Last month, we celebrated the Switch's fourth anniversary on the market. It's a nice little milestone, but despite it being in the hands of consumers for such a long time, the console's approach to eShop discoverability still has a long way to go.
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 March 2021!
Honourable Mentions:
While these titles didn't quite make our top three this month, they're still certainly worth checking out:
- Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol.1 | Review: 8/10
- Later Alligator | Review: 8/10
- Beach Buggy Racing 2: Island Adventure | Review: 8/10
- Gnosia | Review: 8/10
- A-Train: All Aboard! Tourism | Review: 7/10
3. Tales from the Borderlands (Switch eShop)
Taking third spot this month is Tales from the Borderlands, a game that we consider to be one of Telltale Games' finest efforts.
Switch owners have several choice-driven narrative adventures to choose from these days, but this is right up there with the very best. In our full review (the game got a seriously strong 9/10 from us) we described it as "ten glorious hours' worth of top-notch entertainment, consistently excellent writing, non-stop twisted action and a cast of kooky characters that are a joy to spend time with."
Do yourself a favour and check this one out if you have any interest. This could well be the best the Borderlands universe has ever been.
2. Narita Boy (Switch eShop)
Narrowly jumping ahead of Tales of the Borderlands this month, however, is Narita Boy. A marvellous Metroidvania published by Team17, Narita Boy pays homage to '80s culture and, importantly, gets it right.
In our review, we praised the game's beautiful handcrafted visuals, exceptional combat mechanics, varied enemy designs, and great music, all coming together in a package that's definitely worth your time. If you're looking for your next taste of Metroidvania action, here it is.
1. Everhood (Switch eShop)
Just squeezing into first place this month (the votes were the closest they've been for some time this around), is Everhood.
Everhood is a mad mix of RPG, rhythm action, kart racing, and bullet-hell shmup-style gameplay, and if that doesn't leave you at least a little intrigued, we don't know what will. We described Everhood as "one of the most memorable games we’ve played in recent years," with its bonkers plot and characters yet instantly accessible gameplay making for a great match.
This is the sort of game best suited to anyone looking for something different which, let's face it, is exactly what the indie scene is all about. Give it a try – you won't regret it!
< Nintendo Life eShop Selects - February 2021
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 (10)
Gnosia is possibly my favourite game of this year so far so that obviously gets my pick. I've also put a lot of time into A-Train which I've quite enjoyed despite its performance issues (some patches have helped too). I haven't played Everhood yet but it's near the top on my list of eShop games I want to play.
Paperball Deluxe! It's just like the original GameCube Super Monkey Ball (albeit without monkeys) A lot better than Banana Blitz. It has so many different modes too and the music is fantastic.
Hope Nintendo Life and other sites review it. It'll be a shame if it flops, especially as it's only around £13.
I didn’t buy any eShop games last month because they all looked like 💩
Everhood passed me by, but having read the review I’m going to add it to the wish list. Narita Boy seems the standout to me, though. And it’s on Game Pass, so whoop!
I loved Gnosia. Everhood is good as well. Tales of Borderlands was great to finally play through. That's the three I have downloaded on that list
The Neogeo Pocket Colour Select. Vol. 1 (and Paperball Deluxe) are on my wishlist still. I haven't gotten around to downloading them yet.
Retromania wrestling
@Ryan Thank you for this. Just yesterday, I was literally browsing the enormous selection of games (and "games" like Night Vision... Ugh) on the eshop wondering how in the world we're supposed to find the gems among the shovelware. Having a trusted review site provide a short list of the games worth checking out is a huge help. You guys rock!
Where is a Balan Wonderworld? Should be on this list surely 🤥
My vote has to go to Chained, I had no expectations going in and was pleasantly surprised by a entombment puzzle experience.
Kaze and the wild masks is my favorite eshop game in the past month. Simple yet addictive donkey kong style gameplay.
Tap here to load 10 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...