#nintendo switch
#nintendo switch
by Amr (@siegarettes)
The island of Pipe Push Paradise has an infrastructure problem. They have a single plumber, and he’s been asleep for about a week. And of course every pipe seems to have come undone since then. That’s where I enter, on a lonely sailboat, coming to fix the plumbing problems of a town that seems almost indifferent to my existence.
Out of sheer indignance and stubbornness I’d like to say that I’ll complete all of Pipe Push Paradise’s puzzles. But sometimes you’ve got admit when you’re over your head, and I am waaaaay over my head with these problems. The flat shaded, Golden Books-esque aesthetic might seem inviting, but it quickly became clear that this island’s plumbing problems are mind bending nightmares.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
Good hand drawn art always gets to me. Despite how impressive games look now, with all the variety of art styles, there’s a certain warmth to hand drawn art and the effort put into them that never fails to charm me. Nairi: Tower of Shirin is one of those charming entries, and it takes full advantage of that warmth with a strong storybook vibe.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
Born of a daughter’s request to have a version of Ghosts ‘N Goblins with a playable girl, Battle Princess Madelyn carries both the spirit of that childhood desire and the series it pays homage to. This results in a game that both challenged and charmed me, bringing spooky character designs with a sense of cuteness, alongside familiar chaotic action.
It leaves a good first impression. I was drawn into the world and simple joy of warding of the assault of the undead. Changing the damsel into a pup that needed to be avenged (and watches over you as a spirit) was a cute, if sad, touch. But as I went on it slowly dawned on me that it wasn’t the game I wanted. The levels were unfocused, too often full of sprawling areas that felt barren and tedious to navigate. Alternate paths and secret areas seemed promising but often led to…dead ends? Or side quests with no tangible reward.
I felt pretty down on it. Until I was met with the realization that Battle Princess Madelyn was actually two totally different games.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
Marble It Up! is at once familiar and strange. It’s a ball rolling puzzle platformer that alternates between open ended puzzle levels and fast paced time trials. While it might initially bring to mind to mind SEGA’s Monkey Ball series, it follows directly from the Marble Blast series, a PC series which shares some developers with Marble It Up! The devs’ experience comes through here, making it clear they know how to make a good momentum based platformer.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
In terms of shooter homage, Super Hydorah is definitely one of the top players. Its blend of arcade influences and tributes to games like Gradius, R-Type and Turrican is as meticulous as it was in the original Hydorah release, and it continues play as well after its move to the Switch. What’s new in the Switch version is the addition of some quality of life features, like boss health bars, and the Rookie Pilot difficulty mode (both of which have been patched into the PC version now). These are small changes, but they make a huge difference in enjoying Super Hydorah.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
Modeled in the style of a board game, Lightfingers is a party heist game that plays out like a living diorama. Players take turns rolling dice, moving around a board, and strategically playing cards on their way to be the first to get away with four bags of loot. As they perform heists they draw unwanted attention from guards and will have to duck them or stash it away before their inevitable capture to avoid losing it.
What’s striking is how well the materials of the game are well realized. There’s a physicality to the board and all the playing pieces. Characters feel like living miniatures, and a wonderful little mechanical action precedes movement as a tiny arm lifts, moves, and flips tiles of the board as they’re uncovered. When the game moves from its turn based back and forth to the heist action sequences, everyone comes together to interact with its playset style environments. The attacking player controls their character, while everyone else pulls and turns plungers and cranks to operate the deathtraps of each secure location.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
With a focus on momentum and aerial combat, Speed Brawl brings one of the best feeling combat systems of modern memory. It combines elements from popular time trial platformers alongside mechanics of tag based fighting games like Marvel Vs. Capcom to create a brawler with a wide range of expressive tools to master. It brings together the need to shave off seconds to get that gold ranking, and the desire to build even more elaborate combos in training mode. All of this is wrapped up in fantastic and varied character designs, each with their own distinct playstyle and synergies.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
Shooters live on spectacle. A good shooter can get by on satisfying gunplay, but an exceptional one often enhances it with strong aesthetics and world design. Aesthetically, Shikhondo has it nailed. Its detailed, illustrated style evokes both modern anime and traditional Japanese ink paintings, with subtle animated touches. The animation itself uses popular paper doll style techniques, with small distortions to the illustrations to give them a bit more life. It’s an impressive look, and even the UI feels stylish. But even with this close attention to the art direction, Shikhondo has some major inconsistencies, which damage both the art and its readability as a game.
