So as I mentioned in a previous post, I bought a shit ton of ultra cheap games that were on sale over the past month, so I figured I might as well do some real quick impressions on them for anyone interested. I am going to recommend or not recommend based on their sale price because I feel many of these games are not worth their original asking price. I bought all of these for 80%-90% off making most of them cost less then $3 each. I'm using US eShop pricing.
NO THING ($0.49 until 9/20) - Very odd and super basic runner. You just automatically run and turn left and right until the end of the stage. It has 10 stages but the game is hard in an unfair way. I beat 6 levels before giving up. Even at $0.49 I would have a hard time recommending even if you enjoy runners because it's just not very good. Still, it's beyond cheap so I guess you really can't go wrong if you're intrigued by gameplay videos and want to try yourself.
One Strike - (not on sale anymore, currently $4.99) - This is a very basic 2D fighter where one hit is a kill. It's kinda cool but I would only recommend if you have some friends to play in local co-op and when it's on sale for like $0.99. The single-player is bare bones and all the modes are too similar. Whatever you do don't buy this at the full $4.99 price tag.
Astro Bears Party (not on sale anymore, currently $4.99) - Basically a 3D snake with a jumping mechanic. It's devoid of an actual game by yourself so like One Strike only buy if you have people to play local co-op. Would be a great game in a casual party setting since it's quick and very simple to pick up and play. Wait for the $0.99 sale again since all of these games seem like they go on sale on a pretty frequent basis.
Brawl (not on sale anymore, currently $9.99) - A horrid Bomberman clone with a horror premise. It's just bad, and I bought it at $0.99. At $10 it's a joke. Stay far away.
Pirates: All Aboard! (not on sale anymore, currently $5.99) - This felt like more of a tech demo for a mobile game than an actual game. You basically control a pirate ship and battle other ships with an isometric view on a small map. That's it. Another one at $0.99 but the fact they are selling this for $5.99 is practically robbery. Avoid at all costs.
Jumping Joe & Friends (not on sale anymore, currently $4.99) - A vertical jumping mini-game where you see how high you can go and avoid obstacles. Avoid even on sale.
Grid Mania (not on sale anymore, currently $3.99) - This is a very basic 2D puzzle game where you have to align colored balls on the same colored grid. Nothing amazing but if you enjoy puzzlers than you can't really go wrong with this, especially when it goes back on sale. Even the regular asking price is pretty cheap. The only thing disappointing is the game lacks so many basic features for a puzzler. No online leaderboards to compare to anyone and the game doesn't even track stats for your own play making it sorta aimless and pointless to replay once you solve all the puzzles.
Where Are My Friends? (not on sale anymore, currently $5.99) - This is an odd game. The devs tried to put 4 different games into one package (platformer, point and click, runner, metroidvania) but what happened was none of these segments were that much fun and they should have just focused on one of them and made a more polished game. It actually has a really messed up story though when you reach the end. lol
Sparkle 3: Genesis ($0.99 until 9/20) - You control a small micro organism and swim around levels eating things to get bigger. It has quests and a goal and it's a fun time waster for a couple hours.
Sparkle Zero ($1.24 until 9/20) - This is a worse version of the above game. It's the same except in this there's no story or quests. You just eat things to get bigger and then it ends lol. Avoid this one.
Samurai Showdown ($4.79 until 9/19) - Old school Neo Geo fighter. I feel there's way better fighters on the eShop but the sale price was too tempting. It's still a good game and fun if you have people to play with. YMMV by yourself.
Goetia ($2.49 until 9/20) - This one is a toss up. It's a point and click puzzle game where you are a ghost and have to unravel the mystery of what happened to your family and the town you lived in. It looks great and the puzzles are tough but it's hard to recommend because near the end the puzzles got so hard I found myself using a guide more often than not and at that point I realized it was kinda pointless to play if I was going to do that so I never ended up beating it. Still, if you love point and click and/or puzzle games then it's a good download for the sale price of $2.49.
Qbik ($0.99 until 9/20) - A simple 2D platforming puzzle game where your character makes his way through mazes where you have to eat all the gold blocks in a level to progress. I enjoyed what I played so far and it seems like it has a lot of content. A big downside of the Switch version is there's no online level editor so you can't play other people's creations like the PC version which kinda sucks. Still, for $0.99 I would recommend.
Mutant Mudds Collection ($7.49 until 9/25) - A neat 2D platformer that's been around for awhile but recommended if you never played before and enjoy platformers. 2 games in one and has a bonus puzzle game with online leaderboards. You can probably get 20-30 hours worth of content here if you go for 100%.
Xeodrifter ($4.99 until 9/25) - Very basic metroidvania from the same devs as Mutant Mudds. Game is only about 3 hours long but it's fun while it lasts. Still, not sure I can recommend at $4.99 unless you're super into metroidvania's and want a simple game to chill out to.
VSR: Void Space Racing (not on sale anymore, currently $9.99) - This is a cool space racer that had a lot of potential if the devs put more work into it. As it stands it's just too basic and devoid of features to recommend, especially at the full asking price of $10. It has 3 racers and 8 tracks. You can either race AI on easy, normal, or hard or do time trials. There's also 2P local play. The online leaderboards for me were extremely buggy. I did all 8 tracks and the game only recorded like 2 of my playtimes for the leaderboards. If this game had more spaceships with varying stats, more tracks, and online play it would have been a sleeper hit for indie racers, it's a shame it's so undercooked.
INK (not on sale anymore, currently $8.99) - I've only played an hour so far but I'm enjoying this platformer where you ink your surroundings to fill out the level and make it towards the goal to proceed. The controls are kinda iffy and can make you overjump some things which can be frustrating but the escalating challenges seem well paced. I would recommend if you like these types of platformers akin to Super Meat Boy.
