One Year of the Switch Voting Thread (Seventh-Year Games Lists on Page 12)

Steamworld Dig 2
(24 points, 4 voters, 0 firsts)

(Steamworld Dig 2 also wins the Best Game That Takes Place Almost Entirely In A Chuffing Hole Award.)



Trailer: Surprisingly unspoilery for a modern trailer.

Music: The song of, 'Thank Christ my lamp oil isn't depleting any more.'

Video of Choice: ZP combined it with Knack 2.  I know it doesn't deserve that fate, but everything else is trailers or Let's Play videos.

Nintendo Life Review: Excellent.  (Notice a theme?)

You Said:

I Said:

They Said:

Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove
(10 points, 3 voters, 1 first)



"All of the Shovel Knight collection in one nice package, my first time with the game and it didn't disappoint, really enjoyable old school gaming."

"Not played enough of this to come to a solid conclusion, but from the two and bit campaigns I've rattled through this is great value for money."  (It took me a loooooong time to clock the point of this comment.  Well played, commenter 2.  Well played.)

"The poster child of cool indie downloadable platformers is still a treat on Switch. This was the undisputed king of pixel art, chiptunes and classic gameplay."

Jackbox Party Pack 3
(11 points, 3 voters, 0 firsts)



"This was a revelation for me, from the first game at the meetups to the countless times I've played since this is never dull. A brilliant marriage of mobile phones and games."

"It’s aaaaaaall about the Quiplash.  This is the best party game I’ve played in yonks – and that’s not just videogame games, that’s all games.  Quiplash improves any party, except perhaps an orgy – no, I reckon even an orgy could be improved by taking a break from the sexytimes to think up goat-themed rock bands."

"Quiplash 2 for life."

Sonic Mania
(12 points, 3 voters, 1 first)



"A thing of beauty and a dream come true. Uniformly perfect."

"Handing superfan programmers the reins to one of your key-but-stagnant franchises is clearly something more publishers should do. A triumphant return to the style of the Mega Drive games: let's now make sure we get Sonic Mania 2, Sonic Mania 3 and Sonic Mania & Knuckles Mania."

"I know theres a collectors edition but that is download code only for the software so it still counts here!"

Steamworld Dig 2
(15 points, 4 voters, 0 firsts)



"Great Metroidvania."

"Couldn't put this down from start to end, really refined the original and had some really cool new steam powers. The only issue I have is in losing the random generation it feels a little less replayable. I still go back to SWD1 to speed my way through it, not sure this will do the same."

"Not too unlike the first one, and that’s A Good Thing, because SteamWorld Dig was class. Yet the follow-up really benefitted from some well-judged tweaks to the gameplay, upgrades and its overall flow. It’s a sensational follow-up to an excellent original."

"As complete and perfect a little platform adventure as you ever did see. I recall my LGYFAYT review self complaining that there was a lot of digging, which is like complaining that there's too much jumping in a Mario game, or too many dropping shapes in a Tetris game. What a dork that guy was."  (I'm going to have to ask - 'LGYFAYT'?)

Celeste
(18 points, 4 voters, 3 firsts)



"This could jump or sink very fast, I've only had a few hours with it but I was frankly pretty peeved that I had to stop playing to try Owlboy and then type out this bollocks. If only we had a reasonable amount of time to play all the games released in the first year window I'd be able to place this more accurately."  (Oi!  Three people on the forum finished it.  Not my fault you've got poor prioritisation skills. )

"The king is dead. Long live the queen. A beautiful game in every sense of the word, and well worth £19. Honestly, people pay triple that for absolute guff all the time."

"I've had to restrain myself from banging on about Celeste in recent days and, as most forumites will be able to tell you, I've still dribbled on about it loads anyway. A sumptuous game that I am completely in danger of overhyping for those that haven't played it yet. Lower your sights, team - if you ignored the storyline it would be 75% at best."

"Try to climb up,
Because you’ve had enough,
And a girl’s gotta fight her demons.
Try to survive
Through the pits and spikes,
To find someone you can believe in.
Levels can repeat themselves
If you find the cassettes,
But try to play through one of them
And you’ll have ten thousand deaths...
YOU’RE CELESTE, AROUND,
NO ONE’S EVER GONNA KNOCK YOU DOWN... etc."

Fast RMX
(7 points, 2 votes, 1 first)



"In the Early weeks and months of the Switch’s life, this was the GNamer multiplayer mainstay. Fun nights of this with the lads, laughing at deliberately picking tracks other people hated, haven’t been forgotten, even if better games did usurp it."

"The only game ive voted for in every catagory and for good reason!"  (Fun Fact: no one game placed in all three votes.)

Rocket League
(6 points, 3 votes, 0 firsts)



"This probably deserves to place higher, but I’ve not given it enough time yet."

"Awesome fun - I ought to play a lot more of this but I've loved the carnage and chaos from what I've played to date."

"Football and cars sounds like a game for the LAAAAAAAAAADS to bellow drunkenly at over their poor-quality lager, while the rest of us play something less ‘manly’.  It’s not.  It’s brilliant, confusing fun that the whole family can fail dismally at."

(All games got a single vote unless stated otherwise.  Obviously, that means all the five-pointers got a single first place.)

Five Points

Blaster Master Zero "This game sold me on the eShop's ability to unearth some titles I'd never have thought to play before. Fine stuff."
Owlboy "This could jump or sink very fast, I've only had a few hours with it but I was frankly pretty peeved that I had to stop playing to type out this bollocks. If only we had a reasonable amount of time to play all the games released in the first year window I'd be able to place this more accurately."
Oxenfree "Fantastic story driven adventure."
Thimbleweed Park "I've not quite finished it yet, but unless the ending turns out to be terrible (and the bit just before the ending is applause-worthy) this is a hillarious P-n-C-er, full of classic LucasArts-era wackiness. Probably plays better with a mouse than with a controller, but no biggie. The music haunts me as well (no, really, I had the flu last week, it's all I could hear in my head)."

Four Points

Bayonetta "Dance, fight, spin around, spin around, dance, fight, fly higher, fly higher, fly higher, and all that bollocks. Nowt new, but a modern classic all the same, and it’s good to play it again!"
Golf Story (two votes)
"The genre mashup we were all secretly waiting for - arcade golf sim and RPG - results in the most irreverent sporting fun since the last Inazuma Eleven. Properly funny script, engaging visuals and surprising depth definitely put this one a fair way up my personal rankings."
"Golf games are fun, this really took that to the next level. Banger."
Graceful Explosion Machine (two votes)
"A very elegant, stylish and accessible arcade shooter that’s very upbeat, colourful and addictive. I like everything about it - nicely done!"
"Already talked about this above [in the overall vote] but yeah, its great!"
Severed "Take on the role of a one-armed swordswoman on a quest to rescue her family, and slice up everything that gets in her way.  Sounds like Kill Bill Vol. 3.  Is less gory, but just as grisly and just as compelling.  (I’ve never seen the films, I presume they’re compelling.)"
Steamworld Dig "A neat little platformer, with a satisfying Minecraft-aping section, and actually clever staged levels that blend into the action. The sequel is apparently better - I haven't played it yet..."

Three Points

Gorogoa "An inventive and clever puzzler that looks great on Switch’s screen and actually uses the touch screen."
Night in the Woods "A bit slow even for the genre but is a delight."
Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 Plus "It's only just come out, but it's ace! It brings the concept of Pac-Man into the current generation without pooing on it. Power-pill time is like they imagined in the 80s what today's games would be like."
Shantae: Half-Genie Hero (two votes)
"Gorgeous, swash-buckling platforming action, refined to a very crisp point. However, ultimately overflowing with stuff that either needed to be pared back or given another level or two to breathe in. Shantae Five, though - that's gonna be... a game."
"It’s something of a flawed masterpiece. Half-Genie Hero is absolutely brilliant, for sure, but it doesn’t break the mould and do anything that’s never been done before, and it’s too short by half. What’s here and how it’s done is superb though. I think that WayForward were on the cusp of something truly special with this, but I’m guessing that that Kickstarter money ran out. Acht."
Snipperclips "This one fell under the radar for a lot of people but given the chance I think anyone can have fun with it, it can make and break relationships in equal measure."

Two Points

I Am Setsuna "It was nice to play an RPG that didn't require a 50 hour plus commitment from me. There's not a huge number of RPGs on Switch, but this is one I'd recommend for sure."
Mighty Gunvolt Burst "This is what Mighty No.9 SHOULD have been. A great Megaman experience with an interesting weapon building mechanic!"
Minecraft "This is still an ace concept, probably now-unfairly snubbed due to its age and it's ubiquity. Yeah, you heard right, ubiquity. Not quite as flexible as the PC version, but everyone should have a proper go once. Good for the kids, see."
Subsurface Circular "A short delightful well-written text adventure."

One Solitary Point

Ironcast "A cool battle/puzzle hybrid with some nice strategy elements. Really cool, easy to pick up and see how far you can get. I'll probably never finish it."
Rime (RiME?) "(I think the retail version was delayed and I don't see it as a retail game much like Rocket League), My dark horse as it is a really good game that really deserves some recognition."
Robonauts "Only on this list because a few other games are no longer digital only. A fun game which i reviewed on the site if people want a deeper look!"
The Sexy Brutale "The mix between the cutesy art style and the grim violence, some of it utterly foul, is one of the things that makes this game intriguing.  The other is the mystery behind the eponymous casino-mansion.  Why are the staff killing off the guests?  The answer may surprise you... or disappoint you."
Vs. Super Mario Bros. "Super Mario Bros. is still a great game; Mario became successful because Nintendo thought about things from the early days. The arcade version, probably to suck up 10ps, swapped out a few levels from the unfairly-difficult SMB2. Boo I say. Still - it's a slightly different way to play Mario, and therefore I give it a thumbs-up. *thumb snaps*"

Ooft.

That was... a slightly unfocussed vote.  Between ten voters (and nine full slates), a whopping 30 games.  Three voters voted for three or more games that nobody else voted for.  Does that mean there are few digital standouts on Switch, or loads of good digital games, or too many digital games and not enough time to play them in?  Let's go for two and three, because they're the truth - but if so many games are standouts, are any of them standouts?

In my opinion, yes.  A standout won.  I am absolutely chuffed at this result.  Voter 3 has a point, but it's a point that I disagree with, at least in part.  Celeste has its flaws, yes - but of the three people 'round these parts who finished it, all three voted it first place.  That suggests more than just a 75% platformer and a few talking heads for me.

I've said my piece about SWD2, but it's clearly a worthy second in your eyes.  Image & Form know what they're doing (the prequel racked up a solitary vote too, I notice).  Then we have every Sonic fan's dream, finally - finally; another thumbs-up for GNamer forumites in Newcastle (and Balla's pals in Islington), among others, and the tool that unlocked their full humour potential; and finally, Shovel Knight.  Came very close to not placing, this, which was a surprise, although I know for many it's a Wii U/3DS game really.  But the extra campaigns (and one new player) did enough to see it home.  

A couple of games with cars round out the sur-single vote places, and then it's into the heaving mass of other titles.  A rich vein of quality runs throughout, I'm sure.  Now if only the eShop's presentation had the same quality!  And a theme song.  It needs a theme song.