Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for January 8th, 2020. In today’s article, we’ve got two more Mini-Views, an assortment of news items, one new release, and a very sad little list of sales to check out. Yes, I’m extremely spoiled by the last few weeks of sales that we had. But today’s list is pretty rough by just about any measure a person could come up with. Well, let’s deal with it!
News
The Next Pokemon Direct is Scheduled for Tomorrow
All those rumors about an impending Nintendo Direct have been swirling around, but it looks as though Pokemon is beating them to the punch. A Pokemon Direct has been scheduled for tomorrow, January 9th, at 6:30 AM PT/9:30 AM ET. No one knows exactly what to expect from this presentation, but it’s safe to say there will be a mix of news about the latest releases, Pokemon Sword and Shield, and some other things. Will we Pokemon Sleep? At 6:30 AM, we very well might.
Bust Out Your Amiibos For The Latest ‘Super Smash Bros.’ Event
Remember the whole “toys-to-life" craze? Well, the landfills certainly do. The dust has well and truly settled on that business, and the only thing left standing is Nintendo’s Amiibo line. Though even that is kind of hanging on by a thread, I feel. Anyway, some new Amiibos are out, and as something of a tie-in the latest Smash tournament is an Amiibo-themed affair. It not only celebrates the figures, but actually requires them. You have to use the FP from your Amiibo figures to compete in this event, which kicks off on Friday and runs for three days.
‘Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories’ Hits in April
The latest in the disaster survival series Disaster Report will be hitting the Switch and other systems in the West on April 7th. If I remember right, this one has some performance issues even on the PlayStation 4, so I have no idea how playable the Switch version will be. But we should be doing a review of the game, so once I know, you’ll know! It’s a neat world. Anyway, this series is still quite unique in the gaming landscape and I’m glad to see the latest game hitting the West.
Mini-Views
Link-a-Pix Deluxe ($7.99)
This is a robust collection of Slitherlink/Pathpix-style puzzles where you need to join points using lines in order to create a picture. I rather enjoy this type of logic puzzle, and Lightwood Games has done it right. You can use touch or button controls, and both work reasonably well. The puzzles themselves are well-designed and become positively gargantuan in the back half. You get 120 standard color puzzles, 120 monochrome puzzles, 8 puzzles that were part of the game’s demo version, and an optional DLC pack of 120 more color puzzles that you can purchase for $3.99. There aren’t very many frills, but there is at least a bit of musical variety so that you aren’t spending dozens of hours with the same tune playing. If you like this kind of puzzle, this is an easy game to recommend. If you’ve never tried them, this is a good place to start. Nice work from Lightwood, as usual.
SwitchArcade Score: 4/5
Arcade Archives VS. Balloon Fight ($7.99)
I always appreciate Hamster’s Arcade Archives releases from a historical preservation angle, but the actual gameplay value can vary wildly. This is especially the case with the Nintendo arcade games they’ve been releasing. These are absolute treasures in terms of games that have been out of circulation for decades being made available once more, but as many of them are extremely similar to their NES counterparts, they’re not always something you’d want to buy. VS. Balloon Fight isn’t exactly the same as the NES version. It features vertically scrolling stages, doesn’t offer the Balloon Trip mode, and has slightly different controls. It’s interesting, to be sure, but the NES version definitely plays better. That the NES version is part of the NES library that all Nintendo Switch Online subscribers have free access to makes this arcade game even harder to recommend. Really just one for those interested in gaming history, but certainly well-done in that regard if nothing else.
SwitchArcade Score: 2.5/5
New Releases
Nicky – The Home Alone Golf Ball ($0.99)
I mean, what can you say about a game that launches with a price of one dollar and applies a half-off discount on top of that? Is Nicky worth ten nickels? Maybe! The idea here is that you have to get Nicky to his home in as few moves as possible. You launch him by dragging back and releasing, Angry Birds-style. The whole game lasts well under an hour, even if you’re not that good at it. You’re meant to do it in one sitting, then try to see if you can do it again faster and with fewer moves. At this price it’s less about whether it’s worth your money and more about if it’s worth your time. Nicky doesn’t demand much of either, so I suppose there are worse things you could pick up.
Sales
Hey, I warned you at the start of the article. There isn’t very much here at all, and what’s here is definitely not worth getting all that excited about. Focus, then, is best placed on the outbox. FDG Entertainment’s holiday sales are coming to a close, and your chance to get Commander Keen for a buck has just about passed. Check through and make the necessary purchases, friends.
Select New Games on Sale
Ludomania ($0.49 from $4.00 until 1/27)
Nicky – The Home Alone Golf Ball ($0.49 from $0.99 until 1/21)
Flowlines VS ($0.49 from $4.99 until 1/27)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Thursday, January 9th
99Moves ($0.98 from $2.99 until 1/9)
99Seconds ($0.98 from $2.99 until 1/9)
Blossom Tales ($7.49 from $14.99 until 1/9)
Blue Rider ($2.99 from $9.99 until 1/9)
Commander Keen in Keen Dreams ($0.99 from $5.99 until 1/9)
Conga Master Party! ($2.48 from $9.95 until 1/9)
Death Squared ($5.39 from $14.99 until 1/9)
Destruction ($4.99 from $9.99 until 1/9)
Dokuro ($4.49 from $8.99 until 1/9)
Family Tree ($5.59 from $7.99 until 1/9)
Ghost Blade HD ($10.49 from $14.99 until 1/9)
Giga Wrecker Alt ($17.49 from $24.99 until 1/9)
Goat Simulator: The GOATY ($7.49 from $29.99 until 1/9)
Habroxia ($5.59 from $7.99 until 1/9)
Headspun ($8.70 from $12.99 until 1/9)
Hello Kitty Kruisers ($22.46 from $29.95 until 1/9)
Holy Potatoes! A Weapon Shop?! ($11.99 from $14.99 until 1/9)
Holy Potatoes! We’re In Space?! ($11.99 from $14.99 until 1/9)
Iro Hero ($3.89 from $12.99 until 1/9)
Jettomero ($2.60 from $13.00 until 1/9)
Late Shift ($6.49 from $12.99 until 1/9)
Lost Sea ($3.99 from $9.99 until 1/9)
Lumo ($11.97 from $19.95 until 1/9)
Nekopara Vol.1 ($8.99 from $14.99 until 1/9)
Oceanhorn ($7.49 from $14.99 until 1/9)
One Strike ($0.99 from $4.99 until 1/9)
OTTTD ($1.99 from $7.99 until 1/9)
Rally Rock ‘N Racing ($4.99 from $9.99 until 1/9)
Red’s Kingdom ($7.49 from $9.99 until 1/9)
RICO ($15.99 from $19.99 until 1/9)
Snow Battle Princess Sayuki ($7.50 from $15.00 until 1/9)
Super One More Jump ($1.75 from $7.99 until 1/9)
The Shapeshifting Detective ($7.79 from $12.99 until 1/9)
Time Carnage ($7.79 from $12.99 until 1/9)
Trailblazers ($17.99 from $29.99 until 1/9)
That’s all for today, friends. Luckily, the drought of new releases we’ve had so far this week appears to be subsiding somewhat soon. We’ll have a few interesting games to check out tomorrow, and I expect some news and sales will help fill things out. That Pokemon Direct is probably a little too late for me to hit in tomorrow’s article, but we’ll certainly summarize anything interesting that comes from it on Friday. I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday, and as always, thanks for reading!
