The dust is settling on another Nintendo Direct. In addition to the side-scrolling Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Nintendo also revealed a Super Mario RPG remake, and a visually enhanced version of Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, while confirming Detective Pikachu Returns and WarioWare: Move It! for later this year. Batman: Arkham Trilogy is coming to Switch this autumn as well. It’ll be interesting to see how Arkham Knight performs.
Nintendo even had a new release ready to drop – Pikmin 1+2 is (are?) available now, ahead of a September 22nd release for a physical version. Available individually or in a discounted digital bundle, these appear to be straightforward HD re-releases of the much-loved GameCube duo. Their arrival means all four Pikmin games are playable on Switch – ignoring the fact that Pikmin 4 is a month away. Incidentally, a demo has just hit the eShop, too.
As for scheduled new releases, we can expect the hero school RPG Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story 2 – available for a modest £16.99 – Super Meat Boy puzzler spin-off Dr. Fetus’ Mean Meat Machine, a bespoke conversion of the compelling Railway Empire 2, the Metroidvania Skautfold: Usurper, and a belated release of the comical adventure The Last Hero of Nostalgaia.
Friday also sees the release of Sonic Origins Plus, adding 12 of the hedgehog’s Game Gear titles, along with Amy as a playable character. The GG games reportedly suffer from a sound issue – SEGA has added faux stereo sound which has resulted in the originally mono music sounding echoey. Oh dear.
Then there’s the open-world, off planet, construction sim Nova Lands, explorative action RPG Earthen Dragon, and retro-style 2D platformer Alice Sisters. The brothers are history!
New Switch eShop releases
Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story 2 – £16.99
Not all heroes are born, many are forged by the finest Hero School – yours. Build and manage your very own hero academy within this simulation-RPG genre blend! Nurture a unique, ever-growing roster of students and fight in strategic turn-based-combat as you experience a narrative spanning over ten years.
Pikmin 1: A crash-landing, an uncharted planet, and a strange but exciting discovery for Captain Olimar! Rebuild his spaceship with the help of tiny plant creatures called Pikmin and explore an overgrown world in this HD version of the Nintendo GameCube classic.
Pikmin 2: A captain’s work is never done! Return to the strange planet and hunt for precious treasures, using the talents of the Pikmin and your new assistant to lighten the load in this HD version of the Nintendo GameCube classic.
Dr. Fetus’ Mean Meat Machine – £7.99
Dr. Fetus` Mean Meat Machine provides the perfect combination of classic puzzle-gameplay and hardcore platforming elements that Super Meat Boy is known for. Puzzle your way through beautiful hand-crafted worlds and more than 100 puzzle-levels, filled with creative traps and hazards. At the end of each world, prepare for a gruesome boss fight that will provide the ultimate challenge.
Puzzle your way through familiar Super Meat Boy and Super Meat Boy Forever locations like the picturesque forest, the hospital, and salt factory in a fresh classic puzzle game-inspired format. However, in Dr. Fetus’ Mean Meat Machine, matching at least 4 clones of the same kind and creating awesome combos isn’t enough – you’ll also have to avoid lethal hazards and traps, such as sawblades, rockets and pendulums. It’s a demented and hardcore spin on the classic puzzle formula you know and love!
Enjoy dazzling backgrounds and animations from the original Super Meat Boy & Super Meat Boy Forever artists and listen to the wonderful soundtrack by RIDICULON, with unique remixed Super Meat Boy Forever tracks and new tunes.
Railway Empire 2 – Nintendo Switch Edition – £45.99
All aboard the express train to riches and fame in Railway Empire 2! Don the coat of a clever entrepreneur, take over a small railway company in the early 1800s and turn your steam engines into the workhorses of the economy. Grow your company into the largest railway company of the continent and outsmart your competitors as you connect cities and companies with an ever-expanding network of rail lines, bridges, and tunnels. 60 famous locomotives are at your disposal, all pulling freight and passenger cars as they usher in an era of historic importance during the Industrial Revolution.
Railway Empire 2 features bigger, more detailed and lively maps than ever before, focusing on iconic regions of the USA and Europe. Improved track construction helps you focus on the important decisions as you drive the economy and help the growth of the cities. Signals are placed automatically, bridges can hold more than 4 tracks and the expandable train stations can now have up to 8 tracks.
Choose from 6 different characters to lead your railway company, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Play the 5-chapter campaign or choose from any of the 14 different scenarios. Set your own difficulty in the fully customisable Free Play mode or build the perfect rail network in construction mode. You can also board one of your trains and gaze upon the scenery passing by as the iron horse speeds along the tracks as you enjoy the view from on top of your locomotive.
The Nintendo Switch™ Edition includes the full Railway Empire 2 game, the original soundtrack, exclusive skins for each of the three sizes of your railway stations, an exclusive skin for your company HQ, and an exclusive skin for two locomotives.
Usurper is a Metroidvania Action-RPG. With Eldritch horrors having been unleashed by the outer-worldly Citadel, your job is to rid London of its terrors and defeat the Navigator! Use the new “Guard” system that rewards skillful play and accuracy to uncover the massive structure and defeat the nightmares lurking within.
This sequel to Skautfold: Shrouded in Sanity does not require knowledge of the previous game. Recently re-crowned Empress Eleanor has assembled the royal forces and her four most loyal Knights to enter the Citadel in hopes of learning more, and hopefully finding a way to rid London of its terrors. Meanwhile, Waltham, leader of the Weimar, uses his own forces to ascend the Citadel and challenge its leader, the Navigator, for his own… purposes…
Misfits with hearts of gold
Take your time getting to know your reliable cook Barto, (oftentimes reckless) pilot Kleber and the skilled engineer Jackie. These guys will follow you through thick and thin, and it’s your job to keep them safe. Your choices will influence their fate in more ways than one.
Your package is on its way
Travel through a variety of sky worlds with unique biomes and numerous challenges along the way. Decide for yourself if the cargo is worth a rush, and if the clients would accept a delay for ANY reason.
Caravaneers pay their debts!
Ohh… I forgot to mention that you are head over heels in debt. Manage your funds to cover your upkeep costs and pay back the loan shark who’s out to get you. Either that or get to him first!
Mixed Rice (Nasi Kampur) is a common and popular food in Indonesia. In the Rice Bowl Restaurant (Warung Nasi Campur) game, you will later sell this Indonesian speciality and meet various types of customers. Cook food according to customer orders, act quickly and upgrade all your stall’s facilities to make sales faster and more efficient!
Tricks Magician is a game about a magician who has been trapped in an alternate reality.
Because of his assistant rabbit’s revenge, he must now overcome several challenges, defying gravity and return to the real world.
Experience challenging levels with puzzle platforming, use tricks to make your enemies disappear, and complete the reality-bending main campaign.
School is out and you’re spending summer in Everdream Valley on your grandparents quaint farm. Experience wildlife, adventure, and a bit of magic each day. Go back to a time of innocence where things like work, responsibilities or relationships were the last thing on your mind.
Bring Life and Charm Back to the Farm
This little homestead needs a lot of attention. A variety of fruits and veggies to grow and a vast collection of animals to raise. Protect your crops, keep your animals happy and gather the resources to repair and expand your farm. Explore the open world and get to the bottom of what is giving you these magic dreams at night.
If you were to mix Factorio, Forager, and Satisfactory, Nova Lands would be just that. Explore, build, and automate your base in this awesome, open-world 2D game!
Neko Secret Homecoming – £8.99
Neko Secret Homecoming mixes third-person 3D exploration of Neko Town with 2D puzzles in the anime factory. Hacking the anime factory’s terminals will require picture puzzles to be solved, thereby unlocking beautiful images, while other mini games are hidden throughout the world for good casual variety, whether it’s playing darts or cracking a safe.
Your heroine can be fully customized from head to toe, too, from accessories and outfits to body shape and hairstyle!
Everything you need to do is very simple – just race and overtake every other car on the track to win the race! Quick Race is a simple racing game where you can compete with AI or on a split screen with your friend.
Unimime – Unicycle Madness – £4.49
Unimime is a fun, not-so-easy to master, physics-based balance game.
Start your adventure as a simple mime, barely able to stay upright. Master the art of unicycling and venture across breakneck flat surfaces, minimal inclines, and pocketbook-sized crates!
Do I hear seesaws, jumps and catapults? You’ll have that down in no time. Well, maybe a tad later. Or maybe shortly after. Oh dear, please don’t hate us.
Look forward to 90 hand-designed levels, unlockable characters, and a game that’s hard to master, but also very hard to put down.
Break a leg!
Princess Closet – Fashion and love will change me – – £17.71
Fashion and romance will change my life.
Become a fashion model and enjoy romance?
It’s a romance game for girls?
Finger Football: Goal in Two – £1.79
Finger Football: Goal in Two is the sequel to the puzzle game Finger Football: Goal in One. Take on 70 brand new levels, where the objective is simple but the execution is anything but. Your mission is to score a goal in just two moves! With each level presenting a new challenge, you’ll need to plan your moves carefully to outwit your opponents to shoot the goal.
Get ready for a fantastically frantic side-scrolling run ‘n’ gun in Robolt! Presented in blazing fast pixel art style, Robolt casts you as a little robot that can rapidly fire laser bolts as they sprint along. Featuring 16 levels across 4 different worlds, stages are packed with enemies that can be quickly dismantled by your projectiles or by hopping on their heads, but beware of the big bosses at the end of each world!
Take in the sights and sounds of nature as you wander through the forest, marvelling at the majestic giant tree and spotting castles and buildings along the way. With no rush or pressure, you can take your time and enjoy the journey, immersing yourself in the peaceful ambience and forgetting your worries for a little while.
Whether you’re in need of a moment of relaxation or simply want to enjoy a beautiful virtual world, Zenful Journey offers a unique and immersive gaming experience. So why not take a break from the stresses of daily life and lose yourself in the tranquil world of Zenful Journey?
The big mountain villain captured the mom of Alice and her sister.
Help Alice and her sister save their mother through 28 levels spread over 4 worlds, each with their final villain to battle against!
Play alone by switching from one character to another, or cooperate with 2 players to complete each level.
Each of the sisters has her own power, Alice can change size by jumping on magic mushrooms.
Her small size will allow her to pass through narrow spaces, but be careful because she will not be able to jump very high and very far!
Alice’s sister can throw balls to repel enemies or break stones blocking the path.
Go through the levels and solve puzzles by activating the right lever, the right switches, as well as finding the color keys to open the different doors.
Replay value with 4 playing modes: easy
Auralux: Constellations – £6.99
Every choice matters, and the only path to victory is through clever strategy. Auralux: Constellations features a slow, graceful feel, easy to learn mechanics and vibrant minimalistic graphics – all pulsing to the rhythm of ambient music. This game is designed to provide a relaxing, cerebral experience that will challenge even the most experienced RTS fans.
Auralux: Constellations is the long-awaited sequel to Auralux, the critically acclaimed mobile Real Time Strategy game. Start with a single planet. Then upgrade, expand, and attack until you’ve conquered the entire system. Now with Auralux: Constellations, for the first time you can play against your friends in online multiplayer games.
Featuring gameplay constellations with one new feature at a time, Auralux: Constellations is a real-time strategy game that distills the RTS genre to its essential elements. Explore new gameplay possibilities: what happens if you take these basic rules and add fog-of-war? What if the planets moved? What if you had wormholes connecting distant parts of the map? You can replay the game to near infinity.
Darkness looms in the skies above the dragon’s valley. If he wishes to save his friends, he must journey deep into a long lost world and regain his old strength.
As the nameless dragon, you will master the elements, renew the wind under your wings and discover powers hidden away in ruins, caves and dungeons. Your enemies are numerous, tainted by a darkness you don’t yet understand. You may feel alone, but you’re not the only one out there.
Earthen Dragon is an Action RPG with a focus on exploration and combat. You’ll gain experience through battle and find items and treasures on your travels to improve your strength and magic skills.
In addition, by increasing the number of Animal Friends, a permanent effect is triggered, making it easier to increase the number of balls in your possession.
Pretty Princess Magical Garden Island – £29.99
A Royally Sweet Sim!
Cultivate crops and raise livestock in this fun fantasy farming simulation game where you are free to play as you wish.
Roam the island to collect ingredients and materials to craft the goods the residents need. Back on your farm, plant seeds to raise crops that will grow over time and collect milk and eggs from your animals.
Use the money and goodwill you earn from your hard work to decorate the island and make it your perfectly royal fantasy home.
The Last Hero of Nostalgaia – £19.99
The Last Hero of Nostalgaia is a satirical action-adventure, driven by a dark story, set in an incredibly rich and complex world.
Nostalgaia, the world of videogames, is collapsing backwards into a mysterious pixelation, with every particle of fidelity bleeding away. Oblivion seemingly awaits even our most cherished gaming memories. But as the lighting dims and frames diminish, with the world on the brink of extinction, hope emerges to fight back.
As the most hideous pixelated hero to ever spawn in Nostalgaia, you must fight through an army of its mindless inhabitants, while being jeered by a cynical narrator who despises your very existence.
Featuring hard but fair combat that fans of the genre will relish, along with *full character customization, unique battle armor and engaging narrative mechanics rich in lore, The Last Hero of Nostalgaia’s twisted and wicked tale is prepared to send you headfirst into almost certain death around its every vertex.
Next week: Everybody 1-2-Switch, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, AEW: Fight Forever, The Lara Croft Collection, RayStorm X RayCrisis HD Collection, Ray’z Arcade Chronology, Crime O’Clock, Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE, STORY OF SEASONS: A Wonderful Life, Boo Party, Vision Soft Reset, A Tale for Anna, SOULVARS, Noob – The Factionless, GRISAIA PHANTOM TRIGGER 5.5 to 08, Enclave HD, Charade Maniacs, Little Friends: Puppy Island, Dolmenjord – Viking Islands, Placid Plastic Duck Simulator, Raging Bytes, BroodStar, Classic Racers Elite, Inner Ashes, Picontier, Move The Box: Classic Block Puzzle, Shootvaders: The Beginning, ChronoBreach Ultra, WW2: Bunker Simulator, Medieval Royal Chess: Classic Board Game, Bus Tycoon Night and Day, and 11111Game.