49 Games You Should Pick Up In Nintendo's Halloween Switch eShop Sale (Europe)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection (Switch)

£13.99 (-60%)

TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection is indisputably the best thing Konami has released in a long while, meeting all expectations and then some. Bar absent difficulty settings for the arcade games, it’s an anthology that finally gets it totally right. Digital Eclipse and Konami have done the fans justice, offering a comprehensive library that doesn’t hide content behind a paywall, while going above and beyond in terms of features and bonuses. With online functionality and rollback netcode being the icing on the cake, this is the gold standard for retro collections.

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Chicken Police - Paint it RED! (Switch eShop)

£8.99 (-50%)

An extremely impressive first game from The Wild Gentlemen, Chicken Police - Paint it RED! is one of the best visual novel/adventure games we've played in a long, long time and one hell of an absorbing tale. It looks and runs great on the Switch, with only a couple of really minuscule interface issues which are easily ignored. At roughly eight or nine hours, the story is surprisingly lengthy for its genre, but we were never bored and wanted to investigate every little thing just to wring out more precious droplets of banter and fascination. Chicken Police is a polished, captivating experience and we're very excited for whatever's coming next from this team.

Death's Door (Switch eShop)

£4.49 (-75%)

Death's Door is a modern classic, utilizing old gameplay ideas in a new setting to make for a short and sweet experience you won’t want to miss. The snappy combat, rewarding exploration, and relaxing music will stick with you once you've finished, and while it may not have anything 'new' to offer, Death’s Door is so high quality that you’ll hardly have time to think about it's lack of innovation. We’d give this one a very high recommendation, especially to any fans of Zelda or Soulslike games — Acid Nerve has crafted an experience that’s absolutely worth your time and money.

Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[cl-r] (Switch)

£8.74 (-75%)

Don't let this one's comically unwieldy title put you off. Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[cl-r] is a super slick, fast-paced fighter that manages to successfully straddle the line between being instantly accessible and welcoming for newcomers and in-depth enough to satisfy hardcore fight fans. Its lineup of 21 fighters is much more exciting than their anime stylings may suggest, and the Chronicles mode gives fans of the visual novel element of the game plenty to sink their teeth into.

With the most comprehensive training and tutorial modes we've ever encountered in a fighting game, this is easily one of the most well-rounded, satisfying and instantly engaging brawlers on Switch and – even with an online mode which needed some attention – there's plenty for fans of the genre to sink their teeth into here.

PowerSlave Exhumed (Switch eShop)

£6.35 (-60%)

Honestly, it was tempting to give Powerslave Exhumed a 10 just for being available again, but no. That would, of course, be naughty. It is available, though, in even more than all its glory — a brilliant, beautiful reworking that captures the very essence of what made it so awesome back in the day while giving the best of both the Saturn and PlayStation's distinct versions. For such a prototypical take on Metroid Prime, it's alarming and impressive just how much confidence Powerslave Exhumed shows in its design, making it the best kind of retro game — one that's even better today with full knowledge of how ahead of its time it really was. An easy recommendation to FPS fans of any vintage, Powerslave Exhumed will keep you playing and playing, searching for those last niggling secrets.

Prodeus (Switch)

£11.99 (-40%)

Prodeus is the kind of game that knows exactly what it wants to do and executes that vision flawlessly. It’s not complicated and it’s nothing you haven’t seen before, but every inch of this experience was clearly crafted with passion and talent. The intense firefights, expansive arsenal, metal music, and sprawling level designs all come together to make Prodeus feel like a game that’s just the right mix of retro and modern. If you have ever been a fan of Doom, Quake, Wolfenstein, or any of the indie boomer shooters of the last few years, you owe it to yourself to give Prodeus a shot. Even if you haven’t much been into the genre before, we’d say this is an excellent place to jump in and see what it’s about.

Into The Breach (Switch eShop)

£5.69 (-50%)

Into The Breach is a brutal, uncompromising game of making hard decisions and living with your mistakes, but the short length of battles and endless variety of playthroughs make for an extremely addictive experience.

Though the graphics are nothing special, the gameplay is some of the very best you’ll find in the strategy genre on Switch, and we can easily recommend this to anybody looking for an in-depth game that’ll make you think. Into The Breach feels right at home on the Switch, and whether you play more at home or on the go, you’re more than likely to get plenty of value out of this.

Contra Anniversary Collection (Switch eShop)

£3.19 (-80%)

While it’s a shame that there are fewer games here than in other Konami collections – we’d have loved to have seen NES title Contra Force or the now-extinct WiiWare title Contra ReBirth – the ones included in the Contra Anniversary Collection are universally brilliant. The 8-bit and 16-bit Contra games are among the finest examples of the run ‘n gun genre, and to have almost all of them included in a single release and emulated flawlessly is an absolute treat. Whether you’re a fan of the series or a curious onlooker who’s always wanted to see what the fuss was all about, this is essential.

Catherine: Full Body (Switch)

£8.99 (-80%)

Catherine: Full Body is a fantastic revamp of a bonafide cult classic. With an excellent new character and several new endings slickly inserted into an already highly entertaining narrative – not to mention a slew of fun new modes – this is the definitive version of an outstanding game. If you've never played Catherine before then you're in for an absolute treat, and if you have, we'd say there's enough new content here to make it worth diving in all over again.

BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle (Switch)

£4.49 (-75%)

BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle is an utterly accomplished 2D fighting game. It's bursting with content and featuring the visual spectacle of combat that uses up every single trick in the book. A few strange decisions aside, this title is a must for fighting game fans. Even if you're not a fan of any of the franchises represented in this game, you most certainly will be by the time you're done with this stacked fighting package.

Full Metal Furies (Switch eShop)

£2.99 (-80%)

Full Metal Furies is an impressive fusion of genres from Cellar Door Games, the makers of Rogue Legacy. A beat ‘em up brawler at heart, we wish more developers would invest such considerable effort into this sort of puzzle design in action games, and coupling that with the deep RPG systems, punchy co-op gameplay, and memorable writing makes for an experience that no Switch owner will want to be without. We can’t recommend this release enough; put in the time to explore the different tactics required with each character and you’ll find a much deeper, more replayable experience than a typical brawler.

Persona 5 Royal (Switch)

£21.99 (-60%)

Persona 5 Royal is the very definition of ‘required reading' for JRPG fans. A deep and moving story, stylish presentation, amazing soundtrack, and decision-driven gameplay all combine to make for an unforgettable and exceptional experience that proves itself to be every bit deserving of the hype and praise it’s already received.

While those who have played this elsewhere may want to consider whether Switch's portability is enough to justify a full-price double dip, it suits the system perfectly. Persona 5 Royal easily stands as one of the very best RPGs of the last decade and you’d be doing yourself a disservice to miss out.

Rocket Knight Adventures: Re-Sparked (Switch eShop)

£18.74 (-25%)

Rocket Knight Adventures is a series comprising two fine games and one stellar, timeless piece of work. While the sequels are above average for '90s platform gaming, it’s the series debut that really informs this review’s score. Rocket Knight Adventures is a title that sits comfortably alongside Gunstar Heroes in the pantheon of exceptional games overlooked in their heyday. It does everything an arcade action adventure needs to, and more, outdoing a vast number of actual arcade games in the process. Its constantly evolving stages, incredible variety of scenarios, and driving cinematic soundtrack make it one of the best of its kind. If that’s not the very definition of underrated, we don’t know what is.

Grapple Dog (Switch eShop)

£2.99 (-75%)

Grapple Dog is one of the most refreshingly unfussy platformers we've seen in a long time. The central mechanic (other than, well, being a dog) is the titular grapple which allows you to traverse the game's perfectly-sized levels using said hook to swing from ceilings, build momentum, attach to enemies and Donkey Kong Country-style cannons, and generally add a whole layer of mechanical complexity while maintaining extremely simple three-button controls. It isn't quite perfect, but developer Medallion does precisely what it sets out to do — deliver an unpretentious platformer that's a hell of a lot of fun to play.

Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines (Switch eShop)

£10.04 (-33%)

Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines is everything fans could hope for in a sequel, as it improves upon every aspect that made the first Grapple Dog so great. Strong level design, a fantastic soundtrack, high gameplay variety, and lots of replayability make this one an easy recommendation to anyone looking for an excellent, pure platformer to add to their Switch library. It's the most fun platformer we’ve played in quite a while.