Welcome to the March 8th SwitchArcade Roundup, covering the latest Nintendo Switch news, releases, and sales! There’s a whole lot going on in and around the Switch world today, before Nintendo drops their Direct, which is happening at 5:00 PM EST/4:00 PM CST/2:00 PM PST. You can watch via the embedded player below. We’ve got 10 new games to check out today, a few intriguing news items, and a sale on SMG’s fun Death Squared to check out. Let’s quit wasting time and get into the good stuff.
News
Activision reveals Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, but not for Switch?
After being teased on James Harden’s hat, Black Ops 4 (stylized with Roman numerals as IIII, and not IV, though that shield logo actually looks kinda neat) was confirmed by Activision. While the teaser has some noteworthy details, such as zombies being back, as is the awesome remote control drone, there’s not a whole lot to glean from this trailer other than it’s a new Call of Duty game. The reveal happens on May 17th, and the game releases on October 12th, much earlier than the standard November release window for Call of Duty games. The announcement doesn’t mention the Switch yet, but there’s no reason why today’s Nintendo Direct might not mention it, or it gets confirmed at a later date. Or maybe some kind of Call of Duty will hit the system soon.
I’m curious to see what the reaction to this one is. Call of Duty: WW2 kinda saved the franchise by going back to boots on the ground, but the competitive CoD crew has started to shift over to Fortnite. Will CoD add a battle royale mode to compensate? I’m down for it. I will appreciate the irony if I get laid off from a company that went big into competitive Call of Duty, back to writing for TouchArcade…and then Call of Duty comes to the Switch. So far, it isn’t, but I hope it does!
Holy Potatoes! trilogy coming to Switch
Daylight Studios’ eccentric Holy Potatoes games are getting Switch ports courtesy of Rising Star Games. Shop management game Holy Potatoes! A Weapon Shop?! hits this spring, with the space-based Holy Potatoes! We’re in Space?! hitting in the summer, with Holy Potatoes! What the Hell?!, the game where you torture the potato-y damned by cooking them into recipes, hits this autumn. Yeah, that last game is real. While the games have historically worked best with mouse or touch controls, controller support is coming to the Switch ports so you can play on the TV. Preferably while eating some potato products.
Swim Out hits the Switch on March 20th
Lozenge Lab’s turn-based puzzle game where you help a swimmer cross a pool without hitting any other swimmers will dive on the eShop on March 20th. We enjoyed this one on mobile, so if you want this one on Switch, you only have a couple of weeks to wait. It’ll run you $5.99 on the eShop.
Death Squared on sale
This multiplayer puzzle game hit mobile not too long ago, but if you want to play with friends using a joy-con each, or to play in the game’s four player levels, you can do so at a 20% discount, as the game’s on sale for $11.99 until March 13th. Don’t let that death counter scare you, y’all have this! Unless your friends are idiots that can’t listen to your instructions, I suppose.
New Releases
Steredenn Binary Stars
The awesome roguelike shoot ’em up is out now on the Switch, and if you loved the game on other platforms, you should consider picking this one up on Switch. Ships now have a special ability (the default ship has a sword), there are new weapons, and the all-important co-op mode! The game is still really tough, and it seems a bit faster than the mobile version I’m accustomed to, but playing with physical controls all the time is a big help. Also, you can play a particular seed with the ship of your choice from the beginning, though some of the modes only unlock after you play so many times.
I love everything about the game: the challenge, the replayability, the fun and unorthodox weapons, and of course, the metal soundtrack. But if you want to listen to something else while you play, may I recommend some appropriate space metal: Vektor’s Terminal Redux? Much of what I wrote in my mobile version applies to this version, and I definitely recommend playing Steredenn on Switch either again or for the first time. Getting back into this myself has been a ton of fun.
World Conqueror X
You thought the iPhone jumping from 8 to 10 was bad? How about World Conqueror jumping from 4 to 10? It might actually just be the letter X this time, but don’t get in the way of my jokes. This is a World War II turn-based strategy game where you can undergo missions from the Axis and Allied forces, or build up your own empire from one of 20 countries in the Conquest mode. You can use touch controls or the controller, depending on how you prefer to play. Slitherine’s not on the Switch yet, so EasyTech’s World Conqueror X is gonna be the way to go if you want some turn-based strategic warfare on your Switch.
Bleed 2
Need more fast-paced, high-ranking chasing action on your Switch? After publishing Bleed not too long ago, Digerati now has Bleed 2, just a month after the game’s console release (and a year after the Steam release). You use a sword and a ton of ammo to shoot a ton of enemies, and fight a ton of boss fights. And then you get ranked for how fast, how much damage, and how much style you had in killing everything. Get that S rank, folks. I dug the original Bleed, this might be worth checking out!
Earthlock
It’s really weird to think that the late 1990s are so far in the past that now game developers are making unabashed tributes to games from that time. While the game saw release in 2017 with the Festival of Magic subtitle, this release is what they’re calling the “Shouldhavebeen Edition" with a massively overhauled story, side quests, and improved visuals. The other versions get all this new content the same time as the Switch release, so unfortunately, older reviews for other platforms might not represent what the current experience is like. Hopefully it’s a much better game!
Bit Dungeon Plus
Dolores Entertainment publishes this popular mobile roguelike action game onto the Switch. The big addition here from the mobile version is couch co-op for up to four players! That sounds like a good reason to check this one out again if you’ve already played one of the mobile versions.
I, Zombie
Awesome Games Studio brings their game where you control a massive zombie horde to the Switch. Ever wonder where the endless amounts of zombies from other games came from? Apparently, they came from I, Zombie (not to be confused with the TV show iZombie), as you have to turn humans and command them to build giant hordes. There’s a level editor in the game if you desire more content or want to start creating things for yourself. I mean, there’s no Super Mario Maker on the Switch yet…
The Men of Yoshiwara: Ohgiya
D3 Publisher brings this visual novel to Switch, and it might just be the sexiest game available on the Switch, by far. As the description states, “Once at the banquet, you find yourself presented with men so beautiful you can scarcely believe they’re of this world. They beguile you with tempting eyes and practiced movements." One of the men has an eyepatch. This game is possibly TOO SEXY. Unrelated question: can you play this one with a single Joy-Con?
Real Bout Fatal Fury
Only one game this week, HAMSTER? I’m disappointed. Here’s the 1995 entry into the Fatal Fury series, which makes the controls only have three attack buttons, while adding in the front, middle, and back lanes from Fatal Fury 3, so you can dodge attacks just by changing lanes. Sounds interesting! It’s hard to go wrong with an SNK fighter, if you’re into the genre and can pull off some of the ridiculous joystick motions required to do super moves in SNK’s titles.
Midnight Deluxe
Ratalaika Games drops a golf-inspired game onto the Switch. You launch the eponymous fairy, Midnight, around different levels, trying to avoid hazards like spikes and saws. Those are things that professional golfers rarely have to deal with, but you’re gonna have to deal with ’em. You’ll try to get three stars on the game’s 70 levels, using either touch controls or the joystick to aim and launch yourself.
The Trail: Frontier Challenge
After the recent EU release, now the US gets this version of Peter Molyneux’s game where you explore a trail, and steadily discover the world and build up a community in Eden Falls, while interacting with other players exploring the trail. You can also get a pet dog, which is the key here. It is funny seeing what are essentially mobile ports like these getting regular-priced Switch releases. Hmm!
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!
