Hello, kind readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for February 28, 2023. In today’s article, we have a little bit of pokemon-related news to follow. After that, we move on to some analysis. Akka Arrh It is Planet Cube: Edge are the games in question, and both are pretty decent. So it’s time for the new release and there are loads of games to look at today. We’ve finished things off with the usual lists of new and outgoing sales for you to consider. Let’s go to the party!
News
‘Pokemon Scarlet & Violet’ ‘The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero’ Expansion Announced
Okay, there was a pokemon thing yesterday. I didn’t remember until I got home in the evening, hence the lack of enthusiasm in yesterday’s article. A few different things were shown, but the main point of interest for Switch owners was the announcement of the expansion to Pokémon Scarlet and Violetentitled The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero. With the expansion to Sword and shield it’s a two-part affair, with the first part dropping in the fall and the other arriving in the winter 2022 window. I’m sure we’ll get more details as the release nears, but you can already buy it and use some new uniforms in the base game if sold without seeing it. It costs $34.99 and you’ll have to buy it separately for each version. Don’t get the wrong one.
Reviews and Mini-Previews
Akka Arrh ($19.99)
Akka Arrh is a game that is at its best as a concept. Take a long-lost Atari arcade game from the company’s peak years that never saw release, hand it over to Jeff Minter to do what he did so well with. Storm 2000 and enjoy the results. Once you start playing, things start to unravel a bit. who has played Atari 50 may be familiar with the original Akka Arrh how the prototype was included in this collection. It’s a strange game that was probably too complicated for its own good, as it never made it through the market test at that time. Certainly a more challenging starting point than Storm.
I think Jeff Minter has done what he can here to stay true to the spirit of the original game while trying to make it something a little more appealing. The visuals and audio elements probably won’t surprise anyone who’s played a Minter game before. Lots of flashing lights and psychedelic colors, random bits of text floating around, a farm animal or two, and mind-blowing music that somehow feels finely tuned to accompany the gameplay. he can not no do it this time, folks. A cool trick, even if we’ve seen it many times before.
In terms of gameplay, Minter’s Akka Arrh it retains the basic idea of protecting a tower in the middle of the field from invaders. The areas around the tower have different sections, and you must attack enemies in those sections separately. If something gets too close, you’ll have to enter the tower to fend them off in a last-ditch effort to avoid destruction. Minter’s take takes these elements and adds a few extras. Powerups, of course. Enemies that are above the playing field need to be eliminated with a different weapon than the one you use in the “ground” forces. Best of all, there’s a combo system in play here that turns it into a very interesting scoring attack.
See how it works. Throw a bomb on the field and it will explode in a specific shape that differs from stage to stage. Any enemies caught in this blast will be destroyed and will make their own blast radius that can catch even more enemies. A well-placed and timed bomb can keep a chain reaction going for a long time. As you progress, you’ll earn more points per enemy. The minute you drop another bomb, the points fall back down. Your default weapon cannot harm ground enemies, but it is needed to eliminate airborne enemies. You can shoot however you like without affecting your score, but the amount of ammo you have is limited and can only be replenished by taking out ground enemies. It’s a push and pull between the two weapons and your score.
There are fifty levels to play, and each one presents a different shape and a different challenge to overcome. If you get into what you’re setting up, Akka Arrh will keep you busy for a while. Not just to beat the levels but also to improve your scores. The tricky thing is whether or not you’re going to get into it, as it’s much more demanding than the likes of Storm 2000 without actually being any more fun. Fans of Atari and Minter will probably enjoy it a lot, and those who want to play an offbeat shooter might enjoy it too. Others might find its complicated game mechanics a little too much for a little too much.
SwitchArcade Score: 3.5/5
Planet Cube: Edge ($14.99)
Not many new ideas in Planet Cube: Edge, but it does what it does very well. This is a precision platformer with a stunning art style and excellent controls. You have eight levels to play, but they are very long levels. It’s probably best to think of them as a bunch of smaller challenges stitched together. You have a very small set of moves and none of them are unique. The levels throw in a few gimmicks along the way to keep things fresh, but ultimately it’s just a well-executed platformer that’s as conventional as possible outside of its visual presentation.
Despite the lack of compelling original features, I had a lot of fun making my way through Planet Cube: Edge. It has its basics well laid out and the level designs are refreshingly challenging without getting too ridiculous. Checkpoints are frequent and restarts are fast; so even when turning up the heat, it never feels too unfair. It’s definitely worth a look if you’re a fan of platformers where you die a couple hundred times, but you’re unlikely to change your mind about it.
SwitchArcade Score: 4/5
New releases
void* tRrLM2(); //Void Terrarium 2 ($39.99)
NIS virtual pet encountersmysterious dungeon returns with this string. Toriko is in danger once again, and it’s up to Robbie to find the answer to his illness by traveling back in time to the past. More or less the same idea as last time. You go into the procedurally generated dungeons, collect things, bring them back and use them to care for the girl in the terrarium. The first game wasn’t too bad, and I look forward to bringing you a review of this one soon.
Afterthought ($15.99)
This game describes itself as an arthouse platform game. It’s fifty-six levels with eight boss battles, and it puts an emphasis on its story that it hopes will leave you thinking about it later. There are some fancy tricks in their arsenal that help keep things nice and spicy at all times. Once you’ve mastered how the various moves work, you can pull off some absolutely crazy speedruns. It’s quite popular on Steam and it’s not too hard to see why.
Rhythms ($15.00)
An unusual puzzle game where you have to solve puzzles on each side of cubic planets to create music. Just looking at some videos, it seems that you have to make paths for the balls to hit all the points on each side? It’s not immediately obvious, the description doesn’t try to explain how the puzzles work, and I still haven’t been able to play through it to solve it. But you also get some musical toys as extras, and I love having little toys as extras in games. I’ll have to try this one out and report back if it’s anything special.
Dreaming Lucy ($18.99)
This is a cool point and click adventure game about a girl who is trying to get rid of her nightmares but discovers a family secret in the process. It’s very British, and that gives it a little flavor to distinguish it from the many Lucasarts-inspired adventure games out there. You’ll spend a good amount of time inside Lucy’s mind and there are lots of interesting puzzles to solve. I will be doing a review on this one soon so look forward to it.
Life’s Choice: Middle Ages 2 ($6.99)
Like the other games in this series, you’re just making a bunch of binary decisions that lead to one ending or another. It promises ninety-nine ways to die, and that’s not a bad selling point. I suppose if you liked the previous one choice of life games, here’s one more for you.
Hentai: Japanese Goblins ($2.49)
Sigh. All good. This is one of those puzzle games where you have to place the pieces in the right places to form the picture. A jigsaw puzzle without the jigsaw. You can see some racy pictures of goblin women as a reward, but they are not really goblins, but rather anime girls with pointy ears and a tusk. I have to believe you can find better things to do for two and a half bucks than buying this, but do whatever it takes.
Own Weapon Base ($1.99)
This is a simply terrible run and shoot game. The visuals are trying to evoke a feeling similar to Cuphead but the gameplay is not good. The only thing it has going for it is that it’s cheap, but I don’t think it’s cheap enough to make up for its problems.
Sales
(North American eShop, US pricing)
There’s not much in your inbox today unless you’re interested in picking up LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga at a new low price. The DLC is also at the biggest discount yet. In the outbox, that rare sale on Portal add-on collection it’s closing. It’s unknown when it will go on sale next, so grab it if you want it.
Select New games on sale
Vereda Escape Room Adventure ($2.24 from $8.99 through 3/6)
irresistible mistakes ($20.99 from $29.99 through 3/10)
Seduced in Sleepless City ($20.99 from $29.99 through 3/10)
Kissed by the worst bidder ($12.49 from $24.99 through 3/10)
BOT.vinnik Chess 2 ($1.99 from $2.99 through 3/13)
Aeterna Noctis ($20.99 from $29.99 through 3/20)
Amazing Princess Sarah ($4.00 from $8.00 through 3/20)
Take off Flight Simulator ($9.74 from $14.99 through 3/20)
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga ($17.99 from $59.99 through 3/20)
Sale ends tomorrow, Wednesday, March 1st
Biker garage mechanic simulator ($11.24 from $24.99 through 3/1)
Children of Dead ($5.49 from $21.99 through 3/1)
Children of Morta Ancient Spirits DLC ($2.49 from $4.99 through 3/1)
Children of Morta EC ($7.99 from $26.99 through 3/1)
darker skies ($7.19 from $17.99 through 3/1)
Demon’s Inclination ($9.99 from $19.99 through 3/1)
Detective Di: Silk Rose Murders ($2.89 from $12.99 through 3/1)
DREAM ($2.24 from $14.99 through 3/1)
Galacticon ($3.99 from $4.99 through 3/1)
Gem Sorcerer Tactics ($1.99 from $12.99 through 3/1)
Gunpig Firepower for Hire ($3.99 from $4.99 through 3/1)
Legends of Amberland TFC ($4.99 from $19.99 through 3/1)
Lord Winklebottom investigates ($15.19 from $18.99 through 3/1)
lost snowmen ($4.24 from $4.99 through 3/1)
Moonlighter ($3.74 from $24.99 through 3/1)
Moonlighter EC ($4.34 from $28.99 through 3/1)
Portal add-on collection ($11.99 from $19.99 through 3/1)
Validate Struggling Singles ($4.64 from $14.99 through 3/1)
That’s all for today and this month, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with more releases, more sales and who knows some news. No more comments as I need to play more with what I have before I write anything. Hope everyone has a great Tuesday, and as always, thanks for reading!