Welcome to the latest SwitchArcade Roundup, covering the latest news, sales, and releases for Nintendo Switch! A slow Friday for releases with only two new titles, but a few interesting news pieces have surfaced. Also, with a ton of sales ending on April 5th, the “Games on Sale" section finally looks somewhat reasonable again, as opposed to the crowded mess that it was for a while there. Will Nintendo be more selective with the games that can go on sale and when in the future? We can only hope, because things were getting quite nutter there for a while. Anyway, the time for dawdling has ceased. Let us now get into the Switch goodness, shall we?
News
SNK 40th Anniversary Collection coming to Switch
NIS America is releasing an SNK compilation for the Switch. This has some more obscure SNK titles, instead of the more famous Neo Geo titles that HAMSTER keeps releasing. However, there should be a few familiar names here:
- Alpha Mission (Console/Arcade)
- Athena (Console/Arcade)
- Crystalis (Console)
- Ikari Warriors (Console/Arcade)
- Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road (Console/Arcade)
- Ikari Warriors III: The Rescue (Console/Arcade)
- Guerrilla War (Console/Arcade)
- P.O.W. (Console/Arcade)
- Prehistoric Isle (Arcade)
- Psycho Soldier (Arcade)
- Street Smart (Arcade)
- TNK III (Console/Arcade)
- Vanguard (Arcade)
More titles should be coming too. The compilation will release this fall, and a limited edition will also be available with soundtrack and hardcover art book.
Wolfenstein II TV Mode footage
The Nazi-killing FPS is at PAX East, and there’s some direct feed footage available. Who knows how the game’s going to run in handheld mode, but if Doom worked fine on the Switch, I bet this will be okay?
New Nintendo Labo trailer
Nintendo’s big cardboard creativity kit releases in two weeks, and the Big N has a new trailer showing off some of what the Variety Kit and Robot Kit can do. I don’t think I’ll be picking up Labo, but this might wind up being really cool for kids. And if it flops for Nintendo, well, it was just a bunch of cardboard. They’re printing money with the Switch otherwise.
Brawlout 1.3 to add Ranked Mode and Video Capture
If you’re playing Angry Mob Games’ Brawlout, then good news: an update has been submitted to Nintendo adding a new Ranked Mode, enabling video capture, adding the ability to unlock character variants directly instead of through Brawler Pinatas, and adding some balance changes as well. Check out the complete patch notes!
Game Impressions: ClusterPuck 99
I’ve been playing a bunch of ClusterPuck 99 since its release, and it’s a fun local multiplayer game, which is essentially hockey, where each player controls a puck, trying to get the scoring puck into the other team’s goal. I first heard of this game at PAX South 2018, and had a ton of fun with it. The game throws in some chaos with elements like spikes, boost pads, and levels without borders. But overall, the game kind of just gets out of the way and lets players enjoy the hockey-style gameplay.
Now, I can’t recommend this game if you’re the lonely type. There is a singleplayer mode, but it’s more of a glorified tutorial, allowing you the chance to unlock a few new colors. The AI is…not smart. Even on Hard difficulty, it’s easy to outwit them. In particular, they love to jam the puck up against the wall, before eventually backing off because the game would completely freeze if the puck stayed there. Wait till there’s a hole, grab the puck, and go crazy. Getting a gold medal in all the team challenges is easy enough. Unlock that strobe color and cause seizures in your opponents! (please do not cause seizures in your opponents)
ClusterPuck‘s selection of levels give you a whole bunch of different playstyles. Prefer a purer, more competitive experience? Play one of the less chaotic levels. Want to knock people off the edge of the arena, or into spikes? The more chaotic maps are your bag. Or just make your own arena, if you’re such a big genius.
While extra Joy-Cons aren’t cheap, this is a great reason to have a bunch of extra controllers around, because the game is a ton of fun. It’s also simple enough for anyone to pick up and start enjoying at a competent level of play right away, because it’s basically just hockey, and the two actions (charge and brake) are intuitive. There’s a lot of fun multiplayer games out there that have a steep degree of accessibility for new players that makes them difficult to play at parties, especially if somebody is already well-acquainted with the game. ClusterPuck does not have that problem.
I definitely recommend ClusterPuck 99 if you need a good local multiplayer game to play on your Switch.
New Releases
The Pinball Arcade (Free with DLC tables)
Pinball fans get the other important pinball app on their Switch. While Zen Pinball focuses on fictional tables, Pinball Arcade is about replicating real tables. The core app is a free download, with seven seasons of table packs available for $29.99 each. If you enjoy pinball, you likely already know about this, but if you don’t, you should probably check this out!
Splat the Fruit ($9.99)
What happened to all the Angry Birds-inspired physics puzzlers? Apparently they’re on Switch now. Try to splat the fruit in this game by building structures to trigger all sorts of traps and contraptions to beat the different levels. The production values are not great on this one, but I guess if you never got enough of the whole physics puzzler craze back in the Angry Birds days, this might be for you?
Sales
Subsurface Circular ($4.79 from $5.99 until April 24th)
This unique narrative game is on sale for a few cents cheaper than the iPad version, if you’re intrigued. You play as a robot detective, trying to solve a mystery about a missing robot, all by communicating with other robots. The game is beatable in a couple of hours, and I recommend playing this like a movie, going through in one experience. IT’s a really fascinating experience, and the game does a good job at creating the environment of this underground subway.
Grid Mania ($3.19 from $3.99 until April 8th)
This game sure got some prime featuring, didn’t it? It’s been top and center on the eShop (at least my eShop) for at least a few days now. I’m gonna miss this puzzler when it’s gone from the sales list. Pretty sure $0.80 for all the user acquisition it got with that prime featuring slot was well worth it.
Aperion Cyberstorm ($13.49 from $14.99 until April 12th)
A dual-stick shooter with five player multiplayer? Whoa. Looks crazy with all the bullet hell-inspired action, and I’m always down for a good dual-stick shooter. Where’s Geometry Wars 3 on the Switch, dang it? Until then, a game like this will have to do.
Unepic ($7.49 from $9.99 until April 15th)
This 2011 RPG-style Metroidvania is on pretty much every single platform at this point, including the Switch. If you like collecting loot, massive inventory screens, and fighting giant dragons, this is the game for you!
Super Beat Sports ($11.99 from $19.99 until April 12th)
Remember when this hit the Apple TV first? Sigh, I was so optimistic about Apple TV gaming, too. Without a true Wii Sports on the Switch, this will have to do if you want a motion sports game on the Switch, though being from Harmonix, the game has rhythmic elements to it.
Crimsonland ($9.37 from $12.99 until April 11th)
This game is like 15 years old now! It preceded both the zombie craze and the “RPG elements in everything" trend of game development. I’m glad this saw re-release in the 2010s, because it holds up really well.
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!
