If you’re looking for something new to play over the long Easter weekend, you may have to alter your perspective on the word ‘new’ – another week of belated conversions and retro releases await the Switch this week.
There is a lot of good stuff to get stuck into, mind. From the creators of Guacamelee comes Nobody Saves The World, a top-down dungeon crawler with an unlikely lead – a literal nobody. They’re able to morph into different characters and harness new abilities, and the package is littered with humorous moments. We made good headway into the Xbox One version and found much to enjoy.
Almost every week sees a new JRPG on the Switch, it seems. Atlus’ sci-fi infused 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim originally launched on PS4 to glowing reviews. This Switch release is allegedly even better than its PS4 counterpart, making a few small changes. The Metacritic score currently stands at 89%, including several 9/10s and two 10/10s.
Coming as a surprise, Don’t Starve Together – the delightfully bleak resource management/survival sim – is imminent, giving players the chance to team up online. It’s something of a cult classic.
Then there’s Tormented Souls, a survival horror adventure similar to the PSone Resident Evil trilogy. Review scores on PC and Xbox One were a mixture of 7s and 8s, suggesting it’s worth a look. Slightly flawed, but those flaws are linked to its design, and largely intended.
Taito Milestones is aimed at those looking for a retro fix, bringing together ten titles. It’s an odd proposition – the games featured cover numerous genres, and there are some hits here, but it’s also missing key titles (a milestone collection with no Space Invaders?!) and at £34.99 it’s expensive too. You may be able to find the retail release for slightly less online, though. We’re guessing the pricing has been kept in line with standalone Arcade Achieves re-releases.
That’s joined by Formula Retro Racing, the Virtual Racing homage that went down well on PS4. We awarded it an 8/10: “more modes, more tracks, better-looking UI, more realistic handling. It’s certainly not a lazy copy.”
There’s a new Wii U game out too. Pad of Time – also hitting the Switch – looks better than some of the late Wii U releases we’ve seen over the years, being a 2.5D platformer where it’s possible to switch between timelines for each stage. Sonic CD is the first game that springs to mind.
Other releases include the budget-priced horror adventure Death Park 2, the hyperactive looking action defense game Gotta Protectors: Cart of Darkness, Rotund Rebound – a platformer with a constantly bouncing lead, also due a demake next week – and the cutesy Cat Cafe Manager. Cat hair in our coffee? Bleh. No thanks.
New Switch eShop releases
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim – £49.99
Uncover the truth and delve into a 2D sidescrolling adventure featuring gorgeous art and environments. Then, battle the kaiju in fast-paced, top-down combat. Customize the Sentinels with an arsenal of mechsuit weaponry, and fight to defend humanity!
Don’t Starve Together – £13.49
Don’t Starve Together is the standalone multiplayer expansion of the uncompromising wilderness survival game, Don’t Starve.
Enter a strange and unexplored world full of strange creatures, dangers, and surprises. Gather resources to craft items and structures that match your survival style. Play your way as you unravel the mysteries of this strange land.
Cooperate with your friends in a private game, or take your chances with strangers online. Work with other players to survive the harsh environment, or strike out on your own.
Do whatever it takes, but most importantly, Don’t Starve.
Taito’s arcade legacy began in the early 1970s, but it came into its own in the 80s. You now have the chance to play these milestone classics that paved the way for the decades of Taito’s arcade dominance which followed. Ten games, each representing a specific breakthrough in development and gaming history, spanning a variety of genres. Platform, sports, shooting, puzzle and more. And now those 10 classics will be available for the first time as a collection on a modern console! Take a deep dive into gaming history and relive the classics that helped shape it.
Formula Retro Racing – £11.99
Featuring the fast and exciting gameplay that the genre is known for, Formula Retro Racing captures the essence of old school racing games with low poly graphics, a retro soundtrack and high speed action. This revival of the classic-arcade racer takes advantage of modern hardware with smooth high-frame rate visuals as well as improved car handling and physics.
Race through a diverse range of tracks across multiple game modes and car classes to beat your personal best times and compete in the global online leaderboards!
Flower Shop: Summer In Fairbrook – £8.99
Struggling student Steve is shipped off by his dad to his uncle’s farm for the summer so he can learn responsibility.
Take control of Steve as he spends a summer in Fairbook, working on the farm, making new friends, and maintaining old relationships. You can raise and sell your own crops, spend time with local girls, and schedule activities for your week in advance.
The game features nine different endings that change based on your decisions throughout the game. Will Steve become a good, responsible farmer, find love, or both?
Fight face to face with your opponent or keep your distance, it’s up to you how the fight will go! Your main task is to defeat all opponents and become a duel master.
Test your skills against various opponents in all arenas!
Upgrade and change your equipment as you like – all to achieve the coveted victory!
A crazy multiplayer party game where lumberjacks try to get their tasks done and nature fights them every step of the way. Race against the clock, fulfill tasks, fight wildfires, pirates, and extremely annoying monkeys as you travel around the world and through time. Play in co-op, pvp, or solo mode!
A Sketchbook About Her Sun – £4.49
Confused about her feelings for someone, Lucia, the main character, decides to flee from her city and wanders through a smaller town where she’s never been, searching for herself while still tormented by the thought of the person she’s attracted to.
The project is an interactive experience divided into 11 segments, each corresponding to a song from Red Ribbon’s new album “Planet Xâ€.
Lose yourself into Lucia’s mindscape, divided between her thoughts, drawings, and music she’s listening to through her journey to re-discover her own self.
Car Mechanic Simulator Pocket Edition 2 – £13.99
Car Mechanic Simulator Pocket Edition 2 challenges players to repair, paint, tune and drive cars. Find classic, unique cars in the new Barn Find module and Junkyard module. Game also includes car auctions where old cars are available for resale or purchased for your collection!
Each mission offers its own unique challenge of varying difficulty and time constraints to meet. Additional tools are available for purchase if needed. You can eventually upgrade your garage to include specific equipment such as lacquer sprayer or a parts warehouse.
It’s time to roll up your sleeves and get to work!
It’s time to play a 2.5D retro-style platformer… WITH A TWIST! Now thanks to the new time machine “Pad of Time” you will explore the past, present and future from each level.
Get ready to face tough bosses and try new ways to play with unique playable characters: the balanced Mark, the fast July and the strong Art.
Blast Brigade vs. the Evil Legion of Dr. Cread – £17.99
Blast Brigade vs. The Evil Legion of Dr. Cread is a 2D metroidvania adventure inspired by the popcorn-chomping thrills of ’80s action flicks. Explore and backtrack through a colorful comic-style world, using your platforming skills, puzzle-solving wits, and an explosive arsenal of weapons and abilities to save the world!
• 4 girls and 12 beautifully drawn scenes will cheer you up and help you relax!
• Over 60 exciting levels
A modern take on the fixed-perspective action-adventure game, it offers a modernised control scheme and dynamic camera combined with classic gameplay.
Dark forces and unspeakable horrors will do everything in their power to stop Caroline getting to the truth. Use anything and everything that you can find to fight back against evils lurking in the darkness.
Are you ready to fight your nightmares and various monsters that have flooded Farland? Can you cope with all puzzles that await you in this horror story?
You have to visit 8 huge locations including streets, hospital, cemetery, sewer, and military base. You will be able to move between the real world and the world of sleep to solve riddles and fight a scary clown and various monsters.
A huge black comet has landed on Shooting Star Island! This worries the islanders quite a bit. Stanky Star and Hooma decide to take a closer look and start their journey to the very top of the island. The secrets hidden deep within the comet must be explored. They might bring about the end of all things, after all!
Shooting Star Island is a big and colorful 3d platformer. Stanky Star will rekindle his powers throughout his journey to the comet’s depths, where lost worlds slumber and the Muses of the End sing their songs of destruction.
Be warned, though, there’s some real catty mysteries in our town – and a strange black cat roaming the streets…nothing you can’t handle right?
The life of a Cat Cafe Manager awaits! Your grandmother left you a small cafe in the somber village of Caterwaul Way…it’s up to you to fix the place up, impress the locals, and befriend the local cat population. Time to roll up those sleeves, break out the tools, and get that creative coffee flowin’. Your cat cafe can be the talk of the town with the right attitude, menu, and (of course) the cats.
That’s right, Caterwaul Way is home to a plethora of extraordinary felines. It’s in the name afterall! To the delight of the villagers, the local cafe can become their home. Who knows, maybe their presence will loosen tight tongues and help discover the succulent secrets of Caterwaul Way…
Experience hockey the way it was meant to be played in this old-school arcade-style hockey game where blood on the ice is just another day at the rink. 70s afros, big mustaches, no helmets, dirty hits, bench-clearing brawls, goalie fights, stick fights – that’s Bush Hockey League.
Toodee and Topdee is a 2D Platformer and a Top-Down Puzzler hybrid.
Switch between Toodee and Topdee and their unique perspectives, and watch how the game bends to the rules of the current genre.
Solve mind-melting puzzles!
Labyrinth of the Chaka King – £5.69
Take Tokiko on an archeological journey through the depths of the Chaka King’s labyrinth.
In order to find your way to the end, you’ll need to hone your reflexes and refine your puzzle solving skills.
Hidden among the 50+ rooms of this ancient labyrinth are treasures that will help solve the mysteries of the Chaka Kingdom. Clear all of the rooms and collect the many treasures to conquer the Labyrinth of the Chaka King!
Enjoy challenging tactics whilst fighting through waves of enemies.
Turn the tables on the invaders with the aid of devastating spells! Overcome the odds and outsmart the enemy.
Sentence has been passed on the dark carrot, so hop down the rabbit hole and hold on tight. An epic retro platforming adventure unfolds as you brave nightmare worlds and encounter a colourful cast of quirky characters on the road to rescuing your friends and conquering the shadows!
Go Back to the Future with our Sci-fi table or indulge in a tale as old as time with our Fairytale themed machine. With our first-person, single-player simulation you’re encouraged to channel your 90s kid as you compete to make it to the top of the leaderboard. With five uniquely-themed distinct tables, get in on the action!
Classic Mahjong Solitaire is not a single-player game anymore. You can play solo or in couch co-op in 3d-environment. Play together, win together, unlock more figures together.
In this challenging 2D platformer game, play as a Superhero and help the Kid to find all the missing socks inside the cursed washing machine. Sockventure has stunning colorful graphics, hand-crafted levels, tight controls and fun ever-changing gameplay.
Sockventure is a story about a kid whose favorite sock gets eaten by a cursed washing machine. Kid needs immediate help and calls superhero to the rescue and the adventure begins. Make your way through the dangerous levels to find the missing sock inside the washing machine!
Beat over 200 levels of hardcore platforming, get new skills such as wall jumping, dashing and stomping and bring the socks back safely. Unlock Dark Chapters, collect Coins, beat Challenges and find the missing socks.
Nobody Saves the World – £22.49
When the ancient Calamity re-awakens, who can save the world? Nobody! (That’s you, you’re Nobody.) Master the art of transformation to become a Slug, Ghost, Dragon, and more in this new take on Action RPGs from the creators of Guacamelee!
Complete quests to discover and swap between 15+ varied and distinct Forms. Mix and match abilities in unexpected ways to unlock and complete even MORE challenging quests. Explore a vast overworld – on your own or with a friend online – while clearing shape-shifting dungeons in an effort to stop The Calamity and SAVE THE WORLD!
RUN: The World In-Between – £8.99
In a place where everything is constantly moving, you will have to face the dangers of the World In-Between to reach for the light.
Dodge the most devious traps while relying on your reflexes, hoping for a better future.
Tile-matching action gets a new alluring twist in Pretty Girls Rivers! In this fast-paced puzzler, you’ll need to find pairs of tiles similar to mahjong solitaire, but instead of having stacks to clear, Rivers is all about patterns, obstacles and beating the clock. All tiles are revealed and easy to see, allowing you to strategically select pairs and avoid getting trapped. Quick-thinking combos will earn higher scores! And if you don’t feel like racing the clock, switch to easy mode for hints, shuffle assists and a more relaxed play style.
Tune yourself to the voices lurking in the head of John Blake – the tormented man dwelling in a trap… that only you can guide him out of.
You will never know whether what you see is true – and you can be sure, that even after you’ve escaped the trap, not all had been discovered…
You will be constantly searching for a way to escape the randomised maze of rooms, you will be haunted by new voices and you will be the one deciding… who dies.
Meet John and his past in possibly the only adventure game with a non-linear plot, procedurally generated user path and (more than) a pinch of the atmosphere of your favorite horrors.
Pixel Game Maker Series OMA2RI ADVENTURE – £4.09
A combination of a simple yet satisfying platformer & speedrun! Can you beat the record of the quickest clear times on all levels? You can practice the stages you’ve completed at any moment, giving you the chance to refine your skill! There are a total of 8 stages, and if you greet all 66 Jizo statues, you’ll obtain a mysterious ancient document!
Carefully move your puck and clear the board. – 140 levels! – Minimal graphics! – Smooth gameplay! – Lots of puzzling boards!
Moorhuhn Jump and Run ‘Traps and Treasures 2’ – £11.29
Welcome to the foot of the Shlimalaya!
A new challenge for daring treasure hunter Moorhuhn Indy!
Well-hidden among the snowy crags of the mountain massif lies the monastery of SingSong. Since the beginning of time, the monks have watched over a fabulous relic – the HEART OF GOLD.
Legend has it that this invaluable treasure gives its bearer magic powers.
Moorhuhn Indy will have to deal with many new and dastardly enemies, evade countless traps, cross rough terrain and battle snowdrifts.
Yetis, local spirits and demons will do their best to hinder our hero on his way to the SingSong Monks’ monastery. Then he will face the powerful, battle-hardened brothers themselves. And they are determined to protect the HEART OF GOLD at any cost …
Hidden Shapes: Animals + Lovely Cats – £3.59
Hidden Shapes: Lovely Cats + Animals are a collection with two beautiful and relaxing minimalist hand-drawn jigsaw puzzles that have two options to choose, cats or animals in general.
Both games in this bundle have similar features and playthrough, in the Cats edition, the player will have the opportunity to play with elements of the classic jigsaw puzzle with the a lot of cute cat arts and in the Animal version, the player will have the same features, but with different levels and now with a diversity of animals in this theme.
The context of this game is represented implicitly through level design, using abstract and minimalist elements
Radon Break is a classic Brick Breaker / Arkanoid style game. Break bricks by using the ball. Get items like speed, ball splitter and paddle resize to make the game more challenging. Some specials like gun, power ball or block wall helps you while playing your game.
Radon Blast is full packed with randomly sorted stages. Jump from stage to stage, collect bonus items for a better higher score.
Cover Fire: Offline Shooter – £0.00
Your duty is to lead the battle and become the best shooter and sniper.
Download now for free one of best offline shooting games
New mode: Sniper FPS Ops. You received the call for duty of defeat all enemies the time runs out. Racing against the time and shoot! Each target adds 3 seconds to survive
Try the free zombie event! Hit and don’t leave any zombies alive!! Are you a survival hero?
It’s time to take action in the battlefield. Call your best sniper and shooter and combat on the frontline. Shoot to kill in special ops and survive in this addictive sniper 3d shooting game!
Clutter IX: Clutter IXtreme – £8.99
The best Clutter yet, with 1100 puzzles for your entertainment.
Many new Clutter variations mixed in with your old favorites for a Quest you won’t forget.
As always, the Clutter levels are highly addicting and replayable.
In addition, there are Sliders, Square Jigsaws & Box Quotes included.
And wait until you see the new IXtreme (Extreme) variations.
Gotta Protectors: Cart of Darkness – £13.49
It’s another fine morning in Magicadia…except your castle has suddenly turned into a tank. And what’s this about a dark prophecy that could lead to the end of all video games? A CONFUSION IS YOU.
Choose your Gotta Protectors and get ready to hack, slash, and spell-sling your way through an epic campaign of over 100 thumb-blistering maps—plus dozens more available as optional DLC bonus chapters!
The rules are simple. Put Princess Lola into the castle to start it rolling down the tracks. At the end of the tracks is an enemy castle. Smash YOUR castle into THEIR castle to destroy it—but don’t let the enemies wipe out the Princess’s HP first!
New on Wii U eShop
It’s time to play a 2.5D retro-style platformer… WITH A TWIST! Now thanks to the new time machine “Pad of Time” you will explore the past, present and future from each level.
Get ready to face tough bosses and try new ways to play with unique playable characters: the balanced Mark, the fast July and the strong Art.
Next week: STAR WARS: The Force Unleashed, Ganryu 2 – Hakuma Kojiro, Neptunia x SENRAN KAGURA: Ninja Wars, Castle Formers, Galagi Shooter, Wild West Crops, Catana, Metal Tales Overkill, Anuchard, Evasion From Hell, Revita, Super Mega Zero, MotoGP 22, Lumote: The Mastermote Chronicles, orbit.industries, Rotund Zero, Rainbow Yggdrasil, Deck of Ashes: Complete Edition, Dragon Caffi, In the Mood, Sakura Angels, and Lila’s Sky Ark.