Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for February 25th, 2020. Friends, there were a ton of new releases today. Indeed, in terms of significant releases I believe today is going to be the biggest day of this week. As such, I didn’t have a whole lot of time or space to do more than summarize all of them and put together today’s sales list. Fortunately, there wasn’t much in the way of interesting news to talk about and my reviews can always get punted until tomorrow. Let’s check out the bounty!
New Releases
Samurai Shodown ($49.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
It’s been a bit of a wait, but the latest installment in the Samurai Shodown series is now available worldwide on the Switch. This is a remarkable port, though it’s not hard to see where compromises were made if you compare it to the versions on other platforms. The heart of the game survives, at least, and it certainly runs and plays better than SNK Heroines did. I’ll have a review of this one soon, but I wanted to wait and see how online play worked out post-launch before assigning a score. For now, I’ll say that if you’re serious about playing this game competitively, this probably isn’t the best version. If you just want to have a fun bash-around in single-player or against your buddies, it’ll do the job. Right, Poppy? Wof, woof!
Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection ($29.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
Well, this is pleasant. You get all four of the Game Boy Advance Mega Man Zero games plus the two Nintendo DS Mega Man ZX/ZXA titles. There are some options to make them a bit easier to handle, which will be quite welcome for many who try to wrestle the bear that is the first Mega Man Zero. You also get a nice art gallery and a few other niceties. Yes, you can turn off that horrible filter you see in the screenshot above. It’s not as robust a package as some of the other Capcom collections, but kudos to the company for remembering its handheld output. Hopefully some other companies are inspired to do the same.
Two Point Hospital ($39.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
You know what was a really darned good game? Theme Hospital. In the old days before Peter Molyneux was known largely for devastatingly failing to live up to his own hype, he and his merry crew at Bullfrog were cherished for their ability to make approachable, deep, charmingly irreverent games like that. Some of the same people behind that game, notably Mark Webley and Gary Carr, were involved with this spiritual successor. And it absolutely nails it. This is the Theme Hospital sequel we never got, and it works really well on the Switch. If you like sims and want one that isn’t quite as imposing as Civilization VI, you’ll definitely want in on Two Point Hospital.
No Time to Relax ($13.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
This is sort of a weird take-off of the Game of Life. Like, imagine that now-classic board game, but fun. Or if your knowledge of old PC games is deep enough, just think of a modern version of Sierra’s Jones in the Fast Lane. Anyway, you compete against CPU players or up to three other humans to see who can live their best life. Mess with the other players or just try to focus on keeping your own ducks in a row. You can play the multiplayer mode locally or online. It’s a ton of fun and a game that even people not terribly familiar with video games should be able to grok. Definitely less enjoyable in single-player, but you’ll still get a few laughs out of it.
Rune Factory 4 Special ($39.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
Rune Factory is basically Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons mashed up with an action-RPG, and indeed used to be billed as a spin-off of that series. The games were developed by Neverland, who were also behind the excellent Lufia series. Sadly, Neverland closed its doors in 2013 not long after the North American release of Rune Factory 4 on the Nintendo 3DS. Luckily, many of the team members were hired by Marvelous and after working on a couple of other games have now returned to the Rune Factory series. A fifth game will be coming, but for anyone who missed out on the rather excellent fourth installment, here’s your chance. Highlights in this version include a new difficulty mode and the Newlywed Mode, which gives you an additional special story with your spouse.
Arcade Fuzz ($1.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
QUByte Interactive is back with some more treats from the Brazilian indie scene. This time it’s a two-for-one special featuring games from Walter Machado, the developer behind the recent release UBERMOSH:OMEGA. Admittedly, both are relatively light bites, but the price is pretty darned reasonable. TTV3 is described as a fast-paced maze wanderer mini-game, and Warpzone Drifter is a physics-based drifting mini-game. Both are of the ultra-tough test of reflex variety, so if you like that kind of thing and have eight whole quarters to slam down, feel free to dig in.
Hayfever ($14.99)
This cute little platformer stars a heroic postman named Thomas who suffers from a wide variety of allergies. This turns out to be the key for making your way through the game’s 140 levels, as Thomas’s various reactions to allergens give him new ways of interacting with things. There are four different worlds, one for each season, and some tricky collectibles that reward you with some extra-challenging levels if you can hunt enough of them down. Seems like a solid choice for fans of 2D platformers, but I’d have to put some time into it to say just how good it is.
The Unholy Society ($9.99)
This is an homage to classic adventure games along with 1980s and 1990s pop culture. Oh goodie. Unlike most of those vintage adventure games, this one is merely the first chapter of whatever story it’s trying to tell. You can finish it well within a couple of hours, but you won’t get much in the way of closure. The tone is all over the place, and it feels a lot like it can’t decide whether it wants to be silly or serious. That’s admittedly a difficult line to walk, so I’m not going to go in on the game too hard for not nailing it. But I will say that I personally won’t be getting too into this until more of the story is available.
Battlesloths ($9.99)
This is a fairly well-liked multiplayer battle game over on Steam, and I’d imagine it will go over just as well with Switch owners. Deck out your sloth, get on your hoverboard, and battle it out with up to three other players to see who can take all the pizza. It controls like a twin-stick shooter and all of the levels are essentially arenas, so you can probably imagine how it all works. Throw in over 15 different weapons and a few different modes and you have a nice recipe for some chaotic multiplayer fun. No online, so you’ll want to make sure you have some local buddies to play with if you’re picking this up.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
There are several new sales today, but most of them are the usual fare that goes on and off sale on alternating weeks. The most interesting of the bunch is Saints Row: The Third, which is presumably on sale in anticipation of the upcoming Switch release of the fourth game. We’re probably not getting Grand Theft Auto anytime soon, so why not enjoy its funnier cousin? The outbox has a few interesting things in it, but as usual most of it will probably be back around before long. But hey, if you have a few extra bucks, don’t let me stop you.
Select New Games on Sale
Saints Row: The Third ($19.99 from $39.99 until 3/2)
The Eyes of Ara ($10.04 from $14.99 until 3/9)
The Bridge ($1.39 from $9.99 until 3/3)
TumbleStone ($2.09 from $14.99 until 3/3)
One Strike ($0.99 from $4.99 until 3/16)
Escape Doodland ($0.99 from $9.99 until 3/16)
Mana Spark ($0.99 from $9.99 until 3/16)
Wondershot ($0.99 from $9.99 until 3/16)
Koloro ($0.99 from $9.99 until 3/16)
Super Hero Fight Club: Reloaded ($0.99 from $9.99 until 3/16)
Not Not – A Brain Buster ($0.99 from $1.99 until 3/16)
Wreckin’ Ball Adventure ($0.99 from $4.99 until 3/16)
Space Pioneer ($3.99 from $9.99 until 3/16)
Akuo: Showdown ($3.99 from $7.99 until 3/16)
Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption ($9.49 from $18.99 until 3/9)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Wednesday, February 26th
1979 Revolution: Black Friday ($3.59 from $11.99 until 2/26)
Air Hockey ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/26)
Apocalipsis Wormwood ($2.49 from $4.99 until 2/26)
Big Pharma ($20.99 from $29.99 until 2/26)
Black Paradox ($5.09 from $14.99 until 2/26)
Bleed ($3.59 from $11.99 until 2/26)
Bleed 2 ($4.49 from $14.99 until 2/26)
Celeste ($6.79 from $19.99 until 2/26)
Demon Pit ($4.99 from $9.99 until 2/26)
Fall of Light: Darkest ($4.49 from $14.99 until 2/26)
Frost ($3.89 from $12.99 until 2/26)
Golazo! ($9.74 from $14.99 until 2/26)
Golem Gates ($8.49 from $24.99 until 2/26)
Hacky Zack ($1.49 from $9.99 until 2/26)
Letter Quest Remastered ($2.99 from $11.99 until 2/26)
Monster Slayers ($5.09 from $14.99 until 2/26)
Nefarious ($4.49 from $14.99 until 2/26)
Odallus: The Dark Call ($4.07 from $11.99 until 2/26)
Omega Strike ($4.49 from $14.99 until 2/26)
Oniken & Odallus Bundle ($4.99 from $19.99 until 2/26)
Oniken: Unstoppable ($3.39 from $9.99 until 2/26)
Overlanders ($2.49 from $24.99 until 2/26)
Paranautical Activity ($1.19 from $7.99 until 2/26)
Party Trivia ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/26)
POOL ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/26)
Roarr! Jurassic ($2.49 from $4.99 until 2/26)
Skelly Selest ($3.39 from $9.99 until 2/26)
SKYHILL ($2.99 from $4.99 until 2/26)
Slain: Back From Hell ($3.99 from $19.99 until 2/26)
Slayaway Camp ($4.49 from $14.99 until 2/26)
Sparklite ($17.49 from $24.99 until 2/26)
Spectrum ($2.39 from $11.99 until 2/26)
Straimium Immortaly ($5.99 from $11.99 until 2/26)
Super Battle Cards ($4.19 from $5.99 until 2/26)
Super Blood Hockey ($5.09 from $14.99 until 2/26)
Tamashii ($5.99 from $11.99 until 2/26)
The Unholy Society ($6.66 from $9.99 until 2/26)
TowerFall ($6.79 from $19.99 until 2/26)
Unexplored ($4.50 from $15.00 until 2/26)
Vasilis ($4.24 from $4.99 until 2/26)
Verlet Swing ($5.09 from $14.99 until 2/26)
We. The Revolution ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/26)
XenoRaptor ($7.49 from $14.99 until 2/26)
That’s all for today, friends. Lots of great new games to check out, to say the least. Which ones are you picking up, if any at all? I’m all over Samurai Shodown and the Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection, but Two Point Hospital is pretty hard to put down. Whatever you’re playing, I hope you all have a great Tuesday, and as always, thanks for reading!
