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Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is a solid platform fighter with an awful lot of hidden depth, and also an unfortunate lack of polish outside the fighting. If hardcore gameplay is the number one concern, you’ll have a wealth to sink your teeth into here, but expect to be underwhelmed by various elements that surround it. There's a grand old time to be had if you can overlook some rough edges, many of which have been sanded off since its 2021 launch, with new DLC fighters and voice acting having been added, too. Even though it's no Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, platform fighter fans with a penchant for Nick characters will find much to like here. Good show.
Jurassic World Evolution: Complete Edition on Switch is a feature-packed and surprisingly playable port of a hugely entertaining game that provides a ton of fun for fans of the genre and Jurassic Park nuts alike. There are undeniably problems in handheld where the visuals take a pretty big hit and the frame rate does struggle here and there in docked but, if you can deal with these issues, you'll find one of the most straight-up fun management sim offerings currently available on the console.
Disney Dreamlight Valley is a frictionless, relaxing spin on life sims that manages to remain heartwarming and charming. Dreamlight Valley’s unique identity relies heavily on fresh interactions with your in-game friends, and developer Gameloft will be adding to and supporting it with regular updates to keep the Night Thorns from creeping back in — which will be essential for the game's longevity. However, what arrived at launch was surprisingly touching and thoughtful right off the bat, cleverly playing on the nostalgia of anyone who's ever counted themselves a Disney fan. Let's hope it keeps on growing.
The second appearance for the Marvel lot here, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order isn’t a groundbreaking, narrative-heavy reinterpretation of the comic characters you know and love, but then again neither were the first two games. In that regard, it’s a very faithful sequel that mines the vast roster of characters from the comics while including plenty of nods to the current state of the more modern Marvel Cinematic Universe. While it doesn’t do anything particularly new or outstanding, it embraces the brainless fun of its brawler combat with gusto, and it’s at its absolute best when played with a team of player-controlled supers.
Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues might look like a lazy cash-in, but in reality, it's a strong effort that breezes through the cheesiness of its license by making said honking gorgonzola work for it with its brilliantly evocative '80s soundtrack paired with a cheeky, silly style to match its cheeky, silly gameplay. With no shortage of levels, plenty of playable characters, and respective upgrades, Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues goes above and beyond the standards set by licensed games. Grab a friend and wax on, wax off. (Actually, that sounds a bit rude.)
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is a triumphant and varied 3D platformer that no fan of the series or the genre will want to miss. It’s not the game that’ll change your mind if 3D collectathon-style games aren’t your thing, but it demonstrates at every step that it’s not just some half-hearted cash-in. Focused level design, lots of gameplay variety, tight controls, and a charming cast voiced by the original voice artists all combine to make this one of the best SpongeBob games yet. Though it’s occasionally let down by performance issues, we’d still give this one a strong recommendation to anyone who likes a 3D platformer and a Krabby Patty.
Dragon Ball FighterZ is, simply put, one of the best fighting games we've seen on Switch. Arc System Works went the extra mile in capturing the essence of the source material and distilled it into an incredible brawler that has lost nothing in the transition to Nintendo's hybrid console. The stunning visuals, intense action, and easy-to-master controls make FighterZ a game all fans of the genre should have in their library. If you only play this kind of game casually, it remains a must-own, and one of the very best games to carry the licence — and there have been a fair few of those!
Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is a welcome return for one of Mickey’s most memorable adventures, this is just about everything one could’ve wanted out of a revisit to a lost classic. It fumbles its execution a bit with the performance, but there are enough novel ideas and enjoyable gameplay concepts here to make the experience more than worth your while. Enjoyable gameplay, a captivating world, lots of replayability, and a raft of tweaks and improvements over the original make this one an easy sell. We’d recommend this to anyone looking for a big-budget 3D platformer that does things a little differently from the genre norms, and of course to anyone who considers themselves an avid Disney fan.
Comments 28
Shredder's Revenge and Cowabunga Collection are my votes!
I've always wanted to give Battle for Bikini Bottom a try, since it has a good reputation. But it never quite got high enough in my priorities list, probably because it is indeed a licensed property.
When I was younger, I played terrible licenced games without a second thought lol. I had The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror on Game Boy Color, and never really considered that it was probably not a very good game.
There should be an ARKHAM COLLECTION on here. Get the lead out, WB GAMES!!!!
While I haven't played it on Switch, Smurfs Mission Vileaf. Played the PC version, but it's also on Switch. I think you missed this one, because it's surprisingly good for a licensed game. The Smurfs world feels lively and it's a fun platformer to play IMO.
On Switch, I have played My Little Pony: A Maretime Bay Adventure. As an MLP fan who loved the A New Generation movie, I feel this one did a good job capturing the movie, while being a fun game. Even if it is on the short side.
I feel these two got missed, because IMHO, they're both good games, even if they're aimed towards kids.
Save a spot for Garfield Lasagna Party, guys!
I know that Disney Classic Games Collection is more of a compilation, but it still is collection of licensed games.
No SpongeBob: Battle For Bikini Bottom Rehydrated? TRASH.
...Okay, yeah, the Switch version is the worst version of that game, but still.
Attack on Titan 2 and Fairy Tail are great ones too.
Pretty good list. Only things I would add would be the NBA 2K games and MLB the Show, and maybe Star Wars Racer.
I would take Xenoverse 2 over FighterZ. FighterZ is the first traditional fighting game I played in years, but Xenoverse was a lot more fun in my opinion.
Gotta admit that I’ve now bought Ghostbusters on three different consoles, and haven’t played it… Xbox 360 (original), PC, and Switch. I really want to find time to play it though because the team put so much love into the development.
I think the only licensed game I've played in recent years are LEGO City Undercover (Wii U and Switch versions plus The Chase Begins on 3DS), GoldenEye 007 (N64 and Wii versions), Epic Mickey and Popeye.
LCU is great on Wii U, on Switch the experience is deterred a little bit by its performance. If you don't mind that, it's as solid as the original Wii U version. The 3DS game is a pocket size prequel, as long as you don't mind long loading times on the 3DS, this isn't so bad.
The less I say about Popeye, the better.
@PBandSmelly Well... Switch version of JJBA: All Star Battle R - is the worst one. And it's even looks worse than PS3 original version! How it's can be possible?! Meh... 3D fighting games on Nintendo Switch sucks. But, Nintendo Switch is a good home for 2D fighting games, though! BLAZBLUE CENTRALFICTION Special Edition and UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH Exe:Late[cl-r] looks and works awesome on Switch. Also, Guilty Gear XX ΛCore Plus R and CHAOS CODE -NEW SIGN OF CATASTROPHE- looks and works very good on Switch as well. And... Someone still remember Strong Bad's Awesome Game for Attractive People?... That's good. I haven't played this game, but I really would like to.
John Wick Hex, Blair Witch, Demon Slayer, Metro 2033, World War Z...
Jay and Silent Bob Mall Brawl
I don't think it is fair to mention Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered without stating that Saber Interactive promised to add online multiplayer functionality post launch and then they completely ghosted that promise.
Total scumbag move by them.
@marktornits I was under the impression that they didn’t know if they could and were looking into it. If I remember correctly, the Remaster is basically a rebuild of late development builds, and they had a hard time finding a near final build of the multiplayer component.
For me the top 3 are:
1. TMNT: Shredder's Revenge
2. TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection
3. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3
3D fighting games tend to get a bad rap for not being as tight or balanced as their traditional counterparts, but as far as I'm concerned, Dragonball Xenoverse 2 and Jump Force justify themselves through sheer coolness with their impressive rosters and stupidly over-the-top action. And I genuinely think the Naruto UNS games are a better way to enjoy that story than trying to sit through the stretched-out and filler-filled anime. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 also deserves a mention, though what I'd really like to see is an Underground 1+2 remaster.
Not the best but still stole my attention.

Jojo Siwa, anyone ?
Good list. I really enjoyed my time with Alien Isolation and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3.
I have played around 7or8 of them on that list I think. The one I spent most time on were LEGO Star Wars and Dragonball FighterZ. I think there are a few missing like Demon Slayer etc
@WhiteTrashGuy
DC Comics and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment fall under the same corporate umbrella, so that wouldn't technically qualify as a "licensed" game.
I have always had a soft spot for licensed video games! I own the majority of this list and particularly enjoyed the TMNT games, Ghostbusters, and Marvel Alliance.
The Super Robot Wars games in Japan may be a little niche but you will never find more ambitious licensed games anywhere. Each of their games (there are 4 of them on Switch) license IP from numerous companies and bring together the characters, mecha, and music from dozens of classic and contemporary robot and SF anime into glorious grid-based strategy role-playing games. The animated and voiced battle scenes are supremely cool treats for fans of the genre.
Maybe not having an official Western release bars them from this list, but they do have English language if you import from SE Asia (or even from Japan, in my experience). The series is the granddaddy of licensed crossovers, and really deserves representation here.
Gundam Battle Alliance or the Gundam G Generation games would fit right in, too.
@Rambler this is a «best of» list. If there’s a list of «worst licenses games», anything made or published by Outright games will get the dubious gold.
@Gamer83
Marvel Ultimate Alliance is such a cool game, even better if we get all meaty DLC packs. I had tons of fun with it (and still play it casually with family or friends). Still, despite selling more than 1 million copies, we don´t see many people commenting about it around the internet gaming communities. It really deserved more attention.
@TioRogerio
I agree. It didn't get the best critical reception but most people I converse with who have played it, like it a lot. Seems like it sold decently but not well enough to get a sequel.
@Wilforce
That narrative came later once they were already well down the path of not doing it-
The official word at time of launch was that it was happening.
where is My Hero One's Justice 2?
everyone always forgets that game exists
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