Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for August 1st, 2019. Wow, is it already August? The summer is heading into its tail-end now, but you’d never know it by the temperatures outside. Today, we’ve got a couple of news tidbits to go along with the summaries of today’s many new releases. Add in the latest sales and that’s pretty much the lot, friends. It seems like Nintendo has a new bonus cooking for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers, and the news may indeed be out by the time this gets posted, but since we’re still waiting for details as I write this it’ll have to wait for tomorrow’s article.
News
‘LEGO Jurassic World’ Comes to Switch September 17th
Another game from a few years back is going to be making its way to Switch soon. TT Games has announced that LEGO Jurassic World will be launching on Switch on September 17th, just in time for the Switch Lite launch. This game covers the first four Jurassic Park movies, so that recent one that everyone has already forgotten about isn’t covered here. But you do get all three of the DLC packs that were previously sold separately right out of the proverbial box, so I guess that’s something. This was a pretty well-liked game back when it first hit in 2015, so it makes sense to bring it to Switch. I just hope this means there’s a chance the other LEGO Marvel games may one day make the jump.
‘Portal Knights’ Expansion ‘Elves, Rogues, and Rifts’ Out Now
Okay, so there are two bits to this. First, there is a new paid expansion DLC for Portal Knights called Elves, Rogues, and Rifts. It includes a new race, a new class, and some new dungeons, along with a couple of new locations filled with quests. The other bit is a free update called the Questing Update. It adds a new location, a dungeon creation features, a quest log, and a bunch of little fixes, performance improvements, and so on. So whether you want to spend money or not, today is win-win for Portal Knights players. The new expansion DLC costs $9.99 and should be available in the eShop at this very moment. If it’s not, blame Carter. He has nothing to do with any of this, but you know, for old times’ sake.
New Releases
Chroma Squad ($14.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
Okay, chances are good that your tactical strategy RPG needs are being nicely met at the moment thanks to Fire Emblem and Mutant Year Zero, but do either of those games have Power Rangers? Chroma Squad isn’t a perfect game by any means, but it’s an amazing love letter to Super Sentai shows that has solid gameplay backing it up. Kit out and power up your superhero team as they try to hit the top of the ratings charts. Just be careful of the budget, because money doesn’t grow on trees. I especially love the teamwork moves in this game. They really drive home the feeling of the shows Chroma Squad pays homage to. Toss in a weird sense of humor and you have something that is both unique and good.
Dungeon Warfare ($9.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
Ah, I love this game. This one has been out on mobile and PC for a while, and in fact its sequel came out a little while back already. I’d imagine that will eventually make its way to the Switch as well, for but for now we’ve got the fantastic original game to enjoy. As a dungeon lord, you’ve got ninety-nine problems, and most of them have names like Arthur Couragehart or Rizzlin the Sorcerer. Yes, adventurers are constantly invading your home and trying to steal all your stuff. You’ll have to use all the traps, monsters, and natural defenses at your disposal to dispose of the intruders. You’ll gain experience for do so, and more and more devious options will be open to you. Sure, we’ve all played at least one or two games like this before, but this is a really good take on the idea. I’ll be doing a review of this one eventually for those who want more details.
Robbie Swifthand and the Orb of Mysteries ($17.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
This platformer is (A) super-tough and (B) super-fun. Play as Robbie Swifthand, an unlikely hero tasked with saving humanity. Well, he’ll do it, but only because there could be money in it. And when you see how often the poor guy dies a horrible death, you’ll probably understand why he wants some reasonable compensation. The game includes three difficulty levels, so you can always bump it down to Not So Hard if you’re struggling with the standard difficulty. As long as you don’t mind games that lean a bit into the realm of unfair, you’ll probably have a good time swearing and cursing your way through Robbie Swifthand.
Shinobi Spirits S: Legend of Heroes ($8.99)
From Tom Create comes this single-player arena brawler where you play as a little ninja animal who needs to fight off the Tokugawa ninjas in order to find out what happened to General Yukimura Sanada and the Beast Brigade. It seems pretty fun, with lots of moves and combo opportunities, and you can power up your character using a skill tree to open up more. It seems like it could get a little repetitive after a while, but Tom Create has surprised me before so I’m open to being surprised again. I’ll definitely need to spend more time with this one to see if it’s noteworthy, but if it turns out to be interesting, I’ll let you all know.
Omega Labyrinth Life ($59.99)
Welp, there’s no way to explain this without diving right into it, so let’s just do it. This is a roguelike game where you play as young girls who are unhappy about the size of their chests and therefore venture into the Omega Labyrinth, where every enemy slain grants Omega Power that increases your character’s bust size. Sadly, it’s just a temporary boost, but those who complete the dungeon may find a more permanent solution. The girls identify mysterious objects by putting them between their boobs and giving them a good rub, and you need to be mindful that you don’t slip in any stray puddles of lube. Also, there’s some gardening. If nothing else, it’s not shy about its concept, but it should be shy about that price. As Japanese-style roguelikes go, this is about as middle-of-the-road as you can get in terms of quality.
Illusion of L’Phalcia ($12.99)
When I reviewed the mobile version of this almost five years ago, at about two-thirds the price, I said this: “It’s a story you’ve seen a million times before with characters you’ve seen a million times before in a world you’ve seen a million times before." I didn’t hate the game at the time, but then again, I had only played about twenty Kemco RPGs at that point. Here, now, and on the Switch, there’s really no reason to buy most of these incredibly average RPGs, especially at an increased price. Like, throw in seven dollars more and you can buy Disgaea 5 right now.
Fobia ($9.99)
A moody, minimalistic puzzle-platformer where the main character’s journey serves as an allegory for their psychological issues. Haven’t had one of those in a few days. The presentation is interesting and there are two different endings, so you’ll have a reason to play it at least twice. I don’t know, it’s okay. Personally, I’m kind of burnt out on this sort of game so it takes something really special to grab me, and Fobia just didn’t pull it off. If you go in for these and are less jaded than I am, you’ll probably enjoy it well enough.
Sudoku Relax 2 Summer Waves ($5.00)
If you played Sudoku Relax, this is more of that. More than 300 new puzzles, to be precise. If you didn’t play Sudoku Relax but have played any Sudoku ever, that’s pretty much what you get here. Touch controls, a relaxing presentation, and plenty of content to keep you busy for a while. And if you’ve never played any Sudoku, please go look it up on Wikipedia or something. It’s a logic puzzle with numbers. Those that like it, like it a lot. Maybe you will be one of those people. It will cost you five dollars to find out, if you do it through this game.
STANDBY ($4.99)
This is a slick little platform game with an EDM soundtrack and lots of bold colors. There are 54 levels to play through, and your repertoire of moves includes sliding, dashing, teleporting, shooting, and more. Lots of interesting ideas are introduced along the way so that it stays fresh all the way through. It’s a very fast and demanding game, and sometimes the controls aren’t quite where you might like them to be to overcome that challenge. I think if you enjoy games like N+, you might get into what STANDBY is slinging. I think its price is about where it ought to be, if nothing else.
Hamsterdam ($9.99)
Hamsterdam is a game that is part rhythm game, part fighter. You play as a hamster who knows a powerful and deadly martial art known far and wide as Hamster-Fu. Yeah, it’s like that. Really cute and stylish presentation on this one, and it’s certainly fun to bash around on. Without spending more time with it, I can’t say much about its staying power, but if you’re looking for a hamster-based fighting game I can’t see anything better coming out today on Switch. This is the same developer that made the rather good Guns of Icarus Online, so if nothing else, it’s coming from folks who know how to make a decent game. On the other hand, it also launched on mobile this week at less than a third of the price of this Switch version, so choose wisely.
Solo: Islands of the Heart ($19.99)
Well, this is a quirky little game. It’s about love, and also about box puzzles. The box puzzles are okay. You’ll fight the camera a bit and they’re sort of open-ended puzzles, which may not appeal to everyone. But you’ll also have to answer a lot of questions about love, some of them very intimate. The game will sometimes seemingly shame you about your answers all for the sake of, it says, removing your doubts. I can see what it’s going for, but I could definitely spot the person behind the question a little too often, and it feels like it somewhat spoils the game’s apparent goal. I could see someone really going in for this game, but I think it’s just going to bug a lot of people, and its rather iffy technical performance on the Switch doesn’t do it any favors.
Arcade Archives Victory Road ($7.99)
The sequel to Ikari Warriors went in a bit of an odd direction. After battling in a very Rambo-esque setting against some very Rambo-esque bad guys, Ralf and Clark next take on… extra-dimensional monsters? Sometimes when you stare too long into the Hollywood abyss, the Hollywood abyss stares back at you, friends. But it’s a fun game, especially if you have a friend to join along with you. Hamster has done its usual good job here, leaving me with just one real thing to advise you about. Namely, this game is included in the SNK 40th Anniversary Collection that is currently on sale for $27.99. That set also includes 24 other games, plus home versions where applicable. So I’d advise looking at a list of what’s in that collection and seeing if there are at least three other games that interest you besides Victory Road. If so, that’s definitely the better value. If not, well… Arcade Archives it is.
Sales
There are probably more sales on the way, but even what we have so far at the time of writing isn’t too shabby. That price on Dragon Ball FighterZ is incredible, for example. I’ll also call attention to the discount on OTTTD. It’s not quite as intuitive to play on the Switch as it is on mobile, but it’s still a great game and that price is superb. The outbox has little to be excited about in it, so feel free to save your money for other purchases if nothing catches your eye.
New Games on Sale
Dragon Ball FighterZ ($17.99 from $59.99 until 8/13)
Super Dragon Ball Heroes World Mission ($35.99 from $59.99 until 8/13)
Tower of Babel ($1.79 from $5.99 until 8/20)
Nine Parchments ($5.99 from $19.99 until 8/14)
Final Light, The Prison ($2.09 from $6.99 until 8/20)
Trine Enchanted ($8.99 from $14.99 until 8/14)
Trine 2: Complete Story ($10.19 from $16.99 until 8/14)
Xtreme Club Racing ($2.96 from $9.89 until 8/20)
Death Squared ($5.39 from $14.99 until 8/22)
Binaries ($2.59 from $12.99 until 8/22)
Portal Knights ($22.49 from $29.99 until 8/16)
Super One More Jump ($0.98 from $7.00 until 8/22)
MotoGP18 ($11.99 from $39.99 until 8/16)
Madorica Real Estate ($12.99 from $14.99 until 8/22)
Quarantine Circular ($4.79 from $5.99 until 8/22)
Pocket Academy ($9.80 from $12.00 until 8/22)
Yet Another Zombie Defense HD ($2.99 from $4.99 until 8/22)
Death Coming ($5.59 from $6.99 until 8/9)
OTTTD: Over The Top Tower Defense ($1.99 from $7.99 until 8/22)
Desktop Table Tennis ($5.92 from $7.41 until 8/22)
#RaceDieRun ($6.99 from $9.99 until 8/22)
Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark ($25.49 from $29.99 until 8/14)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Friday, August 2nd
911 Operator ($0.99 from $14.99 until 8/2)
Adrenaline Rush – Miami Drive ($2.99 from $3.99 until 8/2)
Animal Fight Club ($2.59 from $3.99 until 8/2)
Moorhuhn Wanted ($5.59 from $6.99 until 8/2)
The Way Remastered ($0.99 from $14.99 until 8/2)
That’s all we’ve got for today, friends. Tomorrow will have the rest of this week’s releases, along with some new sales and news. If things are a little light otherwise, I may have another review ready to go, but we’ll have to see. As for me, I’m going to go sit in a bathtub full of ice. I hope you’ll all stop by tomorrow, and as always, thanks for reading!
