Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for April 14th, 2021. Lots of news in today’s article, but I regrettably will have to go into the details of the Indie World Showcase tomorrow as it hasn’t happened yet as of writing. There are several new releases to look at, and we’ve also got the usual lists of incoming and outgoing sales to check out. Let’s get straight to it!
News
‘Blizzard Arcade Collection’ Updated with Two More Games and More
Blizzard Arcade Collection is a real cool set. It offers multiple versions of three great Blizzard-developed games from their earlier, more console-bound years. It also has some neat historical material to browse. My only big criticism of it is that it isn’t complete. Sure, not much could be done about the licensed DC Superheroes games, but what about Lost Vikings 2 or RPM Racing? In a move that has frankly shocked me, Activision has issued a free update to Blizzard Arcade Collection that adds the Super NES versions of those two games to the set. Two more games! Free! Wowie! The update also adds some more material to the museum section, and adds in a Streamer Mode for the remaster of Rock ‘N Roll Racing that substitutes in the MIDI versions of the tunes so as to avoid copyright flags. You still can’t save your game in that version though. Nevertheless, a couple of extra games, one of which is very good indeed, at no added cost makes for a hard update to argue with.
Nintendo Presents Another Indie World Showcase Today
Ah, troublesome timing. By the time you read this, the latest Indie World Showcase presentation will be finished. It was around 20 minutes long, and it probably had some very interesting things in it! But I cannot speak of those things here, because it is at present nine hours in the future for me. Yes, 9:00 AM PT/12:00 PM ET on April 14th, that’s when it was. When it will have been. When it will be having been. With all those fresh and new indie games. Some of them will look/did look great! A few will be/were not so interesting. That is how it goes/went, future friends. If you haven’t seen it yet, you can probably watch it in the video right above this paragraph.
The Next Switch Lite is Feeling Blue
Don’t you hate it when you buy a system and then the manufacturer comes out with a cool new color that you would have preferred over the one you bought, but you’re not going to buy a whole new system for a simple cosmetic difference? Anyway, the Nintendo Switch Lite is getting a new color on May 21st. It’s blue! It’s a really nice blue, in fact. Kind of a navy variant. It will sell for $199.99 US, which is the same as other Switch Lite systems. This launch coincides with the release of Miitopia, but there’s no particular connection between the two as far as I know. With the rumors of the Switch Pro intensifying over the last few months, I can’t see myself biting on this no matter how awesome that color is. But maybe you will?
‘Street Fighter’ Characters Crash the ‘Power Rangers’ Party May 25th
If you want to deliver Shoryukens to the competition as Ryu and Spinning Bird Kick people in the face as Chun Li in a fresh fighting game on your Switch, your only choice is… Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid? Yes friends, as of May 25th that pair of iconic Street Fighter characters will be joining the playable roster of the Power Rangers fighting game in their Crimson Hawk Ranger and Blue Phoenix Ranger forms. Well, as long as you pay anyway. The characters will be available for $5.99 each or in a bundle for $12.49. Mobile gaming fans will probably remember these versions of the characters from their appearances in Power Rangers: Legacy Wars. I wasn’t expecting them to come to Battle for the Grid, but I’m happy to see them.
Blow It All Up in the Next ‘Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’ Event
After an exciting event last week where some new spirits were on offer, we’re back to the usual business for the next weekend event in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. This time, it’s another tournament. The focus is on bombs and explosives, so you’ll be limited to characters that use such tricks like Link, Steve, and Mega Man. Items will also be limited to explosives of various sorts. As usual, the tournament will kick off on Friday and will run for three days through the weekend.
New Releases
Cannon Brawl ($9.99)
Well, you know how this sort of thing goes. Two bases set across the field from each other. Resources to collect and use. Build units as you see fit to try to defeat the other player. You control an airship and can use it to bring some direct heat to the enemy. You can battle another player locally or head online. There are fifteen or so units to play with, and a handful of different airship pilots to choose from. You also get a reasonably robust campaign here, with twenty missions and some cool boss fights. Overall, it’s a tune we’re all probably quite familiar with, but at least it’s played well here.
Kingdom of Arcadia ($5.99)
Weep for Sam, the protagonist of this game. He’s had the exciting experience of being sucked into a video game. Unfortunately, it’s this video game. This is a fairly bland action platformer, one that uses that annoying style of humor where it makes fun of a trope for being silly or trite and then uses it anyway. It’s structured such that you need to grind up coins to afford new gear if you want to have any hope of surviving. It’s not horrible to play or anything, but you’re far better off with the likes of Goblin Sword or Devious Dungeon.
ReactorX ($4.99)
Kind of a cross between a Sokoban-style block pusher and a Lights Out puzzle, ReactorX has a nice concept that it unfortunately doesn’t carry far enough for my liking. You get thirty stages, and the difficulty never really ramps up the way it should. Block-pushing puzzles without challenge? That’s just work, pal. It’s being positioned as something light you can play between bigger games, and it is true that it’s not very taxing. That’s all well and good, but it’s not very engaging either. Given the plethora of great puzzle games you can buy on Switch around this price point, I’m hard-pressed to find a reason to care about this one.
Knight Squad 2 ($14.99)
The knight-focused party game returns in this sequel, and it looks to offer up a number of improvements for fans of the original. More modes and weapons mainly, which is impressive given how much was already in there. Up to eight players can join in on the action via local and online multiplayer, with the latter offering cross-platform play. The different modes include battle royale, capture the Grail, hunt for souls, and many more. Weapons run the gamut from bows and arrows all the way up to proximity mines, just like Lancelot used to play delightfully devilish pranks on King Arthur in the old stories. If you’re on the lookout for another fun arena battler, this is a solid choice.
Isolomus ($1.99)
This one is handheld mode only, and it’s a very short experience. About twenty minutes, tops. It’s kind of a horror game with a lot of weird imagery, though the gameplay mechanics mostly involve solving puzzles by tapping, dragging, and dropping. There are two endings to see, and both of them are pretty bad. The unique selling point on this one is that the visuals are all made from putty and stop motion-style animation. I guess if you want something bizarre and don’t care too much about two bucks, you could try this out. I will stress again: it is very, very brief. And there isn’t a whole lot of reason to replay it, either.
Park Inc ($2.99)
Oh hey, Pix Arts. Been, like, three days since their last handful of releases. Guess we were about due. This is a game where in each stage you need to get your car out of the parking lot without hitting any other cars or obstacles. There are more than 150 levels of this, which is almost certainly more than you’ll need. But you know what? This doesn’t look horrid, there’s more than enough content, and it’s not clearly ripping anyone off as far as I can tell. It also has a low price attached to it, which makes it easier to pick up on a whim. I’m not going to recommend it, but I’m also not going to spit any venom at it. Handheld mode only, natch.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
It’s a small selection in the inbox today, but we’ll see if that holds as the day goes on. There are some cool games in there like Earthlock and Ninjin: Clash of Carrots, and of course the pre-order discounts for the Subnautica games are now live. But by and large these are games that go on sale every few weeks or so. Plenty in the outbox, and you’ll want to look at the Atelier Ryza games, Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid, and Panzer Dragoon: Remake at the very least. The Ryza games don’t go on sale often, Power Rangers has that cool new DLC coming, and Panzer Dragoon is stupid-cheap for what it is. You know the words: take a careful look yourself to see if anything jumps out.
Select New Games on Sale
Ninjin: Clash of Carrots ($1.99 from $9.99 until 4/20)
Degrees of Separation ($5.99 from $19.99 until 4/20)
Rock of Ages 3: Make & Break ($9.89 from $29.99 until 4/20)
Skully ($8.99 from $29.99 until 4/20)
Ary & the Secret of Seasons ($19.99 from $39.99 until 4/20)
Remothered: Broken Porcelain ($14.99 from $29.99 until 4/20)
Deer Drive Legends ($3.99 from $19.99 until 4/20)
Bear With Me: Lost Robots ($1.99 from $4.99 until 4/20)
Override: Mech City Brawl ($14.99 from $29.99 until 4/20)
Override 2: Super Mech League ($19.49 from $29.99 until 4/20)
Beast Quest ($5.99 from $29.99 until 4/20)
Trine: Ultimate Collection ($14.99 from $49.99 until 4/20)
Trine 4: Nightmare Prince ($7.49 from $29.99 until 4/20)
Troll and I ($2.99 from $29.99 until 4/20)
Earthlock ($5.98 from $29.90 until 5/3)
Jurassic Pinball ($2.00 from $2.99 until 5/3)
World Soccer Pinball ($2.00 from $2.99 until 5/3)
8-Ball Pocket ($2.03 from $5.99 until 5/3)
Yoga Master ($19.99 from $24.99 until 5/3)
Subnautica ($26.99 from $29.99 until 5/14)
Subnautica: Below Zero ($26.99 from $29.99 until 5/14)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Thursday, April 15th
AER Memories of Old ($1.99 from $19.99 until 4/15)
Alphaset By POWGI ($3.99 from $7.99 until 4/15)
Art Sqool ($6.19 from $12.99 until 4/15)
Asdivine Dios ($7.79 from $12.99 until 4/15)
Asdivine Hearts ($7.79 from $12.99 until 4/15)
Asdivine Hearts 2 ($7.79 from $12.99 until 4/15)
Asdivine Kamura ($8.99 from $14.99 until 4/15)
Asdivine Menace ($7.79 from $12.99 until 4/15)
Atelier Ryza 2: LL&tSF ($47.99 from $59.99 until 4/15)
Atelier Ryza: ED&tSH ($29.99 from $59.99 until 4/15)
Back to Bed ($1.99 from $4.99 until 4/15)
Batu Ta Batu ($1.99 from $4.99 until 4/15)
Block-A-Pix Deluxe ($3.99 from $7.99 until 4/15)
Butcher ($3.99 from $9.99 until 4/15)
Chaos on Deponia ($1.99 from $19.99 until 4/15)
Cinders ($1.99 from $19.99 until 4/15)
Clumsy Rush ($1.99 from $4.99 until 4/15)
Cozy Grove ($13.49 from $14.99 until 4/15)
Crypt of the NecroDancer ($3.99 from $19.99 until 4/15)
Crypto By POWGI ($3.99 from $7.99 until 4/15)
Cyber Protocol ($1.99 from $9.99 until 4/15)
Darkwood ($10.49 from $14.99 until 4/15)
Dead By Daylight ($14.99 from $29.99 until 4/15)
Deponia ($3.99 from $39.99 until 4/15)
Deponia Doomsday ($1.99 from $19.99 until 4/15)
Dimension Drive ($1.99 from $12.99 until 4/15)
Doom & Destiny ($7.19 from $11.99 until 4/15)
Dragon Sinker ($7.79 from $12.99 until 4/15)
Epic Word Search Collection ($3.99 from $7.99 until 4/15)
Epic Word Search Collection 2 ($3.99 from $7.99 until 4/15)
Fifty Words By POWGI ($3.99 from $7.99 until 4/15)
Fight Crab ($14.99 from $19.99 until 4/15)
Fill-A-Pix: Phil’s Adv. ($3.99 from $7.99 until 4/15)
Gnomes Garden 3: TToC ($1.99 from $4.99 until 4/15)
Goodbye Deponia ($1.99 from $19.99 until 4/15)
Graceful Explosion Machine ($3.20 from $12.99 until 4/15)
Grizzland ($1.99 from $4.99 until 4/15)
Headspun ($7.14 from $12.99 until 4/15)
Inferno 2 ($1.99 from $4.99 until 4/15)
Jet Ski Rush ($1.99 from $3.99 until 4/15)
Just a Phrase By POWGI ($3.99 from $7.99 until 4/15)
Lichtspeer: Double Speer ($2.99 from $9.99 until 4/15)
Link-A-Pix Deluxe ($3.99 from $7.99 until 4/15)
Lost Wing ($3.19 from $7.99 until 4/15)
Luckslinger ($7.99 from $9.99 until 4/15)
Lumini ($2.99 from $9.99 until 4/15)
Mastercube ($2.19 from $5.49 until 4/15)
Miner Warfare ($4.79 from $7.99 until 4/15)
Monster Energy Supercross 2 ($7.99 from $39.99 until 4/15)
MotoGP 20 ($9.99 from $39.99 until 4/15)
MouseCraft ($3.99 from $9.99 until 4/15)
My Magic Florist ($1.99 from $6.99 until 4/15)
My Memory of Us ($4.49 from $14.99 until 4/15)
Nirvana Pilot Yume ($1.99 from $4.99 until 4/15)
OMG Police: Car Chase TV ($1.99 from $4.99 until 4/15)
One Escape ($3.99 from $4.99 until 4/15)
Panzer Dragoon: Remake ($6.24 from $24.99 until 4/15)
Party Planet ($4.99 from $19.99 until 4/15)
Pic-A-Pix Deluxe ($3.99 from $7.99 until 4/15)
Pic-A-Pix Pieces ($3.99 from $7.99 until 4/15)
Power Racing Bundle 2 ($8.49 from $16.99 until 4/15)
Power Rangers: BftG ($12.99 from $19.99 until 4/15)
Project Starship X ($6.99 from $9.99 until 4/15)
Project Warlock ($899 from $14.99 until 4/15)
Rainswept ($2.99 from $9.99 until 4/15)
Red Death ($1.99 from $4.99 until 4/15)
Regalia: Of Men & Monarchs ($14.99 from $24.99 until 4/15)
Roundout By POWGI ($3.99 from $7.99 until 4/15)
Sakura in Gameland ($7.99 from $9.99 until 4/15)
Silence ($3.99 from $39.99 until 4/15)
Space Elite Force ($1.99 from $2.99 until 4/15)
Speedway Bundle S&T ($9.99 from $19.99 until 4/15)
Spitlings ($8.99 from $14.99 until 4/15)
State of Mind ($3.99 from $39.99 until 4/15)
Tadpole Treble Encore ($6.99 from $8.99 until 4/15)
The Bug Butcher ($1.99 from $7.99 until 4/15)
The Long Journey Home ($2.99 from $29.99 until 4/15)
The Pillar: Puzzle Escape ($6.99 from $9.99 until 4/15)
The Snake King ($1.99 from $7.99 until 4/15)
Tic-Tac-Letters By POWGI ($3.99 from $7.99 until 4/15)
Vasara Collection ($1.99 from $9.99 until 4/15)
Word Puzzles By POWGI ($3.99 from $7.99 until 4/15)
Word Search By POWGI ($3.99 from $7.99 until 4/15)
Word Sudoku By POWGI ($3.99 from $7.99 until 4/15)
Word Wheel By POWGI ($3.99 from $7.99 until 4/15)
Wordsweeper By POWGI ($3.99 from $7.99 until 4/15)
That’s all for today, friends. Tomorrow being Thursday, we’ll have an awful lot of new games to look at even going by the current schedule alone. I expect the Indie World Showcase to make the day even busier to some extent. We’ll have summaries of all of those games, some sort of look at the news from the Indie World Showcase, and of course the usual lists of new and expiring sales. I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday, and as always, thanks for reading!
