Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for December 10th, 2020. In today’s article, we take a look at all of today’s new releases including PixelJunk Eden 2, Alt-Frequencies, OctaFight, and more. It’s not as busy as we sometimes see on Thursdays, but there are still a lot of ways for you and your money to be parted. Speaking of which, we also have the incoming and outgoing sales lists. Let’s have a look at what’s inside the box!
New Releases
PixelJunk Eden 2 ($14.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
The quirky but well-liked game PixelJunk Eden finally has a sequel. I’ll grant that it’s a lot less quirky than the original came off around a dozen years ago, but there’s still quite a bit of charm to its presentation and gameplay. That said, if you’ve kept up on mobile gaming you’re going to find a lot of the content here somewhat familiar. It makes use of a lot of stuff from Eden Obscura, which came out on the App Store a couple of years back. That doesn’t make it any less beautiful, mind you. The gameplay is largely similar to the original game, with lots of swinging and plant-growing to some nice tunes and all painted up in pretty colors. It’s a lot more forgiving than that original game, thankfully, so you can really soak in the atmosphere without stressing about a timer.
Arcade Archives Markham ($7.99)
Another very deep cut from the Sunsoft catalog in the era where they were still releasing games as Sun Electronics Corp, Markham is a 1983 horizontal shooter that seems to have come and gone without much fanfare. Playing it, it’s not hard to see why. While the colorful graphics are decent for their era, the game just isn’t very fun. Hamster has done its usual fine work in bringing the experience to the Switch, and I do respect that a very obscure game has been pulled out of the dustbins of history, but this one is really only for the thorough historians out there.
Evolution Board Game ($19.99)
A good conversion of a pretty interesting board/card game, Evolution Board Game sees you trying to adapt your species and become the fittest for survival. There’s a single-player campaign with 21 matches to play through, but the long term fun is obviously in the multiplayer here. Luckily, the options are robust. There’s online multiplayer with skill-based matchmaking, asynchronous play, a friend system, and chat. You can also do some old-fashioned pass-and-play with others in the same room. One thing I’ll give you a heads-up about, however: the game does have some additional content available through DLC. It comes with the Evolutionary Arms Race Promo Pack for a limited time, but if you want the rest you’ll have to spend a bit more.
Tanuki Justice ($14.99)
This is a retro-style run-and-gun game about shuriken-tossing tanuki warriors, from the developers behind the rather excellent Aggelos. If you have a buddy that wants to join in for some local co-op, their help will probably be welcome. There’s a fair bit of challenging platforming in here, and when the enemies really get going you’ll also have to dodge bullets like a pro. It’s nothing outstanding but the fundamentals are sound enough and the unusual theme certainly helps it stand out in an incredibly competitive genre on the Switch. I’m not sure it fully measures up to some of the other games you can grab at this price on the eShop, but if you’ve exhausted the obvious choices and are looking for something new, it’s fine.
OctaFight ($5.99)
This is a party battle game for up to eight players via local multiplayer. You can apparently customize quite a few of the rules and parameters, which theoretically means plenty of replay value. You attack each other by lobbing what I think are bombs. It’s hard to tell because the game uses what it calls an “overpixelated" style, so everything is kind of hard to make out. It’s been out for a while on home computers, but it doesn’t seem to have made much of an impact. What reviews I could find seemed to enjoy it as a multiplayer game, if nothing else. I haven’t been able to play it so I really can’t say anything one way or the other about it.
Alt-Frequencies ($7.99)
A very cool premise and some unique gameplay in this one. The world is trapped in a three-minute time loop, and you need to use radio broadcasts to try to reveal the truth to the public. This involves a fair bit of rewinding, recording, and broadcasting. It’s really hard to describe because I haven’t really played anything quite like it before. It ends a bit too early for my liking, as I feel there was lots of potential here to push things out a little farther. It’s a couple of hours long and just when you’re really getting drawn in, it’s over. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting little narrative adventure for those looking for something novel.
Accidental Queens Collection ($14.99)
This is a collection of three games from developer Accidental Queens. It includes the newly-released Alt-Frequencies and the two Lost Phone games, A Normal Lost Phone and Another Lost Phone: Laura’s Story. It’s a nice set in that if you like one of these games you’ll probably like the others, but as always be mindful of whether or not you’re actually saving money by buying it. The Lost Phone games are frequently on sale at a deep discount, and so is the bundle containing both games. Always double-check to make sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck at any given moment.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
The dust has settled well enough from the Black Friday sales that I suspect a rather large list of discounts will be waiting for me when I come back into the office tomorrow. For now, it’s a teeny-tiny list (Okay, a few snuck in just in time for me to add them, so I’m doing that). The Battle Princess Madelyn games are fun action romps for those low prices, and a certain type will easily get their two bucks’ worth out of Hungry Shark World. As for the outbox, it’s your last chance to get in on the launch sale for John Wick Hex and the extremely rare sale on Ultracore. Act accordingly.
Select New Games on Sale
Hungry Shark World ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/14)
Lofi Ping Pong ($4.49 from $4.99 until 12/16)
PixelJunk Eden 2 ($9.89 from $14.99 until 12/17)
Puzzle & Dragons Gold ($4.99 from $14.99 until 12/28)
Toast Time: Smash Up! ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/29)
Neon Caves ($1.99 from $3.99 until 12/29)
Sudoky ($1.99 from $3.99 until 12/29)
Battle Princess Madelyn ($4.99 from $19.99 until 12/30)
Battle Princess Madelyn Royal ($3.74 from $14.99 until 12/30)
Oceanhorn ($5.24 from $14.99 until 12/31)
Blossom Tales ($5.24 from $14.99 until 12/31)
Project Starship ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/31)
Slayin 2 ($4.19 from $11.99 until 12/31)
Task Force Kampas ($2.99 from $5.99 until 12/31)
Many Faces ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/31)
Crowdy Farm Rush ($1.99 from $5.99 until 12/31)
Skatemasta Tcheco ($2.49 from $4.99 until 12/31)
Iro Hero ($3.89 from $12.99 until 12/31)
Storm Boy ($1.99 from $5.99 until 12/31)
Monster Boy & Cursed Kingdom ($14.79 from $39.99 until 12/31)
Blue Rider ($2.99 from $9.99 until 12/31)
Venture Kid ($3.50 from $10.00 until 12/31)
Whipseey & the Lost Atlas ($1.99 from $5.99 until 12/31)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Friday, December 11th
Carnage: Battle Arena ($4.49 from $14.99 until 12/11)
Coast Guard: Beach Rescue ($3.59 from $11.99 until 12/11)
John Wick Hex ($13.99 from $19.99 until 12/11)
Lichtspeer: Double Speer ($2.99 from $9.99 until 12/11)
Overdriven Reloaded: Special ($1.99 from $7.99 until 12/11)
S.N.I.P.E.R. Hunter Scope ($8.99 from $14.99 until 12/11)
Truck Simulator ($7.19 from $11.99 until 12/11)
Ultracore ($9.99 from $19.99 until 12/11)
Urban Flow ($4.49 from $14.99 until 12/11)
ZikSquare ($1.99 from $6.99 until 12/11)
That’s all for today, friends. There will be a few more releases to look at tomorrow, but it’s shaping up to be another rather light day compared to a usual week. And that is perhaps for the best, as I need to make yet another lengthy hospital visit. I’ll try to get the article together tomorrow, but I can’t actually guarantee it because I don’t know how long I’ll be getting poked and prodded. Hopefully I’ll see you all tomorrow. Have a great Thursday, and as always, thanks for reading!
