Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for March 18th, 2020. Today we’ve got a few news items to check out, some of which is courtesy of yesterday’s Indie World Spotlight presentation. We’ve also got a handful of new releases to check out, including two shadow-drops, and another healthy list of sales on some really great games. Let’s head on in and check it all out!
News
The Latest Indie World Spotlight Had Some Surprises
See what I mean about trying to get the timing right on things? The Indie World Spotlight video had already aired hours ago when yesterday’s article was posted. Oh well. The important thing is that a bunch of cool indie games got highlighted including a few we didn’t know about. Heck, a couple of them are already on the eShop. The likes of Exit the Gungeon, PixelJunk Eden 2, I Am Dead, and Sky: Children of the Light were featured among many others. So if you have a spare twenty minutes, why not give that video a watch and see all the goodies contained within?
Reflect on Your Sins in the Newest ‘Super Smash Bros.’ Event
The world may feel like it has stopped right now, but that won’t slow down the weekend Super Smash Bros. Ultimate events. The latest one has been announced as it usually is on Wednesdays, and this time around it is a tournament. The focus is on characters with the ability to reflect, and only those characters will be able to participate. Zelda, Palutena, Mario, Fox, and Mr. Game and Watch all qualify, for example. You can also expect plenty of projectile items to be in play so that everyone can put that reflect skill to good use. The event kicks off on Friday and will run through the weekend.
‘Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town’ Comes West in July
Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town, the remake of the well-regarded Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town, was already confirmed to be getting a localization a while back, but when that release would occur was up in the air. We now have a slightly better idea of when to expect the game. Marvelous has announced that the game will hit in Europe and Australia on July 10th, and I can’t imagine the North American release from XSEED will be terribly far behind it. It’s shaping up to be a fine remake, so if you’re looking for your next slow life fix after Animal Crossing, you may want to pencil this one in for July.
New Releases
Exit the Gungeon ($9.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
What goes in, must come out. Plenty of Switch players have experience with Enter the Gungeon, the cool top-down roguelite with gunplay and bullet-dodging galore. And plenty of Apple Arcade subscribers have experience with Exit the Gungeon, a somewhat less cool but still fun platformer roguelite with gunplay and bullet-dodging galore. At last, we can unify the camps on one platform. This Switch version of the game comes with all of the Version 2.0 improvements and content built in, and the price tag is relatively reasonable. For some players, having button controls without worrying about toting a controller around will make a lot of difference. For others, the chance to actually own the game (as much as you can own a digital game, anyway) will also be a selling point. Personally, I’m fine with my mobile version, but I can see an audience for this port.
Sky Racket ($14.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
Wacky stuff, to be sure. This is a combination of shoot-em-up and block-breaker, which is a relatively rare mix. Dodge, weave, and dive through the levels using your trusty racket to return fire. The story is goofy and trying very hard to be silly, the pixel art is superb, and you can play co-op with a friend or family member should one be in the immediate vicinity. With huge bosses and surprisingly hot action, I could definitely see this appealing to fans looking for a different sort of action game. Reviews on Steam for the PC version are quite positive, and it doesn’t seem like this Switch port has dropped the ball. You know, so to speak. So if you like the look of it, I’d say go for it.
Explosive Jake ($4.99)
I bet a pretty large chunk of the people reading this can guess exactly what kind of game Explosive Jake is just from the title and that one screenshot. But in case you can’t? This is pretty much Bomberman. Work your way through 40 top-down levels where you need to bomb your enemies, bomb crates, bomb just about everything, really. But you must not bomb yourself. That is the main rule of Explosive Jake and Bomberman, and the rule that everyone breaks most often. The presentation is suitably retro, though not very Hudson-esque so it has a slightly different feel in that respect. For five dollars, it’s hard to complain too much. It’ll entertain you for a couple of hours, and in these heady times I’d say that’s worth your fiver.
Top Speed: Drag & Fast Racing ($7.99)
Welp. Text on the screenshots, a rather generic title, and a price that seems suspiciously low for the visual fidelity seen on those shots. Regular readers of the SwitchArcade can probably guess the true nature of this particular game. Yes, it’s a low-effort port of a free-to-play mobile Switch game. Microtransactions have been stripped out, a flat price has been affixed, and who knows if they’ve adjusted the in-game economy to account for that. This is a game heavily inspired by CSR Racing, which… you know, I know that game is popular, but there really isn’t a whole lot to it. That’s kind of what makes it an appealing bit of mobile fluff. On Switch? Hm. Try it out yourself on your mobile device to see if you like it. It is free after all. I suppose if nothing else, you get 69 cars to race with. Nice.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
Square Enix has kicked off a big sale, and some of these prices are the lowest we’ve seen yet. There aren’t really any truly bad games in Square Enix’s Switch line-up, so I’ll let you decide which ones are of interest to you. Don’t stop reading the list after the Square Enix titles, though. There are plenty of other awesome games to check out. The outbox isn’t too exciting, but you may want to throw a few nickels down on some of those ultra-cheapies. I recommend Mad Age & This Guy, at the very least.
Select New Games on Sale
Final Fantasy VII ($7.99 from $15.99 until 3/30)
Final Fantasy VIII ($11.99 from $19.99 until 3/30)
Final Fantasy IX ($10.49 from $20.99 until 3/30)
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD ($24.99 from $49.99 until 3/30)
Final Fantasy XII ($24.99 from $49.99 until 3/30)
Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition ($14.99 from $29.99 until 3/30)
World of Final Fantasy Maxima ($19.99 from $39.99 until 3/30)
Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon ($19.99 from $39.99 until 3/30)
Collection of Mana ($19.99 from $39.99 until 3/30)
Romancing SaGa 2 ($14.99 from $24.99 until 3/30)
Romancing SaGa 3 ($21.74 from $28.99 until 3/30)
SaGa Scarlace Grace: Ambitions ($22.49 from $29.99 until 3/30)
I am Setsuna ($23.99 from $39.99 until 3/30)
Lost Sphear ($29.99 from $49.99 until 3/30)
Oninaki ($29.99 from $49.99 until 3/30)
Dragon Quest ($3.99 from $4.99 until 3/30)
Dragon Quest II ($5.19 from $6.49 until 3/30)
Dragon Quest III ($9.99 from $12.49 until 3/30)
Star Ocean First Departure R ($16.79 from $20.99 until 3/30)
Fear Effect Sedna ($1.99 from $19.99 until 3/30)
Colorgrid ($0.49 from $0.99 until 3/31)
Zombie Army Trilogy ($29.74 from $34.99 until 3/31)
Vampire – Coteries of New York ($17.99 from $19.99 until 4/1)
Snake Pass ($5.99 from $19.99 until 4/7)
The Flame in the Flood: Complete ($4.49 from $14.99 until 4/7)
Serial Cleaner ($1.49 from $14.99 until 4/7)
Rogue Aces ($3.24 from $12.99 until 4/7)
Smoke and Sacrifice ($9.99 from $19.99 until 4/7)
Bomber Crew ($3.74 from $14.99 until 4/7)
Manual Samuel ($2.49 from $9.99 until 4/7)
Velocity 2X ($4.99 from $19.99 until 4/7)
Oh My Godheads: Party ($2.99 from $14.99 until 3/30)
The Swindle ($3.74 from $14.99 until 4/7)
Forgotton Anne ($7.99 from $19.99 until 3/30)
Beholder: Complete ($3.74 from $14.99 until 4/7)
Octahedron: Transfixed ($6.49 from $12.99 until 3/30)
When Ski Lifts Go Wrong ($1.49 from $14.99 until 4/7)
Pumped BMX Pro ($5.09 from $14.99 until 4/7)
Motorsport Manager ($8.99 from $14.99 until 4/7)
Dusty Raging Fist ($4.99 from $9.99 until 3/27)
For The King ($12.49 from $24.99 until 4/7)
American Fugitive ($9.99 from $19.99 until 4/7)
Hue ($5.99 from $9.99 until 4/7)
A Night’s Quest ($14.99 from $24.99 until 4/7)
Narcos: Rise of the Cartels ($23.99 from $29.99 until 4/7)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Thursday, March 19th
20XX ($8.99 from $17.99 until 3/19)
39 Days to Mars ($10.04 from $14.99 until 3/19)
All-Star Fruit Racing ($13.39 from $19.99 until 3/19)
Boreal Blade ($5.99 from $19.99 until 3/19)
BQM -BlockQuest Maker- ($4.99 from $14.99 until 3/19)
Bulb Boy ($1.79 from $8.99 until 3/19)
Burnstar ($0.74 from $2.99 until 3/19)
Butcher ($2.99 from $9.99 until 3/19)
Cinders ($5.99 from $19.99 until 3/19)
Cyber Protocol ($0.99 from $9.99 until 3/19)
Darkwood ($9.74 from $14.99 until 3/19)
Defunct ($0.49 from $14.99 until 3/19)
Family Tree ($3.99 from $7.99 until 3/19)
Farm Expert 2018 ($20.99 from $29.99 until 3/19)
Firefighter – The Simulation ($27.99 from $39.99 until 3/19)
Firefighters: AFD ($27.99 from $39.99 until 3/19)
Green The Life Algorithm ($5.99 from $14.99 until 3/19)
Lichtspeer: Double Speer ($2.99 from $9.99 until 3/19)
LocO-SportS ($3.59 from $5.99 until 3/19)
Mad Age & This Guy ($0.05 from $4.99 until 3/19)
Mountain Rescue Simulator ($27.99 from $39.99 until 3/19)
My Memory of Us ($5.99 from $14.99 until 3/19)
Neo Atlas 1469 ($24.99 from $49.99 until 3/19)
Nine Parchments ($5.99 from $19.99 until 3/19)
Perils of Baking ($2.49 from $4.99 until 3/19)
Polyroll ($3.99 from $9.99 until 3/19)
Preventive Strike ($0.05 from $1.99 until 3/19)
Professional Construction ($27.99 from $39.99 until 3/19)
Professional Farmer ($27.99 from $39.99 until 3/19)
Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs ($7.49 from $24.99 until 3/19)
Rocket Wars ($4.99 from $9.99 until 3/19)
Saboteur II: Avenging Angel ($0.05 from $8.00 until 3/19)
Saboteur! ($0.05 from $8.00 until 3/19)
Space Blaze ($20.99 from $29.99 until 3/19)
Spartan Fist ($12.74 from $14.99 until 3/19)
The Nightfall ($27.99 from $39.99 until 3/19)
Timber Tennis: Versus ($0.59 from $1.99 until 3/19)
Trine 2: Complete Story ($5.09 from $16.99 until 3/19)
Trine 3: Artifacts of Power ($5.99 from $19.99 until 3/19)
Trine Enchanted ($4.49 from $14.99 until 3/19)
Without Escape ($3.74 from $4.99 until 3/19)
X-Morph: Defense ($5.99 from $19.99 until 3/19)
Zombie Driver Immortal ($5.99 from $14.99 until 3/19)
That’s all for today, friends. Phew, it feels like we’ve already had a busy week of gaming news, sales, and releases. But we’ve still got Thursday and Friday ahead of us, so don’t get too relaxed. Animal Crossing and DOOM 64 on Friday! Dezatopia tomorrow! And many, many other cool games. So make sure you swing back around here and see what’s what. I hope you all have as good a Wednesday as you can, and as always, thanks for reading!
