Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for July 23rd, 2021. If you thought yesterday’s batch of new releases was rough, today sure isn’t going to impress you. Seriously, next week has so many big names coming out. Your eyes will goggle at how many awesome games are hitting. So perhaps we should take the last couple of days as a bit of mercy for our wallets. But wait! There are sales, friends. Some of which are very nice indeed. Enough to save the day? I’ll leave that up to you. Let’s get into those games!
New Releases
Freddy Spaghetti 2 ($4.99)
I guess that first Freddy Spaghetti went over well, because now we’ve got a sequel. This time, our heroic sentient strand of spaghetti has a job! Take the goofy 3D spaghetti action to the workplace and see how hard it is to get by when you’re nothing but a limp piece of pasta. The first game was stupid fun in that “weird physics game" sense, and I expect the second game will deliver on that front as well. Let’s just hope this game is releasing in a more stable state than the first one did. I doubt it’s a great game or anything, but if you’re looking for a laugh this will probably give you a fiver’s worth.
Gaps by POWGI ($7.99)
Here’s the latest word puzzle game from the folks at Lightwood Games. The idea here is that you have to fill in the missing letters on a list of words, and then use those filled-in letters to make a word. You are then rewarded with a dreadful joke or pun from Powgi the Dog, and head on your way. As is always the case with games from this developer, Gaps by POWGI will keep you busy for hours on end if you get into the kind of puzzle it’s offering. There are a whopping 150 puzzles to solve in all. Not the most difficult game Lightwood has put out, but the clever red herrings are interesting in how they demonstrate your cognitive biases.
Dininho Space Adventure ($9.99)
The last time we saw Dininho, he was starring in a low-cost but reasonably enjoyable side-scrolling platformer. Now he seems to have found his way into a vertically-scrolling shoot-em-up, another terribly crowded genre on the Switch. Perhaps worse, the price on this one isn’t as competitive as the last Dininho game. You get three different worlds to blast your way through, each capped off with a boss battle. There are more than forty different enemies and obstacles to deal with along the way. You can collect coins as you go and use them to upgrade your ship. It looks cute but there are so many better shooters that you can get at this price or lower, making it very hard for me to recommend this.
112 Operator ($19.99)
What can you do if your specialty is in making simulation games about being an emergency operator but you’ve already gone to the 911 well twice already? Worry not! There are all kinds of emergency phone numbers in the world! 112 Operator uses Europe as its base, but otherwise follows in the footsteps of this developer and publisher’s previous 911-based releases. Take calls, connect people to the right services, dispatch whichever team members you need to, and manage a wide variety of emergencies as you make your way up the career ladder. The big new gameplay gimmick involves wildfires, and I wish you very good luck with them. No idea if this includes any of the expansion content, but based on the price I’m going to say that it probably doesn’t.
Truck Simulator 2 ($11.99)
Oh goodie, another one of these. This one takes place in a warehouse area where you drive around completing missions in one of seventeen different vehicles. You need to make deliveries and make your way about without damaging your cargo. Pull if off within a set amount of time and you’ll earn greater rewards. Mess things up, and it’s all on you. Pretty much the same deal as all those other BoomBit/Pixelmob/What-Have-You releases, and likely to be on sale for half price within a few weeks. But there’s obviously an audience for them or there wouldn’t be so darned many of them. If you are part of that audience, enjoy!
Sports Pinball Bundle ($8.99)
Another bundle of those shabby pinball tables, this time collecting World Soccer Pinball, Touchdown Pinball, and Basketball Pinball in one convenient package. It actually costs two cents more than buying them individually, and that’s assuming they’re not on sale as they often tend to be. As a fan of pinball and video game approximations of it, I’ve never found much value in these Super PowerUp Games releases. You can buy a table in Pinball FX for not much more than they charge for these, and they’re generally a lot better. At any rate, if you want these tables, do keep an eye on potential sales for both this bundle and the individual releases to make sure you get the best deal.
Hunter Shooting Camp ($7.99)
Pix Arts is here today, because of course they are. The description of this game touts it as the “ultimate shooter game". I’m not really sure what the benefit is in telling fibs that are so obviously fibs that anyone could tell immediately, but I’m not a business guy. Anyway, this is a cheaply-made shooting game where you fire at various targets in a few different modes of play. There are almost 150 levels to go through, with a variety of guns to use. The usual Pix Arts quality, with all that implies.
Super Hoops ($0.99)
Oh good, a new member of the Asset Flip Avengers. This publisher’s name is Entity3, and I imagine we’ll be seeing more of them. Throw the rings and try to land them on the poles. There are more than 100 levels to play, and apparently there are boss stages. Somehow. You need to use touch controls to play this game, so you can only play it undocked. Probably an Android template. At least it’s only a dollar.
Sound Waves ($4.98)
Remember that really cool mobile game Dark Echo? The idea was that you couldn’t see what was around you except by using echolocation and extrapolating where hazards and paths might be. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the developer of this game also remembers Dark Echo. This game has almost exactly the same premise and visual presentation, right down to your character being represented by the little shoeprints on the floor. I’ve asked the folks at RAC7 Games if they had anything to do with this, and they confirmed they didn’t. So this is just a complete rip-off of a game from a relatively small indie, which is a really crummy thing to do. If you like the look of this, please buy Dark Echo on the App Store rather than give money to these bums.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
Some of those Bandai Namco games are the cheapest we’ve seen them. God Eater 3, Ni no Kuni, and more are at such low prices you really can’t help but fill out your collection a bit. Beyond that, there are lots of great games to consider such as Dicey Dungeons, Superbrothers, Grindstone, Groover Coaster, and many others. By comparison, the weekend outbox isn’t all that exciting. Feel free to focus on those new sales, but do check the lists either way.
Select New Games on Sale
Demon’s Tilt ($10.99 from $19.99 until 7/29)
Katamari Damacy Reroll ($7.49 from $29.99 until 7/30)
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery ($2.99 from $9.99 until 7/30)
Namco Museum ($8.99 from $29.99 until 7/30)
Namco Museum Archives Vol 1 ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/30)
Namco Museum Archives Vol 2 ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/30)
Pac-Man CE 2 Plus ($5.99 from $19.99 until 7/30)
My Hero One’s Justice ($9.59 from $59.99 until 7/30)
My Hero One’s Justice 2 ($20.99 from $59.99 until 7/30)
Naruto Ninja Storm Trilogy ($15.99 from $39.99 until 7/30)
Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 ($24.99 from $49.99 until 7/30)
Super Dragon Ball Heroes WM ($8.99 from $59.99 until 7/30)
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 ($7.99 from $49.99 until 7/30)
Dragon Ball Fighter Z ($9.59 from $59.99 until 7/30)
One Piece Unlimited World Red ($6.39 from $39.99 until 7/30)
One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 ($6.39 from $39.99 until 7/30)
One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 ($17.99 from $59.99 until 7/30)
Little Nightmares Complete ($7.49 from $29.99 until 7/30)
Little Nightmares II ($23.99 from $29.99 until 7/30)
Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum n Fun ($9.99 from $49.99 until 7/30)
Taiko no Tatsujin: RA Pack ($24.99 from $49.99 until 7/30)
The Shapeshifting Detective ($7.79 from $12.99 until 7/30)
Tales of Vesperia ($12.49 from $49.99 until 7/30)
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch ($9.99 from $49.99 until 7/30)
Doraemon Story of Seasons ($12.49 from $49.99 until 7/30)
Sword Art Online: HR Deluxe ($7.49 from $49.99 until 7/30)
Sword Art Online: FB Complete ($11.99 from $59.99 until 7/30)
God Eater 3 ($11.99 from $59.99 until 7/30)
RAD ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/30)
Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth Complete ($19.99 from $49.99 until 7/30)
Disney Tsum Tsum Festival ($19.99 from $49.99 until 7/30)
Mr. Driller DrillLand ($7.49 from $29.99 until 7/30)
Captain Tsubasa: Rise of Champions ($19.79 from $59.99 until 7/30)
Jump Force: Deluxe Edition ($24.99 from $49.99 until 7/30)
Neighbors Back From Hell ($9.99 from $14.99 until 7/30)
Grindstone ($14.99 from $19.99 until 7/30)
Black Legend ($22.49 from $29.99 until 7/30)
Dicey Dungeons ($7.49 from $14.99 until 8/4)
Black the Fall ($4.49 from $14.99 until 8/5)
Bossgard ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/5)
Chess Knights: Shinobi ($1.99 from $3.99 until 8/6)
Tinker Racers ($2.49 from $4.99 until 8/6)
War Solution: Casual Math Game ($1.99 from $3.99 until 8/6)
Savage Halloween ($2.49 from $4.99 until 8/6)
Spooky Chase ($2.49 from $4.99 until 8/6)
Daylife in Japan: Pixel Art Jigsaw ($1.99 from $3.99 until 8/6)
jetPIN ($1.99 from $5.99 until 8/6)
Gibbous: A Cthulhu Adventure ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/6)
Space Elite Force ($1.99 from $2.99 until 8/6)
Vasara Collection ($4.99 from $9.99 until 8/6)
DayD: Through Time ($3.99 from $9.99 until 8/6)
Aviary Attorney: Definitive ($11.99 from $19.99 until 8/6)
SuperMash ($3.99 from $19.99 until 8/6)
Tanagrams Deluxe ($2.99 from $4.99 until 8/6)
Freecell Solitaire ($2.69 from $4.49 until 8/6)
Amnesia: Collection ($2.99 from $29.99 until 8/9)
Groove Coaster Wai Wai Party!!!! ($41.99 from $59.99 until 8/9)
Demon’s Rise: War for the Deep ($1.99 from $6.99 until 8/11)
International Table Tennis ($3.74 from $4.99 until 8/12)
International Boxing ($5.99 from $7.99 until 8/12)
International Basketball ($4.49 from $14.99 until 8/12)
Worms Rumble ($11.24 from $14.99 until 8/12)
My Little Fruit Juice Booth ($1.99 from $3.00 until 8/12)
Buildings Have Feelings Too! ($13.99 from $19.99 until 8/12)
Castaway Paradise ($11.99 from $19.99 until 8/12)
Space Warrior ($3.49 from $4.99 until 8/12)
Beach Bounce Remastered ($6.99 from $9.99 until 8/12)
Bunny Bounce ($3.99 from $4.99 until 8/12)
A Day Without Me ($3.59 from $5.99 until 8/12)
Glam’s Incredible Run: EfD ($4.99 from $7.99 until 8/12)
Dungeon Nightmares 1+2 ($1.99 from $12.00 until 8/12)
Chess Royal ($2.39 from $2.99 until 8/12)
The Last Dead End ($4.99 from $9.99 until 8/12)
Elliot ($4.99 from $9.99 until 8/12)
Kauil’s Treasure ($4.99 from $9.99 until 8/12)
Spirit Arena ($4.99 from $9.99 until 8/12)
Cube Raiders ($3.24 from $12.99 until 8/12)
Tens! ($3.39 from $9.99 until 8/12)
The Survivalists ($12.49 from $24.99 until 8/12)
OctaFight ($1.99 from $5.99 until 8/12)
Cloudpunk ($14.99 from $24.99 until 8/12)
Crown Trick ($13.39 from $19.99 until 8/12)
Going Under ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/12)
Niche: Genetics Survival Game ($13.99 from $19.99 until 8/12)
Ageless ($4.99 from $14.99 until 8/12)
Urban Trial Tricky ($10.49 from $14.99 until 8/12)
The Forgotten Land ($2.99 from $14.99 until 8/12)
Invisible, Inc. ($13.99 from $19.99 until 8/12)
Indiecalypse ($6.49 from $12.99 until 8/12)
Despotism 3k ($2.74 from $10.99 until 8/12)
Slayin 2 ($2.99 from $11.99 until 8/12)
Moving Out ($12.49 from $24.99 until 8/12)
Freakout: Calamity TV Show ($2.49 from $9.99 until 8/12)
Spartan Fist ($3.74 from $14.99 until 8/12)
Regions of Ruin ($2.49 from $9.99 until 8/12)
The Adv. of Elena Temple Definitive ($1.99 from $4.99 until 8/12)
Nyan Cat: Lost in Space ($4.99 from $9.99 until 8/12)
Smash Rush ($1.99 from $9.99 until 8/12)
Sparklite ($9.99 from $24.99 until 8/12)
Ellen ($1.99 from $7.99 until 8/12)
Red Siren: Space Defense ($4.99 from $9.99 until 8/12)
Paper Train ($4.99 from $9.99 until 8/12)
Mad Bullets ($4.99 from $9.99 until 8/12)
Automachef ($2.99 from $14.99 until 8/12)
Smoots Summer Games ($4.99 from $9.99 until 8/12)
Smoots World Cup Tennis ($4.99 from $9.99 until 8/12)
Solo: Islands of the Heart ($5.99 from $19.99 until 8/12)
Venture Kid ($2.50 from $10.00 until 8/12)
Aragami: Shadow Edition ($11.99 from $29.99 until 8/12)
Sheltered ($3.74 from $14.99 until 8/12)
HoPiKo ($1.99 from $9.99 until 8/12)
Monster Boy & the Cursed Kingdom ($15.99 from $39.99 until 8/12)
Gear.Club Unlimited 2 ($7.99 from $39.99 until 8/12)
Syberia 1 & 2 ($1.99 from $34.99 until 8/12)
Harvest Life ($3.99 from $19.99 until 8/12)
Mark of the Ninja: Remastered ($4.99 from $19.99 until 8/12)
Battle Group 2 ($1.99 from $9.99 until 8/12)
The Room ($2.49 from $9.99 until 8/12)
Yoku’s Island Express ($4.99 from $19.99 until 8/12)
Yesterday Origins ($1.99 from $14.90 until 8/12)
Whip! Whip! ($4.99 from $9.99 until 8/12)
Mugsters ($2.99 from $14.99 until 8/12)
Candle: Power of the Flame ($4.99 from $19.99 until 8/12)
Flat Heroes ($7.99 from $9.99 until 8/12)
Planet Alpha ($3.99 from $19.99 until 8/12)
Raging Justice ($3.74 from $14.99 until 8/12)
Neonwall ($2.49 from $9.99 until 8/12)
Don’t Starve ($4.99 from $19.99 until 8/12)
Yooka-Laylee ($9.99 from $39.99 until 8/12)
Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King ($3.74 from $14.99 until 8/12)
The Escapists Complete ($3.74 from $14.99 until 8/12)
The Escapists 2 ($4.99 from $19.99 until 8/12)
Old Man’s Journey ($7.99 from $9.99 until 8/12)
Oceanhorn: MoUS ($5.99 from $14.99 until 8/12)
Oceanhorn 2: KotLR ($22.49 from $29.99 until 8/12)
Overcooked! All You Can Eat ($29.99 from $39.99 until 8/12)
Overcooked! Special Edition ($4.99 from $19.99 until 8/12)
Overcooked! 2 ($12.49 from $24.99 until 8/12)
Mega Party: A Tootuff Adventure ($5.99 from $29.99 until 8/12)
Have a Blast ($14.39 from $17.99 until 8/27)
Sales Ending This Weekend
Agent A: A Puzzle in Disguise ($1.99 from $19.99 until 7/24)
Asterix & Obelix XXL 3: TCM ($5.99 from $29.99 until 7/24)
Blacksad: Under the Skin ($9.99 from $49.99 until 7/24)
Flashback ($2.99 from $19.99 until 7/24)
Garfield Kart Furious Racing ($7.49 from $29.99 until 7/24)
Gear.Club Unlimited ($2.98 from $14.90 until 7/24)
Hexologic ($2.00 from $2.99 until 7/24)
Hope’s Farm ($8.99 from $19.99 until 7/24)
One Line Coloring ($2.79 from $3.99 until 7/24)
Prof. Rubik’s Brain Fitness ($8.99 from $29.99 until 7/24)
Syberia ($2.98 from $14.90 until 7/24)
Terraria ($14.99 from $29.99 until 7/24)
The Unexpected Quest ($9.75 from $15.00 until 7/24)
Treadnauts ($8.24 from $14.99 until 7/24)
99Moves ($2.00 from $2.99 until 7/25)
99Seconds ($2.00 from $2.99 until 7/25)
Abyss ($2.00 from $2.99 until 7/25)
Can Androids Pray: Blue ($2.37 from $6.99 until 7/25)
Cooking Festival ($3.29 from $10.99 until 7/25)
Dancing Dreamer ($1.99 from $6.99 until 7/25)
Darts Up ($2.00 from $2.99 until 7/25)
Gunslugs ($1.99 from $7.99 until 7/25)
Gunslugs 2 ($1.99 from $7.99 until 7/25)
Horror Pinball Bundle ($2.24 from $8.99 until 7/25)
Mahjong Adventure ($4.79 from $7.99 until 7/25)
Pinball Big Splash ($1.99 from $2.99 until 7/25)
Portal Dogs ($1.99 from $4.99 until 7/25)
Press A To Party ($1.99 from $6.99 until 7/25)
Purrs in Heaven ($2.02 from $6.99 until 7/25)
Rally Rock ‘N Racing ($2.49 from $9.99 until 7/25)
Ramp Car Jumping ($2.99 from $10.49 until 7/25)
Riverbond ($9.99 from $24.99 until 7/25)
Silver Falls Episode Prelude ($6.39 from $7.99 until 7/25)
Top Run ($2.99 from $4.99 until 7/25)
Touchdown Pinball ($2.01 from $2.99 until 7/25)
That’s all for today and this week, friends. We’ll be back next week with the aforementioned huge releases. Games like NEO: The World Ends With You, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, Samurai Warriors 5, Blaster Master Zero 3, Fuga: Melodies of Steel, and more will be vying for your gaming funds. I hope you all have a great weekend, and as always, thanks for reading!
