Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for May 19th, 2021. In today’s article, we’ve got a few news items to dig into. Considering how slow proper news is of late, I consider this monumental. There are several new releases to check out, with the headliner being Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition. Finally, the usual lists of incoming and outgoing sales are here, trying to entice you with their savings. Let’s start sorting through it!
News
The Next Batch of Retro Games Hits ‘Nintendo Switch Online’ Next Week
It’s been a few months since we were last graced with some new selections for the Nintendo Switch Online NES and Super NES apps. Well, another batch will be hitting the subscription service next Wednesday, and it more or less follows the recent pattern. Five games will be added, with four of them being Super NES games and the fifth being an NES game. For the Super NES, the games include Joe & Mac and Magical Drop 2 from Data East, Super Baseball Simulator 1.000 from Culture Brain, and Spanky’s Quest from Natsume. The lone NES title is Jaleco’s Ninja JaJaMaru-kun. Not exactly the first-line all-stars, but not bad games overall.
‘The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD’ Has an Amiibo Coming
There aren’t quite so many Amiibos releasing as there once were, but there are still a few trickling out here and there. The next one from Nintendo will release on July 16th, and accompanies the upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD. It features Zelda and a Gullwing, and it’s a bit larger than the average figure. The North American price hasn’t been revealed yet, but based on prices in other regions it’s probably going to cost around $30 US dollars. So what does it do? Rather annoyingly, it allows you to fast travel between the land and sky whenever you like. This is a really great feature that would help address some of the game’s problems, and at least at the moment it seems the only way you’ll be able to access it is by scanning this Amiibo each time. Well, that’s how it is.
Earn Your Stripes in the Next ‘Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’ Event
We’ll round out the news with our usual Wednesday buddy: the announcement of the next Super Smash Bros. Ultimate weekend event. It looks like it’s going to be another Spirit Board event this time, and the theme is stripes. Spirits with stripes will be featured, and if you beat up on them you’ll get more gold than usual. Hey, it’s a living. Anyway, the event will kick off on Friday as always, and run for the typical three days through the weekend.
New Releases
Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition ($24.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
If you loved the unique blend of interactive fiction, RPG, and strategy that Sunless Sea had to offer, you’ll want to get in on this follow-up. As you can probably guess from the title, this game moves the action to the skies. The core mechanics are largely similar to the previous title, but everything is on a much bigger scale. You’re the captain of a flying steam locomotive and soon find yourself getting mixed up in some seriously high-level politics. Keep your crew safe, upgrade your train, and make the right choices if you want to survive. There are four big regions to explore, and whole lot of sharply-written text to read. It’s awesome. Grab it if you haven’t played it yet on another platform.
Outbreak: Endless Nightmares ($19.99)
Personally, I think the Outbreak series just isn’t very good. I appreciate the effort from its developers, and I know some people out there like these because they keep on coming out, but I just don’t find them worth the money or time. Sadly, Endless Nightmares isn’t going to change my mind. It aims to make a roguelite survival-horror game, and as good as that sounds on paper it really doesn’t work in practice. The controls are clunky, the camera is disagreeable, and due to the way the game handles carry-over between runs, it actually gets more difficult the more you play. The title is perhaps accurate, but not quite in the intended way.
0 Degrees ($4.99)
Here’s another five-dollar puzzle-platformer, for those who are collecting them. This one has forty stages, each one a single-screen challenge that tasks you with reaching the warp point contained somewhere within. Your character can jump, naturally. But they can also create ice blocks, and its through that mechanic that you’ll be solving the bulk of the puzzles. Hit switches, make platforms, and so on. It seems perfectly fine for what it is, so if like the sound of this description, by all means. I doubt you’ll be disappointed.
Aerial_Knight’s Never Yield ($11.99)
This is a stylish stage-based auto-runner that looks like it doesn’t venture too far outside of the lines of what came before it, at least in terms of mechanics. Jump, slide, and collect items as you run through an urban landscape. Lead character Wally has some evidence that will change the future of his city forever, but some people don’t want that to happen and are going to do everything they can to stop him. Stay ahead of your enemies and you might just live to see a better world. Neither the longest game nor the most original, but the graphic design and soundtrack are both great.
Geminose Animal Popstars ($39.00)
This is a family-friendly rhythm game where you collect a variety of cute animals from around the world and create a pop band with them. There are thirty different instruments for them to play, and twenty original songs. You can dress up the animals as you like, and even rearrange the tunes. The animals you collect live in a mansion, and you can decorate that however you want as well. There are also a bunch of mini-games to play. As for the rhythm gameplay itself, it looks an awful lot like Samba de Amigo, which is fine by me. Due to the extensive use of motion controls in this game, you can’t play it in handheld mode. Bit of a shame, but I suppose I understand.
Chess Knights: Shinobi ($3.99)
Another chess puzzle game from the folks at QUByte and Minimol, this time with a vague Edo-period Japan feel to it. Strangely, I think this theme works better with the mechanics than the previous Viking one. Your ninja moves like a chess knight and needs to make its way across the board without catching the attention of any of the samurai guards, all of which take the form of chess pieces of their own. The set dressing plays into the theme nicely, though it really is just a new lick of paint on a well-trodden concept. You get fifty main levels along with ten secret levels, making for a reasonable amount of bang for your buck. I think the well is starting to run a little dry on this precise type of puzzle, but if you’re not tired of them yet, this is a perfectly reasonable purchase.
Xylophone ($9.99)
Aw heck, it’s Sabec. After somehow going a little viral last week with its calculator app, it’s back with another dubious title. Xylophone is essentially a reskin of the Piano app, which means it’s an incredibly simple toy that is even less full-featured than the average free mobile app. Jam to hits like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Old MacDonald Had a Farm, and Jingle Bells. Nine songs in total. Or hit the free play mode and play whatever you want. I mean, whatever you want that can be played on an eight-note xylophone, that is. Ten bucks.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
Another small selection of new sales today, but some interesting things in there. Capcom’s Devil May Cry games, Gods Will Fall, and the Leisure Suit Larry games are probably the most notable among them. The outbox is a bit bigger, with titles from WB Games, FDG Entertainment, Digerati, and others featured. Do that usual thing and check both lists to make sure you’ve bought everything you want to.
Select New Games on Sale
R.B.I. Baseball 21 ($20.99 from $29.99 until 5/25)
Space Otter Charlie ($11.96 from $14.99 until 5/25)
Deleveled ($4.92 from $9.99 until 5/25)
Breakpoint ($2.46 from $4.99 until 5/25)
Fracter ($3.44 from $6.99 until 5/25)
The Bridge ($1.99 from $9.99 until 5/25)
Tumblestone ($1.99 from $14.99 until 5/25)
Almost There: The Platformer ($1.99 from $9.99 until 5/25)
Gurgamoth ($1.99 from $9.99 until 5/25)
Roundguard ($8.85 from $19.99 until 5/25)
#Funtime ($6.64 from $14.99 until 5/25)
The Ambassador: FT ($6.64 from $14.99 until 5/25)
Cozy Grove ($13.47 from $14.99 until 5/25)
Devil May Cry ($9.99 from $19.99 until 5/26)
Devil May Cry 2 ($9.99 from $19.99 until 5/26)
Devil May Cry 3 SE ($11.99 from $19.99 until 5/26)
Gods Will Fall ($14.99 from $24.99 until 5/26)
Black Legend ($22.49 from $29.99 until 5/26)
Chess Knights: Shinobi ($1.99 from $3.99 until 6/2)
Jetboard Joust ($7.99 from $9.99 until 6/2)
Long Ago: A Puzzle Tale ($8.99 from $9.99 until 6/7)
Croc’s World 3 ($1.99 from $4.99 until 6/8)
Leisure Suit Larry: WDDD ($7.99 from $39.99 until 6/8)
Leisure Suit Larry: WDDT ($35.99 from $44.99 until 6/8)
Gorilla Big Adventure ($2.49 from $4.99 until 6/8)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Thursday, May 20th
1979 Revolution: Black Friday ($2.99 from $11.99 until 5/20)
3000th Duel ($7.49 from $14.99 until 5/20)
Adventures of Chris ($7.49 from $14.99 until 5/20)
Aquatic Adv. of the Last Human ($3.89 from $12.99 until 5/20)
Ayakashi Koi Gikyoku ($16.74 from $24.99 until 5/20)
Bakugan: Champions of Vestroia ($14.99 from $49.99 until 5/20)
Bite the Bullet ($7.49 from $14.99 until 5/20)
Bleed ($3.59 from $11.99 until 5/20)
Bleed 2 ($4.49 from $14.99 until 5/20)
Blossom Tales ($5.99 from $14.99 until 5/20)
Blue Fire ($14.99 from $19.99 until 5/20)
Boreal Blade ($1.99 from $3.99 until 5/20)
Cars 3: Driven to Win ($7.99 from $39.99 until 5/20)
Color Your World ($11.24 from $14.99 until 5/20)
Colossus Down ($13.49 from $17.99 until 5/20)
Creepy Road ($7.79 from $12.99 until 5/20)
Demon’s Tilt ($11.99 from $19.99 until 5/20)
Don’t Die, Mr Robot! ($2.24 from $8.99 until 5/20)
Double Cross ($4.99 from $19.99 until 5/20)
Duel on Board ($5.59 from $7.99 until 5/20)
Football Cup 2021 ($6.99 from $9.99 until 5/20)
Glass Masquerade ($3.59 from $11.99 until 5/20)
Glass Masquerade 2: Illusions ($5.99 from $11.99 until 5/20)
Hacky Zack ($2.49 from $9.99 until 5/20)
inbento ($3.49 from $4.99 until 5/20)
Ink ($2.24 from $8.99 until 5/20)
Iris School of Wizardry ($16.74 from $24.99 until 5/20)
Joggernauts ($3.74 from $14.99 until 5/20)
Kitty Love ($16.74 from $24.99 until 5/20)
Lost Artifacts: Soulstone ($2.99 from $9.99 until 5/20)
Mable & The Wood ($3.74 from $14.99 until 5/20)
Monster Boy & the Cursed Kingdom ($15.99 from $39.99 until 5/20)
My Little Ice Cream Booth ($1.99 from $3.00 until 5/20)
Nine Parchments ($4.99 from $19.99 until 5/20)
Oceanhorn 2: KotLR ($22.49 from $29.99 until 5/20)
Oceanhorn: MoUS ($5.99 from $14.99 until 5/20)
Omega Strike ($4.49 from $14.99 until 5/20)
Paranautical Activity ($2.39 from $7.99 until 5/20)
Pipe Push Paradise ($2.74 from $10.99 until 5/20)
REZ PLZ ($7.49 from $14.99 until 5/20)
Ring of Pain ($13.99 from $19.99 until 5/20)
Rising Hell ($8.99 from $9.99 until 5/20)
Scribblenauts Mega Pack ($7.99 from $39.99 until 5/20)
Scribblenauts Showdown ($3.99 from $39.99 until 5/20)
Shikhondo: Soul Eater ($4.19 from $13.99 until 5/20)
Signs of the Sojourner ($14.99 from $19.99 until 5/20)
Slayin 2 ($4.79 from $11.99 until 5/20)
Spectrum ($2.39 from $11.99 until 5/20)
Spiral Memoria ($16.74 from $24.99 until 5/20)
Street Power Soccer ($20.09 from $29.99 until 5/20)
Sudoku Relax 4 Winter Snow ($1.99 from $4.99 until 5/20)
Sunless Sea: Zubmariner Edition ($11.99 from $19.99 until 5/20)
Tamashii ($5.99 from $11.99 until 5/20)
Tested on Humans: Escape Room ($7.99 from $9.99 until 5/20)
The King’s Bird ($4.99 from $19.99 until 5/20)
The Shapeshifting Detective ($6.49 from $12.99 until 5/20)
Three Fourths Home: Extended ($2.24 from $8.99 until 5/20)
Tiger Trio’s Tasty Travels ($13.49 from $14.99 until 5/20)
Tower of Time ($16.24 from $24.99 until 5/20)
Train Station Renovation ($17.09 from $18.99 until 5/20)
Trine 2: Complete Story ($4.24 from $16.99 until 5/20)
Trine 3: Artifacts of Power ($4.99 from $19.99 until 5/20)
Trine Enchanted Edition ($3.74 from $14.99 until 5/20)
Uncanny Valley ($2.49 from $9.99 until 5/20)
Under Leaves ($8.44 from $12.99 until 5/20)
Underhero ($10.19 from $16.99 until 5/20)
Unto the End ($17.49 from $24.99 until 5/20)
Venture Kid ($3.99 from $9.99 until 5/20)
Vertical Drop Heroes HD ($2.49 from $9.99 until 5/20)
Youkai Poetry ($5.59 from $6.99 until 5/20)
That’s all for today, friends. Tomorrow is Thursday, and there will be quite a few games to look at. Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance should finally show up. Other promising titles include Layers of Fear 2, CLANNAD Side Stories, and if you splurged on the Digital Deluxe version, Shin Megami Tensei 3 Nocturne HD Remaster. We’ll have summaries of all the new releases, along with whatever sales and major news items come in the interim. I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday, and as always, thanks for reading!
