Hoo boy. The Switch has been flooded with shovelware over the past week – everything from something called (I kid you not) The great battle of Shark Monkey Squirrel Dinossaur Bird Bee to a low budget racer known as Burnout that has nothing to do with EA whatsoever. It even looks like they’ve snuck a few licensed vehicles in. The cheek of it.
The week’s biggest and best releases are able to shine regardless. SEGA’s back with Football Manager 2024 Touch – which costs a fiver more than last year’s version, we noticed – while Atari is readying the arcade-style shooter Berzerk: Recharged, the first new Berzerk game since the early ‘80s.
Retro fans may also want to check out Yu Suzuki’s Space Harrier-inspired Air Twister (which we awarded a 7/10) and the double-whammy of 2003’s Double Dragon Advance and 1992’s Super Double Dragon, which include wallpapers, speed options, and more.
Then there’s the greatly expanded sequel Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 – which is reportedly a bit shoddy on Switch, with long loading time between matches – and the isometric rogue-lite adventure Spells & Secrets. A sensible move to release it before next week’s Hogwarts Legacy arrives.
Other new releases include the action RPG Salt and Sacrifice, creepypasta lifestyle sim Bem Feito, annual update Let’s Sing 2024, quirky hack ‘n slash adventure What The Duck, and Excessive Trim – which involves a murderous weed smoking alien in a UFO. Can somebody call Will Smith?
New Switch eShop releases
Football Manager 2024 Touch – £39.99
Impact the future of your club with an overhauled feedback system when you’re interacting with your club’s hierarchy. Whether it’s a new stadium or a bigger transfer budget, you’ll benefit from being able to put your demands across clearer when you’re pushing the board for more support.
Several more features, including improvements to opposition recruitment, the national pool and accessibility, are waiting for you to discover in every career. Full information is available on the Football Manager website.
In a land plagued by powerful and twisted Mages, the condemned Marked Inquisitors take up the hunt.
A once-peaceful kingdom is plunged into chaos by encroaching tides of Mages: merciless embodiments of elemental chaos. The Marked Inquisitors, a doomed force of the condemned, once again mobilizes to stand against the existential threat of Magic. A buried secret threatens to bring an ancient empire to utter ruin.
As a Marked Inquisitor, you’ll journey through the western frontier: pursuing, hunting, and obliterating the Mages that roam the realm. Craft unique weapons and armor from the otherworldly flesh and bones of the Mages you destroy. Master dozens of unique weapons and runic arts: “safe” manipulations of the corrupt Magic your foes wield. Explore a large and labyrinthine world filled with scavengers, secrets, traps, and powerful guardians. Team up with a fellow Inquisitor for full online co-op and drop-in quickplay online co-op, or engage in fast and chaotic PvP through various factions.
You may be bound to the Inquisition, but your choices are yours.
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 – £39.99
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 lets you duke it out with the biggest and best fighting character roster yet, including all new characters like SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Squidward Tentacles, Jimmy Neutron, and more!
Choose your favorite brawlers, master their unique move sets, and use all-new powerful Supers to land the finishing blow with friends or across a unique, roguelike player campaign!
Let’s Sing 2024 with International Hits – £44.99
Let’s Sing 2024 brings a thrilling new karaoke experience to your living room. Enjoy chartbreaking hits and all-time classics that are guaranteed to make you sing at the top of your lungs. Step into the spotlight with the brand new career mode and rise to stardom. Become a VIP and test your vocal range with many more songs online. Experience seasonal events online with Let’s Sing Fest and join the never-ending karaoke party alone or with friends while you play with people across the globe.
Take flight with Air Twister – the new all-out rail shooter by legendary arcade developer Yu Suzuki! Assume the role of Princess Arch and help defend her home world, AIR, from the large-scale invasion by Vanguard. Similar to Suzuki’s massively successful Space Harrier series, you will encounter a large array of diverse and creatively designed enemies and challenging bosses. But fear not, your winged mounts and homing missile shooting crossbow won’t fail you.
Explore various kinds of weaponry power-ups and special moves which you unlock after every run. Or challenge yourself in the numerous other game modes, like Turbo-mode or Boss Rush.
As you soar through the skies of the various beautifully crafted worlds, you’ll be accompanied by the captivating rock-opera soundtrack composed by the renowned Dutch artist, Valensia.
Virche Evermore -ErroR: Salvation- – £44.99
In an island country people are born with a curse that leads to death at age 23. The people lament and oppose their short-lived fates.
A watchman appears to the girl known as “Death” and guides her to uncover the mysteries that haunt the country – whether she likes it or not. Despair is the fate that awaits those who are loved by Death.
Double Dragon Advance, known as the pinnacle of the series for its incorporation of moves and graphics from across the games, comes back to life on modern consoles after 20 years!
The border of the screen can now be customised with a choice of 5 wallpapers. Play with your background of choice!
Featuring beloved stages and weapons from prior titles!
After 30 years, Super Double Dragon comes to modern consoles for the first time!
This stage-based side scrolling action classic first came out for the Super Nintendo in 1992.
The border of the screen can now be customised with a choice of 5 wallpapers. Play with your background of choice!
You can now ramp up the action, with customisable play speed going up to double speed!
Discover a whole new way to enjoy the game with extra tumultuous battles!
Set out on an adventure of revenge and self-acceptance as you and your oddball ducking spirit animal try to make a name for yourselves in a world where those with the toughest spirit animals hold all the power.
The Trotties Adventure – £13.49
Create your own Trottie with the incredible character design editor and help Mia, Emma, Lucy and Sophie to complete 40 missions by travelling to 10 different countries: Egypt, Italy, Japan, Madagascar and many more!
Use the Trotties’ magic powers to complete the missions: super speed for a race against time, the magic pencil for making your drawings come to life, communicate with animals and fantastic creatures you find on the way, or use the magic tablet to find hidden clues. Every mission in The Trotties Adventure is unique!
Slaughter: The Lost Outpost – £6.50
Reckless bandits and thugs have broken free from a massive prison, forming gangs and engaging in fierce battles to gain control over the territory.
Our hero – Russell, found himself in the very middle of this chaos and is trying to survive at any cost. He is destined for the fate of a slave if he does not find a way to get out of prison.
Russell has to arm himself and carve his way to freedom. Along the journey, the player, alongside the main character, will discover what is unfolding in this strange place — encountering allies and unravelling the dark secrets concealed within the vast complex’s walls.
Burning Secrets – A Bara Visual Novel – £4.49
Embark on a journey to rescue an old wizard friend in bara visual novel Burning Secrets! Mixing high fantasy adventure with gay romance themes, Burning Secrets lets you choose between multiple routes as you journey through lush and inspiring landscapes. See the lighthearted narrative to its end while developing relationships and unlock steamy CG scenes along the way.
Advance the story, save and load your narrative progress and enjoy a wide variety of fantasy backdrops. With multiple endings to achieve and alternate romances to explore, there’s plenty of reason to keep coming back for more adventure with your handsome companions!
While visiting her sick mother, Claire takes a wrong turn and stumbles into a dark passage of echoing doors and abandoned rooms. Lost, and attempting to find her way back, Claire encounters an over-protective dog and few denizens who are seemingly uninterested in Claire’s plight. Did they block the doors and windows to keep something out, or is a malevolent force stopping Claire from leaving? Why are red candles scattered across the grounds, and why does the sun seemingly never rise? As panic sets in, time slips and begins to fall away. Find the truth, and help guide our protagonist thru the expanded and re-defined Claire: Extended Cut.
Polyturbo Drift Racing Simulator – £8.99
Get ready for the ultimate 3D car racing experience! “Polyturbo Drift Racing Simulator” combines the thrill of high-speed racing with the precision of simulation gameplay. Compete against other players in heart-pounding races and prove that you have what it takes to reach the finish line first.
“Takagi Haru is a normal university student with an abundance of love for the stars.
Living with his cute friend Hiyori and the alien princess Ena is extremely rewarding, but malevolent forces are seeking to undermine their relationship.
A new professor has arrived at Haru’s university. Her name is Professor Sakai, and she composes herself in a beautiful, elegant manner. She is undoubtedly alluring, and Haru is soon drawn to her – but Professor Sakai seems to have her sights set on Ena.
What will happen next?
This game is about earning money and increasing assets by building facilities and putting people to work.
The player with the most assets at the end of the game wins.
People generate money if they are working, but it costs money if they are not working.
It is important to build facilities as quickly as and keep people around.
Keep building facilities silently, or use policy to other players.
Have fun with friends and family in multiplayer.
Cobalt Core is a sci-fi roguelike deckbuilder with a unique single-axis combat system that will throw you for a loop. Many loops!
Give orders to your crew by playing cards: Will you raise shields to protect your ship, dodge incoming missiles and cannon fire to avoid damage outright, or strike preemptively to disable your enemy’s weapons? Outmaneuvre your foes to stay just ahead of impending calamity, and reach the Cobalt Core!
Take flight as an alien in a buzzsaw saucer as he terrorizes farms and recklessly grinds through herds of livestock! Excessive Trim is a pseudo-3D vertical scrolling slice ’em up presented in stark black, white and red 3-tone pixel art. Take control of your circular bladed UFO and try to survive while you collect precious leaves.
Chicken, fight like a robot! Evil Otto and his deadly robots are back in this reimagining of the 1980 arcade classic Berzerk. Berzerk: Recharged challenges you to fight your way through a deadly maze filled with waves of menacing, vocal robots. Deft twin-stick control and power-ups are the only way to survive, as you shoot your way through room after room in this never-ending dystopian maze. And don’t forget, Evil Otto may have a smile on his face, but he is deadly and invincible.
As with all Recharged games, you can chase a high score in arcade mode, or take on one of the many hand-crafted challenges to test your shooting and dodging skills. If things get too hard, you can always grab a friend to double your firepower in local-co-op.
In “Spells & Secrets”, you are a first-year student of the magic arts, arriving at the Academy of Greifenstein. Set in a world and time like ours, you are excited to live and learn together with your fellow students and professors at the impressive magical castle.
A strange incident on your first day throws the school into turmoil. It’s up to you to save the ever-changing castle and rescue your lost schoolmates. Use your spells creatively to fight off magical creatures, explore the school grounds and uncover the castle’s secrets to reveal the mystery surrounding it.
If you’ve always wanted to be a wizarding student with magical powers, if you
The waters have risen to an alarming level, leaving merely a handful of places habitable. As a leader of a small group of survivors, you are tasked to extract resources in order to construct an ark and move to a safer location. But beware, as time passes, the waters are getting higher, reducing the available land at your disposal.
You start as a small dragon in a serene forest. You wake up and talk to forest dwellers and they will send you to your first destination. Take off and fly forward and you will be gently guided by the environment and kind strangers will tell you where to head next.
Enjoy the sensation of flying as well as exploring the giant environments, discovering hidden paths, and chatting with helpful people. Utilize your fire breath to burn down spider webs and human constructs to clear the way forward.
Bob The Elementalist is a puzzle platformer set in a beautiful pixelated world.
You’ll need to harness the powers of the four elements (wind, water, fire and earth) to gain new abilities and clear each zone. Can you master the skills of an elementalist? The challenge gradually increases over 80 cleverly designed levels. You are humanity’s last hope in a world plagued by a deadly disease.
Only by collecting all the crystals in every level you will be able to create a magical elixir and find a cure.
Zeus, Athena, Hera, Artemis, Poseidon and other gods are waiting for you. Your goal is to establish a romantic relationship and pass the tests. Are you ready to receive your reward?
You can make modifications to strengthen your cars. You can get a driver’s license to participate in races. It is very comprehensive 2d racing game.
Prison Break: Jail Escape Simulator – £8.99
The rules of the game are quite simple – you need to get to the exit through a location filled with security systems.
Carefully calculate the time of the alarm and gain the moment to slip through. Remember – you only have one chance and if you are noticed, the level will fail. Therefore, try to plan your escape route not to make mistakes.
In the game you will find many different levels with different types of security systems, which will require your own approach. But through what difficulties will you not go through, for the sake of freedom?
Through the revolutionary and innovative Garotron OS, exclusively commissioned by MEGASOFT, play the ultimate MEGA gaming experience of Bem Feito today!
You’ll be able to visit Reginaldo in his home on the tiny planet B-613. Take charge of the everyday tasks around his home and yard. Fish, cook, water your garden and flowers, harvest fruits, meet and CAPTIVATE many friends alongside Reginaldo.
Next week: Super Mario RPG, Super Crazy Rhythm Castle, Persona 5 Tactica, Spirittea, Hogwarts Legacy, NARUTO X BORUTO ULTIMATE NINJA STORM CONNECTIONS, Bluey: The Videogame, Prison City, Zombies Rising Dawn, KarmaZoo, Astral Ascent, Lily in Puzzle World, Castle Invasion: Throne Out, ASTLIBRA Revision, Smoots Pinball, On Rusty Trails, Cats on Streets, CometStriker DX, Adventure Tanks, YOHANE THE PARHELION -BLAZE in the DEEPBLUE, There Is No Light, The Forest Quartet, Grotto, and Runnyk.