Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the Nintendo Switch Weekly Round-Up for the week ending November 23rd, 2024. A pretty rough week this time around, but I suppose that’s to be expected as we make our way into the last weeks of the year. Still, there are a few reasonably well-known games in the lot, and a few interesting oddballs. Let’s check out this week in the world of Switch!
Stray ($29.99)
Annapurna’s stylish tale of a stray cat exploring a very unusual city makes its way to the Switch with a clear but acceptable visual downgrade. This game got quite a lot of attention on other platforms, and if you haven’t had the chance to check it out elsewhere yet, you could certainly do that here. Be the cat. Knock stuff off high shelves. Cat stuff.
MySims: Cozy Bundle ($39.99)
I’ve been saying for years that EA should bring The Sims to the Switch, and… well, close enough. The MySims games were hybrids of The Sims and Animal Crossing aimed at the Nintendo audience. There are two here: MySims and MySims Kingdom, both ports of the Wii versions. These games certainly had their fans back in the day, and I’m sure they’ll pick up some new fans here.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure ($49.99)
Here’s the latest in the Life is Strange series, this time bringing back Max from the original game. Her friend has been murdered, and Max attempts to use the powers of time reversal to fix things. She instead ends up shifting into a parallel universe where her friend is alive, but still at risk. You’ll have to jump between realities to try to set things right for everyone. Opinions have run the gamut on this one, so it’s really hard to say how well you’ll like it.
Divine Dynamo Flamefrit ($6.99)
A person might be inclined to ask why such a nice-looking Inti-Creates game would debut at such a low price. Well, hypothetical person, I’ll be the one to satisfy your curiosity. Divine Dynamo Flamefrit is a pretty solid combination of top-down action and first-person mech battles. But it is quite short, and I suspect most will finish it in an evening. Is that bad? Well, I suppose it depends what you’re after. But that’s probably why it’s so affordable.
G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra ($24.99)
After the success of Shredder’s Revenge, pretty much every 1980s pop culture IP that could be made into a cartoony beat ‘em up has been pulled out of its grave and put into service. Here’s G.I. Joe’s take on the idea, and all things considered this isn’t the biggest stretch for the property. Choose from several Joes and battle the evil forces of Cobra to thwart their plot to steal the world’s landmarks. Yes, even that part was borrowed from TMNT. This isn’t a terribly good example of the genre, but it isn’t awful either. It’s not like G.I. Joe fans are feasting on video games these days, so it might be good enough.
Touhou Spell Carnival ($49.99)
Most of the Touhou games tend to mash up bullet hell with some other genre, and that’s the case here as well. This time, it’s a bullet hell strategy RPG. Alright. The familiar characters are here, and fans will likely enjoy what it has to offer. As Touhou Project games go, it’s not bad. Certainly unique, if nothing else.
Zero to Dance Hero ($49.99)
This is a fitness dancing game from the folks at Imagineer, who also developed the Fitness Boxing games. I’m sure it’s as well-made as it could be, but I can’t imagine any world where someone picks this over the similar Just Dance given that the latter has tons of recognizable tunes and this has nothing of the sort. Still, it’s here if you want it.
Shinjuku Soumei ($29.99)
A visual novel set in the slum of Kabukicho, it follows the life of a man who is immortal and unable to leave Shinjuku. An intriguing premise, but I’d caution against picking this game up. The localization is absolutely dreadful, and I would not be even remotely surprised to find out it was a machine translation. I feel if you’re charging this much for your visual novel, you can at least get a decent English script in there. Oh well.
Sanya ($14.99)
A little narrative adventure game set in a town in 1990s post-Soviet Russia. You play as a kid and are just hanging out enjoying your summer. Help people out, run around on fetch quests, and take care of a dog. It has a chill vibe to it, but for some reason decides to be a bad platformer at a certain point in the game. I could imagine some people getting a lot out of it, though.
Kuukiyomi 4: Consider It ($7.99)
The fourth in this wacky series about trying to find common sense in nonsensical situations really just offers up another plate of the same. You get one hundred new tests of your ability to consider others, each of which amounts to a micro-game where you have to manipulate whatever the red object or person is and find the right action. Kind of a variant on the Wario Ware idea. I’ve enjoyed this series so far, and I like this one too.
Spirit Mancer ($19.99)
This game combines action platforming with creature collecting and some light deckbuilding stuff. It’s fine. Not something you’ll run around telling everyone about after playing it, but you likely won’t have a terrible time with it. Some solid background music, I suppose. Not much more I can say about it.
Super Bunny Man ($14.99)
Sure, why not a co-op physics platformer about weird guys in bunny suits? Fifty levels. A party mode. It’s a thing you can play. It’s stupid, it’s funny, and it’s definitely best enjoyed with friends so that you can mess with each other along the way. If you’re in the right mood, you’ll really have a good time with this nonsense.
Arcade Archives Final Blow ($7.99)
This week’s Arcade Archives pick is Taito’s 1989 boxing game that is probably best known for its Genesis port under the name Buster Douglas Knock-Out Boxing. It’s more spectacle than anything else, and that spectacle is understandably less spectacular in the present day. It’s certainly a change of pace within the Arcade Archives line, but just be warned that it’s not and never has been anywhere near as good as Punch-Out.
EGGCONSOLE Guardic MSX ($6.49)
Ah, another EGGCONSOLE release that you can actually play without knowing Japanese. These are fairly uncommon. This is a single-screen shooter from Compile that has a slightly puzzle-ish component to its mechanics. If you remember The Guardian Legend on the NES, that was an in-name-only successor to this game. They aren’t similar games at all, but that’s fun trivia. Bust it out at parties to be the coolest person in the room.
Super Rolling Heroes Deluxe ($10.99)
You know, it’s one of those games where you’re rolling a ball through various courses. You’ve got sixty to get through here. You can customize your little ball hero’s look if you want. And you might as well. Adds a little needed texture to the whole thing. I’ve played better games like this, but I know some folks out there can’t get enough of them. Maybe that’s you?
Arida: Backland’s Awakening ($10.99)
This is a survival game set in the 19th century in the backlands of Brazil, which is a rather cool setting for this kind of thing. Gather your equipment, look for resources, craft things, and follow the story. It’s relatively short, and you probably shouldn’t expect too much depth from the survival mechanics. This has been out for a while on other platforms, and the general response has been lukewarm. But you know, not cold. So that’s something. Do what you will with it.
Servonauts ($14.99)
We don’t get as many Overcooked take-offs as we used to, so it’s nice to see one pop up. In this couch co-op game, you’re running a gas station. It’s not a normal gas station, because you actually have to make the requested gas. Which, you know, makes it work out a lot like Overcooked. Something to play with the friends or family on a gaming night, at least.
Loco Motive ($17.99)
This is a comedic point-and-click style adventure game where you have to solve a murder mystery on board a steam train. There are three playable characters, and you’ll have to swap between them to do what needs to be done. There are lots of strange characters to meet, and plenty of puzzles to solve. If you like this genre, you’ll probably have a great time with this excellent game. Very well done.
Eraser VS Ruler ($7.00)
Truly a battle for the ages. This is another SAT-BOX joint, but you can only play solo offline. Online, you can engage in battles between four players. That might be a bit more interesting. I don’t know, I bounced off this publisher’s games ages ago. I suppose I could see a kid having fun with the building aspect, at least.
Bridges & Docks ($4.99)
A chill game about building islands and decorating them. You’ll be given goals to complete, and as you do you’ll unlock more parts you can use on your island. I know, bridges and docks seem like a lot to ask for at five dollars. But it’s true, both are here.
Time Walker: Dark World ($6.99)
A fairly straightforward auto-battler roguelite, one that reminds me a bit of Battleheart. Remember Battleheart? There was that Guardians of the Galaxy game that just slapped a skin on Battleheart that was only around for a few months, too. Anyway, this isn’t as good as Battleheart. But it’s not bad on the whole. There’s a demo so you can give it a shot and see for yourself how much you like it.
Idle Devils ($11.99)
If you’re up for an idle game, here’s one of those. A bit lewd, so make your own call on that. I know I’m saying this a lot today, but this is neither particularly good nor particularly bad. Surely there are better things to spend your money and time on than something that gets only a shrug from the ol’ Shaunster? Well, do as you will.
Ichima-san ($10.99)
This is… pretty nifty. You’ve been transformed into a traditional Japanese doll and need to explore the house to try to find a way to turn back. You need to be careful around humans, because they will freak out if they see you. A little stealth, a few supernatural tricks, and a lot of wandering around checking things out. There’s a whiff of Chibi Robo to this, albeit through a very different lens.
Samuza ($9.99)
Some kind of weird platformer. You can play with another person in a split-screen mode. It has weird physics and likes to throw out obstacles that could have been pulled from that TV show Wipeout. Not the awesome Psygnosis game Wipeout. Rail guns and platforming are rare bedfellows.
That’s all for this week, friends. We’ll be back next Saturday with another Round-Up as we finish out November. We might see a few more decent games next week, but most of the heavy ammo has been spent for this year. As ever, I will plug both my Patreon (where you can find lots of cool exclusive articles) and my Ko-Fi (tips help me run this blog). There, plugged. I hope you have a super Saturday, and as always, thanks for reading!
