Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for February 3rd, 2022. It’s Thursday again, and that means we have a nice bucket full of new releases to check out. Solve some fancy mysteries in Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments, blast invaders in the 1CC Games Shmup Collection, draw some conclusions in Draw a Stickman: Epic, and more. We’ve got summaries of all the new games, plus the usual lists of new and expiring sales for you to have a look at. Let’s go!
New Releases
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments ($29.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
This adventure game starring one of the most famous detectives in literature originally came out on other platforms in 2014. Given when it was made, it’s perhaps little surprise that it feels heavily influenced by BBC’s Sherlock TV series and the pair of Guy Ritchie movies that starred Robert Downey Jr.. You get a series of cases that feel largely episodic, using your powers of deduction to catch the culprits. There’s a very of-the-era Detective Vision feature that you’ll need to make use of as well. One interesting thing about this game is that it’s highly possible to come to incorrect conclusions, making for a rather challenging affair. I’ll have a full review of this one soon, but I don’t think fans of Holmes will be disappointed.
1CC Games Shmup Collection ($12.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
Well, this is a nice bundle. You get horizontal shoot-em-up Star Hunter DX and vertical shoot-em-up Space Moth Lunar Edition, and I can personally vouch for the quality of both of these titles. Very fun examples of their genre, both. Buying this bundle saves you five dollars over buying the games separately at their normal prices. If you enjoy shooters you probably already own one or both of these, but if you don’t? This is a great way to change that.
QUByte Classics – The Humans By Piko ($7.99)
Following up on the release of The Immortal a little while back, here’s The Humans. Originally developed by Imagitec Design and published on various platforms by Mirage Technologies and Gametek, The Humans is a puzzle game heavily inspired by Lemmings. You guide a small group of cavemen (as was the style at the time) and try to reach the goal on each stage. Typically only one of your humans needs to get there, but if you lose too many along the way you won’t be able to proceed to the next stage. You get three different versions of the game here. They don’t say which, but just eyeballing them I think it’s the Game Boy, Super NES, and Genesis versions. It’s no Lemmings, but it’s still pretty enjoyable.
Arcade Archives New Rally-X ($7.99)
Here’s the version of Rally-X you want if you’re going to buy one. This 1981 revision of Rally-X improves the visuals and makes a few key changes to the gameplay for a better, richer experience. With Hamster adding this to the Arcade Archives line, their release of the original Rally-X is basically relegated to the bin that only history buffs need dig through. Namco’s classic arcade games have a certain timeless quality to them, and New Rally-X is no different. A good pick for retro gaming fans.
Food Delivery Battle ($3.99)
A rough Crazy Taxi-inspired game where you play as a bicycle delivery person. Pick up the orders and bring them where they need to go, weaving through traffic and fending off your fellow delivery people. Your aim is to make more deliveries than anyone else within a time limit, and you can and absolutely should play dirty with the items you find scattered about. Use your earnings to upgrade your bike, then head out and do it all again. Not bad for the price, just be prepared to deal with a lot of quirks.
The Hundred Year Kingdom ($12.99)
Those on the hunt for a more mellow take on the civilization building genre might find The Hundred Year Kingdom to be to their liking. You play as the Creator and, working together with an Oracle, you need to build up a new world. It’s a fairly straightforward turn-based simulation game without any war, disasters, or diplomacy. Just some chill building and development that will ultimately result in various outcomes for your world.
Draw a Stickman: EPIC ($6.99)
We’ve already got the second game on the Switch, but if you wanted to see how it all started, here you go. Draw your own stickman and take it on an adventure where your doodles solve the puzzles. You’ll collect and use a variety of pencils that have special features you can make use of to defeat enemies or get past obstacles. Given that this game was popular enough to spawn a series, you probably don’t need me to tell you whether or not it has appeal.
Super Shadow Break: Showdown! NINJAS VS The Three KAIJUs ($12.99)
I’m retaining the eShop page’s wild capitalization in the game’s name this one time only. So yes, this is a Breakout-style game. Your ninja’s sword is the paddle. But there are a lot of twists here to separate it from the crowd. You’ll have to battle enemies on the ground, and there are boss battles that feel more like a shooter than a brick-breaker. Regular readers know I enjoy this sort of game, and that I also appreciate both ninja and kaiju. I will be eagerly diving into this one to see if it lives up to my expectations, and will report back if they are met.
Phlegethon ($2.99)
How far can three bucks get you in the FPS space? This far, and it’s not pretty. I can’t decide if this is an asset flip, a very amateur production, or both. Whatever the case, I don’t think it’s worth your time or your money.
The Sealed Ampoule ($19.99)
This is a rather simple roguelite dungeon crawler with some survival/crafting elements. The main gimmick here is that you’ll be trying to make a farm out of each floor of the dungeon by maxing out its Farm and Magic levels. It’s a bit of an oddball in some respects, but it doesn’t really come together into anything special. That said, the game is decent enough if you’re just looking for something to sink time into, and the unique visual style might be enough to push it over the edge for some of you.
ParaLily ($4.99)
A little more five dollar Switch platformer never hurt anyone, right? ParaLily is on the shorter side as platformers go, but what’s here is of good quality. There’s a nice balance here between precision platforming and puzzles that require you to make use of the game’s dimension-swapping gimmick. Apparently just the first chapter of this story, but I’m interested to see what comes next based on what’s included here.
Treasure Temples ($7.99)
Here’s a little puzzle-action game where you need to collect all of the treasures on each stage and safely make your way back to the exit. Oh, there is one catch. As you step off each tile, it will crumble. Some stages have you taking control of two characters, making things somewhat more complicated. You’ve probably played games like this before. This one has a nice presentation and with 140 stages on offer it will keep you busy for a while.
Hungry Ball Physics ($2.99)
Ah, I was wondering if we were going to have a for-real template flip in today’s line-up. Thanks, Benjamin Kistler. You always let us down, and in doing so, never let us down. This handheld-only game sees you drawing lines to lead a ball to the food. You get “over 99 levels", which I’d bet a solid nickel on meaning 100 levels. As if the handheld-only requirement wasn’t enough to reveal the game’s origins as an Android template, the whole game plays in a narrow portrait-sized strip in the middle of the screen. Nice one, Ben.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
Another Ubisoft sale. Good games, but they’re on sale very often. A pair of great games from 2020, Sakuna: Of Rice & Ruin and Hades, are on sale and are worth adding to your collection if you haven’t already. If you’re looking for very rare discounts, look no further than the line-up of Mommy’s Best Games. The developer’s games go on sale about once per year, so if you want some bombastic arcade-style fun there’s no better time to pick up Pig Eat Ball, Shoot 1UP DX, Weapon of Choice DX, and Explosionade DX. Not too much worth getting excited about in the outbox, but have a look anyway just to be safe.
Select New Games on Sale
Circa Infinity Ultimate ($2.19 from $10.99 until 2/9)
Urban Flow Extended Edition ($1.99 from $16.99 until 2/9)
Sakuna: Of Rice & Ruin ($23.99 from $39.99 until 2/17)
Hades ($16.24 from $24.99 until 2/17)
Power Rangers Battle for the Grid ($12.99 from $19.99 until 2/17)
Power Rangers BftG CE ($19.49 from $29.99 until 2/17)
Just Dance 2021 ($29.99 from $49.99 until 2/17)
Just Dance 2022 Deluxe Edition ($38.99 from $59.99 until 2/17)
Starlink: Battle for Atlas ($11.99 from $59.99 until 2/17)
Starlink: BfA Deluxe Edition ($19.99 from $79.99 until 2/17)
Rayman Legends DE ($9.99 from $39.99 until 2/17)
Child of Light UE ($4.99 from $19.99 until 2/17)
Valiant Hearts The Great War ($4.99 from $19.99 until 2/17)
Child of Light + Valiant Hearts ($7.49 from $29.99 until 2/17)
Trials Rising ($5.99 from $19.99 until 2/17)
Trials Rising Gold Edition ($8.99 from $29.99 until 2/17)
South Park The Fractured But Whole ($14.99 from $59.99 until 2/17)
Hungry Shark World ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/17)
Sports Party ($7.99 from $39.99 until 2/17)
Legendary Fishing ($4.49 from $29.99 until 2/17)
Jeopardy! ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/17)
Wheel of Fortune ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/17)
Trivial Pursuit Live! ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/17)
RISK Global Domination ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/17)
Monopoly + Monopoly Madness ($29.99 from $49.99 until 2/17)
UNO Ultimate Edition ($7.99 from $19.99 until 2/17)
Pig Eat Ball ($7.49 from $14.99 until 2/21)
Shoot 1UP DX ($2.99 from $5.99 until 2/21)
Explosionade DX ($2.99 from $5.99 until 2/21)
Weapon of Choice DX ($2.99 from $5.99 until 2/21)
Pinball Lockdown ($1.99 from $5.99 until 2/22)
Crazy Zen Mini Golf ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/22)
Crazy Zen Codeword ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/22)
Space Ribbon ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/22)
Chill Panda ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/22)
Santa Tracker ($1.99 from $2.99 until 2/22)
EQI ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/23)
Magic Pen Color Book ($3.39 from $3.99 until 2/23)
Crossbow: Bloodnight ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/23)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Friday, February 4th
4×4 Dirt Track ($5.99 from $11.99 until 2/4)
Aloof ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/4)
Amazing Breaker ($3.99 from $7.99 until 2/4)
Apple Knight ($2.49 from $7.99 until 2/4)
Art Sqool ($1.99 from $12.99 until 2/4)
AVICII Invector ($17.99 from $29.99 until 2/4)
Battleship ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/4)
BDSM ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/4)
Boris the Rocket ($10.04 from $14.99 until 2/4)
Burger Chef Tycoon CE ($2.49 from $6.99 until 2/4)
Car Driving School Sim ($6.99 from $13.99 until 2/4)
Carnage: Battle Arena ($4.49 from $14.99 until 2/4)
City Driving Simulator ($5.99 from $11.99 until 2/4)
Clue: Classic Mystery Game ($14.99 from $29.99 until 2/4)
Dead by Daylight ($14.99 from $29.99 until 2/4)
Dungeon Defenders Awakened ($19.79 from $29.99 until 2/4)
Football Manager 2022 Touch ($31.99 from $39.99 until 2/4)
Galaxy Squad ($7.99 from $9.99 until 2/4)
Glyph ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/4)
Gnomes Garden ($2.49 from $4.99 until 2/4)
GRIP ($5.99 from $39.99 until 2/4)
HardCube ($2.10 from $7.00 until 2/4)
I Saw Black Clouds ($9.74 from $12.99 until 2/4)
Mainframe Defenders ($8.39 from $11.99 until 2/4)
MONOBOT ($11.69 from $12.99 until 2/4)
Monster Energy Supercross 3 ($5.99 from $39.99 until 2/4)
MotoGP 19 ($4.49 from $29.99 until 2/4)
Mushroom Wars 2 ($5.99 from $19.99 until 2/4)
My Hidden Things ($4.68 from $6.99 until 2/4)
Mystery Mine ($1.99 from $3.99 until 2/4)
One Dog Story ($5.99 from $14.99 until 2/4)
Princess.Loot.Pixel.Again ($3.49 from $4.99 until 2/4)
Sweet Bakery Tycoon ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/4)
Vigil: The Longest Night ($13.19 from $21.99 until 2/4)
Vostok Inc ($2.99 from $14.99 until 2/4)
That’s all for today, friends. Tomorrow should be another busy day for new releases, with games like Land of Screens, Maglam Lord, Millie and Molly, and more. We’ll have summaries of all of them, plus what I’m certain will be a very healthy list of new sales to consider. I hope you all have a fantastic Thursday, and as always, thanks for reading!
