Feature: Nintendo Life eShop Selects (January 2022)

3. Astroneer (Switch eShop)

Taking the bronze medal for January is Astroneer, a game heavily focused on crafting and exploration.

It's been on the market for many years on PC and other platforms, but it arguably feels right at home on Switch. In our review we acknowledged the 'genial jank' in the game, but found a lot to love - "Over time Astroneer has become one of the all-time greats of sandbox crafting adventures. It balances its jank with a heaping space-bucket of charm, and a gather-craft-explore loop that's incredibly moreish."

2. The Artful Escape (Switch eShop)

After making its debut on Xbox late last year, it's rather pleasing to see this extremely colourful and imaginative title come to Switch.

The Artful Escape tells the tale of a folk singer who truly desires being a rockstar, but it's far more out there than that summary suggests. It's a bold and creative adventure designed to blast your ears and burn your retinas, in the best possible way. In our review we said the following - "The Artful Escape is a thrill. It’s true that the most joyous bits of action are underused – in terms of both playtime and what they could give the story – and some scarce but present graphical issues on Switch are a shame. Overall, though, the strengths are major, the niggles minor, and it will strike a chord with any pipe-dreaming rock star."

1. Windjammers 2 (Switch eShop)

Taking the gold this month is a Dotemu-developed sequel to a cult classic in which you play a high-tempo futuristic sport that's a bit like frisbee x volleyball.

Yes, it's Windjammers 2, a game that is particularly awesome when playing with and against others. We loved it in our review, so will leave you with the conclusion that earned it 9/10:

"With Windjammers 2, Dotemu has taken the fiendishly addictive core formula of the Neo Geo classic and improved upon it in every way. The core gameplay here remains as immediately endearing as ever whilst being enhanced and given a real strategic kick by a bevvy of new moves and skills that add to the fun without detracting from or overcomplicating proceedings. Yes, there's not much in the way of modes, and we've yet to see how online fares here, but this is another banger from Dotemu. An all-time classic improved upon, and an arcade classic refined for a new generation."

Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.