A competent and authentic 8-bit experience, A Hole New World will be enjoyed by many a retro fan out there, but the some of its mechanical elements are faithful almost to its detriment. Travelling between the dual worlds is cool, but utilised without much ambition or variety. While certainly not a bad game, the methods employed to enforce difficulty feel cheap and frustrating, rather than motivating or rewarding. A few of the bosses are visually impressive, but there isn't much here structurally or gameplay wise that particularly stand out . If you're looking for another title with more nostalgia and 'traditional' challenge rather than sadistic, fast-paced, twitch-based platformers, then A Hole New World is an adequate game that will bring back many memories of the 8-bit era, for better or worse.
Mom Hid My Game is as easy to adore as it is to dismiss.
Frederic: Resurrection Of Music has plenty of personality to its name, even though the lack of content stops it from being the headline act when compered to other genre titles on the eShop. Still, seeing maestro Chopin coming back with a magical piano to play remixes of his own work and battle against rapper gangsters is certainly an interesting angle. The overall presentation visually is decent, even if the voice acted cutscenes are cheesy and overly long. An intriguing curio that simply needs more content considering the asking price.
There's a decent amount of fun to be had with Earth Wars before a degree of monotony sets in. What starts out as a pretty slick, if straightforward 2D side-scrolling brawler fleshed out by a huge wealth of loot to gather, weapons to customise and skill stats to unlock, It never moves the needle far enough in either variety or innovation to truly hold interest for extended periods. Sure, there's just enough nuance in the combat and giant bosses to slay to you keep coming back, but the uninspired missions and derivative characters never let it realise its full potential.
Frederic: Evil Strikes Back is a pretty 'by the numbers' sequel, and despite the (still quite low) track list being superior to the first, the characters, dialogue and presentation niggles still remain. There's plenty of personality to the tracks, and seeing Chopin go up against stadium rockers is strange yet amusing, but the satire and parodies from the first game miss the mark more often than not this time round. The visuals are still bold, and you'll have an enjoyable experience if you can overcome its shortcomings. While Deemo and even VOEZ are still the best of the genre on Nintendo Switch, Frederick: Evil Strikes Back's mix of interesting reinterpretations of classical compositions and sometimes charming art style are still worth a go.
Zotrix: Solar Division looks basic, even archaic, compared to recent offerings, but there's something oddly compelling about watching the events unfold - especially if you get the balance of difficulty, speed and resource management tuned to your liking.
There is no shortage of quality games to play - covering a wide range of genres, styles and just about any other criteria you could ask for - in the Switch eShop library. Red Game Without a Great Name ends up being disappointing, then, as you'll likely become frustrated with its occasionally inconsistent touch-based controls, along with its initially cool but repetitive mechanic and devilish level design. It attempts to hide its flaws behind some stylish yet derivative silhouette designs and some pretty cool jazz tunes. In the end, though, we have an average game with a bad name.
When all is said and done, when the glow of the stylish aesthetic and the intrigue of the Cyberpunk Orwellian narrative have fizzled out, Neon Chrome emerges as an average, sometimes fun but more often than not generic twin-stick rogue-like with a Sci-Fi coat of paint; it rarely lives up to its explosive promise or explores its thematic potential in any meaningful way. It could be argued that the genre is solely about the mechanics, but with a neglected back story failing to compliment the reasonable if hardly revolutionary gameplay, it's difficult not to feel a little flat about the experience on offer.
For all the intriguing set up, interesting art style and great - if limited - music, Green Game: TimeSwapper falls flat in the gameplay department. The tagline of manipulating time is as misleading as it is frustrating. There is a cute little puzzle game in here, but with unintuitive controls along with some bland and frustrating level design, the game is quickly reduced to a pretty average experience that fulfils neither its promise nor potential. You'll never really feel like a 'master of time'; it's more a mix of stumbling through level after level or - if you're a completionist - probably enduring some serious frustration before you 100% each stage. It's a port that is another case of style over substance.
However you end up playing Ninja Shodown, it's unlikely that it will hold attention for more than a handful of rounds. The core mechanics are solid, the action is relatively fast and fun - especially in four player mode on a big screen - and it can be rather entertaining. However, the difficulty spikes and lack of depth in single player, coupled with the lack of modes, no online and minimal options in multiplayer, ultimately make the game little more than a brief but fun time filler. It's becoming more and more apparent that party games like this need more meat on the proverbial bone to stand out, and in this respect Ninja Shodown struggles to make its mark.
Even with extra content and performance enhancements, a frustratingly limited camera and lack of variety reduce Woodle to a cheap and cheerful but flawed and basic 3D jump and collect-athon. While its cute and whimsical charm and uncomplicated nature make it suitable and accessible to younger audiences, there are still plenty of contemporaries on the eShop that are more accomplished and polished. While adequate considering its price, it's nonetheless an idyllic yet simple little game.
Overwhelming for newcomers and probably too generic for genre aficionados, Touhou Gensou Wanderer Reloaded is difficult to recommend to all but die-hard series fans. The beautiful hand-drawn presentation and high production values are hindered severely by a contrived and intrusive interface, unimportant dialogue with very little character development and derivative mechanics. It certainly looks the part, but there are more fun and interesting adventure roguelikes such as Crypt Of The Necrodancer on the eShop right now.
If Space Invaders floats your intergalactic boat, Super Destronaut DX will definitely scratch your itch and the attempts to nudge and wink its way through your fond memories of neon lights and electro tunes are admirable. However, unless you're a high score hunter or a multiplier maniac who has had their fill of more interesting shooters or music-based games on the system like Just Shapes And Beats or Lumines Remastered, Super Destronaut DX will end up being a brief time killer, but not much else.
To the uninitiated, it may kill an adequate amount of time due to its familiarity and the Nintendo Switch's local multiplayer-focused hardware, but any redemption 2048 has over its predecessor in terms of actual fun is eradicated due to the general production values and quality of its presentation. While the derivative tile puzzle gameplay is solid if unspectacular, dragging and dropping all of the avatars, skins and menus across from SPEED gives a good idea of the quality on offer in presentation. The merits of the Switch hardware with this format also can't rectify the lack of modes, slapdash interface or general lack of imagination on display - a disappointing title all around.
Cute visuals can't prevent Maria the Witch from being anything other than an incredibly lazy port of an already mediocre and generic mobile clone. A derivative, boring and regularly frustrating experience that has had no care applied in bringing it to Nintendo Switch. The laborious gameplay and obtuse controls, combined with bland, uninspired level design and by-the-numbers progression, reduce it to being one of the most disposable titles on the system. Don't let the admittedly pleasant art style fool you - Maria the Witch really isn't worth taking for a spin.