Welcome to the SwitchArcade Roundup for May 29th! This is a busy Tuesday with nine new releases, and no cheap throwaway titles here: these are all intriguing, fully-formed titles. We’ve got compilations, ports, and a few intriguing originals. Plus, a solid 15% Axiom Verge eShop sale ends today, and Owlboy now has a physical release, so if you need plenty of excuses to spend lots of money, well, today is the day to do so. The irony of life is that with all these cool video games, you need a job to afford them all, which cuts into the video game playing time.
New Releases
Ikaruga ($14.99)
The classic color-swapping shmup from Treasure sees release on Switch. This was originally a Dreamcast cult classic, before western audiences fell in love with it on the GameCube. The game saw re-release on the Xbox 360 and PC, and it’s not even the first portable release since it was on Android (but not iOS!). But here, you can pick this one up digitally, though it would be great to get a physical release from Nicalis at some point. This game is still iconic out of the box – the initial setup, where you get reacquainted with how the white and black mechanics work, before your ship dives and the music picks up on that first level…it takes me back.
What I found interesting is that the Switch version is set up for veterans of the game. Continues are disabled, replays upload automatically, and you can unlock the extra modes and menus right away. This seems smart, since a lot of people checking this out are going to be veterans who want portable Ikaruga. If you’re new to the game, welcome to a fun new experience, but turn on some options to help you out, otherwise it’s gonna be brutal. We’ll have more detailed impressions soon if “Ikaruga on the Switch" isn’t enough to sell you.
Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection ($39.99)
This might be the best Street Fighter compilation ever, just by the amount of content in the game. Here’s the full list of games, all of which are the arcade versions of the titles:
- Street Fighter
- Street Fighter 2
- Street Fighter 2′: Champion Edition
- Street Fighter 2′: Hyper Fighting (Online)
- Super Street Fighter 2
- Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo (Online)
- Street Fighter Alpha
- Street Fighter Alpha 2
- Street Fighter Alpha 3 (Online)
- Street Fighter 3
- Street Fighter 3: 2nd Impact
- Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike (Online)
Compare this to Ultra Street Fighter 2, which was one version of one game for the same discounted price you get all of these. A lot of people know the SF2 games, but don’t sleep on the excellent Street Fighter Alpha 3, which has a ton of recognizable characters to go along with the deep weirdness that the Street Fighter series kind of got into around this time. Street Fighter 3 is regarded as more of a technical game, but if you’re well-versed in fighting games or willing to learn, you’ll love 3rd Strike. I mostly suck at fighters, and had great times getting my ass handed to me by my college roommate at 3rd Strike. Remember, be sure to buy this game today and get online ASAP, so that you can fight scrubs and not just die-hards who play these games way too much. Expect to see this one on our Twitch channel soon.
Harvest Moon: Light of Hope Special Edition ($39.99)
Harvest Moon: Light of Hope SE Bundle ($49.99)
The year was 2017. Natsume saw a little game called Stardew Valley climb the eShop charts. Who would rise up to unseat the new king of the farming throne? The farmer picks up his golden rake. “Fine, I’ll do it myself." Farm stuff, rebuild the town and save the lighthouse, get married, partake in the dog racing festival, create mutated crops…it’s all here, folks. I never thought back when I saw a negative review for the SNES Harvest Moon in a gaming magazine that we’d be here decades later still talking about farming RPGs like this, but the world sure did go crazy the last couple of decades, didn’t it? Farming RPGs are the most sane thing we have going. The bundle includes $17.96 worth of downloadable content, including new characters you can marry.
Knights of Pen and Paper +1 Deluxier Edition ($14.99)
Appropriate for this ridiculously-named title to release on Street Fighter 30th Anniversary day, huh? Knights of Pen and Paper is a unique kind of PRG where you play as the game master and the players. You make decisions for which monsters to fight, where to go in your adventure, and more, but you have to balance out the cool things you want to do as the GM with what the party is able to do. This Deluxier edition includes The Haunted Fall expansion, the Yellow Wizard character, Farm Village map, sci-fi pack for the bedroom.
Yoku’s Island Express ($19.99)
A pinball Metroidvania? A pinballtroidvania? That’s exactly what Yoku’s Island Express promises, as you enjoy open-world exploration and discovery…but also have to launch pinballs everywhere. I haven’t played this yet, but the early word is that it somehow works really well. Sometimes these genre combinations work out better than others. The arch-example for me is Sigma Star Saga on the Game Boy Advance. It combined shoot ’em ups with RPGs, but having a small shoot ’em up level every time you go into a random battle quickly became tedious and annoying and I got nowhere close to finishing the game despite my initial interest in it. Using more traditional platforming mechanics along with pinball sections appears to help this one out tremendously.
Die for Valhalla ($9.99)
Monster Couch’s new beat ’em up has you playing as a Valkyrie (coincidental that Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth just hit mobile, eh?) who possesses…well, anyone that can help her out. Warriors, monsters, “other things" – whatever can help you save the Vikings from Lovecraftian horrors. The game offers two modes: a more traditional campaign, and a shorter, more difficult Rogue-lite mode. The good news? This one’s got co-op for four players locally. Put on some Amon Amarth and have yourself a good ole time.
Legend of Kay Anniversary ($29.99)
Legend of Kay was a PS2 platformer from 2005 that had a strong enough pedigree and enough fan support to not only see a port to the DS in 2010, but eventually saw a remastered port to console and PC in 2015. Well, that Anniversary edition is now on Switch, celebrating no particular anniversary in particular, but we’re rolling with the name. This seems like a pretty solid representation of where 3D platformers were at in 2005, with a smattering of action and stealth elements thrown in for good measure.
Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory ($39.99)
NIS America’s action-RPG where you command a squad of heroes into battle comes to Switch as a compilation of the PS4 game Fallen Legion: Sins of an Empire, and the Vita version Fallen Legion: Flames of Rebellion, each game telling a different part of the story of the world of Fenumia. Additionally, this contains some new content not in either game, making this the definitive version of the action-RPG.
Shift Quantum ($19.99)
Remember the puzzle-platformer Shift, which was a big hit as a Flash game and even made its way to iPhone? Well, this is a big, fancy, new take on the title. You still have to shift between white and black to make your way through the levels, but with a modern look and a story to boot, and new puzzle elements to test your skill. There is also a level editor, and plenty of community levels to play through as well.
Keep an eye out every weekday for more SwitchArcade Roundups! We want to hear your feedback on Nintendo Switch coverage on TouchArcade. Comment below or tweet us with your thoughts!
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