As many feared, Super Mario 3D All-Stars is lacking as a whole – this collection should be a joyous celebration of all things Mario. Instead, we have three games slapped on £50 cart with few extras. To quote Eurogamer “[it] can sometimes feel like nothing more than a ROM dump.”
But here’s the thing (and it’s a pretty big ‘thing’) – Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy are often cited as being amongst the greatest games of all-time. Nintendo diehards have also been crying out for a Super Mario Sunshine re-release for years.
The games themselves, then, are stone-cold classics. It’s just a shame more effort hasn’t been applied to the front end. Some of the more cynical critics chalk this up as laziness on Nintendo’s part; the less cynical believe the pandemic has forced Ninty to scale back plans.
Review scores reflect this. The Metro – if you can skip past the annoying site pop-ups – had much to say, calling the collection “lazy†and “incomplete†but still deemed it worthy of a 10/10.
God is a Geek opted for a 9/10. “Whether the year it was released has affected the way Super Mario 3D All-Stars came together, we’ll probably never know, but it still comes with a wholehearted recommendation simply due to the quality of the games,†they said.
GameSpot, meanwhile, went with an 8/10. “Although the individual games have been sparingly touched up and there’s little in the way of ancillary material to pore over, the titles themselves hold up well and are a delight to revisit. Despite their age, the games are still rife with inventive ideas and surprises, which more than makes up for the collection’s presentational shortcomings,†was their verdict.
After making a splash on PC, Fight Crab washes up on Switch. This over-the-top weapon-based brawler has been likened to a PlayStation 2 budget game, but in a good way – it recalls the days when Japanese publishers released experimental, B movie style, games at budget prices.
Nintendo Life was impressed with the amount of features and also the game’s graphics – it’s surprisingly good looking. While they found battles a bit too random, they were happy enough to give it an 8/10. Cultured Vultures went with a 7.5. “If you’re looking for some light relief from the very serious games released this year or have ever thought how you would handle a crab wielding a lightsaber, Fight Crab may be the game for you,†they said.
Sticking with seafood, colourful RTS Dog Duty sees a group of misfits take on Octopus Commander and his multi-legged mechs. The PC version has arrived to a positive reception on Steam.
The creator of indie darlings Gunman Clive and Mechstermination Force is back too with Super Punch Patrol – a sketchbook take on the scrolling beat’em up genre, arriving at a knockdown price. Pre-release footage looks impressive, with lots of nods to genre greats.
If you prefer your beat’em ups to be shiny and new, WWE 2K Battlegrounds – from the creators of NBA Playground – has an arcade slant. This is a stand-in for an annual WWE game.
Other releases of note include the resource management sim Her Majesty’s Ship, a brand new sequel to the Spectrum classic Saboteur – with various retro filters and a revised (modern) difficulty level – and the first-person AI-driven horror adventure Goosebumps Dead of Night.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps just stealth launched too, available for £24.99, as has Supergiant Games’ action RPG Hades. Both Destructoid and IGN dished out 9/10s earlier today. We imagine Ori is a worthwhile purchase too.
New Switch eShop releases
Ori and the Will of the Wisps – £24.99
From the creators of Ori and the Blind Forest comes the highly-anticipated sequel, Ori and the Will of the Wisps. Embark on an all-new adventure in a vast and exotic world where you’ll encounter towering enemies and challenging puzzles on your quest to discover Ori’s true destiny.
Immerse yourself in a hand-crafted narrative experience with deeply emotional storytelling, strikingly beautiful environments, and a stunning soundtrack.
Master new skills to guide Ori through a journey of untold danger using newly acquired spirit weapons, spells, and attacks. Utilize an all-new shard system to power-up Ori’s newfound abilities.
Face larger-than-life bosses and seek help from an expansive cast of new characters who will help you uncover Ori’s mysterious fate.
Race to the top of the leaderboards in the all-new Spirit Trials mode where players dash, burrow, grapple, and leap to high scores in unique speed-run challenges throughout the game.
Hades – £TBA
Defy the god of the dead as you hack and slash out of the Underworld in this rogue-like dungeon crawler from the creators of Bastion and Transistor.
WWE 2K Battlegrounds – £34.99
The world of WWE is your battleground with over the top, arcade action as your favorite WWE Superstars and Legends battle in interactive environments around the world. Compete using special abilities and power-ups in match types like Steel Cage, Royal Rumble, and more!
Super Mario 3D All-Stars – £49.99
Discover three of Mario’s grandest 3D adventures with Super Mario 3D All-Stars on Nintendo Switch! This special bundle includes Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy, all optimised for Nintendo Switch with updated HD graphics, Joy-Con controls, as well as a music player featuring the epic soundtracks from all three games!
2weistein – The Curse of the Red Dragon – £16.00
The unique and fantastic idea behind the series of 2weistein games is to train maths in a real 3D action adventure. Embedded in the tantalizing story the player has to solve maths quests or puzzles to get ahead in the game. It was developed by game specialists in cooperation with teachers and psychologists and won several prices and awards.
Space Elite Force – £2.69
With a wide variety of weapons, enemies, and improvements to your ship, it presents all the intensity, depth, and beautifully handcrafted pixels of a classic side-shooting game. Have fun in insane battles, facing epic bosses and unlocking a wide variety of achievements in one of three game modes, alone or with a friend in local cooperative mode.
Goosebumps Dead of Night – £29.99
In Goosebumps Dead of Night, the best-selling Goosebumps franchise has been reimagined as a first-person spooky survival adventure game for Nintendo Switch. Experience three chapters of stealth gameplay with 3D graphics and chilling AI monsters.
Her Majesty’s Ship – £8.99
In this resource management game, you Start your career as a Captain on a 3rd rate Ship of the Line, then work your way up to become the next Admiral of the Fleet.The primary objective of the game is to be promoted to Admiral of the Fleet, without having any mutiny nor losing the vessel.
The player will receive tasks from the admiralty which will need to be executed in order to get the desired promotion.
Travel Mosaics 5: Waltzing Vienna – £7.20
This time, join the Walker family on their sight-seeing tour to the most outstanding and famous attractions in Vienna. Explore the legendary cultural legacy of Austrian capital: learn interesting facts about the city and its inhabitants, answer tricky trivia questions and as always – solve gorgeous nonograms!
Fight Crab – £17.99
Fight Crab is an over-the-top physics-based, 3D action battle game that combines giant crustaceans, insane weaponry, and intense claw-to-claw combat into one absurdly hilarious, must-play game.
You are a crab. Embark on a world tour of devastation, flipping over as many crabs as possible in a quest to be crowned lord of the crustaceans!
Active Neurons 2 – £4.49
Your main task in the game is to collect enough energy to discover the 12 greatest inventions of mankind.
Look for the right way to energy charges using obstacles in the level.
Avoid dangerous obstacles, they are destructive!
Teleport from one space to another to get closer to your goal.
Solve tasks on memory and orientation in space to get to the blocked areas.
Destroy, move and combine objects on the levels to get to energy sources.
Moero Crystal H – £34.99
Take the role of “Lucky Pervert†Zenox as he embarks on a mission to retrieve the Bra of Darkness from a mysterious thief who’s corrupting monster girls throughout the land.
In this enhanced “Hyper†version of first-person dungeon RPG Moero Crystal, encounter and recruit more than 80 monster girls, including all previous DLC characters, in remastered HD presentation and subtitled in English for the first time!
Flying Soldiers – £13.49
Not everything is as it seems in this outlandish puzzle game, because these “flying soldiers” can hardly glide a few inches and they don’t exactly have the abilities to go into battle. So, it’s no surprise that, with squads made up of these “characters”, they wouldn’t be able to get themselves out of the mess they’re in. Their only hope lies in your tactical skills to help them advance.
Nevaeh – £10.79
Darkness looms over a bright and peaceful town as street lights begin to go out one by one.
To bring back the light, a girl heads to the Tower from which the light came.
Hidden in the Tower was a glowing butterfly.
Thinking its light could help the town, the girl takes the butterfly with her.
…But what she found was the town entirely covered in darkness.
The girl heads to the Tower once again to find a way to save the town.
With the light gone, the Tower turned into a place full of lethal traps and monsters lurking in the dark.
Venture forth with the glowing butterfly.
It is up to you to drive out the dark and save the townspeople!
Caveman Tales – £8.99
Long ago, in a land before time, there was a forest. For as long as you can remember, a tribe of humans lived safely there. Their village was small but the tribe was happy. But then, everything changed! For mother nature is unpredictable sometimes…
Will you help Sam and Crystal and their family to find a new place for the entire tribe?
Kingdom Rush Origins – £11.00
Kingdom Rush Origins is the third installment of the award-winning Kingdom Rush saga, loved by millions and earning accolades from gamers and critics around the globe. Take a trip back to the beginning, before Vez’nan ever thought to threaten the kingdom with the gem of power, and experience even more of the lightning-fast, exceptionally captivating gameplay that made the franchise a cornerstone of essential tower defense games.
In this exciting prequel, command your elven army and defend mystical lands from sea serpents, evil sorcerers, and wave after wave of gnoll tribesmen, all with the help of brand-spankin’ new towers, heroes, and spells to fend off every last baddie.
Drag Racing Rivals – £8.99
Become part of the thrilling world of underground street drag racing in this awesome high speed game with realistic graphics.
Start as an unknown outsider and race your way to the top.
Race in underground street races against your rivals from drag racing clans.
Win cash, new amazing cars, and upgrade them to the max!
Drive on!
Dog Duty – £17.99
Control a squad of misfits as they go up against some evil bigwig Octopus Commander and his army who are threatening world-peace. In this fun, fast-paced Real Time Tactics game, you go into combat and use guerrilla warfare to eliminate all octo-scum. Fight on top of your moving vehicle as you go from island to island to liberate outposts and defeat wicked bosses in their crazy octo-machines. Wreck those squids up, but beware, they’re well-armed.
Endurance – space action – £7.99
Endurance has sci fi ambience and old school retro vibes as it is pixel art game as well as it’s indie game. It also has horror elements and sometimes scary atmosphere, which makes the story more engaging. You definitely going to like it going through this path of adventure. Even though you’re on a spacecraft you still get those hardcore dungeon crawler elements as the levels are built in the dungeon like style.
Vampire’s Fall: Origins – £8.99
For countless years the villagers of Vamp’Ire have enjoyed a life of peace and happiness. But now, rumors are spreading about a wielder of dark magic – a Witchmaster. Fearing the rumors to be true, the village musters a militia to prepare for the worst. You are a recruit enrolling to defend the village. Little do you know, fate has something special in store for you…
A tribute to classic RPGs. Made with passion, by old-school gamers.
Super Punch Patrol – £4.49
When crime and violence dominate the streets, Police Chief Anders Punch decides to take desperate measures. Defeat the Evil Crime Syndicate using just your fists!
Journey of the Broken Circle – £7.20
Meet fascinating characters on your quest to complete the imperfect Circle, and eventually pair with some! These partners bring their unique abilities to let you overcome new obstacles and keep discovering the world. They also bring their own personality to roll with…
In this 4-5 hours adventure, full of ups and downs, but always playful and rewarding, the Circle learns about itself and you, along with it.
The Secret Order: Return to the Buried Kingdom – £13.49
The Buried Kingdom in on the verge of collapse. Maintaining the balance between peace and chaos has become almost impossible, as the dragons start to behave unpredictably. Who is behind all the magic anomalies?
Explore beautiful locations, encounter unique beasts, solve riddles, reach the finale of this epic quest, and discover the power of friendship! Get to the bottom of the unexplainable events in the Buried Kingdom and save all its inhabitants in this thrilling fantasy experience.
GORSD – £13.49
Born from a womb-eye, you discover a world seething with challenges created by an unknown power. For what purpose were you created? Uncover the truth of the GORSD.
Saboteur SiO – £8.09
Saboteur SiO is the official sequel to the classic retro games Saboteur! and Saboteur II: Avenging Angel.
Travel the world in this original ninja mission, created and developed by the original author, Clive Townsend.
In 1985 Saboteur! received the prestigious award “The Crash Smash” from Crash magazine and was high-rated with a 93% score. In 1987 Clive made the sequel Saboteur II: Avenging Angel – the first video game to feature a female protagonist – Nina – sister of the ninja from the first game. Now, after over three decades, SimFabric in collaboration with Clive Townsend have prepared the next installment in the Saboteur saga.
Georifters – £27.50
In Georifters you can spin walls, twist tunnels, crush critters, battle against the ground or with it! It can be your tool or a weapon you use to smash others in a series of fast paced ground busting arenas. Up to four friends or strangers can show off their skills as they go head to head at full speed, battling for victory, for honor – and of course bragging rights.
Tamiku – £4.99
You are an alien from a distant galaxy who is totally obsessed with blow up balloons. Having popped every last balloon on your home planet, now you must venture to other worlds in search of more balloons to pop.
Inspired by classic arcade games, Tamiku is an arcade game in which you have to burst all the balloons of a level without being killed. To do this you will face different dangers, jump, run and quickly inflate the red balloons!
Next week: CastleStorm II, Perky Little Things, Unrailed!, RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Complete Edition, Lost Ember, Breakpoint, Alluris, Going Under, Micro Pico Racers, WARTILE, BIG-Bobby-Car – The Big Race, Trollhunters: Defenders of Arcadia, and Cooking Tycoons 2: 3 in 1 Bundle.