Welcome to the SwitchArcade Roundup for April 13th, where we’re covering the latest Switch news, new releases, and games that are currently on sale! Sega dropped a surprise Football Manager Touch release for the Switch today, so the European segment of TouchArcade is quite excited in particular. Plus, a couple of cool indies are coming to Switch, and a game of colorful explosions is now on sale! Let’s dive into today’s roundup, post-haste:
News
Jotun: Valhalla Edition making the leap to the Switch
Thunder Lotus is bringing its hand-drawn viking action game to the Switch. The game looks absolutely amazing, with gigantic bosses. This originally released on PC and consoles, including the Wii U, but if you missed it the first time around, you’ll get a new chance to play the game with the Valhalla Edition, which features a more difficult boss rush mode. Check this one out on April 27th.
Sky Rogue comes to Nintendo Switch this month
This rad-looking 3D “rogue-lite action flight simulator" is making its console debut on the Switch on April 26th, and it’s bringing motion controls along for the ride. You’ll get to fly over and through procedurally-generated islands, and fight with enemy aces, aircraft carriers, and giant battleships. All of this takes place in a colorful, blocky world that still has a strong sense of character and detail. The style of this game drew its attention to me a long time ago, and I’m excited to finally play the finished version of the game on the Switch! Also, I’m amused that we have so many games now that we have two roguelike-inspired flying games with “Rogue" in the title releasing in the same month: this and Rogue Aces.
Minecraft to award Xbox Live achievements?
So get this. It looks like Minecraft for Nintendo Switch will support achievements once the Bedrock update for the game is live. Not achievements on the Switch, no: achievements for your Xbox Live account. Now, you can earn achievement points from the iOS and Android versions, and Xbox Live has become more than just Xbox-centric, particularly with Microsoft focusing on cross-platform games between Xbox and Windows. But it’s kind of funny that if you’re in the Xbox ecosystem, and you care about achievement points, you can earn them by playing a decidedly non-Xbox game. Kudos to Nintendo for allowing this, and being cool about cross-platform play with Rocket League. Maybe when Fortnite finally hits the Switch it’ll have one of the best cross-platform implementations yet?
New Releases
Football Manager Touch 2018 ($39.99)
Sega brings its long-running series to the Switch. As the title says, you manage a football team, but that’s association football, aka soccer, not American football. You’ll manage a squad, making the moves to improve your roster, tactics, and formation. You can also simulate matches, dictating tactics to your team and watching your strategies in action. There are a lot of different international leagues to play through. This is a Switch port of the mobile version, and while you can play with touch controls, physical controls with the Joy-Con are supported, so you can easily play while docked or on the go, however you want to do so with your team.
Pirates: All Aboard! ($5.99)
While Microsoft’s cool about achievement points, I don’t think you’ll get Sea of Thieves on the Switch any time soon. So, you’ll have to get your piracy fix in other ways. QubicGames is here to deliver on that with their multiplayer ship-battling game, Pirates: All Aboard, where four players can duke it out across seven islands to try and be the top pirate commander. If you wish to play solo, there’s an endless Treasure Sail mode you can play.
Games on Sale
Slayaway Camp: Butcher’s Cut ($7.49 from $14.99 until April 26th)
While the follow-up to this game, Friday the 13th, is out today on mobile, if you have a Switch, you can play the game that started it all for half-off. At its core, it’s a simple block-sliding puzzle game, but it’s a well-made one that feels good to control. Also, you get to comically murder people as a horror villain. It’s pretty gory, but everyone in the game are made of cubes, so there’s a layer of ridiculousness piled on top of everything. Definitely play this one if you haven’t already.
Graceful Explosion Machine ($6.49 from $12.99 until April 19th)
I really dug Vertex Pop’s previous game, We Are Doomed, an explosively-colorful dual-stick shooter. This one isn’t a dual-stick shooter, but if you want an incredibly colorful shoot ’em up with a bunch of different weapons, and the most vibrant explosions in gaming, you’ll want to pick this one up. I missed this one at first, so I’m picking this one up right now. C’mon, be cool like me.
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AeternoBlade ($13.49 from $14.99 until April 26th)
Corecell originally released this time-controlling Metroidvania on the 3DS in 2014. Well, as a new audience picks up the Switch, it’s time for new audiences to pick up on some of the intriguing indies that hit the eShop that people might have otherwise missed. You can use time reversal to help yourself out in battles. This is strongest during its boss fights, with unique attack patterns and difficult patterns to deal with.
Maria the Witch ($2.49 from $4.99 until April 26th)
Naps Team is known for making stylish beat ’em ups like the Gekido games. They also made this charming flying game, where you help pilot the eponymous witch through levels, trying to control here broomstick and its flying mechanics as carefully as possible. This is very much a mobile port, as you can tell from the simple controls and gameplay structure, but a port of a paid game! And on sale, it’s $1.50 cheaper than it is on iOS!
Revenant Saga ($9.09 from $12.99 until April 25th)
So, you bought Asdivine Hearts yesterday and now you’re feeling the Kemco itch. Well, Revenant Saga is on the Switch, its on sale, and it’s by EXE Create, the developer of Asdivine Hearts. And Revenant Saga is a pretty good 3D RPG, according to our Kemco expert Shaun Musgrave. Just be careful, Kemco addiction leads to some dark places. Mostly just constantly buying and reviewing new Kemco RPGs, like Shaun does.
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!
