Serial Cleaner

Also known as: Serial Cleaner: Jouji no Ura Shigoto (Japan)

Developer: iFun4all

Serial Cleaner kind of reminds me of Hotline Miami…except instead of causing all of the mayhem, you’re cleaning up after the mayhem that someone else had caused. Taking place in the 70’s, you find yourself headed to crime scenes to get rid of dead bodies, collect evidence, and clean up all of the blood. Of course, these crime scenes are usually loaded with police officers that you’ve got to sneak past to complete your mission. There’s no killing or attacking involved, you’ve gotta do this all with your wits. The end result is an unexpectedly enjoyable game (who knew that vacuuming bloody floors would be fun?) that hopefully gets plenty of attention. If you like stealth games, or even just stealth-based games where you’ve gotta use brains instead of bullets, then Serial Cleaner is definitely worth checking out.

Review added: 05/16/2020

Shin Megami Tensei V

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Atlus

I’ve always loved the Shin Megami Tensei franchise. I’ve played nearly every game in the series multiple times over. That said, while I don’t mind the “blue triangle” traversing of the world map in previous games, I’ve always wanted to wander around in the ruined Tokyos of past games so I could see what the landscape looks like prior to the creation of a new world. Shin Megami Tensei V finally gives that to me. Getting rid of classic dungeons, for the most part, the entirety of Tokyo is your dungeon in SMT V. There’s plenty to discover as you wander around, from various side quests to finding all 200 Miman hidden throughout the game. This open world is accompanied by an interesting, unique story - one that may be my favorite in the main series. My only real complaint about the game is that it feels like it just kind of ends out of nowhere…when it ends, it almost feels like you missed a bunch of potential stories before the last few battles. That said, I still enjoyed this enough where I immediately started a second playthrough and I know full well that like other games in the Shin Megami Tensei franchise, I’ll be returning to this game many, many times as the years go on.

Review added: 12/18/2021

Speedway Racing

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Super PowerUp Games

Hoo boy, Speedway Racing. Where do I start? I suppose I'll start with some positives. That's always the polite thing to do, right? Speedway Racing has decent-looking graphics and I enjoy the parodies of business logos that adorn the various vehicles that you can race with….and that's all the good that I can say when attempting to fairly review this game. The game's controls are iffy, it's loaded with glitches, and lacks anything that would keep most sane people for playing for more than five minutes. I'm not sane, however, and while Speedway Racing is an absolutely terrible game, I found some sort of bizarre enjoyment in playing it. The glitches actually enhanced this game for me in the way that poor acting enhances a cheesy movie - it gave me stuff to chuckle at and it made me continue to play in order to see how much worse it could get. Granted, I doubt most folks will find the same enjoyment in this game that I did, but I felt like I needed to point out that this is probably the best so-bad-it's-good racing game that I think that I've ever played…Even if most folks will simply see it as bad and find zero enjoyment in it. So, if you're looking for a good game with Speedway Racing, you'll be very disappointed. If you can get this game on sale for cheap, though, and find strange enjoyment in playing poor, glitchy games, you may actually find yourself having a good time here. But again, I think that group is definitely in the minority and most folks will make a pitstop to the system storage to delete this game from their Switch shortly after trying it.

Review added: 12/05/2022

Super Bomberman R

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Konami

I'm a Bomberman fan. Most recently (if you can call ten years ago “recent”), I absolutely loved Bomberman Ultra on the Playstation 3, so I was hoping for more of the same here from Super Bomberman R...Unfortunately, what I got was a major disappointment…well, at least in my eyes. Whether it be the weak online battles, the unlikeable levels, or the boring story mode, Super Bomberman R never made me feel like I was having any fun. It never seems to provide the fun that many games in the Bomberman franchise has given me over the years. Don't get me wrong, Super Bomberman R is a passable game...But with great games in the past like Saturn Bomberman and Bomberman Online...this just felt like a giant step backward in the Bomberman series in this fan’s eyes. If Bomberman is your favorite game franchise, you may find something to enjoy here. If you’re more of a casual fan, like I am, then you may find yourself disappointed with what you get here.

Review added: 07/04/2019

Super Mario Bros. 35

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Nntendo

I didn’t know what to expect when I first heard of Super Mario Bros. 35. I thought it was going to be like a modified version of the original Super Mario Bros. with new levels and such…and in a way, I was right. What I didn’t expect was for it to quickly become one of my favorite games that I’ve ever played. Super Mario 35 is the platforming variation of Tetris 99. In Tetris 99, you play Tetris, battling against 98 other people with your matches “attacking” the other players. In Super Mario 35, you’re playing variations on the original Super Mario Bros. formula, battling against 34 other people, and as you defeat enemies, it causes them to respawn in an opponent’s screen. By pressing the X button, if you have the coins to do so, you can also get power-ups…so if you took a hit and lost your ability to toss fireballs with a bunch of enemies in front of you that are immune to the ol’ double-stomp to the head, you can press the X button and see if you luck out. Often times, you’ll be rewarded with a star, allowing you to plow through those enemies and hopefully get to a point where you can find a fire flower to get back into tip-top shape. I absolutely love this game. I had said before that Tetris 99 was worth the $20 per year that Nintendo wants for their online services. Nintendo could double that price, include Super Mario Bros. 35 in the deal, and I’d still feel like I was getting one heckuva deal. Glancing at critic reviews, this is a game where my opinion seems to differ quite a bit from the average reviewer, but I absolutely love this game and would definitely place it within the top 5 on the console. It’s a crime that the current plan is to shut the servers for this game down on March 31, 2021 because I have been playing this nearly non-stop since its release and I could easily see this as a game that I would regularly return to play over and over and over again for years to come.

Review added: 11/28/2020

Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Nntendo

I've always preferred 2D platformers to 3D platformers…maybe it's 'cause I'm an old fart. Despite my love of 2D platformers, I haven't really been smitten with too many 2D Mario games since Super Mario World came out. The closest was New Super Mario Bros. U, but even that failed to hook me like the original Mario games did. Enter Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Not only is this, in my opinion, the best 2D Mario game since the 16-bit era of gaming, but it may be my favorite 2D platformer to be released in the last decade. Super Mario Bros. Wonder manages to capture some of the magic of previous Mario games and mixes it with…well, some magic pills, I guess. The traditional platforming takes a psychedelic turn at times, where you seemingly enter a fever dream variation of the level that you're in. These segments can see you transforming into completely new forms, providing you with some unique gameplay. Speaking of forms, this game also provides new power-ups - the most notable probably being the elephant suit. You've also got the choice between a pretty big cast of characters to play as, with some playing differently than others, allowing you to experience the game in slightly different ways depending on who you select. The only real downside to Super Mario Bros. Wonder is that it's not very challenging, so you'll likely be racking up extra lives as you play and probably won't be using too many of them along the way. Still, I really enjoyed my time playing Super Mario Bros. Wonder - they managed to provide players with a good combination of old-school platforming with some new-school mechanics and gameplay. If you're a fan of platformers, I think that you'll fall in love with this game, too.

Review added: 12/31/2023

Super Mario Odyssey

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Nntendo

Oh boy, I might get some angry responses for saying this. Up until Super Mario Odyssey came out, I had never beaten a 3D Mario game. I found most of the 3D games starring everyone’s favorite Italian plumber to be good, but just didn’t hook me strong enough to see the journey through to the end like the 2D Mario games did from the 80s and 90s. This game changed that. Easily my favorite 3D Mario game, Odyssey is probably best described as a mix of Mario and Kirby…or possibly more accurately, Mario and Brave Fencer Musashi. Basically, you toss your cap at certain enemies or objects to “possess” them and use their abilities. On top of that, each level is interesting and fun to explore. The game is easy enough for children to enjoy, but it’s also challenging enough so adults won’t get bored. Breath of the Wild is still my game of choice on the Switch as far as early titles go, but Odyssey is a strong choice for an alternative if Zelda games aren’t your cup of tea.

Review added: 05/16/2020

Super Mega Baseball 4

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Metalhead Software

I felt like the first Super Mega Baseball was a pleasant surprise. It was well-done baseball that played like baseball games of old, but with a fresh coat of cartoony paint added on top. It lacked real players and/or licensed teams, but that was the point - playing baseball in a fictional world with fictional players and teams…and it worked. Fast forward a few years and the Super Mega Baseball franchise now had a few games under its belt, and bigwig sports-game publisher, Electronic Arts, decided to publish this game, the fourth entry. Don't let that scare you away, though. Electronic Arts may have published it, but Metalhead Software is still the company that developed it. It still plays like the previous games, and is loaded with so many modes that if you're a baseball fan that doesn't care about real players and teams, Super Mega Baseball 4 can keep you busy for weeks or months. If you're a fan of when baseball games were a little more simplistic, then Super Mega Baseball 4 may be right up your alley.

Review added: 07/20/2025

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Also known as: Dairantou Smash Bros. Special (Japan)

Developer: Nintendo

I’ve always enjoyed the Super Smash Bros. games, but Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the first Smash Bros. game that I REALLY got into since Melee back on the Gamecube. The 20+ hour story mode is largely thanks to that. Aside from the large selection of playable fighters, the enormous amount of unlockables will give long-time fans of video games plenty of nostalgia, as well as the ability to have fights that you never thought you'd see...like Kirby taking on Dracula from Castlevania. That’s the battle of the Romanian blood sucker versus the Dream Landian everything-sucker, by the way. My money would be on the cute, pink cream puff from Dream Land. Anyway, the only thing really keeping me from gushing over this game is that the gameplay itself feels like it's more of the same from previous games in the franchise. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I guess I was hoping for a little more evolution for the series in a game with “Ultimate” in the title. That minor gripe aside, if you like nostalgia, then you'll find plenty of fond memories in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as you pummel some of your favorite video game characters along the way.

Review added: 03/30/2019