Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for December 14th, 2020. In today’s article, we’ve got a nice mix of things to check out. There’s a bit of news about an upcoming release, a Mini-View of Drawn to Life: Two Realms, a summary of today’s sole new release, and the usual lists of incoming and outgoing sales. Let’s pick up our spoons and start eating!
News
‘Double Dragon Neon’ Comes to Switch on December 21st
Beat-em-ups have been having one heck of a revival in the last year or two, and the Switch has been home to excellent versions of many of those titles. It’s also been seeing some classic re-releases, like Castle Crashers and the upcoming Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game. We can add one more title to that list really soon as WayForward’s Double Dragon Neon will be making its way to the Switch on December 21st from publisher Majesco. This game leans quite heavily into its 1980s theme, acting partly as a parody of the original games while maintaining the solid action the series is known for. It was quite well-liked in its time, and I’m sure it will pick up a lot of new fans when it arrives next week.
Mini-Views
Drawn to Life: Two Realms ($9.99)
Well, this is certainly another Drawn to Life game, with all that implies. Which is to say that this is a fairly mediocre platformer that depends heavily on its gimmick to keep the player engaged. The stage design is quite different this time around, feeling more puzzle-oriented than previous games. It kind of works, but I’m still not really that excited about playing the game beyond seeing my weird creations in motion. The gimmick of drawing your own character is certainly a cool one, but it’s not nearly as novel as it once was. Even worse, trying to draw things in this Switch version is incredibly awkward. The Switch’s touch screen should have made this part a slam dunk, but you end up having to fiddle with the buttons and sticks. This takes the fun out of drawing, which is a problem when it’s such an important part of the game. Neither a total faceplant nor a triumphant return, but probably better to play this on mobile for the superior drawing controls.
SwitchArcade Score: 3/5
New Releases
Jigsaw Fun: Piece It Together! ($14.99)
Judging by how many of these things there are on the Switch, digital jigsaw puzzles must be quite the popular pursuit. This one seems to have plenty to offer those who enjoy such things, with more than 200 unique jigsaw levels that include a large selection of images. Four players can join in via local multiplayer, though I can’t imagine a jigsaw puzzle party being all that exciting. You can set the puzzles to four different piece counts, with the biggest being a rather hefty 500 pieces, and there are eight different background images you can switch between to freshen things up. There are definitely jigsaw puzzle games on the Switch that give you less bang for your buck, at the very least.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
So, interesting news today, friends. I was talking to a developer and they happened to mention that somewhere along the line, Nintendo made a little rule change. The lowest a price can now be set for a sale is $1.99, apparently. Obviously this isn’t counting things like “if you own this, you can get that for cheap", but it explains why we haven’t been seeing any games going for pennies in the last little while. That’s probably a good thing, as anyone who paid attention to the overall arch of the App Store over the years would understand. Anyway, lots of games on sale today, but nothing that really gets me too excited. The outbox is equally uninteresting, with only a couple of decent launch sales to take note of. I’d personally hold on to my money for new releases this week, but do what you have to.
Select New Games on Sale
OMG Police ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/16)
Cyber Protocol ($4.99 from $9.99 until 12/16)
Clumsy Rush ($2.99 from $4.99 until 12/16)
Nirvana Pilot Yume ($3.99 from $4.99 until 12/16)
Clue ($14.99 from $29.99 until 12/17)
Battleship ($9.99 from $19.99 until 12/17)
Hyper Sentinel ($1.99 from $7.99 until 12/18)
Art Sqool ($7.99 from $9.99 until 12/18)
Brawl Chess ($7.99 from $9.99 until 12/18)
Mystery of Woolley Mountain ($1.99 from $12.99 until 12/18)
Silk ($3.89 from $12.99 until 12/18)
Island Maze ($1.99 from $2.99 until 12/21)
Persian Nights 2: TMV ($8.99 from $14.99 until 12/21)
Chess Ace ($1.99 from $7.99 until 12/21)
Pixel Gladiator ($1.99 from $6.99 until 12/21)
Aborigenus ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/21)
Swaps and Traps ($1.99 from $8.99 until 12/21)
Diabolic ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/21)
Tactical Mind 2 ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/21)
Funny Bunny Adventures ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/22)
MindSeize ($17.99 from $19.99 until 12/28)
Build a Bridge! ($2.99 from $14.99 until 12/28)
Bridge Builder Adventure ($2.99 from $14.99 until 12/28)
Frozen Friends ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/30)
Laraan ($2.40 from $6.00 until 12/31)
Explosive Dinosaurs ($3.19 from $7.99 until 12/31)
Depixtion ($1.99 from $7.99 until 12/31)
Deadly Days ($7.59 from $18.99 until 12/31)
Dead Z Meat ($6.99 from $9.99 until 12/31)
Banana Treasures Island ($4.95 from $9.90 until 12/31)
Slither Loop ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/31)
Chess Minimal ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/31)
Bit Dungeon Plus ($2.69 from $8.99 until 12/31)
Bass Pro Shops: The Strike CE ($9.99 from $19.99 until 12/31)
Cabela’s: The Hunt CE ($9.99 from $19.99 until 12/31)
Anodyne ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/31)
Shikaku Shapes ($2.49 from $6.99 until 12/31)
Warp Shift ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/31)
Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae ($5.95 from $11.90 until 12/31)
Leisure Suit Larry: WDDD ($7.99 from $39.99 until 12/31)
Divine Ascent ($2.49 from $4.99 until 12/31)
Kiai Resonance ($2.49 from $4.99 until 12/31)
Journey of the Broken Circle ($2.00 from $8.00 until 1/1)
EQQO ($2.00 from $6.00 until 1/1)
Genetic Disaster ($3.74 from $14.99 until 1/1)
Drawngeon ($2.49 from $4.99 until 1/1)
Autumn’s Journey ($3.99 from $4.99 until 1/1)
Warplanes: WW1 Sky Aces ($7.99 from $9.99 until 1/1)
Dragon Pinball ($2.00 from $2.99 until 1/1)
Titans Pinball ($2.00 from $2.99 until 1/1)
Speedway Racing ($2.49 from $9.99 until 1/1)
Super Club Tennis ($9.99 from $29.99 until 1/1)
Final Light, The Prison ($1.99 from $6.99 until 1/1)
Trail Boss BMX ($6.79 from $19.99 until 1/2)
Tower of Babel ($1.99 from $5.99 until 1/2)
Xtreme Club Racing ($1.99 from $9.99 until 1/2)
Parallel ($2.99 from $9.99 until 1/2)
Otto ($2.49 from $4.99 until 1/2)
Hyperdrive Massacre ($3.99 from $7.99 until 1/2)
Miniature: The Story Puzzle ($1.99 from $3.99 until 1/2)
Overlanders ($1.99 from $24.99 until 1/2)
Orbitblazers ($3.99 from $19.99 until 1/2)
Super Loop Drive ($1.99 from $3.99 until 1/2)
Retro Game Pack ($1.99 from $4.99 until 1/2)
Super Inefficient Golf ($3.99 from $7.99 until 1/2)
Soulblight ($3.74 from $14.99 until 1/2)
Mars or Die! ($9.99 from $19.99 until 1/2)
History 2048 ($1.99 from $4.99 until 1/2)
Just Black Jack ($1.99 from $2.99 until 1/2)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Tuesday, December 15th
Cyber Complex ($8.99 from $14.99 until 12/15)
Drawn to Life: Two Realms ($7.99 from $9.99 until 12/15)
FunBox Party ($1.99 from $2.49 until 12/15)
Monster Sanctuary ($17.99 from $19.99 until 12/15)
Skull Rogue ($1.99 from $2.99 until 12/15)
Steel Rain ($8.99 from $14.99 until 12/15)
Tactical Mind ($1.99 from $2.99 until 12/15)
Warsaw ($13.99 from $19.99 until 12/15)
That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with a bunch of new releases and summaries of such, along with whatever news and new sales come along in the interim. I may also have a review ready, but you know how these things are with me. I hope you all have a magnificent Monday, and as always, thanks for reading!
