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SwitchArcade Roundup: ‘Sonic Mania Plus’, ‘Flashback 25th Anniversary’, ‘Vostok Inc.’ Demo, and Tons of Sales

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Welcome to the latest SwitchArcade Roundup! I’m warning you, there’s about to be some Sonic fanboying happening, so for that I apologize. As well, with no new releases here on March 19th, we’re running down a bunch of games on sale that you should consider, including the dual-stick clicker Vostok Inc. Browse those sales and choose wisely, because this is gonna be yet another busy week full of releases, folks.

News

Sega announces Sonic Mania Plus

Sega announced at an SXSW panel the upcoming Sonic Mania Plus, releasing in this summer. This is an expanded edition of the game, with an Encore mode with some tweaked level design, a new four-player competition mode, and two new characters: Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel. Both characters originally appeared in the arcade game SegaSonic the Hedgehog, and poor Ray has been relegated to the sidelines for a long time while Mighty at least got a role in Knuckles Chaotix.

Part of the deal is that this is also a physical release for Sonic Mania, and it is kind of a bum deal for people who bought the Collector’s Edition, which didn’t come with a physical copy of the game. Now, collectors and Sonic mega-fans will have to buy a new copy of the game separately to keep up their Sonic fix. This doesn’t really bother me, a Sonic mega-fan, though, because I’m planning on buying the game for the Switch, when I already own it on PS4 (because of the PC version delay on the Collector’s Edition, I bought it and used it on the office’s PS4), and on PC. Now I get to kill two robots in one jump: I get the game on Switch, and I get the new content. Huzzah! Plus, I love Sonic Mania enough that I don’t mind throwing a few bucks more at Sega to support my crippling classic Sonic addiction.

Hopefully we get more exploration of 2D Sonic in the coming years. I’d love to see Christian Whitehead, Headcannon, and PagodaWest get to make an all-original Sonic game rather than paying homage to certain levels. They absolutely proved they can handle it. What’s cool is that the team that did the animated intro for Sonic Mania is getting to show off its talents even further with Sonic Mania Adventures, with five short episodes premiering on the internet this year:

Also, Sega’s teasing a new Sonic racing game, and I’m sure that’ll be fine.

Rocket League Spring Fever event starts today

Psyonix just added a whole bunch of new items to their famed car-soccer game. Starting today and running through April 9th, you can unlock all sorts of new cosmetic items, many with a spring theme, including flowers and butterflies popping out of the goal when you score. There’s also donut wheels. Homer Simpson approves.

Flashback 25th Anniversary coming to Switch

Microids is releasing Flashback on the Switch in June, and the game is getting a physical release with an awesome SNES cart case. However, it appears that for now, Microids is only releasing this physical version in Europe and Australia, so North American gamers are gonna have to import or hope a publisher picks this one up. Flashback appears to be based on the 1993 original, just with some modern flourishes, and isn’t the remake from earlier this decade.

Sales

Time Recoil ($9.37 from $13.99 until March 21st)

If you just picked up 10tons’ Tesla vs. Lovecraft and want some more dual-stick shooting action from them, you can pick this one up for 25% off. You have to save the world from Mr. Time by using your own time manipulation to take out enemies. Every kill you get allows you to slow time even more, so you can get the upper hand on your foes. There’s also a Time Attack mode! Hah! 10tons makes some fun dual-stick shooters, so check this one out if you enjoy the genre, or one of their other titles.

Vostok Inc. ($11.99 from $14.99 until April 4th, demo available)

If you like the idea behind the progression system of idle games, but hate that the gameplay is about as minimal as humanly possible, then Vostok Inc. is for you. You go around the galaxy, setting up mining operations on planets, and destroying asteroids, all in the name of collecting as much Moolah as humanly possible. All the while, enemies will try to destroy you, because space capitalism is a dangerous business. This one fires off all the pleasure receptors that clicker games fire off, and can be a way to spend a lot of time at once! The demo is quite generous as to how much time you get, so check it out before you purchase this.

League of Evil ($6.39 from $7.99 until April 1st, includes demo)

The other day, I wished that Ravenous Games’ League of Evil was on Switch. Well, folks, apparently it was on the Switch the whole time, and it’s on sale for a buck and change off! This game was a lot of fun back in the day on mobile, and playing it again with a real controller this time should prove to be another great experience, especially if you love the trial platformer genre.

Bleed ($8.99 from $11.99 until March 29th)

The Digerati-published Bleed 2 is out now on the Switch, but if you played that and enjoyed it, want to go back and check the original, or play the original before the sequel, then you can do so for three bucks off. Maybe you just like fast-paced, action-packed, record-chasing, pink-haired action-platformers and just want to buy it regardless of whether you own another game in that category! I’m not here to judge your tastes. I’m here to inform. I liked this one on Steam, you should have some fun with this on your Switch.

Violett ($2.99 from $9.99 until March 29th
Sparkle 2 EVO ($1.24 from $4.99 until March 29th)
Frederic: Resurrection of Music ($2.99 from $5.99 until March 22nd)

These titles are all worth noting together because if you buy one, then you get discounts on other games from Forever Entertainment, ranging from 20 to 50%. So if you want to enjoy some rebellious point-and-click adventuring in Violett, active evolution in Sparkle 2 EVO, or literal music battles in Frederic, you can save some more money if you buy ’em all. Though even without those further discounts, these are all some steep bargains on this trio of games.

I Am Setsuna ($19.99 from $39.99 until March 22nd)
Lost Sphear ($34.99 from $49.99 until March 22nd, demo available)

We wrap up this rundown of sales with a pair of Tokyo RPG Factory titles, with Lost Sphear serving as a spiritual successor to I Am Setsuna. Both titles take inspiration from 1990s RPGs, and are published by Square Enix. Lost Sphear in particular has a demo if you want to see if this slice of RPG nostalgia is for you. Each game has its own story, so you can go with one or the other, but obviously you’ll save more money if you choose I Am Setsuna over Lost Sphear. I Am Setsuna also has the slightly stronger reviews over Lost Sphear.

Keep an eye out every weekday for more SwitchArcade Roundups! We want to hear your feedback on Nintendo Switch coverage on TouchArcade. Comment below or tweet us with your thoughts!

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