Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for May 4th, 2021. L-live long and prosper? Well, let’s see if that causes a ruckus. Anyway, today’s article. We’ve got a review of the recent low-cost beat-em-up Wardogs: Red’s Return, summaries of a few new releases including the latest in the Travel Mosaics series, and the usual lists of incoming and outgoing sales. A little slim compared to the norm, but enough to keep you busy for a minute or two at least. Let’s get to it!
Mini-Views & Reviews
Wardogs: Red’s Return ($3.99)
Wardogs is a little better than you might expect for a four-dollar beat-em-up. You play as Red, a dog-man in a dog-person world who uses his paws of fury to battle whoever gets in his face. The story plays things straight, telling a gritty story about a guy who can’t seem to stay out of trouble. The gameplay is equally ordinary, seeing Red going through side-scrolling stages punching and kicking gangs of enemies. The main character doesn’t have a terribly big arsenal of moves, but he can use a couple of special moves now and then. There’s also a meter that fills up as you beat up baddies, allowing you to use one of three techniques in exchange for a portion of the meter. There are destructible objects that can contain health, energy for your special meter, or the occasional weapon.
It gets some things right. Hits have a nice feeling of impact behind them. The stages are visually interesting and there’s a great amount of enemy and boss variety. You earn currency and upgrades that you can use to customize your character, with quite a few costume pieces to mix and match. It gets some things wrong. Jump attacks feel off. It’s difficult to turn around when you’re in a crowd. There aren’t a lot of great options to cover ground quickly, which can be a problem against the many enemies that use ranged attacks. You don’t have a lot of moves to choose from, which can make things feel repetitive sooner than they should. This isn’t an especially good beat-em-up, which could be a problem given the strong competition in this genre on the system. But it is an adequate beat-em-up, and considering the price that may well be enough.
SwitchArcade Score: 3/5
New Releases
Travel Mosaics 9: Mysterious Prague ($9.99)
Well, it’s the ninth game in the Travel Mosaics series of Picross-style puzzlers. You probably know what to expect by now, in other words. The Walker family visits Prague this time, which serves as the framing for another 150+ puzzles to solve. There are multiple difficulty settings, and some other activities that may teach you some fun facts about Prague. Travel Mosaics has been one of the more reliable brands for Picross-style fun, and its colorful presentation is refreshing in a sea of more modest takes on the concept.
The Colonists ($27.29)
This is a simulation game about building a settlement, similar in broad strokes to things like The Settlers or the Anno games. You’ve got little robots who want to build human-like colonies on other planets. There’s a somewhat short campaign to play through, plus a number of other modes to add some replay value once you’ve finished that. This game came out a couple of years back on computers and it seems to have gotten a fairly positive reception. I haven’t had a chance to dig into it myself yet, though.
Classic Checkers ($7.99)
Our pal Piotr Skalski is back today with an incredibly bland take on an incredibly bland classic game. Play against the AI or another player via local multiplayer. It’s checkers. I wish I had more to talk about here, but there’s not much more to say. It seems like a fine enough take on checkers, I guess. You can probably find a real board cheaper than this, though.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
Some interesting sales in the list today. Heroes of Loot and Stardash aren’t on sale often, and Gunlord X is practically never discounted. The former two are great new versions of mobile blasts from the past, and the latter is an excellent tribute to Turrican that is well-worth a fiver. Of course, you may be more interested in what’s going on in the outbox. The Square Enix sale is coming to end, and so is Jupiter’s latest line of discounts on its Picross games. Take a look through both lists to be sure.
Select New Games on Sale
Heroes of Loot ($5.59 from $7.99 until 5/8)
Stardash ($6.99 from $9.99 until 5/8)
Guacamelee! Super Turbo CE ($5.99 from $14.99 until 5/10)
Guacamelee! 2 ($7.99 from $19.99 until 5/10)
Tales From Space: MBA ($3.99 from $9.99 until 5/10)
Severed ($5.99 from $14.99 until 5/10)
Spirits of Xanadu ($4.49 from $4.99 until 5/10)
Paradise Killer ($13.99 from $19.99 until 5/10)
In Other Waters ($10.49 from $14.99 until 5/10)
Neo Cab ($3.99 from $19.99 until 5/10)
Super Mutant Alien Assault ($1.99 from $9.99 until 5/10)
The Church in the Darkness ($3.99 from $19.99 until 5/10)
Framed Collection ($3.99 from $9.99 until 5/10)
Think of the Children ($2.59 from $12.99 until 5/10)
The Stillness of the Wind ($3.89 from $12.99 until 5/10)
Castle of No Escape ($1.99 from $4.99 until 5/17)
Bullet Beat ($1.99 from $4.99 until 5/17)
Nexoria: Dungeon Rogue Heroes ($2.49 from $4.99 until 5/17)
2URVIVE ($4.19 from $6.99 until 5/17)
The Explorer of Night ($2.49 from $4.99 until 5/17)
Cybxus Hearts ($1.99 from $4.99 until 5/17)
Dark Grim Mariupolis ($2.49 from $4.99 until 5/17)
Smart Moves ($3.29 from $5.99 until 5/17)
Void Source ($3.29 from $5.99 until 5/17)
Brutal Rage ($4.19 from $6.99 until 5/17)
Cloudbase Prime ($1.99 from $9.99 until 5/18)
My Aunt is a Witch ($5.99 from $9.99 until 5/23)
Gunlord X ($4.99 from $9.99 until 5/23)
7th Sector ($11.99 from $19.99 until 5/23)
Active Neurons ($2.99 from $4.99 until 5/23)
Active Neurons 2 ($2.99 from $4.99 until 5/23)
Active Neurons 3 ($2.99 from $4.99 until 5/23)
Space Aliens Invaders ($2.99 from $4.99 until 5/23)
I, AI ($5.99 from $9.99 until 5/23)
Aircraft Evolution ($5.99 from $9.99 until 5/23)
Need a Packet? ($4.19 from $6.99 until 5/23)
Steam Tactics ($5.99 from $9.99 until 5/23)
Escape from Tethys ($5.99 from $9.99 until 5/23)
Norman’s Great Illusion ($2.99 from $4.99 until 5/23)
Mask of Mists ($8.99 from $14.99 until 5/23)
Binaries ($2.59 from $12.99 until 5/24)
AeternoBlade ($5.99 from $14.99 until 5/24)
Wanderjahr TryAgainOrWalkAway ($3.99 from $9.99 until 5/24)
Golf Peaks ($1.99 from $4.99 until 5/24)
Cooking Tycoons 2: 3 in 1 ($1.99 from $12.99 until 5/24)
Scarlett Mysteries: CC ($2.09 from $14.99 until 5/24)
Battle for Blood ($1.99 from $3.99 until 5/24)
Legend of Numbers ($2.09 from $2.99 until 5/24)
Demon Hunter: Revelation ($2.09 from $14.99 until 5/24)
Super Battle Cards ($1.99 from $5.99 until 5/24)
Route Me Mail & Delivery Co ($5.19 from $7.99 until 5/28)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Wednesday, May 5th
ABZU ($9.99 from $19.99 until 5/5)
AVICII Invector ($13.99 from $19.99 until 5/5)
Balan Wonderworld ($40.19 from $59.99 until 5/5)
Book of Demons ($2.49 from $24.99 until 5/5)
BQM Block Quest Maker ($7.49 from $14.99 until 5/5)
Bulletstorm: Duke of Switch ($11.99 from $29.99 until 5/5)
Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon ($19.99 from $39.99 until 5/5)
Collection of Mana ($19.99 from $39.99 until 5/5)
Collection of SaGa FFL ($17.99 from $19.99 until 5/5)
Death End re;Quest ($26.99 from $29.99 until 5/5)
Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary ($3.99 from $9.99 until 5/5)
Elea: Paradigm Shift ($1.99 from $7.99 until 5/5)
Final Fantasy IX ($10.49 from $20.99 until 5/5)
Final Fantasy VII ($7.99 from $15.99 until 5/5)
Final Fantasy VIII Remastered ($9.99 from $19.99 until 5/5)
Final Fantasy XII Zodiac Age ($24.99 from $49.99 until 5/5)
Final Fantasy XV Pocket ($14.99 from $29.99 until 5/5)
Horace ($8.99 from $14.99 until 5/5)
Hypnospace Outlaw ($9.99 from $19.99 until 5/5)
I Am Setsuna ($19.99 from $39.99 until 5/5)
Kemono Friends Picross ($7.99 from $9.99 until 5/5)
Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory ($40.19 from $59.99 until 5/5)
Last Day of June ($9.99 from $19.99 until 5/5)
Lost Sphear ($19.99 from $49.99 until 5/5)
Newton’s Cradle Puzzle Game ($2.09 from $2.99 until 5/5)
Oninaki ($24.99 from $49.99 until 5/5)
Picross Lord of the Nazarick ($7.99 from $9.99 until 5/5)
Picross S ($6.39 from $7.99 until 5/5)
Picross S2 ($7.19 from $8.99 until 5/5)
Picross S3 ($7.99 from $9.99 until 5/5)
Picross S4 ($7.99 from $9.99 until 5/5)
Picross S5 ($8.99 from $9.99 until 5/5)
Rigid Force Redux ($9.99 from $19.99 until 5/5)
Risk of Rain 2 ($9.99 from $24.99 until 5/5)
Romancing SaGa 2 ($12.49 from $24.99 until 5/5)
Romancing SaGa 3 ($14.49 from $28.99 until 5/5)
Runbow ($2.99 from $14.99 until 5/5)
Safety First! ($1.99 from $2.99 until 5/5)
SaGa Scarlet Grace Ambitions ($14.99 from $29.99 until 5/5)
Spelunker Party! ($14.99 from $29.99 until 5/5)
Star Ocean First Departure R ($10.49 from $20.99 until 5/5)
Sweet Witches ($1.99 from $9.99 until 5/5)
Tools Up! ($4.99 from $19.99 until 5/5)
Trials of Mana ($24.99 from $49.99 until 5/5)
Unitied ($2.09 from $2.99 until 5/5)
World of Final Fantasy Maxima ($19.99 from $39.99 until 5/5)
Zumba Burn It Up! ($21.99 from $39.99 until 5/5)
That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with some news, more sales, and a fresh batch of new releases to check out. I’m still making my way through New Pokemon Snap, so that review will have to wait for a bit yet. Anyway, I hope you all have a great Tuesday, and as always, thanks for reading!
