Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for February 10th, 2021. In today’s article, we’ve got some big news to go over. Well, fairly big anyway. There are a few new releases to look at, and one of them is worth considering. I’ve got a Mini-View for Hero U: Rogue to Redemption, and then the usual lists of new and outgoing sales for you to glance over. Let’s get down to business!
News
‘Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time’ Arrives on Switch March 12th
One of the worst-kept secrets this side of Apex Legends coming to Switch, Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time has officially been announced for a Switch release on March 12th of this year. This brand new installment seems to have been generally well-received on other platforms when it hit last year, though some have criticized how over the top difficult getting 100% in it is. The Switch version will apparently run at 30 FPS in both docked and undocked mode, which sounds like an acceptable compromise to me.
The Next ‘Nintendo Switch Online’ Retro Games Arrive Next Week
It’s been a couple of months since the last titles were added to the Nintendo Switch Online NES and Super NES apps, and I suppose Nintendo decided it was time to water the ol’ garden again. Arriving on February 17th, the latest update will add four vintage games to the service. Interplay and Titus’s Prehistorik Man and Nihon Telenet’s Doomsday Warrior and Psycho Dream are the new Super NES games, while Tecmo’s extremely good (and absurdly expensive on the aftermarket) Fire ‘N Ice is getting added to the NES app. Not the most famous of games, but I think if you give them a shot you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Well, except for Doomsday Warrior. That game is just plain bad.
Break In the Claw in This Week’s ‘Super Smash Bros.’ Event
It’s that time of the week again, so let’s have a look at what’s up in the world of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The latest weekend event has been announced, and it’s a Spirit Board event that focuses on spirits featuring clawed characters. That includes Metal Sonic, Slash Man, Mecha Ridley, and more. Beat up on those spirits and you’ll earn more gold than usual. The event starts on Friday and runs the usual three days through the weekend.
Mini-Views
Hero U: Rogue to Redemption ($19.99)
While many people don’t look back on Sierra’s adventure games with fondness, they were a big part of my younger years. Among the bunch, my favorite games tended to be from the Quest for Glory series. They seemed more fair, and I really liked their RPG elements. Hero U is a new game from the creators of Quest for Glory, and it feels like it. It’s the result of a successful Kickstarter campaign, and you’ll be able to sense that as well. Specifically, this feels like a relatively modest, fully faithful follow-up to that series. You can feel the passion for the classic games dripping from every pore, but you can also feel the budget crunch as the team tried to stay within their means. The world just isn’t as alive as some of the older games, but there are still plenty of joys to be had here with a fair bit less frustration to boot.
SwitchArcade Score: 4/5
New Releases
Choices That Matter: And Their Heroes Were Lost ($5.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
The last of the loose Choices That Matter trilogy arrives today with And Their Heroes Were Lost. In this one, you play as an amnesiac who wakes up in prison. Your inability to remember anything is a problem, but the fact that you’re not alone in the prison is a bigger issue. Who is your friend? Who is your enemy? Can you find out the reason behind your memory loss and make an escape? And what will you find when you do? It’s another excellent story from the fine folks at Tin Man Games, and one I’ll be reviewing before too long.
#SinucaAttack ($4.99)
Ha ha, another clever boots putting a hashtag in the title so the Twitter bots will help it trend. It describes itself as mixing pool ball physics and 2D platforming, and that sounds pretty interesting. You use your pool cue to solve environmental puzzles, hitting switches and such with carefully aimed shots. Since you can’t solve every problem with pool, you can also run, jump, and sometimes use a jetpack. It seems cute, and I suppose for five bucks it’s not that costly to take a gamble on if it appeals to you.
Free Throw Basketball ($3.99)
Gosh, I think I hate Pix Arts. That probably isn’t a nice thing to say, but they have effortlessly sailed under what was already a ridiculously low bar for cheap shovelware on the eShop. This is another bit of throwaway nonsense, a free throw game for one or two players with some of the lousiest physics I’ve seen in a while. It looks like it was slapped together with premade assets in an afternoon, and plays like it too. Absolute garbage. No shame whatsoever. Why even allow this on the eShop? Is it some sort of joke where I’m not getting the punchline?
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
Some good stuff in today’s list of new discounts, though nothing particularly surprising or unusual. I don’t have any special recommendations, but I will point out that Overwatch is on sale for half-off again. The outbox is similarly unexciting, but what can you do? It’s Wednesday. The big sales typically come on Thursday afternoons, and I imagine that will be the case this week as well.
Select New Games on Sale
Sparklite ($12.49 from $24.99 until 2/15)
Aragami: Shadow ($14.99 from $29.99 until 2/15)
HoPiKo ($2.99 from $9.99 until 2/15)
Hexagon Defense ($3.19 from $7.99 until 2/15)
Battle Group 2 ($2.99 from $9.99 until 2/15)
Candle: Power of the Flame ($5.99 from $19.99 until 2/15)
Solo: Islands of the Heart ($5.99 from $19.99 until 2/15)
Cloudpunk ($17.49 from $24.99 until 2/15)
Ninjin: Clash of Carrots ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/16)
Troll and I ($2.99 from $29.99 until 2/16)
Rock of Ages 3: Make & Break ($14.99 from $29.99 until 2/16)
Overwatch: Legendary ($19.99 from $39.99 until 2/16)
Degrees of Separation ($5.99 from $19.99 until 2/16)
Deer Drive Legends ($3.99 from $19.99 until 2/16)
Beast Quest ($5.99 from $29.99 until 2/16)
Override: Mech City Brawl ($14.99 from $29.99 until 2/16)
Override 2: Super Mech League ($23.99 from $29.99 until 2/16)
Skully ($14.99 from $29.99 until 2/16)
Ary & the Secret of Seasons ($19.99 from $39.99 until 2/16)
Bear With Me: Lost Robots ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/16)
Starcrossed ($4.99 from $9.99 until 2/16)
Trine: Ultimate Collection ($14.99 from $49.99 until 2/16)
Trine 4: Nightmare Prince ($7.49 from $29.99 until 2/16)
Remothered Broken Porcelain ($19.49 from $29.99 until 2/16)
Perfect Traffic Simulator ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/16)
Fantasy Tower Defense ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/16)
The Legend of Ninja ($1.99 from $7.99 until 2/16)
Fall Gummies ($1.99 from $7.99 until 2/16)
Bargain Hunter ($8.74 from $12.49 until 2/21)
Time Tenshi ($10.49 from $14.99 until 2/21)
Mechstermination Force ($5.99 from $11.99 until 2/22)
Gunman Clive HD Collection ($2.49 from $4.99 until 2/22)
Super Punch Patrol ($2.49 from $4.99 until 2/22)
Kitty Powers Matchmaker ($3.74 from $14.99 until 2/22)
Lydia ($2.00 from $4.00 until 2/27)
Urban Street Fighting ($5.99 from $7.99 until 2/28)
Red Crow Mysteries: Legion ($2.99 from $9.99 until 2/28)
The Last Days ($2.99 from $9.99 until 2/28)
Brightstone Mysteries: PH ($2.99 from $9.99 until 2/28)
Black Rainbow ($4.99 from $9.99 until 2/28)
Country Tales ($2.99 from $9.99 until 2/28)
The Drama Queen Murder ($4.99 from $9.99 until 2/28)
Wide Ocean Big Jacket ($1.99 from $7.99 until 2/28)
Farm Mystery ($4.99 from $9.99 until 2/28)
Skee-Ball ($2.49 from $4.99 until 2/28)
Julie’s Sweets ($4.99 from $9.99 until 2/28)
Flood of Light ($2.49 from $4.99 until 3/2)
Croc’s World Run ($1.99 from $5.99 until 3/2)
Croc’s World 2 ($1.99 from $5.99 until 3/2)
Sudoku Universe ($3.49 from $6.99 until 3/2)
Candleman ($9.99 from $14.99 until 3/2)
64.0 ($1.99 from $2.99 until 3/2)
AngerForce: Reloaded ($6.99 from $9.99 until 3/2)
SELF ($3.49 from $6.99 until 3/2)
Heaven Dust ($3.99 from $7.99 until 3/2)
Wenjia ($5.59 from $7.99 until 3/2)
Never Breakup ($6.99 from $9.99 until 3/2)
Cruel Bands Career ($2.79 from $3.99 until 3/2)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Thursday, February 11th
Apocalipsis Wormwood ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/11)
Big Pharma ($4.99 from $29.99 until 2/11)
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/11)
Chess Royal ($2.39 from $2.99 until 2/11)
Crash Drive 2 ($1.99 from $8.99 until 2/11)
Crowdy Farm Rush ($1.99 from $5.99 until 2/11)
Daylife in Japan: Jigsaw Puzzle ($1.99 from $3.99 until 2/11)
Dead Cells ($12.49 from $24.99 until 2/11)
Door Kickers ($8.39 from $11.99 until 2/11)
DungeonTop ($9.79 from $13.99 until 2/11)
Find the Balance ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/11)
Gibbous: A Cthulhu Adventure ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/11)
Goblin Sword ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/11)
Golden Force ($15.99 from $19.99 until 2/11)
Hardway Party ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/11)
Help Will Come Tomorrow ($3.99 from $19.99 until 2/11)
Lost Artifacts ($2.99 from $9.99 until 2/11)
Marooners ($1.99 from $14.99 until 2/11)
Mia’s Picnic ($1.99 from $11.49 until 2/11)
Miles & Kilo ($1.99 from $7.99 until 2/11)
Monster Energy Supercross ($7.49 from $29.99 until 2/11)
NUTS ($16.99 from $19.99 until 2/11)
Skyhill ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/11)
Stunt Kite Party ($2.49 from $9.99 until 2/11)
Super Tennis Blast ($9.89 from $14.99 until 2/11)
The Flower Collectors ($17.99 from $19.99 until 2/11)
This is the Zodiac Speaking ($6.99 from $19.99 until 2/11)
Townsmen: A Kingdom Rebuilt ($4.99 from $19.99 until 2/11)
We. The Revolution ($3.99 from $19.99 until 2/11)
That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with a big list of new releases including Little Nightmares II, UnderMine, and more. Granted, Friday is probably the bigger day of the two this week. Still plenty to look at in the next article, however. I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday, and as always, thanks for reading!
