Had we included the names of every big name and noteworthy release on Switch this week, that headline would be even lengthier – and it would have meant not giving shouts to smaller titles, which is something we always aim to do.
On the agenda for this week, there’s Kingdom Come Deliverance – Royal Edition, the fully fledged open-world RPG that’s clearly hoping to repeat the success of The Witcher on Switch. It has been a long time coming, first announced in 2021. Hopefully, that time has been spent creating another Switch miracle conversion.
Konami and WayForward are back with their soft reboot Contra: Operation Galuga, which seems to put the franchise back on track…while also falling short of its glory days. The Metacritic score currently sits at 71%, a marked improvement over Rogue Corp’s woeful 42%. Critics do however note that it suffers from performance issues and long loading times on Switch.
Another run ‘n gunner arriving this week is Cybertrash STATYX from Sometimes You. We found that it’s pretty short, lasting around two hours, and that most bosses can be defeated simply by crouching at their feet and unloading heavy weapons. The XP system does set it apart from other arcade-style shooters though. A 5/10 review score was as much as we could muster.
Retro fans may want to check out Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story instead, with this being the latest in Digital Eclipse’s Gold Master Series. An interactive documentary, it features 42 of Minter’s games spread across ZX81, VIC-20, C64, Atari 800, Atari ST, and Atari Jaguar. A remastered version of Gridrunner also features, running on the original code. Reception has been positive so far, praised for its deep cuts of gaming history.
Reviews for the expanded Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection are starting to emerge as well. It’s neat to see this on Switch – the Battlefront games eluded the GameCube and Wii. “After two decades of advancements and innovation, Battlefront I and II still offer some of the most enjoyable gameplay in the shooter genre,” said Press Start.
Then there’s Highwater, a 3D adventure in a flooded world featuring turn-based puzzle-combat. Nikos and friends work together to traverse the waterlogged environments, with themes of friendship present throughout. That’s one ship that can’t be sunk.
The former Stadia exclusive GYLT finally comes to Switch too – this one originally broke loose last July. Developed by Tequila Works (best known for RiME, Deadlight, and The Sexy Brutale) it’s a third-person stealth adventure with realistic lighting. Think Alan Wake meets Coraline.
We can also expect the intriguing physics-based puzzler UNABLES, the Japanese style fantasy action platformer Violet Wisteria, re-releases of the cult RPGs Rainbow Moon and Ys II, a belated conversion of Lawn Mowing Simulator, and Nacon’s Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator. Landscape design fans are well catered for this week, certainly.
New Switch eShop releases
Kingdom Come Deliverance – Royal Edition – £39.99
Winner of 30 global awards, experience Kingdom Come Deliverance, a story-driven open-world RPG that immerses you in an epic medieval adventure across the Holy Roman Empire. You’re Henry, the son of a blacksmith. Thrust into a raging civil war, you watch helplessly as invaders storm your village and slaughter your friends and family. Narrowly escaping the brutal attack, you grab your sword to fight back. Avenge your parents’ death as you battle invading forces, go on game-changing quests, and make influential choices.
Explore a massive realistic Action RPG in authentic medieval Bohemia, anytime, anywhere.
Contra: Operation Galuga – £34.99
A new entry in the legendary Contra series is here! Contra: Operation Galuga is a thorough reimagining of the classic run-‘n’-gun action game from the ’80s, featuring modern graphics and sound, new stages, new enemies and bosses, new play mechanics, an updated weapons system, and explosive co-op combat for up to two players in Story Mode or four players in Arcade Mode!
When the Red Falcon terrorist group takes over the Galuga Islands off the coast of New Zealand, elite Contra commandos Bill Rizer and Lance Bean springs into action, initiating an all-out war in which the fate of mankind hangs in the balance!
Run, jump, and shoot your way through eight levels using a devastating arsenal – including the spread shot, laser, and homing missiles – now with stackable upgrades and awesome Overload abilities! The intense action is customizable with three difficulty settings plus a variety of additional challenge options. The true Contra legacy begins now!
Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story – £26.00
Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story includes 42 classic games from 8 different platforms, from Jeff Minter’s earliest work on the Sinclair ZX81 and Commodore VIC-20, to later work on the Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Atari 800, and deep into the 16-bit era with the Atari ST and Atari Jaguar.
Sheep In Space. Andes Attack. Attack of the Mutant Camels. Matrix. Metagalactic Llamas Battle at the Edge of Time. Hellgate. Laser Zone. And many more. All the Minter classics you’ve heard of (and several you probably haven’t), now with new quality-of-life features to make playing them more fun than ever before.
Two of Jeff Minter’s earliest “light synthesizers,” Psychedelia and Colourspace, are also included, with all-new options and features optimized for controller-based play. Finally, Jeff’s demo of Attack of the Mutant Camels for the unreleased Konix Multi-System console is also included.
STAR WARS: Battlefront Classic Collection – £31.49
Fight in iconic battles from across the STAR WARS™ galaxy
Play the classic STAR WARS Battlefront games on modern consoles, online and offline in this complete classic collection.
Set in a creepy and melancholic world, GYLT is an eerie story mixing fantasy and reality in a surrealist place where your nightmares become reality. Hide from terrible creatures or confront them as you find your way through the challenges of this wicked world.
Run, jump, slide, destroy enemies, gain experience points, upgrade your character – Jenet, who is trying to escape from the corporation.
In the distant future, the industrial part of the world has separated from nature and built its infrastructure through the activities of local corporations. Robots are used to control the population. All those who disagree with the dictatorship of corporations united in opposition. The corporate response keeps pace with technological progress, and the population is condemned to cyborgization.
Death Trick: Double Blind – £14.99
Come one, come all to Morgan’s Traveling Circus, the greatest show in America! Or it was, until its star, Hattie, disappeared.
Take a step back in time to the middle of the mid 20th century, as a magician and a private eye tackle the case of the missing magician. Marvel at lush pulp art visuals and an atmospheric soundtrack that harkens back to the golden days of the traveling circus! But never forget, there’s a murderous mystery afoot.
Passing By – A Tailwind Journey – £8.99
Take to the skies in your balloon ship and explore a colorful world of floating islands. Befriend fellow travelers and quirky islanders, use your wits to solve immersive puzzles, and gather resources to continue your journey towards an unknown destination.
Sushi Battle Rambunctiously – £17.09
‘Sushi Battle: Rambunctiously’ is a physics-based, four-player comic party game in which the winner must outmatch the other players.
Grab & throw the items around you and use the unique gimmicks in each stage to knock out the rival Shirimon and claim victory!
Monster Tribe puts you in the shoes of humanity’s last hope, a sage born with a natural connection to the Ateyan, capable of calling them forth from the void between the real world and the Rift. Set out across Akama, collect an army of Ateyan, train them, and unearth long-forgotten secrets. Why did Akama fall? What caused the Ateyan to disappear into the void? Can the rift be stopped?
Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator – £35.99
Garden Life is a relaxing gardening game in which you create your dream garden in a peaceful, colourful world. Plant and add ornaments at your own pace, transforming an overgrown forgotten plot into a flourishing community garden.
EMPTY SHELL will throw you in a dark industrial environment, a secret facility on a Japanese island in the middle of nowhere. Each volunteer has signed a contract for a “recovery operation” without being privy to too many details.
They said the facility had been abandoned for decades, but once in place it was immediately apparent that something was wrong.
Discover the dark secrets of the facility’s years of operation, up until the accident that led to the extreme consequences you are involved in.
Lawn Mowing Simulator – £15.99
Set in the heart of a quaint British countryside town, Lawn Mowing Simulator invites you to explore a variety of enchanting locales. Whether your contracts take you to residential streets bustling with life, charming cottage greens, historic castle grounds, or huge equestrian fields, each map poses a distinct challenge for your mowing prowess. Unleash your skills across these diverse landscapes, transforming them into manicured canvases with the rhythmic hum of your trusty mowing blades.
Welcome to a world where characters are so lazy, that even the player is unable to control them. Take matters into your own hands by controlling the environment instead, with the innovative gameplay mechanics!
Return to the style of Japanese fantasy platformers from the ’80s and ’90s as you take command of brave heroine Wisteria Asagiri on her quest to save Earth, the Higher Realm and the Under-Realms from the dark wizard Maskandes! Violet Wisteria is a side-scrolling action platformer with a unique tri-color attack system. Requiring quick judgment and precision, this system allows Wisteria to execute sword slashes and thrusts based on an enemy’s color, where only the correct attack will strike true.
Embark on an epic adventure that leads you through a beautiful isometric open world with detailed high-definition visuals. Rainbow Moon is a role-playing game with a strong emphasis on exploration, character development and turn-based battles. Customize 6 playable main characters with upgradeable weapons, armor and accessories. About 120 special skills and more than 20 challenging dungeons await in a fascinating story that lasts over 40 epic hours!
PJ Masks Power Heroes: Mighty Alliance – £34.99
Catboy, Owlette, and Gekko are teaming up with An Yu, Newton Star, Ice Cub, Lilyfay, and Bastet to form a Mighty Alliance.
After a big accident at PJ Power Q scatters technology and gems across Earth, these Power Heroes must rebuild it.
Run and gun through 7 levels of alien-infested mayhem to save mankind from annihilation!
Shoot enemies with powerful weapons, defeat colossal bosses, and even race to beat your best time in this nostalgic platform shooter. As a human soldier stationed on a military fort in outer space, you must answer the distress signal emanating from a nearby planet.
It’s time to channel your inner heroic retro game commando and obliterate the alien horde!
Cozy Hamlets is a cozy medieval town-builder without the stress of resource management or point scoring, just endless creativity allowing the creation of idyllic medieval towns through the games intuitive and user-friendly controls, offering the perfect escape into a world where tranquility reigns supreme.
Dreamland Solitaire: Dragon’s Fury – £5.39
When a dragon’s fire lights up the night sky and burns a lowly village to the ground, only one fairy can set things right. You must take the role of this enchanting creature as she completes quests in her search of why this tragedy occurred.
To complete your journey, you’ll need to clear the screen of various arrangements of cards by uncovering and playing cards that are one higher or lower than the card at the top of the deck.
Baron of Blood is a 2D pixelart platformer game in which you have to fight your way through numerous levels and defeat different monsters. Collect coins to buy powerful items that will help you in your adventure.
24 different levels in 5 different zones and boss fights await you and offer an exciting and varied gameplay. Hidden diamonds and various achievements will keep you busy even longer after you finish the game.
Finger Soccer League is a 3D soccer video game, played with bottle caps instead of people. Play offline turn based matches against the AI, or friends. Choose between different leagues to earn more money which will let you unlock new teams or new formations.
Death of a Wish is a vicious action-RPG where style is salvation.
Play as Christian as he unites with new comrades to challenge the cult that raised him. By taking down the four Sanctum Faiths: Father, Sister, Cardinal, and Priest, they will upend the order of the world.
Fight your way through a nightmare filled with horrifying monsters and terrifying people. Master brutal attacks and flashy combos as you struggle against the Corruption consuming you with style and grace. Shine your light in this surreal sea of darkness.
Explore ancient ruins, loot rare cards and employ clever combos to defeat your foes and build the legendary spell deck that could save the world. Embark on Dungeon Drafters, a mystery dungeon adventure unfolding in a realm where magic is cards, and cards are magic.
Lazriel: The Demon’s Fall – £9.10
“Lazriel: the Demon’s Fall” is a roguelike deckbuilding game with an added element of “the dark side.” Climb the tower and return to Heaven before you succumb to demon powers.
To survive in the demon world, the angel Lazriel must borrow demon powers from time to time. But be wary—overusing these evil powers may lead to her physical and mental decline. Can Lazriel truly persevere through the tower’s many trials and climb her way back to Heaven in one piece?
Tiny Tales: Heart of the Forest – £13.99
Welcome to the kingdom of Brie: the tiniest land in the world ruled by the mouse king Oliver. Hidden deep in the foliage of the forest, between the blades of grass and mushrooms, there’s a place where tiny people coexist with animals. Our little hero Max suddenly interrupts the search for his father when he is called home to help his mother save his childhood home. His only hope is to win a prize in a tournament, but as it turns out this is just the beginning of an epic adventure.
Can he become a champion of the kingdom and discover the reason for a deadly drought that endangers everyone? Help Max to unravel mysteries, find clues in hidden objects and defeat all puzzles that stand in his path. Follow the tiny man on an dangerous quest to discover a well-kept secret which, if revealed, could shake the very foundation of the kingdom of Brie. Become the hero and write your own chapter in Tiny Tales: Heart of the Forest.
Battle your way through a living planet in Rebel Transmute, a sprawling 2D action-exploration epic! Embody Moon Mikono as you explore, reprogram your abilities, duel twisted sci-fi experiments, rebel against colonizers, and search for your long lost mother.
In this modern metroidvania you play as Moon Mikono, a space scrapper turned adventurer on a mission to uncover the true fate of her missing mother.
EGGCONSOLE Ys II PC-8801mkIISR – £5.39
“Ys II,” an action RPG released by Nihon Falcom in 1988, with its catchphrase “From kindness to excitement.” Known for its well-crafted storyline, user-friendly game system, and refined sound, the game became a major hit. Even today, with new releases, the name “Ys” is familiar to many gaming enthusiasts.
Notable improvements include faster processing speed compared to the previous game, automatic position correction when entering doors, the use of kanji characters（続）
The Vale: Shadow of the Crown – £17.89
The Vale is an audio-based action adventure game that places you in the worn leather boots of a blind adventurer.
Sky Runners Infinite: Parkour – £12.99
Become a parkour prodigy, defying the tyrannical grip of the all-seeing Panopticon. Master gravity-defying moves, rock cutting-edge styles, and fuel your rebellion with powerful upgrades. Immerse yourself in stunning visuals, electrifying music, and a captivating story of freedom.
“Highwater is a whimsical, 3D adventure game with an isometric turn-based puzzle-combat system set in a flooded, post-apocalyptic world. Navigate by boat, discover islands, find new allies to help battle foes, and experience a humorous tale about friendship in this melancholic and atmospheric escape.
Amid the Great Climate Catastrophe, the flooded region of Hightower has become a kind of safe zone between the two dry regions: the nearly global ravaged land of the War Zone, and the fortified city of Alphaville, where the ultra-rich live behind giant walls.
With life on Earth becoming untenable for humans, and rumors of an escape to Mars floating around, Nikos begins a risky journey, picking up friends along the way. First to Hightower, then beyond to cross the impenetrable border of Alphaville, battling insurgents and stealing food along the way. Will Nikos and his friends manage to sneak onto the rocket in time?”
Next week: Princess Peach: Showtime, The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered, MLB The Show 24, Master Maker 3D Ultimate, Scott Whiskers in: the Search for Mr. Fumbleclaw, Krimson, Paper Dash – City Hustle, Flower Shop: Winter In Fairbrook, Attack of the Karens, and Animal Buddies – Party Beasts.