Pure Nintendo

Overall, Door Kickers is a complex game made for the strategic thinker. There’s plenty of content to sink your teeth into, providing almost endless hours of combat. It could use a better tutorial, and the controls may put some players off at first, but there’s a lot to uncover here for fans of tactical shooters.

Down in Bermuda is a fun little puzzle-adventure. That said, I beat it in just over three (leisurely) hours. The $19.99 launch price is hard to justify, especially for a game whose mobile origins shine through in both looks and feel. So wishlist this one for a future sale.

The puzzles in Iris.Fall can sometimes be momentum killers, and they will likely cause some players to leave the game unfinished despite its short duration. However, those who stick with it will be rewarded with an experience that never ceases to visually delight (and reward) the player.

While DOOM Eternal is rated M for its gore and violence, there’s a lot about the gaming experience that makes it safer to play for teen and young adult audiences than the average, multiplayer competitors of its genre. And if there’s ever a day I need to just chainsaw through some demons, I know where I can turn.

All things considered, Landflix Odyssey is a decent little platformer. There are areas where the premise could have been better integrated with the gameplay, but that doesn’t take away from the laughs it does offer.

In 1999, a portable arcade fighting game probably blew a few minds. Like many games of the era, time hasn’t been too kind to Fatal Fury First Contact. You can’t deny the charm, though, and its simplicity allows for a quick fighting game fix during breaks or right before bed. Serious fighting game fans may want to look elsewhere, but it’s not altogether terrible.

Just as it was when originally released in 2012, Double Dragon Neon is still a well-made and well-thought out reboot of the arcade classic that will certainly please veterans and newcomers to Billy and Jimmy Lee’s adventures.

Crystal Ortha offers a breezy adventure that breaks from the norm just enough to please grizzled fans of JRPGs. It looks and feels right home on the Switch, but it’s easier to enjoy in short, handheld gaming sessions as opposed to long hours in front of your TV.

Tropico 6 may not be at its best on the Nintendo Switch but it is still worthwhile even on noticeably underpowered hardware. Once you get past the huge load times at the beginning and the lengthy tutorial, the only question is how would you like to rule? For the people? Or with an iron fist?

Simple and silly, Paw Paw Paw is a fun little action RPG with a solid co-op offering and a fair variety of options to suit different play styles.

All in all, I do think there’s fun to be had here. Some of the levels are quite creative, and some of the puzzles are quite clever. However, the gameplay is just too slow for me to find much enjoyment from it. If you think it looks fun, I encourage you to download the demo on the eShop and give it a go. As for me, I don’t have any desire to play it again.

When I first saw Wonder Blade, I kind of assumed it would be a goofy little adventure, nothing too much more. But I was proven wrong. Trying to get your combo hits in a row as high as possible with a lot of fun. The armor changes serve a purpose other than just defense; it was a nice little touch and surprised me.

Excalibur Games has serious work ahead if they want to make Tracks – Toybox Edition a good game for the Nintendo Switch, especially if targeting whole families. Having a proper tutorial, improved UI, and touch screen support are some of the fundamentals they should revisit.

Jurassic World Evolution: Complete Edition is packed with content and should appeal to anyone who loves the Jurassic Park franchise and enjoys management-simulation games. There are presentation and interface flaws, but given the sheer amount of content on offer, fans should still check this one out.

Autumn’s Journey is a short visual novel with delightful characters. Choices are minimal, but the game will go by so fast as you’re immersed in the strong story.

I said at the begging of the review I didn’t have high expectations; it’s a shame the game proved less fun than I expected. Unfortunately, I did not get very much entertainment out of it at all. It felt more like an educational game for young kids trying to put things in the right order.

You may not think a game based on forklift operation could be all that entertaining. With the right group of friends working either cooperatively or competitively, however, you’ll get some fun out of What the Fork. Just be sure to avoid having to work alone.

OctaFight is a good-looking multiplayer arcade game with fun music and a unique art style. However, unless you have up to eight friends on your couch, you’ll soon get bored after a handful of rounds.

Kolumno is a simple puzzle game with a focus on timing and execution that makes for a good test of your brain and your reflexes for such a low price.

Roundout by POWGI is a fun word game mixing crosswords and word wheels to test your mind that you can pick up and play anywhere at any time.

Steampunk Tower 2 is a tower defense game that’s more grinding and flat rather than filled with strategic gameplay with an engaging story. It looks pretty and controls nicely, but there isn’t much to do.

Electro Ride: The Neon Racing suffers from touchy controls and an overall lack of depth. It’s not amongst the best racing options available for the Switch, but it does contain a couple of unique elements that may appeal to gamers looking for something a little different.

SYNTHETIK: Ultimate provides a good old-fashioned shoot-’em-all with plenty of tactical difficulty. There are enough levels, avatar classes, and weapons to keep a gamer busy for a fair number of hours. The game could stand some controls and training improvement, but it is a worthy action/arcade entry.

Absolute Drift: Zen Edition is about control or precision. If you’re the kind of gamer who likes fast-paced, explosive racing tracks, you might get frustrated by this one. But it cultivates the type of skills that will serve you well in any race track. It isn’t a particularly long game, but it’s fairly inexpensive and very well made, so you still get your money’s worth.

Art Sqool fails as both an “art school simulator” and a video game. There’s nothing educational here, and its gameplay is the equivalent of scribbles I might’ve drawn as a toddler.