Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for March 11th, 2021. There are a ton of new releases to look at today, with no less than the big bandicoot Crash himself making the scene. Apart from that titan, there are several other games that are at least worth a look. And a couple of duds, but that’s how things go. Aside from the new release summaries, we’ve got the usual lists of sales for you to look over. That new TMNT game DotEmu announced sure looks great, doesn’t it? I hope the Switch is on the list of consoles it’s coming to. Guess we’ll have to wait and see. Let’s get going!
New Releases
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time! ($39.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
It was widely speculated from the get-go that the second fourth installment in the Crash Bandicoot series would be coming to Switch, so the announcement a month or so back wasn’t a huge shocker. Anyway, it’s finally here and it’s a very impressive port indeed. Graphics have been scaled back in complexity, of course, but it runs buttery smooth and that is very important for this game because it is stupid-hard. Crash gets a bunch of new abilities in this one and you’ll need to master them, especially if you’re going after the fool’s venture that is a 100% clear. If you just want to get to the main ending, you’ll encounter a stiff but fair challenge through some incredibly huge stages. I don’t feel this game is quite up to the level of the original trilogy, but it’s not far off. Definitely worth grabbing for platformer fans.
Mighty Fight Federation ($29.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
Here’s the latest attempt at an “indie" Super Smash Bros.-style party fighter. Perhaps this time it will work? Though to tell the truth, this is more like an indie Power Stone than anything from the Nintendo camp. Choose one of a roster of thirteen characters (including guests Yooka-Laylee and ToeJam & Earl) and head into various arenas to duke it out. Up to four players can join in at once, with both local and online multiplayer supported. Indeed, that’s how you’ll want to play it. There’s an arcade mode here for those flying solo, but it has very limited appeal. Pull in some friends who are willing to put in the time to learn the surprisingly deep mechanics and you’ll have a real good time.
Smash Club: Streets of Shmeenis ($1.00)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
Hey, it’s Four Fats. You know, the developer who used to go under the name Mooff Games. This appears to be a port of their mobile brawler Smash Club, and I can’t for the life of me figure out why they’re only charging a buck for it. That’s way cheaper than you would pay to get everything in the free-to-play original. I don’t get it, but you know what? You should. It’s a big silly homage to the beat-em-up genre, with almost fifty characters and forty levels that include a lot of references to classic games. Up to four players can team up in local or online co-op, an impressive inclusion for such a low-priced game. While I wouldn’t call the fighting state-of-the-art by any means, you’ll definitely get a whole dollar’s worth of fun out of it, and then some.
Battle Brothers – A Turn Based Tactical RPG ($29.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
Sometimes the title takes care of part of my work. You can probably guess what kind of game this is, so the real question is whether it’s worth your attention or not. You lead a group of mercenaries as they fight through a campaign set in a medieval fantasy world. You get to pick who you hire, who you deploy, and which battles you want to fight. This one is quite hardcore, so be prepared to whiff a bunch of shots that the math states you should have landed. But if you’re ready to deal with a lot of deaths and some heavy bumps for the sake of learning, you’ll find a deep, satisfying tactical RPG here that will give back as much as you put in. There’s just one big catch: that price tag up there is for the base game, and you’ll definitely want the DLC to complete the game. As such, it’s better to consider this a sixty dollar game.
Cyanide & Happiness – Freakpocalypse ($19.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
Hey, it’s that comic that everyone posts on social media all the time. I’m not sure if this is prime time for a game based on the property, but it’s not exactly old news either. This seems to be a point-and-click style adventure thing, which is probably the safe way to go if you want to work a lot of humor into a video game. It’s the first part of a trilogy, and it features fully-voiced dialogue, plenty of characters from the strips, and all the dark humor you’ve come to expect from Cyanide & Happiness. I can’t really speak to how good (or bad) this one is, but if you’re a fan of the comics I’m not sure you can go wrong with it. Whether or not the gameplay bits are up to snuff, the theme and humor almost certainly will deliver.
Arcade Archives Thunder Dragon ($7.99)
Nothing but deep pulls lately from Arcade Archives, but that’s alright. This is a 1991 release from NMK, and it’s a vertical shoot-em-up where you pilot a helicopter that blasts a whole lot of stuff for the sake of freedom. Or something like that. There’s a whiff of Raiden about it, but the helicopter reminds me a lot of the Toaplan shooter Twin Cobra. Probably not as good as either of those, but it’s a decent enough game I suppose. Hamster has done its usual fine work in delivering the game as close as possible to the original, so if you happen to remember this one you’ll likely enjoy the nostalgia dive.
NoReload Heroes Enhanced Edition ($24.99)
Another helpful title. This is an Enhanced Edition of NoReload Heroes, which previously released on the Switch a few years ago. While the game didn’t get the greatest reviews, it seems to have gained a following thanks to healthy discounts. So what does that extra subtitle get you? Apparently a new mode called the Zone Contest, where two to four players play a King of the Hill style game where each one tries to control a central area. As far as I can tell, that’s it. Not really sure it’s worth the upgrade if you already own the game, but I’d imagine this is the one to buy if you’re looking to pick it up now. Still just local multiplayer only, which is a shame as this would have been the perfect time to get that in there.
Chained ($4.99)
I kind of wish games were a bit clearer about their gameplay in their shop descriptions. Oh well. You play as a guy who loses his job and decides to take revenge by hacking the company and skimming some cash from their accounts. There’s a whole story going on here to drive the game, and it’s fairly engaging. As for that gameplay? You have a series of numbers and a set number of moves. You need to change the numbers so that each digit is surrounded by numbers that differ by no greater than one. While you’re trying to do that, the system will fight back in various ways. Things get more complicated as you go, but you’ll get access to new tricks too. The puzzle bits get a little repetitive after a while, but the narrative helps pull you through to the end. All in all? Not too bad at all.
Bob Help Them ($7.99)
This is a timer-based game where you need to help out various people with their tasks before the clock runs down. There are 35 levels in total, and each one will see you trying to help out up to six NPCs with their requests. You might have to pick fruit and make a pie, go mining for materials to smelt with, chop wood, go fishing, pet dogs, and more. You’ll have to prioritize things properly to get it all done, which adds an element of strategy to an otherwise hectic, reactive game. I haven’t had a chance to try this one out yet, but it seems like it could be fun.
Multi Quiz ($9.99)
If those Jackbox packs are just too much excitement for you, Multi Quiz might be more your multiplayer bag. Up to eight players can join in on this one via local multiplayer. Anyway, it’s a quiz game. There are ten categories for the questions, and they’re all multiple choice affairs. You can pick a category or fire up a random game. It looks like you get fifty questions per category, for a total of five hundred. That might sound like a lot, but you’ll find them repeating fairly quickly. The presentation is quite plain, but it’s functional. Probably good for one or two party nights, but not much more than that. For the price, that may be sufficient.
Faircroft’s Antiques: Home for Christmas Collector’s Edition ($9.99)
Again with the Collector’s Edition bit on the only SKU of a non-limited digital release? Well, whatever. It’s another hidden object adventure, just like the Faircroft’s Antiques game that dropped last week. This time it has a Christmas theme, which isn’t exactly timely but, you know, let’s roll with it. Mia Faircroft returns home for the holidays, and like in any Christmas special our heroine finds herself having to save the whole occasion. There are a variety of mini-games to play, lots of hidden objects to find, and some reasonably nice art to gawk at while you do all of that. If you liked the last game in this series, this one is an easy recommendation. Not sure how collectable it is, however.
A Day Without Me ($5.99)
The idea of this one is that you wake up one day and everyone is gone. You need to try to figure out what happened, but you’re probably not going to be able to piece much together. There are plenty of creepy scenes and puzzles to solve, but it never really forms into a cohesive narrative. I don’t know. It’s an odd one, and I certainly appreciate that. But it’s also clunky and doesn’t live up to its intriguing potential and fascinating early moments. Reviews of this one are mixed on other platforms, and I suspect we’ll see the same split opinions for this Switch port.
Bloody Bunny, The Game ($9.99)
I can’t say I’ve heard of this character before, but I’m assuming that it’s not originally from the video game world because of that ‘The Game‘ bit in the title. Anyway, the idea is that you’re a vengeful girl trapped in the body of a stuffed bunny doll? You wake up in a world where all humans have been transformed into dolls who can’t remember their past lives or identities. Seeing her sister turned into one such doll, Bloody Bunny sets out to get revenge on the wicked force behind all of this. She does a whole lot of killing on the way, naturally. This is a hack-and-slash action game with both a story mode and an endless mode, featuring four different weapons and a bunch of unlockable skills. There’s a bit of platforming and puzzle solving here as well. It reminds me a lot of those mediocre action-platformers that were all the rage on the PlayStation 2 back in the day. Not very good, but also not very bad. You could play it if you were inclined to.
WRC 9 The Official Game ($49.99)
Nacon’s back with the latest installment in its series of rally racers. The WRC games have been getting a little better as the years pass, and I imagine this will continue the trend. You get three new rallies set in Kenya, Japan, and New Zealand, more than fifteen classic cars, and a whole mess of special stages. It looks to be single-player only, which is always regrettable when it comes to racing games. But then again, I suppose that’s true to the real sport in a certain sense. Tech-wise, you’re looking at another rough port that is best enjoyed docked. Handheld performance varies but it’s never what I would call smooth or attractive.
Bishoujo Battle Cyber Panic! ($5.99)
I’m starting to get a good feel for the typical example of an EastAsiaSoft title, and this one jumped out immediately. While it’s not all the company does, what it tends to do around this price point is take some familiar classic gameplay mechanic and combine it with some generic cheesecake anime-style art. In this case, it’s Taito’s Qix that provides the template for what you need to do to see the boobies. Draw lines to carve off pieces of the field, revealing the image behind them. Make sure you don’t hit any enemies or other hazards. It’s virtually impossible to mess this kind of thing up. You get 50 stages here, and I’ll leave it up to you if that’s a good value for your six dollars.
Alchemist Simulator ($12.49)
Kind of a puzzle game where you’re mixing ingredients to do alchemy, played out in decent-looking 3D graphics. Reviews are a little mixed on other platforms, mostly coming down to some opaque mechanics and a somewhat repetitive feel. To be frank, this isn’t really my kind of game so I hesitate to say too much about it. It does indeed seem like something that would get old fast, but I like that they’ve attempted some sort of look beyond the plain assets we tend to see in games with ‘Simulator’ in their titles. Amazing what a few thick black outlines can do, I suppose.
Doodle Devil 3volution ($8.99)
This is the third one of these on Switch, so I’m going to assume that even if you aren’t familiar with this series on other platforms, you probably know how these go. Combine elements to create things that you can combine with other things to make even more things. With the devil theme in play those creations tend to take a naughty or wicked form, but otherwise there isn’t much new going on. You can play this for free on your mobile device if you want to see how you take to it. In exchange for your upfront payment for the Switch version, you get a bunch of coins thrown at you. Nothing but a pure time-waster, but if you liked the other games in this series I can’t see any reason you wouldn’t also go in for this.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
Plenty of stuff already today, and there will surely be more tomorrow. Apart from the new releases, most of the games on today’s list pop up often enough that I can’t give any particularly strong recommendations. As for the outbox, I’d recommend Pawarumi for fans of shoot-em-ups, and possibly the Guns, Gore and Cannoli games if you want some goofy run-and-guns. Otherwise, hold on to your cash and see what comes up in the next twenty four hours. That’s just my take, feel free to have a look through yourself and see if anything tickles you.
Select New Games on Sale
Beach Buggy Racing 2 ($17.99 from $19.99 until 3/16)
Unblock Brick ($4.94 from $9.89 until 3/18)
OMG Police: Car Chase ($1.99 from $4.99 until 3/18)
Cyber Protocol ($1.99 from $9.99 until 3/18)
Clumsy Rush ($1.99 from $4.99 until 3/18)
Nirvana Pilot Yume ($1.99 from $4.99 until 3/18)
My Little IceCream Booth ($2.10 from $3.00 until 3/20)
Chess Royal ($2.39 from $2.99 until 3/24)
Clea 2 ($11.99 from $14.99 until 3/25)
Can’t Drive This ($17.99 from $19.99 until 3/29)
Dig Dog ($1.99 from $3.99 until 3/30)
Astro Duel Deluxe ($1.99 from $7.99 until 3/30)
Piczle Lines DX ($5.99 from $14.99 until 3/30)
Piczle Lines 500 More Puzzles ($3.99 from $9.99 until 3/30)
Piczle Lines DX Bundle ($7.99 from $19.99 until 3/20)
Piczle Colors ($4.80 from $12.00 until 3/30)
Table Soccer Foosball ($2.49 from $4.99 until 3/30)
Puzzle Wall ($3.19 from $7.99 until 3/30)
Animated Jigsaws: Animals ($3.99 from $9.99 until 3/30)
Dustoff Heli Rescue 2 ($3.20 from $8.00 until 3/30)
Timothy & Mysterious Forest ($3.99 from $7.99 until 4/1)
Loot Hero DX ($3.49 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Mini Trains ($1.99 from $5.99 until 4/1)
Akane ($1.99 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Blazing Beaks ($1.99 from $14.99 until 4/1)
Not Not: Brain Buster ($1.99 from $2.49 until 4/1)
Utopia 9: Volatile Vacation ($1.99 from $9.99 until 4/1)
Koloro ($1.99 from $9.99 until 4/1)
Mana Spark ($1.99 from $9.99 until 4/1)
Escape Doodland ($1.99 from $9.99 until 4/1)
Coffee Crisis ($1.99 from $9.99 until 4/1)
One Strike ($1.99 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Jumping Joe & Friends ($1.99 from $2.49 until 4/1)
DungeonTop ($6.99 from $11.99 until 4/1)
Door Kickers ($5.99 from $11.99 until 4/1)
BIT.TRIP Series, Assorted ($2.49 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Freddy Spaghetti ($3.49 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Autumn’s Journey ($3.49 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Paw Paw Paw ($6.99 from $9.99 until 4/1)
More Dark ($3.24 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Micetopia ($3.24 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Zombie Blast Crew ($1.99 from $9.99 until 4/1)
Stencil Art ($1.99 from $3.99 until 4/1)
Ord. ($3.24 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Eyes: The Horror Game ($1.99 from $2.49 until 4/1)
The Language of Love ($7.79 from $11.99 until 4/1)
CrossKrush ($3.24 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Two Parsecs From Earth ($5.19 from $7.99 until 4/1)
Reflection of Mine ($5.19 from $7.99 until 4/1)
Birthday of Midnight ($3.24 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Jet Set Knights ($6.49 from $12.99 until 4/1)
Tamiku ($3.24 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Golf Zero ($3.24 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Roommates ($12.99 from $19.99 until 4/1)
Death’s Hangover ($1.99 from $4.99 until 4/1)
A Hero and a Garden ($3.24 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Even the Ocean ($9.74 from $14.99 until 4/1)
Prehistoric Dude ($2.99 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Devious Dungeon Collection ($7.14 from $12.99 until 4/1)
Roguecube ($2.99 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Nicole ($11.39 from $18.99 until 4/1)
Jisei: The First Case HD ($2.99 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Dex ($1.99 from $19.99 until 4/1)
Ultra Hat Dimension ($2.99 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Distraint 2 ($4.49 from $8.99 until 4/1)
Clash Force ($2.99 from $4.99 until 4/1)
A Summer with the Shiba Inu ($5.99 from $9.99 until 4/1)
Radio Squid ($2.99 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Spacejacked ($4.99 from $9.99 until 4/1)
Strawberry Vinegar ($5.99 from $9.99 until 4/1)
Castle Pals ($2.49 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Space Pioneer ($1.99 from $9.99 until 4/1)
REKT! ($1.99 from $5.99 until 4/1)
Rimelands: Hammer of Thor ($1.99 from $9.99 until 4/1)
#RaceDieRun ($1.99 from $9.99 until 4/1)
Concept Destruction ($2.99 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Thy Sword ($5.99 from $9.99 until 4/1)
Reed Remastered ($2.49 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Reed 2 ($2.49 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Zero Zero Zero Zero ($2.49 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Akuto: Showdown ($1.99 from $7.99 until 4/1)
Barbarous: Tavern of Emyr ($1.99 from $7.99 until 4/1)
Gravity Rider Zero ($1.99 from $6.99 until 4/1)
Blind Men ($2.99 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Tharsis ($2.99 from $11.99 until 4/1)
Rush Rover ($2.74 from $4.99 until 4/1)
HyperParasite ($1.99 from $17.99 until 4/1)
Random Heroes: Gold ($2.49 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Duck Souls+ ($2.74 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Gun Crazy ($2.74 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Thunder Paw ($2.49 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Super Destronaut: Land Wars ($2.99 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Welcome to Primrose Lake ($1.99 from $7.99 until 4/1)
Syrup & the Ultimate Sweet ($2.99 from $4.99 until 4/1)
Ganbare! Super Strikers ($5.49 from $9.99 until 4/1)
Knightin’+ ($3.29 from $5.99 until 4/1)
Guard Duty ($5.99 from $9.99 until 4/1)
Balancelot ($5.59 from $7.99 until 4/1)
Bishoujo Battle Cyber Panic! ($4.79 from $5.99 until 4/1)
MazM: Phantom of the Opera ($11.99 from $14.99 until 4/1)
Synergia ($11.99 from $14.99 until 4/1)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Friday, March 12th
Brunch Club ($2.89 from $14.49 until 3/12)
City Bus Driving Simulator ($4.79 from $11.99 until 3/12)
Coast Guard: Beach Rescue ($4.79 from $11.99 until 3/12)
Creepy Tale ($3.99 from $9.99 until 3/12)
Detective Driver: Miami Files ($4.79 from $11.99 until 3/12)
Exorder ($1.99 from $12.99 until 3/12)
Gas Station: Highway Services ($4.79 from $11.99 until 3/12)
Guns, Gore and Cannoli ($5.99 from $9.99 until 3/12)
Guns, Gore and Cannoli 2 ($7.79 from $12.99 until 3/12)
Hidden Through Time ($4.79 from $7.99 until 3/12)
One Line Coloring ($3.49 from $6.99 until 3/12)
Pawarumi ($9.99 from $19.99 until 3/12)
Talisman: Digital ($13.99 from $19.99 until 3/12)
The Snake King ($1.99 from $7.99 until 3/12)
Tiny Racer ($1.99 from $9.99 until 3/12)
UORiS DX ($2.70 from $9.00 until 3/12)
Wallachia: Reign of Dracula ($10.49 from $14.99 until 3/12)
Warparty ($9.99 from $19.99 until 3/12)
That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with the rest of the new releases for the week. The most notable one I can see on the schedule is A-Train: All Aboard! Tourism, but who knows what surprises will show up while I sleep? We’ll have summaries of all of the new games, along with the latest sales as usual. I hope you all have a fantastic Thursday, and as always, thanks for reading!
