SwitchArcade Round-Up: ‘Blaster Master Zero 3’, ‘Trigger Witch’, ‘B.ARK’, and Today’s Other New Releases and Sales

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for July 29th, 2021. In today’s article, we’ve got a whole bunch of new releases to check out. From big names like Blaster Master Zero 3 to smaller-scale but still scrappy titles like Piczle Puzzle & Watch Collection, there are a wide variety of new titles to consider. Moving past the summaries of those games, we’ve got the usual lists of incoming and outgoing sales for you to check out. Lots of ways to spend your money today, friends. Let’s see how you’re going to fall!

New Releases

Blaster Master Zero 3 ($14.99)

SwitchArcade Highlight!

I’m sure most of the people reading this have some basic familiarity with these games by now. Here’s the third one! More adventures with Jason and Eve await in this end of the so-called Jason Saga of the series. Picking up where the second game left off, Jason and Eve have arrived on the planet Sophia. While escaping from the local military, Jason and Eve are separated. Now Jason, riding his faithful battle tank G-SOPHIA SV, must try to find Eve and settle everything. The new gameplay gimmick this time sees Jason granted the ability to cross dimensions to turn the tables. There’s a new counter ability, more weapons to use, and new ways to use them. You can expect to meet some interesting new characters on your travels as always, and there are sure to be some secrets hiding around. The first two games were great, and I doubt this will rock that particular boat.

Trigger Witch ($14.99)

SwitchArcade Highlight!

The makers of Reverie are back with another top-down action adventure, this time starring a gun-toting witch named Colette. She lives in a fantasy world where magic is now seen as outdated in favor of firearms, and she’s the only one with the right arsenal to save her world when a mysterious fellow invades. Explore an open world, shoot a lot of things, get more things to use for said shooting, help and hurt various characters and monsters, solve puzzles, and so on. You can play alone or recruit a friend or family member to pick up their weapons in local multiplayer and give you an assist. It’s drop-in, so they can come and go as needed. It’s a fun one, and I’ll be doing a proper review of it soon.

B.ARK ($9.99)

SwitchBarkade Highlight!

I know what you think that title says, but I promise it stands for Bio-Interstellar Ark. Any resemblance to any other word is purely coincidental. This is a colorful side-scrolling shoot-em-up where you need to take down waves of cybernetic fish. Not those guys again! Luckily, Team B.ARK is here to protect the universe. Barker the Dog, Felicity the Cat, Lucio the Bear, and Marv the Rabbit are ready to head into battle with their custom mechs. You can play the game on your own and enjoy it like any other shoot-em-up, or pull in some friends for local multiplayer fun and take advantage of the benefits teamwork provides. Combine your mech powers and pull off some wild Super Attacks to tear the invading forces apart. It’s a of a gentler game by this genre’s standards, and I think there’s certainly room for that kind of thing.

Piczle Puzzle & Watch Collection ($7.99)

SwitchArcade Highlight!

Well, this is just too cute, isn’t it? Score Studios makes lots of neat puzzle games, and what they’ve done here is combined their love of said games with their love of LCD handhelds to make one very nifty package. You get three different types of games: Piczle Cross (Picross-style puzzles), Piczle Pattern (kind of Lights Out-ish?), and Piczle Loops (Slitherlink-esque, I’d say). All up, you get a bit over 270 puzzles to solve across all three games, and Piczle Pattern can generate random grids for some long-term fun. If that was all, that would be plenty. But you can also play around with the fictional units themselves. Look at the packaging, poke at the screen, read the manuals, or even use the touch screen to press the buttons on them if you want. This is an easy pick-up for me, and maybe it will be for you too.

Arcade Archives NOVA2001 ($7.99)

Last week we got that really cool and desirable Konami beat-em-up Vendetta, so I suppose it makes sense that this week’s Arcade Archives release is somewhat more subdued. It’s another one from the UPL catalog, this time its 1983 shoot-em-up Nova 2001. It’s a bit of a quirky one, putting you in control of a ship that can move and shoot in eight different directions but without giving you the twin-stick controls that would have made that truly work. Each stage takes place on a single screen where enemies will spawn in… I don’t need to describe this in such detail, do I? It’s like Robotron 2084 but with slightly worse controls. It’s alright, though hardly a must-have. Hamster has given it the usual quality treatment anyway.

Christmas Tina ($26.99)

Not so many visual novels this week, but we’re not getting away without at least one. Christmas Tina tells a story set in the economic bubble era of Japan, during a time of incredibly prosperity that would pop soon enough. You’ll follow some young men and women who are living in this unique period, trying to build their lives across the backdrop of a culture where new skyscrapers seem to pop up every day. It’s a good idea for a setting, but I have some serious concerns about the quality of the translation, mostly because none of the screenshots in the eShop have any text. But hey, I could be wrong about that. Let’s hope I am, because this looks like a cute slice of life romance story.

Paint the Town Red ($19.99)

This is over-the-top violent voxel-based first-person brawler, and if that sounds like a very bizarre combination of words, you’ve got to see the game itself in action. You visit six different locations and get in massive brawls with dozens upon dozens of opponents. The goal is simple: survive. The only way to do that is to get everyone else before they get you, and there’s no clean way to make that happen. It’s incredibly gory, but the voxel graphics keep it from feeling too serious. There are various modes including a fairly robust roguelike mode, a number of different classes to choose from, and lots of wild weapons to wield. It’s fun, but it’s also really tough to play in the most fun way. You’re better off hiding and tossing things from a distance as much as you can, because a few clean hits will put you down for the count. This Switch port is missing some features from the computer version such as co-op and the edit mode, so do keep that in mind if you mean to jump in here.

Banners of Ruin ($19.99)

You can probably guess by the screenshot what kind of game this is, and you’re either tired of these or excited for another. One thing I’ll say in this game’s favor is that I really like its visual design. The variety of animals that make up the playable units and enemies here have really cool appearances, and it immediately helps to set the game apart from Slay the Spire and its ilk. In terms of gameplay, it’s a bit more ordinary. Build your deck, battle through a city in turn-based combat, and try not to die along the way. It’s not quite as difficult as most of the games of this sort tend to be, but that might just be what you’re looking for right now.

The Long Gate ($14.99)

This is a first-person puzzle game with a stylish presentation and a lot of very tough logic puzzles to chew on. You’re exploring ancient caverns that are decidedly more unusual than the average cavern. Use your wits to repair three types of ancient circuits, and slowly peel back the story of how this place came to be and what happened to the people who built it. The puzzles here tend to run into the engineering problem end of the pool, so if you’re good with that stuff you’ll have a smooth time. And if you’re not… well, you’d better brush up if you want make your way through this one. It seems to be relatively well-liked if we go by the Steam reviews, but do keep in mind that in spite of its gorgeous appearance this is the work of a very small team indeed.

Skydrift Infinity ($14.99)

HandyGames has a nice little action-based behind-the-plane shooter for us today. You participate in races and deathmatches with other planes, trying to get ahead of the ones you can and destroying whichever ones you can’t. Up to eight players can join in on the fun via online multiplayer, four people can play locally in splitscreen, or you can go it alone and have fun against the AI. There are lots of different areas to play in, six different power-ups to use, and plenty of opportunities for aerial mayhem. It seems like a good slice of arcade-style fun. It certainly has the speed part of the equation sorted out.

Kosmonavtes: Escape Reality ($3.99)

Here’s my pick for the cheap pick-up of the day. Kosmonavtes has been on other platforms for a bit, but it’s making its debut on the Switch now. It’s an adventure game where you need to help a woman named Vala become an astronaut on a mission to colonize another planet. Solve tricky puzzles, enjoy some beautiful hand-drawn visuals, search for useful items, and watch the story unfold over eight chapters. Hopefully this one does well so that the other games will come to the Switch too. As these things go, it’s a really good value for the money. Do check it out if you dig escape room games, hidden object adventures, or just like good puzzles to tease your brain with.

CLOSER ($5.99)

This is a puzzle-heavy adventure game with a distinctive style to it. Each part of the game will present you with new problems to solve, requiring you to think carefully about how to tackle things. You’ll have to be particularly careful around enemies, as you’re quite fragile. Reviews of this game aren’t exactly kind on other platforms, so even a reasonable price tag might not be enough to make it worth checking out for the average person. I suppose if its visual style is doing something for you, it may be worth looking into a little more.

OS Omega ($13.99)

This is an isometric action-adventure that probably leans more into the action than the adventure part of that clause. The cool thing is that it is set inside of a computer, with that whole Tron/Reboot/Mega Man Battle Network thing of making it seem like a functioning world of its own. You’ll be engaging in some twin-stick shooting shenanigans, but also solving some quests during your downtime. There are more than 70 weapons to use, a bunch of abilities, and plenty of enemies to battle. Not bad, assuming you have room in your life for another twin-stick shooter and like the unusual theme.

Infection Maze ($7.30)

Another first-person horror game, and probably another not-so-hot one for the pile. This one is set in an abandoned hospital in Japan, and you’re battling/avoiding zombies. I can’t decide if they’re scary or funny, though. You do get access to a variety of weapons, so you’re not completely powerless like in many games of this sort. Ammo is relatively limited, but hey, it’s something. Anyway, it’s really short, pretty strange, and the English translation is quite dubious. That all said, the price and quirky charm of it almost combine to make it worth taking a punt on if you’re into this sort of thing.

Eldest Souls ($19.99)

Top-down boss-rush action, that’s what you get here. There’s a whole story in here about elder gods and desolation and legendary swords and stuff, but even if you’re not into lore stuff you’ll probably find the fast-paced, challenging battles in this game to be nice and zesty. Take down one of these gods and you’ll be able to claim their power for yourself, unlocking new abilities and talents you can bring into the next battle. This game looks incredibly promising, but I haven’t had a chance to play it myself yet so I really can’t say for sure if it delivers on the goods completely or not. I will be looking into it, at the very least.

Red Square Escape ($2.99)

Benjamin Kistler has another low-effort title for us to look at before we move on to better things. This one is a top-down action game of sorts where you need to move your red square around various obstacles to reach the goal on each level. There are sixty levels in total. There isn’t anything to the game beyond moving and avoiding things, so don’t expect any evolving mechanics or anything. It’s only three bucks, which is probably the best thing about it.

Sales

(North American eShop, US Prices)

It’s early in the day yet, but there are already some intriguing sales to consider. The games catching my eye are the Mom Hid My Game! titles, Shieldwall Chronicles, and Mail Mole + Xpress Deliveries. But the outbox may be of more interest to you this time. Bandai Namco’s latest round of steep discounts is coming to a close, and I can’t be sure if these latest sales were something special or just the new norm. Some games like Ni no Kuni and God Eater 3 have never been this low before, and I can’t guarantee they will be this low again. Act accordingly, friends.

Select New Games on Sale

Traffix ($2.49 from $4.99 until 8/3)
Roundguard ($8.77 from $19.99 until 8/4)
Unbound: Worlds Apart ($16.99 from $19.99 until 8/4)
The Bridge ($1.99 from $9.99 until 8/4)
Almost There: The Platformer ($1.99 from $9.99 until 8/4)
#Funtime ($5.96 from $14.99 until 8/4)
The Ambassador: FT (($5.96 from $14.99 until 8/4)
Deleveled ($4.48 from $9.99 until 8/4)
Breakpoint ($2.43 from $4.99 until 8/4)
Fracter ($3.41 from $6.99 until 8/4)
Cozy Grove ($13.43 from $14.99 until 8/4)
Ayo the Clown ($17.99 from $19.99 until 8/4)
123 Dots ($6.99 from $9.99 until 8/5)
Cyber Protocol ($1.99 from $9.99 until 8/5)
Clumsy Rush ($1.99 from $4.99 until 8/5)

Nirvana Pilot Yume ($1.99 from $4.99 until 8/5)
OMG Police: Car Chase TV Sim ($1.99 from $4.99 until 8/5)
Art Sqool ($2.98 from $12.99 until 8/5)
Spencer ($2.09 from $6.99 until 8/9)
Marble Power Blast ($1.99 from $2.99 until 8/9)
Bubble Shooter DX ($1.99 from $2.99 until 8/9)
Perry Pig Jump ($1.99 from $2.99 until 8/9)
Balance Blox ($1.99 from $2.99 until 8/9)
Super Star Blast ($1.99 from $4.99 until 8/9)
M.A.C.E. Space Shooter ($1.99 from $4.99 until 8/9)
Swamp Defense 2 ($1.99 from $2.99 until 8/9)
Shieldwall Chronicles ($5.59 from $7.99 until 8/11)
Little Mouse’s Encyclopedia ($8.44 from $12.99 until 8/11)
Under Leaves ($7.14 from $12.99 until 8/12)
Cooking Simulator: Pizza ($11.24 from $14.99 until 8/13)

Steam Prison ($49.11 from $65.49 until 8/18)
Ephemeral -Fantasy on Dark- ($26.59 from $37.99 until 8/18)
Sable’s Grimoire ($10.49 from $14.99 until 8/18)
Pinball Lockdown ($1.99 from $5.99 until 8/18)
Chill Panda ($1.99 from $9.99 until 8/18)
Legends of Talia: Arcadia ($2.09 from $2.99 until 8/18)
Sakura Succubus ($6.99 from $9.99 until 8/18)
Sakura Succubus 2 ($6.99 from $9.99 until 8/18)
Agatha Knife ($5.99 from $11.99 until 8/18)
MechaNika ($2.99 from $5.99 until 8/18)
Space Ribbon ($1.99 from $4.99 until 8/18)
Santa Tracker ($1.99 from $2.99 until 8/18)
Ghoulboy ($1.99 from $9.99 until 8/18)
Crazy Zen Mini Golf ($1.99 from $4.99 until 8/18)

Mail Mole + Xpress Deliveries ($9.99 from $14.99 until 8/19)
Blue Rider ($2.99 from $9.99 until 8/19)
Task Force Kampas ($1.99 from $5.99 until 8/19)
Mom Hid My Game! ($3.99 from $4.99 until 8/19)
Mom Hid My Game! 2 ($4.24 from $4.99 until 8/19)
Hide & Dance ($3.99 from $4.99 until 8/19)
Kawaii Deathu Desu ($1.99 from $4.99 until 8/19)
Apocryph: Old-School Shooter ($6.99 from $14.95 until 8/19)
Delicious! Girls Mahjong Solitaire ($4.19 from $5.99 until 8/19)
0 Degrees ($3.49 from $4.99 until 8/19)
Hentai vs Evil ($7.99 from $9.99 until 8/19)
Trigger Witch ($13.49 from $14.99 until 8/19)

Sales Ending Tomorrow, Friday, July 30th

Akinofa ($3.99 from $4.99 until 7/30)
Alchemist Adventure ($17.99 from $19.99 until 7/30)
Alone With You ($8.99 from $9.99 until 7/30)
Animal Up! ($2.49 from $4.99 until 7/30)
AstroWings: Space War ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/30)
Bai Qu: Hundreds of Melodies ($7.99 from $9.99 until 7/30)
Bakery Master ($3.49 from $4.99 until 7/30)
Black Legend ($22.49 from $29.99 until 7/30)
Burger Master ($3.49 from $4.99 until 7/30)
Bustafellows ($35.99 from $39.99 until 7/30)
Captain Tsubasa: Rise of Champions ($19.79 from $59.99 until 7/30)
Chess Minimal ($2.49 from $4.99 until 7/30)
City Bus Driving Simulator ($4.79 from $11.99 until 7/30)
Classic Checkers ($5.59 from $7.99 until 7/30)
Close to the Sun ($12.49 from $24.99 until 7/30)

Coast Guard: Beach Rescue ($4.79 from $11.99 until 7/30)
Conarium ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/30)
Destruction ($5.99 from $9.99 until 7/30)
Detective Driver: Miami Files ($4.79 from $11.99 until 7/30)
Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth Complete ($19.99 from $49.99 until 7/30)
Disney Tsum Tsum Festival ($19.99 from $49.99 until 7/30)
Doraemon Story of Seasons ($12.49 from $49.99 until 7/30)
Dragon Ball Fighter Z ($9.59 from $59.99 until 7/30)
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 ($7.99 from $49.99 until 7/30)
ELEA: Paradigm Shift ($1.99 from $7.99 until 7/30)
Fury Unleashed ($8.99 from $19.99 until 7/30)
Futoshiki Math ($3.49 from $6.99 until 7/30)
Galak-Z: The Void: Deluxe ($3.74 from $14.99 until 7/30)
Gas Station: Highway Services ($4.79 from $11.99 until 7/30)
Gnome More War ($1.99 from $2.99 until 7/30)

God Eater 3 ($11.99 from $59.99 until 7/30)
Gradiently ($2.49 from $4.99 until 7/30)
Grand Guilds ($1.99 from $19.99 until 7/30)
Grindstone ($14.99 from $19.99 until 7/30)
Guild of Darksteel ($11.99 from $14.99 until 7/30)
Headsnatchers ($3.74 from $14.99 until 7/30)
High Noon Revolver ($1.99 from $2.99 until 7/30)
Hitori Logic ($2.49 from $4.99 until 7/30)
Horned Knight ($4.19 from $5.99 until 7/30)
I, Zombie ($1.99 from $4.99 until 7/30)
Johnny Turbo’s Arcade, Assorted ($1.99 from $7.99 until 7/30)
Johnny Turbo’s Heavy Burger ($2.49 from $9.99 until 7/30)
Jump Force: Deluxe Edition ($24.99 from $49.99 until 7/30)
Kakurasu World ($1.99 from $2.99 until 7/30)
Kakuro Magic ($2.49 from $4.99 until 7/30)

Katamari Damacy Reroll ($7.49 from $29.99 until 7/30)
Kropki 8 ($1.99 from $3.99 until 7/30)
Lines XL ($1.99 from $3.99 until 7/30)
Little Nightmares Complete ($7.49 from $29.99 until 7/30)
Little Nightmares II ($23.99 from $29.99 until 7/30)
Lost Artifacts: Soulstone ($3.99 from $9.99 until 7/30)
MathLand ($5.39 from $5.99 until 7/30)
Mr. Driller DrillLand ($7.49 from $29.99 until 7/30)
MXGP3 ($2.99 from $29.99 until 7/30)
My Hero One’s Justice ($9.59 from $59.99 until 7/30)
My Hero One’s Justice 2 ($20.99 from $59.99 until 7/30)
My Little IceCream Booth ($1.99 from $3.00 until 7/30)
Namco Museum ($8.99 from $29.99 until 7/30)
Namco Museum Archives Vol 1 ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/30)
Namco Museum Archives Vol 2 ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/30)

Naruto Ninja Storm Trilogy ($15.99 from $39.99 until 7/30)
Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 ($24.99 from $49.99 until 7/30)
Neighbors Back From Hell ($9.99 from $14.99 until 7/30)
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch ($9.99 from $49.99 until 7/30)
One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 ($6.39 from $39.99 until 7/30)
One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 ($17.99 from $59.99 until 7/30)
One Piece Unlimited World Red ($6.39 from $39.99 until 7/30)
Pac-Man CE 2 Plus ($5.99 from $19.99 until 7/30)
Pocket Races ($3.49 from $4.99 until 7/30)
RAD ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/30)
Real Heroes: Firefighter ($3.74 from $14.99 until 7/30)
Rotating Brave ($3.99 from $4.99 until 7/30)
Sea King Hunter ($7.99 from $9.99 until 7/30)
Shikaku Shapes ($3.49 from $6.99 until 7/30)
Shopping Mall Parking Lot ($8.99 from $11.99 until 7/30)

Skulls of the Shogun: Bone-A-Fide ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/30)
Slither Loop ($2.49 from $4.99 until 7/30)
Solitaire Klondike Minimal ($1.99 from $3.99 until 7/30)
Solitaire Spider Minimal ($1.99 from $3.99 until 7/30)
Still There ($8.99 from $14.99 until 7/30)
Sudoky ($1.99 from $3.99 until 7/30)
Suguru Nature ($4.99 from $9.99 until 7/30)
Super Dragon Ball Heroes WM ($8.99 from $59.99 until 7/30)
Super Squidlit ($8.99 from $9.99 until 7/30)
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery ($2.99 from $9.99 until 7/30)
Sword Art Online: FB Complete ($11.99 from $59.99 until 7/30)
Sword Art Online: HR Deluxe ($7.49 from $49.99 until 7/30)
Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum n Fun ($9.99 from $49.99 until 7/30)
Taiko no Tatsujin: RA Pack ($24.99 from $49.99 until 7/30)
Tales of Vesperia ($12.49 from $49.99 until 7/30)

The Shapeshifting Detective ($7.79 from $12.99 until 7/30)
They Came From the Sky ($2.49 from $4.99 until 7/30)
Tiny Troopers Joint Ops XL ($3.24 from $12.99 until 7/30)
Towertale ($1.99 from $9.99 until 7/30)
Wacky Run ($2.09 from $2.99 until 7/30)
Warplanes: WW1 Sky Aces ($6.99 from $9.99 until 7/30)
Wordify ($2.49 from $4.99 until 7/30)
Yet Another Zombie Defense HD ($1.99 from $4.99 until 7/30)

That’s all for today, friends. I’ll be back tomorrow with a whole mess of new releases to close out the week, along with a bunch of new sales. Even though it’s my birthday tomorrow, I’ve decided the best way to spend my day is to write about weird and wonderful games for you to enjoy, dear readers. I hope you all have a terrific Thursday, and as always, thanks for reading!