It’s been 100 days since opening our family’s Nintendo Switch on Christmas 2020. In that time we’ve played over 25 games. That’s quite the uptick from my previous seven years when I was mostly absent from video gaming. In this article, I’ll give you my quick thoughts on each of those games. These are more personal reactions than full reviews, but it should give you a good view of my game tastes and preferences and hopefully spark your interest in some of the games.
Without further ado, let’s go!
Castlevania Anniversary Collection
When Konami’s Castlevania Anniversary Collection went on sale shortly after Christmas I snapped it up. I immediately hopped into Castlevania and made it to my usually stopping point, the mummies at the end of level 3. Kid Dracula amused me. I played a bit of Castlevania III, which I sorely need to sit down and play properly at some point in my life. And I even fired up Castlevania Adventure for Game Boy. All of that was a delight for me and a history lesson for my kids as they watched. They know Daddy loves Castlevania but this was the first time they saw it in action outside of Simon and Richter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. I would absolutely love for Symphony of the Night to get a Switch release.
Celeste
Celeste was the first eShop game I bought. It was listed in a Nintendo Life favorite Switch game list, and when I saw it was in the Metroidvania genre I knew I had to play it. Sadly, I still have not played it. I snapped it up when it was on sale, but I was still working through the initial deluge of physical games so never got around to firing up Celeste. Castlevania Anniversary Collection wound up stealing the afternoon since I bought both games concurrently. I look forward to playing this game at some point and delving into its take on mental health.
Donut County
Donut County was a game I heard discussed a bit on the podcast This Nintendo Life. It sounded like a nice twist on the Katamari Damacy formula. When it went on sale, I watched the trailer with my son. At first he wasn’t impressed, but then I explained you play as the hole and swallow up all the objects. My son’s face lit up and he exclaimed, “Oh, you’re buying that!” Even my daughter has fun playing it. The controls are pretty much using the left stick to move a hole around the level. All the fun comes in the light puzzles in each level that require you to figure out what objects to swallow that will interact with other objects to unlock more of the level. It’s not a long game but that means it doesn’t overstay its welcome.
Hades
Hades was on every game of the year list I saw. I balked at the $25 price tag for a digital game. But when it went on a very brief two day sale, I put down my money and bought it. And I’m glad I did. My interest in roguelite games had been rekindled by Slay the Spire on Steam. What distinguishes Hades, though, is how stylish it is. Zagreus’ interactions with all the members of the Greek pantheon and other Greek mythological figures are fun to watch. The story gives an actual structure to the run-die-repeat of the roguelite genre. I’m not great at the game, at least I don’t think I am. I took several runs to defeat the first boss and still regularly die in the initial rooms. But I enjoy every minute of it.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
When I first heard of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, I wasn’t sure about it. Musou games can be a slog and I hadn’t played one since Dynasty Warriors 2 on my PlayStation 2. I worried the story might spoil Breath of the Wild. Both fears were largely unfounded. The musou game play is a nice change of pace from the combat in Breath of the Wild. It lets my kids feel like superhero badasses to lay waste to Ganon’s minions, especially after watching me get knocked around in Breath of the Wild. As for the story, I find the two games work well off each other. I might have met Mipha first in Age of Calamity, but that meant I already had a connection to her when I met her in Zora’s Domain.
It looks like there’s some nice systems in this game, too. You can do some crafting with weapons, which my son infuriatingly ignores until I tell him to go make his weapon better. I believe you can cook with all the ingredients you pick up. The world map is littered with side quests and other goodies. I’m impressed how far musou games have come over the past 20 years.
Luigi’s Mansion 3
Luigi’s Mansion 3 is a modern classic from what I’ve heard. But I’ll have to get back to you since I have not played it myself. I watched my son play the opening couple hours. It’s definitely a more atmospheric and story driven game than any other Mario game. I do love that it lets Luigi have center stage while the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom heroes are sidelined. Go green!
Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle
The oddest entry to the Mario pantheon is Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle. I am a fan of the Rabbids, but I understand many people are not. The combination of Mario characters with Rabbids is still unexpected for me, but it actually works. The Rabbids dressed as Luigi and Peach are particularly entertaining. Then there’s the actual game play. Which is basically… X-COM. Yeah, Mario and friends wield fantastical guns (no realism here), use cover, flank, and pretty much everything you’d expect from X-COM. Except no permadeath, thank goodness. This game is so much better than it really has any right to be. My son loves it and played it non-stop for a few weeks. I was surprised such a tactical, deliberate game drew him in, but it adds enough humor and flavor to make it friendly to anyone.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
The game that my kids both wanted a Nintendo Switch to play was Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. They played the arcade version at the bowling alley (back when we could go to arcades and bowling alleys). At some point I mentioned we could play Mario Kart at home if we got a Switch. Both kids’ eyes lit up. I tried coaxing them to save their own money and buy one together. They didn’t bother saving their money for that large of an expense.
We did play a lot of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in the first few days of owning a Switch. It was a blast, but not the same as sitting in a bucket seat with a full size steering wheel and pedals. My daughter quickly lost interest. My son and I still fire it up, and just recently played it online with a friend.
Another friend had warned me that the game would get a little stale, and he wasn’t wrong. I played my fair share of racing games in the past, from multiple Need for Speed iterations to Tokyo Xtreme Racer to Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec. The simplicity of Mario Kart lets anyone pick up and play it. It’s a little bit of a letdown that all you unlock are karts, wheels, and gliders, since all the characters are unlocked from the start. If we unlocked characters or tracks then we would keep playing it more than we do.
Mario Tennis Aces
Mario Tennis Aces is the latest Mario sports game until the new golf game comes out later this year. This game frustrated my son and daughter since they didn’t grasp the concept of moving to a spot before pressing the button to swing so they kept getting stuck in the wrong spot as their shots charged up. No game is worth that level of frustration. I started the single player adventure mode but have not progressed very far. It’s just not as enticing as most of the other games we own on Switch.
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
I missed out on the original New Super Mario Bros. U since I never owned a Wii U (of course, not many people owned one, period). But thanks to Nintendo’s penchant for re-releasing Wii U games on the Switch I get to play this modern classic. I mistakenly thought this was a remake of a previous Super Mario Bros., but it’s a totally new game with totally new challenges. I shouldn’t be surprised how they continue to innovate with Mario games yet I’m always finding new things I never expected.
Playing this modern 2D Mario game co-op with my son helped hone his platforming skills. Prior to this game he struggled with the most basic actions in 2D platform games. Now after this, he was off and running in Mario 35, Super Mario World, and others. It also sparks loads of exasperation on my part as the “co-op” doesn’t always work out in our favor, but it’s all in good fun.
Overcooked Special Edition
Overcooked Special Edition was another game on sale around the holidays. I thought it might be simple enough for my daughter to play with us. While the controls themselves are fairly simplistic, the game play still requires a level of sophistication and communication that both of my kids lack. So we have not played this beyond our initial foray. I tried it solo and it’s serviceable but not nearly as engrossing as the frantic multiplayer. I hope to return to this one at some point
Pac-Man 99
The most innovate remakes I’ve played on Nintendo Switch have to be the trio of battle royale games Tetris 99, Mario 35, and Pac-Man 99. Each of these has you playing their respective classic game and vying to be the last player alive. Pac-Man 99 just came out and reminds me fondly of Pac-Man Championship Edition. In this battle royale, you eat ghosts to send Jammer Pac-Man to your enemies based on various strategies; those Jammers slow you down and make you susceptible to getting eaten by ghosts.
To counter the Jammer Pac-Man, you can build a train of ghosts the snakes around the stage. You feel like a champion when you eventually grab a power pellet and eat 30+ ghosts in a row. The updates and tweaks to this game make it fresh and reinvigorated. This one is going to stay in my rotation for a long time.
Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu
For some reason during the Covid pandemic my kids decided to become Pokemon fans. I have no idea how that happened while they were both in virtual school so they weren’t hanging out with their friends, and we didn’t have anything Pokemon around the house. My son watched all the Zebra Gamer videos playing through Let’s Go Pikachu. So this was a big one for my son and daughter.
From what I understand, this is an updated version of the original Pokemon games. But I honestly couldn’t tell you any more details. The only Pokemon game I’ve ever played was Pokemon Black. Early on with that game I realized I did not want to shove all the data necessary to effectively play these games into my head. My kids, though, eat it up.
Meanwhile, I can barely toss a Pokeball to help them capture a wild Pokemon.
Rayman Legends Definitive Edition
I missed out on Rayman Legends when it first made the rounds so I picked up Rayman Legends Definitive Edition on sale. I absolutely love this game, from the pitch perfect platform game play to the outstanding soundtrack. The daily and weekly challenges keep me coming back, and that’s on top of the generous number of single player levels and unlockables. I now see why this game garnered so many accolades and I’m glad I finally got around to playing it.
Ring Fit Adventure
Last year the Rampant Discourse crew embarked on a fitness dare. I let myself slack the second half of 2020. As the year closed and I had this shiny new video game console, I recalled using the Wii to exercise with Wii Fit. I had vaguely heard about a Switch game called Ring Fit Adventure. So I used some of my holiday gift money and tried out GameStop’s same day delivery option. I almost couldn’t believe the game actually showed up by dinnertime after just a few hours. We are living in the future.
Ring Fit Adventure is named for its packed in peripheral, the Ring Con. You slide one Joy Con into the top of a Pilates ring and another Joy Con into a thigh strap. Then you play through a light RPG where you fight battles against monsters. Instead of pressing buttons, you perform various exercises. The story and characters really lean into the exercise gimmick, with just the right level of silliness.
The exercises are grouped into four colors. If you use an exercise of the same color as a monster you get an attack advantage. This is a great impetus to mix up your exercises rather than focus on just one type. You unlock new exercises at a pretty regular clip, so you wind up being able to mix it up quite a bit. One downside to the gamification aspect is that you start to ignore the earlier exercises because they don’t scale up in damage. You can continue to use any exercise you want, and your inherent base attack keeps increasing, but it will take a long time to defeat monsters with early exercises.
Of course, performing exercises is really why you’re playing the game, so using under-powered exercises and forcing yourself to work out longer actually improves the exercise aspect. I also recommend changing the option so you always finish the current exercise rather than immediately aborting it when the monster dies. It got frustrating to only work out the left side of my body or only do one or two reps of an exercise.
Streets of Rage 4
Streets of Rage was a series I never got around to during its heyday. I guess I was a Double Dragon guy. I kept hearing how good Streets of Rage 4 is, though. I listened to the soundtrack and immediately knew I had to play this game. Once it went on sale (notice the theme there?) I snapped it up and played it as soon as I got home from work. I had my son play along with me. At first he was reluctant; I don’t think he had ever seen a beat ’em up action game like this. Within a level or two he was into it just as much as I was, and he was bopping his little head along with the musical beats. After we wrapped our play session he told me it was way more fun than he thought it would be. I had to agree.
Super Mario 3D All-Stars
Super Mario 3D All-Stars is a true trip down memory lane. It includes Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy. I only briefly played Galaxy on my Wii and barely played Sunshine on my Game Cube. I loved Mario 64 back in the Nintendo 64 days but had never revisited it. So this collection to celebrate Mario’s 35th anniversary was a treat.
Even more than me getting to play these classics, my son dove into all three Mario games. I enjoyed watching his struggles to understand a 3D platform game when he started Super Mario 64. Those lessons paid off when he went over to Sunshine and Galaxy, and even Super Mario 3D World. He still prefers Odyssey to any of Mario’s original 3D games.
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
Just like New Super Mario Bros. U, I never got to play Super Mario 3D World since I never owned a Wii U. While I greatly enjoy New SMB U Deluxe, I adore Super Mario 3D World. There are so many quality of life improvements to the game, such as a shared pool of lives. The Cat Suit is used effectively for some puzzles but also just generally works to make some of the platforming more forgiving. It can take a little bit to adjust to the locked camera with a 3D game, but it’s not too bad. And the fun factor is top notch, especially with multiple players all running around at the same time.
Super Mario 35
Mario 35 had you playing Super Mario Bros. levels and sending additional enemies to your foes. Eventually you could be playing World 1-1 and have a random Cheep Cheep fly up out of the ground or run into Bowser in the middle of the level. I didn’t think it would work as well as it did. And I was extra surprised how much my son loved playing it. We didn’t start playing it until the last month it was available (R.I.P. Mario), and my son played it every day. It was so much fun to see him playing all these levels I played thousands of times over the course of my life.
Super Mario Odyssey
Super Mario Odyssey is a tour de force of Mario platforming. It’s like the sum total of all the 3D Mario games before it. I’ve barely scratched the surface of what this game has to offer. It actually feels a little daunting to watch other people play it and see how much game there is. Nintendo puts on a master class in game design with Mario. The mechanic of changing hats to gain different powers not only changes up Mario’s iconic look but gives players new ways to play we’ve never seen in a Mario game. How can you resist controlling a T Rex with a mustache?
Super Mario Party
Super Mario Party is the latest in the line of Mario Party games. This one was a birthday gift for my daughter from my son, but my daughter wound up rage quitting every time she played. She could not comprehend the controls. Plus she wound up on the wrong side of several 3 vs 1 mini games in a row. My biggest complaint is the length of each game and lack of ability to save state and resume later, so we haven’t played this one too much. The kids enjoyed the music mini-game sub-mode more than the full board game mode.
Super Smash Bros Ultimate
If you noticed, there was a little bit of a refrain earlier about my kids knowing characters because of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. I expected to play a lot of of this game but I had not played a Smash Bros. game since the original on Nintendo 64. The absurdly huge cast of characters runs the gamut of video game history, from classic Nintendo characters to Pac-Man to Mega Man to Bayonetta to Cloud. As many others have said, Smash Bros. Ultimate is now a love letter to all things video games, not just Nintendo.
My son and I don’t play this seriously at all; for us it’s still more of a party game than a fighting game. I do like the ability to add up to 8 total players and divide them into teams however we want, which lets us fill some of the huge stages with CPU fighters. It’s still not my favorite game to play, but I never turn down the offer to hop in and play a round or twenty.
Tetris 99
Tetris 99 is a battle royale where you play against 98 other players at the same time. You send and receive garbage based on a system that lets you target random players, players near death, players with lots of bonuses, or players attacking you. It feels good to see a bunch of garbage heading your way, flip to attackers strategy, and launch a bunch of garbage back.
I was pleasantly surprised how well I did out of the gate with Tetris 99. All my time playing New Tetris on Nintendo 64 trained me in a specific way to make lines in a four player match and it translates well to a 99 player game. I’ve yet to come in first place in Tetris 99, but you can bet I still have the screenshot of my fifth place finish.
The Last Campfire
I wish I could tell you about this game. Like all the other indie digital games in this list, I bought The Last Campfire on sale. Like Celeste, I have yet to play it. I understand it’s an endearing puzzle game. It’s not supposed to be too long. My plan is to sit down and play through it with my kids so we can work out the puzzles and enjoy the story together.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild blew me away. I have a friend who had praised the game for years, but without my own Switch I couldn’t jump in and play it myself. Now that I’ve put in over 60 hours I don’t want the game to end. There have been open world sandbox games in the past; I enjoyed Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Crackdown. But Breath of the Wild not only brings the Zelda magic but just nails every aspect of an open world game. I lose myself for hours upon hours wandering Hyrule. The fact my kids demand I play this so they can watch really helps, too. And who can blame them for wanting to experience such a magical game?
A true masterpiece.
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening is a faithful recreation of the original Game Boy game done in a toy-like graphical style. Many people dislike that style but I find it charming. And I appreciate any graphical upgrade versus blowing up Game Boy graphics on my TV screen. Recently I found my old Nintendo Power strategy guide for the game, and I still own the original cartridge for my decrepit Game Boy. My son played Link’s Awakening for a bit but I’m not sure it grabbed him the same way it grabbed me.
Yoshi’s Crafted World
Yoshi’s Crafted World puts the spotlight on Mario’s trusty steed, Yoshi. This time it’s all Yoshi all the time. The graphics are adorable with everything rendered in crafting supplies like felt and cardboard. The game play is aimed at a younger audience so it’s not very difficult, which is fine for chilling out and not fretting about precision platforming. My daughter can even turn on super easy mode and just fly through the levels. Although she doesn’t pick up any items doing that, she still has fun floating along and seeing the scenery. There’s enough game play to satisfy an older gamer, but this is a very light affair.
Nintendo Switch Online’s NES and SNES
One of the greatest features on the Nintendo Switch is access to retro NES and SNES games is via the emulators provided by Nintendo. You have to subscribe to Nintendo Switch Online, but that’s a $20 annual membership so it’s pretty nominal.
The game selection is not as expansive as the Virtual Console on the Wii. But they contain most of the greatest hits as well as many deep cuts. You’ll find Super Mario Bros. 1, SMB 2, SMB 3, SMB Lost Levels, SMB All-Stars, and Super Mario World. You can play The Legend of Zelda I and II as well as A Link to the Past. There’s Metroid and Super Metroid. While there’s definitely stuff missing I am more than satisfied in the selection.
One game I revisited was F-Zero. It was ages since I played this SNES launch title racer. And it still holds up today. My son was enthralled to see Mute City, which he knows as a course in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. And of course he knows Captain Falcon from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, although you wouldn’t know Captain Falcon is in F-Zero just from the game.
A new game I tried out was Fire & Ice for NES. It turned out to be a fun little puzzle game. It’s tough enough that even by level 8 I was starting to struggle a bit. I was surprised to find my son playing it himself the next morning since I didn’t think the simplistic graphics and game play would entice him.
Are You Not Entertained
So that’s my current collection of Nintendo Switch games. I’m excited to find new ones to enjoy on my own and with my kids. It’s been a lot of fun to share all these games.
Let me know what games you like to play on Nintendo Switch or with your family.
