With a brand new year comes brand new Switch games, and while January is traditionally a quiet month for new releases, there were still some absolute crackers to enjoy this time around.
These awards aim to celebrate the best of Nintendo's digital store, giving some love and attention to the games that could so easily be missed in the Switch's ever-growing library.
So, let's get started. Here are the best Switch eShop games of January 2021!
Honourable Mentions:
While these titles didn't quite make our top three this month, they're still certainly worth checking out.
- Disjunction | Review: 8/10
- Olija | Review: 7/10
- Shadow Gangs | Review: 7/10
- Wrestling Empire | Review: 6/10
3. Hitman 3 - Cloud Version (Switch eShop)
Taking third place this month is Hitman 3 - Cloud Version, an imperfect but more than functional version of IO Interactive's latest release. Streaming will never really be the optimal solution when it comes to gaming – you'll need a particularly solid internet connection to enjoy it – but for Switch owners who don't have access to another system, this release does at least provide a welcome option.
As for the game itself, we described it as "a fitting send-off for one of gaming's great protagonists," awarding the Switch version an 8/10. If you have the internet connection required, this is certainly worth a go.
2. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game - Complete Edition (Switch eShop)
In second spot is Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game - Complete Edition – and no, we didn't let Zion vote for this one 300 times like he asked us to, we promise.
Another fantastic beat ‘em up to enjoy on your Switch, this latest Scott Pilgrim release features the bombastic presentation and crunchy combat gameplay we were all hoping for. There are a few difficulty spikes that put a slight dampener on proceedings, but it's still an easy one for us to recommend and one that has taken the NL team by storm over the past couple of weeks.
1. Cyber Shadow (Switch eShop)
Speaking of taking the team by storm, in first we have Cyber Shadow – a game which topped our voting rankings by a mile this month.
From Mechanical Head and Yacht Club Games, Cyber Shadow is an absolute must for fans of retro action platformers. Featuring well-built levels, authentic presentation, tight controls and a high but pleasing difficulty, the game is a supreme and focused experience that we can easily say is well worth your time.
If you have the budget to pick up one more game from last month, definitely consider this one.
< Nintendo Life eShop Selects - December 2020
How we decide our eShop Selects top three: As we reach the end of every month, the Nintendo Life staff vote on their favourite titles from a list of games selected by the editorial team. To qualify for this list, these games must have been released as a digital-only Nintendo Switch eShop title in that particular month, and must have been reviewed on Nintendo Life; we select the qualifying games based on their review scores.
Staff are then asked to vote for three games that they think deserve to sit right at the very top of that list; first choice gets 3 points, second choice gets 2 points, and third choice gets 1 point. These votes are then tallied to create a top three list, with the overall winner taking that month's top prize.
Comments 25
Really enjoying Cyber Shadow. It feels like how my childhood brain remembers NES games.
I still havent gotten dead cells I forgot to buy it LOL.
Cyber Shadow will be one of my next purchases
Where is my "Wrestling Empire" crew at? Shout it out in the comments! Woooooooooooooo!
You know it was a quiet month when there's only four honourable mentions and one of them scored a 6/10.
Nothing too exciting for my personal tastes so it's been a good month as far as my backlog is concerned, managed to get through quite a few that have been on my list for a while. Looking forward to the rate of new releases picking back up though.
I don't think my hands can take another indie action platformer or metroidvania. After having beaten Hollow Knight, Hyper Light Drifter, Curse of the Moon 1+2, Bloodstained, Shovel Knight, and a bunch of others my hands are straight broken!! Ordered the split pad pro so hope that helps my poor hands out! Then can revisit this at the inevitable June games sales
I voted for Scott pilgrim but don't actually have it yet. Just need to wait about this time next year for my physical to arrive! 🤣
@Shiryu WOOT WOOT
@Kilamanjaro You're going to love your Split Pad Pro.
Project Starship X. Go get it and you will know why
If I do get Hitman 3, or any Hitman for that matter, I’ll probably get it on the Xbox just because of the better performance. The original Hitman is absolutely amazing! Cyber Shadow is on my watch-list as well.
Something else: The Readout Star Fox clone - I like 3D Space Rail Shooters and there isn't enough of them.
Cyber shadow is everything I hoped it would be
@OorWullie have been holding out and super excited for it.
My top eShop games for January were:
1 – Cyber Shadow
2 – Olija
3 – Scott Pilgrim vs The World
I have to say that Olija was a particularly nice surprise. It’s a very good cinematic platformer with fantastic combat and pixel art visuals.
@Snatcher Do it, man. Dead Cells is without a doubt my favourite indie game of all time. When you get into the meat of it, it really is that good.
@Taekw0ndud Never played a Hitman game. Well, other than the ten minutes of the Cloud Version’s trial on Switch. Obviously didn’t get to taste enough of the gameplay, but much like you, if I do end up buying it at some point, it’ll be on my PS5. When it eventually arrives, that is! It’s due at the back end of March, apparently.
@brunojenso Me too. I do enjoy a good on-rails shooter from time to time. May have to check Redout, erm.. out. With my backlog what it is though, probably in a sale. Thanks for the heads up!
Cyber Shadow is amazing, a perfect fit for the Switch, especially in handheld mode and it brilliantly captures the essence of gaming from the 8 / 16 bit golden age.
Cyber Shadow was definitely my favorite this month, but Olija also deserves special praise! It's a really fun and solid action platformer that's also a refreshing break from the brutality of Cyber Shadow.
@Shiryu It’s Wrestling Empire this month or it’s nothing at all IMO.
I bought Scott Pilgrim on Limited run games so I guess Ill have to wait another 6 months before I can finally play it
I'm really enjoying Cyber Shadow, but the game certainly needs some tweaks to become a round experience :/
For anyone interested in playing Scott Pilgrim online, I warn you that it has many problems. You could say it's almost broken in this state since everyone's having connection issues. It's still fun playing alone but there's no excuse for having such an important feature failing so much.
Love CYBER SHADOW, but WRESTLING EMPIRE scratched an itch I have had for over 15 years.
I'm on to Level 5 now of Cyber Shadow and I don't quite understand why many are criticising its difficulty. From memory it's no more difficult than Shovel Knight- which yes was difficult at times in itself but not as if CS is any more difficult.
I thought Project Starship X would be on the list, but maybe it slipped past due to releasing late in the month? Definitely worth checking out.
Redout had a lot of promise but ultimately fell short of a recommendation.
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