Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for July 18th, 2024. Itās a Thursday, and a fairly busy one at that. We start off with a bit of news about a new game coming next month, then head into those new releases for today. Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition is but the point of the spear, with lots of interesting games vying for your hard-earned money. After that, weāve got the new and expiring sales for the day. Lots to do, so letās get to it!
āEmio ā The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Clubā Announced for August 29 Release
In the last week or two, Nintendo has been teasing a new game with some character named Emilio. Not Emilio? Emio? Right. Emio. There was a lot of speculation, with some thinking it was a game from Bloober Team and going ballistic about the thing they made up in their imagination. Well, it turns out that weāre getting a new Famicom Detective Club game, coming from Metroid Man Yoshio Sakamotoās team. The last new entry in this series was aroundā¦ three decades ago, so that is very cool. Also cool? Itās out next month! August 29th, available digital and physical. If you like Japanese-style adventure games, you know what to do.
Itās really hard not to compare this with NES Remix on the Wii U and 3DS, but letās try. This is a game that gives you one hundred and fifty mini-challenges for thirteen different NES games, all of which will see you trying to perform a certain task as fast as you can. It works well as a party-style affair for up to eight players locally, and you can certainly have some fun with the weekly challenges. Bafflingly, no online leaderboards outside of the weekly things. Weāll have a review of this early next week, in case you need further details.
A schim is apparently the soul and spirit of an object, and youāre playing as one that has gotten unfortunately separated from its human. You need to get back to him as soon as possible, because bad things will happen if you donāt. The thing is, you have to move around the environments jumping from shadow to shadow. Things are in motion, and so are their shadows, so there seems to be an element of timing involved. Seems interesting, but I havenāt had a chance to play it yet.
This is a twin stick shooter that is obviously more than a little inspired by Robotron 2084, but I donāt see Robotron 2084 around here anywhere so I say bring on the homages. There are twelve different types of enemies, nine power-ups, some hazards for good measure, and you even get a nice little online leaderboard. Another great arcade throw-back from publisher Flynns Arcade, and one I am greatly looking forward to digging into for my review.
An interesting companion piece to Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition, to say the least. The clever idea behind the first one was enough to sell it to many (including me), and so here we are with round two. You get two hundred and fifty stages spread across five types of mini-games that will seem curiously familiar to those who watch mobile ads. Thereās the one where you remove pins so that gold or what-have-you falls down! The one thatās a behind-the-back runner with mathematical components in front of you! The one thatās an isometric game where you have to battle enemies and pick up items in the right order for superior numbers! And more! Plus: online leaderboards! Almost everyone has them today. Almost. Shall I review? I shall.
The Ratalaika Brown Bag wrapper strikes again, this time covering three shoot āem ups from Hot-B. You get the impressive (and rare) NES horizontal shooter Over Horizon, the Genesis/Mega Drive Steel Empire, and the Game Boy Advance port of Steel Empire. The usual options seen in Ratalaikaās reissues are here, but Iāll have to put more time in into the games to see if the usual inexplicable bugs are as well. These are fun games, and I prefer the MD Steel Empire to the remake that is already available on Switch. Yes, Iāll be reviewing.
This week in Arcade Archives, weāve got Taitoās popular take on soccer. You know, if it had been last weekās game it probably would have sold more. Euros and all. Well anyway, this is a 1990 release and as such itās outside of that early era of arcade sports games where people were still trying to figure things out. It works like you would expect, and itās good fun if you have someone else to play against locally. Solo? Probably not my pick from the Hamster line-up, but youāre the boss of your own wallet.
Hereās a bold move. If you think the RPGs in the EGGCONSOLE line have been impenetrable due to the language barrier presented by unlocalized Japanese, wait until you try out this adventure game. Yes, itās a game entirely about dealing with text, in a language you probably donāt understand. Nice pictures, though. I will probably review this out of an adherence to tradition, but seriouslyā¦ if you canāt read Japanese, donāt bother. Minus points to the publisher for carefully brushing all the Japanese text out of the North American eShop screenshots.
Oh, excellent. This is where I get to make jokes about whether or not Rogue is a roguelike. This, I presume, is the Commodore 64 version of Epyxās version of Rogue. It has actual graphics instead of letters and symbols, but itās a decent approximation of the real thing. Well, the real thing as it was at the time. Pixel Games UK gets around the keyboard-heavy gameplay by offering up a handy wheel of actions. Iām going to give this one a closer look, because it checks off too many of my personal boxes to do anything else.
Take control of four characters as they, would you believe this, raid some dungeons. You might think there would be a multiplayer option here, but no. You just control all four characters. Six procedurally-generated levels spread across three different biomes. Itās been out for a couple of years on other platforms and the overall consensus seems to bet that itās kind of middling. Functional but not very exciting. But perhaps itās what youāre after today, I donāt know.
Hereās a party game that can be enjoyed by up to four players any which way you want. Online? Yes. Local multiplayer on one system? You bet! Local wireless? Naturally. So what are you doing? Trying to keep your space ship running, no matter what the problem. This will require a lot of scrambling around and dealing with sudden chaos. Well, you know how this kind of thing goes if youāve been paying attention to the Switch for any real amount of time. Maybe you need a new party game like this.
This is a gorgeous Metroidvania-style game whose development team includes at least one person associated with AM2R, the fan-made Metroid II remake that got yeeted into the next galaxy. Early word on it is that the game is quite good if perhaps a little too orthodox an example of its genre, but I believe our pal Mikhail is in the process of evaluating it and should have some official TouchArcade opinions on it soon enough.
I feel like that name might be a trademarked term, but whatever. Forget it, Jake. Itās the eShop. At any rate, weāve got another one of those physics-based platformers here, this time with you taking the role of a little slime. Unconventional movement is the order of the day, as you get around by stretching and propelling yourself. I havenāt been able to play this one yet, so Iāll leave it there for the time being.
A puzzle platformer that promises gravity trickery and delivers it. Guide your robot to the goal, scooping up all the goodies you can along the way. Iāll cut to the chase on this one. If you remember a PlayStation 1 puzzle game called Kula World or Roll Away, youāll find this game to be remarkably similar in how it works. This is an intentional homage to that game, so if youāve been pining for some kind of follow-up, this might be as close as you get.
Hereās another KEMCO RPG from the mobile back catalogue, this time Magitecās Ancient Phantasma. Iām not a big fan of this particular developerās games, but it might be the break from the usual EXE-Create fare that some of you need.
The thrilling continuation of the Zombie Derby saga that I know youāve all been waiting for.
I mean, me too. I should go pick some up. I like the cheese ones, but the teriyaki burger flavor one is nice sometimes too. For those who couldnāt possibly know, Umaibo are a brand of very cheap salty snacks from Japan. They come in a bunch of flavors, and because they cost somewhere in the neighborhood of ten cents each, theyāre well-loved by people of all ages and social standings. This game seems to be almost as cheap, taking the mascot of the brand and throwing him into an auto-runner. Beyond the exciting action, you also get an encyclopedia filled with all kinds of Umaibo information. In Japanese. Have fun!
What youāve got here is basically a dinosaur version of a coin dozer. That might be amusing enough for some of you to get your four dollarsā worth.
(North American eShop, US Prices)
No Manās Sky has a big update incoming, and to celebrate itās at its lowest price yet. Megās Monster is also at a new low, and itās a must-have for anyone who likes a good story. Neither list is all that big today, so Iāll leave it to you to scan through them and see what grabs you.
Select New Sales
No Manās Sky ($23.99 from $59.99 until 7/30)
The Last Campfire ($1.99 from $14.99 until 7/30)
Metal Dogs ($9.90 from $22.00 until 7/31)
Bearās Restaurant ($9.09 from $12.99 until 7/31)
Fishing Paradiso ($10.49 from $14.99 until 7/31)
Megās Monster ($10.49 from $14.99 until 7/31)
Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece Cloud ($35.99 from $89.99 until 8/1)
Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory ($23.99 from $59.99 until 8/1)
Eschatos ($13.49 from $14.99 until 8/1)
New Star GP ($11.99 from $29.99 until 8/1)
Dungeon Arsenal ($3.49 from $6.99 until 8/1)
The Bridge Curse: Road to Salvation ($14.99 from $29.99 until 8/2)
Slime Girl Smoothies ($7.49 from $14.99 until 8/2)
Rainbow Skies ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/2)
Chaos Galaxy ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/2)
Boo Party ($4.99 from $9.99 until 8/2)
Mugen Souls ($25.99 from $39.99 until 8/2)
Omen of Sorrow ($8.99 from $19.99 until 8/2)
Dungeonoid 2 Awakening ($5.39 from $8.99 until 8/2)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, July 19th
Asterix & Obelix Slap Them All 2 ($9.99 from $24.99 until 7/19)
BurgerTime Party! ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/19)
Deadcraft ($5.99 from $19.99 until 7/19)
Freedom Planet ($4.49 from $14.99 until 7/19)
Gal Metal ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/19)
Graceful Explosion Machine ($2.59 from $12.99 until 7/19)
Heroland ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/19)
Loop8: Summer of Gods ($9.99 from $39.99 until 7/19)
Lucid Cycle ($2.09 from $6.99 until 7/19)
Mugen Souls Z ($25.99 from $39.99 until 7/19)
New Joe & Mac Caveman Ninja ($8.99 from $29.99 until 7/19)
Nocturnal Visitors ($3.99 from $4.99 until 7/19)
Noob The Factionless ($15.99 from $39.99 until 7/19)
Phantom Breaker Omnia ($3.99 from $19.99 until 7/19)
Senran Kagura Peach Ball ($8.99 from $29.99 until 7/19)
Sense: Cyberpunk Ghost Story ($5.99 from $19.99 until 7/19)
The Prisoner of the Night ($10.49 from $14.99 until 7/19)
Violet Wysteria ($8.99 from $14.99 until 7/19)
Thatās all for today, friends. Weāll be back tomorrow to finish out the releases for the week, plus catch up on any sales and big news items that arrive in the next twenty-four hours or so. My schedule for my day job got a little rearranged this week, so I have to work very late tonight. That means I have to finish this quickly soā¦ I hope you all have a thrilling Thursday, and as always, thanks for reading!
News
āEmio ā The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Clubā Announced for August 29 Release
In the last week or two, Nintendo has been teasing a new game with some character named Emilio. Not Emilio? Emio? Right. Emio. There was a lot of speculation, with some thinking it was a game from Bloober Team and going ballistic about the thing they made up in their imagination. Well, it turns out that weāre getting a new Famicom Detective Club game, coming from Metroid Man Yoshio Sakamotoās team. The last new entry in this series was aroundā¦ three decades ago, so that is very cool. Also cool? Itās out next month! August 29th, available digital and physical. If you like Japanese-style adventure games, you know what to do.
Select New Releases
Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition ($29.99)
Itās really hard not to compare this with NES Remix on the Wii U and 3DS, but letās try. This is a game that gives you one hundred and fifty mini-challenges for thirteen different NES games, all of which will see you trying to perform a certain task as fast as you can. It works well as a party-style affair for up to eight players locally, and you can certainly have some fun with the weekly challenges. Bafflingly, no online leaderboards outside of the weekly things. Weāll have a review of this early next week, in case you need further details.
SCHiM ($24.99)
A schim is apparently the soul and spirit of an object, and youāre playing as one that has gotten unfortunately separated from its human. You need to get back to him as soon as possible, because bad things will happen if you donāt. The thing is, you have to move around the environments jumping from shadow to shadow. Things are in motion, and so are their shadows, so there seems to be an element of timing involved. Seems interesting, but I havenāt had a chance to play it yet.
Satryn DX ($6.99)
This is a twin stick shooter that is obviously more than a little inspired by Robotron 2084, but I donāt see Robotron 2084 around here anywhere so I say bring on the homages. There are twelve different types of enemies, nine power-ups, some hazards for good measure, and you even get a nice little online leaderboard. Another great arcade throw-back from publisher Flynns Arcade, and one I am greatly looking forward to digging into for my review.
YEAH! YOU WANT āTHOSE GAMES," RIGHT? SO HERE YOU GO! NOW, LETāS SEE YOU CLEAR THEM! 2 ($9.99)
An interesting companion piece to Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition, to say the least. The clever idea behind the first one was enough to sell it to many (including me), and so here we are with round two. You get two hundred and fifty stages spread across five types of mini-games that will seem curiously familiar to those who watch mobile ads. Thereās the one where you remove pins so that gold or what-have-you falls down! The one thatās a behind-the-back runner with mathematical components in front of you! The one thatās an isometric game where you have to battle enemies and pick up items in the right order for superior numbers! And more! Plus: online leaderboards! Almost everyone has them today. Almost. Shall I review? I shall.
Over Horizon X Steel Empire ($14.99)
The Ratalaika Brown Bag wrapper strikes again, this time covering three shoot āem ups from Hot-B. You get the impressive (and rare) NES horizontal shooter Over Horizon, the Genesis/Mega Drive Steel Empire, and the Game Boy Advance port of Steel Empire. The usual options seen in Ratalaikaās reissues are here, but Iāll have to put more time in into the games to see if the usual inexplicable bugs are as well. These are fun games, and I prefer the MD Steel Empire to the remake that is already available on Switch. Yes, Iāll be reviewing.
Arcade Archives Football Champ ($7.99)
This week in Arcade Archives, weāve got Taitoās popular take on soccer. You know, if it had been last weekās game it probably would have sold more. Euros and all. Well anyway, this is a 1990 release and as such itās outside of that early era of arcade sports games where people were still trying to figure things out. It works like you would expect, and itās good fun if you have someone else to play against locally. Solo? Probably not my pick from the Hamster line-up, but youāre the boss of your own wallet.
EGGCONSOLE Seilane PC-8801mkIISR ($6.49)
Hereās a bold move. If you think the RPGs in the EGGCONSOLE line have been impenetrable due to the language barrier presented by unlocalized Japanese, wait until you try out this adventure game. Yes, itās a game entirely about dealing with text, in a language you probably donāt understand. Nice pictures, though. I will probably review this out of an adherence to tradition, but seriouslyā¦ if you canāt read Japanese, donāt bother. Minus points to the publisher for carefully brushing all the Japanese text out of the North American eShop screenshots.
Epyx Rogue ($7.99)
Oh, excellent. This is where I get to make jokes about whether or not Rogue is a roguelike. This, I presume, is the Commodore 64 version of Epyxās version of Rogue. It has actual graphics instead of letters and symbols, but itās a decent approximation of the real thing. Well, the real thing as it was at the time. Pixel Games UK gets around the keyboard-heavy gameplay by offering up a handy wheel of actions. Iām going to give this one a closer look, because it checks off too many of my personal boxes to do anything else.
Rivalia: Dungeon Raiders ($14.99)
Take control of four characters as they, would you believe this, raid some dungeons. You might think there would be a multiplayer option here, but no. You just control all four characters. Six procedurally-generated levels spread across three different biomes. Itās been out for a couple of years on other platforms and the overall consensus seems to bet that itās kind of middling. Functional but not very exciting. But perhaps itās what youāre after today, I donāt know.
Fueled Up ($19.99)
Hereās a party game that can be enjoyed by up to four players any which way you want. Online? Yes. Local multiplayer on one system? You bet! Local wireless? Naturally. So what are you doing? Trying to keep your space ship running, no matter what the problem. This will require a lot of scrambling around and dealing with sudden chaos. Well, you know how this kind of thing goes if youāve been paying attention to the Switch for any real amount of time. Maybe you need a new party game like this.
BÅ: Path of the Teal Lotus ($19.99)
This is a gorgeous Metroidvania-style game whose development team includes at least one person associated with AM2R, the fan-made Metroid II remake that got yeeted into the next galaxy. Early word on it is that the game is quite good if perhaps a little too orthodox an example of its genre, but I believe our pal Mikhail is in the process of evaluating it and should have some official TouchArcade opinions on it soon enough.
Jello ($13.99)
I feel like that name might be a trademarked term, but whatever. Forget it, Jake. Itās the eShop. At any rate, weāve got another one of those physics-based platformers here, this time with you taking the role of a little slime. Unconventional movement is the order of the day, as you get around by stretching and propelling yourself. I havenāt been able to play this one yet, so Iāll leave it there for the time being.
The Gravity Trickster ($13.99)
A puzzle platformer that promises gravity trickery and delivers it. Guide your robot to the goal, scooping up all the goodies you can along the way. Iāll cut to the chase on this one. If you remember a PlayStation 1 puzzle game called Kula World or Roll Away, youāll find this game to be remarkably similar in how it works. This is an intentional homage to that game, so if youāve been pining for some kind of follow-up, this might be as close as you get.
Ancient Phantasma ($14.99)
Hereās another KEMCO RPG from the mobile back catalogue, this time Magitecās Ancient Phantasma. Iām not a big fan of this particular developerās games, but it might be the break from the usual EXE-Create fare that some of you need.
Zombie Derby 2 ($4.99)
The thrilling continuation of the Zombie Derby saga that I know youāve all been waiting for.
I want to eat umaibo ! ($9.99)
I mean, me too. I should go pick some up. I like the cheese ones, but the teriyaki burger flavor one is nice sometimes too. For those who couldnāt possibly know, Umaibo are a brand of very cheap salty snacks from Japan. They come in a bunch of flavors, and because they cost somewhere in the neighborhood of ten cents each, theyāre well-loved by people of all ages and social standings. This game seems to be almost as cheap, taking the mascot of the brand and throwing him into an auto-runner. Beyond the exciting action, you also get an encyclopedia filled with all kinds of Umaibo information. In Japanese. Have fun!
Throw it! Dinosaur Panic ($3.99)
What youāve got here is basically a dinosaur version of a coin dozer. That might be amusing enough for some of you to get your four dollarsā worth.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
No Manās Sky has a big update incoming, and to celebrate itās at its lowest price yet. Megās Monster is also at a new low, and itās a must-have for anyone who likes a good story. Neither list is all that big today, so Iāll leave it to you to scan through them and see what grabs you.
Select New Sales
No Manās Sky ($23.99 from $59.99 until 7/30)
The Last Campfire ($1.99 from $14.99 until 7/30)
Metal Dogs ($9.90 from $22.00 until 7/31)
Bearās Restaurant ($9.09 from $12.99 until 7/31)
Fishing Paradiso ($10.49 from $14.99 until 7/31)
Megās Monster ($10.49 from $14.99 until 7/31)
Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece Cloud ($35.99 from $89.99 until 8/1)
Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory ($23.99 from $59.99 until 8/1)
Eschatos ($13.49 from $14.99 until 8/1)
New Star GP ($11.99 from $29.99 until 8/1)
Dungeon Arsenal ($3.49 from $6.99 until 8/1)
The Bridge Curse: Road to Salvation ($14.99 from $29.99 until 8/2)
Slime Girl Smoothies ($7.49 from $14.99 until 8/2)
Rainbow Skies ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/2)
Chaos Galaxy ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/2)
Boo Party ($4.99 from $9.99 until 8/2)
Mugen Souls ($25.99 from $39.99 until 8/2)
Omen of Sorrow ($8.99 from $19.99 until 8/2)
Dungeonoid 2 Awakening ($5.39 from $8.99 until 8/2)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, July 19th
Asterix & Obelix Slap Them All 2 ($9.99 from $24.99 until 7/19)
BurgerTime Party! ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/19)
Deadcraft ($5.99 from $19.99 until 7/19)
Freedom Planet ($4.49 from $14.99 until 7/19)
Gal Metal ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/19)
Graceful Explosion Machine ($2.59 from $12.99 until 7/19)
Heroland ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/19)
Loop8: Summer of Gods ($9.99 from $39.99 until 7/19)
Lucid Cycle ($2.09 from $6.99 until 7/19)
Mugen Souls Z ($25.99 from $39.99 until 7/19)
New Joe & Mac Caveman Ninja ($8.99 from $29.99 until 7/19)
Nocturnal Visitors ($3.99 from $4.99 until 7/19)
Noob The Factionless ($15.99 from $39.99 until 7/19)
Phantom Breaker Omnia ($3.99 from $19.99 until 7/19)
Senran Kagura Peach Ball ($8.99 from $29.99 until 7/19)
Sense: Cyberpunk Ghost Story ($5.99 from $19.99 until 7/19)
The Prisoner of the Night ($10.49 from $14.99 until 7/19)
Violet Wysteria ($8.99 from $14.99 until 7/19)
Thatās all for today, friends. Weāll be back tomorrow to finish out the releases for the week, plus catch up on any sales and big news items that arrive in the next twenty-four hours or so. My schedule for my day job got a little rearranged this week, so I have to work very late tonight. That means I have to finish this quickly soā¦ I hope you all have a thrilling Thursday, and as always, thanks for reading!
![[DK]](/data/avatars/s/57/57999.jpg?1720990206){kind=avatar}
