Nintendo’s big winter release, Mario & Luigi: Brothership, is barely a week away. If you’re looking for something to play in the meantime, this week’s assortment of new Switch eShop releases has you covered.
Just in time for Halloween, there’s the reasonably priced (£19.99) Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered, which includes new skins and a New Game+ mode. This hellish and twisted third-person shooter was originally published by EA and went on to become a cult classic. We recall it being surprisingly amusing, although there were signs of a rushed development. If reviews are to go by, such as Nintendo Life’s 6/10, this remaster hasn’t had a great amount of polish.
Another re-release due is WayForward’s Clock Tower: Rewind, based on a Japan only SNES survival horror adventure – which went on to become a series. WayForward has added an animated intro, comic cut-scenes, vocal theme songs, an art gallery, a music player, and save states. An interview with the creators also features.
Other horror titles include Poppy Playtime 2 & 3, and Self-Delusion – a first person affair based on Slavic fairy tales, featuring different endings. Even the youngsters aren’t without something spooky, with the toy line tie-in Monster High Skulltimate Secrets also due.
One of the bigger releases is Farmagia, a full price (£44.99) farming RPG with monster battling and artwork by renowned Manga artist Hiro Mashima. Here, your weapons are the monsters grown on your farm – which must be trained at your ranch. Ultimate Monsters can be gained by befriending elemental spirits, joining your fight against the overlord Glaza. Visually it appears very bright and vibrant.
The S.T.A.L.K.E.R back catalogue is also Switch bound, with Shadow of Chornobyl, Clear Sky, and Call of Prypiat available individually for £15.99. These first-person shooters were well received on PC back in 2007-2009, going on to sell over 15m units combined.
Then there’s Monospaced Lovers, a 2D platformer with visual novel elements set in a hand painted world about to disintegrate. The developers have seen fit to include bullet hell and Metroidvania elements too. Despite having a few inspirations, it’s looking unique overall.
On the subject of bullet hell, the Switch also gains the twin-sticker shooter spin-off Raiden NOVA, and the 2-in-1 pack Wolf Fang / Skull Fang Saturn Tribute Boosted – which has a bunch of improvements over the SEGA Saturn originals such as a rewind tool and simplified commands.
We’ve reviewed a trio of this week’s new releases, albeit on different systems. The Legend of Santa takes the form of a Super Mario Bros. 3 inspired platformer, and while well-meaning, it’s over before it gets going. Gladiator’s Arena gained a thumbs down too, being a very basic take on the Vampire Survivors genre. Police Simulator: Patrol Officers isn’t too bad, though it is rather pedestrian. Rather than high speed chases and bank robberies, it entails placing tickets on illegally parked cars and handing out tickets for littering, jaywalking, and drinking in public. Trying to figure out who’s to blame in RTCs is as exciting as it gets.
Other releases for this week include the new NeoGeo scrolling brawler Vengeance Hunters, a re-release of the 2002 GBA platformer Aero The Acro-Bat: Rascal Rival Revenge, and Kairosoft’s superhero management sim Legends of Heropolis DX. Vampire Hunters should be out too, being a first-person Vampire Survivors alike in which your chosen character carries multiple auto-firing weapons at once. The PS1 aesthetic should help it run smoothly on Switch.
New Switch eShop releases
Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered – £19.99
Kick some demon tail as Garcia Hotspur on one devil of a ride. The flames of hell will feel frigid compared to the hot-blooded Garcia on his quest to get his girl back from the Lord of the Underworld.
– A hot-blooded, hellishly twisted, feverishly filthy, love and hate filled road trip
Join the crass Garcia Hotspur and his boney buddy, Johnson, as they traverse the depths of the Underworld to steal back Garcia’s kidnapped lover, Paula, from the clutches of Fleming, the Lord of the Underworld. Let the soul of rock ‘n’ roll run loose in the heart of the twisted hellscape that is the Underworld.
Marvelous and Hiro Mashima team up to present a brand-new adventure full of frantic monster combat and rewarding farming simulation. After the death of Felicidad’s ruler, the despotic overlord Glaza seizes power and imposes an oppressive regime on the world’s inhabitants. As Ten and his fellow Farmagia friends, command an army of monsters as you explore and battle across the treacherous lands of the Underworld, collecting resources to take back to your farm. There you’ll upgrade your skills as a Farmagia, growing more monsters to nurture, and developing their new traits to aid your battle against Glaza and the Oración Seis.
With his signature style, Hiro Mashima brings forth memorable character designs and unique monsters to make Farmagia the ultimate monster-farming and action game!
The legendary vertical scrolling shooter “Raiden” is reborn as a thrilling twin-stick 2D shooter! Freely aim and shoot with dual sticks, dodging bullets from every direction.
Level up to unlock a variety of weapons and enhancements, and upgrade your ship to fight your way through epic battles.
Turn back the clock for one of the pioneers of the survival-horror genre. Translated and released outside of Japan for the first time, Clock Tower: Rewind is a revival of the terror-inducing 16-bit classic that dares you to explore the haunting confines of the Barrows family manor. As teenage orphan Jennifer, you must search every disturbing corner to find items, reveal secrets, and discover ways to evade Scissorman, a murderous, unstoppable, shears-wielding psychopath.
Play Original mode to experience Clock Tower as it was when initially released in 1995, or play Rewind mode with extra content and improvements. Additional features include a new animated intro, opening and ending vocal theme songs, motion comics, creator interview, art gallery, border artwork, save states, and a music player. The clock is ticking…can you survive?
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chornobyl – £15.99
Begin your journey by immersing yourself in the Shadow of Chornobyl, that has started it all. Continue the saga with the Clear Sky prequel to the story. Finally, experience the ultimate stalker adventure as you answer the Call of Prypiat.
The Zone, a place full of unfathomable wonders and sinister threats – former exclusion territory near the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. This most dangerous place on Earth became even more mysterious after an obscure accident in 2006. Anomalies with precious artifacts, starving mutants and greedy thugs have flooded these lands along with stalkers searching for a new life and ways to get rich… Feel as one of them in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chornobyl!
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky – £15.99
Begin your journey by immersing yourself in the Shadow of Chornobyl, that has started it all. Continue the saga with the Clear Sky prequel to the story. Finally, experience the ultimate stalker adventure as you answer the Call of Prypiat.
Great Emission, the biggest anomalous energy blowout from the time of the Second Incident at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, has shaken the world again and reshaped the Zone. To investigate its cause and prevent future cataclysms is your only chance to survive in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Prypiat – £15.99
Begin your journey by immersing yourself in the Shadow of Chornobyl, that has started it all. Continue the saga with the Clear Sky prequel to the story. Finally, experience the ultimate stalker adventure as you answer the Call of Prypiat.
A military expedition to the center of the Zone has mysteriously disappeared. To figure out the reason and status of the personnel is your task as Major Degtyarev, a Security Service of Ukraine operative in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Prypiat.
Journey through a metafictional, fantasy-filled land and find the truth of your fragile world before it disintegrates.
Monospaced Lovers is a semi-hardcore platform-adventure game that defies the traditional Metroidvania formula. The game features exploration-driven quests and puzzles reminiscent of the old-school classics, combined with a visual novel-inspired storyline that’s equal parts emotional and philosophical.
The game strives to be original — a novel experience that’s more than just a mashup of two existing genres.
Monster High Skulltimate Secrets – £34.99
It’s your first day at Monster High™, where all monsters are welcome… but some strange events are happening.
Create your unique character and investigate the scare-ific mystery of the hidden rooms. With the Boo Crew, you can reveal the skulltimate secrets of Monster High™.
Totally Spies! – Cyber Mission – £34.99
The dazzling trio from Beverly Hills—Sam, Clover, and Alex— is back and they are ready to light up the vibrant streets of Singapore with their spy skills! From the bustling streets to Aiya University, embark on an action-packed adventure as you explore all the futuristic spots of the town.
But buckle up! As the Spies settle into their new lives, a mysterious menace has emerged to spread chaos and is extending its influence, weaving its presence through the city streets.
WolfFang 空牙2001 SkullFang 空牙外伝 Saturn Tribute Boosted – £26.99
Data East’s sci-fi shooting game ‘Fang’ series is now available as a 2-in-1 title!
In addition to the original arcade version and the Saturn version’s arranged BGM, this release features newly created ‘Boosted’ arrangements. Play the game with your favorite soundtrack.
Even if you make a mistake, you can go back and retry with the ‘Rewind’ feature or use the ‘Save & Load’ function.
In ‘Wolf Fang’, you can change the color of your mech, strengthen its armor, and increase the gauge recovery speed.
In ‘Skull Fang’, offers infinite continues, simplified commands for special maneuvers, and the ability to change screen orientation and size.
Poppy Playtime: Chapter 2 – £8.09
After a run in with Huggy Wuggy and freeing Poppy, you must descend deeper into the Playtime Co. toy factory. Challenging puzzles and horrific toys await. Grapple, swing, and power your way to safety. Try to escape- and don’t let Mommy find you.
Continue to explore the depths of Playtime Co. in search of answers. Your journey to discover what has happened within the factory is just beginning…
Poppy Playtime: Chapter 3 – £12.19
A decrepit orphanage known as Playcare sits beneath the once magical toy factory. You must make your way through this haunted place, solving new puzzles and avoiding the nightmares that lurk within the dark. Answers lie between the blood-stained bed sheets and screaming echoes… If you can survive.
This is Poppy Playtime’s biggest and most terrifying chapter yet. More lies ahead than you might expect…
The vast corridors you explore change shape every time you play.
You are always lost. But that’s what makes it super fun!
Adapt to the ever-changing situation and aim for the goal!
The number of randomly generated maps in the game is much larger than in the previous game!
Self-Delusion is a first-person survival horror in the original setting of Slavic fairy tales. You will faces such unique monsters like: Kolobok, Leshy, Boggart, Lapot and other creepy creatures. Explore, hide or run. Just don’t get devoured by them.
A motorcycle deliveryman. That’s you.
One rainy day, you are hit by a car while on a delivery and meet Juhee.
As a result of this encounter, you get to work at Juhee’s cafe.
While working at the cafe, you meet a girl named “Latte” and she seems to be a very interesting person.
Can you shed off your loser life and succeed in making a girlfriend?
Legends of Heropolis DX – £10.79
The town of Heropolis has been destroyed! Can you rebuild it to be the center of justice once more?
Grow your heroes, gather your friends, and battle evil in this superhero simulation game.
In a town devastated by the nefarious Evilcorp, all hope seems lost… yet the flames of justice aren’t so easily quenched. One gallant hero won’t rest until their town is restored to its former glory.
Construct a secret base, gather heroes from far and wide, and bring peace back to Heropolis!
Do you dare to face the greatness of the Gladiator’s Arena? We present to you the ultimate action and strategy game: Gladiator’s Arena! Get ready to immerse yourself in an epic world, where you will take on the role of a gladiator warrior destined to defeat wild beasts and ruthless warriors in the majestic Colosseum.
Restore broken porcelain and reveal hidden magic in Magic Cats Pots puzzles!
Step into the magical world of Magic Cats Pots and breathe new life into old treasures!
Astral Flux is an action-platformer with roguelite elements. Join two scrappers who are lost in space and find themselves caught up in an intergalactic mystery. Traverse hostile alien planets, discover dark secrets, and face powerful foes in combat. Death is inevitable, but it’s only the beginning. Carve a new path forward using the knowledge from your previous attempts. You’ll need to sharpen your skills to unravel this mystery.
In WORMHOLE, you’re a giant space worm eating, shooting, dashing, and exploding your way through the cosmos. Warp through wormholes to navigate obstacles, refill your energy, and quickly find your next meal. This adrenaline-fuelled arcade action game features galaxies to consume, a stackable perk system, worms with cowboy hats, and a spooky chiptune soundtrack ripped straight from Dracula’s tape deck.
Schrodingers Cat And The Raiders Of The Lost Quark – £22.99
Schrödinger’s Cat is a fun, frantic, wacky and colourful puzzle-laden platform game, set in a unique and quirky quantum physics world.
There’s chaos at the Particle Zoo! What used to be a cheery theme-park environment is now overrun with hungry leptons, sticky-fingered gluons and massive, stubborn bosons. The Zoo is put on lockdown, and the emergency services are called in to sort everything out. Those emergency services? Schrödinger’s Cat, of course!
Combine and create useful bits of temporary matter – copters, drills, bubbles and grenades – to combat and subdue all the subatomic critters running amok, and help Schrödinger’s Cat work out how they all got out of their cages in the first place.
Backrooms: Partygoers – £11.99
Backrooms: Partygoers is a horror survival game where you play as a researcher tasked to find anomalies inside the horrifying alternate dimension known as The Backrooms.
Scavenge for water and other supplies from dead bodies stuck in The Backrooms as you try to escape sharing their fate. Hide in lockers, scan for targets, use a flashlight, and detect creatures using the Anomaly Scanner.
Will you be able to get out alive, or will you forever be trapped in the Backrooms?
Police Simulator: Patrol Officers: Nintendo Switch™ Edition – £26.99
Go on patrol and begin your shift by issuing tickets, but be ready to handle all kinds of violations including accidents that can happen right in front of your eyes! Many different duties are waiting to be encountered in this living and breathing city. Stop drug deals from taking place in the local park, chase graffiti sprayers illegally tagging walls, stop speeding cars with your police siren, and even set up road barriers and cones around traffic accidents. Be prepared for anything – from minor incidents like a car blocking a bus stop to having to apprehend suspects and taking them to the holding cells. Your duties are your responsibility!
Cell Scientist: Beyond – £5.39
Save a sci-fi world from the dangerous Chaga virus in Cell Scientists: Beyond, an exciting puzzle game with 50 levels story mode and easy to pick gameplay mechanics. Embark on an adventure to destroy viruses using futuristics nano ships and help the patients. Save the day using your puzzle-solving skills!
Keeper’s Toll places a heavy focus on slow-paced, skill-based gameplay with ARPG elements. Each run allows you to study your enemies and hone your skills while progressing through the main quest. Once you have mastered the basics, Keeper’s Toll introduces unique enemy archetypes, intricate bosses, and fresh mechanics that will challenge any worthy hero.
Christmas is just a few days away… and while Santa is out on a trial run in his sleigh, the evil South Pole Troll and his army of Penguins invade the North Pole! On the way back to his workshop, Santa is blasted out of the sky by one of his very own North Pole defense cannons. Now he must find his way back home, defeat the Troll, and save Christmas!
Slide across frozen lakes and gather stars in a chill puzzle adventure where you take the role of a young ice skater! Skater’s Solstice is a top-down brainteasing game with a wintry theme and crisp HD visuals where you’ll need to overcome 50 stages of gradually increasing complexity to achieve ice skating mastery. Each stage contains 3 stars and a glimmering exit.
The Beast Inside is a unique, gripping twist on thriller and survival horror. The game mixes intriguing story-driven adventure with an unnerving survival horror experience. Immerse in the tale of long-buried secrets, personal tragedies, and madness. Play as two protagonists living in different centuries but bounded by dark heritage.
Begin your journey as… a cursor? Your job is to find Skye, the bunny! But there seems to be some kind of strange entity inside the computer that doesn’t want you to leave… can you complete your task and survive?
Shanghai Mahjong Solitaire Deluxe – £6.99
Shanghai Mahjong Solitaire Deluxe: Card Game is a fun and easy-to-learn, addicting puzzle game! Rediscover the classic Mahjong Solitaire and embark on a brain-boosting adventure!
Space Planet Invader – Cosmic Power – £7.99
“Space Planet Invader – Cosmic Power” is a thrilling space shooter that catapults you into an intergalactic battle for survival. Take command of your own spacecraft, complete with unique characteristics, and embark on a quest to find the perfect planet to establish your base. As you progress, you’ll upgrade your base and construct vital defenses like protective turrets, towering walls, and essential infrastructure buildings.
Aero The Acro-Bat: Rascal Rival Revenge – £5.99
The 2002 remake of Aero the Acro-Bat is back and better than ever!
This remake includes improved sprites, modified stages and skills, as well as a whole new comic-style introduction scene.
The powerful and eccentric industrialist Edgar Ektor has sworn to destroy the world of amusement as revenge for being banished from the circus when he was a kid after one of his pranks went too far and almost killed a circus animal. He started by invading a local circus with his gang of mad clowns and kidnapping all the circus staff to spoil the show.
Now it’s up to Aero the Acro-Bat, the circus’s star performer, to rescue his friends and girlfriend Ariel, and put a stop to Edgar Ektor’s mad plans so everyone can enjoy the show again!
CAFE 0 ~The Sleeping Beast~ REMASTERED – £17.99
The story starts in a village with an atmosphere akin to Europe in the 19th century.
There is a big noble villa where Corliss Green is working.
One day she wakes up and finds herself in front of a weird café.
Noir, the waiter, tells her that she has already died, but failed to go to heaven and, as a lost spirit, she ended up at the entrance to Café 0.
He later gave Corliss a chance to return to a week before she died.
But does she really need to go to heaven?
And what is the truth behind her untimely death?
Skater Bunny Simulator – £7.99
Bunny Skater is a vibrant and thrilling skateboarding simulator where you control not just any character, but a stylish and daring bunny. With intuitive dual stick controls, you’ll feel like a real skateboarder. Practice managing the bunny’s movements and weight to master the nuances of virtual skateboarding, while realistic and smooth physics make the riding process engaging and believable.
VENGEANCE HUNTERS is an original NeoGeo title created for modern gamers.
Its combat systems and gameplay are designed to celebrate the fun of classic arcade Beat-Em-Ups with an added flare, attention to detail, and complexity that dares players prove their skill and best FIVE unique Boss encounters.
Happy HUNTING!!!
Next week: Mario & Luigi: Brothership, Metal Slug Tactics, River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next, The Alchemist of Ars Magna, Angel at Dusk, Virche Evermore -EpiC: Lycoris, MIYAMOTO, Magical Bakery, Tinkertown, Let’s Sing 2025 with UK Hits, Monarchy, O.W.L Projekt, Bioframe Outpost, Blackout: The Darkest Night, Candivity, and Jetpack Kiwi.