Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for October 12th, 2020. In today’s article, we’ve got Mini-Views of a few recent releases including TTV2, Adventures of Chris, and Space Avenger: Empire of Nexx. We also have a look at a few new releases that hit the eShop over the weekend, along with the usual incoming and outgoing lists of sales. It’s a little on the lighter side today, but things will definitely be heating up as the week goes on. Let’s dive in!
Mini-Views
Adventures of Chris ($14.99)
I’ll say this much: Adventures of Chris ended up being a much better game than I initially expected. I have some complaints, of course. The hit detection isn’t in your favor, leading to unnecessary damage as you try to attack enemies. Until you earn a few abilities, Chris feels poorly equipped to defend himself, and it doesn’t feel like it was intended to be that way. Some of the humor is really mean-spirited. Push through the early awkward bits and you end up with a rather enjoyable and sometimes very clever platformer. Chris’s balloon powers make for an intriguing twist on what could have been a very plain game. Note that this is not a Metroidvania, but rather something more along the lines of a Mega Man X game where you can choose your stage order and explore them to find items and abilities hidden about.
SwitchArcade Score: 3.5/5
Space Avenger: Empire of Nexx ($14.99)
Have you ever fired up a game and almost immediately felt like you had played it before even though you most certainly had not? That’s where I was at with Space Avenger. It’s one of those top-down arena shooters where you start off absurdly underpowered and gradually upgrade yourself through the game. This often involves replaying stages, scooping up resources until you can finally upgrade your ship enough to handle the waves of enemies so that you can move forward. It’s fine for what it is, mind you. The controls work, the upgrade loop is engaging, and there are definitely a lot of cool choices to make when improving your load-out. It really could use some kind of feature to make it stand out from the pack, however.
SwitchArcade Score: 3/5
TTV2 ($0.99)
Oddly, the follow-up to this game is available bundled with another game in the previously-released Arcade Fuzz. There aren’t many substantial differences between the two games. You have to quickly make your way to whichever section of the screen allows you exit before it all closes in on you. It’s a bit frustrating because you’ll appear in a set position in the next screen no matter where you exited the previous one, so if you’re not paying careful attention you might hit an obstacle before you can get your bearings. Still, it’s got just enough of that Super Hexagon vibe that you’ll probably spend more time playing it than you intended to, simply trying to improve on your score.
SwitchArcade Score: 3/5
New Releases
Petal Crash ($9.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
This is a promising-looking puzzle game where you need to slide blocks to make matches, which causes bursts that send surrounding blocks flying off in other directions. I don’t think I’ve played a puzzler with mechanics exactly like these before, but it sure sounds like fun. There are seven characters to choose from, each with their own story campaign to play through. Aside from that, there’s a Solo Play mode where you try to get the highest rank possible, a Puzzle mode where you need to use limited moves to clear the field, and a Versus mode where you can battle the CPU or another player locally to see who’s the best. The visuals have a nice Game Boy Color look to them, which is an aesthetic we don’t see that often. Always nice to see a fresh and fully-decked out take in this genre.
Street Racer Underground ($5.99)
As you can probably guess from the price, you shouldn’t expect a full racer or anything of the sort here. Rather, this is one of those games where you’re just trying to clear as many check points as you can on an endless road before your time runs out. Hitting other drivers or police will slow you down, and you can use nitro to go faster at the cost of some control. There are apparently some non-endless races as well, but either way this is a fairly simple game designed for short bursts of fun rather than something you really sink yourself into.
Space Avenger: Empire of Nexx ($14.99)
This is a top-down arena-based shooter where you pilot a spaceship and battle waves of enemies. Between stages you can use the materials you collect to upgrade your ship or even pick up new ones. Even if you fail a stage, you keep the loot you picked up. As such, you should eventually be able to get past any obstacle. There’s a story here, but like the game itself it doesn’t really do much to distinguish itself. As I said in the Mini-View, there’s nothing particularly wrong with Space Avenger. It’s fun to play, but it just doesn’t really reach beyond average marks in any respect. If you’re really hungry for another game of this sort, you won’t be unhappy with this one. If you aren’t, you won’t miss out on much by passing on it.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
The interesting sales for today are PixARK and Syder Reloaded, standing out in a list largely made up of games that tend to get discounted every week or two. The former is a decent survival sandbox game with some technical issues, and the latter is a pretty good throw-back shoot-em-up. There are also some Sabec games on sale for prices a little closer to their actual value. As for the outbox, the biggest point of interest in my view is the pair of Oddworld games. They’ll almost certainly be on sale again, but it could be a while.
Select New Games on Sale
PixARK ($14.79 from $39.99 until 10/13)
Mystery of Woolley Mountain ($2.59 from $12.99 until 10/15)
Clue: Classic Mystery Game ($14.99 from $29.99 until 10/16)
Battleship ($9.99 from $19.99 until 10/16)
Bright Paw ($9.99 from $12.99 until 10/16)
Hyper Sentinel ($1.99 from $7.99 until 10/18)
Funny Bunny Adventures ($0.39 from $4.99 until 10/19)
Syder Reloaded ($10.19 from $11.99 until 10/20)
Aborigenus ($0.89 from $4.99 until 10/20)
Diabolic ($0.89 from $4.99 until 10/20)
Swaps and Traps ($0.49 from $8.99 until 10/20)
Dungeon Warfare ($3.39 from $9.99 until 10/23)
The Lion’s Song ($5.99 from $9.99 until 10/25)
Switchy Road ($1.99 from $4.99 until 10/25)
Seeders Puzzle Reboot ($0.03 from $9.99 until 10/26)
Watermelon Party ($0.99 from $4.99 until 10/26)
Son of a Witch ($5.99 from $14.99 until 10/26)
Reflection of Mine ($6.39 from $7.99 until 10/26)
Street Racer Underground ($5.39 from $5.99 until 10/27)
Snake vs Snake ($3.59 from $3.99 until 10/29)
Super Jumpy Ball ($4.49 from $4.99 until 10/29)
Teddy Gangs ($1.99 from $9.99 until 10/29)
Rally Rock ‘N Racing ($4.99 from $9.99 until 10/29)
Abyss ($0.98 from $2.99 until 10/29)
99Seconds ($0.98 from $2.99 until 10/29)
99Moves ($0.98 from $2.99 until 10/29)
Darts Up ($0.98 from $2.99 until 10/29)
Spot the Differences ($1.99 from $9.99 until 10/29)
Jigsaw Solace ($1.19 from $3.99 until 10/29)
Jigsaw Abundance ($1.49 from $4.99 until 10/29)
Slot ($1.99 from $9.99 until 10/29)
Sniper ($1.99 from $9.99 until 10/29)
War-Torn Dreams ($2.09 from $6.99 until 10/29)
Fluxteria ($2.09 from $6.99 until 10/29)
Match ($1.99 from $9.99 until 10/29)
Power Racing Bundle ($6.79 from $16.99 until 10/29)
Hunt ($1.99 from $9.99 until 10/29)
Checkers ($1.99 from $9.99 until 10/29)
Merchant of the Skies ($9.89 from $14.99 until 10/29)
#NoLimitFantasy, Puzzles Dream ($0.99 from $6.19 until 10/29)
Solitaire Spider Minimal ($0.69 from $2.99 until 10/29)
Nerved ($2.69 from $8.99 until 10/29)
Trax: Build It Race It ($2.99 from $14.99 until 10/29)
Rescue Tale ($1.99 from $9.99 until 10/30)
City Bus Driving Sim ($5.99 from $11.99 until 10/30)
Where the Bees Make Honey ($0.99 from $9.99 until 10/31)
Alchemic Jousts ($4.99 from $9.99 until 11/1)
Crash Drive 2 ($0.80 from $8.99 until 11/1)
Marooners ($1.29 from $14.99 until 11/1)
Perception ($1.99 from $19.99 until 11/1)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Tuesday, October 13th
Breathing Fear ($1.74 from $4.99 until 10/13)
Debtor ($0.29 from $2.99 until 10/13)
Drawngeon ($2.99 from $4.99 until 10/13)
Event Horizon ($0.74 from $5.99 until 10/13)
Event Horizon: Space Defense ($1.49 from $6.99 until 10/13)
FootGoal!! Tiki Taka ($2.99 from $4.99 until 10/13)
G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout ($33.99 from $39.99 until 10/13)
Genetic Disaster ($3.98 from $14.99 until 10/13)
Hungry Shark World ($1.99 from $9.99 until 10/13)
Little Nightmares Complete ($9.89 from $29.99 until 10/13)
Mech Rage ($0.49 from $9.99 until 10/13)
Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee ($19.99 from $29.99 until 10/13)
Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath ($19.99 from $29.99 until 10/13)
PixARK ($14.79 from $39.99 until 10/13)
Projection: First Light ($15.99 from $19.99 until 10/13)
Sweet Witches ($1.49 from $9.99 until 10/13)
Swordbreaker the Game ($1.49 from $4.99 until 10/13)
Tardy ($1.99 from $9.99 until 10/13)
That’s all for today, friends. Tomorrow will see the release of several new games, and we’ll naturally have summaries for each of them. We’ll also have whatever news and sales come along in the next day, along with at least one review. I hope you all have a marvelous Monday, and as always, thanks for reading!
