Welcome back friends! Amazingly enough, we're only a little over a week away until the Nintendo Switch finally launches. What'll there be to play on it, though? While excitement might've waned a little since the delay of the (awesome looking) physical release of The Binding of Issac: Afterbirth+, there're still some really exciting launch window games for the Switch. For this list, I'll be excluding Breath of the Wild to highlight some lesser-discussed titles. With that caveat out of the way, let's dive on in! Honorable Mentions Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, April 28th It's understandable that a lot of Wii U owners are disappointed with the lack of new tracks being added to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. For many who already have all the DLC, a battle mode (no matter how extensive) and five new characters won't be enough to warrant double-dipping. However, I'm one of the few who never bought MK8 on the Wii U. Thus, this deluxe package of 48 tracks, tons of characters and a real battle mode is an insane value for me and the millions who skipped out on the Wii U altogether. Now if only Smash got an ultimate Switch edition... Graceful Explosion Machine, Spring This little indie arcade shooter looks like it'll be a great deal of fun for short play sessions. The hook here is the extensive combo system and deep stat tracking that begs for high score runs--in fact, it even features a separate score attack mode. GEM has a simple but attractive arcadey visual style that really pops off the screen, and if it's anywhere near $10 it'll be a day one purchase for sure. 5. Snake Pass, March 28thThere's little doubt in my mind that Snake Pass will be a super fun little action-puzzler. The limited movement options has me curious to see how exactly they pull it off--the whole idea is so unique that I think it may be worth supporting just to promote unique game design. Aside from the gameplay, the production values look fantastic: beautiful, vibrant graphics, an original soundtrack composed by David Wise of Rare fame, and a sizeable 15 levels across four unique worlds. As a downloadable indie title, Snake Pass looks like the perfect high quality companion to more expansive full-priced releases. 4. ARMS, SpringARMS is a game I've written extensively about on both Goomba Stomp and this very blog. It has all the potential of being an fan-favorite fighting game in the vein of Pokken Tournament or Blaz Blue and, if the fandom already forming around the game is any indication, it'll definitely achieve that status. What I need to see, though, is a solid story mode. Purely multiplayer-focused fighting games are fun for awhile, but they're usually not worth it for me without interesting single-player content. I know a single player mode has already been confirmed, but I want to see life breathed into these colorful characters with cutscenes and story arches. It doesn't have to be anything crazy, I just want the ARMS universe to be fleshed out a bit. I'll honestly take anything beyond the standard arcade mode found in most fighting games. Throw me a bone Nintendo! 3. FAST RMX, March 3rdI've been waiting to buy this game for a year and a half. FAST Racing Neo, which originally released on the Wii U, both looked amazing and handled well according to the reviews. However, the one hang-up I had with it was its brutal difficulty curve. It had the track variation, the visuals, the gameplay depth--it was just soul-crushingly difficult past its initial speed tier. With the revamped FAST RMX, however, Shin'en has confirmed that they've tweaked the difficulty to make the whole experience more enjoyable, and I'm right back on board again. Aside from the difficulty adjustment, FAST RMX also includes the DLC that brings its track total to an impressive 30 tracks and 15 racers, all running at a silky smooth 1080p 60fps. 4-player splitscreen (along with 8-player online) is also supported, which means another game in the first month (along with Snipperclips) where you can use the Joy Cons as individual controllers for local multiplayer right out of the box! 2. TumbleSeed, Spring"TumbleSeed?" you might ask. "What's a little arcadey game like that doing above ARMS and FAST RMX?" Well, my friend, allow me to enlighten you. Taken on first glance alone, I have a feeling many will write TS off as a throwaway budget title. But the devil is in the details, and the details are gorgeous. The core gameplay of carefully balancing a ball through environments filled with holes is simple enough, but that's not a bad thing. It's perfect to pick up and play for a few sessions here and there, and anyone can really get a grasp of the controls. It's the presentation of it all that really sets it apart though. The beautifully drawn art style, the soothing, mellow music, the sheer variety of enemies and power ups and the promise of HD rumble support all come together for a very attractive package. My only concern is that TumbleSeed may be too difficult to enjoy for more relaxed play sessions--the aesthetic makes for a perfect wind-down. Either way, I can't wait to get my hands on this hidden gem of a game. 1. Disgaea 5 Complete, May 29thDisgaea 5 is lauded by many who've played it as one of the best (and longest) RPGs ever made, and RPGs are easily my favorite gaming genre. The fact that we get such a personality-filled game with 100+ hours of content (plus all the DLC) is amazing, and it'll easily keep me occupied (along with all the other games on this list!) during the wait for Splatoon 2. If the reception of the PS4 version is anything to go by, we're in for a real treat.
Thus ends my list of the 5 games I'm most looking forward to playing soon after the Switch launches. For all the complaints of its software lineup, there's actually a good bit of quality releases in the first few months here. Hopefully this helped you discover a new game or two to get excited about! Until Sunday, have a great week guys! --Brent
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