider The House in Fata Morgana as the best visual novel. One big blind spot for me was always Type Moon’s Mahoyo and Tsukihime which friends kept praising through the Japanese releases.

It seemed like Tsukihime would just be one of those games that never saw an official English release, but there was hope when Aniplex brought over Type Moon’s Mahoyo as Witch on the Holy Night, which I liked a lot. TSUKIHIME: A piece of blue glass moon (henceforth Tsukihime), the remake, did see an English release worldwide over a week ago, and I’ve played it on Switch and PS5 for review.

Tsukihime‘s remake covers two main routes from the original. I’ve not played the original so will be approaching this release as a new game. I just wanted to get that out there for those who might have played the original at some point before. The two routes here are accompanied by multiple bad ends that all have a worthy payoff in the form of an intermission-like scene with Neco-Arc who everyone familiar with Type Moon knows and loves. I know someone who literally bought Melty Blood Type Lumina just because they added Neco Arc.

Since this is a pure visual novel, I’m not going to get into any story spoilers, and I loved both main routes here across the main and bad ends. I had expected one of the main routes to not hit as hard based on what my friend who played the Japanese release told me, but I ended up liking it almost as much. I was also constantly floored by how massive this production felt as a visual novel. I can’t imagine anything coming close to the budget as a pure visual novel. While the wait is likely going to be very long, to see the rest of the Tsukihime project remade and localized, TSUKIHIME: A piece of blue glass moon is a stunning and essential visual novel that everyone should play. Just be prepared for it not holding back any punches when it comes to blood and gore.

In addition to the main story, Tsukihime has a gallery with music, videos, and more to unlock as well. I’m working towards getting the platinum trophy on PS5 after enjoying everything on Switch already.

While Witch on the Holy Night (Mahoyo) had some issues with its script, I was glad to see none of those issues in Tsukihime. The localization team did a fantastic job here, and it already has seen some fixes for minor issues patched around launch day. Tsukihime with this budget and English localization quality still feels unreal to me.

While the soundtrack is excellent, the voice acting is amazing across the board. I won’t lie. Playing Tsukihime and Witch on the Holy Night after experiencing the Melty Blood games has been equal parts funny and interesting, but I definitely appreciate the fighting games lore more having experienced these stories.

Tsukihime is a very long game, and while my main playthroughs are on Switch, I also played it on PS5 to see how it looked and played there. There’s a definite boost to responsiveness and resolution, but I wouldn’t forego touchscreen and portability with it. If you did want to play Tsukihime on PS5, it is an excellent experience, and better than how it is on Switch docked with instant loading across the board and everything looking gorgeous on my 1440p monitor.

TSUKIHIME: A piece of blue glass moon is a visual novel masterpiece. It was one of the biggest games in the genre that I hadn’t played at all, and I’m glad to have finally experienced it through this remake on both Switch and PS5. Regardless of whether you enjoy Type Moon’s works or are new to the developer, Tsukihime is an essential. -Mikhail Madnani

SwitchArcade Score: 5/5

Tavern Talk ($21.99)

VA-11 HAll-A is one of my favorite games ever, so any game inspired by that is worth my time, and Coffee Talk (with its sequel) managed doing something differently while still giving me a relaxed experience involving making beverages. When I first learned of Tavern Talk and it being similar to Coffee Talk, I knew I had to play it. Tavern Talk is a bit different, but it still managed to win me over with its superb presentation, great character designs, and interesting mechanics.

Tavern Talk begins with you running the Wayfarer’s Inn, regularly visited by colorful and unique adventurers. Your aim is to serve drinks, listen to rumors, turn them into quests, and more as you try and uncover what’s actually going on. As you progress, you decorate your tavern and even add to your menu. The actual drink making is quite simple, but it is elevated by the presentation.

Tavern Talk ranges from excellent looking to just stunning in its environments, character designs, and effects. It also happens to shine on the OLED screen on both my Switch and Steam Deck.

When it comes to audio, Tavern Talk delivered with its soundtrack, but I feel like a little bit of voice acting would’ve gone a long way here. It is a very long game compared to similar releases in the genre as well. It is definitely well-written, and I enjoyed how it properly feels like a blend of Coffee Talk and Dungeons & Dragons, but a few quality of life fixes would also help.

You can adjust (and I recommend you do so) the text size and text speed, but there’s no way to skip dialog or fast forward yet. This would help for replays or in my case where I was playing it on two platforms at once. This isn’t a huge issue, but games like this need more text-related options.

I played Tavern Talk on both Switch and Steam Deck. While it plays well on both, you do get a smoother experience on Steam Deck, and the ability to use the touchscreen. I’m disappointed with no touchscreen support on Switch because I usually play games like this mostly with touch controls. I hope it can be added in a future update, and that we also see some performance improvements to sort the minor sluggish feeling.

In a lot of ways Tavern Talk feels like it would have benefited from more in its gameplay loop and with some voice acting. It does excel in its characters and visuals though.

Despite it not delivering everything I wanted when it comes to the narrative, Tavern Talk is an easy recommendation as a gorgeous and relaxing visual novel style game. If you enjoy Dungeons & Dragons and like Coffee Talk, you need to get Tavern Talk. -Mikhail Madnani

SwitchArcade Score: 4/5

#BLUD ($24.99)

#BLUD from Exit 73 Studios and Humble Games has been on my radar ever since its reveal. I always loved the 90’s Cartoon Network aesthetic, but was curious how the final game would feel to play. After playing it on Steam Deck and more-recently on Nintendo Switch, #BLUD is a very good game that’s a few patches away from greatness.

#BLUD has you taking on the role of Becky Brewster slaying the undead as a new kid in town. I enjoyed the core gameplay loop despite some combat issues because of how gorgeous the world is with its colorful NPCs, the game’s upgrade system, and the in-game social network. As you explore and get into various combat encounters, the issues come to light. I feel like the combat is a tweak or two away from being fixed. I found some hitboxes not very obvious and the dodge not having invincibility frames felt off.

The animation work and designs are definitely highlights, but the production values in general are a lot better than I expected even after the trailer. It is a shame that some aspects feel undercooked right now like the combat. Aside from that, #BLUD runs well on Switch docked and handheld. It suffers from hitching on Switch that gets annoying. There is less hitching on Steam Deck but it is present sadly.

In its current state, #BLUD is worth your time, but a few combat issues hold it back from being truly great. The designs, animations, and writing are definitely highlights, and I found myself pleased with #BLUD after playing it on both Switch and Steam Deck. I hope the few hitching issues can be resolved though. #BLUD runs a lot better than I expected on Switch, and feels right at home on the system. -Mikhail Madnani 

SwitchArcade Score: 3.5/5

Select New Releases

The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak ($59.99)

This is the big release of today, and I would go so far as to say of the week. The latest in Falcom’s long-running series of turn-based RPGs sees things return to full form after some slightly more mixed entries. Mikhail did his full review of this game across multiple platforms, and while it’s clear the Switch isn’t going to be keeping up to the performance of other platforms, this port is more than good enough by the standards of the console. A nice chunky RPG to get you through these hot summer days.

Cyber Citizen Shockman Zero ($6.99)

We did it, folks. We now have all of the Cyber Citizen Shockman games in English, officially. And we’re ending off with what might be the best of the bunch, the Super Famicom Cyber Citizen Shockman Zero. This was available as a Satellaview game back in the day, but got a physical release in Japan a few years back. It plays quite differently from the rest of the games in the series, being more of a platformer/brawler than a poor Mega Man clone. I’ll have a review of it soon, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the game and you might be too.

Taboo Trial ($19.99)

If you like grindy, mindless 3D hack-and-slashing with lots of big numbers popping up constantly, here’s another game for you to try out. It seems to be relatively well-liked in its PC form, so unless the developers biffed the Switch port, this might be one to look into for fans of the aforementioned button-bashing.

Cthulhu Tower ($19.99)

Tower defense, but with a Lovecraft theme. I’m not really sure if there’s anything else to make this different from the million other cheaper games in the genre, but I didn’t look very hard. Not my genre, I’m afraid.

Sea under the sea under the sea ($18.99)

Explore under the sea in a post-apocalyptic future where most of the planet has been covered by water. You’re researching an anomaly in the Black Sea, as part of the seabed has begun to rise. Kind of a low-poly horror-ish affair. Probably hits best if you’re terrified of being deep underwater in a small metal can. That’s everyone, right?

Bouncy Chicken ($4.99)

A puzzle game with ninety stages where your goal is to collect all of the cobs of corn on the screen. You’ll do that by launching a bouncy chicken, and you’re given a limited number of shots on each stage so you’ll have to make them count. It’s fine for what it is, and a decent enough budget pick-up.

Sales

(North American eShop, US Prices)

Despite yesterday having an absolute ton of sales, a good handful more are joining them today. Deals on the Fuga and Sniper Elite series, a nice price on some Kairosoft titles, and a solid discount on the immensely charming shooter Harpoon Shooter! Nozomi. Not too much in the weekend outbox, but give it a look and see if anything grabs you.

Select New Sales

Final Vendetta ($9.98 from $24.95 until 7/11)
Battle Axe ($7.49 from $29.99 until 7/11)
Treachery in Beatdown City ($3.99 from $19.99 until 7/11)
Sniper Elite V2 Remastered ($6.99 from $34.99 until 7/11)
Sniper Elite 3 Ultimate ($6.99 from $34.99 until 7/11)
Sniper Elite 4 ($9.99 from $39.99 until 7/11)
Sniper Elite 4 Deluxe ($14.99 from $59.99 until 7/11)
Erra: Exordium ($15.99 from $19.99 until 7/12)
Treachery in Beatdown City: Ultra ($5.99 from $9.99 until 7/12)
Fuga: Melodies of Steel ($19.99 from $39.99 until 7/15)
Fuga: Melodies of Steel Deluxe ($29.99 from $59.99 until 7/15)
Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 ($23.99 from $39.99 until 7/15)
Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 Deluxe ($35.99 from $59.99 until 7/15)
Paradise Marsh ($6.74 from $14.99 until 7/18)
Arcade Tycoon ($11.99 from $19.99 until 7/18)

Sense: Cyberpunk Ghost Story ($5.99 from $19.99 until 7/19)
Lucid Cycle ($2.09 from $6.99 until 7/19)
Violet Wysteria ($8.99 from $14.99 until 7/19)
Phantom Breaker Omnia ($3.99 from $19.99 until 7/19)
Mugen Souls Z ($25.99 from $39.99 until 7/19)
The Prisoner of the Night ($10.49 from $14.99 until 7/19)
Assault Suits Valken ($9.99 from $24.99 until 7/20)
Super Shadow Break Showdown ($5.19 from $12.99 until 7/21)
Alpaca Wonders Why ($1.99 from $3.99 until 7/22)
Hot Springs Story ($3.96 from $12.00 until 7/24)
Zoo Park Story ($6.00 from $12.00 until 7/24)
TV Studio Story ($7.20 from $12.00 until 7/24)
Pool Slide Story ($7.00 from $14.00 until 7/24)
Dungeon Village 2 ($6.00 from $12.00 until 7/24)
Panic Porcupine ($1.99 from $7.99 until 7/24)

Harpoon Shooter! Nozomi ($6.98 from $9.98 until 7/25)
Toridama2: Brave Challenge ($5.59 from $7.99 until 7/25)
Samurai Maiden ($29.99 from $59.99 until 7/25)
Beholgar ($2.99 from $9.99 until 7/25)
TEMPUS ($3.49 from $6.99 until 7/25)
EDF: World Brothers Deluxe ($26.99 from $59.99 until 7/25)
The Hundred Year Kingdom ($6.49 from $12.99 until 7/25)
Xuan Yuan Sword 7 ($35.99 from $39.99 until 7/25)
Kid Tripp ($1.99 from $3.99 until 7/25)
Cosmo Dreamer ($4.10 from $8.20 until 7/25)
Like Dreamer ($5.99 from $11.99 until 7/25)
Astronite ($7.49 from $14.99 until 7/25)
Burst Hero ($7.19 from $11.99 until 7/25)
Teared ($6.79 from $7.99 until 7/25)
Doll Explorer ($8.79 from $10.99 until 7/25)

Lazriel: The Demon’s Fall ($8.02 from $11.47 until 7/25)
God of Light Remastered ($1.99 from $4.99 until 7/25)
Jett Rider ($8.74 from $12.49 until 7/25)
Detective Stella Porta Case ($5.24 from $10.49 until 7/25)
Smoots Pinball ($4.19 from $5.99 until 7/25)
Space Storeship ($2.34 from $4.69 until 7/25)
Love Love School Days ($5.24 from $10.49 until 7/25)
Alchemy Garden ($6.49 from $12.99 until 7/25)
Mechs V Kaijus ($9.09 from $12.99 until 7/25)
Yeah! You Want “Those Games”, Right? ($7.99 from $9.99 until 7/25)

Sales Ending This Weekend

Landflix Odyssey ($3.49 from $6.99 until 7/6)
Rainbows, Toilets & Unicorns ($3.49 from $6.99 until 7/6)
Tiny Little Farm ($1.99 from $9.99 until 7/6)
Xeno Crisis ($7.99 from $19.99 until 7/6)
Nekomin ($8.25 from $15.00 until 7/7)
Sigi ($1.99 from $4.99 until 7/7)
The Forest Quartet ($1.99 from $9.99 until 7/7)

That’s all for today and this week, friends. We’ll be back next week with more new releases, more reviews, more sales, and whatever news catches our eye. I have a lot of work to do this weekend again, I’m afraid. But I should be able to push through the last of it this time, leaving me to spend my next weekend doing different work. Fun! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and as always, thanks for reading!

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for July 2nd, 2024. In today’s article, I have a few more reviews for you to dig into. I’ve got my assessments of Times & Galaxy, Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition, and Tchia. After that, there are a couple of new releases to check out. We’ll do that, then meet around the corner for the lists of the latest sales and expiring discounts for the day. Ready, steady, go!

Reviews & Mini-Views

Times & Galaxy ($19.99)

This game is awfully clever. It has really sharp writing, and as far as adventure game set-ups go this one is certainly novel. You’re a robot reporter for a galactic newspaper called the Times & Galaxy, just starting out on your career. You’re actually the first robot reporter, so… good luck with that. You head out on assignments where you’ll collect information by investigating the scene and talking to the people there. You’ll then use whatever information you collected to create a story for the paper, and the better the story you write the better things will go for you and your employer.

Each of the stories feels like a little episode of its own, and it’s fun to try to dig for better information and juicier quotes to use in your write-ups. Even setting aside what you’re going to put in your story, it’s enjoyable to try to unravel the truth behind situations that can sometimes seem completely different at a glance. Putting together the story is easy, with a handy tool that lets you set up each part of it based on the info you have collected. The game shows you exactly what each selection will do, so it’s easy to build the Times & Galaxy into the kind of media outlet you want it to be. Great power, great responsibility. The presentation is charming, and the quality of the writing is exactly where it needs to be for a game like this.

The worst thing you can say about Times & Galaxy is that it is very consistent in its mechanics, which means it falls to how well the writing clicks with you to keep your interest. I won’t say that every single scene had me glued to the Joy-Cons, but I think as a whole it’s worth a look for those on the hunt for an unorthodox adventure game. I had a good time with it, and I think it has a nice thing going with its basic loop. If you like the sound of its premise and are in the mood for some silliness, you’ll want to your nearest newssta… er, eShop, and grab a copy.

SwitchArcade Score: 4/5

Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition ($19.99)

I was there on the frontlines to watch this poor game go out and die. It’s beyond my pay grade to say exactly why; the reviews were good and the few people who picked up the game seemed to like it a lot. But within a few weeks, we were stickering over those $59.99 price tags with $29.99 ones. That’s when I gave the game a shot, and to be honest, it didn’t strike me quite the same way it did others. Stylish, yes. Good pacing, for sure. It’s a good game, but I personally never mourned the lack of a follow-up. That’s just me, of course. I know how much it means to others and I hope they get what they’re wishing for.

One encouraging step towards that is this fine reissue of the original game. Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition gives the game a bit of graphical spit polish, has a new recording of the soundtrack, and adds in some useful quality of life features like autosaves. Otherwise, this is the game as it was. It handles itself well for a game of its vintage, and it’s easy to see why so many people saw something special in it. You’re always doing something new or interesting, and the world building is really solid. Plus, photography! Everyone loves video game photography. What can I say? This is an Ubisoft game from the last era before it really got its annualized ducks in a row, and there is something distinct about its games from this time period.

Mikhail has also been playing Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition on Switch and PS5. While there’s no shortage of information on the platform differences, one aspect he wanted to highlight is the cross progression. When you login to Ubisoft Connect in the publisher’s titles, you usually get some in-game bonus, but the addition of cross progression across all consoles and PC has been excellent. While I played Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition only on Switch, he enjoyed playing it at home on PS5, and then picking up his save on Switch to play on the go. It works flawlessly here as it did in Assassin’s Creed Mirage which he played on PS5 and iPhone 15 Pro.

Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition is a great way to play this beloved cult classic, especially for those who want a portable option. While you’ll get a smoother framerate on other platforms, this Switch version isn’t hard on the eyes by any means. The improvements are welcome without overstepping, making the game very easy to get into despite its vintage. If you haven’t played it before, it’s worth trying out. Who knows? You might join the folks clamoring for that sequel. And if you have played it before, I’m sure I don’t need to twist your arm to convince you of the merits of a return trip.

SwitchArcade Score: 4/5

Tchia ($29.99)

I’ll say at least this much for Tchia: its highs are very, very high. When it’s showing off its New Caledonia-inspired setting, or the distinct culture of its creators, it’s truly captivating. I like that it’s willing to let some moments just stew and really sink in. The soul-jumping mechanic that serves as its main gameplay gimmick is sometimes used in very clever ways. The first time you encounter some of its tricks, it’s fun to solve them. It’s also surprisingly polished for the size of the game and the size of its development team.

Sometimes I’m less pleased with it. Combat isn’t a huge part of the game, but it gets old really fast. Enemy encounters in general just don’t offer a diverse enough range of options to keep them interesting. The islands you explore are gorgeous, but there isn’t enough incentive to fully explore them beyond your own curiosity. I’m not fond of how cumbersome controlling the boat can be. The story doesn’t quite come together as well as the world-building does. There are some technical issues in places that I assume are a Switch thing.

But I’m not sure how much any of this matters. Tchia sometimes fools you into thinking it’s a bigger game than it is. But for all the size of its world and the degree of its interactivity, this feels like a deeply personal game. As I played through this game, soaking in all it had to offer, it made me think how lucky we are to have video games. Each of us can only live one life, and we can never truly know what another life would be like. But through video games, we can share our lives and pull other people into our world for a short while. And that’s how I felt playing Tchia. None of this is familiar to me, and yet I could feel the creators’ passion for their home in every bit of it. Splendid.

Tchia has something to it. I don’t think it’s the most fully-formed and properly fleshed-out open world game by any means, but I also don’t think that’s the main priority of it. This is a window to the place, the life experiences, the culture that the people behind it know so well. This Switch port carries itself well enough, though there are some noticeable visual flaws at times. Don’t come to this looking for a Pacific Island take on Breath of the Wild, because it isn’t that even if it sometimes resembles it. It’s Tchia. And it’s good.

SwitchArcade Score: 4/5

Select New Releases

The Battle Cats Unite! ($19.99)

You like base defense with weirdly-drawn cats? Here’s base defense with weirdly-drawn cats. You may have seen this series on mobile or potentially other platforms before. It’s pretty good as this sort of thing goes. There are over three hundred and fifty different kinds of cats to collect. and more than three hundred stages to challenge. There are also some mini-games to spice things up. Oh, and you can play with another player via local multiplayer or local wi-fi. No in-app purchases in this one, so you can simply enjoy the experience without worrying about your wallet.

Utah Games Presents ($4.99)

This is kind of a nice little thing. It’s an assortment of games created by graduate students from the University of Utah’s Masters of Entertainment Arts and Engineering program, covering a handful of different genres. Supposedly you’re helping out the current and future students by picking this up and playing it, and that isn’t the worst way to spend a fiver.

Sales

(North American eShop, US Prices)

Another inbox with a lot of good games in it but no sales that get me particularly excited. Ditto for the outbox. Just one of those days, I guess? I’m sure we’ll see more cool sales in a few days, so don’t worry too much.

Select New Sales

OKAMI HD ($9.99 from $19.99 until 7/15)
Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate ($8.74 from $12.49 until 7/15)
Game Dev Tycoon ($7.49 from $14.99 until 7/16)
Goonya Monster ($9.99 from $19.99 until 7/18)
Mystery Box: Evolution ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/21)
Mystery Box: Escape the Room ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/21)
Mystery Box: The Journey ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/21)
Zotrix Starglider ($1.99 from $9.99 until 7/21)
Mechstermination Force ($1.99 from $11.99 until 7/22)
Super Punch Patrol ($1.99 from $4.99 until 7/22)
Gunman Clive HD Collection ($1.99 from $4.99 until 7/22)
Onion Assault ($1.99 from $7.99 until 7/22)
Fly Punch Boom! ($1.99 from $14.99 until 7/22)
Roombo: First Blood ($1.99 from $4.99 until 7/22)
Suicide Guy: The Lost Dreams ($4.39 from $7.99 until 7/22)
TRIOS: lofi beats/numbers ($2.39 from $7.99 until 7/22)
Railway Empire ($19.99 from $39.99 until 7/22)
Commandos 2 HD Remaster ($14.99 from $19.99 until 7/22)
Feather ($2.99 from $9.99 until 7/22)
Dungeon Nightmares 1+2 Collection ($1.99 from $12.99 until 7/22)
Shadow Gangs ($14.39 from $23.99 until 7/22)

Sales Ending Tomorrow, July 3rd

Cats & the Other Lives ($14.99 from $19.99 until 7/3)
Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!! ($2.00 from $12.99 until 7/3)
Death Road to Canada ($4.49 from $14.99 until 7/3)
Die for Valhalla! ($3.59 from $11.99 until 7/3)
DNF Duel: Who’s Next ($14.99 from $49.99 until 7/3)
Fight Club ($4.49 from $14.99 until 7/3)
HunterX ($8.99 from $14.99 until 7/3)
HunterX: Code Name T ($11.89 from $16.99 until 7/3)
Immortal Planet ($4.49 from $14.99 until 7/3)
Retimed ($5.99 from $14.99 until 7/3)
STAB STAB STAB! ($2.99 from $9.99 until 7/3)
Steamburg ($1.99 from $4.99 until 7/3)
Thea: The Awakening ($5.39 from $17.99 until 7/3)
Wingspan ($9.99 from $19.99 until 7/3)

That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with more new games, more sales, perhaps a review, and maybe some news. My tooth extraction went off without a hitch, so that’s a worry off my shoulders. Now if the pain would subside a little, I’ll be all set. I hope you all have a terrific Tuesday, and as always, thanks for reading!

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for June 28th, 2024. We’ve got several games to mop up in today’s new releases, with the Spy x Family game leading the pack. We take a look at all the games worth checking into, and then head on in to our well-liked lists of new and expiring sales for the day. Oh, and I did say I would remind you: that F-Zero 99 Maximus Cup event in Tetris 99 has officially kicked off. Go get those points so you can keep the theme. Let’s get to the games!

Select New Releases

SPY X ANYA: Operation Memories ($49.99)

Anya has been given a most elegant homework assignment: making a photo diary of her memories. You’ll follow her on her daily life, going to school on the weekdays and doing various activities on the weekends. When Anya finds something worthy of attention, take a photo to add it to her book. There are fifteen different mini-games to play, ranging from riding good boy Bond to using Anya’s mind-reading powers to cheat at cards. You can also collect a range of outfits for the whole family and dress them up as you like. Even Bond! Dressing up Bond? That’s worth fifty bucks alone.

Last Night of Winter ($9.99)

This is a top-down action-adventure game where you play as a wandering spirit of a warrior who fell during a siege on a fortress. You need to make your way to the top of the tower to see a fellow who might be able to help you with your current situation. To do that, you’ll need to explore, collect items, solve puzzles, and battle enemies. This is a pretty tough game, so be aware of that before you jump in. One of those games that takes a lot of cues from the Souls series.

Gigantosaurus: Dino Sports ($39.99)

We’re like a month away from the next Summer Olympics, in case you’re wondering about the uptick in event-based sports games recently. Here’s one with dinosaurs! You only get eight mini-games to play, but they’re at least different from what you’ll see in other such games. Up to four players can join in via local multiplayer, so that box is checked. It’s Outright Games publishing it, so adjust your expectations appropriately.

34 Sports Games – World Edition ($29.99)

But hey, maybe you want the big variety pack of sports? You get a whopping thirty-four events to play here, and it has the usual local multiplayer for up to four players. Compete against other countries in the different events, just like in the… you know, that sports event. The one coming next month. You’re paying less than a buck per mini-game here, so there’s a good chance a party-minded individual could get a nice value out of this one.

Nocturnal Visitors ($4.99)

A normal guy named Jamie gets transported to another world one day, where he finds out he is not so normal after all. He’s a Visitor, a rare type of person who can cross the barrier between his world and this new one. He’s soon recruited into an organization that investigates cross-dimensional crimes, and that’s where your skills come into play. Help Jamie investigate scenes and piece together clues to figure out the answers in this adventure game. But keep your eyes open, as all may not be as it initially seems.

CATS BASEBALL ($7.99)

This is a dice-based baseball game about cats who play baseball. There are some different modes on offer, including a story mode that will probably serve as the meat of the experience for most players and a battle mode that sets you against another player via local multiplayer. It’s a very unique game, to say the least. That might be enough to get it into the hands of some players.

Luxor Evolved ($19.99)

One of the more popular rip-offs of Mitchell Corporation’s 1998 classic Puzz Loop, Luxor now has a new game on the Switch. There are sixty-five levels, and it seems to be going for a whole neon vibe that seems fresh out of the late 00s. My favorite Luxor story is when the original publisher asked Apple to take down a similar game from the iOS App Store. The utter gall. Sorry, I’m going on a whole thing here. The current owner of Luxor doesn’t have anything to do with all that. Do what you will with this.

Sales

(North American eShop, US Prices)

Some oddities in the list today, with quite a few games hitting new low prices. If you don’t mind a little undead cheesecake and like crawling dungeons, Undead Darlings is a steal at 90% off. Levelhead and Crashlands at four bucks and three bucks respectively are also great pick-ups. There isn’t much to worry about in the weekend outbox, so focus your attention on that list of new sales and see what treats you can walk away with.

Select New Sales

Oxytone ($1.99 from $7.99 until 7/5)
Conjured Through Death ($7.49 from $14.99 until 7/8)
DEEMO ($11.99 from $29.99 until 7/11)
Gift ($14.99 from $24.99 until 7/11)
Ninja Smasher! ($6.39 from $7.99 until 7/11)
Spy Bros. ($4.79 from $7.99 until 7/11)
Transiruby ($10.49 from $14.99 until 7/11)
Venba ($8.99 from $14.99 until 7/11)
Claire: Extended Cut ($3.74 from $14.99 until 7/11)
Great Ambition of the Slimes ($9.59 from $11.99 until 7/11)
Astlibra Revision ($19.99 from $24.99 until 7/11)
Grammarian Ltd ($2.99 from $9.99 until 7/11)
Sagres ($13.99 from $19.99 until 7/11)
Invercity ($10.49 from $14.99 until 7/11)
Hamster on Rails ($8.99 from $14.99 until 7/11)

Whitestone ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/11)
Ruff Ghanor ($14.99 from $19.99 until 7/11)
Cleopatra Fortune S-Tribute ($10.49 from $14.99 until 7/12)
Redemption Reapers ($21.59 from $29.99 until 7/12)
Jorel’s Brother & TMIGitG Complete ($7.49 from $14.99 until 7/12)
Notebook Artillery ($1.99 from $4.99 until 7/12)
Final Exerion ($10.49 from $14.99 until 7/12)
Corbid! A Colorful Adventure ($7.99 from $9.99 until 7/12)
Little Kitty, Big City ($19.99 from $24.99 until 7/12)
Master Key ($10.00 from $12.50 until 7/12)
Layer Section/Galactic Attack S-Tribute ($20.99 from $29.99 until 7/12)
Batsugun Saturn Tribute Boosted ($20.99 from $29.99 until 7/12)
Akai Katana Shin ($23.99 from $29.99 until 7/12)
Samurai Aces III: Sengoku Cannon ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/12)
Deathsmiles I-II ($27.99 from $39.99 until 7/12)

Abarenbo Tengu & Zombie Nation ($5.99 from $11.99 until 7/12)
Strikers 1945 III ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/12)
Hades ($9.99 from $24.99 until 7/12)
We Know the Devil ($1.99 from $6.66 until 7/12)
Gunbird2 ($3.99 from $7.99 until 7/12)
Later Alligator ($4.49 from $17.99 until 7/12)
Clea ($7.49 from $14.99 until 7/12)
Clea 2 ($7.49 from $14.99 until 7/12)
Dragon Blaze ($3.99 from $7.99 until 7/12)
Undead Darlings: No Cure for Love ($2.99 from $29.99 until 7/12)
The Kids We Were ($7.99 from $15.99 until 7/12)
Grabitoons ($5.59 from $7.99 until 7/12)
Manitas Kitchen ($9.09 from $12.99 until 7/12)
The Battle of Polytopia ($7.49 from $14.99 until 7/12)

TOEM ($3.99 from $19.99 until 7/12)
Gothic Murder: Adv. That Changes Destiny ($5.99 from $11.99 until 7/17)
Sword of the Necromancer ($2.99 from $14.99 until 7/18)
Levelhead ($3.99 from $19.99 until 7/18)
Crashlands ($2.99 from $14.99 until 7/18)
Spacebase Startopia ($14.99 from $49.99 until 7/18)
Unmetal ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/18)
Rhythm Sprout ($3.74 from $14.99 until 7/18)
The Hand of Merlin ($7.49 from $29.99 until 7/18)
Sword of the Vagrant ($2.49 from $9.99 until 7/18)
Tamarak Trail ($11.99 from $14.99 until 7/18)
Squad 51 vs the Flying Saucers ($8.99 from $19.99 until 7/18)
Magical Drop VI ($14.99 from $29.99 until 7/18)
Dungeons 3 Complete Collection ($37.49 from $49.99 until 7/18)
Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons ($6.99 from $9.99 until 7/18)
Crystal Chip Collector e ($2.99 from $4.99 until 7/18)
Cattails: Wildwood Story ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/18)
Seventh Lair ($6.39 from $7.99 until 7/18)
Evidence Destroyer ($1.99 from $3.99 until 7/18)
Mutant Express ($5.99 from $11.99 until 7/18)
Justice Sucks ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/18)
Milk inside a bag of milk inside… ($3.99 from $7.99 until 7/18)
Commandos 3 HD Remaster ($20.99 from $29.99 until 7/18)

Sales Ending This Weekend

Freud’s Bones: The Game ($3.89 from $12.99 until 6/29)
Griftlands ($7.99 from $19.99 until 6/29)
Yonder: Cloud Catcher Chronicles ($5.99 from $29.99 until 6/29)
Among Us ($3.00 from $5.00 until 6/30)
Bakeborough ($1.99 from $5.99 until 6/30)
Brutalism22 ($2.99 from $9.99 until 6/30)
Frogvival ($2.99 from $9.99 until 6/30)
Railbound ($2.59 from $12.99 until 6/30)
Where is Drake? ($2.99 from $9.99 until 6/30)

That’s all for today, this week, and this month, friends. Unless something wild happens, we’ll be back next week with more new games, more sales, more reviews, and some news as it happens. I have some contract work to get through this weekend, so I fear I will be pulling some serious late nights. Can’t be helped sometimes! I hope you all have a restful and relaxing weekend, and as always, thanks for reading!

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for June 27th, 2024. It’s Thursday, and the ball seems to be rolling again on eShop releases for this day of the week at least. We’ve got a bunch of games to check out today, including titles like Tchia, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, and NeoSprint. After that, there are the usual lists of new and expiring sales for the day in case your wallet needs further lightening. That’s us, the Lightening Force! Thunder sounds cooler. I’ll workshop it. Let’s go!

Select New Releases

Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD ($59.99)

More Luigi? Sure, I’m always up for Green Mario’s adventures. This is a port of the Nintendo 3DS sequel to the GameCube launch title, and it’s a good bit of fun. Go through the haunted spaces, catch the ghosts, solve some puzzles, and so on. There’s also an enjoyable multiplayer component that you can enjoy with four players via local wireless or online multiplayer. I’ll have a review of this one soon, but if you enjoyed Luigi’s Mansion 3 you might enjoy stepping back into this one. Tantalus handled the port, so it should be fine on that front.

Tchia ($29.99)

I heard a lot about this open world game when it launched on other platforms last year, and impressions were truly all over the place. Most seemed to agree that its New Caledonia-inspired island setting was refreshing and well-realized, but opinions were more split about whether or not the campaign actually kept the player interested enough to explore it. The main gimmick is that you can soul jump into various creatures and objects, giving you access to whatever abilities they might possess. I’ll have my review of this for you soon, covering both what I think of the game and the port.

NeoSprint ($24.99)

Another Atari brand gets revived with NeoSprint, a top-down racer for up to eight players via local multiplayer. There’s a ton to do here, with a campaign, grand prix, time trials, a course creator, lots of unlockables, and more. The gameplay feels very familiar if you’ve ever played any of the Sprint games or the many games inspired by them. I’m doing a review of this one soon-ish, but I think if you’re a fan of the series and aren’t expecting any radical changes to the formula, you’ll like what you get here.

Arcade Archives Jackal ($7.99)

It has been fourteen years since this game was last released in any form, and it gets far too few rereleases in general for its quality. Jackal is a top-down Commando-style shooter where up to two players take control of combat jeeps on a mission to rescue POWs and defeat the enemy forces. The NES version was particularly popular in the West. While there are a number of differences between the two, fans of that one will find plenty to like here. You get both the Japanese and Overseas versions here, with the former having the jeep’s machine guns fire in the direction it’s facing and the latter having the machine guns always fire forwards. I love this game and highly recommend it.

EGGCONSOLE Topple Zip PC-8801 ($6.49)

Another EGGCONSOLE release so soon? And it’s not an action-RPG with a lot of Japanese text and opaque mechanics? Well, neat. Topple Zip is an odd game all on its own, though. Certainly some opaque mechanics of its own. Part racer, part shooter, with plenty of Druaga-style hidden (but required!) nonsense, Topple Zip is a very distinct work. As ever, I will be reviewing this once I’ve put it through its paces.

Tsukihime -A Piece of Blue Glass Moon- ($49.99)

And now let’s take a step into the visual novel wing of today’s new releases. First up, we have this remake of the 1999 classic Tsukihime, which collects the two stories of the Near Side of the Moon scenario. The setting has been updated to the 2010s, and there’s new art, animations, and music to go with that. Even this remake has been out for a few years in Japan, but this will be the first English release of the game in any form. Sure, it’s considered an important work among Japanese fans, but how does it hold up these days? Our pal Mikhail is looking into this one and will let us know his thoughts soon.

Radiant Tale -Fanfare!- ($49.99)

And here’s a fan disk add-on for Radiant Tale, offering up three new modes of play complete with new routes for two side characters. The usual fan disk rule likely applies here: if you enjoyed the original and want more from its world, give this a look. If you didn’t like the original, I can’t imagine this going over any better. And if you haven’t played the original at all, this is definitely not the place to start.

Planetarian: Snow Globe ($4.99)

We’ve had a remake and a fan disk, so how about a prequel now? See what happened with companion robot Yumemi Hoshino in her earlier days working at the planetarium, before things went completely ca-ca. One day she seems to malfunction and leaves the planetarium to walk around the town. One of the staff members is sent to go and bring her back. I don’t know if this will get the tears jerking like the main game does, but I can tell you this is like the main game in that you won’t be making any choices, just reading along. Don’t play this before the main game, of course.

How to Sing to Open Your Heart Remastered ($14.99)

And we close the visual novel portion of the show today with this, the third entry in the Story of Eroolia series. It follows on from How to Take Off Your Mask and How to Fool a Liar King, and follows the story of previous side character Princess Myana. Will her song finally settle the grievances between the humans and luccretias? Your choices will determine the outcome, but I have to believe the odds are good in one reality or another.

Frogue ($4.99)

It’s kind of a shame to see a cute name like that used on anything other than a traditional roguelike, but nothing can be done about that now. This is a procedurally-generated bullet hell platformer where you can use a quick dash and time manipulation to attack your foes and avoid their attacks. Title disappointments aside, this is an okay little five-dollar game.

Flying Tank ($14.99)

Ahh, this is one of those grindy shooters. Well, I know some people enjoy them. I won’t rain on their parades. And for whatever it’s worth, this does seem to have good reviews on other platforms. You play as a flying tank (like in the title!) and blast your way through the enemy forces to reclaim the Earth. You can play solo or pull in a friend for some local multiplayer fun, but either way you’re going to have a big job ahead of you if you want to complete all twenty-four missions in the game. You’ll have to properly build up and customize your tank to be able to handle the challenges ahead of you using more than thirty different upgrades. You can try it out for free on mobile if you like, where the full game unlocks with an IAP.

Echolocaution ($5.00)

This is really cute. It’s a score attack game where you play as a bat, and your goal is to catch as much prey as you can in each hunt while using your echolocation to avoid incoming threats. You can also find little treasures and baubles to bring back home with you, and each has its own little description. All the little different bats hang out together in a cave with a bat-mom between hunts, and you’ll get to see conversations unfold among them. It’s only an hour or two long, and there is certainly fancier dining to be had today, but this game has a lot of charm and that’s not nothing.

A Street Cat’s Tale 2: Outside is Dangerous ($13.99)

Lots of games recently about cats falling out of their owner’s window and having to try to find their way back home while making their way through an unfamiliar concrete jungle. Here’s another one, and it’s a sequel to a game that I seem to remember as a bit of a sad one. Anyway, you’re a former housecat who has to cope with life on the streets as you try to find your owner. There are puzzles to solve, battles to fight, and fine garbage can cuisine to chow on. I sure hope this one has a happy ending, no one needs sad cat stories in 2024.

Fortress Challenge – Fort Boyard ($39.99)

It is only now, this late in the game, that I realize Fort Boyard must be some kind of licensed property. With Microids handling it, I’m sure it will be of dubious quality. But hey, who knows? This game is for up to four players via local multiplayer, and it features multiple game modes and what I presume are various elements from the… is it a TV show? I’m going to search it now. Okay, yes. TV show. Microids is usually pretty good about making these games look the part and pass on paper, but the execution is where things typically fall apart and that is the one part I can’t speak to as I haven’t played this yet. Proceed with caution, if you must.

Cape’s Escape Game 9th Room ($9.80)

This time around, Cape is escaping to the one place that hasn’t been corrupted by capitalism… SPACE!

Make It! Yakitori ($3.00)

You have to hand it to SAT-BOX. When they find a concept that works, they keep at it until there isn’t a speck of meat left on the carcass. Make some yakitori with your friends!

Sales

(North American eShop, US Prices)

The main sales I want to call out from the inbox today are for Dave the Diver and Megaton Musashi W: Wired. Both great prices for games our pal Mikhail has raved about, so if you’re feeling the inclination to follow in his footsteps, why not hop in? Some decent games in the outbox too, so make sure you have a look at that before moving on with your adventure.

Select New Sales

Brotato ($3.99 from $4.99 until 7/8)
Space Gladiators ($11.99 from $14.99 until 7/8)
Hardcore Mecha ($14.99 from $24.99 until 7/8)
Time Trap: Hidden Objects ($10.49 from $14.99 until 7/11)
Neko Journey ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/12)
Pretty Girls Rivers ($2.39 from $5.99 until 7/12)
The Many Pieces of Mr. Coo ($9.99 from $19.99 until 7/12)
Space Mercenary Defense Force ($3.74 from $4.99 until 7/12)
Megaton Musashi W: Wired ($24.99 from $49.99 until 7/12)
Yonesawara Hospital ($9.00 from $18.00 until 7/12)
Saga of the Moon Priestess ($3.89 from $5.99 until 7/12)
Dave the Diver ($13.99 from $19.99 until 7/15)
KORG Gadget ($24.00 from $48.00 until 7/16)
Groove Coaster Wai Wai Party ($35.99 from $59.99 until 7/16)
Dragon Prana ($7.49 from $14.99 until 7/18)
Masquerade Kiss ($17.49 from $34.99 until 7/18)
Finally, in Love Again ($14.99 from $29.99 until 7/18)
Love Letter from Thief X ($7.49 from $24.99 until 7/18)
Our Two Bedroom Story ($7.49 from $24.99 until 7/18)
Metro PD: Close to You ($20.99 from $29.99 until 7/18)
Knights of Grayfang ($11.24 from $14.99 until 7/18)

Sales Ending Tomorrow, June 28th

9 Years of Shadows ($13.99 from $19.99 until 6/28)
Alpha Particle ($3.99 from $9.99 until 6/28)
Burrow of the Fallen Bear ($6.99 from $19.99 until 6/28)
Cozy Hamlets ($4.23 from $5.29 until 6/28)
Cyber Shadow ($9.99 from $19.99 until 6/28)
Danmaku Unlimited 3 ($4.99 from $9.99 until 6/28)
Dark Deity ($6.24 from $24.99 until 6/28)
Diorama Dungeoncrawl ($3.99 from $9.99 until 6/28)
Dream Tactics ($14.39 from $17.99 until 6/28)
Empires Shall Fall ($9.74 from $12.99 until 6/28)
Euphoria ($3.74 from $14.99 until 6/28)
Freak Crossing ($2.49 from $4.99 until 6/28)
Ginnung ($2.24 from $5.00 until 6/28)
Golazo 2: Soccer Cup 2022 ($3.19 from $15.98 until 6/28)
Inertia 2 ($2.85 from $4.39 until 6/28)

Make It! Ikayaki ($1.99 from $3.00 until 6/28)
Monster Outbreak ($11.99 from $14.99 until 6/28)
Monster Tribe ($15.99 from $19.99 until 6/28)
Mugen Souls Double Pack ($45.49 from $69.99 until 6/28)
Rider’s Spirits ($4.79 from $5.99 until 6/28)
Shovel Knight Dig ($12.49 from $24.99 until 6/28)
Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon ($9.99 from $19.99 until 6/28)
Shovel Knight Treasure Trove ($19.99 from $39.99 until 6/28)
Siralim 3 ($7.49 from $14.99 until 6/28)
Siralim Ultimate ($9.99 from $19.99 until 6/28)
The Sorrowvirus ($3.74 from $14.99 until 6/28)
Thunder Ray ($8.24 from $14.99 until 6/28)
Until the Last Plane ($3.49 from $9.99 until 6/28)

That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with the remaining releases of the week, plus whatever news and sales roll in over the course of the day. Phew, I’m exhausted again today. These early mornings I’ve been doing lately are going to be the end of me if I’m not more careful about my late nights. 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 June 24th, 2024. It’s another Monday, and since I spent my whole weekend playing through a clunky forty-year-old Japanese computer game, I can’t offer you up a bevy of reviews as I sometimes do. Instead, I have one review for you, covering said clunky game. Will the new releases save us? No, they will not. But we have one! Sales aren’t too bad at least, so that’s a little treat to end off on. Let’s get to work, shall we?

Reviews & Mini-Views

EGGCONSOLE Tritorn PC-8801 ($6.49)

Hey, we’ve finally got another EGGCONSOLE release that doesn’t require any Japanese language knowledge to play! It’s a shame the game itself is so very much of its era that most people are going to bounce off it, but we take our blessings where we can. Speakers of any language can… enjoy Tritorn equally. But do you want to? If you have an opinion on Hydlide, that will be surprisingly helpful towards answering that question. Tritorn is in a lot of ways Hydlide from the side. Sidelide. A ton of grinding against enemies that can kill you incredibly easily, a lot of opaque “puzzles” to solve, and virtually no story to speak of outside of the set-up and ending. Really not for everyone, or most.

Anyway, you’re the brave warrior Tritorn, and you’re tasked with the job of saving the island of Luwandia from the evil… Pay-Valusa. Sure, why not? You start your journey with little more than the sword in your hand and a small amount of magic balls you can throw to temporarily freeze enemies. Save them for emergencies; you won’t have a way to replenish them for quite a while. Tritorn is woefully inadequate for his task at the outset, as even a mild disagreement with a slime will put him six feet under. Abuse that EGGCONSOLE rewind feature. Abuse the save states. Take full advantage of every tool you’ve got, because the game never stops being able to kill you in two seconds if you let an enemy nudge up against you the wrong way.

Your first job is to grind a hundred slimes to reach the next level. You should also earn an item in the process, teaching you one way to get the things you need in this game: killing a bunch of one type of enemy. It is not the only way to get items, of course. You can also find some in chests, and a few others through some absolute nonsense. It’s not quite Druaga-level in this regard, but at least one required item is hidden behind an action you would never think to do. As you find items, you can explore more of the world, and I think I wouldn’t argue with much vigor against anyone who wants to call this a prototype Metroidvania. It’s just that every time you enter a new area, you have to stop and grind for a half hour. You can’t even abuse the fast-forward feature to make it more painless, because as I have said it is very easy for enemies to get the drop on you and murder you in two seconds.

Ultimately, I wasn’t able to finish Tritorn. I got to the last boss but I couldn’t find one of the necessary items to defeat him. With the relative obscurity of this particular version of the game (and the versions are somewhat different from each other), I couldn’t find my answer among Japanese players. So… everyone, please buy this and try to find that crown for me so I can finish it and delete it from my brain.

I don’t know why I get sucked into games like Tritorn, these Hydlide-likes, but I do. The controls are clunky, the gameplay is unpleasant, the tedium is real, and there is all kinds of pure foolishness standing between the player and the ending. And yet, here I am. Are you like me? This is where you need to be honest with yourself. If you have this same weakness to old, grindy games, you’ll get your money’s worth out of Tritorn. But I imagine most people will just find it annoying and quit playing after five minutes, despite there being no language barrier this time around.

SwitchArcade Score: 3/5

Select New Releases

Lost Pixel ($4.99)

Such is the state of these summer Mondays that I will include this game just so that we have something in the new release section. I mean, at least it isn’t using crappy AI-generated art for its shop thumbnail? Anyway, you control a pixel and go through some pretty standard traps and hazards. The camera angle is skewed, and that’s about the fanciest trick it has up its sleeve.

Sales

(North American eShop, US Prices)

Some nice sales to start the week off with from folks like Team 17 and QUByte, plus some extra bits and bobs like Elderand, Dorfromantik, and Moon Dancer to spice things up. Not much in the outbox, but if you are craving the cloud version of Guardians of the Galaxy, it’s um… it’s sure there. Check those lists!

Select New Sales

Nekomin ($8.25 from $15.00 until 7/7)
Mustache in Hell ($2.49 from $4.99 until 7/11)
Racoo Venture ($9.74 from $14.99 until 7/11)
Bem Feito ($6.49 from $9.99 until 7/11)
Zero Tolerance Collection ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/11)
VASARA Collection ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/11)
VISCO Collection ($13.99 from $19.99 until 7/11)
Doomsday Hunters ($10.79 from $17.99 until 7/12)
GyroGunner ($5.76 from $7.20 until 7/12)
Shakedown Hawaii ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/12)
Retro City Rampage ($4.99 from $14.99 until 7/12)
Viviette ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/12)
Demon Turf ($12.49 from $24.99 until 7/12)
Star Gagnant ($22.80 from $38.00 until 7/12)
Witch Explorer ($9.99 from $19.99 until 7/12)
Elderand ($7.99 from $19.99 until 7/12)
CosmoPlayerZ ($7.69 from $10.99 until 7/12)

Dorfromantik ($11.99 from $14.99 until 7/12)
Moon Dancer ($13.29 from $18.99 until 7/12)
Metal Mind ($13.49 from $17.99 until 7/13)
Redden: 100denarii ($1.99 from $7.99 until 7/13)
ANIMUS: Revenant ($3.44 from $22.99 until 7/13)
Demong Hunter ($1.99 from $7.99 until 7/13)
Dungeon Limbus ($2.24 from $14.99 until 7/13)
Moving Out 2 ($14.99 from $29.99 until 7/14)
DREDGE ($16.24 from $24.99 until 7/14)
Neon Abyss ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/14)
Blasphemous ($6.24 from $24.99 until 7/14)
Overcooked 2 ($6.24 from $24.99 until 7/14)
The Escapists 2 ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/14)
Life of Slime ($3.49 from $4.99 until 7/14)

Knowledge Keeper ($3.49 from $4.99 until 7/14)
Re:Touring ($6.99 from $9.99 until 7/14)
Cybertrash STATYX ($6.99 from $9.99 until 7/14)
Cat & Ghostly Road ($5.99 from $9.99 until 7/14)
Time Traveler’s Guide to Past Delicacies ($2.49 from $4.99 until 7/14)
Edge of Reality ($2.49 from $4.99 until 7/14)
Fusion Paradox ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/14)
Hero Survival ($2.49 from $4.99 until 7/14)
Earthshine ($2.49 from $4.99 until 7/14)
Stranded Deep ($12.49 from $24.99 until 7/14)

Sales Ending Tomorrow, June 25th

Alchemist Adventure ($2.79 from $19.99 until 6/25)
Broken Lines ($3.49 from $24.99 until 6/25)
Chasm: The Rift ($6.99 from $19.99 until 6/25)
Furi ($7.99 from $19.99 until 6/25)
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cloud Version ($14.99 from $59.99 until 6/25)
Haven ($9.99 from $24.99 until 6/25)
Hot Lap League Deluxe ($1.99 from $19.99 until 6/25)
Retro Machina ($2.79 from $19.99 until 6/25)
Slime Rancher Plortable ($9.99 from $24.99 until 6/25)
Squids Odyssey ($2.24 from $14.99 until 6/25)
The Long Dark ($17.49 from $34.99 until 6/25)

That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with a more robust selection of new releases, plus more reviews and sales. Maybe some news, depending on how the world turns as I sleep. I really hope someone figures out how to find that stupid crown in Tritorn. I just want to beat Pay-Valusa and call it a job done. Oh well. I hope you all have a marvelous Monday, and as always, thanks for reading!

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for June 20th, 2024. It’s Thursday today, and that means we have a number of new releases to check out. Nothing super high-profile, but some interesting looking games nonetheless. Maybe you shall buy one! Maybe you shan’t. I can only show them to you. I will also show you some sales, because that’s what we do around here. Let’s get to all of that now before someone else comes along to tempt you to spend money. That’s my job!

Select New Releases

Operation STEEL ($9.99)

Despite the clear Gradius II homage going on in that screenshot, this is yet another one of those roguelite-ish affairs where the stages are procedurally generated and you have to upgrade your ship, which means a whole lot of grinding. I’m a bit burnt out on these, but I know some of you can’t get enough of them. Perhaps this is what you’re looking for today.

Dicefolk ($14.99)

This is a really interesting and well-made deck (dice)-building roguelite, with the usual strategy you would expect from the genre plus a few interesting twists like being able to control both sides in a battle. There’s a major creature-collecting component the game, which puts a further spin on things. I’ll be reviewing this one soon, but I’ve really enjoyed playing it.

Ylands: Nintendo Switch Edition ($24.99)

One of those Everything Bagel kinds of games, with crafting, exploration, survival, combat, and so on loaded in. You can play the game in Adventure Mode and have fun making your way through six distinct regions, or fire up Creative Mode to roll around in the sandbox a little. While the reviews of this game are quite mixed on Steam, that seems to be largely directed at a pricing issue that I’m fairly sure isn’t relevant here. I have some concerns about the potential technical performance here on Switch, but as I haven’t had a chance to play this version yet I can’t really speak to it.

DarkStar One – Nintendo Switch Edition ($29.99)

Here’s a blast from the past. DarkStar One is a space sim that first released on computers in 2006, which makes it… pretty vintage at this point. It has a bit of the ol’ Elite/Freelancer feel to it, with you rolling around space in your ship and engaging in trading, combat, and so on. It was decent then, it’s decent now, but you can certainly feel some of the weight of its age. Still, we don’t have a ton of games like this on the Switch so you might be interested in it anyway.

EGGCONSOLE Tritorn PC-8801 ($6.49)

This time around in the EGGCONSOLE line it’s Sein Soft’s 1985 release Tritorn, an action-RPG more than a little inspired by Namco’s Dragon Buster. As usual for EGGCONSOLE, the game is presented in its original Japanese form. I can’t speak to how big of a problem that is yet, but I’ll let you know once my review is ready to go. I’m hoping we get a more straightforward game again in this line soon, but I’m still engaged enough with all of these oddball releases to not mind it too much.

Arcade Archives Rastan Saga II ($7.99)

Some innocent soul out there is looking at this and thinking “Wow, I love Rastan! I didn’t know there was a sequel! Cool!”, and let me just say that we have all been there once. Hopefully I can save some of you from the disappointment by letting you know that Rastan Saga II is nowhere near as good as the first game. It is, in fact, quite bad. Those big sprites are cool, the music is as good as you would expect from Taito, but the gameplay is clunky and boring. Rastan would get a little redemption in his third and final game, but this one is so bad I’m surprised they made another one. Hamster has given it the usual treatment, so if anyone out there somehow has happy memories of it… here it is.

Everafter Falls ($19.99)

Sure, another slow life game with a mysterious undertone. Never hurts to have more of these. The set-up here is that you had a chill life going on in Everafter Falls, but wake up one day to discover it was just a simulation. Slowly you begin your life anew, and it’s certainly a comfortable place to be. As you play you’ll start noticing some… unusual things. What do they mean? That’s up to you to discover, if you’ve got the gumption to do so. The game supports local co-op with another player, so you can even bring a friend along.

Cave Digger 2 ($14.99)

It’s like Cave Digger, but more Cave Digger. Do you want more Cave Digger? Here you go. That’s about as much as I’ll say about this one, because I did not want more Cave Digger.

Tavern Talk ($21.99)

We’ve had enough games like this by now that I can just say this is another game about mixing and serving drinks while getting to know the patrons of your bar. This game’s gimmick is that it is set in a fantasy world. Seems well-made for what it is, so if what it is is the “is” you’re after, you might want to investigate this further.

Garten of Banban I-IV ($1.99 – $9.99)

Four games built around a story where you’re exploring the mysterious Banban’s Kindergarten facility using a drone. A bunch of people have disappeared, and you need to uncover the secrets of the bizarre location. Solve the puzzles and make your way through the place room by room. Popular enough to have a metric ton of installments, but reviews of it aren’t terribly enthusiastic. Well, do what you will with it.

Sales

(North American eShop, US Prices)

Not too much in the inbox so far, but if you want the fancy edition of Super Mega Baseball 4 or feel like playing some good ol’ Gynoug, it’s your day. There are a few things in the outbox, so you’ll want to perhaps give that one a closer look.

Select New Sales

Super Mega Baseball 4 Ballpark Edition ($17.99 from $59.99 until 7/2)
HunterX ($8.99 from $14.99 until 7/3)
HunterX: Code Name T ($11.89 from $16.99 until 7/3)
Retimed ($5.99 from $14.99 until 7/3)
Caveman Ransom ($2.49 from $4.99 until 7/4)
Prisonela DX ($2.49 from $4.99 until 7/4)
Avenging Spirit ($2.99 from $5.99 until 7/4)
Gleylancer ($3.49 from $6.99 until 7/4)
Gynoug ($3.49 from $6.99 until 7/4)
Dusk Diver 2 ($24.99 from $49.99 until 7/4)
Dr. Frank’s Build a Boyfriend ($2.49 from $4.99 until 7/4)
The Adventures of Panzer Collection ($4.49 from $8.99 until 7/4)
Little Witch Nobeta ($24.99 from $49.99 until 7/4)
Aquadine ($9.99 from $19.99 until 7/4)

Sales Ending Tomorrow, June 21st

Apollo Justice: AA Trilogy ($39.99 from $49.99 until 6/21)
Barbie DreamHouse Adventures ($19.99 from $39.99 until 6/21)
Big Adventure Trip to Europe 5 ($8.99 from $14.99 until 6/21)
Demon’s Tilt ($9.99 from $19.99 until 6/21)
Detective Agency Gray Tie 2 ($2.99 from $14.99 until 6/21)
Encodya ($2.99 from $29.99 until 6/21)
Fall of Porcupine ($7.99 from $19.99 until 6/21)
Finding America: The Pacific Northwest ($7.99 from $9.99 until 6/21)
First Time in Hawaii ($7.19 from $11.99 until 6/21)
I Love Finding Furbabies ($5.99 from $9.99 until 6/21)
Itorah ($3.99 from $19.99 until 6/21)
Just Find It ($5.99 from $9.99 until 6/21)
Lacuna ($1.99 from $19.99 until 6/21)
Magic City Detective Secret Desire ($8.99 from $14.99 until 6/21)
Magic City Detective Wings of Revenge ($8.99 from $14.99 until 6/21)

Maze of Realities Flower of Discord ($8.99 from $14.99 until 6/21)
Maze of Realities Reflection of Light ($8.99 from $14.99 until 6/21)
Mystery Box: Hidden Secrets ($5.99 from $9.99 until 6/21)
Mystery Lover ($7.49 from $9.99 until 6/21)
Nature Escapes 2 ($8.99 from $14.99 until 6/21)
Nature Escapes 3 ($8.99 from $14.99 until 6/21)
Neko Secret Homecoming ($3.99 from $9.99 until 6/21)
Pretty Girls 2048 Strike ($3.49 from $6.99 until 6/21)
Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary ($2.79 from $19.99 until 6/21)
Ravva and the Phantom Library ($4.99 from $9.99 until 6/21)
RedRaptor ($2.49 from $4.99 until 6/21)
Seven Pirates H ($23.99 from $39.99 until 6/21)
Super Crush KO ($4.49 from $14.99 until 6/21)
Three Minutes to Eight ($2.99 from $14.99 until 6/21)
Thunder Kid II: Null Mission ($1.99 from $7.99 until 6/21)
Turret Rampage ($2.99 from $4.99 until 6/21)
Twin Mind Murderous Jealousy ($3.74 from $14.99 until 6/21)
Twin Mind Nobody’s Here ($3.74 from $14.99 until 6/21)
Twin Mind Power of Love ($3.74 from $14.99 until 6/21)

That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back next week with more new games, more sales, some reviews, and perhaps some news. Not as much news as this week, most likely. I am ridiculously tired today, and keep falling asleep on my keyboard. Not a great thing, but some days are like that. 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 June 14th, 2024. We’ve reached the end of another week, and I have to say that we are closing it with a bang. Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance! Monster Hunter Stories! Plus a handful of interesting-looking games you might not have heard of. We’ve got summaries of everything worth summarizing, plus the lists of new and expiring sales for the day. Let’s grab a fork and dig right in, because the weekend is right around the corner!

Select New Releases

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance ($59.99)

Oops, Atlus did it again! It played with our hearts, released an enhanced version game. It might seem like a rerun, like it’s not worth another buy, but it’s not that simple! Okay, so yes, it happened again. Atlus released a game, and now it is releasing a special shiny version of that game that you’ll have to pay full price for even if you own the original. Is it worth it? Our pal Mikhail assures me it is, so long as you enjoyed what you played in the base game. I haven’t tried it yet, but given how much I enjoyed the vanilla game, I’ll be looking into it as soon as possible.

Monster Hunter Stories ($29.99)

Well, we already have the second game on Switch. Might as well add the first one, too. I have a lot of fondness for this game despite some of its rough edges, and I think it holds up really nicely. It was originally built for a considerably more limited console, but it still manages a bit of spectacle. Curiously though, this Switch version doesn’t run as smoothly as one might expect. It’s not bad, but if you were hoping for silky smooth gameplay due to this being a 3DS transplant, you’re going to have to readjust your expectations.

Railbreak ($19.99)

An on-rails shooter where you get to blast away zombies? This might be the only zombie usage I’m interested in these days. This game knows exactly what it’s aiming at, and it might do a better job of it than the actual remake of that game you can buy on the eShop. I’ll be doing a review of this one soon, so I’ll let you know for sure.

Bug & Seek ($14.99)

This seems like a pretty neat thing for those who are into bugs enough to play a slow-life game built entirely around them. Catch up to 220 real-life bugs, fill out a compendium and insect zoo with them, and try to restart the troubled economy of BuggBurg. There are lots of interesting NPCs to interact with, and even a big mystery to solve. I’ll give it credit for putting a different spin on this well-worn genre.

Agnostiko Origins ($24.99)

An action game set in a steampunk version of 1890s Philippines that leans heavily into Pinoy folklore? I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested, but it’s an unknown developer and the price is a little high. The trailer looks really rough, but not exactly in a bad way? I don’t know. I’ll have to investigate further.

The Great Adventures of Nedmapagmahal ($19.99)

Your guess is as good as mine.

Froggy Bouncing Adventures ($4.99)

This is exactly what the title says. You get sixty levels spread across four worlds, and there are twenty hats you can unlock for the frog. That settles the five-dollar platformer for today.

A Fragile Mind ($5.99)

Another first-person escape room-style puzzle adventure from the entertaining folks at Glitch Games. If you’ve liked the other titles from them, you’ll probably enjoy this one. If you’ve never played one before but like to solve puzzles, you might like this one. A world of options in front of you, I say.

Bunny e-Shop ($12.99)

A trade war has erupted between monsters and humans, and you’re a rabbit spirit just trying to run your online store in all this mess. You sell carrots and radishes, which seems like a very rabbit-like thing to do. One of those business sim games, though the aesthetic and theme are obviously going to be hit or miss depending on your tastes.

Sales

(North American eShop, US Prices)

Quite a lot of new sales today, with some indies that used to be on sale every other week but recently haven’t popped up. Well, here they are! Perhaps the bigger concern is what is happening in the outbox, and I’ve done something a little different from usual here. The big MEGA HYPER TURBO RAD TO THE MAX sale is finishing Monday, so if you’re going to grab any of those games this weekend is the time to do it. Check both lists!

Select New Sales

Demon’s Tilt ($9.99 from $19.99 until 6/21)
Super Crush KO ($4.49 from $14.99 until 6/21)
Thunder Ray ($8.24 from $14.99 until 6/28)
Danmaku Unlimited 3 ($4.99 from $9.99 until 6/28)
Golazo 2: Soccer Cup 2022 ($3.19 from $15.98 until 6/28)
Gaokao.Love.100Days ($5.99 from $11.99 until 7/1)
The Sinking City: Deluxe ($9.74 from $64.99 until 7/4)
A Knight’s Quest ($3.74 from $24.99 until 7/4)
Vambrace: Cold Soul ($2.99 from $24.99 until 7/4)
Pumpkin Jack ($6.89 from $29.99 until 7/4)
Green Hell ($3.74 from $24.99 until 7/4)
Hotshot Racing ($2.99 from $19.99 until 7/4)
Towaga: Among Shadows ($2.24 from $14.99 until 7/4)
Rigid Force Redux ($3.99 from $19.99 until 7/4)
MONOBOT ($3.89 from $12.99 until 7/4)

We Need to Go Deeper ($9.99 from $19.99 until 7/4)
UNABLES ($6.49 from $12.99 until 7/4)
Turnip Boy Robs a Bank ($10.49 from $14.99 until 7/4)
Flooded ($3.24 from $12.99 until 7/4)
Dr Fetus’ Mean Meat Machine ($2.99 from $9.99 until 7/4)
Alekon ($2.39 from $15.99 until 7/4)
Hello Kitty & Friends Happiness Parade ($1.99 from $19.99 until 7/4)
Embr ($3.99 from $19.99 until 7/4)
Just Die Already ($2.99 form $14.99 until 7/4)
Sifu ($15.99 from $39.99 until 7/4)
Hell Pie ($7.49 from $24.99 until 7/4)
Arkanoid Eternal Battle ($2.99 from $19.99 until 7/4)
The House of the Dead Remake ($6.24 from $24.99 until 7/4)
Watch ($3.59 from $5.99 until 7/4)
Alfred Hitchcock Vertigo ($3.99 from $19.99 until 7/4)

Gigapocalypse ($1.99 from $9.99 until 7/4)
The Quest for Excalibur Puy du Fou ($5.99 from $29.99 until 7/4)
Gibbon: Beyond the Trees ($7.49 from $14.99 until 7/4)
Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch ($13.99 from $39.99 until 7/4)
Silver Chains ($1.99 from $24.99 until 7/4)
My Universe: Cooking Star Restaurant ($1.99 from $29.99 until 7/4)
Zombie’s Cool ($1.99 from $3.99 until 7/4)
Beholder: Complete Edition ($2.24 from $14.99 until 7/4)
Velocity 2X ($2.99 from $19.99 until 7/4)
Phantom Doctrine ($2.99 from $19.99 until 7/4)
Q-Yo Blaster ($2.49 from $9.99 until 7/4)
Thief Simulator ($2.99 from $19.99 until 7/4)
For The King ($4.99 from $24.99 until 7/4)
Motorsport Manager ($2.99 from $14.99 until 7/4)
Hard West ($2.99 from $19.99 until 7/4)
Truberbrook ($1.99 from $29.99 until 7/4)

Pumped BMX Pro ($2.24 from $14.99 until 7/4)
When Ski Lifts Go Wrong ($2.24 from $14.99 until 7/4)
Ancestors Legacy ($9.99 from $39.99 until 7/4)
Cooking Simulator ($2.99 from $19.99 until 7/4)
Highrise Heroes: Word Challenge ($1.99 from $7.99 until 7/4)
Panzer Dragoon Remake ($2.49 from $24.99 until 7/4)
Hue ($2.49 from $9.99 until 7/4)
Bomber Crew ($2.99 from $19.99 until 7/4)
American Fugitive ($2.99 from $19.99 until 7/4)
The Swindle ($2.24 from $14.99 until 7/4)
Runbow ($2.99 from $14.99 until 7/4)
Human: Fall Flat ($5.99 from $19.99 until 7/4)
DragonFangZ: TR&DoT ($9.99 from $24.99 until 7/4)
Slime-san: Superslime Edition ($2.39 from $11.99 until 7/4)
Syberia ($1.99 from $12.99 until 7/4)
Adventure Field Remake ($3.24 from $4.99 until 7/5)
Frowntown ($8.44 from $12.99 until 7/5)
100 Demon Fantasia ($6.49 from $9.99 until 7/5)

Sales Ending This Weekend (Including Monday)

CLeM ($3.99 from $15.99 until 6/15)
Game Dev Tycoon ($7.49 from $14.99 until 6/15)
Owlboy ($9.99 from $24.99 until 6/15)
Advance Wars 1 + 2 Reboot Camp ($41.99 from $59.99 until 6/17)
Aeterna Noctis ($11.99 from $29.99 until 6/17)
Animal Crossing: New Horizons ($41.99 from $59.99 until 6/17)
Arcadia: Colony ($9.98 from $14.99 until 6/17)
Astral Chain ($41.99 from $59.99 until 6/17)
Bayonetta 3 ($41.99 from $59.99 until 6/17)
Bayonetta Origins ($41.99 from $59.99 until 6/17)
Bravely Default II ($41.99 from $59.99 until 6/17)
Chasm ($6.99 from $19.99 until 6/17)
Cirrus Business ($3.49 from $6.99 until 6/17)
Clone Drone in the Danger Zone ($7.99 from $19.99 until 6/17)
Daemon X Machina ($41.99 from $59.99 until 6/17)

Dark Souls Remastered ($19.99 from $39.99 until 6/17)
DC Super Hero Girls: Teen Power ($41.99 from $59.99 until 6/17)
Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze ($39.99 from $59.99 until 6/17)
Dragon Quest Builders ($34.99 from $49.99 until 6/17)
Dragon Quest Builders 2 ($34.99 from $49.99 until 6/17)
Dragon Quest XI S: DE ($34.99 from $49.99 until 6/17)
Fashion Dreamer ($34.99 from $49.99 until 6/17)
Figment 1 + Figment 2 ($7.99 from $39.99 until 6/17)
Fire Emblem Engage ($41.99 from $59.99 until 6/17)
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity ($41.99 from $59.99 until 6/17)
Kirby & the Forgotten Land ($41.99 from $59.99 until 6/17)
Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening ($41.99 from $59.99 until 6/17)
Live A Live ($34.99 from $49.99 until 6/17)
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 ($41.99 from $59.99 until 6/17)
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe ($39.99 from $59.99 until 6/17)

No More Heroes 3 ($24.99 from $49.99 until 6/17)
Splatoon 3 ($41.99 from $59.99 until 6/17)
Summum Aeterna ($11.99 from $19.99 until 6/17)
Super Adventure Hand ($9.74 from $12.99 until 6/17)
Super Mario Odyssey ($39.99 from $59.99 until 6/17)
Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido ($34.99 from $49.99 until 6/17)
Tokyo Mirage Sessions ($41.99 from $59.99 until 6/17)
Triangle Strategy ($41.99 from $59.99 until 6/17)
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 ($41.99 from $59.99 until 6/17)
Xenoblade Chronicles DE ($41.99 from $59.99 until 6/17)

That’s all for today and this week, friends. We’ll be back next week with more new games, more sales, more reviews, and I have a sneaky suspicion there might be a lot of news as well. My hospital visit today went as well as it could, so I’m afraid you’ll all have to put up with me a bit longer. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and as always, thanks for reading!

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for June 6th, 2024. It’s Thursday today, which usually means a ton of new releases. This week, however, we don’t have quite as full a selection. Maybe related to that whole Keighley business, I don’t know. We’ll take a look at what we have, an interesting batch led by Fading Afternoon. After that, we head into the usual lists of new and expiring sales. Some decent stuff in there, too. Let’s get into the games!

Select New Releases

Fading Afternoon ($19.99)

From yeo, the developer behind The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa and Arrest of a Stone Buddha, Fading Afternoon is the story of a middle-aged yakuza named Maruyama who has just been released from prison. What will he do next? That’s up to you. There are multiple endings here, and the one you receive will depend on your actions during the course of the game. There’s a decent-sized city to explore and a handful of mini-games to mess around with. As with this developer’s previous games, you can also look forward to some solid beat-em-up action. I really liked yeo’s previous games, so I’ll definitely be giving this a look.

Seven Days ($34.99)

Okay, I’ll admit that a visual novel wherein all the heroines are dead is a novel set-up. Through various circumstances, our rather average protagonist ends up needing to resolve the lingering issues of the spirits of seven women. Ghosts can only live in the human world for forty-nine days, and a quick bit of math tells us that means each woman gets seven days’ worth of attention. Apart from the unusual premise, this looks like a fairly ordinary romantic visual novel. Maybe it’s for you, maybe it isn’t.

Arcade Archives Rug Rats ($7.99)

A 1982 Nichibutsu joint, and if you know that company name you know we’re in for a quirky one. This is a cleaning game, which in this case means cleaning up all the baddies using your little vacuum cleaner character. Roll enemies up in the carpets and pick up bonus items to earn extra points. You get both the Japanese and Overseas versions of the game here, and they’re actually quite different. Not the greatest of games, but it’s an unusual one that you probably haven’t played before. Isn’t that half the fun of the Arcade Archives line?

Garage: Bad Dream Adventure ($24.99)

This is a cleaned-up version of a messed-up 1999 PC game, but it still looks more or less like a 1999 PC game. You’re trapped in your own psyche and need to find your way out. The creator of this game is a surrealist artist, and he certainly flexes that with the bizarre sights and sounds you’ll come across. The mechanics are a bit hard to nail down, but you’ll be solving puzzles and exploring around, as one does in an adventure game. There’s quite a bit of disturbing stuff in this game, but I’m led to believe some of you are intrigued by that kind of thing. So, you know. Here you go.

HighScore Anomaly Underground ($3.99)

Well, these are getting to be a whole thing now. It’s another one of those games where you have to look for what’s out of place. If you don’t find it, you’ll be sent back to the beginning. If you do, or correctly ascertain that there is no anomaly, then you move up a level. Not a very long game, and not a very involved one either. Four bucks can buy some good snacks, even in this time of inflation. Choose wisely.

Euphoria ($14.99)

A first person puzzle game with a horror-mystery theme. Solve murder cases by examining the scenes, and maybe even recover your identity along the way. Not the fanciest of dining, but it might appeal to some out there. Steam reviews seem more positive than negative, though there are definitely a few people who didn’t care for it. Maybe if you loved Portal and are hungry for some other games of the same vague genre? I leave it in your skilled hands to investigate further, if you’re interested.

The Smurfs – Village Party ($39.99)

Want a party game to play with the family and don’t care for Mario’s antics? Do you love The Smurfs? Then you might be the right person for this new release from Microids. Frankly speaking, this publisher has messed up so many times with its licensed titles at this point that I would hesitate to trust anything from them. I want to say it’s hard to mess up a party game, but they did just that with the Inspector Gadget IP. Well, you get fifty mini-games in here plus a number of playable Smurfs. I leave it up to you if you want to risk getting smurfed out of your money or not.

Rainbow Diamonds ($9.99)

This appears to be today’s five-dollar Switch platformer, but uh oh, it’s ten dollars. Oh well. Forty levels set across four worlds, and that’s really all there is to say about it. Very indistinct.

Sales

(North American eShop, US Prices)

Quite the menagerie of titles in the inbox today. Some games worth considering include Shoot 1UP DX, Fearmonium, Garlic, and the ever-recommended Donut Dodo. Not too much in that outbox worth worrying about today, so have a careful look through the new sales and keep in mind that the Keighley summer thing is coming soon. There will be a lot of sales incoming in the next couple of weeks.

Select New Sales

Game Type DX ($2.99 from $5.99 until 6/19)
Shapeshooter ($1.99 from $3.99 until 6/19)
Weapon of Choice DX ($2.99 from $5.99 until 6/19)
Shoot 1UP DX ($2.99 from $5.99 until 6/19)
Pig Eat Ball ($7.49 from $14.99 until 6/19)
Unlife ($6.59 from $10.99 until 6/20)
Fearmonium ($7.79 from $12.99 until 6/20)
Zomborg ($2.49 from $4.99 until 6/20)
Runnyk ($2.49 from $4.99 until 6/20)
Bob the Elementalist ($2.49 from $4.99 until 6/20)
Amabilly ($2.49 from $4.99 until 6/20)
Castle Morihisa ($2.24 from $14.99 until 6/20)
NeonPowerUp! ($2.49 from $4.99 until 6/20)
Murder Is Game Over ($2.49 from $4.99 until 6/20)

Garlic ($7.49 from $14.99 until 6/20)
Pirates on Target ($2.49 from $4.99 until 6/20)
Mochi Mochi Boy ($1.99 from $4.99 until 6/20)
Loot Hero DX ($1.99 from $4.99 until 6/20)
Adventures of Ben: Rabbit Run ($11.24 from $24.99 until 6/20)
Gates of the Mind ($6.74 from $14.99 until 6/20)
Adventure Bar Story ($15.99 from $19.99 until 6/20)
Neko Secret Homecoming ($3.99 from $9.99 until 6/21)
Pretty Girls 2048 Strike ($3.49 from $6.99 until 6/21)
Seven Pirates H ($23.99 from $39.99 until 6/21)
Ravva and the Phantom Library ($4.99 from $9.99 until 6/21)
Turret Rampage ($2.99 from $4.99 until 6/21)
RedRaptor ($2.49 from $4.99 until 6/21)
Thunder Kid II: Null Mission ($1.99 from $7.99 until 6/21)
Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary ($2.79 from $19.99 until 6/21)

Barbie DreamHouse Adventures ($19.99 from $39.99 until 6/21)
Mail Mole ($5.99 from $14.99 until 6/24)
Fresh Start ($7.99 from $19.99 until 6/26)
Ponpu ($2.24 from $14.99 until 6/26)
Spells & Secrets ($14.99 from $29.99 until 6/26)
Spirit of the North ($3.74 from $24.99 until 6/26)
Vaporum ($3.74 from $24.99 until 6/26)
Monster Harvest ($2.99 from $19.99 until 6/26)
Stranded Sails EotCI ($3.74 from $24.99 until 6/26)
Aragami 2 ($9.99 from $39.99 until 6/26)
Slaycation Paradise ($2.99 from $19.99 until 6/26)
Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX ($2.99 from $19.99 until 6/26)
Sparklite ($3.74 from $24.99 until 6/26)
Morbid: The Seven Acolytes ($2.49 from $24.99 until 6/26)

Alphadia I & II ($14.99 from $19.99 until 6/27)
Revenant Saga ($6.49 from $12.99 until 6/27)
Revenant Dogma ($6.49 from $12.99 until 6/27)
Illusion of L’Phalcia ($6.49 from $12.99 until 6/27)
Gale of Windoria ($8.24 from $14.99 until 6/27)
Amibition Record ($8.24 from $14.99 until 6/27)
Jinshin ($11.24 from $14.99 until 6/27)
Galacticon ($2.99 from $4.99 until 6/27)
Donut Dodo ($2.99 from $4.99 until 6/27)
Attack of the Karens ($2.99 from $4.99 until 6/27)

Sales Ending Tomorrow, June 7th

Bish Bash Bots ($14.99 from $19.99 until 6/7)
Crimson Spires ($5.99 form $19.99 until 6/7)
Greed: The Mad Scientist ($7.99 from $15.99 until 6/7)
Outbreak The Fedora Files WLN ($15.99 from $19.99 until 6/7)
Oxytone ($3.99 from $7.99 until 6/7)
Pan’orama ($7.99 from $19.99 until 6/7)
Planet Cube: Edge ($5.99 from $14.99 until 6/7)
Rainbow Moon ($11.99 from $14.99 until 6/7)
Sunny Cafe ($11.99 from $14.99 until 6/7)

That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with the remaining releases of the week, plus whatever sales and major news items roll in over the course of the day. I am incredibly sleepy today. I fell asleep twice writing this article. I need to take a nap later, or maybe get one good night’s sleep. I hope you all have a thrilling Thursday, and as always, thanks for reading!