It’s a tubular/gnarly/bodacious week for the Switch – if you can’t find something to pique your interest amongst the 30-odd titles due out, we’d be very surprised. Shell shocked, even.
Having said that, there is a JRPGs slant to this week’s new release assortment, with a handful available both digitally and at retail. These include Spike Chunsoft’s anime tie-in Made in Abyss: Binary Star Falling into Darkness, the hack ‘n slasher role-player Dusk Diver 2 – which has gained some middling review scores – and the double pack Presents NIS Classics Volume 3, which brings together La Pucelle: Ragnarok and Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure.
In fact, a noticeable number of games head to both the eShop and retail – far more than usual. Look out for the 13-game strong TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection from Konami, the cutesy dance-off-based creature capture game Ooblets (with a 30% off launch discount), anime brawler JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R, and a belated conversion of the minifig beat’em up LEGO Brawls.
We’ve spent some time with TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection and have been left impressed not just by the quality of emulation – which even includes the option to remove sprite flicker – but also by the range of extras. Even the Game Boy games hold up surprisingly well. Look out for a review soon.
Switch owners can also expect the 1991-set Pikmin alike adventure Tinykin – garnering some very positive reviews – the 16-bit style randomised shooter Rick Henderson (reviewed by ourselves today), striking 2D action RPG ANNO: Mutationem, and Curve Games’ side-scrolling action brawler Chenso Club.
Others of note include hot spring management sim Onsen Master, Kemco’s latest RPG Fairy Elements, chilled puzzler Please, Touch The Artwork, and the arcade footy game Golazo! 2 – guaranteed to recall watching Channel 4 on a Saturday morning in the ‘90s.
New Switch eShop releases
Dream up the ultimate Minifigure brawlers and bash your way through all of your favorite LEGO® themes in the first team action brawler set in the LEGO universe. Play with friends at home or around the world and see how you stack up against the competition.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R – £44.99
Based on the All Star Battle system released in 2014, the game design of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R reinvigorates the experience with adjustments to the fighting tempo and the addition of hit stops and jump dashes. With new audio recordings from the Part 6 anime voice actors, the full atmosphere of the animated series is realized. Both fans who have played the original All Star Battle and newcomers will be able to enjoy the experience.
Made in Abyss: Binary Star Falling into Darkness – £49.99
Become a Cave Raider and explore the world of the Abyss!
Prinny Presents NIS Classics Volume 3: La Pucelle: Ragnarok / Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure -£35.99
Join up with your pal Prinny to experience NIS history with Prinny Presents NIS Classics Volume 3: La Pucelle: Ragnarok / Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure! For the first time in the West, you can experience La Pucelle: Ragnarok, now loaded with lots of extra content including new scenarios, new recruits, and DLC characters! It even has new voices, new music, and quick travel, dood! Then, explore the precursor to the Disgaea series with the strategy RPG Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure! Sharper graphics and image optimization bring this classic into the present. Experience NIS history with this awesome two-pack, dood!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection – £34.99
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection assembles thirteen classic TMNT games by Konami in one incredible package. This collection provides a unique opportunity for gamers to experience these immensely popular and very influential games on Nintendo Switch™ and includes a fantastic set of new quality of life features:
Milo arrives on Earth to find that he’s way too small, everybody’s gone and a day hasn’t passed since 1991!
Team up with the mysterious tinykin and use their unique powers to create ladders, bridges, explosions and a lot more!
Find a way home through a sprawling ant-sized metropolis, and unravel Earth’s biggest mystery!
Enter Taiwan’s bustling district of Ximending, a destination for gourmands, music aficionados – and interdimensional beings intent on destroying this world!
One year after saving humanity from dimensional destruction, Yumo and the Guardians of Kunlun take on new forces in a sequel packed with even more hack n slash gameplay. Switch control of four unique characters, get stat boosts from real-life restaurant meals, and tailor skills and Orb combos to suit your play style!
Do you have what it takes to save humanity from these new forces of evil?
Robby’s Adventure is a side-scroller platformer game where you will guide a robot named Robby through numerous obstacles and challenges. Sometimes it will be too easy and sometimes very hard. Sometimes you will have to slow down and sometime run with all your legs.
United Assault – Normandy ’44 – £8.99
United Assault – Normandy ’44 is an open world rogue lite FPS set in 1944’s depiction of Normandy.
You are a US army paratrooper dropped into enemy territory to prepare the D-Day. Your mission objectives vary form destroying Panzer IV tanks, Flak 88 cannons to obtaining secret documents or even liberate an entire town. After completing your objectives, exfiltrate and claim your rewards.
Higher ranks will unlock new weapons and allow you to customize your start loadout.
Demolish Derby Nitro-Battle Driving Car Games 2022 Deluxe Driver – £9.99
Are you looking for a game where you can have fun destroying your vehicle? Speed up and go crazy in the newest driving game with realistic physics, “Demolish Derby Nitro” ! While the majority of racing games are about speeding through levels and overtaking your opponents, this game is all about destroying your car!
Get behind the wheel of one of the many available cars and make your way through the world ! Complete challenging stunts and tracks, while completely destroying and wrecking your car in the process! Experience realistic vehicle physics in a mobile game! Our engine carefully simulates every component of the vehicle in real time, resulting in realistic car crashes and damage! The world is big and full of different ways to turn your car into a pie! Ramps, walls, spikes and more! Demolish Derby Nitro features simple intuitive controls that is perfect for an younger audience, however the realistic graphics and fun crashing mechanics will keep older fans intrigued too.
Gerda: A Flame in Winter – £17.99
When the snow stops falling, the small Danish village of Tinglev will no longer be the same. Walk the path of Gerda as her quiet life is turned upside-down during the World War 2 occupation of her home. Choose where to go, how to act, and who to trust in this intimate narrative RPG-lite experience inspired by real-life events. How far would you go to protect your loved ones?
Murder on the Marine Express – £4.49
The St. Joachim Academy for elite girls booked the maiden voyage of the new Marine Express submarine train, which runs along the ocean floor from California all the way to the Japanese coast. The journey seems like the perfect opportunity to enjoy the beautiful underwater scenery, learn about marine biology and, ultimately, relax from regular school life. However, the idyllic travel turns into a nightmare when one of the teachers is found dead in his room. Who could have killed the most popular and beloved professor in the academy?
Ranko Togawa, accompanied by her friend Astrid, takes it upon herself to investigate the events and clear the name of the main suspect. Of course, it won’t be that simple. As the number of victims grows, the possibility of facing a serial killer becomes more real and panic slowly sets in. Ranko will have to make the most of the time left to find out the truth and prevent the mysterious murderer from killing again, although not all the answers will be to her liking.
Learn the secrets hidden in the Marine Express and discover the culprit in this story of tragedy, surprises and lots of humor!
Easy Red 2 is the game for those who know just what they want from a World War 2 shooter: simulation in weapons and mechanics, historical accuracy in battles, and expansive maps leaving room for large-scale infantry and vehicle combat alike.
Tadpole Inc. is looking for employees. Are you ready to be their next professional friend?
In Here Comes Niko!, the cosy 3D platformer for tired people, you’ll play as Niko traveling across scenic islands. Make new friends, catch fish, solve puzzles, snag bugs, and more! With Here Comes Niko! you’re in for the most laid-back adventure of your life!
New friends are plentiful in Ooblets! Spend your days renovating your farm, raising weird little pals, participating in dance-offs, designing your house, and helping the mayor save Badgetown!
The game has 3 different modes with progressive difficulty levels, in addition to the classic mode that remounts the traditional Snake gameplay. Project SNAQE promises a great experience for all types of gamers, from casual to hardcore.
A simple game at first glance, Project SNAQE is charming and challenging and will put to the test your reflexes, reasoning and skills to find solutions.
In the game you will find a huge variety of levels, the passage of which will open various options for character customization. In the beginning, there will be nothing difficult, but as soon as the training finished, will be a real hardcore! If You tire of the standard tracks, you can always create your own level in a special editor, as well as playing on tracks created by other players.
Lots of fun, incredible levels, crazy vehicles, all this Draw Rider!
The adventure of a lifeti—er, afterlifetime—awaits! Help a wayward soul return to the land of the living in this hauntingly humorous comedy adventure that pokes fun at life, death, video games, pop culture, and everything in between.
Prevail in bullet-hell lite battles as you traverse through a greyscale world in search of the eight keys that open the Portal back to Life. But you’re not the only one who wants those keys…the evil Dr. Krull and his army will do whatever it takes to get them first, and it’s the Grim Reaper’s job to stop you from leaving.
Battle enemies, solve puzzles, and laugh until you die (again?), all while taking on side challenges and arcade-style minigames. Enlist the “help” of an apathetic ghost dog named Woof (yes, you can pet him).
Do your best, because after all, it’s a matter of life and death!
Onsen Master is a hot spring customer management game where players have been charged with the task of revitalizing hot springs across the fantasy island Izajima. Create ingredients to match the various customer ailments, reconnect the communities that surround each onsen, and discover the supernatural world they’ve long since been disconnected from.
Yamato, a royal knight saves his kingdom with the power of a sword imbued with mysterious power, but is transported to a world 200 years in the future. He meets a strange creature and a mysterious girl there, only to be involved in a greater destiny awaiting at the end of his adventure.
Use resources to create and fortify weapons and armor that not only are effective, but also change your party aspects in turn-based battles. The game features a special mode where you can battle, anywhere and any time, to obtain resources for fortifying. Many other elements include the cauldron system, which provides an easy way to increase a weapon’s basic attack strength, and not to mention dungeons packed with incredibly strong enemies and more!
Chess Brain: Dark Troops – £3.59
Chess Brain: Dark Troops is a sequel of a simple chess puzzle game where you control the King who needs to get to a specific point, while avoiding opposing pieces that move every second to difficult your path.
Some paths may be simple, but others will make you think about every second ahead drawing the correct path to not let the King get killed by the opposite pieces and the Red Soldier, that has a brain.
The game has more than 30 puzzles and remember, only the correct way will take you to the destination point.
In Fashion Princess you will become a fashionista trying to obtain new costumes and try to become the best photographer out there.
Golazo 2 boldly recalls the glory days of the arcade soccer games, bringing back memories of cult classics we all know. Street mechanics and fields are added to this sequel to bring more depth to this game. Certainly a perfect game for people who are wary of football managers or complicated hard-core simulators. Just sit on the sofa and play!
In 2 Game Mode! Arcade and Time!
Cute Designed Levels!
Race against AI (Bots)!
Super Sunny Island is a retro-style 2D platformer featuring summer-themed levels and a lovely penguin called “Sunny” who loves nature!
One day Sunny, discovered a new island full of life and lush, green things! But at the same time, there are also some vile pirates looking to plunder the peaceful island. They are building a robot army!
Through good luck, Sunny also brought a water gun, which will come pretty handy for both watering flowers and soaking pirates.
Mechapunk is 2D Action Adventure Platformer Game.
Troupe is a 2D platform adventure game, and takes the classic formula in which the player controls a clown and tries to get out of a haunted castle.
Conceived as an exploration-driven game, the player initially wandered around the castle alone, and later, gained a whole troupe of companions. In addition to just wanting to leave the castle, the player now aims to rescue his co-workers.
Please, Touch The Artwork – £7.19
Play around with colours and lines, try to recreate paintings, solve riddles, unravel secret stories behind modern masterpieces, and hopefully get inspired and find meaning!
Please, Touch The Artwork is a cosy puzzle game blending logical thinking and poetic storytelling.
Wampir Dungeon is a Dungeon game with Diffrent Gameplay.
Our main character is a Vampire. But it has to constantly absorb blood.
Absorb their blood by killing the creatures in the dungeon and pass the level.
If the character cannot absorb enough blood, he dies. You have to be a little quick.
Battle against multiple waves of enemy tanks that… IN SPACE!
As a space tank commander, you make your way through countless squads of enemies in this masterpiece of the arcade shooter genre.
Paying homage to arcade classics and wrapped in nostalgic 16-bit graphics, Rick Henderson is an endless horizontal-scrolling shoot’em up with unlimited replayability. Twitch your fingers through five enemy factions and their bosses, upgrade your ship and try to survive unpredictable space events.
Rick Henderson features multiple difficulty modes to maximize accessibility, helpful tutorials to get you started and a deep scoring system with multipliers, grazing, ranks and perk bonuses. Choose a ship that suits your playstyle, equip 27 unique weapons, perform upgrades and test your skills against dozens of enemy types, all set to a blood-pumping synthwave soundtrack.
Welcome to the neon-covered, 2D-meets-3D Cyberpunk world of ANNO: Mutationem. In this Action-Adventure game with RPG elements you become Ann: a highly-skilled combat-trained lone wolf on a personal mission in the giant Metropolis, full of sinister mega-corporations, mysterious fringe groups and creatures more bizarre than words can express.
Next week: Splatoon 3, NBA 2K23, Temtem, Circus Electrique, Disney Dreamlight Valley, Kaichu: The Kaiju Dating Sim, White Day: A Labyrinth Named School, BPM: Bullets Per Minute, Game Type DX, Wind of Shuriken, Poly Link – Origins, Zumba Blitz, The Hand of Glory, and Tower Princess.