Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for November 11th, 2020. On this most glorious of Pocky Days, we come together to enjoy the stick-shaped cookie that served as a gateway to Japanese snacks for so many. Of course, depending on where you live this may also be Veteran’s Day or Remembrance Day, so… talk about a holiday mood whiplash. Today I’ve got a quick review of Tennis World Tour 2, a couple of interesting news bits, some new release summaries, and the ever-present lists of new and outgoing sales. A little light today, but that’s how things worked out. Let’s dive in!
News
‘Serious Sam Collection’ Coming to Switch Next Week
Devolver Digital dropped a nice little surprise yesterday, announcing that the Serious Sam Collection would be bringing some white-knuckle FPS action to the Nintendo Switch eShop on November 17th. It includes three Serious Sam games: Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter, Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter (with the Legend of the Beast expansion), and Serious Sam 3: BFE (with the Jewel of the Nile expansion). These games have had a mixed response on other platforms, but those that like them certainly seem to like them a lot. I haven’t played a game in this series for quite a while, so I’ll be looking forward to checking out this collection.
Not Even Going to Make the Joke About the Latest ‘Super Smash Bros.’ Event
It’s Wednesday again. The last week has felt like a month, if you ask me. But we know it could only be a week because in these articles we mark off the calendar pages with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate events. The theme this time? It’s a tournament featuring characters who… sigh… spit, suck, and eat. Yes, have your fun, friends. I didn’t create the event, I’m only reporting on it. Kirby, Yoshi, Wario, Dedede, and Bowser are included, and perhaps others. Fittingly, food items will appear more frequently during this tournament. It kicks off this Friday and runs for three days through the weekend as usual.
Mini-Views
Tennis World Tour 2 ($49.99)
It’s only been a bit over half a year since the last tennis game from Nacon and Big Ant, AO Tennis 2. Unfortunately, none of the important things have improved. There are still some technical issues with this version of the game, including lengthy loading times, framerate issues, and resolution woes in handheld mode. The features are quite impressive once again, and when everything is going the way it should it’s still a decent game of tennis. I found this one a little harder to get into than the last one, and I don’t think it’s going to convince anyone that isn’t already at least a bit into tennis. If you have the option to play this on another platform, that’s probably where you should do it. Otherwise, it’s okay for those looking for something a bit more grounded than Mario Tennis.
SwitchArcade Score: 3/5
New Releases
Area 86 ($9.99)
So many great areas in gaming. Number eighty-six is probably not going to join the ranks of the legends, however. It’s a physics-based room escape game where you control a little robot and need to use what you find in each room to find a way out. It mostly comes down to finding ways to depress switches, smashing through objects, tossing things, and maybe doing a little stacking. Along the way you’ll rescue other robots and add them to your squad. There’s usually more than one way to beat each stage, so you can have fun experimenting with various options. This strikes me as something that would be a lot more enjoyable with other players, but Area 86 is unfortunately for one player only.
My Universe – Cooking Star Restaurant ($29.99)
Phew, Microids is really going in on it with this series lately. This one is developed by Old Skull Games, who have done a few fun mobile games if I remember right. As you might expect, this is a restaurant simulation game. You need to manage various aspects of the restaurant, eventually hiring more chefs and widening the types of dishes on offer. You can also prepare the food yourself, in a manner quite similar to most cooking games. It seems well-made, but I’m not sure what it offers over its rivals to command a higher price.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
Unless you’re really into hidden object adventure games, the biggest news in this list of sales is that Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath and Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee are at their lowest prices yet. If you haven’t played them before, ten bucks for each is a real steal. Especially for Stranger. As for the outbox, Wallachia, Choices That Matter, and Pumpkin Jack are finishing up their launch discounts. All three are solid games. If you like beat-em-ups, definitely grab Wulverblade if you don’t already own it. It almost feels criminal getting it for two dollars, and I don’t expect to see it on sale again anytime soon.
Select New Games on Sale
Inferno 2 ($1.99 from $4.99 until 11/23)
Dimension Drive ($1.99 from $12.99 until 11/23)
Lumini ($3.99 from $9.99 until 11/23)
The Bug Butcher ($1.99 from $7.99 until 11/23)
Back to Bed ($1.99 from $4.99 until 11/23)
Rainswept ($4.99 from $9.99 until 11/23)
Lost Wing ($3.99 from $7.99 until 11/23)
Batu Ta Batu ($2.49 from $4.99 until 11/23)
Ages of Mages: Last Keeper ($8.39 from $11.99 until 11/24)
Bridge Constructor Portal ($5.99 from $14.99 until 11/24)
Cubicity ($4.20 from $6.00 until 11/25)
Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath ($9.99 from $29.99 until 11/30)
Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee ($9.99 from $29.99 until 11/30)
Caveman Tales ($4.99 from $9.99 until 11/30)
Tracks: Toybox Edition ($26.99 from $29.99 until 11/30)
Super Battle Cards ($1.99 from $5.99 until 11/30)
Man with the Ivory Cane ($2.99 from $9.99 until 11/30)
Where Angels Cry ($2.99 from $9.99 until 11/30)
Myths of Orion: LftN ($2.99 from $9.99 until 11/30)
Tales from Dragon Mountain ($4.99 from $9.99 until 11/30)
Tales from Dragon Mountain 2 ($4.99 from $9.99 until 11/30)
Screencheat: Unplugged ($2.59 from $12.99 until 11/30)
Klondike Solitaire ($1.99 from $8.99 until 11/30)
2048 Battles ($1.99 from $3.99 until 11/30)
Roombo: First Blood ($1.99 from $4.99 until 11/30)
Croc’s World 3 ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/1)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Thursday, November 12th
Ascendance ($1.99 from $2.99 until 11/12)
Black The Fall ($4.49 from $14.99 until 11/12)
Choices That Matter: ATSWO ($4.79 from $5.99 until 11/12)
Darkwood ($7.49 from $14.99 until 11/12)
Don’t Knock Twice ($6.24 from $12.49 until 11/12)
Forest Home ($2.99 from $14.99 until 11/12)
Gorogoa ($5.99 from $14.99 until 11/12)
Half Dead ($2.49 from $4.99 until 11/12)
Happy Animals Bowling ($2.49 from $4.99 until 11/12)
Hotshot Racing ($13.39 from $19.99 until 11/12)
Kawaii Deathu Desu ($3.49 from $4.99 until 11/12)
Lost Artifacts: Soulstone ($2.99 until $9.99 until 11/12)
Null Drifter ($2.49 from $4.99 until 11/12)
Party Crashers ($1.99 from $15.00 until 11/12)
Party Golf ($1.99 from $15.00 until 11/12)
Perfect Traffic Simulator ($1.99 from $9.99 until 11/12)
Project Starship ($2.49 from $4.99 until 11/12)
Pumpkin Jack ($23.99 from $29.99 until 11/12)
Red Death ($2.49 from $4.99 until 11/12)
Speedway Racing ($4.99 from $9.99 until 11/12)
Telling Lies ($9.99 from $19.99 until 11/12)
TENS! ($9.99 from $14.99 until 11/12)
The Wardrobe: Even Better ($1.99 from $19.99 until 11/12)
Unrailed! ($14.99 from $19.99 until 11/12)
Wallachia: Reign of Dracula ($11.99 from $14.99 until 11/12)
Wulverblade ($1.99 from $19.99 until 11/12)
That’s all for today, friends. Tomorrow is Thursday, and you know what that means around these parts. We’ll have a bunch of new releases to check out, including Just Dance 2021, Metaverse Keeper, and many more. There will be the usual lists of incoming and outgoing sales, and that’s probably the lot. You know, unless Nintendo does that thing where they make a major news drop after I’ve gone home for the night. They didn’t do it last week, but you never know. Anyway, I hope you all have a good Wednesday, and as always, thanks for reading!
