Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for December 28th, 2020. In today’s article, we catch up on a lot of stuff that happened since the last time we checked in. Lots of new releases, and so many sales that I again had to curate a little bit to make things easier to manage. There’s a lot to look at, so let’s go ahead and get on that mission right now, okay?
New Releases
BIT.TRIP Series ($4.99 Each)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
The original line of six BIT.TRIP games, sometimes collectively known as BIT.TRIP SAGA, are now available individually on the Switch. BIT.TRIP RUNNER ended up being the most famous of this bunch, but they all have something to offer and really are best digested as one complete work. If you buy one game, the remaining titles should be significantly discounted. The series includes BIT.TRIP BEAT, BIT.TRIP FLUX, BIT.TRIP RUNNER, BIT.TRIP CORE, BIT.TRIP FATE, and BIT.TRIP VOID.
Door Kickers ($11.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
The excellent Door Kickers is now available on the Switch. It’s essentially the same game it was on mobile, but there’s nothing wrong with that. Command an elite anti-terrorist squad and kick down some doors to murder some bad guys and rescue hostages. Don’t think too hard about it all. Consider each map carefully and plan your approach, because one slip-up can be fatal. One of the unique points of this game is in how it avoids the usual turn-based set-up a game like this tends to use in favor of a real-time with pause system. This makes it feel a little more action-packed. It includes a mission generator to keep you playing for a long time to come. Nothing new here to entice people who already played the heck out of it elsewhere, but if you haven’t played it before it’s worth a spin.
DungeonTop ($13.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
You know, this is pretty good. Yeah, it’s another deckbuilding dungeon crawl roguelite thing, but I’m not sick of those yet. And if you are also not sick of those yet, I think you will find this to be a fairly agreeable entry into the oeuvre. The only real problem with it is that once you have a good handle on things it loses most of its challenge, but you’ll probably be hours into it before reaching that point. There are lots of different characters to choose from, with a decent bit of variety between them. It’s not the freshest thing around but it knows what it is and works well to hold itself up within that space.
Professor Lupo: Ocean ($4.99)
This is an epilogue to Professor Lupo and His Horrible Pets, a rather enjoyable little puzzle game. A 40-level follow-up that tells the tale of what happens when the Aurora space station finally reaches its destination at the end of a 5,000 year journey, Professor Lupo: Ocean offers up more of the same gameplay that worked in the original with a few extra twists. There are new aliens to deal with, new characters to meet, and some interesting story elements for those who enjoyed the first game. Obviously it’s better to play this after Horrible Pets, but in terms of gameplay you could see it as a lower cost way to get a taste of what the bigger previous game offers.
Void Source ($5.99)
An interesting little side-scrolling shoot-em-up where you play as a UFO that can shoot in all directions. Blast your way through levels set in the five classic shoot-em-up areas: Space, Volcano, Underwater, Dark Cave, and… Railroad. Well, okay. It includes a boss rush mode as an extra, and a wide assortment of weapons that increase in power as you go along. The unique nature of the craft and its weapons help this one stand out a bit, but only a little. It probably needs more than that to sell itself on a platform that has as many great shooters as the Switch does, but if all you’re looking for is another solid bit of fire-and-forget, you’ll have a good time of it with Void Source.
Hell Sports ($19.99)
Oh hey, a party game that actually has online support. How nice. Up to six players can get in on this one, too. Anyway, there’s really just one game to play here. You might think it’s going to be a mini-game collection, but the whole thing centers around one sport where you try to score goals while protecting your own team members. There are two single-player modes, one more substantial than the other, plus a local multiplayer mode and an online mode. It looks cute but honestly I think the game doesn’t have enough depth or variety to keep you coming back for long. That wouldn’t be a problem if it were a little cheaper, but at twenty dollars it feels a bit slight.
Quell Reflect ($7.99)
There are a few Quell games on the Switch already, and this one doesn’t really change things up very much. You get more than 80 new puzzles to solve, and if you’ve enjoyed the previous entries that’s probably all you need to hear. Slide a droplet around various arrangements, collecting pearls while avoiding obstacles and traps. It’s a nice, chill puzzler, and I can honestly say that I never have a bad time playing through a Quell game. That said, I understand if you find yourself a little burnt out on the concept by now.
Cube Raiders ($12.99)
While its inspiration probably isn’t familiar to many people out there, this is pretty clearly riffing off of the classic Devil Dice. And that is just fine by me, because how often do we see Devil Dice-like games these days? Almost never, that’s how often. There are four different modes of play here, with an even split between single-player and local multiplayer ways to play. It’s not quite as tight or well-designed as the game it pays homage to, but if you’re a fan of that game and are looking for something, anything, similar to it, you may want to look into this.
Dungeon Limbus ($14.99)
This appears to be an incredibly straightforward take on the turn-based roguelite genre. It has a lot in common with the Mystery Dungeon series of games, but it falls well into the more lenient end of the pool. You’ll die a lot, but almost every run will earn you some kind of improvement or upgrade that will help you in your next run. What else can I say about this? I guess the pixel art is well-done. It’s a fine enough game to play, but it’s very derivative and with a price within spitting range of the far better Shiren the Wanderer, I’m not sure it does what it needs to for me to recommend it.
Cube Life: Island Survival ($14.99)
Yeah, I remember this from the Wii U. A lot of people bought it and kind of tolerated its flaws because Minecraft wasn’t on the system yet. Indeed, that was really all it had going for it. It was a pretty weak clone of Minecraft, but it filled a hole. That hole certainly does not exist on the Switch, so I’m not really sure who this is for. I guess if you’re tired of Minecraft, Dragon Quest Builders, and Cube Creator X, and have also exhausted Terraria and Junk Jack, and want something that runs a little better than PixArk… if all of those things, and you additionally don’t really care about your fifteen bucks? I guess you’re the audience.
The Hong Kong Massacre ($19.99)
The description says this game was inspired by classic action movies, but the most obvious inspiration here is Hotline Miami. And indeed it is quite a bit like Hotline Miami in many ways, with just enough quirks of its own to separate it. Whether that’s in a good way or not is an exercise best left to the reader. What is clear is that the style of the game is very different, and it’s in that respect that it pays the most homage to action flicks. I don’t think it’s as distinct or slick as Hotline Miami, but it sure isn’t bad.
Match Three: Pirates! Heir to Davy Jones ($9.99)
Another Mindscape-published match-3 game to go with the two or three that released a little while back. This time it has a pirate theme. There are 100 levels, and I think it attempts some kind of story on the way. Don’t expect much, of course. You can also customize your own ship and use the usual power-ups to get a peg-leg up on difficult levels. Seems like it’s well-made enough for what it is, but what it is is completely bereft of any originality whatsoever and asking ten dollars for what roughly a million mobile games would offer you for free.
Candy 2048 Challenge ($7.99)
That said, Match Three: Pirates is like a freaking Will Wright game in terms of originality compared to Mindscape’s other offering of the day. Candy 2048 Challenge is 2048, which itself is a disgusting rip-off of the genuinely original Threes!. What happens when you make a soulless copy of a soulless copy? I don’t know, but you shouldn’t pay eight bucks for it, that’s for sure.
Super Sports Blast ($24.99)
While this may seem like a new game, it actually appears to be a pack of three of the developer’s previous sports games. Super Soccer Blast, Super Tennis Blast, and Super Volley Blast were all decent but not spectacular examples of each sport. Certainly better if you had the players and controllers to take advantage of the local multiplayer mode, but really what sports game is that not true for? Anyway, given this is a bundle, the usual caveats apply. The three games included here often go on sale for some very low prices, and chances are that buying them individually will be cheaper than buying the bundle at any given time. Be sure to do your Super Homework Blast before buying.
Dungeonoid ($6.99)
The idea here is Arkanoid meets dungeon crawling RPG, and yes, you have my attention. There are 40 brick-breaking levels, time attack levels, the usual assortment of power-ups to collect, some boss battles, a local co-op mode, and a rather superficial level-up system. If you like brick breakers, you probably won’t hate this. I don’t think it’ll get anyone on-board that isn’t already in love with the genre, though.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
It’s kind of unbelievable how many games are on sale right now on the eShop. Like, more than a quarter of the entire library. I wish I would have been able to transcribe everything that went on sale since we last checked in on Christmas Eve, but there was too much for me to deal with while also enjoying my holiday. So I’ve once again combed through and found a bunch of interesting sales as opposed to doing an exhaustive list. Hopefully things will get back to a state where I can keep on top of everything soon enough. In the meantime, I recommend hitting up the eShop if you’re curious about a particular non-Nintendo game you don’t see on these lists. It’s entirely possible that it went on sale and escaped my notice.
Notable New Sales
Mortal Kombat 11 ($14.99 from $49.99 until 1/1)
Scribblenauts Mega Pack ($7.99 from $39.99 until 1/1)
Scribblenauts Shodown ($7.99 from $39.99 until 1/1)
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 ($7.49 from $29.99 until 1/1)
LEGO DC Super-Villains ($11.99 from $59.99 until 1/1)
LEGO City Undercover ($8.99 from $29.99 until 1/1)
LEGO Movie 2 Videogame ($9.99 from $39.99 until 1/1)
Darksiders Genesis ($23.99 from $39.99 until 1/1)
SpongeBob SquarePants: BfBB ($20.99 from $29.99 until 1/1)
Sphinx & the Cursed Mummy ($11.99 from $29.99 until 1/1)
Raven Remastered ($11.99 from $29.99 until 1/1)
Titan Quest ($15.99 from $39.99 until 1/1)
Battle Chasers Nightwar ($15.99 from $39.99 until 1/1)
Roki ($11.99 from $19.99 until 1/1)
Later Daters ($6.39 from $7.99 until 1/1)
LongStory: A Dating Game ($5.99 from $14.99 until 1/1)
80’s Overdrive ($4.99 from $9.99 until 1/1)
SuperMash ($3.99 from $19.99 until 1/3)
Crossniq+ ($1.99 from $7.99 until 1/3)
Gunbrick: Reloaded ($7.49 from $14.99 until 1/5)
Submerged ($1.99 from $9.99 until 1/5)
City of Brass ($2.99 from $19.99 until 1/5)
Atom RPG ($12.79 from $15.99 until 1/5)
Blair Witch ($14.99 from $29.99 until 1/6)
Observer ($8.99 from $29.99 until 1/6)
Late Shift ($6.49 from $12.99 until 1/7)
The Legend of Dark Witch ($5.59 from $6.99 until 1/7)
Wulverblade ($1.99 from $19.99 until 1/7)
Infectious Madness of Dekker ($6.49 from $12.99 until 1/7)
Atari Flashback Classics ($15.99 from $39.99 until 1/7)
PONG Quest ($5.99 from $14.99 until 1/7)
New Star Manager ($5.99 from $19.99 until 1/7)
Chasm ($7.99 from $19.99 until 1/7)
Danmaku Unlimited 3 ($3.99 from $9.99 until 1/8)
Hidden Folks ($2.99 from $11.99 until 1/8)
Megadimension Neptunia VII ($20.99 from $29.99 until 1/8)
BFF or Die ($5.99 from $7.99 until 1/8)
Legends of Amberland: TFC ($12.99 from $19.99 until 1/8)
Death and Taxes ($7.14 from $12.99 until 1/8)
The Demon Crystal ($2.99 from $9.99 until 1/10)
Combat Core ($9.99 from $19.99 until 1/10)
Uoris DX ($2.70 from $9.00 until 1/10)
Last Encounter ($2.49 from $14.99 until 1/11)
Ellipsis ($2.49 from $4.99 until 1/11)
Quest Hunter ($11.99 from $29.99 until 1/11)
Samurai Shodown NEOGEO Collection ($19.99 from $39.99 until 1/12)
Groove Coaster Wai Wai Party ($44.99 from $59.99 until 1/12)
They Bleed Pixels ($7.49 from $14.99 until 1/13)
The Last Dead End ($4.99 from $9.99 until 1/13)
Elliot ($4.99 from $9.99 until 1/13)
Kauil’s Treasure ($4.99 from $9.99 until 1/13)
Spirit Arena ($4.99 from $9.99 until 1/13)
Roombo: First Blood ($1.99 from $4.99 until 1/13)
Gabbuchi ($3.99 from $7.99 until 1/13)
forma.8 ($1.99 from $9.99 until 1/13)
Screenchat: Unplugged ($2.46 from $12.99 until 1/13)
Max Reloaded II ($2.99 from $9.99 until 1/13)
Feather ($4.89 from $9.99 until 1/13)
Risk of Rain 2 ($12.49 from $24.99 until 1/13)
Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary ($4.99 from $9.99 until 1/13)
Bulletstorm: Duke of Switch ($7.49 from $29.99 until 1/13)
Dungeonoid ($4.54 from $6.99 until 1/14)
Fishing Star World Tour ($17.99 from $29.99 until 1/14)
Hitori Logic ($2.49 from $4.99 until 1/14)
Casebook of Arkady Smith ($1.99 from $8.99 until 1/14)
BIT.TRIP Series ($4.49 from $4.99 until 1/15)
Death’s Hangover ($1.99 from $4.99 until 1/15)
Barbarous: Tavern of Emyr ($1.99 from $7.99 until 1/15)
Mini Trains ($1.99 from $2.99 until 1/15)
Utopia 9 ($1.99 from $9.99 until 1/15)
Koloro ($1.99 from $9.99 until 1/15)
Dadish ($2.00 from $10.00 until 1/16)
Door Kickers ($10.19 from $11.99 until 1/16)
DungeonTop ($11.89 from $13.99 until 1/16)
Zombie Hill Race ($1.99 from $9.99 until 1/16)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Tuesday, December 29th
Blazing Beaks ($1.99 from $14.99 until 12/29)
Dex ($6.99 from $19.99 until 12/29)
Event Horizon ($1.99 from $5.99 until 12/29)
Farabel ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/29)
Fight Crab ($14.99 from $19.99 until 12/29)
Freedom Finger ($7.49 from $14.99 until 12/29)
Grindstone ($14.99 from $19.99 until 12/29)
Grood ($2.49 from $4.99 until 12/29)
Gunman Clive HD Collection ($4.24 from $4.99 until 12/29)
Headliner: NoviNews ($8.39 from $13.99 until 12/29)
HyperParasite ($2.99 from $17.99 until 12/29)
Mad Carnage ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/29)
Mana Spark ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/29)
Mechstermination Force ($10.19 from $11.99 until 12/29)
Mushroom Quest ($1.99 from $2.99 until 12/29)
Neon Caves ($1.99 from $3.99 until 12/29)
Pew Paw ($1.99 from $6.99 until 12/29)
Sudoky ($1.99 from $3.99 until 12/29)
Super Punch Patrol ($4.24 from $4.99 until 12/29)
Tardy ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/29)
Tharsis ($3.99 from $11.99 until 12/29)
Toast Time: Smash Up! ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/29)
Touhou Spell Bubble ($43.99 from $54.99 until 12/29)
Warlocks 2: God Slayers ($1.99 from $17.99 until 12/29)
WeakWood Throne ($2.99 from $4.99 until 12/29)
That’s all for today, friends. New releases are drying up for the rest of the year, but I do have some reviews to get out and I’m sure the sales will keep trickling out as well. But don’t worry too much, as our best of 2020 content is going to start rolling out soon. Mikhail and I have some cool stuff lined up for you to enjoy, so please look forward to that even if the Round-Ups themselves get a little thin. I hope you all have a marvelous Monday, and as always, thanks for reading!
