The Arcade Crew returns this week with Berzerk Studios’ Infernax – a brutal NES-style platform adventure that combines Castlevania II with Zelda II. Review scores are mostly a mixture of 8s and 9s so far, putting in on par with the excellent Blazing Chrome.
“As sure as the sun rises and sets (and wait until you see that in game), the Switch eShop will receive more and more titles hoping to cash in on NES-fueled nostalgia; don’t let that stop you from picking up the immensely satisfying throwback that is Infernax,†said Nintendo World Report.
Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires – one of this week’s bigger releases – can’t hold a candle to the scores Infernax has received, garnering miserable 4/10s from The Mako Reactor and Nintendo Life.
“With a lack of gameplay modes, zero multiplayer options, terrible AI and cosmetic customisation options gone AWOL at launch — Koei Tecmo choosing instead to go the DLC route — this is a truly lacklustre package, a bargain bin affair with a premium price tag, and a Dynasty Warriors game you can feel quite comfortable skipping entirely,†was NL’s verdict.
We’re still waiting on reviews for Assassin’s Creed: The Ezio Collection. The Rebel Collection held up well on Switch, so there’s little to no reason why this three-game strong package should be no different. AC II may be showing its age, mind.
Then there’s River City Girls Zero – a conversion of a SNES brawler from 1994. The first review score out of door is a 7.0 from Video Chums. You may want to investigate if you enjoyed WayForward’s River City Girls.
Other new releases include high-speed rhythm game Beat Souls, Square-Enix’s turn-based card battler Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden, physics-based 3D platformer Gravity Runner, and the randomly generated strategic battler Gem Wizards Tactics.
Check back next week for a JRPG avalanche.
New Switch eShop releases
ASSASSIN’S CREED: THE EZIO COLLECTION – £44.99
Experience the award-winning series as you become Ezio Auditore da Firenze, the most celebrated and iconic Master Assassin in the franchise.
Includes the acclaimed single-player campaigns and all solo DLC from three games: Assassin’s Creed® II, Assassin’s Creed® Brotherhood, and Assassin’s Creed® Revelations, and two short films. Live the complete saga of a master assassin.
Learn the ways of the Assassins and seek vengeance for the betrayal of your family. Journey through Renaissance Italy and become the most legendary leader of the Brotherhood, then embark on a final quest of discovery as you learn the truth about the Creed.
Includes enhanced features for the Nintendo SwitchTM system, such as HD Rumble and more.
Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires – £54.99
A new release for the “Empires” series, which allows users to enjoy both the thrill of one-versus-a-thousand action and the intricacy of country conquering simulation!
The game includes the Edit Mode, a series favorite. Players can create their own Custom Officers from a wide range of parts.
With the 94 Musou Officers and over 700 Generic Officers that appear in DYNASTY WARRIORS 9, players can more dramatically populate their very own Dynasty Warriors experience.
Amazing Machines – £17.99
In this physics-based puzzle game, you construct whimsical contraptions with fun elements. Position explosive barrels, laser guns, rockets, conveyor belts and much more in the right places to set off comical chain reactions.
Discover your inner inventor, and experiment across over 200 tricksy levels. The level editor offers unlimited tinkering enjoyment: Design your own levels using a colourful collection of objects – from clothes pegs to wind machines!
Beat Souls – £8.99
Music and intense action gameplay collide in Beat Souls, a high-speed rhythm game where you must avoid obstacles and collect spirits to rack up stylish combos on your way to the high score! Lay the Rhythm Yokai to rest as you break out awesome dance moves and put on a killer performance! Cute and colorful anime aesthetics meet neon cyberpunk style for a unique look and feel to Beat Souls’ visuals, while the pumping soundtrack will keep you coming back for more!
Master the elegant dance of dodging and jumping to avoid incoming obstacles while simultaneously moving your “Otomo†companions to collect souls. But be careful! Colliding with Noise will throw off your groove, resetting your combo and draining stamina. If you run out of stamina, it’s game over. Battle through 30 stages with adjustable difficulties as the legendary Shrine Maiden Mikoto, who has the power to communicate with yokai through dance! Do you have what it takes to overcome the Noise?
Tax Fugitive – £4.49
Travel through the different unique worlds, Find & Collect counterfeit money & hidden stars. Every level can be beaten in many ways, which is decided on your playstyle. You can combine many movement features together and beat the levels with style.
Gameplay of Tax Fugitive is difficult & fast paced with great movement options, such as dashing, wall climbing, air strafing and more. Cruise through over 15 different unique levels filled to the top with traps & enemies. You also need to watch your lives, if they run out all your level progress will be reset and you have to start from the bottom. A lot of one up lives are hidden in every level.
Monster Prom 2: Monster Camp XXL – £17.99
“Monster Prom 2: Monster Camp” brings you more of the world’s best (and maybe only?) multiplayer dating sim, but in a way you’ve never expected!
The original Monster Prom is a multiplayer dating sim that shines for its beautiful art and unapologetic humour.
The sequel brings you into a new setting (summer camp) with new characters to romance, including old faces and new ones: Damien, Calculester, Milo, Dahlia, Joy, and Aaravi. But that’s not all: Monster Camp comes with other new twists here and there, from the campfire mechanics to a new stage full of magic mixed drinks.
But that’s not all! The XXL version includes ALL of the non-Kickstarter exclusive outfit packs!
We’re taking the best parts of the popular “Monster Prom” formula, but adding some new spice to it. You will see! 😉
Smash Star – £1.09
any citizens of Kitty Town have disappeared. GK, the one and only kitty warrior in town, enlists the help of a star to find his friends. The path to Darkside isn’t an easy one, but it seems like that’s where all your friends have disappeared to. There’s likely more going on than meets the eye, so oil those cat dude muscles, do some warm-up push-ups and get going!
Infernax – £17.99
Infernax is the adventures of a great knight who returns to his homeland only to find it plagued with unholy magic.
While on your quest to find and destroy the source of this corruption by any means necessary, you will face ruthless creatures, dangerous beasts, and precarious terrains.
River City Girls Zero – £12.09
Join Kunio, Riki, Misako, and Kyoko for bone-crunching, 16-bit, co-op beat-’em-up action – translated and released outside of Japan for the very first time! Experience the origin of the River City Girls story as the hot-blooded heroes attempt to clear their names of a heinous crime by uppercutting, spin-kicking, stomping, and slamming every thug and two-bit criminal that gets in their way! Rock the jailhouse, clean up the carnival, and raise hell on the highway! The original 1994 graphics, soundtrack, and gameplay are augmented with new opening and closing motion-comic cutscenes, a new animated intro, and additional music by Megan McDuffee and DEMONDICE. Discover River City’s past with this lost classic!
Inside Her (bedroom) – £2.99
Inside Her (bedroom) is a 2D action puzzle game about monster girls’ bedrooms. Move two mirrored characters to get items scattered around their rooms. Use their special skills to complete the puzzles and uncover their secrets.
Every monster girl has a unique skill like moving through walls, pushing items, etc. Solve the puzzles to increase their desire.
Shipwreck Escape – £8.99
Shipwreck Escape is a 2.5D immersive game with puzzle elements. The catastrophe happened when the cruise ship was sailing from Athens to Dubai. The main character is a croupier in a ship’s casino and he got stuck in this sinking hell.
Solve the puzzles, save other passengers, control the two characters to walk through all levels to freedom, and find out the reason for the catastrophe.
BigChick – £4.49
The islands are sinking… Chickenfolk can’t swim and fox bandits won’t miss an opportunity to gobble up a bird or two even on the verge of apocalypse… What a disaster!
Fortunately Big Chick is here to save the day! Use poultry magic to summon new patches of land from the ocean depths and micromanagement skills to lead your people to the safety of the sacred Big Barn.
Light Up The Room – £8.99
Light Up The Room is a fast-paced platformer about using your character to uncover your surroundings.
The object of each level is to avoid all of the traps in the room and reach the goal. However, the terrain is invisible to the player. The player can discover terrain by physically touching into it. If the player dies, the room isn’t wiped clean after it, so the player has a better awareness of their surroundings, making an easier time navigating after multiple attempts!
Fluffy Cubed – £3.59
Fluffy Cubed is a minimalist puzzle game where the mechanics are inspired by the famous Sokoban genre, of Japanese origin.
In this game, you play a kitten in the shape of a cube that must move the boxes to their places. But is not that simple, you’ll need to analyze well your movements to make sure that the boxes will no get trapped.
The interface is simple, cute and you don’t have to worry getting only one way to solve them, because there is many ways to complete the levels.
Secret Kiss is Sweet and Tender – £6.33
This is an Adventure Game portraying love between young women.
At a girls-only high school, a student teacher is suddenly kissed by a student.
They then live In the same student dormitory.
This is the love story of two girls that starts with a kiss.
Duggy – £6.29
Duggy is a cool arcade game where you are hunting the score.
Are you better than your friends?
Find it out and dig your way down.
Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden – £24.99
Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden is set on a remote chain of islands that have been protected by the maidens for generations, but which now face destruction. The hero of the story vows to save the islanders and sets sail for the high seas, together with Laty, a girl who failed to become a maiden.
The second game in the unique Voice of Cards series, where all elements are presented entirely through the medium of cards, in the tradition of tabletop RPGs and gamebooks.
A touching tale set in a world of melancholic beauty, brought to you by YOKO TARO (Creative Director), Keiichi Okabe (Music Director) and Kimihiko Fujisaka (Character Designer).
Mr Maker 3D Level Editor – £2.69
Play as Mr Maker, a young builder who owns a boomerang hammer capable of collecting items, destroying boxes and defeating enemies from a distance.
From Heaven To Earth – £6.99
The game is a unique combination of a first-person platformer and a light-hearted exploration game with an almost philosophical story-telling.
It is highly stylized and surprises with breathtaking environments, a surreal world full of beauty and grace, and a couple of small environmental puzzles that blend perfectly into the peaceful yet stunning environments.
Will you be able to make it back to earth?
Find it out.
Upaon: A Snake’s Journey – £2.49
Every fruit collected increases the snake’s size, so think carefully before eating averything in your way and… Please don’t bite yourself.
Mages and Treasures – £4.99
Once upon a time, a mage had a very special treasure stolen by magical evilish creatures!
Play as a powerful mage on a magical adventure to get back your most beloved treasure from evil hands.
Travel through beautiful and dangerous places searching for the elemental amulets, which will help you defeat the magical evilish horde!
Explore different places, learn new spells, find marvelous treasures and solve puzzles on your quest to defeat your foes!
Rover Mechanic Simulator – £9.99
Welcome to Mars!
Rover Mechanic Simulator is a game in which you are a mechanic working on one of the first Martian colonies. Your main tasks include the repair and maintenance of Mars rovers, so that the remaining crew can collect detailed information about the structure of the planet.
Use various devices!
There are many devices at your disposal that will allow you to dismantle and maintain even the smallest parts of the rover. Use different tools such as a 3D printer, recycling machine, overhead crane, soldering iron and many more.
Gem Wizards Tactics – £10.99
Gem Wizards Tactics combines the familiar tactical game formula with multiple combat mechanics, and randomly generated maps making for hours of single-player fun!
You’ll take part in a war that isn’t just about mashing the enemy – each battle is a complex puzzle to solve.
#1 Pastime Bundle – £6.99
Enjoy 3 great games in 1 with this bundle containing #1 Crosswords, #1 Anagrams, and #1 Sudokus.
Gravity Runner – £7.19
Gravity Runner is a physics based 3D Platformer/Runner with a killer synthwave soundtrack.
– Run from an ever growing black hole through different synthwave worlds in arcade gaming style.
– Traverse 14 unique levels packed with their own challenges as the black hole causes unstable gravity in every world, making it difficult to escape.
– Collect cassette tapes to power up your jumps and move through worlds easier. The more tapes you collect in a row, the longer the power up lasts.
– Collecting tapes and running add to your score… can you beat your high score?
Next week: MONARK, Undernauts: Labyrinth of Yomi, Variable Barricade, SOL CRESTA, For The Warp, Edge Of Eternity, Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream, Moto Roader MC, Never Alone: Arctic Collection, Who Is Zombie, Clouzy!, 15in1 Solitaire, Antarctica 88, Kraken Academy!!, Autobahn Police Simulator 2 Switch Edition, Gav-Gav Odyssey, Ammo Pigs: Cocked and Loaded, Aeternum Quest, One Gun Guy, and Plunderer’s Adventures.